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billroperToday is Draft Day! Yes, I know that there was quite a draft at Wrigley Field yesterday, but I'm talking about today's annual draft for our APBA baseball league where we play an 84-game season face-to-face rolling dice and looking up numbers on player cards based on their 2005 statistics.
We're an eight-team league drafting from the 30 major league clubs, so teams are well-stocked with stars. I have enough players to make my starting lineup and essentially all of my starting pitching staff. Unfortunately, the bench and bullpen are in disarray. I have eighteen players who are definitely worth keeping (counting B.J. Upton, who spent no time in the majors this year, who is still in Triple-A trying to learn how not to kick the ball away while playing shortstop, and who is still both young and talented, more than I can say for many of the players available in this draft). I have twelve more roster spots to fill, at least one of which will go to a starting pitcher, four of which have to go to relievers.
That leaves seven picks not yet spoken for. I don't have a backup first baseman, but the starter is Mark Teixeira, so by our rules, I can get away without a backup, since he played enough games last year. I need a backup second baseman behind Marcus Giles and the pickings are thin. Jose Uribe and Orlando Cabrera are an ok platoon at shortstop and I'm going to be too busy drafting relief pitching to pick any of the better players (Jhonny Peralta, Rafael Furcal) available at the position. I'm overloaded at third base, with Eric Chavez, Troy Glaus, Hank Blalock, and Miguel Cabrera, although he'll spend the season patrolling left field, because I only have two more outfielders worth keeping. Fortunately, they're Vladimir Guerrero and Andruw Jones. But I'm going to need some backup outfielders and it's ugly there too.
I also have some uncarded and extra players that I can consider keeping along with Upton. One of them was Eric Gagne, who I was going to keep until they announced he was in for more elbow surgery as of Thursday. Oh well. Another is Kerry Wood, who is rehabbing from his surgery and should -- I think! -- be pitching soon. But will he be any good? Who knows.
And there's Barry Bonds. You hate to cut him, because he's been such a great hitter, whether steroid-fueled or not. But his knees are shot, he's slow, and he's not likely to play more than one more year.
Unlike many of our drafts, where I am reasonably certain about what I'm going to take and when, I'm completely up in the air here. On the other hand, I usually only need to draft seven or eight players. When you need a dozen or more, the draft gets very fuzzy around the edges.
We'll see.
We're an eight-team league drafting from the 30 major league clubs, so teams are well-stocked with stars. I have enough players to make my starting lineup and essentially all of my starting pitching staff. Unfortunately, the bench and bullpen are in disarray. I have eighteen players who are definitely worth keeping (counting B.J. Upton, who spent no time in the majors this year, who is still in Triple-A trying to learn how not to kick the ball away while playing shortstop, and who is still both young and talented, more than I can say for many of the players available in this draft). I have twelve more roster spots to fill, at least one of which will go to a starting pitcher, four of which have to go to relievers.
That leaves seven picks not yet spoken for. I don't have a backup first baseman, but the starter is Mark Teixeira, so by our rules, I can get away without a backup, since he played enough games last year. I need a backup second baseman behind Marcus Giles and the pickings are thin. Jose Uribe and Orlando Cabrera are an ok platoon at shortstop and I'm going to be too busy drafting relief pitching to pick any of the better players (Jhonny Peralta, Rafael Furcal) available at the position. I'm overloaded at third base, with Eric Chavez, Troy Glaus, Hank Blalock, and Miguel Cabrera, although he'll spend the season patrolling left field, because I only have two more outfielders worth keeping. Fortunately, they're Vladimir Guerrero and Andruw Jones. But I'm going to need some backup outfielders and it's ugly there too.
I also have some uncarded and extra players that I can consider keeping along with Upton. One of them was Eric Gagne, who I was going to keep until they announced he was in for more elbow surgery as of Thursday. Oh well. Another is Kerry Wood, who is rehabbing from his surgery and should -- I think! -- be pitching soon. But will he be any good? Who knows.
And there's Barry Bonds. You hate to cut him, because he's been such a great hitter, whether steroid-fueled or not. But his knees are shot, he's slow, and he's not likely to play more than one more year.
Unlike many of our drafts, where I am reasonably certain about what I'm going to take and when, I'm completely up in the air here. On the other hand, I usually only need to draft seven or eight players. When you need a dozen or more, the draft gets very fuzzy around the edges.
We'll see.