This Week in Cobbfather

This Week in Cobbfather

Cobbfather is at the point in the season where the draft will occur on Sunday.  In an attempt to recap the season thus far the Post Gazette will be taking it from the beginning, starting with the offseason.  

The biggest free agent story of the year involved stud SP Ken Evans, who spurned the only franchise he had ever played for to date, the New York Pride of the Yankees and manager domiisgod for a max deal with rival Kansas City Tweakers and owner dirtyhill03.  domi had offered a max deal, along with at least 3 other teams to Evans, who had 140 wins at age 30 going into the season.  To deal with his disappointment domi called out Evans on the chat board as the loser we all know he is, and proceeded to sign veteran free agent SP Gordon Oliver, who has more than made up for the loss thus far with a 7-2 record.  Evans meanwhile is only 4-4 and hasn’t lived up to his deal. 

Other big free agent signings included Justin Kennedy signing with the Jackson Rockets, and the Syracuse Sycophants signing 3 type A free agents and a type B FA as well.  Jackson’s signing has certainly paid off as they are on top of the NL South.  Syracuse hasn’t been so lucky as they only competing for a wild card at this stage as powerhouse and defending World Series Champion Rochester has already put a 10 game lead on the rest of the division. 

The draft class which was revealed last Sunday proved to be a disappointment, as it is not very deep at all.  There is some great talent in the first 10 slots, but after that it will probably be a down draft year for most teams.  SP Ned Meyers is probably going to be the #1 pick, but there are a few position players who are also worthy of that position in the draft.  Meyers has gotten the most draft pre-pub in the league though so he is the odds on favorite.  Teams that are getting screwed by the poor class include Sacramento and their seven comp picks, and Syracuse, who also have seven picks. 

As poor as the draft class has been the international market has been good.  In fact this is the best international class Cobbfather might have ever seen, as there have been no less than nine stud internationals before the draft has even occurred.  The biggest paycheck was doled out by Nashville to projected 93 overall SS Alfredo Pineda at 22.4 million dollars.  But by far the biggest steal, perhaps in the history of all Cobbfather, were the Los Angeles Penguins nabbing projected 80 overall stud SP Tony Lopez for a mere 3.4 million dollars.  Lopez would be a top 5 draft pick in most drafts, with control and splits in the 90 range, and an excellent pitch selection to boot.  With over half of the season left to go one can only wonder at what kind of vulture market bargains will be available at the end of the year when most teams have spent their prospect budget.

Thus far in the season the biggest surprise has been the Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens, who are tied for 1^st place in the NL West despite jettisoning 5 type A players and several type B’s through free agency and trades in a rebuilding effort.  The Arizona Hammer’d Leprachauns are the surprise of the AL, topping the West over heavily favored Kansas City.  Otherwise the division leaders are all the usual suspects.