I like Wally Backman’s team. He definitely drafts with a different strategy from mine, but he always ends September with a competitive team. Even considering he finished 4th last season, I think this year’s iteration is improved.
Strengths: The team has a definite edge in saves (which is probably best used in a trade) by drafting Nathan and Jenks in the first 2 rounds and adding in Wilson and Lyon later on. Another strength will be OBP with V-Mart, Ortiz, Wright, Cust and Thome more than offseting Chris Young’s horrid walk rate. This team has significant power with guys like Ortiz, Wright, Cust, Thome and Young and good speed in Wright, Young, Bourn, Owens, and upside speed in McLouth and Freel. Runs and RBIs will be at the top end of the league. Also, there are a number of players with tremendous upside considering where they were taken including McLouth, Grienke, and Pie.
Weaknesses: Starting pitching isn’t extremely strong. Carmona and Lilly are coming off terrific years, but there are question marks about doing it again. Carmona’s K rate isn’t that high, so if his ERA jumps to 4, he might not have been worth keeping. King Felix hasn’t lived up to his 2005 rookie performance when he looked extremely promising. His WHIP has not been good, and his ERA and K rate has not been elite in 2006 or 2007. I wouldn’t label him a bust, but if Lilly shows up looking like he did in 2003-2006, the stats on the anchor of this staff won’t be extremely impressive. Picking spots with Oliver Perez and Zack Greinke will be important, especially with Perez who is prone to nights where his statline resembles Mark Wohlers’ followed by a week where it looks like Bob Gibson’s. Marcum isn’t much more than a spot starter and Morales’ sample size leaves him unproven in Colorado where the home park tends to be unforgiving.
Best Pick: Jim Thome in the 9th round / Jack Cust in the 13th.
Worst Pick: Jenks in the 8th – James Shields or Rich Hill might have been a better pick here, considering how the cards fell. A rare misjudgement from Wally Backman on where a run would happen.
McJunk’s Favorite Pick: Tie between Cust in the 13th and McLouth in the 18th.
Honorable mention: Ryan Freel was a nice touch in the last round.
Filed under: Draft, Draft Discussion, Teams
I agree with the analysis. I think how my starting pitching does will determine whether I finish in the middle or towards the top of the pack. I do have plenty of power, but I’m a little concerned that if someone like Cust or Thome falls off I might be thin in that regard. I also question my middle of the infield, that could require some trade attention.
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