#8 PRE-RULE 5 DAY DRAFT PREPARATION

Tomorrow is Rule 5 draft day in World Addicted Users and this will be my 3rd Rule 5 draft. I am still getting the hang of this draft myself, but I will spend more time discussing the Rule 5 draft in the next few posts because it did not exist last season.

The first and most important thing with the Rule 5 draft is having a complete understanding of how it works. Very simply, any minor league player that (a) has 4 or more years of pro experience at the start of the current season, (b) is not on your 40 man roster, and (c) is not under a multi-year major league contract, is exposed to Rule 5 and has a little red number 5 next to their name in the Roster Management screen.

When drafting, you can draft up to 10 players if you (a) have enough money to draft them, (b) have enough room on your 40 man roster for each player drafted, and (c) properly set your Rule 5 Draft Settings screen. If your 40 man roster is full before the Rule 5 draft is run, you cannot draft anyone - each player needs a spot open on your 40 man to be drafted. Also, remember that for each guy you draft you need 327k salary (or more if the guy's current salary is higher) and 50k payment to the team that lost the guy. So if you are tight on budget, you may want to skip the Rule 5 draft altogether.

The first step in dealing with Rule 5 must be done BEFORE Rule 5 day - thus no later than the final day of coach hiring/free agency. This step is preparing your roster. I handle it as follows:

First, I look at my entire 40 man roster. Any minor leaguers on the 40 that are not prospects worth protecting get removed (if they are out of options, they have to pass through waivers -- and you will want to Designate them to get them off immediately and into the waivers process). Also, I look for anyone on my 40 that does not yet have 4 years of pro service. No point in wasting a spot on the 40 for one of those guys as they are safe from the draft anyhow.

Second, I determine how many spots I want to leave open on my 40 man roster for draft picks. I compare that to how many I am currently using to find out exactly how many spots I have available to protect players.

Finally, I go through every Rule 5 eligible player and determine whether or not he is good enough of a prospect to protect. I keep going until I have every player that I can protect properly protected by adding him to the 40. In some cases, I may remove additional decent prospects that had previously been on the 40 in order to protect a better prospect.

In Cincinnati, I found one player on my 40 that was complete garbage so I removed him. I also found 2 minor leaguers with only 3 years Pro experience on the 40, so they got removed as well. That me with 30 of my 40 spots in use between guys on my major league roster and minor leaguers that were already protected.

I next decided that I would draft 2 players. Specifically, I am still 2 position players short of a complete major league roster for this season and I am hoping to draft a couple of decent young players that I can play on the ML roster this season and possibly keep for the future if things work out. I would have preferred to draft 3 or 4 players so I would have a couple guys to choose from after the draft was completed, but I had a lot of guys to protect and did not have the luxury of keeping more than 2 spots open on my 40.

Finally, I went through my Rule 5 eligible players and protected the best prospects. I do have a couple decent players that I simply could not protect. If I lose them, I lose them. None of them are studs anyhow. Plus, if the person that drafts them decides not to keep them for the season, I get a chance to get the player back (though it will cost me 25k and the player will now be carrying a major league salary).

With my pre-Rule 5 day preparations complete, the next step is Rule 5 day itself. That will involve adjusting my Rule 5 Draft Settings and manually ranking prospects. The final Rule 5 step will be evaluating my draftees as well as analyzing how any players lost may affect my minor league rosters (i.e. do I need to sign a couple minor league free agents to refill those roster spots?) These items will be the subject of my next posts, coming tomorrow.

#9 RULE 5 DRAFT DAY

The second stage of Rule 5 draft preparation takes place on Rule 5 draft day. You only have from 3 AM until 11 PM Eastern to do this step. What needs to be done now is setting your Rule 5 draft settings and manually ranking prospects. Make certain you set the number of players you want to draft. The default is 0, so if you dont do your settings, you wont draft anyone. I normally use the "Any" setting here though with Cincinnati I am going to try to grab a shortstop so I am setting 1 Any and 1 SS. I will see if that works or if I end up with only drafting 1 player worth keeping.

After the settings are in place, manually ranking the prospects comes next. This works exactly the same as with the amateur draft, though instead of pre-ranking the top 100 as I do with the amateur draft, I only with with 35-40. Anyone below that I dont want to draft anyhow and if I do end up taking one of them, odds are I will offer him back anyhow.

In Cincinnati, I have the #4 pick in the draft so I should grab someone that can definitely contribute. I have 3 starting pitchers and a shortstop in my top 4, any of which will play for me not only this season but probably for years to come. Now I just need to sit back and wait - see who I draft and then get them a spot on my roster. If it is a pitcher, I will have to send one of my current big league pitchers down to the minors -- and then look to sign a late free agent to fill my 1 or 2 remaining position player roster spots for the season.

When setting the Rule 5 draft, don't forget that spring training will start the very next day on the AM cycle. Although rosters moves are frozen, you can still set up your spring training rosters, depth charts, player and manager settings during Rule 5 day, so if you have not done so already - do it now!

Up next -- Rule 5 draft results. Also, after the draft and any final free agent signings, Les Nessman will be by from spring training with a Season Preview.

#10 RULE 5 DRAFT RESULTS

Great draft for the Flytraps!

With the #4 overall pick I get the guy I had ranked #1 on the board, starting pitcher Lyle Melhuse. He instantly becomes my #2 starter behind Price. He has very good control, splits, and 4 solid pitches, together with a 71 GB rating (good for my short fences), and a 30/75 DUR/STA combo. 88 makeup and 96 health round out a very good pitcher whose owner clearly made a mistake by failing to protect. I am amazed that the 3 owners that drafted before me had guys on their boards rated higher than Melhuse (and looking at the 3 guys taken, I believe they all made mistakes in passing on Melhuse).

I also get my #10 overall guy with my second pick. Dennis Delaney projects to be a solid defensive shortstop with solid but not great offensive ratings. He will fill the utility bench player role on my big league team this season, though with his arm accuracy currently down at 61 (projected to 93), he really isn't ready for the bigs. Since I know I will not contend this season though, it is worth it to keep him on the roster all season.

I now have one hole on my roster, that being third base. Spring training is under way so I will keep an eye on the waiver wire for third basemen, and if I cannot find one there, I will grab a minimally priced free agent at the end of the spring. I find myself with only about 1 million on my salary cap, though I do have that extra coaching money I can transfer, I would rather use it for prospect payroll in pursuit of a top international.

The last 2 preseason steps are spring training and preparing for the regular season. Neither of these steps should differ in procedure from last year, so this is really the end of the preseason posts for me. Up next will be a Season preview from Les Nessman followed by regular updates from him as the season progresses.

P.S. We did not lose anyone in the draft. Another sign of my lack of minor league depth.

SEASON PREVIEW - PITCHERS

WKRP's Les Nessman is on location at Venus Flytrap Spring Training in Sarasota, Florida with this report:

Only a few short days away from the start of Season 5 (the second year of the Flytraps existence as a franchise in the city of Cincinnati) and there is some buzz about the future of the organization. While management has clearly indicated that this team is not yet in position to contend for a playoff spot, the foundation appears to have been placed and fans will get a chance this season to see some of the pieces of the future.

The five man pitching staff is led by 100 million dollar free agent signee Johnnie Price. Price is one of the league's elite pitchers and will certainly give the team a chance to win every time he takes the mound. Rule 5 draftee Lyle Melhuse is the #2 starter. A rookie with solid control, 4 verygood pitches, and solid L/R splits, the 24 year old Melhuse has huge future potential and could eventually rival Price for the role of staff ace.

The team's third starter is Lewis Locko. Locko enters his third big league season (though only 24 years old). He has yet to turn his amazing potential into results, but the team hopes this can be a break-out year for him. Carlos Morales, who had a great first half last season as a rookie, returns as the fourth starter. He has very solid stuff as well and the team hopes this year he can put a full season together. The final starting spot goes to Jason Wright, a 26 year old with decent but not great stuff. He should be able to give the team much needed innings though.

In the bullpen, the team has 4 long relievers. Darryl Thompson was a starter last season, though he struggled. Ivan Guillen has decent but not great stuff. Ricardo DeJesus and Tarrik Dickson are a pair of youngsters with solid stuff that should be able to help eat innings.

Setup will be split between Johan King, Fausto Herrera and Kid Bagley. None of these guys will be All-Stars, and in fact setup pitching is one of the team's key weaknesses this season. The closer will be Carlos Martin. Martin is a second year player with decent but not spectular stuff. He would be a solid setup guy with most teams, but is forced into the closer role with this team.

In all, the starting rotation looks to be one of the team's strengths this season, while the bullpen is a definite threat to give up late leads. The team has already noted that it is trying to make a move or two to bring in some young relief pitching as the bullpen is one of the few areas that the team has not already addressed as it prepares to become a contender by Season 6.

This has been Les Nessman reporting from Sarasota. I will be back in a day or two with a report on the position players. Now back to Dr. Johnnie Fever.

SEASON PREVIEW - POSITION PLAYERS

Les Nessman with his final report from spring training in Sarasota:

The Venus Flytraps are looking at 12 positions players on the roster this season. As of the present moment, however, only 11 of those 12 spots have been filled. With spring training halfway done, the team still does not have a third baseman for this season.

The team is carrying two catchers, Javier Mateo and McKay Xavier. These two backstops split the duties last season. Neither is exceptional either offensively or defensively, though both are adequate. Odds are that one of the two will be the team's backup next season when Fab Fiver Stevie Bonilla breaks in.

First base goes to Julio Iglesias, who split his time last year between AAA and the bigs. Iglesias is 29 years old and probably wouldn't have a job on any other team's major league roster.

Second base is veteran Kelly Hill, with his 5.2 million salary. Hill was one of the guys that the team wanted to move last season due to his contract. He deal extends one more season beyond this one, though a team option exists and odds are it will be declined.

Shortstop is Orlando Gonzalez, who still has 3 years on his 2.4 million per season deal. While nothing special offensively, Gonzalez is solid defensively and should be able to play out the tail end of his contract in a utility role starting next season.

The outfield consists of Buster Rogers, speedster Jake Edwards, and young Matt Kirwan. Only Kirwan, a Rookie of the Year finalist, is a legitimate big league starting player.

The DH role will be filled by Gary Newson, an below average hitter in the final year of his contract. The bench will feature, in addition to the backup catcher, Rule 5 draftee Dennis Delaney and rookie Mike Nady. Nady has solid contact, tears up right handed pitching, and has incredible speed (99 speed, 75 baserunning). He should end up getting significant playing time as the season goes on and has a great chance to earn himself a job for years to come on this team.

In all, there is very little offense on this team and scoring runs will be a struggle. However, the five guys sitting at AAA this season should turn that around dramatically next year.

This is my final spring training report. I will have an update once the team decides who will play third base this season, and after that updates will be posted every 20 games this season. While it should still be a long one, the future is bright and the starting pitching staff this year will hopefully preview great things to come in future seasons.

Great job again C-wood. I'd also like to tell you that ever since I read your interview on the site I have been hiding my ML team's score every day and I've been scrolling through the play by play to see what happens. I gotta say, it is 100% better that way. So thank you again.

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SPRING TRAINING WRAPUP

Spring training is complete and the Flytraps finished a respectable 9-9 (not that those games count anyhow). The best news is that we got through the spring without any injuries.

Three late roster moves were made in spring training as well.

First, I claimed a very good looking catcher off of the waiver wire. He has solid offensive numbers and is average defensively. He is only making minimum salary and with 2 option years I sent him to AAA. He will make a great backup behind Fab Fiver Steve Bonilla next season, allowing me the option of dumping both of this year's major league catchers after the season.

Second, I signed a defensive wizard to fill my third base spot. The guy (Nap Bottenfield) is a shortstop by trade though his range has dropped below 70 due to age. All his other defensive ratings are in the 80s and 90s. Offensively, other than his vsL, he pretty much stinks. His vsL though is an amazing 99. at 39 contact, 0 power, 20 vsR and 41 eye, he wont give me much, but I got him for 1 year at under a million, so he should fill a need at least.

Finally, one of my toughest decisions at the start of this season was declining DH Derrin Wilkinson's option given how he was one of my bright spots last season. I found WIlkinson still unsigned with a contract demand of only 765k. I snatched him up for 3 years at that dirt cheap rate (even if he doesnt make my big league squad next year, he isn't costing me much anyhow) and gave him back his DH job. Gary Newson who had been slated for that role got designated for assignment and will sit on a minor league inactive roster for possible use as an injury replacement.

One extra off day has been added to the schedule now, which means I don't have to get up extra early tomorrow morning to set my minor league rosters for the season.

Next up -- Les Nessman with updates every 20 games.

BREAKING NEWS -- WAIVER WIRE CLAIM

With the Rule 5 draft feature now in place, there is a chance, especially early in the season, of seeing some better players than normal passing through the waiver wire. These would be solid prospects/players that were drafted in the Rule 5 draft but who did not find a spot on the 25 man roster of the team that picked them. If you make a claim of a Rule 5 guy, you have to keep him on your 25 man roster or again offer him back to the original franchise.

I just claimed one such guy, right fielder, Denny Brown. Brown projects offensively to 27-91-83-64-61. He is weak defensively in that his glove is only 33, projected 37. However, he looks like a very solid power hitter. I clearly have room for him on my big league roster (I demoted first baseman Julio Iglesias for the roster spot and in fact will play Brown at first due to the low glove). Based on his performance this season, Brown may even have a role on my team next season when my prospects start coming up.