It's a slow draft coming

[Sharky]

You have a shot. And if not, you have some great pieces to deal to accelerate your rebuild. Solid position to be in.

[onejayhawk]

The season started with a pop as Garrett Cole went down for a long stretch and the SP generally cratered. Ronald Acuna followed him to the 60-day IL. Fortunately, Gunnar Henderson, Elly de la Cruz, and Wyatt Langford carried the offense while I scrambled for pitching, resulting in Spencer Schwellenbach and Ryne Nelson.

With Dylan Cease improving and the emergence of Paul Skenes, pitching stabilized just as the hitting turned south. I went through four WW 1B and was very lucky, snagging Xavier Edwards as a MI fill-in before he went ballistic. XE was the difference between making the playoffs and settling for a middle pick. Since I did not expect to be in the hunt with Acuna out, it's all good.

I made a few deadline trades, acquiring Anthony Munoz and Freddy Peralta, both with an eye to 2025. Other than that it has been all duct tape and prayer. Despite losing the last match-up to a worse team, I backed into the final playoff spot. We will see what happens.

Here is the current starting lineup:

C Logan O'Hoppe LAA - C
1B Nolan Schanuel LAA - 1B
2B Andrés Giménez CLE - 2B
3B Gunnar Henderson BAL - 3B,SS
SS Elly De La Cruz CIN - 3B,SS
CI Coby Mayo BAL - 3B
MI Jacob Wilson OAK - SS
OF Wyatt Langford TEX - OF
OF Luis Robert Jr. CWS - OF
OF Brandon Marsh PHI - OF
OF Trevor Larnach MIN - OF
Util Dylan Crews WSH - OF

SP Dylan Cease SD - SP
SP Paul Skenes PIT - SP
SP Gerrit Cole NYY - SP
SP Freddy Peralta MIL - SP
RP Jhoan Duran MIN - RP
RP Andrés Muñoz SEA - RP
RP Jeff Hoffman PHI - RP
P Ryne Nelson AZ - SP
P Porter Hodge CHC - SP,RP
P Gavin Williams CLE - SP

[onejayhawk]

Now that the playoffs have started, pickups are locked. So, I have a decent feel going into our next draft. The numbers are the effective round the player is taken, ie the cost of claiming the option.

C Logan O'Hoppe LAA - C (8)
1B
2B Xavier Edwards MIA - 2B,SS (w)
SS Gunnar Henderson BAL - 3B,SS (6)
3B Elly De La Cruz CIN - 3B,SS (9)
MI
CI Coby Mayo BAL - 3B (17)
OF Wyatt Langford TEX - OF (22)
OF Brandon Marsh PHI - OF (23)
OF Ronald Acuña Jr. ATL - OF (K)
OF Luis Robert Jr. CWS - OF (K)
Util Dylan Crews WSH - OF (11)

SP Dylan Cease SD - SP (9)
SP Gavin Williams CLE - SP (7)
SP Gerrit Cole NYY - SP (K)
SP Paul Skenes PIT - SP (12)
RP Andrés Muñoz SEA - RP (16)
RP
RP
P Spencer Schwellenbach ATL - SP (w)
P Ryne Nelson AZ - SP (w)

BN Freddy Peralta MIL - SP (5)
BN Chase DeLauter CLE - OF (18)
BN Christian Encarnacion-Strand CIN - 1B (w)
BN Deyvison De Los Santos AZ - 1B,3B (w)
BN Jackson Jobe DET - SP (24)
BN Roki Sasaki Japan - SP (25)
BN JJ Wetherholt Coll - IF (26)

The bad news is that options on Elly de la Cruz, Gunnar Henderson, Gavin Williams, Freddy Peralta (if I keep him), and Logan O'Hoppe will run out. Some hard choices are due in 2025. Andres Giminez will not be back, so a 2B is the top priority. I am hoping Christian Encarnacion-Strand is good to go at 1B, or that will be another scramble.

This was my reload/restock year. I have a ton of prospect talent. My best pitcher misses half the season. My best player missed 3/4 and is still out. Yet, I made the playoffs. Go figure.