It's a slow draft coming

[onejayhawk]

The first two picks are Jose Altuve and Gleyber Torres.

I am currently on deck. Surprisingly, no pitchers taken yet.

Am I stuck taking the fish I threw back? is Verlander still worth this level?

Schwarber goes 3rd.

4th is a bizarre pick--Max Muncy

5th is Teo Hernandez

I am offering my pick but don't expect many nibbles.

[harmon]

Evan Carter for a bat.

[madducks]

Personally, I'm probably taking Verlander there. But, that requires a small leap of faith in a 41 year-old pitcher that most people can't take.

[onejayhawk]

Evan Carter for a bat.

Went just in front of me.

I went in another direction. I traded the pick for Masyn Winn + four seasons, ie with affordable options through 2028. Hopefully, he will be a usable MI this season.

Now I need to see what the resident Cardinals fan will offer for him.

Realmuto, Gorman, and Ketel Marte go.

Devin Williams goes. He would have been my pick had I not made the trade but I would not have been happy about it.

Edwin Diaz is next.

Verlander and Ian Happ gone.

[onejayhawk]

Picked. See below.

The two closers I would have taken went back to back.

I am looking at the 1B options. I could have kept Bohm with this pick. It looks like he might not make it back to me. I would not mind Hoskins but not yet. There are a few at the back end of the first 200--Vaughn, Abreu, Mountcastle, etc.--but this is not pretty.

Verlander is gone but there is a cluster of other SPs to consider--Bassitt, Sale, Montgomery, Rodon--but I was planning on riding Cole Cease, and Gavin Williams and fulling in with high-upside players like Pfaadt. Sale moving to Atlanta is interesting.

Who are the best available guys without regard to the roles--Swanson, Smith, Mullins, or maybe a RP?

What do you redraft guys think? 1B is the only real hole. I need depth everywhere.

[harmon]

Without regard to role/position then Will Smith, but....you have O'Hoppe in a 1C league.

I would take Hoskins. Nice landing spot in Milwaukee, I like him more than Bohm and I think you're playing with fire at what needs to be a productive position. Not worth waiting in my opinion.

[onejayhawk]

Cedric Mullin and Carlos Correa picked in front of me

I drafted Rhys Hoskins

Without regard to role/position then Will Smith, but....you have O'Hoppe in a 1C league.

I would take Hoskins. Nice landing spot in Milwaukee, I like him more than Bohm and I think you're playing with fire at what needs to be a productive position. Not worth waiting in my opinion.

This is pretty much my thoughts. It came down to Hoskins or the best available RP.

As you say, Milwaukee is a good landing spot. It's a low-key city and they have been looking for a bat for years. I had Tellez last year and received less than I paid. Rhys gives a fair BA, walks a ton, drives in runs, and scores a fair amount. What more do you want from a second/third tier 1B

Later--maybe 15-20 rounds from now--I want to get Hoskin's eventual replacement. Some names would be useful. One I have heard is Nolan Schanuel of the Angels. LHH, good BA, excellent OBA, poor power for a corner IF.

Will Smith and Alec Bohm go right after me. After three days of nothing much, things are moving.

[harmon]

Cedric Mullin and Carlos Correa picked in front of me

I drafted Rhys Hoskins


This is pretty much my thoughts. It came down to Hoskins or the best available RP.

As you say, Milwaukee is a good landing spot. It's a low-key city and they have been looking for a bat for years. I had Tellez last year and received less than I paid. Rhys gives a fair BA, walks a ton, drives in runs, and scores a fair amount. What more do you want from a second/third tier 1B

Later--maybe 15-20 rounds from now--I want to get Hoskin's eventual replacement. Some names would be useful. One I have heard is Nolan Schanuel of the Angels. LHH, good BA, excellent OBA, poor power for a corner IF.

Will Smith and Alec Bohm go right after me. After three days of nothing much, things are moving.

Michael Busch has been going far later than what makes any sense to me. 3B only to begin but will gain 1B early. I think he's a hell of a bargain.

[onejayhawk]

Michael Busch has been going far later than what makes any sense to me. 3B only to begin but will gain 1B early. I think he's a hell of a bargain.

Busch was kept. If he slipped in anywhere, that's my bad.

I traded my next pick for yet another young SS with option years remaining--Jeremy Pena with a Cheap option in 2025 and an expensive option in 2026.

This lets me play Gunnar and Elly at 3B and CI. Pena will be SS and Masyn Winn is still MI. I still need a 4th OF and a utility bat, but I can focus on pitching.

This is the top half of the draft:

Round 1*: Gerrit Cole NYY - SP (4)
Round 2*: Ronald Acuńa Jr. ATL - OF (4)
Round 3*: Luis Robert Jr. CWS - OF (4)
Round 4: Traded for Masyn Winn SS - StL (25)
Round 5: Rhys Hoskin MIL - 1B
Round 6: Ryan Pepiot TB - SP/RP
Round 7: Jhoan Duran MIN - RP (7)
Round 8:
Round 9: Andrés Giménez CLE - 2B,SS (9)
Round 10`: Gunnar Henderson BAL - 3B,SS (10)
Round 11`: Logan O'Hoppe LAA - C (207)
Round 12`: Gavin Williams CLE - SP (235)
Round 13`: Elly De La Cruz CIN - 3B,SS (13)
Round 14`: Dylan Cease CWS - SP (14)
Round 15`:

I now wait 22 picks.

[onejayhawk]

The player who offered the trade reneged on it. Rather than raise a stink, I agreed to return Pena for the pick. While it's two trades it adds up to none.

In a what-the-hell attitude, I decided to roll the dice and take Ryan Pepiot, hoping for a big step forward now that he's out of LA. It's at least a round too early but I did not want to risk waiting two rounds.

While we wait I will post the picks without comment.

Smith, Will LAD C
Bohm, Alec PHI 1B, 3B
Swanson, Dansby CHC SS
Jimenez, Eloy CWS UT
Phillips, Evan LAD P
Iglesias, Raisel ATL P
Sale, Chris ATL P
Martinez, J.D. LAD UT
Bassitt, Chris TOR P
Lee, Jung Hoo SF OF

Me: Ryan Pepiot TB - SP/RP

Brandon Nimmo, OF, NYM
Tanner Scott RP MIA
Ryan McMahon 2B-3B COL
Ryan Mountcastle 1B BAL
Lars Nootbar, OF StL
Andrew Vaughn, 1B, CWS
Shane Bieber CLE - SP
Jordan Montgomery SP
Cristian Javier SP HOU
Jose Berrios SP TOR
Cristopher Sanchez SP PHI
Yu Darvish, SP, SD
Willson Contreras, C, STL
Justin Turner, 1B,2B,3B, TOR
Eugenio Suarez 3B ARI
Kwan, Steven OF CLE
Luke Raley 1B, OF SEA
Matt Chapman TOR - 3B

The draft is finally in the same round as my pick. I'm 6th.

.

[onejayhawk]

Not counting the 3rd and 4th tier closers and Carlos Rodon, available players are in the 180-220 range. I will dangle the pick but I am leaning to Adames, if available, and Imanaga.

This is by ADP

Adames, Willy
Campusano, Luis
Nimmo, Brandon
Imanaga, Shota
Miller, Mason
Varsho, Daulton
Drury, Brandon
Marte, Starling
Giolito, Lucas

Comments?

[harmon]

Not counting the 3rd and 4th tier closers and Carlos Rodon, available players are in the 180-220 range. I will dangle the pick but I am leaning to Adames, if available, and Imanaga.

This is by ADP

Adames, Willy
Campusano, Luis
Nimmo, Brandon
Imanaga, Shota
Miller, Mason
Varsho, Daulton
Drury, Brandon
Marte, Starling
Giolito, Lucas

Comments?

Position wise you have lots of SS so would lean away from Adames. OF (or 2B) seems to be your area of most need. That would point to Nimmo or Marte if you're in a gambling mode. This year solid OF options disappear quickly.

For me Imanaga is the BPA. Some of his metrics were better than Yamamoto and he comes in 150 picks later. Should be a good situation for him with a regular rotation spot and a decent park/team and maybe motivated to prove he's more than an afterthought.

Rodon is boom or bust. When you have Cease and to a lesser degree Pepiot you're already carrying risk with your top starters. Having said that to win a 16 team league you have to get some massive values here and there and Rodon fits that mold if he's on.

I think Campusano is an intriguing sleeper C. Strong minor league track record that carried over to his MLB year. Salas is another year off so he's the man this year. Is it too early to go for another C? How many UT spots do you have?

Who are the top remaining closers? Miller could shine but there's already talk of a committee. Splitting the A's saves doesn't seem like a good bet.

[onejayhawk]

Here's the board as of this morning, listed by ADP.

Jansen, Kenley
Rodon, Carlos
Robert Stephenson
Leclerc, Jose

I'm resigned to taking the top name.

Here is the day's activity. I'm on deck

Luis Campusano, SD, C
Carlos Rodón SP NYY
Clay Holmes NYY - RP
Craig Kimbrel RP BAL
Lucas Giolito, SP BOS

Unless he goes now, I'll take Stephenson and hope the Angels don't ruin him.

Scherzer goes in front of me so I took Stephenson and crossed my fingers.

Now I have a 30-pick wait. We will transition from mostly redraft evaluations into significant dynasty considerations.

[harmon]

Who is the top OF available?

[onejayhawk]

Me: Robert Stephenson, RP LAA

Brandon Drury, 1B, 2B, LAA
Giancarlo Stanton OF NYY
Tyler Stephenson C CIN
Gavin Lux 2B,OF LAD
Jose Leclerc, RP, TEX
Jorge Polanco 2B/3B SEA
Adames, Willy SS MIL
Jeff McNeil, 2B, NYM
Taylor Ward, OF, LAA
Shota Imanaga, SP, CHC
Kyle Harrison, SP, SF
Jansen, Kenley RP BOS
Triston McKenzie SP CLE
Alek Manoah SP TOR
Buxton, Byron Util MIN
Tyler O'Neill, OF, BOS
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. OF ARI
Emmet Sheehan SP LAD
Charlie Morton, SP, ATL
Kris Bryant 1B/OF COL

A lot of movement on Friday. We are now in the WW rounds which means that the Inflation will be recaptured.

OF is looking better. Nimmo, Varsho, S Marte, Henry Davis. Then a gap and Valazquez, Kepler, Meadows, etc

Shane McClanahan, SP, TB
Jacob deGrom SP TEX
Brandon Lowe 2b TB
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, NYY
Jose Abreu, 1B, HOU
Colt Keith, 2B, 3B, DET
Ryan Pressly, RP, HOU
Matt Wallner OF MIN
Jake Fraley OF CIN
Anderson, Tim SS CWS