Baseball Draft 2008

As I mentioned elsewhere, carpal tunnel syndrome's got me down. I wasn't planning on writing a full-fledged bloggasm this year. I was just going to throw out some thoughts and let them be.

But I found myself unable to let you all off the hook without cursing your God-forsaken teams. I also didn't want the "Chas Budnick is a bastard" tag to go unused for another six months.

So, I went back on my word and slapped together a short breakdown for each of you, with complete sentences and everything, based on my expert opinion. Enjoy.

CHARLES (Bedards-A-Bust)

Best pick: Daric Barton (16)
Worst pick: Conor Jackson (10)
Best sleeper: Lastings Milledge (17)
Best reach: Matt Kemp (7)
Official team Dugout: for Andy Pettitte

Charles restocked nicely. It's not the Adrian Peterson nuclear bombshell that he had in football, so I don't see an immediate turnaround unless EVERYTHING goes right. But either way, he's a lot better off than he was at this time last year. I like the Zimmerman/Kemp selections, and I like Soto, especially at the relatively cheap price for a potential top 5 catcher.

Keepers: C+
Draft: B
Future: A-
Overall: B-

MATT (Past a Diving Jeter)

Best pick: n/a (seriously)
Worst pick: Dmitri Young (18)
Best sleeper: Barry Bonds (23b)
Best reach: Kevin Youkilis (12)
Official team Dugout: for Alfonso Soriano and Sweet Lou

I think Matt made a tactical error by prioritizing starting pitching and going out of his way to fill up on keepers. Oswalt and Hamels are an excellent pair, but it says here that Gil Meche and Matt Cain could have been acquired without spending a flexible keeper slot. However, I did make the same complaint about Jesse keeping Prince Fielder last year. And besides, are you going to listen to a guy who spent the best picks of his first draft on Jhonny Peralta and Jorge Cantu? (Answer: yes!)

Keepers: C-
Draft: C
Future: C
Overall: C

JEFF (Pujols n' Buchholz)

Best pick: Dustin McGowan (16)
Worst pick: Oliver Perez (14)
Best sleeper: Hiroki Kuroda (22)
Best reach: ummm... Perez?
Official team Dugout: for Al-BEAR Pu-JOLSSS (Matt and Dan, tread carefully)

When I saw that pretty much everyone else was reaching, I opted to not reach, which went awfully well until the vomit-inducing selection of Oliver Perez. But it's not exactly an inspired draft... I aimed for the middle and hit it. I do like my keeper situation a lot, and I eagerly await Evan Longoria, my infield savior. The rotation is the main weakness, although I'm not really down on any of the guys I landed. (Perez was a reach, not a goof. And he sure started nicely, didn't he?) Either way, uniformly safe and mediocre work by me in support of a decent keeper list.

Keepers: A
Draft: B-
Future: B+
Overall: B+

ALEX (Powerthirst Drinkers)

Best pick: Chien-Ming Wang (14)
Worst pick: Shelley Duncan (18)... sigh
Best sleeper: Aaron Hill (22)
Best reach: Daisuke Matsuzaka (8)
Official team Dugout: this one should be obvious

No Anibal Sanchez this season, so he's already improved. Lehr's keepers are solid, and his early draft is passable, if a bit long in the tooth (Abreu, P.O.S.ada, Konerko). Things descend into Lehr's usual affection for fantasy non-factors (Duncan? Asdrubal?) but when you're packing the two best players in fantasy, it's hard to really pick nits.

That said, as a one-time Javy Vazquez owner, I was surprised to see him go so early, even with the Ks taken into account.

Keepers: A-
Draft: C+
Future: B+
Overall: B

DAN (Mung Beans)

Best pick: Russell Martin (7)
Worst pick: Torii Hunter (9)... I smell contract-itis
Best sleeper: Yunel Escobar (22)
Best reach: Ubaldo Jimenez (16)
Official team Dugout: For Mr. Met

Dan is our official league bullshit detector. When Brandon Jacobs falls to the end of the fifth round, or Russell Martin makes it to the 7th overall pick behind the likes of Brian Roberts and Robinson Cano, Dan is always there to make a tidy profit. Between the strong keepers and the "wtf are you guys thinking" reactionary drafting, Dan's team is pretty stacked. The outfield is the only point of concern I have, and that's as much a matter of taste (I'm down on Markakis, Hunter or Byrnes as fantasy players) as anything.

Keepers: A-
Draft: A
Future: A
Overall: A

KABIR (Golden Mauers)

Best pick: Colby Rasmus (17)
Worst pick: Robinson Cano (7)
Best sleeper: Wily Mo Pena (23)
Best reach: Jay Bruce (6)
Official team Dugout: For Johan

Given the caliber of player that ALWAYS turns up as a midseason callup, I think Kabir may end up regretting having spent his top pick on Bruce. Put another way, the next best prospect behind Bruce, Evan Longoria, was my 18th round pick last year. Then there's the likes of Ryan Braun, Clay Buchholz, Billy Butler, Cameron Maybin, Joey Votto, Hunter Pence, Phil Hughes, Yovani Gallardo... all of whom turned up on waivers. That's no knock on Bruce, who I did name as Kabir's best reach. If he ends up being a superstar, the conversation is moot. But why drop the high pick on talent that can be had more cheaply? Why not take Kemp? Have your cake and eat it too. What he did with Rasmus is right on the money.

Keepers: A-
Draft: C+
Future: B+
Overall: B

GARY (Gonnie Garko)

Best pick: Hideki Matsui (14)... wow guys, come on
Worst pick: Ben Sheets (11)... even after 2 starts I stand by this pick being a dumb
Best sleeper: (tie) Chase Headley (22), Manny Parra (18)
Best reach: Billy Butler (9)
Official team Dugout: er... Pavano?

I hesitate to criticize Gary on matters of baseball. After laughing at his selection of Ryan Howard (which in fact FOLLOWED my selection of Peralta!) I will never again shout down Gary's strategy with such voraciousness. However, since I ripped Kabir a new one, the Votto pick means that Mr. Tong requires an appointment with the proctologist [warning: sound] as well. Gary, enjoy watching Dusty Baker turn Votto into a headcase!

Anyway, there aren't any real heists to report in this draft. He reached for the stars pretty much each time, with mixed results. His team is ridiculously young though... as my (failed) search for a relevant Dugout shows, he really doesn't have any established veterans.

Keepers: A
Draft: B+
Future: A
Overall: A-

FRANK (The Hart Foundation)

Best pick: Rafael Soriano (13)
Worst pick: Brian Roberts (7)
Best sleeper: Josh Bard (20)
Best reach: n/a
Official team Dugout: for Khalil Greene and his pristine Nubian skin

Frank just cannot resist having three first basemen. No sooner than ridding himself of his excess first baseman, Travis Hafner, does he pick up Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena. What C.C. Sabathia is to cheeseburgers, Frank is to first basemen. He gobbles them up.

While we're tearing Frank apart, let's remember all year long that he could have had Russell Martin instead of Brian Roberts. Derrek Lee I can see, but Roberts? Hmmm.

That said, I do like what he did with pitching by picking up underrated strikeout-heavy guys (Hill, Harang, Bonderman, even Lilly) who won't kill you in W/L. I also like the Bard pick, given that Frank punted the position.

Keepers: C+
Draft: B-
Future: B
Overall: B-

CHAS (Labias Corpas)

Best pick: Ken Griffey, Jr. (13)
Worst pick: (tie) Rickie Weeks (10), Chris Carpenter (11)
Best sleeper: Stephen Drew (18)
Best reach: Manny Corpas (12), only b/c it led to the team name
Official team Dugout: for Delmon

Something's not right here. Chas has an excellent nucleus in place. I love the keeper list (docked a grade for Kendrick in a box) and the first few picks. And the late run from Stephen Drew through Shaun Marcum is quality. But the "bathing suit area" of his draft is a minefield of injury question marks (Chipper & Griffey) and injury exclamation points (Carpenter). And if Rickie Weeks was going to break out, it'd have happened by now. Two words, Chas: Donnie Sadler.

Keepers: A-
Draft: C
Future: B+
Overall: B

JESSE (Twattletales)
Best pick: Gary Sheffield (10)
Worst pick: Jason Isringhausen (14)... bleech
Best sleeper: Adam Wainwright (19)
Best reach: n/a
Official team Dugout: FOR JI

The Wusslards did a fine, competent job of building depth. She got good veteran value in the first few rounds. I like the Sheffield pick a lot, especially at that price. Shields was a nice grab at #11 right after Carpenter went. And a #16 for Pedro was a decent gamble (despite already getting hurt). The rotation is pretty strong, given how good Myers looked. The closer situation is shaky (Izzy, Capps, Sherrill) but that's easily remedied.

Jesse, however, gets points off for terrifying me with that screaming "piss on your ass" stuff. Leave your scat fetish in the toilet bowl next to your breakfast, pal.

Keepers: A-
Draft: B
Future: A
Overall: A-

LEAGUEWIDE COMMENTS:

Best name: Past a Diving Jeter, by a razor-thin margin over Labias Corpas. Drier than the finest Barolos in Piedmonte.

Best roster on paper: Dan. Gotta love keeping Braun as a freebie.

Highest ceiling: Gary. If he gets lucky with the Butler/Hamilton pair, we're all fucked.

Most improved: Charles (by default)

Winner/cuuuuuurse: Dan