57.14- Good Draft, Bad Draft

[chicoruiz]

Going into the draft, I resolved to focus on pitching and defense, two attributes sorely lacking in the Gamblers organization. Pitching in particular; my rookie-level pitching staff was comprised of exactly no pitchers with a movement rating above 4, and only one with a stuff rating above 5. I mean, there were probably fans in the stands who could do better than that. So I basically needed to rework the whole staff. How did I do? Well, let’s examine my draft haul by the good old method of “good cop, bad cop” (I missed this in this year’s media Guide, by the way). Anyway, let’s do this thing…

ROUND 1: JOHNNY LAZER, SS

Good Cop: Shortstops with this kind of glove seldom appear in the draft, and when they do, they don’t also have speed, home run power, and a high work ethic. A unicorn.
Bad Cop: Hey, if you want to spend the first overall pick on a hitter with a “6” contact rating… well, you do you, I guess.

ROUND 2: GLENN WILLIAMS, SP

Good Cop: He reminds me of Brian Whitford, who I took at #4 overall last year and who is working out quite nicely. No great strengths but above average across the board.
Bad Cop: He sure did get hurt a lot in high school. Just sayin…

ROUND 3: LENYA NIKUSHKIN, P

Good Cop: High movement, high control. I may start him off as an opener to make sure he gets his innings in this season.
Bad Cop: Meh, he’s a middle reliever with 6 stuff. Those guys are obtainable without using a high draft pick on one.

ROUND 4: KRESHNIK BIZI, SP

Good Cop: 8/6/6, with two plus pitches, a developing change-up and high work ethic. Potential back-of-the-rotation arm.
Bad Cop: Not the movement you’d want ideally. 1.45 WHIP in college ball this year.

ROUND 5: RICK PARSONS, SP

Good Cop: Similar to Bizi, except a tad bit older. Will start him at short A with a mid-season promotion possible.
Bad Cop: “Similar to Bizi” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement to me. His name is easier to pronounce, I guess…

ROUND 6: JEFFREY RISING, OF

Good Cop: 7/8/6/4/8, with a bit of speed and a good outfield arm. I’ll take that in round 6.
Bad Cop: Corner OFs really need to be elite offensive forces, and that’s not Jeffrey.

The rest of the draft was mostly pitching depth, with a few position players thrown in. There may be a sleeper in there somewhere in a class this deep. Of course, it will take a few seasons before I can tell when Good Cop was right, and when Bad Cop was. I just hope my big league team doesn’t drive me crazy before then…

[RonCo]

Very much like the plan. How it works is the rub.

FWIW, I was looking hard at Nikushkin, but my plan was opposite yours, really.

[BaseClogger]

Nikushkin and Bizi were both high up on my board when you took them. You couldn't do much better movement wise at that point in the draft unless you were willing to settle for 6 stuff.

[Dington]

Nice. Wasn't able to to Good Cop, Bad Cop this season, but hope to get it done for next media guide.