Ron Blogs the Draft

[elligator]

Sounds like they are slotted more or less by when picked, but they can have different greed factors.

Thanks for that, Markus...why do we have that on?

I like it personally. So I'm glad we're trying it out. If it's a total cluster-f*ck, we can always get rid of it for future years. I'll back up the league as insurance in case it proves to be a disaster.

[elligator]

Interestingly, Seattle takes Boxcar, as was predicted may happen. He's a phenomenal pitchers, but will only two pitches and his endurance be enough to have him be an effective starter? Or that may not be Seattle's intention.

[ronzonie7]

Really ballsy move by Seattle to take Boxcar. Looking them over, I really thought they'd go offense, but now they have invested really heavily in a guy who will be watched by a lot of owners...He has 6 inning stamina, but only two pitches. What do the Storm do? Send him to AAA for some seasoning/see if he learns a third pitch? Throw him right into the bullpen in the big leagues? I have to say, the people picking 4-7 have to be pleased at the events so far this draft. I think you could argue that they will score potentially #2/#3 type talent, up to at least that point. This is a very top heavy draft, though...I'm thinking Round 2 won't have much firepower, once we get to the middle of the round.

[drbowden]

I was torn between him and several starters. If anyone has followed my team, I have tremendous offensive numbers but horrible pitching numbers, especially relief, where my team has blown like 10 games. While my team has a lot of young pitchers on the way (mostly starters), I found that while there are lots of RP in this league, most of them are all about the same. Not sure what would be available in FA after the season, so, it was too hard to pass up someone who is decent now but also has some upside.

[elligator]

Yeah, I am thrilled with the development so far. I have three guys on my hit list, although I expect one will go to Lyons.

[ronzonie7]

Up next are the Atlantic City Not-Vegases. Whoever Lyons picks won't be seen again for 10 seasons. I think if he drafted Daniel Labrie, OOTP would break when he tried to put him in A ball.

[mad0die]

If he drafts Labrie I'm predicting he submits a suggestion for a rookie league.

[drbowden]

are we following MLB rules regarding no trading recent draftees?

[braveheart]

went with pitching - as usual, I have plenty of bats - and chose Bacher over MArtini. Both seem good, but Bacher seems like a surer thing. 4th pick, need the sure thing. No gambles.

Gates should be happy thou, he gets the first guy on his list.

[mad0die]

are we following MLB rules regarding no trading recent draftees?

We never did before.

[elligator]

went with pitching - as usual, I have plenty of bats - and chose Bacher over MArtini. Both seem good, but Bacher seems like a surer thing. 4th pick, need the sure thing. No gambles.

Gates should be happy thou, he gets the first guy on his list.

Actually, you took the guy I wanted!

The list I have up was to test something out on the admin side, not that I actually want the players in that order. I'm definitely between Martini and Cricket. I can't justify Labrie, his poor work ethic and low intelligence scare me. It makes me think I'd be drafting Dave Magadan, especially with that slowness, and lack of fielding ability.

Cricket is stacked, but has a long way to go to realize his vast potential. Martini likewise could be a beast, but he too has a long way to go and 4 less years to do it. Ugh. Tough call. I already have some fantastic middle infielders in Bellairs and Kengos, but can I pass up Puckett?

[Afino]

Trade me the pick, make things easier.

[elligator]

I went back and forth for a long time. I need pitching more, but Walsh isn't a sure thing, while Cricket is arguably the best player in the draft.

[recte44]

Drafting via Statslab with bonuses on is leaving a big piece of the puzzle unavailable - player bonus demands.

I've PM'd the StatsLab guy to put this into his official 11 version.

[pedersenkirk]

Picked. Sorry about the delay, I was researching. 'Dads are up.

[ronzonie7]

A man's got to sleep, but a draft ain't got to quit. We had a few picks after I left off yesterday...to recap so far:

Buffalo Bison - Cletus Bullrush, Jr.
Greenville Moonshiners - Roman Empire
Seattle Storm - Marvin Lewis
Atlantic City Gamblers - Lucas Bacher
Madison Wolves - Charles Puckett
Baltimore Monarchs - Daniel Labrie
Vancouver Mounties - Ben Walsh

So, Lyons ended up going with Bacher, who I really think was the best second choice at pitcher in the draft...That's #2 pick value at #4. Madison fell into Puckett, who was arguably the second best hitter on the board (raw talent). Again, I think they got great value here at #5. Their war room probably went crazy at the notion. Baltimore takes on Labrie, who saw his stock rise, then fall...it rose on his out of the box hitting abilities, but Dave Magadan comparisons (which have merit) killed his shot at a Top-5 paycheck. Baltimore has to choose now whether to let him season for a bit, or go ahead and get him in the lineup. He could hit .320/.375/.425 right now, I think. Finally, we had Vancouver go with Ben Walsh. Because of Walsh's lower control talent, he drops to the #7 slot. That said, I think he could be the steal of the first round. Those three pitches are just lights out, and assuming OOTP11 works like the last version, his stuff is going to go up, up, up. STUFF = SUCCESS in OOTP. One of the first lessons learned. Let's hope, for Kirk's sake, that he doesn't lump. Actually, fuck Kirk. I hope that guy lumps to hell.

Now things start to get interesting. The Not-Kopra Crawdads are on the clock. I have yet to look at their needs, but if it's offense, there are three 10 contact hitters on the board and three 9 contact hitters...two of which are catchers! Pitching wise, you'd think it'd be a stretch to take the top talent, a MR, off the board. Ginn or Yoder, however, should be on the radar in the next few picks. I'll take a look at NO's situation, and see if there might be a leaning one way or the other, in the needs department.

[ronzonie7]

New Orleans is (currently) a really bad team. But holy cow, they have some bats in the minors! There are three 10's, 2 9's, and an 8 in the contact department. They have a 10, 2 9's, and an 8 in power. A 10, 2 9's and an 8 in Eye. And, generally speaking, their top prospects play defense. In short, these guys have offense coming through the pipeline! The cupboard is not bare in the pitching category, with a lot of guys who look around the same...control oriented pitchers who won't rack up big K numbers.

So, what do they do in the draft? Matias Ferrero and Conner Keely are in the minors at catcher, and they have freaking Champ Kind in the bigs...if anything, they have too much Catcher depth in a league with no DH. If I were them, I'd take a hard look at Johnny 'Zombie' Ginn. He's not the highest, in terms of stars, on the board...but targeting a need might make more sense for this club, at their current stage of development.

[mad0die]

Do we have a NO owner? Wasn't that the team we weren't getting exports for?

[elligator]

They did export the last sim, but to this point have not exported this sim.

[elligator]

N.O. autopicks closer Baeza
Omaha picks SP Ginn
Las Vegas picks SS Noboru
Phoenix picks SS Morales