And They're Jockeying For Position As We Head Down The Stretch!

The Fungoes traded picks 13, 29, and 76 to the Tweeners for picks 5, 69, and 85.

Your Draft Primer

As if the fact that the draft is less than 4 days away isn't enough, here's some additional good news. It appears NetPlay may have finally been improved enough to use on a regular basis. This falls under the "I'll believe it when I see it" category, but I've played home and home games vs the Wahoos and home and home games vs the DVs over the last couple of days without a single problem. You should try it out before Friday just to see if you have any issues.

Glenn asked me to pass on a couple of notes about the draft...

We had some issues last season with teams running out of innings or at bats at certain positions.

For pitchers, it is a good idea to have a MINIMUM of 1,000 SP innings and 500 RP innings. That's a minimum. MIN-I-MUM! Any fewer than that, and you're going to have trouble making it to the end of the season. In addition, be aware that just because you have a player who is SP/RP and has 120 innings doesn't mean you should count him for BOTH your starter and relief innings. It doesn't work like that.

And honestly, the teams that had players run over typically had plenty of unused innings by their other players - it was just that one or two of the pitchers were being used way too often (usually by Hal). First, draft enough innings. Then, check constantly throughout the season to make sure no one is being overused. And if they are, put them on the taxi for awhile - especially for road games being managed by CM.

For hitters, figure around 600-650 AB or 680-700 plate appearances per position. Last year, the 16 teams averaged 5583 ABs, 516 walks, 67 HBPs, and 23 Sac Bunts (why does almost no one keep SFs?). Where they bat in the order will affect the totals, of course. I still remember the first time I played the Bandits. Ab had Kal Daniels batting 9th every game, and I couldn't figure out why a stud card like that was buried at the bottom of the order until he explained to me that he would last longer batting there. Just make sure you have everything covered before playing your first game.

We have always worked on the honor system with regards to ABs, IPs, and your pitching rotation, and it's pretty much always worked. Just be aware and take care of your shit. If you're going to carry that 30-inning pitcher or 50-AB prospect (I don't wanna name names, but you know who you are - and RHI KNOW who you are), just make sure you're covered by the other players on your team.

If you have questions, ask the Buckeyes.

Now... Can I go ahead and announce pick 1?!?

Pre-Draft Rosters Are Set

After a flurry of last minute (and fairly meaningless) deals, the 2018 NASOMA pre-draft rosters are set.

The draft picks at the end of the draft have been adjusted to fit everyone's roster size. Several teams lost their 11th and 12th round picks (two teams lost late 10th rounders), and the Goofs, Mavs, and Wahoos gained tag-on picks at the end of the draft. If you had a pick numbered 155 or later, that pick is either gone from your list or it has a new (better) number after the adjustments.

Some data on the draft...

The last official pick of the regular draft belongs to the Wahoos, and it is pick 181. There will, of course, be a Lightning Round following the regular draft for anyone wanting to participate.

Most regular draft picks: Mavs (16)

Fewest regular draft picks: Snakes (5)

Most players kept: Rhinos (28)

Fewest players kept: Wahoos (18)

Most and fewest pitchers kept: Snakes (14), Goofs (5)

Most and fewest hitters kept: Goofs (15), Wahoos/Inmates/Mavs/Bees (11)

Uncarded players protected: Rhinos (5), Mavs (2), Wahoos/DVs/Bees (1)

A maximum of 23 additional uncarded players can be drafted this year, with the Mavs (5) leading the way.

There is a link on the home page to a spreadsheet that has all of the available carded players for the draft. It should be formatted to be 2-sided, with the hitters on one side and the pitchers on the other.

Drury to the Pigs

The DVs traded Brandon Drury to the Warpigs for pick 148.

Drury, who was already on the DV cut list, is 25 and penciled in to be the starting third baseman for the Yankees. He may still be a Pig cut - either before or after the draft - but for now he has hopes of serving an apprenticeship under Adrian Beltre before taking over the reins at the hot corner.

Cards We Don't Use

When you start sorting your cards, there will be some you'll need to remove. For one thing, there are 42 pitcher batting cards to eliminate. Also, there are a number of split cards for guys who were traded between leagues during the 2017 season. Below is a list of those cards, with the number of ABs or IPs on the card to help identify them. Some have one extra card; some have two. I put this together hurriedly, so I wouldn't be surprised to find I left somebody off or messed up. If you see a mistake, let me know and I'll fix it.

Brett Anderson 33
Nori Aoki 102 & 234
Alex Avila 92 & 219
Jay Bruce 149 & 406
Ryan Buchter 27 & 38
Trevor Cahill 61
Bartolo Colon 63 & 80
Chase d'Arnaud 57
Yu Darvish 50 & 137
Sean Doolittle 21 & 30
Oliver Drake 53
Lucas Duda 171 & 252
Sam Dyson 38
Neftali Feliz 27
Nick Franklin 82
Jaime Garcia 44 & 113
Dustin Garneau 68
Marco Gonzales 37
Alen Hanson 57 & 160
Chris Hatcher 23 & 37
Adeiny Hechevarria 65 & 265
Jeremy Hellickson 52 & 112
David Hernandez 36
Edwin Jackson 71
Jeremy Jeffress 25 & 41
Hyun Soo Kim 87 & 125
Brandon Kintzler 26 & 45
Tom Koehler 56
Mike Leake 32 & 154
Jonathan Lucroy 142 & 281
Ryan Madson 20 & 39
Jhan Marinez 51
Leonys Martin 115
J.D. Martinez 200 & 232
Brandon Maurer 39
Miguel Montero 87 & 98
Eduardo Nunez 165 & 302
David Phelps 47
Brandon Phillips 102 & 470
Jose Quintana 84 & 104
Addison Reed 27 & 49
Sergio Romo 25 & 31
Adam Rosales 84 & 205
Fernando Salas 45
Pablo Sandoval 99 & 160
Danny Santana 143
Michael Saunders 200
Anthony Swarzak 29 & 48
Blake Treinen 38 & 38
Stephen Vogt 122 & 157
Justin Wilson 40
Blake Wood 57
Travis Wood 42 & 52
Kirby Yates 56

Pick Me Up

The Warpigs traded picks 127, 143, and 164 to the Wahoos for pick 98.

Warpigs Acquire First Overall Pick

The Warpigs traded David Peralta, Guillermo Heredia, and Jose Iglesias to the Nads for picks 1, 97, and 100.

For the Nads, filling three holes instead of one with the first pick makes the rest of the draft easier. Peralta will play LF. Heredia can platoon with him in left while serving as the backup in CF and RF. But the big addition for the Nads was getting Jose Iglesias and his ss-1e8 and +13 clutch points.

The Pigs move into the #1 spot in the draft. Who they have targeted there has not been announced, but with LF now completely empty, there's a good chance pick 1 will be used to fill the void.

MLB's Top 100 Players Right Now

I'm not going to list them all for you, but the top 5 were:
5. Stanton
4. Votto
3. Harper
2. Altuve
1. Trout

The highest ranked pitcher was Kershaw at #6.

The Fungoes and Weevils both had 4 in the top 20.

There were 8 players listed who are not currently on NASOMA rosters and therefore in the draft. The highest ranked is Pham at #59.

As for the NASOMA breakdown, the Sidewinders (of course) ruled with 11 of the top 100.

11 Sidewinders (top ranked player was Sale #21)
8 Drillers (Donaldson #9)
8 Fungoes (Trout #1)
8 Warpigs (Judge #15)
8 Weevils (Scherzer #11)
6 Inmates (Altuve #2)
6 Rhinos (Votto #4)
6 Tweeners (Arenado #7)
6 Wahoos (Ozuna #32)
5 DVs (Stanton #5)
5 Killer Bees (Freeman #14)
4 Buckeyes (Sanchez #26)
4 FFTs (Darvish #67)
4 Mavs (Harper #3)
3 Nads (Ramirez #22)
0 Goofs

The New and Improved Mocktastic Draft

There are people out there who have cards in their hands right. I am not one of them, of course. To honor Opening Day 2018, here's the latest Mock Draft.

1. Nads - Tommy Pham. In the first Mock Draft, I had the Nads taking Devers here, but Pham has probably the best card in the draft, he's balanced, and he has 444 ABs. He's very deserving of the first pick in the draft. If I had the first pick in the draft, I wouldn't hesitate before picking Pham. (Note: After typing this, I looked at MLB's Top 100 Players Right Now, and Pham is #59, the highest ranked player not already on a NASOMA roster.)

2. Killer Bees - Avisail Garcia. The Bees still think they can win this year. This delusion will lead to the first mistake of the draft.

3. SuperGoofs - Shohei Ohtani. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

4. Inmates - Chad Green. Smart owners don't take relievers with the 4th pick of the draft. But winning managers do. The HEAD INMATE fights off every one of his natural instincts and grabs the best relief card available.

5. Tweeners - Luis Castillo. The Tweeners have a good rotation already, but they're all left-handed. Castillo only has 89 innings and cannot relieve, but he's the best combination of useful card and prospect among the available pitchers.

6. Drillers - Zack Godley. It's gotta be killing DD to take a 28-year old starting pitcher here instead of, say, Vlad's kid, but the Drillers are about to kick off their most promising season since Bonds was applying the clear every day. Godley makes them better right now.

7. Weevils - Austin Barnes. Why not? Somebody has to catch that stable of aces. And Barnes can also help the offense although in a limited role.

8. FFTs - Chris Taylor. Another pick that's consistent with Mock1, but that's only because it's such a perfect pick.

9. DVs - Brad Peacock. The head DV said about Peacock, "His name makes me giggle."

10. Mavs - Rafael Devers. The Mavman will be beside himself with glee when the young but unproven Devers slips this far. It's unusual for the Mavman to be beside himself; he is usually beside the Buckeyes.

11. Rhinos - Ronald Acuna. And all the bettors who put money on a Rhino run through the playoffs tear up their ticket stubs simultaneously while muttering, "Knew it."

12. Inmates - Tucker Barnhart. The Barnhart pick brings out the first "good pick" of the draft. But since it was the HEAD INMATE who said it, I don't think it counts.

13. Fungoes - Chase Anderson. The Fungoes need pitching. After this pick, they'll still need pitching, but this is a great start.

14. Mavs - Rhys Hoskins. Meanwhile, the Head Buckeye, who was holding the Hoskins card, reconsiders seating arrangements for future drafts.

15. Buckeyes - Matt Olson. In his 189 AB at Buckeye Park, he'll hit around 45 homers.

16. Tweeners - Eddie Rosario. Big slide for Rosario, and it makes no sense. He's one of the best full-time hitters in the draft. Tweeners catch a break.

17. Killer Bees - Jordan Montgomery. Nice starting pitcher to get in the 2nd round - especially when facing the Snakes. Like the Bees can beat the Snakes. Ha!

18. Nads - Alcides Escobar. Same as last mock draft. The Nads get their ss-1.

19. SuperGoofs - Jhoulys Chacin. There aren't many decent SPs with a good amount of innings remaining. Chacin isn't a sexy pick, but he's a good one.

20. Inmates - Paul DeJong. It's the Year of the Inmates.

New Ballpark Numbers

Here are the new ballpark numbers. Your current ballpark is listed on the roster page. You can, of course, take the new numbers of your park or keep the old. If you keep the old, you have the additional option of adding or subtracting 1 or 2 points from each number. We will proclaim our choices at the draft.

Where are the Cards?

Official announcement from Strat (I started to link the video, but it's a realllly bad video)...

1. First day for Pre-Orders.......January 24th
2. Last day to Pre-Order for Opening Day pick-up orders......February 14th
3. Opening Day at SOM........February 16th
4. Shipping of orders begins...........February 20th

The First Mock Draft of the Hot Stove League

Big Innings is proud to present the first Mock Draft of the off season. These picks are just guesstimates but are based on careful passing consideration of each team's needs and past tendencies. I have done a great amount of very little research on what is available in the draft, so, as always, you can don't rely on me.

As a bonus this year, I will extend the first round and name the first 20 picks.

1. Rafael Devers, Nads - Devers is the best young talent in the draft, and he fits a position where the Nads have a glaring need, which is, well... anywhere.

2. Avisail Garcia, Killer Bees - This is the going to be the year of drafting former cuts, and Avisail is the first. Cut by the Tweeners following the 2015 season, he went undrafted in 2016 and 2017. So then, of course, the 26-year old Venezuelan finally met and exceeded expectations.

3. Shohei Ohtani, SuperGoofs - The versatile and talented 23-year old from Japan is going somewhere in the first round. The rewards could be great. It's just a question of who will take the risk.

4.  Trey Mancini, Inmates - Mancini had a breakout year with Baltimore, hitting .293 with 24 homers in 543 at bats. His only drawback is his poor defense, but in Waco, that has never seemed to matter.

5. Tommy Pham, Tweeners - Another recent cut, Pham was a member of the Wahoos in 2016. He also continues a diversified NASOMA Draft. Pham was born in the US, but is the first player of Vietnamese heritage to the play in MLB.

6. Eddie Rosario, Drillers - And the cuts just keep on coming. Rosario is an interesting one. He was an Inmate in 2016 before he was traded to the Goofs. The Goofs then traded him to the FFTs, who cut him, drafted him back in the 2017 Lightning Round, then cut him again. Now he's back in a big way, going to a team in need of corner outfielders.

7. Austin Barnes, Bohl Weevils - A rarity in this draft, Barnes is not a former cut. In fact, he is carded for the first time. He had a great year with the Dodgers, and can catch as well as be a backup at 2b and 3b.

8. Chris Taylor, FFTs - Another Dodger. It's a run on Dodgers! And what's not to like? Taylor hit .288 with 21 homers and 17 steals in 515 at bats while playing 5 positions.

9. Chase Anderson, DVs - At some point, teams have to break down and start drafting what most of us need: starting pitching. The problem is, there isn't a lot of quality starting pitching in the draft, and the best of the lot is not very different than the 6th or 7th best. The DVs dive in first.

10. Zack Godley, Mavs - Oh hell, the DVs started a run on pitchers. When was the last time the DVs started a trend? My guess is the fidget spinner, which was originally going to be called the Bean Flicker.

11. Brad Peacock, Rhinos - Peacock doesn't fit the typical Rhino pick, mostly because he makes sense. The right hander can start and relieve, has 132 innings, and is especially tough on RH hitters, which is perfect for the Rhino Park. But... he turns 30 in January; that's AARP in Rhino years.

12. Tucker Barnhart, Inmates - Barnhart spent the 2016 season with the Buckeyes before being traded to the Sidewinders, who cut him after the 2017 draft. The switch-hitting catcher had a fine 2017, naturally, and is projected to be a c-1(-3).

13. Jhoulys Chacin, Fungoes - Chacin has been around awhile and will turn 30 in January. He was taken in the 2017 Lightning Round by the Tweeners before being cut. After a rocky early career, he finally blossomed last year in San Diego. His 180 innings will be just what the doctor ordered for the Fungi. (And he can throw TWO complete games in a playoff series!)

14. Jordan Montgomery, Mavs- The run on starting pitchers continues. Montgomery is the Yankee lefty; 155 solid innings and one of the better prospects among the pitchers.

15. Rhys Hoskins, Buckeyes - If nothing else, the Buckeyes will pound the shit outta the ball. That's how they won 115 games last year. Hoskins can certainly do that. Ryan Zimmerman is a possibility, too. He has lots more ABs, and the Buckeyes won't care about the age difference, but Hoskins can play 1b and LF. Zimmerman can only play 1b. By the way, Zimmerman was another 2017 double cut, being axed by the Fungoes after several years on the team, then getting taken in the Lightning Round by the Tweeners before being cut again.

16. Luis Castillo, Tweeners - Castillo is yet another SP with first round credentials. His only flaw is having fewer than 100 innings, but the Cincinnati youngster might be the best SP prospect of the bunch.

17. Alex Cobb, Killer Bees - Cobb had a 3.66 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 179 innings last year in Tampa. He's another one that has been up before. Last year, he was a Lightning Round pick by the Warpigs before getting cut. Jose Urena is another possibility here; the SP quality drops off mightily after that.

18. Alcides Escobar, Nads - The Nads have had some shitty luck with shortstops recently, so it's nice that a ss-1 with 599 ABs is sitting there waiting on him in the 2nd round. Grab him while you can, brother. Escobar, by the way, was a Rhino in 2016 before being cut following the 2017 draft.

19. Martin Maldonado, SuperGoofs - The American League's Gold Glove winning catcher, Maldonado brings much needed defensive help to the Goofs.

20. Chad Green, Inmates - The HEAD INMATE reaches out for the first true reliever. The relief pitcher draft pool is fairly deep again this year, but there are no top-of-the-draft, elite kind of guys. Green is the best of the bunch, and the Inmates are in the perfect spot to take him with their third pick of the first 20.

Post Season and Updates

First of all, congratulations to the Sidewinders on their latest Higdon. This was their 4th straight trip to the World Series and their 3rd title overall, having won in 1998 and 2016.

Congratulations also to the Buckeyes, who advanced to their 13th World Series, and to the other teams reaching the post season: the Wahoos, Fungoes, Inmates, and Rhinos.

And thanks to the other owners who made their way out to the Buckeye house today to cheer and jeer on their fellow owners. The FFTs, Goofs, Weevils, Drillers, and Warpigs joined the 6 playoff teams for a fun day of Strat. Thanks, especially, for the delicious food.

I will be updating pages on the website over the next few weeks. A couple have already been done. There is now a link to the Official 2018 Draft Grid. It should reflect all trades. Please let me know if something is amiss. If you can't access it, click the request access button so I can add you.

Also, on the roster page, your draft picks now have numbers on them. Please refer to these numbers when trading draft picks.

A couple of new things: I added a red cell and a black cell to your list of players and picks. The red cell indicates how many players and picks you will have (30 plus your number of reserves). The black picks represent the Tweener Rule +2 picks everybody gets. In other words, if your roster were set right now, everything below the black cell would be lost. If the numbers below your black cell are good picks (example, right now the DVs would lose pick 41 and everything after it), not to worry, that just means you'll need to make more cuts. No rush.

And remember, the picks listed only represent 12 rounds, but we will draft as many rounds as it takes to get everybody's roster filled with the right amount of players. There will also, as usual, be a lightning round following the regular draft.

The team address page now has our new owner's contact information on it. Let him hear from you.

If there is anything I can do on the website to help you, let me know.

Where are the cards?!? When is the draft?!?

Playoffs and Draft Order

The regular season has wrapped up. The post season will be the weekend of November 11-12 at the Buckeye Mansion.

First Round:
Fungoes (6) vs Inmates (3)
Rhinos (5) vs Wahoos (4)

Second Round:
Inmates/Rhinos/Wahoos vs Sidewinders (2)
Fungoes/Rhinos/Wahoos vs Buckeyes (1)

As for the 2018 Draft, the draft order for the non-playoff teams had three ties. The Bees and Nads tied for the first pick and went 5-5 head to head. The commissioner oversaw the tie-breaker, which went to the Nads. The Bees will pick 1st in the even numbered rounds.

1. Nads
2. Bees (swaps places with the Nads in the even numbered rounds)
3. Goofs
4. Warpigs (the Inmates own the Pigs' 1st round pick)
5. Tweeners (they lose the tie-breaker with the Pigs by going 6-4 against them)
6. Drillers (suck)
7. Skyscrapers
8. FFTs (they win the tie-breaker with the DVs, going 6-8)
9. DVs
10. Mavs

Warpigs and FFTs Trade

The Warpigs and FFTs swapped multiple players and picks.

The FFTs receive Logan Forsythe, Matt Duffy, and the Warpigs' 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks in the 2019 Draft.

The Warpigs receive Adrian Beltre, Rich Hill, Roberto Perez, Dan Otero, the Driller 3rd, the Fungo 4th, the Fungo 6th, the Warpig 6th, and the Buckeye 8th.

The Lackey/Liriano trade from last week was a part of this deal, but was announced separately. This entire trade was made 2-3 weeks ago but is just now being announced.

Mavs 7, Drillers 7

Both teams screwing up their draft.

Via TeamViewer.

Goofs and FFTs Trade

The FFTs traded Odubel Herrera, Nomar Mazara, and a reserve pick to the Goofs for Yu Darvish.

Nads 3, Killer Bees 2

BEES @ NADS - BEES  go 2-3 at the NADS

June 9th - Catcher Tony Wolters had 2 base hits and 3 RBI as 

the Chicago Nads topped the Nashville Killer Bees by a score 

of 9 to 3 at The Ball Sack.

June 10th - The Chicago Nads offense put up 5 runs on the scoreboard

 in the 4th inning and readily handled Nashville Killer Bees by a 

score of 8 to 4 at The Ball Sack. Aledmys Diaz brought a roar from 

the partisan The Ball Sack fans when he launched a three-run homer.

August 16th - Hernan Perez cracked a homer as the Nashville Killer Bees 

bested the Chicago Nads 4 to 3 at The Ball Sack. Tyler Chatwood)had 

a solid outing for Nashville.  He went 7 and 2/3 innings surrendering 

7 hits and 4 walks.

August 17th - Jordan Zimmermann had an impressive outing at The Ball Sack 

as the Nashville Killer Bees beat the Chicago Nads 1 to 0. Zimmermann

was tremendous on the mound for Nashville.  He surrendered only 4 hits 

and no walks in 9 innings

August 18th -Vance Worley went the distance at The Ball Sack as the Nashville Killer 

Bees lost a heartbreaker to Chicago Nads by the score of 3 to 2. The game was decided

 in the bottom of the 9th inning.  After two were out Adrian Gonzalez stroked a base-hit. 

 Tyler White next to the plate and he doubled making Chicago the winner,

Warpigs 5, FFTs 2

All games played via TeamViewer @ The Grove.

Game 1 - Warpigs win 3-2 in 11 innings. In a manner befitting this series, the winning run scored in the top of the 11th on a ground ball double play. Archie Bradley, of all people, threw 8 quality innings, matching the equally masterful pitching of Jeff Samardzija, of all people. Starlin Castro, of all people, was the only batter to get more than 1 hit. This game will not be put in a time capsule.

Game 2 - FFTs win 8-2. The FFTs pounded Carlos Rodon. Another game that left nary an impression on the restless crowd.

Game 3 - Warpigs win 11-10 in 12 innings. Hey, at least some interesting things happened this game. 21 runs, 38 hits, 4 errors... 6 homers (2 by Miguel Cabrera). The Pigs blew an 8-1 lead; then the FFTs blew a 10-8 lead. And the two key moments were the result of pitchers with bats. Adam Wainwright, who had pinch hit for the DH in the 6th inning, was still hanging around in the 8th inning. With 2 outs and nobody on, Waino hit his 3rd home run of the year to tie the game. Then, in the 12th, Ender Inciarte hit a 2-out triple with Waino due up again. This time, he was called back for Francisco Liriano, who singled in the eventual winning run. Both hits came off of the pitcher hitting cards.

Game 4 - Warpigs win 8-3. Rich Hill's last start of the year, and he struggled against his former team. Chris Carter and Logan Forsythe both homered, and Adam Wainwright went the distance for the win.

Game 5 - FFTs win 5-4. The Warpigs led 4-3 in the 7th when Hunter Pence let a fly ball to right drop, allowing the tying and go ahead run to score. It was scored a double, and it's not clear whether Pence lost the ball in the sun or if he, maybe, still has some feelings for his old team. Or hell, maybe he was coached to do that by the PigMeister, who has his eyes on a good draft pick next spring.

Game 6 - Warpigs win 8-5. Move along. There's nothing to see here.

Game 7 - Warpigs win 7-2. To appease those damn loud-mouthed parents who come to the after game DQ parties, every Pig got to play in the game. It was so out of hand, even David Peralta homered.

Skyscrapers 6, Warpigs 0

Games played vs CM.

Games 1-3 at The BallPork

Gm 1 - Skyscrapers win 7-6. Russell Martin hit an early 3-run homer, and the Scraper bullpen held on to make a winner of Cole Hamels.

Gm 2 - Skyscrapers win 5-4. Back to back homers in the 9th inning by Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado vaulted New York to the win.

Gm 3 - Skyscrapers win 6-5. A homer by Yasmany Tomas brought the Pigs from behind and tied the game, but the Scrapers scored in the 9th again to win their third straight 1-run game.

Games 4-6 at John Olerud Park

Gm 4 - Skyscrapers win 4-2. Manny Machado came up a double short of the cycle.

Gm 5 - Skyscrapers win 5-2. That man Machado again... His 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th broke a 2-2 tie.

Gm 6 - Skyscrapers win 8-7. New York led 8-1 after 6 innings but had to hang on for the 8-7 win.

The Warpigs played without their regular CFer and RFer due to AB issues. Inciarte pinch ran and played some late-inning defense, but only got 1 or 2 at bats. Pence did the same.