Midyear Report - Part 1: Draft Recap

Round 7
Top Three:
1.    Pierce:  SP Max Scherzer – My number one to start the draft has officially leaped to the top tier of major league starters. Really should’ve been kept by somebody. The K totals alone make him extremely valueable.
2.    Lars:  OF Nelson Cruz – Lars got some grief for grabbing this oft-injured OF, but he’s had a great season with a line of 42/22/69/5/.334. But look out for the hamstring injury cus its coming.
3.    Mike:  OF Shin-Soo Choo – Nice pick, ultimately dealt for another great pick (Pence), and Mike ends up trading for another great first rounder in Molina (Andrew’s pick). Choo could be an interesting keeper depending on where he ends up in the offseason.
Bottom Three:
1.    Dan: 1B Ike Davis – I too had high expectations and almost picked him over Dunn (whew!), but there was enough questions to make him the X factor. Now one of four first rounders on my team (Rizzo, Davis, Dunn, Choo).
2.    Lars:  SS Jimmy Rollins – Uninspiring production (299th overall) makes him a waste of the first overall.
3.    Andrew:  2B Aaron Hill – Tough to fault Andrew for an injured and Chris’ Cueto pick certainly qualifies, but Hill has been anything but consistent in his career. Still could help though.

Round 8
Top Three:
1.    Kyle: SP Jordan Zimmerman – Never big on the Ks but the 95/2.58/0.97/14 qs is stellar. Might end up being a keeper a la Matt Cain.
2.    Pierce: OF Alex Rios – Pierce nailed another one here. Big reason he is doing so well is great drafting (certainly not waiver wire pickups – five moves, really?)
3.    Kyle:  C Wilin Rosario – Nice round for Kyle, eh? Deemed my worst pick, he’s certainly proven more than worthy of being a regular catcher. 13 hrs and 46 rbis from behind the plate is nothing to sniff at.
Bottom Three:
1.    Pierce: SP Ian Kennedy – Remember when this guy won 21 games and was a keeper? Me either. 5.42/1.40 is ugly; 8 qs is even worse.
2.    Dan: 2B Danny Espinosa – Normally I wouldn’t fault someone for an injury, but his should problems were widely reported prior to the draft, making him a risky pick to start. He’s been thoroughly unproductive when healthy with a .193 obp. The highest pick that is currently an FA.
3.    TIE – Lars & Dagan: 3B Mike Moustakas, 3B Will Middlebrooks – They were my X factors to start the year, had a similar plus-categorical profile, and both went sideways quick. Willy is in AAA and Mous might as well be, neither are on their original teams.

Round 9
Top Three
1.    Mike: OF Carlos Gomez – Everyone else should be kicking themselves for not recognizing the second half resurgence of this once-heralded prospect last year.
2.    Pierce: 1B David Ortiz – Call it homerism, call it brilliance, call it luck. Whatever it is, its damn productive for 287 abs.
3.    Dagan: C Mike Napoli – A smart call to begin with considering power, on-base skills and position scarcity while playing 1B, but the 47/11/58/.343 line is excellent, albeit streaky.
Bottom Three:
1.    Brandon: SP Dan Haren – The injury concerns were out there before the draft and his problems from last year continued to this year with an awful 81/5.61/1.42/6 line.
2.    Pierce: SP Josh Johnson – See Haren, Dan.
3.    Chris: 1B Paul Konerko – Production had to drop eventually and we’ve seen it happen this year. This mistake left a major hole in Chris’ lineup.

Round 10
Top Three:
1.    Mike: SP Matt Harvey – Candidate for pick of the draft, ultimately yielding Mike Strasburg and Molina.
2.    Lars: SP Mike Minor – Looking more and more like a keeper. If he repeats last year’s great second half, watch out.
3.    Dagan: SP Hiroki Kuroda – Sexy it is not, but he is essentially the cheapest ace you can find – 84/2.65/1.05/12.
Bottom Three:
1.    Brian:  C Miguel Montero – Can’t explain this one, other than that I expect some progression to the mean. Still, didn’t help Brian any.
2.    Lars:  SP Marco Estrada – His underlying numbers made him my worst pick, which proved true with a 5.32 era in 69 ip, then he got hurt (though still rostered for some reason).
3.    Adam:  SP Jonathon Niese – Find it hard to fault myself too much considering there was no talk of any shoulder problems heading into the season. Had a nice bounceback after his first DL stint, then got hurt again. Now on the Grumpy Cripples.

Round 11
Top Three:
1.    Adam: OF Hunter Pence – I saw no reason for him to drop this low and he’s proven his worth by putting up a 53/14/48/14 (where’d the speed come from?). The .305 obp is bit tough to swallow though. Traded for Choo.
2.    Brandon: SP AJ Burnett – Really has turned things around in Pittsburgh and should not have dropped this far.
3.    Jason: SP Matt Garza – Jason had to wait a lot longer than I expected, but Garza has certainly pitched like an ace since coming off the DL.
Bottom Three:
1.    Lars: SP Ryan Vogelsong – Sort of the poster boy for why drafting high is overrated.  I bet you didn’t even know Yahoo ranked the 1,092nd best player. Well, Lars did.
2.    Brandon: OF Andre Ethier – Follow that up with the poster boy for not completely selling out, as you get forced to take seemingly “safe” picks who ultimately dwindle into oblivion like Ethier has.
3.    Pierce:  SP Tim Lincecum – Hard to fathom this precipitous drop to mediocrity, but – no hitter aside – the numbers don’t add up to anything more than a 5th or 6th starter.

Round 12
Top Three:
1.    Brian: 1B/OF Chris Davis – If he wasn’t taken so high, you’d have to easily call him the pick of the year… Wait, that 70/37/93/.392 line isn’t his total for the season? Nevermind. Pick of the Year. Nice work, Brian.
2.    Chris: OF Alejandro De Aza – Surely, Chris didn’t expect he was getting a power hitter with obp problems, but that’s what he got. 12 knocks and 10 steals is good value here at 70th overall.
3.    Jason:  SP Derek Holland – The problem with drafting young pitchers is it takes so long for them to become surefire keepers. Holland is approaching that with a nice 121/3.08/1.28/13 line. Dan’s Bailey pick is similar, but the ERA is too high at 3.82.
Bottom Three:
1.    Chris: SP Brandon McCarthy – Injuries aside, he wasn’t good to start the season as flyball pitchers like him need big parks and 5.00, 1.43 is just not helpful.
2.    Brandon: SP Trevor Cahill – I expected a lot more given his propensity to get grounders and he started off quite well, but something went wrong a few weeks ago and its clear he was fighting an injury.
3.    Andrew: SP Wade Miley and SS Alcides Escobar – Wow, shitty round for D-backs pitchers and Andrew.  Miley has rebounded after a tough start, but that doesn’t help Andrew much.

Round 13
Top Three:
1.    Russ:  SP Shelby Miller – Another mid-round gem to follow up the Trout pick last year, Russ found a keeper who made Felix expendible.
2.    Kyle:  2B/3B Kyle Seager – I wasn’t much a believer that last year’s numbers were repeatable, but he’s legit: 54/15/44/3/.359.
3.    Chris: RP Joe Nathan – Chris was finishing up his draft at this point and happened to grab one of the best closers.
Bottom Three:
1.    Pierce: OF Corey Hart – I gave Pierce credit for the pick, buying into the preseason “I’ll be back in late April” talk. Its mid July and he’s not close. Time to give up, Pierce.
2.    Dagan: OF Josh Reddick – Ok, ok… he’s not anything close to a keeper. In fact, he’s barely rosterable.
3.    Dagan: OF Ben Revere – He’s ranked pretty high right now (154th overall), but Dagan ain’t seen any of that. He sucked so bad he got sent down and finally started running when he came back. Now he’s out two months with a broken foot. Injuries to Harrison, Garcia, Putz make it tough to fault.

Round 14
Top three:
1.    Dan: OF Dominic Brown – Kudos to Dan for nabbing one of the top picks in the draft in a true post-hype sleeper. That run he went on in May was incredible. If he keeps it up, he’s a great keeper.
2.    Dave:  SP Julio Teheran – Another post-hype sleeper who is achieving his ample promise. With an excellent 94/3.35/1.23/11 line, he’s a no doubt keeper at this point.
3.    Brian:  OF Alfonso Soriano – Everyone was sleeping on this guy despite his great 2012. It was apparent why early on, but Brian stuck with and is reaping the benefits now (well, except for that .288 obp).
Bottom Three:
1.    Chris: C Jesus Montero – While we’re on post-hype sleepers, I liked the pick, thinking he would finally start fulfilling his promise. Maaaaybe next year…
2.    Lars: SS Josh Rutledge – The pick made sense, but there was always a bit of risk involved with him, considering the lack of a significant track record or pedigree. The recent call-up has been unsuccessful.
3.    Pierce: OF Jason Kubel – Lots of crap to choose from in this round, but this one is up there. He’s been injured or shitty, but is somehow was still on his roster until today.

Round 15
Top three:
1.    Russ: OF Dexter Fowler – Was huge early on, but hit a rough spell and some injuries. Regardless, he’s still the 94th ranked player and seems like a lock for 20/30 with an excellent OBP (.381 now).
2.    Dan: SP Clay Buchholz – Maybe we should start calling him Glass Buchholz. It’s too bad. He’s been superb this year and is still ranked 32nd overall despite having 30-40 ip less than most top starters.
3.    Andrew:  2B/3B Jedd Gyorko – Barely gets the nod over Dagan’s Greg Holland pick, but its mainly because Andrew may have chosen a keeper here (well, someone else’s keeper; he was dropped in early May). He struggled in April, but was one of the top players once May started and until he pulled his groin in June. Second half will show a lot.
Bottom three:
1.    Adam: 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis – Oh how I wished I trusted my instinct and took Reynolds instead. Oh well. He has a back injury. Surprise surprise. I should’ve known better.
2.    Adam: SP Edwin Jackson – Well, I was on a roll here wasn’t I? Ranked 910th but has pitched much better since, well, since I dropped him! Fucker!
3.    Dave: OF Ichiro Suzuki – He actually hasn’t had an awful season, somehow getting to 6 homers and swiping 13 bags, but he’s still on the waiver wire and the upside is minimal with a .320 obp.

Round 16
Top three:
1.    Andrew: SP Hisashi Iwakuma – The underlying stats from last year showed great potential, but I didn’t trust them due to the fact that much of it came during relief. Well, that was a mistake.
2.    Dave: OF Torii Hunter – The old man still has it. Not doing much in the power and speed categories, but sandwiched between Ajax and Miggy/Prince is a good place to produce in run production.
3.    Lars: SP AJ Griffin – I like me some A’s starters, but thought there were better options for Lars to choose from. He was right , to the tune of a nice 94/3.68/1.12/10 line.
Bottom three:
1.    Dave: SP Josh Beckett – His velocity has been down for a while but his breaking stuff really wasn’t working this season, effectively turning him into Hideki Irabu.
2.    Brian: RP John Axford – I know selecting closers is tough this late, which is why I don’t really give people much credit when they get one right, but Ax had problems last year and they just continued into this year.
3.    Dagan: SP Dillon Gee – I liked him a lot going into the year and was surprised by his struggles. Dagan understandably dropped him, after which he’s been better. I expect a more palatable second half.

Round 17
Top three:
1.    Dave: RP Jason Grilli – Hard not to choose closers in this rounds since they comprised 8 of the 14 picks. Grilli has been outstanding with 29 saves, excellent rates and 63 ks in 40 ip.
2.    Brian:  RP Grant Balfour – He may be the least sexy closer out there, but he’s been just as good as Grilli minus the big K numbers.
3.    Lars:  RP Ernesto Frieri – To continue with the cagey former setup man turned reliever theme, Frieri was expected to be setup man this year but it appears Ryan Madson is just going to be injured for the next five years. Frieri has great K rates in the mean time.
Bottom three:
1.    Kyle: SP Jason Hammel – It was hard to expect him to continue to be the productive starter he was before getting injured last year. He’s not even striking out guys anymore.
2.    Lars: RP Carlos Marmol – My pick for worst pick predictably was the first closer to lose his job – a week into the season and was outright DFA’d later. Tough fall for what was a top arm at one point. Either way, the writing was on the wall and the pick proved useless.
3.    Brian: SP Shaun Marcum – When an old feller with no heat like Marcum is injured to start the season, it tends to not go well. And it did not. My picks of Billingsley and League were also bad, while Dan’s selection of Jeter also didn’t yield much.

Round 18
Top three:
1.    Andrew: OF Coco Crisp – When Coco is healthy, he’s pretty damn good as witnessed by his 48/9/35/14/.345 line. Solid pick for a guy who slipped.
2.    Jason: SP Jorge de la Rosa – A very nice bounceback season for the vet coming off TJ surgery. Too bad his Ks seemed to disappear, but I’m sure Jason isn’t complaining with a 3.21/1.28 and 11 qs out of Coors.
3.    Russ: 3B Mark Reynolds – Was a top 30 player to start the season turned to waiver wire fodder. Such is life with Mark Reynolds. Hard to blame Russ, but he provided an awful lot of production in a short time before turning into a black hole.
Bottom three:
1.    Dan: SP Mike Fiers – Loads of crap to wade through in this round, but Fiers was easily the worst with a 7.25/1.52. His production in 2012 was a massive surprise, so his demise should not be.
2.    Russ: SP James McDonald – Incredible how this guy went from one of the top 10 starters in the first half of last year to absolute worthless garbage. He still has talent, but he’s injured and now buried on a contender.
3.    Andrew: RP Bruce Rondon – He was an easy selection for worst pick in my review, but there was no way Lelyand was going to run this guy out there in the ninth given his spring struggles.

Round 19
Top three
1.    Dave: 2B, etc. Matt Carpenter – I loved him as a sleeper and boy has he proven his worth. He’s on pace for 125 runs, .394 obp, and can be used in every position except C and SS. That’s tremendous value. One of the top picks.
2.    Brian: SS Everth Cabrera – The guys is nutso fast and gets on base (34 steals, .373 obp), making him basically as valuable as Carp minus the eligibility. Past successes hinted of this type of capability. Great pick.
3.    Russ: SP Ervin Santana – Tough to not choose Pierce’s guy Lucroy here, but he really struggled to start the year and Ervin has been Good Ervin since the outset. He’s always been tough to nab, with 200 K/ sub 1.20 ability but some years he just sucks nuts. He took the balls out of his mouth and pitched very well this year.
Bottom three:
1.    Jason:  SP Edinson Volquez – Probably the player I hate most in fantasy showed why in the first half: great Ks + awful rates = waiver wire.
2.    Kyle: SP Scott Diamond – Another one of those out of nowhere guys that should really be avoided. This (5.32/1.52) is his true identity.
3.    Dan: 2B Dustin Ackley – The former second overall pick joins Smoak and Montero as just the latest struggling young Mariner.

Round 20
A remarkably good round for this late in the draft, so I just ranked them all.

1.    Adam: SS Jean Segura – Go me. Grabbed a keeper very late. One of the candidates for pick of the year.
2.    Russ: OF Yasiel Puig – My worst pick in my review. I wrote: “You know how I feel about wasting spots on minor leaguers. I really don’t like roster spots to be wasted on guys who have a complete and utter aversion to taking a pitch. Sure, great spring. Nice. He’s in the minors and is unlikely to get an extended look this year. When he does, I expect him to struggle and in no way produce in a way worth keeping.” If you need any more evidence that I don’t always know what I’m doing, there you have it.
3.    Dan: OF Starling Marte – He had a nice 2012 and good pedigree, but youth and a lack of on-base skills kept him off my radar. The 59/9/28/28/.342 first half put him back on.
4.    Adam: SP Justin Masterson – Some nights he’s off, but overall he’s incredible effective and third in the league with 137 ks, which is huge this late.
5.    Brian: OF Colby Rasmus – Incredibly streaky, Brian made a nice pick but understandably didn’t have the patience, which I appreciate.
6.    Mike: SS Jed Lowrie – Remarkably, he’s a week away from breaking his personal record for ABs in season. No speed, but solid overall.
7.    Dagan: SP Chris Tillman – Getting a bit lucky, but still has tremendous pedigree and pitched well at the end of last year, so good move by Dagan recognizing value.
8.    Kyle: SP Jose Quintana – Nothing sexy about this guy and he doesn’t tend to make it deep into games by 90/3.71/1.18/8 is a solid back of the rotation guy.
9.    Dagan: 2B Kelly Johnson – Another streaky guy who the original owner didn’t have the patience for, in total he’s had a nice bounceback season.
10.    Jason: OF Lorenzo Cain – Looked like a really good pick through the first two months, but the shine has worn down a bit and he’s losing ABs, but still a good pick.
11.    Brandon: SP Dan Straily – I sympathize with Brandon here in that Straily has not only been inconsistent, but the A’s handling of him – shuttling between AAA and the majors – has been tough to follow. Could be in for a great second half if he’s up throughout.
12.    Kyle: SP Felix Doubront – Inconsistent start to the season made him a candidate to be demoted and was ultimately dropped twice. He’s the 76th ranked pitcher over the last 30 days though.
13.    Jason: OF Emilio Bonifacio – Ironically, my selection for top pick was one of two misses.
14.    Dagan: RP Mitchel Boggs – There was hope at one point, but an 11.05 era won’t get you far, well it got him sent to Colorado Springs anyway.

Round 21
Top three:
1.    Dagan: OF Chris Carter – My preseason prediction for pick of the draft has been very good with 18 homers and 47 rbis, but I expected a better OBP than .326. Perhaps one to watch in the second half.
2.    Brian: RP Trevor Rosenthal – Far be it for me to applaud a relief pitcher, who is not a closer, and who was dropped by the team that drafted him, but this was – as opposed to the previous round – an exceptionally shitty round.
3.    Dave:  OF Logan Morrison – Its very easy to move along from guys at this point in the draft, but Im surprised Dave gave up on him so quickly after keeping him in the DL spot most of the season. Had a nice little come back in 85 abs and may just have a great second half for Brian.
Bottom Three:
1.    Brandon: OF Billy Hamilton – He’s really going have to set the world on fire when he eventually comes up and either yield a draft pick or be a keeper. Otherwise this guy has consumed a roster space all season and hasn’t even been that good at AAA.
2.    Lars: OF Jackie Bradley, Jr. – Remember this guy’s incredible spring? Me either.
3.    Brandon: SP Brett Myers – I liked the pick initially given the upside, but he quickly showed he’s not healed yet.

Round 22
Top three:
1.    Brandon: SP Patrick Corbin – Right behind Davis as pick of the year. 109/2.35/1.00/16 – amazing.
2.    Dave: RP Kenley Jansen – Got to hand it to Dave for sticking with even when League started the season good and management made it sound like Jansen was a setup guy to stay. Not many opportunities since becoming closer, but he’ll get them and put up big K numbers along the way.
3.    TIE - Adam and Kyle: SP Jhoulys Chacin, SP Miguel Gonzalez – Pretty similar numbers for these two with lackluster K rates but very good WHIPs and QS totals. Filling the back of a rotation with these are the types of picks that can make or break your team.
Bottom Three:
1.    Russ: 3B Alex Rodriguez – What were the odds he was going to stay on Russ’ roster throughout his rehabilitation? Not very good. He lasted 17 days.
2.    Kyle: SP Lucas Harrell – This is made immensely worse by the fact that he is still on Kyle’s roster despite the 1,313rd ranking.
3.    Dagan: SP Clayton Richard – An intriguing set of tools just has never translated, even in San Diego, which is Spanish for “We should’ve gotten more for Jake Peavy.”

Round 23
Top three:
1.    Brandon: C Brian McCann – Of all the Grumpy Cripples, McCann is the lone success story as he has been extremely good since coming back and, along with the pick of Corbin from the previous round, netted Brandon Carlos Santana in a trade.
2.    Brandon: 1B Mitch Moreland – At one point it looked like this was going to be a real breakout year for Mitch, but he’s been only OK as of late. Think Texas would rather have Chris Davis now? Still 13 homers is good.
3.    Dagan: 3B Trevor Plouffe – Not much to choose from this late, but Plouffe has been an effective 3B in the wake of the Middlebrooks disaster.
Bottom three:
1.    Mike: C Travis d’Arnaud – Released early on and, predictably, was injured shortly after.
2.    Brandon: SP Corey Luebke – Brandon is steadfast that he will produce something of value this season, even if its just a midround pick.
3.    Adam: SP Jake Arrieta – I hemmed and hawed, but thought I might as well drop Arrieta to make my first pickup of the year – SP Jose Fernandez. That worked out OK.

Round 24:
Top three:
1.    Mike: OF Michael Cuddyer – Gay Santa throws in his candidate for pick of the year. Really, an awesome recognition of value. Not many last rounder produce a 44/16/55/6/.391 line and rank 34th overall. Tremendous.
2.    Dave: SP Francisco Liriano – Overshadowed only by Cuddyer, this pick has to be in the running as well as Liriano has found his old form and posted a remarkable 80/2.00/1.19/8 line in 76 innings. Kudos to Dave for sticking with.
3.    Pierce: SP Bronson Arroyo – The hits just keep on coming. Not up the Cuddyer and Liriano’s level, but Pierce found a steady force late as he’s come up big with a 1.13 whip and 14 QS.
Bottom three:
1.    Brandon: SP Vance Worley – Hard to fault anyone for picks here, but Worley’s suckiness is only surpassed by Philip Humber in the Yahoo rankings, with a rank of 1,360th and a line of 25/7.21/1.99/3.
2.    Mike: SS Eduardo Nunez – Remember when people thought he might replace Jeter someday. Umm, no.
3.    Adam: RP Phil Coke – Mr. Irrelevant quickly stayed true to his name.