Draft Discussion 2008

but what about Mario Mendoza? He's well known for his batting skills

Jay

In Round 2, can you select players left over from the Round 1 list?

ItsOnlyGil wrote:In Round 2, can you select players left over from the Round 1 list?

Gil, when it's your turn, you can pick anyone who hasn't already been picked in any previous round. I've stickied the thread with a complete list all the players who have been picked. In later rounds, if you want to make sure a player hasn't been picked, just do a search on that list.

I will post the round 2 thread shortly. Lee will make the first pick of the second round after he's made the final pick of the first round.

IMO Hornsby was an absolute steal at #11. Especially since he plays a typically weak position offensively at 2B.

Hornsby is a great pick, but I'm not sure he should go any higher. I'm a huge fan, but the only player drafted ahead of him that I think got drafted too high was Old Pete. And I'm not to sure about Cy Young going that high. Grove is proving to be the best deal so far, as I would rate him higher than ALexander or Young on the pitching list.

Jay

For the purposes of the sim, would Hornsby be rated a better hitter than Cobb since he has a five year period in which his average was higher than any Cobb put together? .402 Hornsby vs. .396 Cobb, I think.

This directly from the site

All of the players have been selected and rated based on their best series of peak seasons, with each season evaluated relative to the norms for that era and adjusted
for park effects.

Given that, I'd say that yes, Hornsby is probably going to be just a touch better than Cobb hitting, but woefully lacking in the SB department comapred to Cobb.

Jay

How the heck did Mays drop to pick #16?

James' team is off to a scary good start with Gehrig and Mays.

I think Alexander matches up well against grove.
Although Grove is a little better winning pct. Era.and strike outs. Alex Lifetime win. pct. Alex.642 Vs Grove.680 & stike outs about the same Alex 2198 vs grove 2266, .era alex 3.45 vs 3.09
Alexander blows him away on some other stats for instance
73 more wins 373 vs 300, 90 shut outs vs 35, 5190 Innings pitched vs 3940, Alex is better on hits per innings pitched also.

Alex had 3 seasons over 30 wins and Grove once, They both had 8 seasons over 20 wins

Alex carreer was a little longer by about 3 yrs but doesn't longevity factor in also.
I think Alex matches up well against Grove stat wise. The 373 wins and 90 shut outs are hard to overlook.

I picked koufax. Do you think he is better tha warren sphan?

If you've read any of Bill James or Pete Palmer's books on all-time greats, they both rate Grove #2 behind Johnson based on the stats that they use. Alexander spent half his career in the DBE, while Grove spent his entire career in baseball during an era that saw unpresidented offense, even compared to today.

Koufax is the greatest 5 year pitcher in the history of the game. His early career sucked, but for 5 years, he was about as good as pitcher can possibly be. He also got big boost to his career when they opened Dodger Stadium.

Jay

Very happy with Stan Musial that late in the second round - if Stan the Man had been a Yankee, he would have been considered one of the greatest ever.

Mark - I was wondering when someone would take Ryan. I think that's a really good pick, and not at all too high.

Now, who will be the first guy taken that played his entire career in the 19th century? And will Kaline get taken? This is a kind of top-176 of all time list.

Too bad Negro Leaguers aren't eligible. Now THAT would be an interesting sim!

J

A question.
Since we can pick players from past rounds, can we also pick players from future rounds or players who are not listed at all?

ItsOnlyGil wrote:A question.
Since we can pick players from past rounds, can we also pick players from future rounds or players who are not listed at all?

Not quite sure what you mean Gil. Think of it as a real draft. The only players off limits to you are the ones that have already been selected by other teams. Otherwise, all is fair game - as long as the player has major league experience (that excludes negro league only or Japanese leaguers).

A few notes...


-Don't forget to PM the next person on the list after you've picked!

-If you are going to be away for the day (or more than a few hours), please PM someone in the league a short list of the players you want at your next pick. They can make the pick for you and it will help speed up the draft quite a bit. Might want to PM someone who has recently picked behind you so there's no conflict of interest.

-Still waiting for Lee to post his roster in the team rosters thread.

Arod was gonna be my pick, nice one James. Your team is looking scary.

How about some evaluation of teams so far? Which teams (besides your own) are looking strongest after almost 4 rounds? What have been the best picks/worst picks? Any surprises so far regarding general trends of the draft?

Since we are through 4 rounds and I got who I wanted I can give up my strategy which was to go after positions where perhaps there are not enough greats to fill them out. I believe I have the best SS, best catcher and arguably the best second baseman of all time. Throw in Hank Aaron and I'm looking formidiable. Then I go and look at the other teams and everyone looks very strong.

I was thinking early money would have to go to Mark T and James F and their teams, with Todd's lineup looking awfully good.

But after Dan's strategy post (and it is not surprising in the least that he has thought through a strategy), I should let the hand play itself out more and see what happens when others start needing to fill positions for which there aren't as many stars. Nice thinking, D.

Of course, in my opinion Gil wins the whole damn thing already just for his Roster post and the pictures of Ms. Only. hahahah. I love the "still kiddin" line.

I'm really enjoying watching this play out. The little draft write ups are just great, and I'm kind of surprised that you can already see differences in team characters. To be honest, I thought that with so many superstars to choose from it would all be kind of the same.

Anyone else have a particular strategy? Who's going with the "2008 Tigers Gambit", whereby you pick extraordinary hitters and only one or two decent pitchers? Wonder how that will turn out.

J

everyone has their own opinion on who is the best of all time. Thats what the draft basically is. We all find the best players to make the best team.

The thing with me is....yea, there are great hitters but if you can't hit a ball from the best pitchers then you're not going to get on base.



Mark

Square_Frame_Ramly wrote: if you can't hit a ball from the best pitchers then you're not going to get on base.

I agree mark. That's why 3 of my 4 picks are pitchers.


-Randy

Square_Frame_Ramly wrote:The thing with me is....yea, there are great hitters but if you can't hit a ball from the best pitchers then you're not going to get on base

This is true Mark, but strategy wise, SP is easily the deepest position in the draft. On the other hand, you can basically count the truly "elite" offensive catchers on one hand. Same goes for 2B. Personally I think waiting on SP is a smart approach. You can built a dominant staff in late rounds. I see Dan is thinking along the same lines as well.

edit: that's not to say that I won't take a SP early if they are the best player left on the board.

I was wondering if Arod was gonna make it to me or not. He would have been lock as one of my choices had he got there. Now I have to find someone else to draft

There is a depth of pitching, but not for lefties. Those rightie-leftie matchups will be critical.

Jay

Nomination for League President:



He needs a second chance, he committed suicide shortly after leaving office.

Lee

Arod is the only guy i would not take....he is soooo over-rated. I am not just saying that because i am a Redsox fan but the truth is, his head is as big as his paycheck. I still believe in 2008 or 2009 he will have a career ending injury(during fight with a Redsox player) . WATCH.

Mark