Sons of Theo

Here we go.  I want to address the problem many owners will have come draft day.  With 20 minor leaguers on each roster, teams are going to run into problems if a farm guy, say Michael Saunders, makes the opening day roster.  Under the current rules, i have to keep Saunders on the 23 man roster, and then have the option to reserve him after the draft.  

Here’s what i want to change.  Players whom are eligible for the farm, players like Saunders, Brantly, and Jackson, should be allowed to be placed on a teams farm system EVEN IF THEY MAKE THE OPENING DAY ROSTER.   The thought process being why should teams be penalized for having good minor leaguers that are making opening day rosters.   This way the owner gets to choose whether or not a Saunders type will on the Major or minor league roster.  

To recap.  Players whom are farm eligible going into the 2010 season, may be placed on the farm no matter what.  

To go along with rule, i’d like to give teams full control of these players throughout the year.  for example, daric barton goes on the dl, i then decide to activate Michael Taylor in place of Barton.   Once Barton is activated to the my active roster, Michael Taylor either gets placed back in Farm or Reserve List.  

Thoughts?  Comments?  Concerns? 

 Commish

Bill Simmons does it, Fangraphs does it, and now WTNY does it. My version of the Top 50 players in SOT land. I view this list as a trade meter, so player #1 should not be traded straight up for anyone else in the league. My criteria is as follows:

- current contract
- position eligibility
- league perception of ability
- current and future production in all stat categories
- injury/playing time in organization concerns
- in the case of minor leaguers, proximity to the majors. Enjoy and debate!

1. Evan Longoria
2. Grady Sizemore
3. Matt Weiters
4. Adam Jones
5. BJ Upton
6. Dustin Pedroia
7. Josh Hamilton
8. Nick Markakis
9. Ian Kinsler
10. Felix Hernandez
Zach Greinke
Gordon Beckham
Curtis Granderson
Jon Lester
15. David Price
Aaron Hill
Billy Butler
Ben Zobrist
Robinson Cano
20. Nelson Cruz
Alex Gordon
Carlos Quentin
Adam Lind
Joe Mauer
25. Matt Laporta
Justin Smoak
Joba Chamberlain
Justin Verlander
James Shields
30. Clay Buchholz
Mike Napoli
Shin Soo Choo
Jacoby Ellsbury
Carl Crawford
35. Kevin Youkilis
Justin Morneau
Matt Garza
Jon Danks
Brett Anderson
40. Rick Porcello
Edwin Jackson
Carlos Santana
Victor Martinez
Travis Snider
45. Brett Wallace
Trevor Cahill
Asdrubal Cabrera
Jokim Soria
Andrew Bailey
50. Nolan Reimold

Just Missed (alphabetical)

David Aardsma
Elvis Andrus
Howie Kendrick
Derek Holland
Desmond Jennings
Jesus Montero
Jhonny Peralta
Alexei Ramarez
Rickey Ramiro
Kevin Slowey
Chris Tillman
Brandon Wood

Just some quick notes from this weekend’s action around the minors:

(Evil Empire) – Thought he was one of the biggest overdrafts because I haven’t read one positive report on the bat.

(101) – Congrats.

(DMB) – I was high on him prior to the 08 draft, so I’m not ready to jump off the bandwagon yet, especially because of his age, but this is concerning.

(WTNY) – I really need him to get called up and pull a mini-Longoria.

(Evil Empire) – Cleveland has one of the most under-rated systems in baseball.

(Tillman) – I just liked hearing the name announced on draft day.  The over/under on the number of fantasy/roto league’s Kam Mickolio is owned is .5, and I’ll take the under.

(WTNY) – Rookie sinkerballers own SEA.

(WTNY) – 7:1 GB:FB rate, probably needs a promotion to see what we have here.

(Evil Empire) – Might be better than I think.

(101) – Off to a nice start, could make teams drafting 1-4 look silly.

(Tillman) – On fire.

(Free Agent) – Scouts like him, sleeper alert.

From the eyes of WTNY:

First of all, it was good seeing everyone again, on the day I refer to as “Christmas in April.”  Overall, the day was a complete success.  The commish and his wife (just a hunch) did a great job with the set-up and acting as the host (the cookies didn’t stand a chance).  EE may disagree, but some of us, myself included, enjoyed the addition of the projector, which helped the flow of the draft.  As always, the pizza was great (although Mama Mia’s has cost itself a few grand because they don’t deliver), and I happened to love the deeper minor league draft.  Heck, everyone knows who the top 100 prospects in baseball are, and if you don’t, google will lead you to multiple sources.  The additional farm slots, those guys that don’t make a top 100 or even 200 list, adds an element of scouting to our league that no other roto league can offer.  At the same time, some teams took advantage of the draft dominated with prospects to take the likes of CC Sabathia, Pat Burrell, Mark Derosa, Ken Griffey Jr, Brandon Inge, and John Smoltz.   Just like the actual MLB draft, many players drafted on Saturday will never sniff an SOT roster, which means there will be plenty of open slots to fill on the farm each SOT Christmas Day.  So with that as an appetizer, let’s move on to the meat and potatoes portion or the post, again, through the eyes of one guy.

Best Overall Draft – Jewish Mafia.

Coming off a disappointing season, and passover, the Mafia walked into 22 Water St armed with 6 of the top 22 picks and walked away with G Beckham, Hosmer, Ynoa, Westmoreland, and Morales.  In the later rounds, he landed Dixon, Jharmidy, and Casey Kelly.  Just a sick haul for a guy in need of a sick haul.  The selection of Derosa was questionable, especially that high in the draft for a team that’s in a rebuild mode, and the later round picks tailed off a bit as the talent thinned out.  Overall, Grade A (Could’ve been A+ with the selection of anyone but Derosa or Perry in Rd 2).

Worst Overall Draft – Tillman

While teams were calling the name of Beckham, Hosmer, and Ynoa, Tillman called the name Buck, as in Travis.  He followed that up with Trumbo and Valencia, two guys projected to go much later it the draft.  Overall, a very disappointing day for Tillman, who at one point only a few weeks ago said, “I’m going to take draft night off from work so I can drink some beers hang out and break down some rosters, we may need to increase the amount of beers for the draft!”  At 5pm, Tillman USA was as far away from Pembroke as Marcum is from throwing a pitch that counts.

Biggest Reach – tied Si7 & DMB

When Si7 uttered the word “Perry”, I think most heads turned to the TV looking for Kenny Perry, because there’s no way a middle reliever is going in Rd 2 of the SOT Rule IV draft, especially with names like Tazawa, Weeks, Westmoreland, Chisenhall, etc. still on the board.

Brad Emaus is a 2nd baseman who could “stand to lose a few pounds” according to one report.  He’s also ranked outside of the top 10 in Toronto’s system, which isn’t exactly on par with Texas and Oakland, and was drafted in the 11th round out of college, yet still went in the 4th to the defending champ.  I just looked it up, Brad Emaus in Greek is spelled Kevin Ahrens.

Left in the Green Room the longest – tied Jemile Weeks & Andrew Brackman

Weeks was thought to be in the mix at #8, the last pick in Rd 1 with DMB and WTNY talking about a draft day trade, only to fall down to Rd 3 where WTNY scooped him up.

Brackman, another former 1st rd pick in the MLB draft (as was Weeks), has #1 starter upside, but for one reason or another hasn’t turned that stuff into success.  101 hopes that will change, and maybe his snub on SOT draft day will give him the needed motivation.

Biggest slurve in the draft – tied 101 & TRC

Two words, Justin Smoak.  Wow, didn’t see that one coming, and neither did anyone else in SOT land.  Rosters were shaking, gchat was abuzz, and WTNY’s accountant and uniform maker were on the phone tying to fit the massive contract and belly of CC on the roster.

TRC, which formerly stood for TNSTAAPP started the prospect drafting with Tim Melville, and didn’t stop til every Latino, Caucasian, and park league arm was on the roster.  Evidently, Andy is playing a greater role in the drafting philosophy of TRC.

Potential Studs (after Rd 3) – Tazawa, Y Navarro, M Perez, Dixon, Crosby, Giovatella, Jharmidy, Romine, Kelley, Sosa, Hoes, Exposito, Heredia, D Gutierrez, Rondon, Matt Moore, J Ramirez

Potential Duds -Trumbo, Emaus, Doolittle, Moore, Duffy, Suttle

Signing off,

WTNY

After a couple shift drinks TillmanUSA, or ________, trades its 2010 4th Rd Pick

to

An extremely willing Wait Till Next Year for Joe(not keeping) Nathan.

Good Luck to All,

Commish

Wow! If I had a penny for every time WTNY bragged about how a 24 year old catcher,  who  had a combined OPS of .780 last year combined at AA-MLB,  is  going to be the starting teacher in Texas.

This according to RotoWire.

Saltalamacchia is expected to begin the year as Texas’ starting catcher, the team’s web site reports.

Teagarden (bruised arm) is set to begin the year as Jarrod Saltlamacchia’s backup according to GM Jon Daniels, the team’s web site reports.

Teagarden has struggled this spring, hitting just .160 and striking out 10 times in 25 at-bats; combine that with his spotty minor-league track record, and there’s risk here if you roster him as a second catcher looking for power as he could sink your average as a result.

I can hear WTNY right now. “Spotty minor-league track record? How many catchers you know hit  20 hr as a 28 year old in California League?’

It’s no wonder WTNY pulled of one trade last year, and I bet has the lowest total in SOT history.  Let’s give Bavasi a pass here though.  I couldn’t imagine trying to run a SOT team while on  a two year European hiatus.

It’s truly Wait Till Next Year in 2009!

Good Luck To All!

Commish

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3972030&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

Should be interesting to see what teams in SOT are effected by these findings. Carlos Triunfel’s name has come up an awful lot this offseason. Should be interesting.