Finally sitting down to write this. Had to take a break from the PC for a few nights. Being that I made it to the last round of the last Juice tourney and the fun it was getting there, I knew I wanted in this one. Smaller tournament this time with 8 leagues to start. As much as I would like to put in 16 teams I know I don’t have the bandwidth for it right now. But I can put in 1 team per league. So 8 it is. I love the rule allowing only 2 initial picks every 24 hours. It allows everyone to get at least a little research in before picking. And all the top teams don’t get swooped up by the 1st few entrants. I wish I could say I utilized that extra time to put in that research however, that was far from the case. Not only with the team selections, but throughout most of the draft as well.
Initial Team Selections
1st pick : League 1, pick 5, 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers – These leagues and tourney’s schwarze puts on usually fill quickly and this one was no exception, filling 8 LEAGUES IN LESS THAN 24 HRS!!! What an accomplishment! Kudos to you, schwarze! That being said, I knew the Dodgers would be popular and by the time I logged in to pick, 4 had already been taken, including the coveted 2015 season. No surprise there. 1964 was also gone which has my favorite catcher. But the Dodgers have lot’s of pitching. Since we have no salary cap, and why only have to roster 5 players, why not take the greatest Dodger pitching season of all time. Welcome home Sandy Koufax!
2nd pick : League 3, pick 4, 2015 Chicago Cubs – Like the pick above, this was a hasty pick made from memory. I like 2015 Arrieta and he has performed well for me in these tournaments. He’ll be my ace we build around.
3rd pick : League 4, pick 7, 2020 Cleveland Indians – Those Addie Joss seasons were getting snapped up pretty quick but they weren’t all gone. That’s ok, I like 2020 Bieb’s to be my ace and Pleasac is a nice 5th starter.
4th pick : League 7, pick 6, 2020 Cincinnati Reds – You can probably see a recurring theme here. Rather than taking the teams with the most options, I have been drafting for one player, my ace pitcher. Why stop now. Trevor Bauer was the prize here.
5th pick : League 5, pick 7, 1972 Philadelphia Phillies – We’re getting into the teams that I don’t play with as much and am not as familiar with who they offer. 2011 would have been my 1st choice but they went 2 picks earlier. Looks like we’re building around Steve Carlton and his 360 IP/162.
6th pick : League 8, pick 7, 1999 Atlanta Braves – By this time I had missed out on most of the Maddux seasons, 94-98, and only had 1993, 2000, and 2001 as options. I like 99 Millwood better. Hopefully he’ll perform this season.
7th pick : League 2, pick 12, 1909 New York Giants – So we got the last Giants pick. I guess that means no Bonds for me? Not necessarily. But not this round at least. Christy Mathewson looks real good for this late of a pick. I’ll be happy to build around him.
8th pick : League 6, pick 9, 1908 St. Louis Browns – My Orioles picks were all pretty much blind picks. This pick was probably the most research I did for them and it was only to see who my best available pitchers were. In this case, the 1-2 punch of Rube Waddell and Jack Powell are the best I can do without digging deeper. I probably should have dug deeper…
Draft Strategy
Everything moved so quickly that I got very little research done. Well, how quickly the draft moving was part of the issue. The other challenge I had was I attempted to draft my teams using a new rating system that includes fielding (my previous system didn’t include fielding in the calculation). The new one does but, for the moment, it requires me to make some manual data entries for each player. This takes time and when drafting for one team, it’s not an issue. But for 8 teams simultaneously, yeah, I need to fix it if I want to use it in these tournaments.
The new rating system values defense more than I expected. I’m not sure if that is good or not. But it led to some teams having less offense and my pitching staffs having higher OAV#’s than usual. But I still want to build my pitching staff primarily and hope I have enough offense between 5 teams to cobble together enough runs to win more games than I lose. We’ll see how it all plays out. This could be pretty embarrassing…
League 1 – Dodgers Franchise
Round 1.07 : 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers – I initially wanted to grab 2023 in either this round or the next round but apparently, I’m not the only one who liked their offense. I was a little surprised to see 63 Koufax was still available. This round allows for one clone and why not have the top 2 Koufax seasons. Maybe I can still get a decent Kershaw next round…
Round 2.07 : 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers – Ask, and you shall receive. It seems everyone is concerned with offense as the Dodgers don’t exactly have a ton of it. That’s fine by me. 2011 Kershaw is a decent one. We’re getting left-handed heavy but we do Have 65 Drysdale. Starting pitching is complete.
Round 3.06 : 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers – I’ve been so focused on pitching that I have no idea where I am for position players and what I need. I have a couple of Roseboro options at C. They don’t hit but they keep baserunners from stealing. 63 and 65 Maury Wills are SS options. And we have 2011 Kemp and 63 Tommy Davis in the OF. Looks like 2-3 starters. We need a lot of help. The 2004 squad gives us a stud (and often under-performing) 3B Adrian Beltre, CF Steve Finley and C Paul LoDuca to platoon with Roseboro.
Round 4.07 : 1925 Brooklyn Robins – What better place to look for offense than in the 1920’s! The prized 1924 season was long gone but the 1925 season was still available. We picked up 1B Jack Fournier, 2B Milt Stock, and OF’s Zack Wheat and Dick Cox. We also got a usable Dazzy Vance to consider as well as another C option in Zack Taylor.
Post-Draft Thoughts – I like my pitching options with Koufax, Kershaw, Vance, and Drysdale. I also have Gagne and Jansen in the bullpen. I could run a 5-man rotation and limit my bullpen exposure. Offensively, I have Kemp, Beltre, Wills, Fournier, and Wheat for generating runs. Would’ve been nice to have a Freeman and/or Betts on the team. Or Manny. Or Piazza…
League 2 – Giants Franchise
Round 1.08 : 1965 San Francisco Giants – We already had Mathewson for our ace but being able to get Marichal and Mays, both studs in 1965, was something I couldn’t pass up. There is also a decent McCovey who would be nice in the 5th spot.
Round 2.08 : 1929 New York Giants – At this point of the draft, we had 3 SP’s I was pretty sure I would use: Mathewson, Marichal, and Hooks Wiltse. It was a good time to grab some offense. The 1929 Giants had quite a bit to choose from: 1B Bill Terry, 3B Freddy Lindstrom, SS Travis Jackson, and OF’s Mel Ott and Edd Roush. All 5 play solid defense and I can see rostering them all.
Round 3.05 : 2012 San Francisco Giants – Pretty happy so far with this team. Just need to fill more holes at C, 2B, and RP. I could use a 4th SP but could also roll with a 3-man rotation if need be. Focusing on C and 2B I was pretty happy to find the 2012 Giants. They come with stud hitter Buster Posey and a Marco Scutaro who can play 2B, 3B, and SS. In addition, they also have a nice Melky Cabrera, SP Matt Cain’s best season, and nice Sergio Romo and George Kontos seasons in relief. Pretty happy with this pick.
Round 4.08 : 1992 San Francisco Giants – After my last pick I was pretty well set. I could upgrade and add RP’s. With a focus on a good closer, I took the 1992 Giants. The prize was closer Rod Beck. They also have a possible 5th starter in Bill Swift, a strong-armed C in Kirt Manwaring, and a decent Will Clark to add an option at an already crowded position. Not sure who my 5 will be but I was happy to add Beck.
Pre-Build Analysis – This draft was interesting. I didn’t draft a Barry Bonds, but I do have a Willie Mays and he’s complimented by Ott and Cabrera. The Giants aren’t known for having a plethora of pitching, but I have two aces in Marichal and Mathewson. And I have Beck to close. Pretty excited to see how the build for this team plays out.
League 3 – Cubs Franchise
Round 1.06 : 1970 Chicago Cubs – I wanted to pick up more pitching. The Cubs don’t have much and what they did have was mostly gone. I considered Jack Taylor from the 1902 and 03 seasons but I didn’t feel like their offensive options were that great, at least not for the Cubs. I opted for 1970 who came with a usable Fergie Jenkins and good offensive weapons in 2B Glenn Beckert, 3B Ron Santo, and OF’s Billy Williams and Jim Hickman. None of these are stud picks but they are starter worthy.
Round 2.06 : 1937 Chicago Cubs – Decided to continue building the offense and selected the 37 Cubbies. Gabby Hartnett at C and Billy Herman at 2B look like starters. Demaree is a possibility in the OF and Jurges can play SS. There is also a Stan Hack whose defense might be enough to unseat Santo at 3B.
Round 3.07 : 2003 Chicago Cubs – At this point in the draft I can pretty much field my starting line-up, 3 SP’s, and a RP or two. I know I want a 4th SP and it looks like 2003 Mark Prior is the best of what’s left. He brings with him a couple of RP’s, a couple of Kenny Lofton options, a Sammy Sosa, Mark Grudzielanek, and an Aramis Ramirez.
Round 4.06 : 1977 Chicago Cubs – I really didn’t need much but at the same time, I needed everything. I really don’t like this team. I have no standout players past Arrieta. Hartnett and Williams are good but not the best at their positions in this league. Every position could use an upgrade. And I could use a closer, too. I picked up the 77 Cubs for their Bruce Sutter, who is a stud. He doesn’t bring much with him. A couple of so-so RP’s and an Ivan Dejesus who I am considering rostering.
Pre-Build Analysis – I’m not feeling really good about this team. Other than Arrieta, Sutter, and Hartnett, this team has the look of a below average squad. Williams, Herman and Hickman will hopefully hit close to RL but that’s a stretch in this league. Jenkins, Lester, and Prior are all #4 SP’s. Hopefully, one of them will be a good one.
League 4 – Indians Franchise
Round 1.09 : 2018 Cleveland Indians – I wanted to try and build a top tier pitching staff that didn’t have Addie Joss. Bieber and Plesac are a good start. Adding 2018 Kluber and Bauer helps. And we get a couple of useful switch-hitters in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. Solid pick.
Round 2.09 : 2007 Cleveland Indians – I decided to focus on hitting, specifically a catcher. The 2007 Indians gave me switch-hitting Victor Martinez. They also have Grady Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta who both play solid defense. But the true prize here is RP Rafael Betancourt. So far, I like the looks of this team.
Round 3.04 : 1972 Cleveland Indians – For the most part, this team is just about set and we still had to rounds to go. I did need 1 more SP and I wouldn’t mind upgrading in the OF. This pick we would focus on our last SP. That would be Gaylord Perry. His 356 innings are just what this pitching staff needed. His teammates aren’t much to look at and I’m not sure which of them will join us.
Round 4.09 : 1998 Cleveland Indians – This round was for OF upgrades and RP’s. There were some Tris Speaker options left and that would have been great. But no RP’s. The 98 Indians however have a very nice Mike Jackson along with Jim Thome, David Justice, Manny Ramirez, Omar Vizquel, and Kenny Lofton. Pretty good pick for the 4th round.
Pre-Build Analysis – I like the potential for this team. Good pitching. Some decent hitting and defensive players. No Addie Joss. Would have been nice to land Al Rosen or Tris Speaker but we did get Manny and Thome. It should be a lot of fun building this team.
League 5 – Phillies Franchise
Round 1.02 : 1981 Philadelphia Phillies – Although my initial 1972 pick got me my ace, it didn’t bring much else. I needed a pick that got me another SP and some offensive weapons. 1981 Mike Schmidt is a stud. Pete Rose and Manny Trillo can also start. I could use a Carlton clone. The 81 version isn’t too shabby.
Round 2.02 : 2022 Philadelphia Phillies – Trying to pick up another SP here that also has one or two usable hitters. 2022 Aaron Nola was still available, and he comes with teammates Zack Wheeler and J.T. Realmuto. Wheeler is a #5 pitcher, so I’ll need to find another starter. Realmuto will most likely start at C unless I grab a Darren Daulton team later on.
Round 3.11 : 2002 Philadelphia Phillies – I only have a C, 1B, 2B, and 3B on offense. I need OF’s and a SS. Needing 4 starting position players and one more starting pitcher was going to be tough this late in the draft. I found the 2002 Phillies who were capable of filling 3 of those positions: SS Jimmy Rollins and OF’s Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell. The OF’s can hit some. Rollins couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, but he can field pretty well. RP Mike Timlin could make it although he allows a lot of HR’s.
Round 4.02 : 1990 Philadelphia Phillies – As much as I wanted, I couldn’t find any pitching that came with a good OF. I would have liked 84 John Denny but I didn’t need another Schmidt and Samuel would be a bench player. 09 McQuillan had zero teammates worth drafting. Maybe we can find another starter during our build. So, switching gears to the best OF available, we selected the 1990 Phillies. They give us Lenny Dykstra to man CF and add in Daulton, John Kruk, and Tom Herr vying for a roster spot. Boever isn’t too shabby in the bullpen either.
Post-Draft Thoughts – I’m not sure we’ll have enough pitching but 2 Carltons and a Nola to go with Rose, Schmidt, Dykstra, and Abreu gives us a good core to build around. Would have been nice to get an Utley or better Rollins. I think this team has potential.
League 6 – Orioles Franchise
Round 1.07 : 1972 Baltimore Orioles – As I said earlier, this team had the least amount of research done. The 08 Browns gave me a couple of SP’s but not much else. But when you don’t know what to draft, it’s best to draft more pitching. The 72 Orioles are full of pitching: Jim Palmer, Pat Dobson, Doyle Alexander, Grant Jackson, Roric Harrison, Mike Cuellar, and Eddie Watt will all get some consideration.
Round 2.07 : 2013 Baltimore Orioles – At this point we were pretty set on pitching. A quick look found a 2013 squad that gave us a few options: C Matt Wieters, 1B Chris Davis, 2B Brian Roberts, 3B Manny Machado, SS J.J. Hardy, and OF’s Adam Jones and Nate McLouth. None of them are studs but Davis and Jones are close.
Round 3.06 : 2016 Baltimore Orioles – Upgrades, OF’s and RP’s are what we feel we need. The 2016 squad had 5 players from the 2013 squad but only Machado was an upgrade. They also have 2B Jonathan Schoop and OF Mark Trumbo. We could have 2 Machado’s or 2 Adam Joneses… Oh, and they also have a stud Zach Britton.
Round 4.07 : 2006 Baltimore Orioles – We still needed an OF and could use some upgrades on offense. Had we done some research we probably could have found a nice Sisler or Manush. But no, we stuck with what little we think we know. The 2006 O’s gave us C Ramon Hernandez, SS Miguel Tejada, 2B Brian Roberts, 3B Melvin Mora, and OF Corey Patterson.
Post-Draft Thoughts – I have no idea what I really have. I feel like I have a low average/low OBP team that doesn’t hit enough HR’s to be an offensive juggernaut. And I feel like I will be paying more for it than I want to. The build for this team will be interesting.
League 7 – Reds Franchise
Round 1.01 : 1969 Cincinnati Reds – My recent 1st experience in a Diamond Draft league allowed me to play with multiple Pete Roses and they performed pretty well. I’m thinking I want to have Rose clones again. We’ll start with the 1969 Reds. Aside from Rose we also get Johnny Bench at C, Tony Perez at 3B, and Bobby Tolan in the OF.
Round 2.01 : 1991 Cincinnati Reds – Although I got at least 2 pitchers from my initial 2020 selection, they were low innings and I needed to draft at least 2 more SP’s. The 1991 Reds get me a decent Jose Rijo and Rob Dibble. Offensively, 1B Hal Morris and 3B Chris Sabo are both viable options.
Round 3.12 : 1968 Cincinnati Reds – Time to get our Rose clone. He comes with Gary Nolan and Clay Carroll for the pitching staff and Alex Johnson in the OF. Nolan is shy on innings but we could cobble together 5 now. Carroll is not short on innings and that helps.
Round 4.01 : 2007 Cincinnati Reds – We still needed a 2B and a pitching upgrade if we could find one. The 2007 Reds would at least give me a solid 2B in Brandon Phillips. Adam Dunn and Griffy Jr. both have some pop in their bats. Aaron Harang is an interesting option for SP.
Post-Draft Thoughts – Although I did get my Rose clones and I did get 2020 Bauer, I’m not sure this team has what it takes to make it to the next round. We still seem to be short on pitching.
League 8 – Braves Franchise
Round 1.10 : 1969 Atlanta Braves – Like all of my other teams, we were starting out with an ace. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a Maddux but Millwood should be fine. I wanted more pitching and strongly considered 2009 Javier Vazquez but he didn’t have much in teammates that I would want to use. That brought me to 69 Phil Niekro who comes with a solid Hoyt Wilhelm, a nice Hank Aaron, and platoon hitter Rico Carty. Too bad we aren’t using a DH.
Round 2.10 : 2023 Atlanta Braves – Now we have 3 SP’s along with 2 good RP’s. We need to build some offense around Aaron and Chipper. The 2023 Braves should do nicely. I really like Acuna, although his defense sucks. But his speed and power are an awesome combo. He brings with him power hitting 1B Matt Olson, switch-hitting 2B Ozzie Albies, another power hitter in 3B Austin Riley, speedy OF Michael Harris II, strikeout pitcher Spencer Strider, and a plethora of RP’s to choose from. This was a good pick with plenty of good options.
Round 3.03 : 2006 Atlanta Braves – We were looking pretty good at this point in the draft. All we needed to fill were a SS and C position. And an OF upgrade would be good, too. The 2006 Braves bring another group of usable players, although as a whole, not as talented as the 2023 team. They do give us C Brian McCann who can hit but struggles getting the ball to 2B. We also get a decent hitting SS in Edgar Renteria and another power hitter in the OF with Andruw Jones. There is also another Chipper Jones I could consider trying to roster some how…
Round 4.10 : 1958 Milwaukee Braves – At this point, we are just upgrading positions and adding the best talent available. The trio of Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, and Lew Burdette would lure me to pick the 1958 Braves. They also have Joey Jay who has performed well for me in the past.
Post-Draft Thoughts – Although I don’t have a usable Maddux, I do have some decent pitchers who should be able to win when they aren’t pitching against the Professor. I have 2 Hank’s and 2 Chippers to consider cloning and I have Acuna. I think this draft went pretty well and I should be able to field a competitive team.
Team Builds and Outlook
Overall General Strategy – For the most part, I drafted for pitchers first. The new rating system didn’t change too much from how I typically draft pitchers but there were few surprises. However, for position players, adding in the defense did significantly change how they were selected for the team and some players who I wouldn’t have considered became possibilities. My offenses are usually low scoring so I’m not sure how much this is going to help being that it gave more weight to good defense while simultaneously, negative weight for bad defense. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out overall.
I built 3 teams for each franchise: Best Possible (max salary), Most Efficient (lowest salary), and Most Usable (mid salary). All of them were then evaluated for salary and performance. For the most part, starting line-ups and rotations were the same for all 3 teams in each franchise and numbered around 17 or 18 players. Based on how much salary they were would determine which of the 3 teams I would go with. For example, my Dodger team had 4 of the most expensive Dodgers players with 2 Koufax’s, a $10M Beltre, and a $8M Kemp. This team would be built for the east and utilize more expensive players but will also waste some PA’s and innings. But it would also use the best players. Not many of my teams were built that way. Most were built to avoid the east division and are my mid-salary teams. We’ll see how that works out for us.
League 1 : 5 Dodgers 1925 1963 1965 2004 2011
I was pretty excited to build this team once I had both 65 and 63 Koufax. I love the Dodgers and having these two seasons should be a lot of fun. Since I had $30M+ spent on both Koufax seasons, I felt we would most likely end up in the East so there were no salary restrictions. Everyone in the pool was in play.
Pitching Staff
We had some pretty good options for the rotation. 1965 Sandy Koufax (1.67 ERC#, 0.186 OAV#) will be our ace and 1963 Sandy Koufax (1.71 ERC#, 0.197 OAV#) will follow. I considered 1963 Don Drysdale (2.98 ERC#, 1.15 WHIP#) and 1965 Don Drysdale (2.94 ERC#, 0.239 OAV#) for our #3 but 1925 Dazzy Vance (2.64 ERC#, 0.235 OAV#) was rated better than both. The 4th spot goes to 2011 Clayton Kershaw (2.04 ERC#, 0.212 OAV#) who would be an ace on some of my other franchises.
In the bullpen, we start off with 2004 Eric Gagne (1.61 ERC#, 0.180 OAV#) as our closer. Right-handers 2011 Josh Lindblom (1.94 ERC#, 0.217 OAV#), 2011 Kenley Jansen (2.00 ERC#, 0.163 OAV#) and 2004 Giovanni Carrara (2.44 ERC#, 0.227 OAV#) will set him up along with left-hander 2011 Scott Elbert (2.65 ERC#, 0.224 OAV#). The long relievers will be right-hander 1965 Bob Miller (2.60 ERC#, 0.232 OAV#) and left-hander 1965 Ron Perranoski (2.67 ERC#, 0.233 OAV#).
That gives us a total of 1328 usable innings with a 1.97 ERC#, 0.203 OAV#, 0.98 WHIP#, and 0.46 HR/9#. Not sure where we will fall amongst all of the other Dodger teams but this pitching staff looks pretty good.
Position Players
The Dodgers aren’t known for being offensive juggernauts and I don’t typically build high-scoring offenses. Not sure how we will build an offense that can score runs against all of the other Dodger pitching I’ll be facing. At least we aren’t worried about salary restrictions.
Starting at C, we selected 1963 Johnny Roseboro (.244/.302/.360, B+/A+/A+) over 1965 Johnny Roseboro (.240/.298/.315, A/A/A+) to bat from the left side and close out games started by our right-handed platoon C 2004 Paul Lo Duca (.301/.349/.423, A/A+/C-). Lo Duca only has 381 PA’s so Roseboro will have to get 220-250 PA’s. We also added 1925 Hank Deberry (.245/.313/.327, C+/A/A) as a 2nd defensive option should there be a need to PH for Roseboro late in games.
At 1B we chose 1925 Jack Fournier (.334/.436/.552, C+/D) to start and 1965 Ron Fairly (.281/.370/.381, A/C-) to replace him late in games. Fairly can also play OF (B/B-) and may be used there as well. 2B will be manned by 1925 Milt Stock (.312/.358/.392, B/D+) who should start the entire season. If he doesn’t perform we have switch-hitting 2B 1965 Jim Gilliam (.291/.366/.392, B+/D-) who can step in and finish the season. 3B is owned by none other than super under-performer 2004 Adrian Beltre (.334/.386/.609, A/A-) and SS will be manned by fan favorite 1965 Maury Wills (.293/.340/.333, B/A+).
In the outfield, 1963 Tommy Davis (.336/.371/.467, C-/D-) will start in left. He will be replaced by 2004 Steve Finley (.271/.331/.469, A/B+) late in games for a defensive upgrade. Roaming centerfield will be 2011 Matt Kemp (.329/.405/.582, B/B) and 1925 Zack Wheat (.342/.393/.524, C-/D+) will hold down right field. Our last player is the power-hitting righthander 1963 Frank Howard (.282/.342/.528, D/D+) who could play in the OF against some lefty pitchers.
That gives us 5651 usable PA’s at .316/.374/.476 with 159 HR. Not exactly an offensive juggernaut. We won’t lead the league in runs.
Outlook
Really hard to say. I have no idea what other teams look like compared to mine. I suspect I like my pitching staff but wonder if I should have focused on Kershaw’s rather than Koufax’s. Kershaw’s come with better relievers and I think that may be this teams undoing. I’ll have to stretch my starter innings as much as possible, otherwise, I may be adding to the bullpen complaint boards. As far as scoring runs, I need Beltre and Kemp to perform this season. There should be plenty of LH pitching for them to face. I think this team can finish at or above .500. Not sure about playoffs with this suspect bullpen.
League 2 : 5 Giants 1909 1929 1965 1992 2012
Another team I was excited to build after the draft. Although I didn’t have a Barry Bonds, I did bag a decent Christy Mathewson. And he wasn’t the most expensive. With that in consideration, I felt this team would be better off avoiding the west, where the more expensive Bonds and Mathewson are likely to live. No sense competing with those guys if I could avoid it.
Pitching Staff
Our initial selection that was intended to bring us our ace, ended up being our #2. Our ace will be 1909 Christy Mathewson (1.59 ERC#, .210 OAV#) and 1965 Juan Marichal (2.05 ERC#, .212 OAV#) will follow. 1909 Hooks Wiltse (2.67 ERC#, .243 OAV#) will take the 3rd spot and be our sole LH starter. The last spot in the rotation will go to 2012 Matt Cain (2.59 ERC#, .222 OAV#). 1992 Bill Swift, 1965, Bob Shaw, 1929 Carl Hubbell, 2012 Madison Bumgarner, 1909 Red Ames, and 1965 Bobby Bolin all failed to make the team. Swift (2.79 ERC#, .245 OAV#) was given strong consideration but I was already righty heavy.
In the bullpen, 1992 Rod Beck (1.56 ERC#, .195 OAV#) will close out games. Setting him up will be lefthanders 1965 Bill Henry (2.62 ERC#, .248 OAV#) and 1965 Masanori Murakami (2.77 ERC#, .212 OAV#) along with righthanders 2012 Sergio Romo (1.73 ERC#, .189 OAV#) and 1929 Ralph Judd (2.79 ERC#, .244 OAV#). Handling long-relief duties will be lefthander Bryan Hickerson (2.81 ERC#, .241 OAV#) and righthander 1965 Frank Linzy (2.98 ERC#, .257 OAV#).
That gives us a total of 1362 usable innings with a 2.18 ERC#, .220 OAV#, 1.00 WHIP#, and 0.53 HR/9#. Not exactly my Dodger pitching staff but not too bad. Whether they can hold those Bonds teams remains to be seen…
Position Players
The Giants are obviously known for some great offensive weapons: Barry Bonds, Mel Ott, and Willie Mays to name just a few. We got 2 of the 3 aforementioned hitters which will hopefully be enough to build around. I felt this offense had some potential following the draft…
Starting at catcher, we selected 2012 Buster Posey (.341/.414/.540, B/A+/C+) to start and 1992 Craig Colbert (.235/.284/.332, A-/C-/A-) to replace him late in games. At 1B, 1929 Bill Terry (.354/.403/.500, B/A+) beats out 1992 Will Clark (.306/.392/.483, B/A-) and 1965 Willie McCovey (.283/.391/.543, C+/C-). Clark and McCovey don’t even make the team. At second, 2012 Marco Scutaro (.311/.353/.396, B/C) beats out 1909 Larry Doyle (.312/.370/.456, D+/D-). Doyle doesn’t make the team. Third will be covered by 1929 Freddy Lindstrom (.301/.340/.442, B+/B+) and teammate 1929 Travis Jackson (.277/.353/.467, A-/A+) will play SS. 1909 Art Fletcher (.223/.246/.262, D/D-) was brought in as a cheap back-up at short and won’t see a lick of playing time. Infeld looks solid.
In the outfield we start of with switch-hitting left-fielder 2012 Melky Cabrera (.351/.396/.507, C+/C-). Cabrera is a little short on PA’s so 1909 Cy Seymour (.321/.379/.436, C+/B) will get the call when we rest Cabrera, as well as coming in as a defensive replacement. Our centerfielder will be none other than the Say Hey Kid, 1965 Willie Mays (.325/.408/.649, B/A) and in right, we have lefty Hall of Famer 1929 Mel Ott (.311/.433/.614, C/B). We have two more OF’s on the bench, 1992 Mark Leonard (.240/.338/.390, B/D-) and teammate 1992 Steve Hosey (.255/.247/.328, C/D-). Other than an occasional call to pinch hit, neither will see much time off the bench.
That gives us 5538 usable PA’s at .320/.387/.510 and 187 HR’s. And above average defense. This team looks like it can hit.
Outlook
I actually like how this team turned out. We attempted to keep out salary low, which is why I drafted a few players I never intend to use. I could have drafted Will Clark, Larry Doyle, and Willie McCovey but that would have been another $12M in salary that ultimately would not be used. And quite possibly a higher division placement that I didn’t want. Hopefully, I drafted a low enough salary for the east. If so, I think this team can compete for a playoff spot. And advance to the next round.
League 3 : 5 Cubs 1937 1970 1977 2003 2015
This was my 2nd overall team I selected when this tournament started. I was really happy to get Arrieta to be my ace. But as the draft went on, I started to not like how this team was coming together. There are a lot of good Cubs players we didn’t get and the few we did get were not their best seasons. Not looking forward to this build as much as some of the others. Hopefully, it’s just a diamond in the rough…
Pitching Staff
As mentioned above, 2015 Jake Arrieta (1.54 ERC#, .190 OAV#) will be our ace. He will be followed by 1970 Fergie Jenkins (2.45 ERC#, .226 OAV#) who should also eat up 320 innings or so. The 3rd rotation spot will go to strikeout pitcher 2003 Mark Prior (2.55 ERC#, .231 OAV#) and the final spot will go to 2015 Jon Lester (2.91 ERC#, .244 OAV#), our sole left-handed starter. The Cubs produce a lot of offense and I’m not too sure this rotation can keep them at bay.
In the bullpen, we do have stud closer 1977 Bruce Sutter (1.40 ERC#, .183 OAV#) to finish games. He’ll be set-up by 2015 Hector Rondon (2.14 ERC#, .217 OAV#), Rondons’ teammate, 2015 Pedro Strop (1.96 ERC#, .172 OAV#), venerable righthander 2003 Joe Borowski (2.14 ERC#, .207 OAV#), and lefty 1977 Dave Roberts (2.89 ERC#, .275 OAV#). In long relief, 2003 Kyle Farnsworth (2.45 ERC#, .196 OAV#) will handle the duties from the right side while 1977 Willie Hernandez (2.72 ERC#, .234 OAV#) will toss from the left side. Our only two lefties leave much to be desired…
That gives us 1384 usable innings at a 2.27 ERC#, .217 OAV#, 1.03 WHIP#, and 0.54 HR/9#, far from the standard set by my Dodgers team. And in a league with more offense…yikes!
Position Players
The Cubs really do have a ton of good offensive players throughout their history, Sammy Sosa, Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Bill Nicholson. I was only able to get 3 of them in our pool. And only two actually made the team…
One of those was at catcher, 1937 Gabby Hartnett (.348/.422/.548, A/C/A-) who provides both offense and decent defense. He’ll be backed up by lefthanded hitting 2003 Paul Bako (.229/.310/.314, C+/A/B). First will be covered by 2015 Anthony Rizzo (.283/.394/.504, B/A-) while 1937 Billy Herman (.330/.395/.479, D+/A+) plays 2B and bats leadoff. 1970 Ron Santo (.269/.368/.471, C/B+) will man third and 1977 Ivan Dejesus (.266/.329/.346, C+/A) will cover SS. We also have 1937 Lonny Frey (.273/.379/.369, D+/D-) who covers all IF positions and occasionally pinch hits.
In the outfield we have the other Cub we mentioned, 1970 Billy Williams (.325/.391/.582, A-/D+) in left, 1970 Jim Hickman (.318/.419/.577, C/C) in center, and 1937 Frank Demaree (.318/.380/.485, B/D+) in right. We also have 2003 Kenny Lofton (.327/.379/.453, A-/B+) who will play center late in games. Other outfielders vying for some playing time are 1970 Joe Pepitone (.270/.313/.493, B+/B-) who can play some late inning defense and pinch hit, 1977 Joe Wallis (.250/.375/.356, C/D-) who could see a pinch hit opportunity or two, and 1937 Tuck Stainback (.227/.267/.288, B/C) who may get some time playing some late inning defense.
That gives us 5406 usable PA’s at .302/.382/.489 and 171 HR’s. Seems awfully low for a Cubs team. My Dodgers offense may be better.
Outlook
Now that my build is complete, I’m still not convinced this team can win. The pitching staff is average at best. We don’t reach base as often as we would like, and we don’t hit with much power or steal many bases. It looks like we’ll have a tough time scoring runs and our opponents won’t. It’s very likely this team will not advance to the next round.
League 4 : 5 Indians 1972 1998 2007 2018 2020
Another team I was excited to build after the draft. I was happy to get the 2020 squad and it looks like we have some good pieces to build around. We should be able to build some decent offense along with a solid rotation and bullpen.
Pitching Staff
We started the build for this franchise targeting our ace, 2020 Shane Bieber (1.54 ERC#, .176 OAV#) who I hope will be as dominant here as he has been for my other teams that use him. Our #2 will be 1972 Gaylord Perry (2.18 ERC#, .217 OAV#) who will throw nearly 400 innings if all goes well. Our #3 will be 2018 Corey Kluber (2.39 ERC#, .230 OAV#) and his teammate, 2018 Trevor Bauer (2.34 ERC#, .214 OAV#) will be our 4th. To shore up Bauers’ short innings, 2020 Zach Plesac (1.70 ERC#, .200 OAV#) will throw in the 5th spot.
In the bullpen, 1998 Mike Jackson (1.63 ERC#, .190 OAV#) will close out games while 2007 Rafael Betancourt (1.14 ERC#, .179 OAV#), 2020 Brad Hand (1.15 ERC#, .173 OAV#), and 2018 Oliver Perez (1.09 ERC#, .160 OAV#) set up games for him. Left-hander 2007 Rafael Perez (1.60 ERC#, .183 OAV#) and right-hander 2020 James Karinchak (1.78 ERC#, .168 OAV#) will handle the long relief duties.
That gives us 1398 usable innings at a 1.91 ERC#, .203 OAV#, 0.95 WHIP#, and 0.51 HR/9#. I really like the looks of this pitching staff. It could be my best staff of this round.
Position Players
Normally I would select a catcher with an A am or better but its hard to pass on 2007 Victor Martinez (.296/.369/.484, A/A/B) who is also a switch-hitter. We selected 1972 Jerry Moses (.231/.301/.345, C/B/A-) to back him up and play some late inning defense. At first base we picked 1998 Jim Thome (.288/.407/.559, C/C+) who will bring some power to an already potent offense. 1972 Chris Chambliss (.305/.338/.417, B/A-) will play late inning defense and cover Thome’s short PA’s.
We didn’t select a good, true second baseman when drafting our 5 teams. Our options were pretty slim with Brohamer, Bell, Kipnis, and Cora being my top options. BUT, I do have a couple of Jose Ramirez’s and 2018 Jose Ramirez (.277/.393/.535, C+/D-) played some second in Little League so we’ll slide him in. To replace him late in games we picked up 1972 Jack Brohamer (.245/.281/.312, C+/A-) who can’t hit a lick but fields ok. That leaves 2020 Jose Ramirez (.303/.391/.591, C/D-) to cover third base and 2018 Francisco Lindor (.284/.357/.502, B+/C-) to round out the infield at short. On the bench we have 1998 Enrique Wilson (.317/.349/.430, A-/D-) who can cover 2B, 3B, and SS and we have 2007 Chris Gomez (.293/.320/.354, B/C+) who can play all 4 infield positions.
In the outfield we have 1998 David Justice (.275/.358/.450, A+/D+) covering leftfield, speedy outfielder 2007 Grady Sizemore (.273/.386/.441, A/A-) at center, and 1998 Manny Ramirez (.290/.371/.574, C/C) will provide more power from right field. On the bench we picked up 1972 Frank Duffy (.250/.308/.343, A-/C-) who will be a RF defensive replacement late in games.
That gives us 5347 usable PA’s at .286/.378/.516 and 239 HR’s. This team hits for power but doesn’t necessarily hit a lot.
Outlook
Now that I have this team put together, I’m having mixed feelings. The aforementioned three teams above all rated out the same as I felt once they were put together. This team is built much how I would build a team and rates as my best pitching staff of all my teams, which is exactly what I usually try to do but, it also rates as the worst position players of all my teams. And that is mostly due to the poor defense we have, specifically with anyone named Ramirez. I’ll be watching this team closely. I feel good about them, but the ratings say this is a 4th place team that doesn’t advance. Maybe all the Indians teams are this bad??? I haven’t run numbers for anyone’s teams yet so, maybe I’ll get lucky?? Then again, maybe defense really is that important. We’ll see…
League 5: 5 Phillies 1972 1981 1990 2002 2022
Following the draft, I felt this team had some potential and was hopeful during the build. The Phillies don’t have a lot of dominant pitching and although I do have a stud Carlton, I do not typically use him as he doesn’t perform as well as many other lefty’s in the same price range. So we’ll see how this build goes…
Pitching Staff
Having 1972 Steve Carlton (2.05 ERC#, .214 OAV#) and his stud season is the best start I could get from this group. His clone, 1981 Steve Carlton (2.62 ERC#, .226 OAV#) will follow him. With 648 innings between the two of them, we were able to finish the rotation with teammates 2022 Aaron Nola (2.31 ERC#, .229 OAV#) and 2022 Zack Wheeler (2.58 ERC#, .231 OAV#). Not the scariest of pitching staffs but not horrible either.
In the bullpen, 1990 Joe Boever (2.18 ERC#, .218 OAV#) will be our closer. Leading the set-up crew will be 2002 Mike Timlin (2.38 ERC#, .214 OAV#). He’s accompanied by 2022 Jose Alvarado (2.53 ERC#, .213 OAV#), Alvarado teammate 2022 Seranthony Dominguez (2.59 ERC#, .206 OAV#), and 1972 Bill Wilson (2.81 ERC#, .241 OAV#). Our long relievers will be 1981 Tug McGraw (2.43 ERC#, .223 OAV#) and 2002 Cliff Politte (2.55 ERC#, .213 OAV#). In some ways, it feels like the bullpen are all the same pitcher…
That gives us 1341 usable innings at a 2.37 ERC#, .221 OAV#, 1.07 WHIP#, and 0.51 HR/9#. Not exactly a dominating pitching staff but then again, the Phillies don’t have a whole lot of pitching to offer so maybe they’ll be ok…
Position Players
I tried to keep salary down with this team as I didn’t feel real comfortable with my pitching staff. But C was not a position I went cheap on. Not only did I pick 2022 J.T. Realmuto (.286/.349/.470, B+/A+/A+) to start, I also enlisted 2 back-ups, 1990 Darren Daulton (.271/.371/.416, B/B/A-) and 1972 Bob Boone (.282/.340/.362, C/B/D-) which is more than I need. But I prefer Daulton’s A- arm to Boone’s D- arm. But most of their salary and PA’s are wasted.
Catcher wasn’t the only position with some wasted PA’s and salary. At first we are playing 1981 Pete Rose (.329/.396/.399, A/D) who doesn’t need a back-up but has 1972 Joe Lis (.250/.388/.424, A/D-) anyways. And then at second we have 1981 Manny Trillo (.290/.343/.405, A-/B-) who needs 50 or so PA’s to keep him fresh and we picked 1990 Tom Herr (.267/.324/.351, A-/D+) who comes with an additional 443 PA’s on top of the 50 we need. Our last two infield spots were filled by single players. At 3B we have stud 1981 Mike Schmidt (.320/.441/.653, B/A-) and at SS we selected 2002 Jimmy Rollins (.246/.305/.366, A/B+) for his defensive prowess. We didn’t have any really good SS options, a couple of Larry Bowa’s, a Dickie Thon, and a Bryson Stott. None of them could field and although Bowa hit better, it wasn’t worth the fielding downgrade.
In the outfield we start with 2002 Pat Burrell (.283/.374/.530, C/D+) in LF and gritty 1990 Lenny Dykstra (.329/.422/.440, B/A+) will roam center. The outfield will be filled out by 2002 Bobby Abreu (.310/.412/.507, B/D+) in RF. We have no need for additional OF’s but we have 1990 Ron Jones (.279/.377/.465, C/D-) and 1972 Roger Freed (.231/.351/.404, C/D-) to fill the final roster spots. Other than a little pinch-hitting, both of them will ride the pine.
That gives us 5319 usable PA’s at .300/.381/.470 and 136 HR’s. Not much for power but they hit a little and play decent defense in the infield.
Outlook
Nothing about this team looks very dominant but somehow, they are my 2nd highest rated team overall. The team does hit and will steal some bases. Infield defense is solid and Realmuto has a gun. Dykstra covers a lot of ground in the OF but he’ll need to. Big seasons from Carlton, Rose and Schmidt will be necessary if we are to have any chance. This team might be able to make it to the next round but I’m not so sure it has any playoff potential.
League 6 : 5 Orioles 1908 1972 2006 2013 2016
I virtually did zero research on this team and have no idea where any of my players stand compared to the rest of the franchise. Would have been nice to have a Frank Robinson or Cal Ripken Jr. in the player pool. Hopefully I have enough pitching to make it not matter…
Pitching Staff
We got our ace with our initial Orioles selection, 1908 Jack Powell (2.46 ERC#, .244 OAV#) and his teammate, 1908 Rube Waddell (2.64 ERC#, .227 OAV#) will be our #2. Not our typical start to a pitching staff but we’ll see how these deadballers pan out for me. Our #3 was a tough choice between 1972 Pat Dobson (2.63 ERC#, .237 OAV#), 1908 Harry Howell (2.94 ERC#, .253 OAV#), 1972 Jim Palmer (2.65 ERC#, .229 OAV#), or 1972 Mike Cuellar (2.78 ERC#, .232 OAV#). I could have gone with two of these guys and having another lefty to compliment Waddell wouldn’t have been a bad idea but I was planning on using Alexander as our 4th or 5th starter (more on that in a bit). But did I really need 1200 starting pitcher innings? Decided to grab just one of them and stick to a 4-man rotation. Dobson rated the best of the 4 so he makes the cut. Did I really pass on Cuellar and Palmer???
For the bullpen I did land stud closer 2016 Zach Britton (1.14 ERC#, .164 OAV#) so if we have a lead, hopefully we can keep it. He’ll have his teammate, 2016 Brad Brach (2.19 ERC#, .204 OAV#) and 1972 Grant Jackson (2.23 ERC#, .229 OAV#) will handle the primary set-up duties with additional set-up support from 1972 Roric Hunter (2.35 ERC#, .221 OAV#), 2013 Tommy Hunter (2.51 ERC#, .226 OAV#), and 2006 Chris Britton (2.49 ERC#, .221 OAV#). In long relief, 2013 Brian Matusz (2.74 ERC#, .233 OAV#) will handle the left-hander duties. Our righty long reliever was originally intended to be Harrison however, when we calculated pitches, we found that 1972 Doyle Alexander (2.13 ERC#, .215 OAV#) pitched in far too many games to be able to be used as a starter as his IP/G was only 3.04. So now we have a 3-man rotation and Alexander will be our primary long reliever.
That gives us 1348 usable innings at a 2.42 ERC#, .227 OAV#, 1.12 WHIP#, 0.26 HR/9#. They allow more hits than my other pitching staffs but they also allow much fewer HR’s, something I’m not normally as concerned with. It’ll be interesting to see how they play out.
Position Players
Starting at C, we have 2006 Ramon Hernandez (.269/.337/.451, C/A/A+) and 1908 Syd Smith (.194/.239/.269, C/A/A-) backing him up. Lefty slugger 2013 Chris Davis (.289/.375/.623, A-/B+) will play 1B and 2016 Steve Pearce (.291/.378/.471, C-D-) may play some against LH pitching if Davis is in a slump. At 2B we have 1972 Bobby Grich (.291/.370/.436, A-/C+) who gets replaced late in games by 2013 Brian Roberts (.252/.316/.382, A+/A+). That should help to keep Grich starting most of the season. Covering 3B will be 2016 Manny Machado (.297/.347/.512, A/A) and 2006 Miguel Tejada (.323/.374/.470, B/B) will play SS.
In the outfield we start with 2006 Nick Markakis (.285/.345/.420, A/C-) in LF and his teammate, 2006 Corey Patterson (.270/.309/.415, B+/A) starting in CF. In RF, we have 2013 Adam Jones (.288/.322/.482, A/B+) who would play center on most teams. Markakis and Patterson are both shy on PA’s so 2016 Hyun Soo Kim (.305/.386/.399, A+/D-) and teammates 1908 Dode Criss (.355/.426/.457, C/D-) and 1908 Al Schweitzer (.304/.392/.391, D+/B-) will all get some playing time in the field and pinch-hitting.
That gives us 5367 usable PA’s at .293/.352/.476 and 220 HR’s. The 220 HR’s comes out to 3.0 HR/100# and in this league, will probably result in around 165 HR’s. But with a .352 OBP, no one will be one base. On the positive, we do play good defense. But if we do, I’m sure the other O’s teams do, too.
Outlook
Well, this is interesting. The team I chose mostly blind ends up eking past the Phillies and Giants to be my top-rated team. WTF??? Is something broken? Maybe I gave defense too much weight? It’s not the pitching staff, they rate pretty much where I would expect them too. It’s not offense or base running either. I can definitely see the weight on defense. I’m just having a hard time believing it’s true. I may have mucked this up. Oh well, that being said, I do like this teams defense and we’re going to need it being that we allow the bat on the ball much more often with this team than with others. And if we can truly hold teams from homering against us, maybe this team can limit runs being scored against us??? Well, I don’t feel as confident as the ratings say but maybe this team is good enough to advance??? I guess we’ll see.
League 7 : 5 Reds 1968 1969 1991 2007 2020
So, following the draft I had some concerns with my pitching, or lack of it. But at the same time, I got my Rose clones! I’m pretty happy about that and I hope they come close to the Diamond league numbers they put up for me. The Reds are my 2nd favorite franchise of all time, obviously behind the Dodgers, and I am looking forward to seeing how this build comes out.
Pitching Staff
We started ourselves off with our ace, 2020 Trevor Bauer (1.51 ERC#, .168 OAV#) and I’m happy about that. But past here, everything starts to get suspect. At #2 we selected 1991 Jose Rijo (2.35 ERC#, .225 OAV#) which isn’t horrible but I would rather have that at #3. Who we do have at #3 is 2007 Aaron Harang (3.02 ERC#, .241 OAV#) who only makes the team because I needed innings. That’s because my next two starters, 2020 Sonny Gray (2.76 ERC#, .212 OAV#) and 1968 Gary Nolan (2.47 ERC#, .206 OAV#) combine for only 301 innings. Overall, we only have 934 starting IP’s…
In the bullpen we selected Nasty Boy 1991 Rob Dibble (2.58 ERC#, .229 OAV#) to be our closer. He has set-up men 2020 Raisel Iglesias (1.55 ERC#, .202 OAV#), 2020 Lucas Sims (2.06 ERC#, .154 OAV#), 2007 Jared Burton (2.21 ERC#, .185 OAV#), and 2020 Brooks Raley (2.68 ERC#, .187 OAV#) shutting down the 7th and 8th innings. In long relief, 1968 Clay Carroll (2.70 ERC#, .240 OAV#) and another Nasty Boy, 1991 Norm Charlton (3.04 ERC#, .242 OAV#). They’re not the 1990 Nasty Boys but hopefully they can get close.
That gives us 1367 usable IP’s with a 2.40 ERC#, .210 OAV#, 1.07 WHIP#, and 0.57 HR/9#. This staff doesn’t allow as many hits but those hits are a little more likely to be HR’s. We’ll need to keep the basepaths clear somehow…
Position Players
Having both the ’68 and ’69 Reds gave us a lot of clones, not just Rose. Catcher was no exception and we opted for 1969 Johnny Bench (.300/.358/.494, B+/A-/A+) and took ’68 Bench’s back-up C, 1968 Don Pavletich (.296/.367/.419, D-/D-/C+) to mostly pinch hit and start in 4 or 5 games. At 1B we will have a platoon of 1968 Lee May (.300/.352/.491, A/D+) and 1991 Hal Morris (.325/.381/.484, B-/D-) with May getting the defense call late in games. At 2B, 2007 Brandon Phillips (.286/.329/.464, A/B+) will handle the duties for the season while 1969 Tony Perez (.301/.362/.533, C-/C+) does the same at 3B. At SS will be 1991 Barry Larkin (.308/.384/.512, B+/A) most games. Resting him for 25 games or so will be utility man 2007 Jeff Keppinger (.330/.397/.456, A+/D-) who plays every position but catcher, mostly error free.
In the outfield, the Rose clones, 1968 Pete Rose (.347/.407/.492, A-/C+) and 1969 Pete Rose (.355/.434/.519, B+/B-) will cover the corner spots while 1969 Bobby Tolan (.311/.352/.481, C/A) roams CF. On the bench we have power-hitter 2007 Josh Hamilton (.290/.365/.533, C+/B-) and 1969 Ted Savage (.233/.349/.352, C/A+) who can come in and play a little defense if needed. Hamilton will pinch-hit some, too.
That gives us 5514 usable PA’s with .315/.374/.496 and 187 HR’s. This team can get the bat on the ball and for the most part, field it pretty well, too. Bench will keep base runners from stealing. Looks like a typical Big Red Machine to me…
Outlook
My Reds pitching staff rates out to be the worst of all my teams. They don’t allow a lot of hits but they do allow HR’s and it shows in the cumulative ERC#. The team does hit well but I suspect many of the Reds teams will. Their HR power does normalize a little better than the Orioles team did, 3.1 HR/100# with only 187 HR’s. And their defense is pretty good for the most part. They rate out pretty high compared to my other teams, 4th best overall. That’s a tough pill to swallow being that this is my worst pitching staff. We’ll say, if the pitching can hold up, this team might be a playoff contender.
League 8 : 5 Braves 1958 1969 1999 2006 2023
This was a team I felt pretty good about after the draft. I had Acuna Jr. and a couple of Aaron and Chipper options on offense. And I felt I could cobble together a decent pitching staff. As the build went on, my feelings rapidly changed…
Pitching Staff
As with all my teams, we selected our ace, 1999 Kevin Millwood (2.04 ERC#, .200 OAV#), first. We supplemented him with 1969 Phil Niekro (2.38 ERC#, .228 OAV#) as our #2, lefty 1958 Warren Spahn (2.89 ERC#, .237 OAV#) at #3, 1999 John Smoltz (2.54 ERC#, .242 OAV#) at #4 and 2023 Spencer Strider (2.73 ERC#, .216 OAV#) as our 5th starter. That gives us 1193 SP innings, far more than I actually need. I guess that gives us some flexibility if one of these guys ends up in a slump.
In the bullpen we have 1969 Hoyt Wilhelm (1.78 ERC#, .189 OAV#) closing out games. Setting him up we have 2006 Bob Wickman (1.83 ERC#, .230 OAV#), 2023 Jesse Chavez (2.46 ERC#, .209 OAV#) and 1958 Humberto Robinson (2.34 ERC#, .203 OAV#) coming from the right side and flame-thrower 1999 John Rocker (2.15 ERC#, .178 OAV#) will come from the south side. In long relief we have 1958 Joey Jay (2.13 ERC#, .177 OAV#) whom we’ve had good success with before. It is possible we move Spahn to long relief if he’s getting shelled as a starter.
That gives us 1364 usable innings with a 2.38 ERC#, .217 OAV#, 1.06 WHIP#, and 0.61 HR/9#. The homeruns are the issue with this pitching staff…
Position Players
Our options had nice offensive numbers but lacked good defense to come with it. This resulted in drafting more salary than I needed to use to make the necessary late inning defensive upgrades. That couldn’t be truer than at C with starter 2006 Brian McCann (.331/.385/.549, B-/A/D) and his back-up, 1958 Del Crandall (.272/.348/.445, B/B+/B+), who combine for over 1000 PA’s. At 1B we have slugger 2023 Matt Olson (.290/.392/.586, B/C+) and his unneeded back-up, 2006 Daryle Ward (.307/.377/.523, C-/C-) who will mostly pinch hit. Our lone 2B will be 2023 Ozzie Albies (.287/.339/.496, B+/C) who is also a switch-hitter.
On the other side of the field, our selection for 3B ended up being 1999 Chipper Jones (.316/.433/.610, C+/D-) who can’t field a lick. To relieve him late in games we brought in 1969 Clete Boyer (.256/.333/.378, B+/B-) who can’t hit a lick but can catch the ball, for the most part. There’s another 500 or so wasted PA’s. And finally, at SS we have 2006 Edgar Renteria (.292/.358/.413, A-/D+) whose only rated replacement is none other than the immovable object himself, Mr. Chipper Jones, who was already firmly planted at 3B.
In the outfield we have a plethora of options. My favorite one is left fielder 2023 Ronald Acuna Jr. (.345/.419/.578, C+/D+) who will steal bases for us. And since we didn’t take the other Chipper for our clone, we have 1969 Hank Aaron (.306/.401/.614, B/B-) in CF and his clone, 1958 Hank Aaron (.327/.386/.534, B/C+) in RF. To replace Acuna late in games we spent more money and brought in 2006 Andruw Jones (.261/.361/.507, A/B+) who will play center and bump both Aarons over. We also have lefty 1999 Ryan Klesko (.294/.369/.508, A+/D-) and righty 1969 Rico Carty (.349/.407/.556, D/D-) to pinch hit.
That gives us 5830 usable PA’s with a .308/.386/.539 and 303 HR’s. We also have a pretty shaky infield defense that, although we have late inning replacements, it cost us a pretty penny to do so.
Outlook
Offensively I really like this team. They hit, hit for power, reach base, and even steal some bases. But what they don’t do is get to the ball when they are out on the field. The overall team range is pretty bad and the fielding is just average. The exception would be McCann at catcher but then, his arm is also dead. On the pitching side of things everything seems fine until you get to the HR/9# stat and see a whopping 0.61 for your effective innings and 0.62 overall. This team rated as my 2nd worst team, barely squeaking by the Indians franchise. I actually like this team better than they’re rated so we’ll see how it goes. Of course, we don’t have a Maddux either so, yeah, maybe this team doesn’t advance…but puts on a good show for the fans.
Overall Summary
Finally finished this! It took nearly two weeks but was an enjoyable experience. I wrote this from the perspective of before the season started but now we are 29 games in. Initially it felt like 4 or 5 teams would advance: Orioles, Phillies, Giants, Reds, and Dodgers. The other three would fall short. Currently I have 5 teams below .500, although 3 of them have 14-15 records. The 6 that are in contention are the Giants, Orioles, Reds, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies. My Braves team isn’t far off at 13-16. My Indians team is 8-21. Time to start running everyone elses teams to compare. Should be interesting to see how the season develops. I’m hoping to move 6 teams forward. I can’t believe my Indians team is as bad as the ratings said they were…
Thanks everyone for your patience during the draft and league filling. I know you all like to get started promptly and appreciate the opportunity to put in enough research to field a somewhat competitive team.
A special thanks to schwarze for continuing thejuice6 tourney legacy and having the patience and dedication to run such a tight running program. It’s tough to do and you are awesome at it!
Good luck everyone!