NY WINS WORLD SERIES

The NY Mugger Funk beat the Atlanta Braves to capture their 2nd World Series Trophy.

They pulled off a sweep, but each game was close. Game one the tying run was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Game two was a two run game up until the bottom of the eighth inning, Game three was 3-1 going into the eighth inning, and the final game went into extra innings.


Vin Burks gets the MVP, not just for his great job in the World series, but for going 4-0 with 0.95 ERA in the playoffs.

Internationals

AL South

Little Rock Boulders- ($18.25m/year) Arte’s ML team has only one IFA, Ruben Dali, who signed in season 4. Since then, Arte has continuously cut funding to this endeavor, which has shown in the quality of prospect he has signed. See Hector Rodriguez, Brian Wanatabe, and Al Guerrero as evidence of the reductio in quality prospects. So then it isn’t particularly condemning or unfair to give out an F grade here.

Texas Black Socks- ($27.5m/year) noccolo has clearly increased his focus on IFAs simply based on his spending pattern, but it is only now beginning to pay dividends. Pat Zhang is a nice pick up out of Japan who will put up good numbers in the Bigs. Beyond him, Texas has netted some guys who could fill out their bullpen, with Carlos Colon and Delino Castillo. Will give a grade of C here to a team with 4 IFAs on the ML club.

Memphis Elvi- ($16m/year) mh17 has never put a whole lot of investment into signing IFAs. In fact, the largest signing bonus a prospect received was 1.3 million to Al Garrido. Other players who’ve been signed include Bartolo Gonzalez, Manuel Lopez, and Lou Roundtree. Still, an increased amount allotted to int’l scouting seems to hint that mh17 may soon become a player on the IFA market. But still for now, an F grade, noting that 2 IFAs at the big league level.

Nashville Hound Dogs- ($18m/year) This is another franchise that has never spent a lot towards getting top end IFAs, but as a result of an extra large prospect budget this past season, psanders84 landed Sammy Martin, who I see topping out as a #2/#3 starter, only because he isn’t great with righties. Beyond him there is Harry Alvarado, who ought to break through to the ML level because of his great defense with a below average bat. The only other player that’s been signed is Bernie Garces. Nashville has 3 IFAs at the show, and a grade here of C.

International Prospect Analysis

NL North

Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers- ($16.5m/year) As the proud owner of this franchise, I can say that a great job with IFAs in seasons 2 and 3 is fueling this team currently, with the inexpensive additions of Louie Alvarado, Jesus Perez, and Willie Pena. But since then the team has made only one signing that I feel is worth mentioning in Torey Brito, who may platoon at first in Cleveland with Antonio Maduro. Cleveland has only the three aforementioned IFAs on the ML roster, and earns a grade of C-.

Toronto Storks- ($28.75m/year) In his first six seasons, barjaz only dabbled in the international market, but in the last two seasons Toronto has placed a new focus on IFAs. The fruits of this labor are three big time signings. The first is Jimmie Gabriel, who I see as a solid number three starter. The second is Jimmie Astacio, who could be a superb closer, but may better serve the team as a long reliever or setup type so that he can get many more innings than simply closing would allow. Last is Hector Guzman, who cannot produce like Yamid Sierra has, but should still get on base well. 3 IFAs on the team currently, and the highest grade I’ve given thus far, an A-.

Boise Falcons- ($34.25m/year) hurricane384, like douglasdao, simply hasn’t been able to hit any homeruns on the IFA market, repeatedly transferring money out of his prospect budget as a result of nothing coming along. Boise has not signed any prospects that demanded a signing bonus greater than five million(Louie Fernandez). An example of what has been typical for this franchise are signings like Juan Montanez, Edgar Estalella, and Ugueth Martin, all of whom have the potential to help out the ML club, but none of whom I would consider to be late-first/early-second round talent. 2 IFAs on the current roster, and a C- grade.

Augusta Mainiacs- ($26.75m/year) Augusta has been relatively quiet on the IFA front, signing only two players. One of those two, Sammy Blasco, should be a super sub for this team, with the ability to play every position and ridiculous speed. The other one was one of the top two signings of season 6 in Eduardo Merced, who represents the elusive plus defender at short who can also rake. The ML team has 3 IFAs, and a grade of B for getting lucky in season 6.

Various Information

Just some miscellaneous information that I find interesting that I feel like posting...

This first category is the franchise that has drafted players making up the highest percentage of players in their system...
1. Minnesota (78.3%)
2. Wichita (75.0%)
3. Arizona (71.7%)

The least...
30. Las Vegas (49.4%)
31. Houston (48.9%)
32. Sacramento (42.4%)

The second category is the franchise that has internationals making up the highest percentage of players in their system...
1. Las Vegas (30.8%)
2. Boise (28.9%)
3. Atlanta (27.7%)

The least...
30. Augusta (5.8%)
31. Nashville (5.6%)
32. Minnesota (4.3%)

Oldest ML team
Anaheim - 31.7 yrs old
Youngest ML team
Bosie - 24.4 yrs old

Most expensive per player
Vancouver - $3.7M
Least expensive per player
Boise - $545K

International Signings Review

AL North

Minnesota St. Paul Sots- ($7.63m/year) Daggers actually spent nothing on international scouting in season 8. Not sure if he still gets mail from his four international scouts, and if so where they go to look for talent. The franchise has made five signings in four seasons, a group of uninspiring players who shouldn’t top out above AA, led by relief pitcher Jesus Martin. The most expensive signing was his cousin, Benny Martin, at $2.5 million. Minnesota has no internationals on the big league club, and a D grade here, because there is at least an effort to minimize wasteful spending.

Chicago Knights- ($17.5m/year) katauska really doesn’t have the prospect budget to be pursuing top tier internationals, but of his five signings, there are two noteworthy relief pitchers signed. The good one is Antonio Kim, who signed for $5.7 million in season 5 and has potential to be a closer, and the bad one is Andres Ramirez, who has enough stuff to break in on the ML roster if he reaches projections. Damaso Estrada is the only foreign born player on the ML roster for the knights, and a C grade.

Dover Gophers- ($23.25m/year) badhame7 has realized the impact potential of international free agent signings, increasing the budget in this area every season he has owned the team. Season 6 saw the addition of a nice relief pitcher for $2.5 million in Edgar Elcano. Season 7 included the addition of a great defensive catcher in Delino Sanchez for $3.6, who may not be as useful going forward given today’s update. Then finally season 8 saw a coronation to this new commitment to IFAs in the $10 million dollar signing of Vic Suarez, who will lead off for this team for many seasons to come. Dover currently has 3 IFAs on the ML club, and a grade of B-, but expect more to come.

Milwaukee Gurus- ($54m/year) douglasdao has been incredibly aggressive pursuing IFAs for five or six seasons, with nearly 30% of his budget going towards this pursuit. To be honest it is a tough grade to give, as he has gotten some great talent, but it has been a little bit like driving a hummer when gas is $4.30 a gallon; inefficient. Still, he has added the back of the future rotation (Clayton Serrano, Enrique Mendoza, Ruben Lucano), a great hitting catcher and his defensive minded platoon-mate (Orlando Amaral and David Sardinha), and an average SS/CF (Rolando Castro). So then, as for a grade, I can’t give this franchise higher than a B+; take it as a sign of the luck that is required in the IFA process. The ML club has 5 internationals currently.

Where Are They Now? Season 2

Time now for another installment of "Where Are They Now?"

Bonk Linton– Majors (Vancouver Shrugging Atlases)
#1 – Honolulu Volcanoes (RF)
855 G
.297 BA
.381 OBP
.561 SLG
213 HR, 646 RBI, 98/158 SB.
RF - .981 FLDG%, 25 A, 20 E, 5 +, 1 - in 768 G

Brant Stevenson– Majors (Little Rock Boulders)
#2 – Tucson Mad Jesters (P)
148 G/143 GS
5.21 ERA
1.49 WHIP
640 K
47 – 55, 8 CG
872-2/3 IP

Felipe Rodriguez– Majors (Vancouver Shrugging Atlases)
#3 – Nashville Sounds (2B)
442 G
.303 BA
.380 OBP
.573 SLG
524 H, 100 HR, 415 R, 141/167 SB
2B - .986 Fldg%, 28 E, 2 + plays, 7 – plays – 386 G

Sherman Woods – Not Signed
#4 – Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers (2B)

Bob Thompson– Majors (Salem mad monks)
#5 – Colorado mad monks (P)
84 G/84 GS
4.46 ERA
1.40 WHIP
541-1/3 IP
39 – 31

First, an example of the kind of talent that has not been coming down the pipeline in our world, but has been in others- Pedro Seneca (not sure if it shows projections, but 97 ovr, with 84/89/94/100/92 for dur/ctr/vL/vR/velocity)

NL East

Hartford Harpoons- ($17.75m/year) Hartford has only 5 IFAs who signed for 600K plus in the period under investigation, including one big impact player and two guys who can add some depth. That impact player is Albie Torres, the most expensive signing in Morgan in season 5 at $12.8 million, and sports an ERA that is not reflective of how well he has pitched. And while it’s tough to break through on a good team like Hartford, William Lim and Vin Matos, both season six signees, will add depth to the ML squad. Hartford has three internationals on the ML roster, and a grade of B-, for the good of seasons 5 and 6 and the bad in seasons 7 and 8.

New York Metropolitans- ($18.5m/year) New owner ajf00529 has not focused on the international scene, and previous owners have been scatterbrained in this area as well. If Tony Blanco can work through his control problems and Alex Martinez can work through his control problems these two can contribute at the ML level. Beyond them, there isn’t much here. Alex Villano is ajf’s only signing, a nice defensive pick up for just $670K. There is only one international on the Met’s ML team currently, and a grade here of C-.

Wichita Twisters- ($14.25m/year) Of the first eight teams Wichita has spent the least. To be perfectly candid I believe that peteskin would be well served by investing more money into college and int’l scouting. That said, all three int’l signings have been solid. Orlando Candelaria is a solid switch-hitter, Felipe Ortiz will get on base, and Diego Santana posted a .847 ops in his cup of tea with the ML club this season. So, in spite of my criticism, a B- grade for a team with 3 internationals on the ML club.

San Juan Jumping Beans- ($32.13m/year) The biggest spender of teams looked at thus far, San Juan has signed five players with signing bonuses greater than $5 million. I am of the opinion that the two season five signees were misses, in Santiago Barcelo and Sammy Rodriguez, but beyond that there is some real talent. Enrique Mercedes and Tino Lee are both nice back of the rotation pitchers in that they lack stamina, Hiram Whang had a great glove, and Jose Soto is a nice catching prospect. Still, I get the feeling that San Juan has been jockeying to get in position for that HoF talent that simply hasn’t come along in our world. They have accumulated 6 internationals onto the ML roster, and I would give a grade here of B-. It’s the same grade as less talented Wichita and Hartford earned, but jarazix has been spending twice as much and it has not amounted to a vast difference in talent. As he won a WS, I don’t feel guilty saying this.

International Signings Review

Alright, I’m going to begin doing a review of international free agent signings. So, as before, I’ll begin by defining my methodology: First, this will be a review of seasons 5-8 only. Next, I’m going to stick to reviewing players who received a signing bonus of/greater than 600K, which is slot money for a player taken with the last pick of the first round of the amateur draft. Third, like with the prospect reviews, I’ll go one division at a time. Fourth, I will include a team’s budget in international scouting and prospects (counting one million for every two transferred out, two million for every one million transferred in, and then subtracting 6 million for spending on amatuers). Then grades will be given based on potential added ML impact and depth against money spent. Also, while the numbers are easily found in the franchise rankings tab, I will list the number of IFAs on each franchise’s ML team, which wont be considered in grading. I expect these grades to be unrefined, arbitrary, and maybe unfair; but whatever, because everyone likes seeing an actual grade. Last, I want to remind the group that our world, compared to others, has had some abysmal IFA classes of late.

AL East

Indianapolis Hoosierdaddies- ($27m/year) Fourteen players signed over the four year period, including four catchers and seven pitchers. Joaquin Pascual was the most expensive signing, and is already contributing at the ML level, but his numbers aren’t great. Rafael Merced could turn into a nice ML catcher, and two other catchers, who aren’t great at catching, wield ML bats, in Tomas Alarcon and Felipe Martinez. Currently 4 IFAs on the ML roster and a grade here of C.

Huntington Herd- ($24.75m/year) Three times spent over five million on a signing bonuses, with ten total IFAs, by my count. Those three are David Ramirez, Jimmie Lee, and Rico Delgado. Lee and Delgado both offer two or three tools at the ML level if they reach projections, and Ramirez will be a great bullpen arm, a bullpen which may be constructed with three or four other IFAs. Currently there are 3 IFA’s for Huntington at the ML level, and a grade here of C+.

Florida Phoenix- ($28m/year) Before chazzzzzzzz took over there was almost no focus on international signings. Al Vazquez, Florida’s most expensive signing, is going to be an average ML player at best (in this author’s opinion), but beyond him there are a few things to like, such as Geronimo Beltran’s bat and eye, Pedro Berroa can be a closer, and Albert Pena has gold glove range with a decent enough bat. Has 4 IFA’s at the ML level, and a grade of B for some savvy pick-ups.

New York Mugger Funk- ($17.75m/year) Three key components to the Mugger Funk’s current success are IFA’s from seasons 1-4, in Esteban Montanez, Del Mercedes, and Alex Gutierrez. But despite these signings paying dividends, NY has turned away from a focus on international signings. In fact, in four seasons they have signed just four players, and only one worth mentioning, Ruben Pizzaro. He brought in a $5.8 million dollar bonus, but even then Pizzaro is no lock for the majors. NY has four IFAs at the ML level, but a D for money being inefficiently spent.

S8 Playoff Team Rankings

	Pitching	Hitting	ML Salary
Augusta	4	6	$54M
Cleveland	5	12	$64M
Hartford	8	3	$76M
Atlanta	6	4	$64M
Houston	14	5	$77M
Arizona	16	2	$74M
Minnesota	10	11	$84M
NY	3	7	$100M
Little Rock	9	15	$90M
Memphis	12	24	$86M
Vancouver	1	1	$94M
Sacramento	11	10	$77M

S8 Draft Review (teams M-W)

Memphis – With pick #22 Memphis picked Carl Osborne. He’s a raw player at 18, and he might be 4-5 seasons away from contributing but he looks like a very good leadoff hitter. What I like about him as a leadoff hitter is not just his speed, but he’s a switch hitter and has 90+ rating at both durability and health. So he could be a 650 AB per season kind of guy.

2nd round pick Kip Haynes has a solid bat, but his glove is not good at all. If he can only play 1B his bat is below average for a 1B. He probably would steal more bases than any other 1B though.

Milwaukee – This team has certainly invested in the future. Spending over $5M each on the their first two picks and another $1.5M on a third rounder. Everett Sanders is a SS, with a good bat. That would be a very good bat if he can stay at SS. His range isn’t ideal, but his other defensive ratings are SS quality.

Interestingly enough 45 picks later they got almost an identical player in Jeremy Bird. His bat is just a hair lighter than Sanders, but still ML quality. Obviously his signability was a factor in him dropping as he got $5.5M for being the #52 pick. With him signing it looks like a good gamble, I suspect Bird would have gotten more on the IFA market.

I’m not usually a fan of a team first two picks being the same position, but two SS or two SPs are usually valuable enough and versatile enough to be exempt from that.

Minnesota - Walter Reith looks to me like one of the stars of the draft. To get a legit star SP to fall to a team at #18 is just amazing. Maybe my scouting has overrated him, but to me he looks like a pitcher with 4 pitches all projecting over 60, good L/R splits, pin-point control, and ideal STA/DUR combination to pitch 220-240 innings per season. Add very good health along with good enough makeup and he has the look of a SP that will anchor a team. I do have one concern about him though, and it surprises me. He is really get shelled on the mound. 1.75 WHIP and 6.00 ERA are scary numbers to post against rookie hitters over 15 games.

Roger Dillon was their second round pick. I’m a little torn on whether this guy becomes a solid producer at the ML level. His contact rating is amazing, and in my opinion they tweaked the sim a bit and contact rating has more effect than it used to have. His splits are good, but his BE and power ratings are low. If his glove work is good enough to play 2B in the majors then I think he’s a good pick, if he can’t make it as a 2B and has to move to the outfield his bat will be considered a little light.

3rd round pick Tom Buckley looks like a backup SS or platoon against LH pitchers.

Monterrey – This is one of those teams that has not seen much success at the ML level, but keeps drafting stars and soon enough they are going to be fielding a powerful team. Todd Russell is a top of the line SP. He should give them about 210 quality innings. He also could have two pitches rated 90+, which is something no SP in this league currently has. Very interesting pitcher and he should do well.

Hideki Dong is also a very good pick at #50. He projects to a quality CF/2B and his bat is very strong, reminds me of Kiki Lopez.

Anthony Bruske is a speedster that might make it as a 24th or 25th guy on the roster.


Nashville – With the 9th pick in the draft, Nashville picked up a 4 star player in Zeus Affeldt who offensively compares well to Rafael Cedeno, but with a better health rating. On the negative side Zeus is an atrocious bunter, but that really shouldn’t keep him from being a MVP ballot type guy.

CF Ryan Kent was chosen at #54 and he should be able to make it to the majors one day.
SS Bill Sanford is a 3rd rounder that looks to fill the backup SS role. If called upon he could probably fill a starting SS role without killing a lineup with his bat. Overall a good pick for #86. Then their next pick James Glynn seems to fill a very similar role as a 2B instead of SS.

New York- NL If I’m not mistaken Kennie Hentgen is the first player from the S8 draft to make it to the big leagues. He was the eighth pick, but outside of Tacoma IF Les Park, Kennie was probably the most ready to play in the big leagues of any player in the draft. While he was the most ML ready of any player, his ceiling isn’t particularly high. I really don’t think the early promotion hurt his chances of developing his bat; he actually already looks pretty close to his projections in that area. His glove certainly needed some improvement, and is no where close enough to having a SS quality glove now or in the future. Good player, but I don’t think he’s all-star material.

New York – AL The Funk took a gamble taking SS Neal Rose in the first round. He projects to being a great SS with a great bat. But the gamble is his truly awful health rating and a durability rating that for now is 40. This has already bit the Funk in the arse when Rose found himself on the 60 day DL. I think Neal Rose will eventually make the majors (but probably not as a SS) and could even have a number of productive seasons, unfortunately I think he will be one of those “if only he had stayed healthy” kind of guys when you look back at his career

R.J. Washington looks like a speedy leadoff type COF.

Ted Moore could find himself as a defensive replacement type MIF, but his bat isn’t strong enough to be a full type starter at the ML level.

Sacramento – They had 3 picks between #29 and #42, and a total of 8 picks in the first five rounds. Dante Bradley is a switch hitting slugger in the mold of current Sacramento all-star Benj Clark. Dante is a DH/1B type of guy, and his average could get affected by the fact strong armed outfielders should be able to throw him out at first base with his 0 speed and 11 base running ratings. There is no denying he is an impact bat and should do well for them.
At pick #36 they got a gold glove type catcher in Alex Cervantes. He is stellar behind the plate, but his great 99 durability rating is somewhat offset by the fact he would really need to be platooned against LH pitchers.

Osvaldo Martin was picked at #42, he’s a quality RP that I’m sure would have gone much higher if he didn’t have such low DUR/STA. He’ll probably only be able to give 40 IPs a year at most. I think this was the perfect spot for him because Sacramento could “blow” a first round pick on 40 IPs a year as it had two other first rounders, and as a playoff fixture a guy like this gets even more valuable come the post-season with the extra days of rest.

If given a choice Sacramento always go for the guy with power, 2nd round pick is a 2B/COF Roger Webster that chicks dig because the long ball. Ditto for Sandy Stairs.

Salem – Picking 17th they grabbed SP Roger Darnell. Roger is a dichotomy of pitching extremes, my scouts see his L/R splits as projecting to more than 30 point difference. Then he has 2 pitches that project to at least upper 80s and 90s, and then three pitches that project to 40s, 30s, and 20s. It will be interesting to see what his career ends up looking like. So far he has a tough go of it in Lo-A.

Interestingly enough they grabbed another SP in round 2 Rollie Bale, he doesn’t have Darnell’s upside, but his low ratings are not as low either. Looks like a LRA type guy at the major league level.

Norberto Baerga in the 4th round looks like a solid backup type catcher player. Neither catching nor hitting skills blow you away, but they should be acceptable enough to rest starters without worrying to much.

San Juan – Picking 24th after winning a world series in Boston, San Juan chose IF Bill Lowe. If it were not for his sub-par range he would be a SS, as it is he probably ends up playing spectacular defense at 3B at the ML level. He’s got a solid bat, and his durability, health, and makeup are good. I see him very much like a LH version of Stan Easley.

When looking at their second round pick Edgardo Nunez its hard not to compare him to their first round pick. He’s not quite as good, but similar in many ways.

In the third round they got RP Michael Robbins, who has a shot as a Setup B type guy.

Tacoma – With the third pick in the draft Tacoma picked up Les Weber. I certainly think he was deserving of such a high slot. He was drafted as a SS, but I’m not sure he really projects to that at the major league level. Maybe if he was a 18 years old his glove would progress, but he’s already 22 and his glove rating is 56. The truth is he is probably can’t sit in the minor waiting for his glove to develop because his bat is just too good, he could hold his own in the majors today (not that I wouldn’t suggest giving him some time in the minors to progress more.) Many SS I penalize in reviewing when they look like they just won’t be able be able to make it to ML standards defense ratings. If you can play a good gloved SS that has offensive ratings that are all around 60 then he is ahead what the rest of the teams can put on the field. But once he moves over to a less demanding defensive position the bar moves up on what is considered good batter ratings. Les Weber you could play at first base and he still would be ahead of most teams, any defense you get from him is gravy. I wouldn’t call him the best bat taken in the draft, but I think he has the best bat/glove combination.

At pick #48 they go SP Alex Guerrero. He’s not a bad choice and was probably one of the best SPs available at this point in the draft, but we’ll have to see if he pans out and makes it as a major leaguer. Same goes for third round pick Andrew West.

Daniel Daly is not better than either of their first two SP picks, but for being a fifth rounder I think he has the best shot of any 5th SP of making the majors.

Texas – At my initial glance at first round pick Paxton Thompson I was a little disappointed. He would definitely be on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of defensive ability if he plays 2B. Then his L/R splits are in the 60s. That’s good, but doesn’t blow me away for being the 12th pick in the draft. But when you dig a little deeper you see some of those ratings that make a good player great. His contact and power are obviously great, along with his very good batting eye. His health and durability ratings are superb, that probably bumps him up 50-75 ABs per season. He has good base running skills so he gets you some SBs – he really is a complete player. Ideally I think if things go right for him he could be a Derrick Flynn type guy, which I’m sure would be fine with Texas.

They got another good player in the second round, Hub Walton is a COF with a very nice bat. Of course good bats in the second round always have a wart, and his has to be his health rating.

Kent Dykhoff has a look of a utility type guy that makes the team as a decent backup.

Toronto – With the 20th pick in the draft Toronto selected rubber armed SP Angel House. He has the ability to easily throw 240 innings fully rested. The question is do they want him out there that much. He has very good control, decent splits, his pitch ratings worry me a bit. One pitch over 80 and three pitches that might not make it to 40 could make it rough on him.

There second round pick is similar, Brett Dixon can throw a ton of inning, but how effective will he be at the ML level. He has done well so far in the minors.

I really like their 4th round choice in Wilt Swann. He’s no all-star, but for a 4th round pick he is very good. He has one of the best gloves in the draft, and honestly his bat isn’t that bad. He might only his .210, but with that glove some teams could decide to play him.

Vancouver – with the 32nd pick in the draft Vancouver picked Glenn Nixon. He’s got great “stuff” and has had an excellent rookie campaign, but he is not without flaws. He has yet to pitch into the 5th inning as a starter this season. He might be able to be a spot starter one day, but the truth is he is probably a long relief type guy with his less than ideal STA/DUR.

After that Vancouver drafted numerous HOF potential guys – sadly due to a international scout eagerness to impress the owner he oversold IFA Guillermo Roque as a future all-star, they blew their budget and did not sign any players picked from the supplemental round to round 23.

Wichita – The 4th pick in the draft was James Chen, who is a capable SP. He’s got good control and nice splits. Three pitches for an SP in this game always worry me a bit, particularly when none are really dominating and one is poor.

I like their 3rd round pick Angel Dawkins He has a potential to get his stamina in the upper 20s to low 30s, and a durability of 95+. Decent splits and a couple of good pitches means he can really anchor a bullpen so you don’t have to throw any tired pitchers out there. Reminds me of a Tom Waterson type guy that could give you 75-100 innings of relief.

Where Are They Now?

TOP 5 Season 1 Draft Picks
Vicente Garza – Majors (Austin)
#1 – Austin Wranglers (SS)
494 G
.304 BA
.372 OBP
.483 SLG
54 HR, 284 RBI, 147 2B, 370 R, 108/143 SB.
SS - .956 FLDG%, 48 E, 1 +, 16 - in 186 G
CF - .975 Fldg%, 20 E, 7 +, 24 -, in 261

Lenny Affeldt – Majors (New York Mugger Funk)
#2 – New York Real Koser Deli (P)
183 G
4.84 ERA
1.37 WHIP
78 – 60, 26 CG
1,186 IP

Ken Jefferies – Majors (New York Mugger Funk)
#3 – St. Louis Destroyers (SS)
833 G
.303 BA
.367 OBP
.528 SLG
162 HR, 664 RBI, 201 2B,
SS - .927 Fldg%, 63 E, 0(+), 4(-) – 177 G
CF - .971 Fldg%, 22 E, 2(+), 16(-) – 237 G
2B - .986 Fldg%, 14 E, 2(+), 1(-) – 176 G
RF - .984 Fldg%, 4 E, 4(+), 0(-) – 187 G

Walt Hayes – OOB
#4 – Chicago Knights (P)

Glenn Kubenka – Majors (Memphis Elvi)
#5 – Memphis Elvi (2B)
833 G
.307 BA
.370 OBP
.574 SLG
190 HR, 651 RBI, 739 R, 266 2B, 142/223 SB
2B - .983 Fldg%, 70 E, 11(+), 13(-) – 681 G

S8 Draft Review (Teams A through L)

To make the comparison’s go easier I’m using a simple star system to refer to prospects.

4 star prospects are sure thing prospects, perennial all-stars, potential HOF type guys. I usually would expect only 1 or 2 guys in a draft could get this.
3 star prospects are stud players that you would expect to make an all-star appearance. Usually all round very good ratings, or great ratings combined with a flaw
2 star prospects solid ML players that should be solid contributors.
1 star prospects will probably be ML players, but not exactly impact guys.

By the way this year my advance scouting is lower than in the past – so you might completely disagree about opinion, just going by what my scouts say they are.

Albuquerque – Has signed none of his first 5 players. Odd since he has must have about 9M left in cash for prospects. First round pick SP looks to be a decent middle of the rotation starter.

Anaheim – Had 3 picks between #28 and #41. Miguel Rijo is an OF that looks to very solid roll player, certainly a two star player maybe three. To be honest the next two pick Pellow and Bollivar are very similar type guys, each of them have solid offensive ratings, with some pop in their bat. 2nd round pick Zeke Pearson doesn’t have a lot of power, but should be a high OBP switch hitter. While they all should be ML players, I’m guessing if this was a live draft he would not have picked similar guys four picks in a row.

2nd Round pitcher Jon Rowan is a one star type pitcher. He’s not bad just the DUR is just too low to be a SP. C Julio Johnson will be a solid ML backup catcher.

Their 5th round pick is very interesting. Chris Franklin could be a 3 star prospect. He’s got power, good splits, his batting eye is not ideal but good enough. Sure he is a DH only type guy, but many NL clubs are finding success using these guys at 1B.

Arizona - Their first round pick still has not signed (Tim Prince) and their third round pick also says he has his heart set on college and is currently asking for $7.5M. He might be worth it though, I’m sure he’d get that if he were an IFA. There second round pick Fred Riley did sign, and I actually like him a lot. Good splits and good defense, though I don’t think his glove cuts it as a SS at the ML level. His DUR is a tad low, but for a second round pick they did very well. Certainly a two star prospect.

If those two pitchers sign it would be a very nice draft, a little iffy without them.

Atlanta - Kane Howard is a solid pitcher. He won’t walk many and has some good pitch ratings, but I just don’t use guys with sub 20 DUR as SPs, and certainly not without an upper 90s STA. Matty Lowell is a borderline 2 star prospect. His bat is a little light for a COF. Cookie Goodwin was not a great prospect, but an injury just crushed him. His health rating dropped 12 points. As a powerhouse Atlanta always picks very late in the first round, but I am frequently amazed at the guy that fall to them there. Unfortunately this year seems a little leaner than in the past.

Augusta – The surprise team so far this season was able to grab a future all-star in Matthew Carter I can see this guy battling for a batting title and I would consider him a 3 star prospect.

They also grabbed a RP Rube Hickman and 3B Piper Cornelius who isn’t much of a power threat, but should hit for average.

Austin - Antonio Kelly is a very talented player. Good glove with a nice bat, but that health rating is Kerry Wood’ish. Raul Jose could be a gold glove type CF, and

Boise - #2 pick in the draft Al Valdez is a star in the making. Besides his great all round offensive ratings, he should be a quality 2B/CF and his DUR means he could play 162 games. It’s a very overlooked rating, but it could be a 15% boost in stat totals over a similar player with an 85 DUR.

Ed Crawford is an interesting player. He crushes LH pitching, but really might struggle against RH pitchers. It would be hard to platoon him being that he only really has a glove for DH. Then again it might work out well as 1B platoon against LH SPs and then use him as a pinch hitter when the RH SP is replaced by a LH RP. Morrie Hansell is another DH type, good offensive number, but health is a major concern.

This is one of the downsides to a pre-rank draft. Boise needed an impact bat, but after Valdez was drafted their next five picks are 1B/DH only type guys. They probably would have moved to another type of player if they saw what they had got.

Chicago – After a drought of not having their first round pick sign, Chicago finally found someone to take their money. The got switch hitting Wallace Christians who has great range, and could hit 40 HRs with a decent average. He’s a three star type prospect.

Ticked off at accidentally drafting a player in the first round that would sign, they signed a guy in the supplemental round that won’t. He says his heart is in staying at college his demands are $8M, so that’s the least amount he will sign for. Probably more if he signs at all, but seriously he might be worth the $8M because he was probably would have been drafted in the top 10 if he wasn't so stubborn about going to college.

In round two he got two pitchers, but both to me look like they have to low of control to make it in the bigs.

Cleveland – Ivan Ledee is a legit 3 star prospect. I expect him to be an all-star type guy with 1.000 OPS. His health rating is pretty bad, but the truth is you’re not going to get a guy of his caliber at #19 without a blemish.

With the 33rd pick in the draft Cleveland grabbed Sid Ducey He’s a good two star prospect that I expect to make the majors.

Their 2nd round pick is very interesting. Antonio Maduro has MVP like batter ratings. He will crush everything while he is on the field. How do you pick up a guy like this with the 51st pick in the draft? Well he’s got the glove of a DH. Cleveland could decide to play him at 1B, but the other problem is his DUR rating means it will be a stretch for him to get 375AB. I think it’s a good pickup with a second round pick because he could platoon with another guy, PH some, and then play a rested playoff series. And it looks like they could have picked up the right handed platoon for him 13 picks later in Antonio Maduro

Good draft for Cleveland offensively (half a point deduction for drafting a guy with a 1 Control rating in round 4 Virgil “If it weren’t for gravity…” Candelaria)

Dover – Grabbed a heck of a closer in Cooper Moore. Reminds me a lot of my own closer in Vancouver Will Monroe, except I think Moore will be even better. He’s a solid all round RP and really doesn’t have much if any flaws.

Pick #39 Jason McCartin is a solid all round 1B prospect.

With pick #58 They grabbed another top end RP in Travis Jarvis. He doesn’t have quite the mind blowing numbers of Cooper Moore, but honestly he is good enough to close for most teams.

Lee Erdos isn’t a bad pickup for the 90th player overall selected. He is a 1 star type SP/LRA prospect. He doesn’t blow you away, but he has an 80, 70, and two 60 rated pitches. He’s a serviceable back of the rotation SP or long relief option.

Florida – With the first pick in the draft Florida selected Jesse Richardson. He has great L/R splits, makeup, and outstanding control. He seems like the perfect pitcher to pair with a low PC catcher that can hit. I do have one concern about him, and that is what I see as his Durability topping out at 17. If that is accurate (which certainly might not be) it could keep his pitch counts in the 90s which puts his IPs around 180-190 (similar to another very good SP Willie Pena,) He was certainly deserving of the first pick, and particularly for a team that has some stellar talent at position players, but needed an Ace SP. If I my scouting is off on DUR then I would give him 4 stars, but if its accurate I would have to give him 3 ½ stars.

2nd round pick George Crawford is a CF with superb speed. He got a good BE and contact (the latter being something I think HBD has given more weight to recently), so he could be a leadoff hitter or bat “leadoff” from the 9th spot.

4th round pick Bob Denny might be a one star prospect. He could find himself at the back of the rotation or maybe as a LRA type guy.

Hartford – Didn’t pick until 25, but got an interesting guy in Rudy Duran. He certainly won’t be an SP at the ML level (unless he was a tandem guy) but he should be able to give Hartford 100 very good innings.

Their second round pick was Lewis Risley, and I think this was a very good pick at this spot. I find it hard to believe 69 other players were better than him. He doesn’t have any single rating that jumps out at you, but every rating is solid. He could play either CF/2B, and his offensive ratings are all in the 50s and 60s. At the very least he is a super utility guy you can play everywhere except SS/C and he hits well enough to not kill your team. A solid 2 star prospect.

Amos Petersen is very similar to their first round pick, he is one of those “tweener” pitchers with sub 20 DUR and sub 60 STA. But he has great stuff and should give them another 50-80 IPs of solid numbers.

Clinton Meyer is a more traditional RP. His control is a little lower than ideal but he has very nice splits and good pitch ratings. He should make a good setup guy.

Hartford didn’t get a HOF player, but as I look at their guys I thought almost all of the guys they picked should have been gone before they had a chance to grab them.

Houston – At #30 Houston grabbed Rickey Bagley. He’s a solid RP that has very nice pitch ratings.

Late second rounder Russell Montgomery is a solid back of the rotation/LRA type guy. Its hard to grab decent SPs this late, but he should be able to contribute somewhere. Very good control, decent splits, and average pitch ratings.

Huntington – Late first round pick Jimmy Wolf is a SS that has some power and hits lefties very well. His BE rating is pretty low, but if he is able to play SS you usually give up some offensive skills for a good glove.

Unfortunately after that they picked four SPs that had great stamina, durability, and control, but their L/R splits are just to low to be effective at the ML level.

Indianapolis – They grabbed the premier catcher in the draft with the 6th pick Pedro Arroyo. He projects to a quality defensive catcher, and has outstanding offensive ratings. Then add that he project to 100 DUR, Indy won’t have to worry about a catcher for the 10 years. He is certainly a 4 star prospect.

George Reynolds just doesn’t seem to have the control to make it as a ML SP.

Lenny Robinson is a decent CF, but I still only project him a 1 star prospect

Las Vegas – I didn’t scout their first round pick, but he hasn’t signed yet so that’s a bad sign for him signing at all. They have a second round pick, and the next three pitchers they grabbed probably won’t make the majors. Another tough draft for Vegas. But it was a poor draft that also didn’t sink much money into – which beats a poor draft that costs a lot of money in scouting. They have obviously employed a strategy of not putting much into the draft, try and land a decent first rounder, and spend the rest of the money on free agents. While its not the strategy of most owners it isn’t a method without some merit.

Little Rock – They needed pitcher, and their first 6 picks were just that. Clint Hernandez was their first pick. He has great pitch ratings and control, and his L/R splits are pretty good. Still unless his DUR gets a boost I just don’t see him as a SP. Currently no pitcher being used as a SP in the world has a DUR rating that low (I don’t count Horacio Rosario, he’s been throwing 50-60 pitches a game and still can’t recover to 100% by the time it is his turn in the rotation)

Keith Becker is an interesting pitcher. His splits are just so-so, but he has good control and two highly rated pitches. He can save a bullpen though with his mid 40s stamina and mid 80s durability. So he is almost always available to pitch 2 innings if you need them.

League Leaders - AL - SB comparison

MLB (AL) Top 10 SB
Crawford - 50
Roberts - 50
Figgins - 41
Patterson - 37
Suzuki - 37
Lugo - 33
Sizemore - 33
Owens - 32
Crisp - 28
Damon - 27

HBD (AL) Top 10 SB
Through 89 games (projected final SB total)
White - 62 (113)
Estrada - 61 (111)
Montanez - 61 (111)
Valdes - 53 (96)
Newfield - 52 (95)
Alicea - 49 (89)
Bonilla - 47 (86)
Stinnett - 44 (80)
Rodriguez - 41 (75)
Cordero - 38 (69)

MLB (AL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Crawford - 83%
Roberts - 88%
Figgins - 77%
Patterson - 80%
Suzuki - 82%
Lugo - 85%
Sizemore - 77%
Owens - 80%
Crisp - 82%
Damon - 90%

HBD (AL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
White - 87%
Estrada - 88%
Montanez - 88%
Valdes - 83%
Newfield - 81%
Alicea - 83%
Bonilla - 90%
Stinnett - 83%
Rodriguez - 85%
Cordero - 84%

League Leaders - NL - SB comparison

The issue we seem to be running into at this point is the fact that the top baserunners are ridiculously successful at stealing bases.

MLB (NL) Top 10 SB
Reyes - 78
Pierre - 64
Ramirez - 51
Byrnes - 50
Rollins - 41
Victorino - 37
Wright - 34
Taveras - 33
Matsui - 32
Phillips - 32

HBD (NL) Top 10 SB
Through 85 games (projected final SB total)
Hamill - 70 (133)
Gomez - 59 (112)
Goya - 55 (105)
Buckley - 47 (90)
Torres - 47 (90)
Terrell - 45 (86)
Merrick - 38 (72)
Garza - 36 (69)
Beamon - 35 (67)
Oropesa - 32 (61)

MLB (NL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Reyes - 78.8%
Pierre - 81.0%
Ramirez - 78.5%
Byrnes - 87.7%
Rollins - 87.2%
Victorino - 90.2%
Wright - 87.2%
Taveras - 78.6%
Matsui - 88.9%
Phillips - 80.0%

HBD (NL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Hamill - 95.9%
Gomez - 93.7%
Goya - 84.6%
Buckley - 87.0%
Torres - 82.5%
Terrell - 86.5%
Merrick - 84.4%
Garza - 83.7%
Beamon - 92.1%
Oropesa - 84.2%

Team Stolen Base Analysis

Just a real quick and dirty analysis here, but there has been some discussion on the board about SBs being out of whack. At first glance, they may be, but let's look at this a little more in-depth.

Steps:
1. Project current HBD totals through 162 games.
2. Add 2 "teams" to ML totals. I did this by averaging the totals of all ML teams and adding it to the bottom of my spreadsheet twice so that we can have as fair a comparison as possible.

Numbers:
SB/CS
HBD (162G)a - 5,518/7,416 - 74.40%
MLB (162G)b - 3,112/4,181 - 74.44%

CS/SBA^
HBD (162G)a - 1,898/7,416 - 25.60%
MLB (162G)b - 1,068/4,181 - 25.56%

SB/G
HBD (162G)a - 1.06
MLB (162G)c - 0.60

SBA^/G
HBD (162G)a - 1.43
MLB (162G)c - 0.86

a - projected
b - 2007 + 2 average teams
c - actual 2007
^ - Stolen Base Attempts

Conclusions:
1. HBD teams are getting caught as much (on a percentage basis) as their MLB counterparts.
2. HBD teams are attempting 66% more stolen bases per game than their MLB counterparts.
3. HBD teams record 77% more stolen bases per game than their MLB counterparts.

Please let me know what you think. When I get time I may compare the top 5 MLBers to the top 5 HBDers...maybe even split it up amongst AL/NL.