Auctions, old men, hard hearing, and success. What do these all have in common? They are exactly how I would describe how my draft went. The draft may not have went exactly how I had planned, but the chaos of the draft made it better for me overall.
After my last Draft Prep post, I did a deep dive into a ton of minor league and rookie talent for this year. I ended up finding a lot of guys who I didn’t find the first time. Going into the draft I had four tiers of batters with at least six players in each tier, as well as 3 tiers of pitchers with at least six players in each one. Safe to say, I was prepared for many scenarios. I wasn’t for sure what players would go for or how prospect heave the rest of the guys would be. At the start I thought it would be bad, my first listed player that came up was Jordan Lawlar, nominated for draft by another person. I wanted him, but wanted him later on so that hopefully there would be less competition. I ended up not bidding on him, and he went for more than I wanted to spend anyways. At that moment, I was worried.
I couldn’t worry for long though, I was up next to nominate a player. I looked down, and threw out Caleb Durbin, I thought he would be a safe player to go after, I was wrong. Turns out one of the guys is a big Red Sox fan, and the bidding war started. I only wanted to bid up to $10 on him, but I knew being the new guy and this being the first guy I threw out that I needed to set the tone that I wouldn’t back down. I knew I had more money to spend than him, so I wasn’t afraid to keep going up. Luckily, he stopped at $15 and my $16 bid won him. I got my seat at the table and felt more confident. I planned on getting all of the players I wanted.
I had to wait awhile for my next shot though, pretty much the entire draft I was the only one calling out players that I wanted. It was pretty position player and closer heavy at this point, so I wanted to stick with that trend. I didn’t want to offer up a Starter pitcher and getting in a bidding war for a lower tier guy. I threw out Evan Carter, knowing I didn’t want to go above $15 for him. Luckily, I got him for exactly $15. That was the last sweat I had, the rest of the draft went pretty easy for me, besides up bidding Josh Jung just because I could.
The rest of my batters filled out nicely with; Cam Smith at $9, Dalton Rushing for $5 and Henty Bolte for $1. Pitchers went even better for me. I thought I was going to have to go heavy on Hagen Smith, considering the way the media talks about him. To my surprise, I was able to get him for $3. He is going to spend most the year in the minors, but now with Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, I have a potential scary duo in the coming years. I was also able to grab Hunter Barco for $1, Sean Burke for $1, and Scott Barlow for $1. Scott Barlow was a last second decision to try to get some saves on the roster. I thought Pitching is where most of my money would get spent, instead I ended up getting 4 players that I am excited about for only $6.
My roster moves weren’t done yet though. After the draft, anyone who went undrafted can be picked up for $1. I ended up making two moves. I really wanted Max Muncy for the A’s but he was picked up right before my transaction could go through. Instead, I got Masyn Winn and Tommy Troy. I dropped Luis Pena and Henry Bolte. Pena and Bolte have really solid upside, but for now I wanted players who could produce this year. Pena and Bolte are lower on the totem pole and I expect to be available in the future, if I need to scarp any old players and get younger at the end of the year.
How does the team look?
Here is a breakdown of the team before opening day. (M) indicates the player is in the minor leagues to start the year. (IL) indicates the player is on the injured list to start the year.
Hitters
Catcher – Adley Rutschman
First Base – Alec Burleson
Second Base – Nico Hoerner
Third Base – Caleb Durbin
Short Stop – Corey Seager
Outfield – Evan Carter
Outfield – Bryan Reynolds
Outfield – Cam Smith
Utility – Dalton Rushing
Utility – Masyn Winn
Bench – Tommy Troy (M), Jett Williams (M), Emmanuel Rodriguez (M), Kristian Campbell (M), Colt Emerson (M), and Seiya Suzuki (IL)
Pitchers
Starter – Sean Burke
Starter – Slade Cecconi
Starter – Cade Horton
Starter – Rhett Lowder
Starter – Luis Morales
Starter – Shane Bieber (IL)
Starter – Parker Messick
Starter – Noah Schultz (M)
Starter – Hagen Smith (M)
Starter/Reliever – Hunter Barco
Reliever – Scott Barlow
Reliever – Abner Uribe
I am at 236 total salary, leaving me with $64 available throughout the year.
What’s next?
I have already made Adley Rutschmann and Seiya Suzuki available. I will not be going into next year with those players, so hopefully I can trade them instead of dropping them at the end of the year.
A couple of my older players I will keep an eye on to see what kind of value we could get if they have good years; Hoerner, Seager, and Reynolds. They are older in age and will still produce, but for the right price I can sell them off.
The rest of the roster I am in a ‘sit and see’ stage. I am hoping they perform well, if not I have my eyes on a few available free agents I could pick up.
Watch out for a post in about a month that gives a recap of how the season is going so far.
The Kutty Katt's Thoughts 