Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Season 1 Amateur Draft First Round Recap

1. Richmond - Brendan Lobstein - This was a weak draft. Lobstein is a top ten talent, but rarely would go #1 in most drafts. Splits look great...pitches not so much. Should be a good #2/#3 for many years, but probably not a true ace.

2. Toronto - Felipe Valentin - Valentin will be a lock down reliever for many seasons. There is always a debate about whether or not it makes sense to invest such a high pick in a reliever, but when the draft is so weak, you don't have many options.

3. Florida - Pinky Wood - Solid starting pitcher prospect. Should do even better in the comfy confines of Florida's home park.

4. Seattle - Victor Castillo - Another nice SP prospect. Either Wood or Castillo could have gone #1 in a draft like this. His best asset is his righty split, but also has three good pitches.

5. Pittsburgh - Don Grant - Great relief pitcher prospect. My scouts show him to be even better than Valentin who went #2. Grant should save many games for Pittsburgh in the future.

6. Syracuse - Flash Hamill - Hamill is being used as a starter right now in the minors, but probably will need to be a super reliever as he progresses. He doesn't seem to have the STA/DUR combo to pitch enough innings to be a starter. Solid pitching prospect though.

7. Columbus - Craig Tracy - Really nice SS prospect as long as his defensive ratings continue to progress. It is always nice to have a decent bat at a premium defensive position and Tracy seems to fit that mold.

8. Cheyenne - Bubba Lo Duca - Nice selection here. LoDuca should be ready sooner than later and boasts four good pitches to go along with decent splits. Should be a nice starter for the Gunslingers.

9. Los Angeles - Davey Tucker - If Tucker's defensive range and glove progress enough, he could be switched to CF which would increase his value. Even if he doesn't, he be a great defensive 2B with a nice bat.

10. Jacksonville - Tom Barnes - Another nice relief pitching prospect. As long as he stays healthy, he should be a nice piece to the bullpen puzzle, however his sub 50 health makes some scouts a little nervous.

11. Cincinnati - Pete Malone - Really nice value selection at #11. I'd be surprised if there weren't at least a couple teams in the top 10 that would like to have grabbed Malone. He should be a beast in the middle of Cincy's lineup for many seasons.

12. Montana - Glen Martin - Doesn't seem to be good enough defensively to play SS and scouts aren't sure he has a big enough bat to contribute daily at 3B or an OF position. Martin is probably a guy that should have dropped a little farther.

13. Arizona - Tyrone Neal - Another guy that probably won't cut it defensively at SS, so he'll have to be moved, but doesn't quite bring a big stick to the table. Neal might have to be used as a super utility guy.

14. Little Rock - Jackson Garcia - Garcia is probably good enough defensively to play LF as well as 1B. He has a good bat, specifically his splits. It will be interesting to see how he does with higher splits than his contact and power ratings while playing a premium power position.

15. Texas - Charlie Atkins - Yet another good relief pitching prospect although his righty split makes scouts a bit nervous. He should be a able to pitch a good amount of innings. All will depend on how high he can get his righty split.

16. Ottawa - Andrew Stevens - Great value in a weak draft. The only reason he dropped was his poor health rating, but in a weak draft, it makes sense to grab a good starting pitching prospect at this point. If he can stay healthy, he'll do some damage in Ottawa's rotation.

17. Rochester - Shawn Ledee - This is like the 5th good relief pitching prospect in the first 17 picks. Ledee is a step below the other guys due to his splits, but should be a serviceable bullpen arm.

18. Louisville - Quilvio Chavez - Not quite a starter and not quite a closer, but will be a good middle reliever for the Steamboats. Should eat up a good amount of innings between the 5th and the 8th over the course of the season.

19. Cheyenne - Santo Guerrero - If he can reach his defensive projections then he can be an ok 2B, but he may need to be moved to the OF. In a perfect world he'll be able to play 2B as his bat would fit nicely there.

20. Jackson - Walt Wulf - Another guy that needs to progress a good bit to hit his targeted defensive position (3B). If not, then he'll have to move to the OF. Has some nice splits with his bat.

21. New Orleans - Greg Gordon - Really nice value at #21. Should hit a lot of homeruns. He is struggling right now in rookie ball, but scouts are confident he is just adjusting to the professional game.

22. Charleston - Marcus Burns - Should be a really nice super reliever for the River Dogs. Has excellent splits and a good set of pitches. If his STA had been 10 points higher than he would have gone in the top 10.

23. Atlanta - Craig Miller - Almost certainly isn't a 2B once he gets to the bigs, but will hit a lot of homeruns playing OF for the Peach Pits. He'll also strike out a lot.

24. New York - Gary Gilkey - Gilkey might be a miss. He doesn't seem to be good enough defensively to play CF so he'll probably have to be moved to 2B, but he has some really goofy hitting ratings. Will be interesting to see how he progresses.

25. New Britain - Mo Ross - Solid starting pitching prospect to grab so late in a weak draft. Solid pitching ratings across the board. Some teams haven't had as much luck with others with starters only having 3 pitches, but the Rock Cats weren't afraid.

26. Toronto - Tony Yoshii - Should be a solid 2B with nice speed. Not much else to say.

27. Texas - Hasn't signed. Texas might have spent all of their money on Intl's. That would be a shame as Kirk is a nice pitching prospect.

28. Honolulu - See Texas...although the prospect isn't as good as the Wildcats selection.

29. Cleveland - Is Daal still holding out for more money? He is "looking to be signed" so he should sign soon. The Gunners are hoping so anyway!

30. El Paso - Renyel Fernandez - Decent OF prospect who can really hit righties.

31. Chicago - Ricardo Mercedes - Really nice value at #31. Once we're this late in the draft, you take what you can get and Mercedes is a nice catch. He should be a solid power hitter and can play a couple different positions.

32. Las Vegas - Victor Lunar - Nice selection to round out the first round. Lunar should progress to be a solid closer for many seasons for the Bookies.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Getting to know bighead34

Who is bighead34?

28 year old operations manager for a golf course in Connecticut.

How did you get into HBD?

I was playing fantasy baseball and wanted something more. Did a google search and found HBD and immediately knew it would be perfect for me.

Interests and hobbies?

Playing golf. I'm also a bit of a political junkie.

Favorite team(s)?

NY Yankees, UConn Men's Basketball, NY Football Giants

Suggestion/Tip for HBD?

Be patient. As fast as the game moves at times, I've always found it easier to recover from a non-move than a hasty decision you made because you felt like you needed to do something.

Important individual rating for performance?

I'm probably pay more attention to Makeup than the average HBD owner.

Best move you've ever made in HBD?

Going into Season 13 of Maris, i was fully prepared to offer a max contract to Hipolito Sosa. Just before free agency started I changed my mind and determined that I was more than just one player away from becoming an elite team. Instead of committing at least 95.5M to one player, I ended up signing 5 players (Danny Jackson, Alex Andujar, Wilfredo Sosa, Ken Rapp, and Vic Weathers) for 180.6M. In addition to signing multiple type A's in a single year (a strategy I wholly endorse) I signed players who were all going to age well. Despite never making it to a World Series with this team, I think that had I signed Hipolito Sosa I would have ultimately been worse off and limited the flexibility I've enjoyed in putting together the rest of the team.

Worst move you've ever made in HBD?

In my first season i signed 16 marginal IFAs for 12.4M instead of signing 1 or 2 future MLers for the same amount. (Only 1 guy eventually made the ML and he became a backup/defensive replacement I signed for 5M)

Favorite HBD player?

Probably Einar Limon, who was my first ever draft pick and who just became my first player to win a Cy Young or MVP. Walt Waters and Tarrik Anderson are also very special to me.

Top prospect you are excited to call up in Billy Beane?

Walt Burke, who if he progresses like I hope will be the best pure hitter I've ever had on any team.