And the S58 award goes to...

Jack Torrance - Contributing Reporter

And the Award goes to...

You can generally find the runs, HRs, RBIs, and AVG listed on the website when voting but we'll cover a few of the player's advanced stats; including their Cash points (fantasy points - offense focused), weighted SBs (when relevant, attempted 15 or more), extra base hits, a player's wOBA (weighted on-base average), wRC+ (weighted runs created), and even a player's wRAA (weighed runs above average). All in the effort to see how each individual effected the games they played. 

MVP

We'll start off with the MVP race, listed by Skynet's favorites (ie. listed in order from website). We are starting a new thing where the leader in that category is underlined. 

• AL - Kyle Crain (C/DH) is working on his 4th straight but will Louie Weiss (DH/1B) or Wei-Yin Wan (1B)'s shortened season prevent that? They both failed last season. Once again they are joined by Matty Moss (2B) and new comer / fellow teammate Dee Vale (1B).  
• Kyle Crain (C)
• Missed Silver Slugger this year but that's because he balances time between C and DH. Triple Crown winner (HR, RBI, AVG)
• Cash points - 694.5
• xBH - 84
• wRAA - 83.49
• wOBA - .486
• wRC+ - 205
• wSB -  irrelevant
• Wei-Yin Wan (DH) 
• Silver Slugger at DH
• Cash points - 629
• xBH - 83
• wRAA - 58.15
• wOBA - .430
• wRC+ - 150
• wSB - irrelevant
• Louie Weiss (1B) 
• Silver Slugger at 1B
• Cash points - 736.5
• xBH - 98
• wRAA - 8.17
• wOBA - .464
• wRC+ - 173
• wSB -  irrelevant
• Matty Moss (2B)
• Silver Slugger at 2B
• Cash points - 552.5
• xBH - 58
• wRAA - 39.42
• wOBA - .401
• wRC+ - 149
• wSB - 9.05
• Dee Valle (1B)
• Gold Glove winner at 1B
• Cash points - 472
• xBH - 46
• wRAA - 22.77
• wOBA - .370
• wRC+ - 128
• wSB - 4.25
• NL - After being snubbed last season, we find outselves with Omar Gonzales back on the voting ballot. Plenty of new names this season, perhaps a changing of the guards is coming in the NL. Warren Cobb (2B), Anibal Castillo (CF) back on the ballot for the second year straight, joined by other first timers Ernest Page (1B) and Brad Vernon (2B). 
• Omar Gonzales (1B)
• Silver Slugger at 1B
• Cash points - 692
• xBH - 84
• wRAA - 75.51
• wOBA - .454
• wRC+ - 158
• wSB - -0.03
• Warren Cobb (2B)
• Silver Slugger at 2B, missed tying the record for most 2Bs in a single season by 1. 
• Cash points - 670
• xBH - 104
• wRAA - 7.04
• wOBA - .449
• wRC+ - 169
• wSB - 2.04
• Ernest Page (1B)
• Cash points - 494
• xBH - 55
• wRAA - 44.36
• wOBA - .421
• wRC+ - 181
• wSB - irrelevant
• Brad Vernon (2B)
• Cash points - 494
• xBH - 56
• wRAA - 18.65
• wOBA - .359
• wRC+ - 121
• wSB - irrelevant
• Anibal Castillo (CF)
• Silver Slugger at CF
• Cash points - 559
• xBH - 77
• wRAA - 4.56
• wOBA - .409
• wRC+ - 156
• wSB - 0.24

Cy Young

Next we have the Cy Young award. This time we'll be looking at a few advanced stats such as ERA+, FIP, Weighted Cash points to neutralize park factors. In the future, if we can figure out why our WAR numbers are so off, we'll include those as well. But for now we'll include K/BB and Quality Starts or Inherited Runners Scored as well. A reminder on ERA+, the average is 100 and anything above 100 indicates the pitcher performed better than average while below performed worse than average. Score of 150 would be 50% better than average. The FIP focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over: K, BB, HBP, and HR. 

• AL - Your choices are an Expo (Damaso Ethier, Alcides Johnson) or a Tropic (Nigel White, Roger Simon, Brett Humphries). White looking to recapture the award his first year back in the AL. 
• Nigel White 
• The NL is thankful he's back in the AL. 
• ERA+ - 184
• FIP - 2.68
• Cash - 438
• K/BB - 3.14
• QS% - 56%
• Damaso Ethier
• Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Is this his year?
• ERA+ - 132
• FIP - 3.75
• Cash - 430
• K/BB - 2.38
• QS% - 66%
• Roger Simon
• One of the best starters in the AL since being called up. 
• ERA+ - 158
• FIP - 3.11
• Cash - 498
• K/BB - 2.91
• QS% - 64%
• Alcides Johnson
• One of the best starters in the AL since being called up, having the most quality starts of the majors this season. 
• ERA+ - 111
• FIP - 3.79
• Cash - 452
• K/BB - 1.87
• QS% - 68%
• Brett Humphries
• Seems a notch below the rest on this list. 
• ERA+ - 162
• FIP - 3.72
• Cash - 395
• K/BB - 2.54
• QS% - 50%
• NL - What an interesting group this year, at the top is Danys Solis (NO) who has a Tandem B most all season with starter Santo Estrella & setup man Stretch Story of OKC making the list, along with the Columbus ace Midre Benavente and their closer Kevin Kashmir who has really excelled since being named closer of the franchise.   
• Danys Solis
• Made just 4 starts but came in tandem for another 36; stealing away 24 wins this season. Deserved, maybe that's for you to decide. Still threw 172 innings this season so they weren't short relief appearances. 
• ERA+ - 151
• FIP - 3.86
• Cash - 333
• K/BB - 2.27
• IR% - 25%
• Santo Estrella
•  10 complete games, most have any pitcher this season; throwing 255+ innings. 
• ERA+ - 130
• FIP - 3.68
• Cash - 483
• K/BB - 1.93
• QS% - 73%
• Kevin Kashmir
• Similar to the OKC duo, I wonder how many times the team went straight from Benavente to Kashmir. 
• ERA+ - 183
• FIP - 3.15
• Cash - 309
• K/BB - 2.54
• IRS% - 30%
• Midre Benavente
• Lost just 3 games in 32 starts this season. 75% starts being of quality is something to write home about, giving his team the best chance to win games. 
• ERA+ - 149
• FIP - 3.82
• Cash - 394
• K/BB - 2.82
• QS% - 75%
• Stretch Story
• Diamond in the Rough and ace set-up man; pitching in over 100 games this season with 180 innings. How many times did a team have to face Estrella and then Story? OUCH! I've seen closers win the award but this setup man would be a Cobbfather first. 
• ERA+ - 139
• FIP - 3.28
• Cash - 433
• K/BB - 3.54
• IRS% - 29%

Rookie of the Year

Adding this one back in by demand. 

• AL - More of a power year of Rookies, let's see whose the best. 
• Octavio Salas (1B)
• 21 2Bs, 47 HR, and 28 SBs! Two stolen bases away from a 40/30 season. 90% success rate in steals. 
• Cash points - 554.5
• xBH - 71
• wRAA - 35.02
• wOBA - .398
• wRC+ - 131
• wSB - 2.72
• Alan Carpenter (RF)
• He and Salas are the two power rookies of the season!
• Cash points - 445
• xBH - 71
• wRAA - 40.75
• wOBA - .411
• wRC+ - 145
• wSB - irrelevant
• Lonny Martin (DH)
• Cash points - 336
• xBH - 51
• wRAA - 29.32
• wOBA - .412
• wRC+ - 139
• wSB - irrelevant
• Mo Archer (DH)
• Cash points - 397.5
• xBH - 60
• wRAA - 19.94
• wOBA - .369
• wRC+ - 120
• wSB - 1.61
• Bartolo Balentien (RP)
• The only pitcher on the list for the AL and he came out of relief for Helena. 
• ERA+ - 149
• FIP - 4.21
• Cash - 153
• K/BB - 1.96
• IRS% - 30%

• NL - Wide range of options from a tandem starter, to closer, to set-up man, to two 1Bs. 
• Rubi Pujols (Tandem B)
• Served as a the second half of a tandem in New Orleans and did suburb. Picked up 16 wins and only 2 losses in 43 appearances. He was once compared to Cy Young candidate Danys Solis.
• ERA+ - 201
• FIP - 2.99
• Cash - 290
• K/BB - 4.00
• IRS% - 33%
• Harry Javier (RP)
• Closer for Salem, though they barely missed the playoffs. Saved 37/39. 
• ERA+ - 247
• FIP - 3.62
• Cash - 269
• K/BB - 2.50
• IRS% - 33%
• Eugene Marshall
• By far the best player in Cobbfather is this guy. Vote for him. Did the commish pay us to write that? Maybe. 
• Cash points - 411
• xBH - 55
• wRAA - 9.21
• wOBA - .346
• wRC+ - 108
• wSB - 1.49
• Dexter Ellis (SP)
• Filled a big need for Buffalo, pitching 205 innings in 33 starts. 
• ERA+ - 101
• FIP - 3.59
• Cash - 342
• K/BB - 2.42
• QS% - 61%
• Junichi Satou
• Very similar to Marshall just less hits in less at bats. 
• Cash points - 303.5
• xBH - 49
• wRAA - -0.51
• wOBA - .325
• wRC+ - 104
• wSB - 2.24

Cash Points

The top 20 hitters players under the Cash system are:

1. 737 - Louie Weiss (Hun)
2. 695 - Kyle Crain (Atl)
3. 692 - Omar Gonzales (Tok)
4. 670 - Warren Cobb (Har)
5. 629 - Wei-Yin Wan (Hun)
6. 599 - Dario Lester (Hou)
7. 579 - Mickey Barmes (Hele)
8. 569 - Rip Bromberg (Hun)
9. 568 - Shea Crowe (OKC)
10. 562 - Max Escuela (Hel)
11. 559 - Anibal Castillo (Colu)
12. 555 - Octavio Salas (Bos)
13. 553 - Matty Moss (Atl)
14. 550 - Carlos Soto (Hou)
15. 549 - Dilson Rojas (Sal)
16. 535 - Juancito Martin (Bos)
17. 530 - Al Cervantes (Phi)
18. 524 - Douglas Laxton (NO)
19. 519 - Olmedo Nunez (Colu)
20. 512 - Chuck Rupe (Phi)

And the bottom 5 hitters with at least 300 ABs are. It's generally filled with SSs who often but not always provide solid defense to make up for it. Let's see who we've got this year. Even more tanking than last year, numbers continue to drop!   

1. 55 - Brooks Jarvis (NY - 3B)
1. -53.26 wRAA
2. 82 - Esteban Castro (Mil - SS)
1. -29.56 wRAA
2. Second year on this list. 
3. 83 - Rob Webster (Philadelphia - SS)
1. -26.67 wRAA
4. 84 - Didi Mendoza (Charleston - SS)
1. -20.50 wRAA
5. 87 - Reynaldo Vasquez (Tacoma - SS)
1. -13.56 wRAA

The top 20 pitchers under the cash system are:

1. 498 - Roger Simon (Hun)
2. 483 - Santo Estrella (OKC)
3. 476 - Mitch Dillard (Hou)
4. 472 - Pascual Mijares (Buf)
5. 455 - Alan Street (Atl)
6. 452 - Alcides Johnson (Atl)
7. 451 - Aneury Polanco (MC)
8. 451 - Bruce Choice (Cha)
9. 449 - Harold Foltynewicz (Sal)
10. 438 - Nigel White (Hun)
11. 438 - Garabez Castillo (Atl)
12. 433 - Stretch Story (OKC)
13. 430 - Damaso Ethier (Atl)
14. 430 - J.C. Wall (Tok)
15. 429 - Pedro Puello (OKC)
16. 421 - Domingo Rodriguez (Tac)
17. 417 - Carmen Arnold (Hou)
18. 412 - Ed Wood (OKC)
19. 412 - Jesse Fields (OKC)
20. 411 - Alton Drew (Tok)

Similar to position players, let's look at the bottom 5 pitchers with a minimum of 50 IP. 

1. 41 - Shooter McCovey (Pitt)
2. 42 - Kenneth Tepera (NY)
3. 52 - Edgar Navarro (CSP)
4. 58 - Ricardo Park (NY)
5. 66 - Dorrssys Castro (Tac)

S58 An Open Letter to the Owner

Catherine Trammell - contributing reporter

(started this series last season with an NL team so going AL this year.)

Dear Owner of the New York Empire, 

How is it for a City that never sleeps, this franchise has been dormant the last three seasons? As of this open letter the franchise is a combined 209-599, that's less than a .260 winning percentage across all levels. Not a single minor league team was remotely close to a winning record. How is it that bad from top to bottom? And that's down from last year's .293 winning percentage across the franchise and on par with S56's .254 win%. Even Tim Horton's finds a way to operate successfully in the Phillipines! Gone are the glory days of 100+ win seasons that the fans were used to for 10 straight seasons from S40-49. And never have the Empire fans been this upset with ownership, even during their initial rebuild years. For the love of the game, the fans, and the league; the franchise should be doing better! 

A 3rd straight year with a #1 pick, it's almost like ownership is trying to be bad! But what do they have to show for three awful seasons? Internationally they've signed 3B Hector Pascual ($38.6M), RP Charles Suzuki ($22.6M), and C Rio Duran ($10M) while drafting RF Bronson Yamakzi (S57 #1) and P Chris DeMichele (S58 - #1); but also missed out on signing S56 #9 overall draft pick - also missing out on a Type D pick for not signing him. The blog hasn't been too impressed with either draft picks or the IFA signings but hey; trust the process right? We all know the formula works, and we've predicted another 3-5 seasons of being in attendance while the franchise stocks up for another big run. 

What we, the fans of the league, want to see is a franchise that changes course and pushes to do better, to play better, to play within position, to not give up during the winter meetings. The Empire have seen ticket sales and merchandise drop over the years and many of them are moving their support and fan base to Boston. Can you even imagine that, New Yorkers giving up on the hometown team and supporting a red team!

-an Empire fan through and through

S58 On The Books!

Jessica Fletcher - contributing reporter

Haven't seen the annual 7yankee7 recruitment post yet, but it's time to look at future budgets. If you're looking for a new league join, be sure to check them out if they even have any openings! 

Here is who has the most committed in future seasons. List in order of most future money committed. In the 'Future salary is future owner problems' are Huntington Tropics, Oklahoma City Barons, and Philadelphia Harpers; all who are above $200M. Not far behind him is Tokyo ($194.8M), Jacksonville ($194.4M), and Houston ($190.8M); who are all close enough to the top three spenders. Then a huge gap where it drops to $150M range and falls off again to below $100M. Least on the books is Augusta and Colorado Springs, both with no money tied up beyond this season. Days of the big contracts are back! The average commitment in the league is $47M next year, down to $30 then $15, then $7 by S62. 

I expect a bit of change as extensions are signed after the regular season. 

S58 Power Rankings Update

Richard Castle - contributing reporter

Season nearing an end, let's check in on Skynet's power rankings. 

The AL still dominates the league with the top three teams being Houston, Atlanta, and Huntington. Though a little surprised to see them in that order, especially since Houston trails Huntington in their division. The NL picks up the next pack with Hartford, New Orleans, and Columbus. OKC drops a few slots from previous rankings. Judging by run differential this season belongs to one of the big 3. In the last 20 seasons, only 3 teams have finished with less than 165 run diff on the season. With 43 games to play, Hartford has crossed that threshold but we'll see how NO and Columbus do and if they get there.   

Philly and Atlanta are coasting with 20+ game leads on their division. 43 games to play and Huntington has a 9 game lead while Helena is down to just 6 over Salt Lake City. Houston is a lock for the first wild card if they can't make up ground in the division. Wildcard 2 is the one to watch with SLC and Augusta currently tied. Boston and Jacksonville are just 5 games behind them. 

Hartford is right there with Philly and Atlanta with a 21 game lead. Columbus has the best record in the NL but only leads Buffalo by 8 games. Every update New Orleans seems to struggle more, with only a 14 game lead on what many consider the weakest division in the league. OKC holds strong in the West over Salem and Tokyo. But only 2 of those three will make the playoffs.  

If we look at how each team has expected to win based off recent play, here is what we'd see. Champs and Wildcard are listed based on expected win percentages. Current playoff teams are highlighted in bold - surprisingly or not, the playoffs team haven't changed since the last power rankings.

1. .711 - Atlanta Expos (AL-E Champ)
2. .708 - Huntington Tropics (AL-S Champ)
3. .692 - Houston Space Cowboys (Wildcard 1)
4. .646 - Hartford Rising Stars (NL-N Champ)
5. .627 - New Orleans Hurricane Dodgers (NL-S Champ)
6. .621 - Columbus Corgis (NL-E Champ)
7. .616 - Philadelphia Harpers (AL-N Champ)
8. .600 - Helena Hot Dogs (AL-W Champ)
9. .563 - Buffalo Bisons (Wildcard 1)
10. .561 - Oklahoma City Barons (NL-W Champ)
11. .558 - Salt Lake City Punk! (Wildcard 2 - tiebreak)
12. .553 - Salem Bourbon Makers (Wildcard 2)
13. .539 - Jacksonville Lizard Kings
14. .519 - Tokyo Nomo (NL Wildcard 2)
15. .507 - Boston Baseball Team 
16. .474 - Augusta Alcoholics
17. .466 - Anaheim Diablos
18. .463 - Santa Fe Surf Riders VIII
19. .460 - Chicago Gunslingers 
20. .454 - Charleston Offspring
21. .451 - Vancouver Canucks
22. .439 - Mexico City Staring Frogs
23. .435 - Montreal Fighting Poutine Plate
24. .433 - Washington DC Nationals
25. .420 - Minnesota Nort Stars 
26. .419 - Tacoma Aroma
27. .415 - Milwaukee Metronomes
28. .391 - Dover Hazmats
29. .360 - Austin Son's of Odin
30. .337 - Pittsburgh Yinzers 
31. .291 - Colorado Springs From My Loins
32. .266 - New York Empire

S58 Draft Recap

Gabrielle  O. Alvarez-Tillman - Contributing Reporter.

Yet another draft season in Cobbfather, so let's round up the Rule 4 draft. The blog is back to having the best scouts in the league! We'll do the same as last season and add in current ML comps to most players. As a reminder comps are to match their projections as closely as possible and not what they may end up like. It's up to you to develop your own talent, don't come looking for us to do the work for you. Only thing we are good at developing is an appetite. 

1. New York - Chris DeMichele (P) - Second year straight at the number 1 pick and potential they'll make it 3 straight years. DeMichele's low stamina could be a problem but New York could still get a full 32 starts out of him if they lower him down to 80-85 pitches. Not awful, Nigel White did it for a few seasons and still won a few Cy Youngs, though Chris' ratings comp more like a relief pitcher. Think Marcus Owen as a starter, though I'm hesitate to give a WHIP or ERA, since there's no comparison of a relief pitcher with a starter. S56 Arismendy Costilla might be the closest starter to comp, he went 16-9 that season in 32 starts with a 1.28 whip and 3.81 era (114 era+). Where he'll struggle is against lefties. And while he won't strike out too many hitters, the control will be top notch and he won't give up too many free bases either. His sinker and curveball have potential to be tops in the league. With enough money to spend in IFA, we'll see who the Empire pair with the pitcher during the second half of the season. 

2. Colorado Springs - Ali Hall (LF) - Year 2 of the rebuild starts with the #2 overall pick. I can already hear the Loin fans screaming for Ali Hall to be in the Hall! The power is there and if he could only face lefties, he's the best player in Cobbfather history. Problem his, majority of pitchers will be righties and he'll struggle a bit against them. Especially with that low eye and slightly lower contact ability. Either way Hall is a special case that has limited comps so we are excited to add him to our inventory once he makes the majors. I wouldn't even call it a close comp but think Jay Norton, current RF with Salem but with A LOT more power and still better versus lefties. The low contact will likely mean his season to season numbers will be streaky. At best he's an average leftfielder, but with that power he could be a plus defender at 1B without any doubts.

3. Pittsburgh - Reese Bruce (LF) - The highest the Yinzers have picked in quite some time. Historians have written about Robert The Bruce, well I present to you Reese The Bruce, future King of Pittsburgh. I'd consider Bruce a slower TJ Christenson. With the right bats around him, he could easily put up 100 runs, 100 rbis, with 30ish hrs on a .260 average. Defensively he ranks right there with Hall, just less range but he makes up for it with a better glove. He's not quite the next Rip Bromberg Pittsburgh was hoping for, but they are lined up for another top 5 pick next season. 

4. Washington DC - Glen Dean (SP) - keltic44 in his 4th year as owner and doing a good job building up this franchise. We'll see in 10 years if this was the better pick over DeMichele, Dean comps with players like Bennie Swann, Norm Cunningham, and Mike Sappelt. Two of them have appeared in a few all-star games and helped bring their franchises a ring. We'll see if Dean can be that person for the Nationals and bring them out of the gutter! With that stamina and pitch selection, you could easily see him pull an Alcides Johnson and go for 40 starts while throwing 100+ pitches. His weakness like the #1 pick will be lefties. A lefty heavy lineup could really do some damage. But on that note, the guy knows how to keep the ball out of the air. If DC is smart they'll bring up a solid glove first shortstop to further improve Dean's numbers. 

5. Augusta - BJ Magill (P) - College pitcher out of San Francisco Junior College. Many say he was hoping to land with a West Coast team, but he picked the wrong year for that with 5 of the 6 top drafting teams East of the Mississippi. Either way he seems to be hold out Augusta hostage and demanding more money, which the franchise doesn't seem to have cleared yet. We'll see by season ends if he signs. His numbers look decent, but that's just college scouts; their use to the ding of the metal bat. 

6. Dover - Efren Gutierrez (SP) - Another pitcher off the board, this one comps well with #1 overall pick, so well done Dover. He keeps the ball on the ground less but should see more strikeouts than his draftee counterpart. Efren also offers slightly lower pitch quality but fairs better against lefties. His comps would be Carmen Arnold. If trains hard, I could see a 1.05-1.15 whip, with a 3.00-3.50 era. A k/9 could be right around 8-8.5.That's a solid option at the front end of your rotation or a great trade chip if you prefer. We'll see in 10 seasons which of Efren, Glen, or DeMichele end up being the top pitcher in the draft. 

7. Austin - Freddy Smith (SS) - Freaky Freddy is insanely accurate with his throws, don't let him trick you by any accidental drive by fruiting! But sadly that range makes him a minus shortstop. Maybe move him to second and watch him win a few gold gloves? I'd say third, but he just doesn't offer the power you see out of most 3Bs. Makes solid contact, especially versus lefties and has a pretty good eye. I'd comp him to Dee Valle who offers 10-15 hrs paired with 10-15 sbs on a .270ish average. He's not a top of the order bat but definitely worth a look with a high glove. I know a few franchises that would take that even with the errors he'll cause at short. Sorry pitchers! Just look at Hartford's S57 Leonel Martinez, 22 errors in 126 games. 

8. Charleston - Chris Wagner (LF) - Considering how the Hall voting goes, we shouldn't be surprised to see power first type hitters in the early first round. Speaking of Leonel Martinez, he's a good comp here, though Wagner would be slightly better against lefties and a small notch ahead in power and a much better eye. A career season for Wagner could be a .290 avg with 55 hr and 70-75 k with an all-star selection, silver slugger, and a gold glove. Charleston has to be happy with this pick, no doubt. Wagner, the pressure is on!

9. Mexico City - JR Venters (SP) - Venters could throw 95-110 pitches a game and still hit 35+ starts in a season, but will you be happy with the output? Stating the obvious, Venters doesn't quite match up with the pitchers drafted before him. Control is great, but at best he's average about handling batters. Fantastic velocity that would strike out most players; but unfortunate for him he just hasn't learned to throw those pitches well. If he could improve his pitch quality, we'd like him a whole lot better. But for now, he's slightly better than Elrod Wilson. Now whose Elrod Wilson, only someone in Austin could tell you that. He's the ace of their staff but at best he's league average. A 1.30-1.50 whip to go with a 4.20-4.75 era. But luckily he won't give up many walks. The blog's scouts actually wonder what he'd be like as a relief pitcher. With that stamina and durability, he could throw an inning just about every game. He limits walks, should gets some strike outs; the rest is up to the fielders behind him. But then again, sometimes our scouts are too far outside the box for their own good. 

10. Tacoma - Ryan Lawrence (2B) - Exciting to see Tacoma turning the corner. They are ready to go full tilt! Lawrence of Tacoma of an interesting pick here, but I don't think he's quite the lion tamer Tacoma had hoped for. His glove falls slightly short of being average at second base, so you have to wonder if he'll stick at the position. I'd say his comp is likely a faster Rich Hiller, who has since retired because this is a power first league! Lawrence's lack of power and lower than ML standard ability to hit both lefty and righties will mean he struggles in the majors. In S55, Hiller played in 80 games for 320 at-bats and hit 5 hr on a .288 average. But considering the small sample size, who knows what his real comp would be in a full season. You could look at Valerio Manuel who is far worse versus lefties and he hit .287 over the last three seasons but those were playing half his games in hitter friendly Santa Fe and not pitcher friendly Tacoma. Remove Manuel from the comp list and you get a range of players who had one off seasons above a .270 avg. Our recommendation to Tacoma is to find a City who doesn't have access to the internet and this blog, and trade him there for something better! Really sell up him being the #10 pick in the draft! We hear the people in Atlanta hate the blog still, so try there first. 

11. Anaheim - Gorkys Dotel (2B) - The defensive rating on this guy is a bit crazy. You start to look at him and think 2B as he was drafted but he's going to greatly disappoint. A shift to Left or Right is likely in store for him. His ratings aren't very eye catching but could see him going .255 with 15 hr. We've seen better 11th overall picks but we've seen far worse ones as well. I'd say his comp is Edwar Guerrero who Anaheim will be very familiar with but he's probably more S57 Yoervis Colome due to the better eye than Edwar. 

12. - Milwaukee - Hector Miles (CF) - On the positive note, Milwaukee found themselves a fairly decent centerfielder who should hit around .275 at the back end of a lineup. He'll hit a HR every 16-17 games and while he offers some speed he's not a great runner on the base paths. If allowed to run, I could still see him stealing 20 bases in a good season. He may not be an all-star but he's definitely a serviceable and everyday centerfielder. 

13. Boston - Todd Parrish (RP) - First relief pitcher off the board and what a reliever. This one rivals HoF snubbed Jace Sale - all time leader in saves. his control and velocity combo should keep from many players receive a free base and often times getting a nice quick seat back on the bench. Those who manage to make contact will still struggle as he projects as the best splits in the game. He may only throw two pitches, but he throws them well. With all that great quality why didn't he go sooner in the draft? Well his down side is that low stamina but at least the durability kept him in the first half of the first round. He's likely only going to see 15-20 a game; but will he need any more than 9? Maybe not. On average over the years, owners with similar players...well similar in stamina and durability; not in skill set have used this type of guy for 65-70 games. Let's say that's all he gets, I'd gladly take Parrish for 40% of the games played. If I'm in the market for a reliever in a few seasons, consider me buying. 

14. Tokyo - Roland Lambo (P) - 

15. Chicago - Marc Overbay (P) - The team is trying to rebuild but Shea Crowe had other ideas about it. Now that they've finally (re)dealt him to OKC, they can get on with business and securing an earlier draft pick next season. He'll be lucky to top out at 6.0 k/9 but offers quite a few pitches and a minimum of major league level. Our best comps are Larry Niemann and Randal Foster. 95 pitches a game, should easily make 32 starts but likely ends with a 1.35-1.40 whip and a 4.50+ era. We assume he'll be trade bait but we'll see how things shake out. 

15. Montreal - Tomas Wong (RF) - Not enough poutine for this guy to sign with a Canadian team. Guess FW_K made the....wong choice. Let's see who they grab as a Type D next season with pick #17. 

Recap: 8 pitchers, 3 left fielders, 2 second baseman, 1 shortstop, 1 center fielders, and 1 right fielder. Four of the first 6 players drafted were pitchers! Was a big year for drafting pitchers it seems. Of the first 32 picks, 18 were pitchers. 

Bonus wise it was a mixed bag, with three players signing above slot, lead by Helena's #18 pick who signed for $8.5M! Wonder if he'll be worth it, but I guess in today's IFA market, you'd rather sign your draft pick versus not signing anyone. Colorado Springs ($5M) and Tacoma ($4.5M) both signed over slot as well.  

Let's go prospects, it's nearly your time to shine!! Check back in 10 seasons to see how things turned out and who ended up being the best pick of the draft.