Draft Data

We drafted 221 players at the 2016 NASOMA Draft. Of those, 189 were taken in the regular draft; 32 more were selected in the Lightning Round. We drafted 111 pitchers, 97 hitters, and 13 uncarded players.

And there was a "first" for the NASOMA Draft (as far as I can remember): There were ZERO passes - not even by the Mavs who ALWAYS pass their last 2 picks. It was close to not happening, though. The Bees were all set to pass on their last 2 picks before trading them away. And the Goofs had to be talked into using their last 2 picks. They, naturally, ended up keeping one of them.

The earliest a player was drafted and then cut was #146 (Phil Gosselin by the Warpigs). The latest a player was drafted and then kept was #205 (Carlos Ruiz by the Buckeyes).

Of the 32 players taken in the Lightning Round, 4 made it onto the final rosters (1 each by the DVs, FFTs, Buckeyes, and Tweeners).

And maybe because there were 3 weeks of games between roster cut-down and the draft, there were 23 protected players who were later cut post-draft. In fact, every team except the Zaps, Wahoos, Goofs, and Inmates cut at least 1 player who had been protected pre-draft. The Fungoes, FFTs, Tweeners, and Sidewinders each cut three players they had protected.

Here are the numbers...

Number of Protected Players Pre-Draft
Uncarded - 9
Hitters - 205
Pitchers - 142
Total - 356

Number of Protected Players Who Were Cut Post-Draft
Uncarded - 0
Hitters - 13
Pitchers - 10
Total - 23

Number of Players Drafted
Uncarded - 13
Hitters - 97
Pitchers - 111
Total - 221

Number of Drafted Players Who Were Cut Post-Draft
Uncarded - 0
Hitters - 21
Pitchers - 20
Total - 41

Final Rosters
Uncarded - 22 (All 22 on Reserve)
Hitters - 268 (2 on Reserve)
Pitchers - 223 (9 on Reserve)
Total - 513 (33 on reserve)

Almost Perfect

This past winter, the Driller Dude offered Maikel Franco to the Wahoos for Jake Arrieta. The Wahoos, of course, declined. DD later traded Franco to the Killer Bees for the 2nd pick in the 2016 Draft. With that pick, the Drillers selected Michael Conforto.

In the first meeting of the year between the Wahoos and Drillers, Arrieta had a perfect game with 1 out in the 9th, but the bid for perfection ended on a pinch hit homer by... Conforto.

Conforto homers to end Arrieta's perfect game with 1 out in the 9th.

Zaps 5, Buckeyes 2

Game 1-Nelson couldn’t finish the first inning before HAL yanked him. The Zaps built 6-0 lead after three and held on for a 6-3 victory despite seven innings of shutout relief from Iglesias. 

Game 2- Russell Martin’s three run tater in the 4th allowed Greinke to pitch through seven with a 4-0 lead. Carlos Rodon promptly gave it all back in the eighth and ninth only to see Blanco and Hernandez hit back-to-back doubles in the 9th to salvage a 5-4 win. Happ went the distance in defeat.  

Game 3-The Buckeyes scored three in the first off Scherzer led by Gennett’s two-run triple, and never looked back. Bauer stifled the Zap bats on the way to a 6-1 triumph. 

Game 4-Manny Machado hit a three-run home run in the first to put the home team ahead, and cranked a two-run shot in the eighth to stop the Buckeye rally that started with Trevor Plouffe’s three-run homer in the top of the frame as the Zaps won 7-3. 

Game 5-Mitch Moreland hit two two-run homers off Desclafani in the first three innings and the Zaps never looked back in an 8-1whitewash of the visitors. 

Game 6-Scherzer had it on cruise control until the Buckeyes hit two solo shots in the seventh. First round draft pick Travis Shaw drove in three runs to power the Zap offense to a 7-2 W. 

Game 7-Jimmy Nelson bent but refused to break as he limited the Zaps to two runs which was enough to back up Christ Carter’s two-run tater and poor fielding from Travis Shaw as the out of towners took the getaway game.

Transactions Made at the Draft

The Warpigs traded R.A. Dickey to the Nads for pick 71.
The DVs traded pick 5 to the Fungoes for pick 40, a reserve, a 2017 1st, and a 2017 3rd.
The Warpigs traded Justin Morneau to the Killer Bees for picks 130 and 146.
The Buckeyes traded Matt Moore to the Sidewinders for their 2017 7th.

How About My Team For Yours?

I got several responses from the question, "Which roster would you trade your roster for?"  Some were even actual answers. Others debated between the desire to win now vs the rosters built for the long haul. And a couple of owners admitted they wouldn't trade their rosters for anybody else's - and who could blame them?

Turns out it's not an easy answer. Consider these teams...

Zaps - Goldschmidt, Machado, Bautista, McCutchen, Rendon, Kluber, Greinke, Scherzer, Giles...

Fungoes - Trout, Kershaw, Betts, Lindor, Sal Perez, Hosmer, Carpenter, Harvey, Price...

Rhinos - Bryant, Votto, Syndergaard, Cole, Archer, Braun, AGordon, Jansen...

Those names make up just the nucleus of those teams. They have plenty of talent and depth beyond those guys. And that's not even including the young, talented rosters of the Sidewinders (who were mentioned more than once as the most likely team to win in 2016), the Mavs (with Harper and Correa... definitely something brewing in Mavland), and the DVs (boy, if they only had pitching... and a different manager).

But the results from the votes are:

1. Zaps with 5 votes
2. Fungoes with 4 votes
3. Rhinos with 3 votes

Transactions

The DVs traded Cory Spangenberg to the Warpigs for Yasmany Tomas.

Drafting Strategy Help

The Driller Dude gets some assistance to prepare for the 2016 Draft

Extra Reserve Contest

All Extra Reserve Contest selections have been turned in and are now final. The spreadsheet link is on the main page. If you can't access it, follow the link that emails me your request. I put in your usual email, but if you use an alternate one, I will have to add it.

15 of the 16 teams are entered. For the 83rd consecutive year, the Nads have taken advantage of our collective naivete by slyly not entering the contest. We fall for his clever strategy every year.

No two teams made the same picks, although a couple were close.

14 of 15 selected the Blue Jays in the AL East. Only the Inmates differed, going with the Red Sox. Likewise, 14 of 15 picked the A's to lose the most games in the AL West. The Goofs went with the Astros to be the big losers.

Only the Mariners and the Angels were not picked at all. And 8 teams were selected on both sides - as either the biggest winner or the biggest loser in their division, and 4 of those 8 are in the AL Central.

10 teams picked the Astros to win the AL West, but the Goofs picked them to finish last. Over in the NL East, 10 teams picked the Phillies to be the big losers. The Goofs picked the Phillies to win the NL East.

The Goofs have been mathematically eliminated.

I won't update every day, but I'll update it fairly often.

Updated Mock Draft (A New Story)

With two more weeks to go before we draft, it appears a couple of teams will benefit greatly from our late draft. If a rebuilding team had used an early pick on Schwarber, they would have had their turn-around set back by a year or more. And Trevor Story, who at best might have been a very late-round pick 3 weeks ago, will go early.

By the way, Trevor Story went to Irving High School just a couple of miles from here. Two of the young math teachers at my school are friends with him and his older brother. They both text with him regularly. One of the teachers was in the wedding party of Story's older brother. And they both say that the older brother was the baseball stud - Trevor was always just "kinda okay."

After only a week of games, my draft list is completely shot. Two more weeks, and I may just phone it in.

Here's the "2 Weeks Away" version of the Mock Draft:

1. Buckeyes - Trevor Story (uncarded). I know we are all wary of falling for a guy who just happens to get off to a good start (remember Tuffy Rhodes?), but as I write this, Story has hit 6 homers in 4 games - and only ONE of the games was in Coors. He's also playing a pretty good shortstop.

2. Drillers - Odubel Herrera. Centerfield covered. What about Conforto or Schwarber? "I don't need a left fielder."

3. Warpigs - Stephen Piscotty. He makes a great LF platoon partner for Ender Inciarte this year, and a full time RF next year.

4. Wahoos - Kyle Schwarber. Yes, he's out for the year, but the Wahoos are set up to win right now. And Schwarber's card is just what the doctor ordered.

5. DVs - Steven Matz. Okay, he hasn't actually pitched yet, and I've bumped him up the board. What the hell do I know? But with so few innings on this card, his first two starts will determine how quickly he's gobbled up, and I predict his first 2 starts will be just fine.

6. Mavs - Matt Duffy. It doesn't matter if the Mavs pick 3rd or 6th, Duffy is a good fit.

7. Nads - Michael Conforto. Sometimes the next big slugger just falls right into your lap.

8. Fungoes - Roberto Osuna. This guy is young and good. Very young. Very good.

9. Drillers - Logan Forsythe. Second base covered. 

10. Tweeners - Carson Smith. Another good, young reliever.

11. Goofs - Lance McCullers. The shoulder issues have slowed his start, and that causes him to slip a few spots. Advantage: Goofs.

12. Zaps - Devon Travis. He's out hurt right now, but he'll be back soon.

13. SSWs - Hunter Strickland. It seems like every mock draft I do, Strickland and Garcia seem to end up as Sidewinders.

14. SSWs - Jaime Garcia. Garia's a lefty; that and his lack of BP homers works well in the SnakePit.

15. SSWs - Franklin Gutierrez. Yeah, it's too early, but the rest of us are just playing for second this year. But if Schwarber's injury causes him to slide, this is where he ends up. Guaranteed.

16. Tweeners - Will Harris. Relievers in the first round aren't sexy, but the Tweeners need pen.

Yep... Another Patch

Go here. Your game version should be 2016f after this.

Stay tuned for more, I guess.

Patching Things Up

SOM has yet another patch. This one doesn't apply to us, as it only fixes bugs in the Baseball Daily game. It will also fix the errors with the pitcher running ratings and with Quintana's POW, but the patch we downloaded a month ago already fixed that.

However... for NetPlay to work, both teams have to have the same version. The previous patch should have made your version 2016d. The new one, I believe, will make your version 2016e. So if one person downloads the newest patch, we'll all need to in order to use NetPlay (which usually doesn't work anyway).

That being said, I recommend downloading TeamViewer. It allows you to play the game with your opponent, and it's excellent. It includes an audio facet that allows you to talk to each other w/o using your phone. The host can allow visitors access so you can both control your own teams. Or the host can limit a visitor to view only, so they can watch a game without being a part of it.

It's simple to download and use. Go to TeamViewer.com. It's free.

Casualties of the Spring

Wahoos: Hey, did you see that your boy Pollock fractured his elbow last night?

Pigman: Boy, you love to be the bearer of bad news, huh?

Wahoos: No... I was just shocked. Really.

Pigman: Steve Boyer was like that. He loved to be the first person to tell you when something bad had happened.

Wahoos: Are you saying I'm like the Cletes?

Pigman; Well, except that he won our league once.

Pre-Draft Rosters - By the Numbers

Of the 988 cards in the set this year, we are protecting 347 going into the draft.

There are 500 batter cards. 205 are on our protected lists; 295 are available to be drafted.

There are 488 pitcher cards. 142 are on our lists; 346 are available.

In addition, there are 9 uncarded players protected (6 are in the AWD).

The Rhinos protected the most players, with 28.

The Buckeyes protected the fewest with 17.

The Rhinos kept the most batters (19); the Zaps and Buckeyes kept the fewest (9).

The Warpigs kept the most pitchers (12); the Tweeners kept the fewest (6).

The Zaps were the only team to protect more pitchers than hitters.

The Buckeyes have the most draft picks (18); the Warpigs have the fewest (6).

Although a few will be passes, there are 189 scheduled draft picks (not counting the Lightning Round).

In the chart below, the (Max) column represents the maximum number of uncarded players each team is allowed to select in the Draft.

Transactions

The Bees released (for real) Jedd Gyorko and Raul Mondesi.

April 1, 2016

6:54 AM - Beeboy: Are you joking about my team? If not, you can have them all.

6:55 AM - Beeboy: I will get to this around 9:00 this morning. I missed the "midnight" portion of Glenn's email. Thought I had all day today.

8:07 AM - Pigman: Dude... what's the date today?

8:11 AM - Beeboy: I realized it about 30 minutes ago. Jackass.

8:12 AM - Pigman: Love me some Beeboy!

Rosters are Set

Final pre-Draft rosters are now set.

Unfortunately, the Bees did not meet the deadline, and per Constitution Rule IV, part F, their roster is limited to 15 players (the 10 batters with the most AB and the 5 pitchers with the most IP).

Therefore, the final cuts of the preseason are:
Archie Bradley
Robinson Chirinos
Alejandro DeAza
Alex Fernandez
Maikel Franco
Joey Gallo

So now we're ready. LET'S DRAFT!!!