Maeda’s Touch
Target Field

I really wasn’t sure which way to go with early picks. Pitching is likely more valuable given exclusivity, but there were definitely some stud hitters worthy of selecting. I probably should’ve spent a bit more time reflecting on things that could set me apart from other teams, but oh well.

Given the nature of a lot of switch hitters, I figured we’d be seeing more lineups deep in doubles and triples than HRs. Seems I at least got that much correct and built my roster accordingly.

Round 1: 2008 Chipper Jones
I don’t regret having Chipper on my roster, but I do think this was the wrong pick in hindsight, mostly due to limited PAs and other options that would be available later. I strongly considered both Koufax and Gibson here, and I think 300+ innings of other one would’ve had more impact on my team. And sure enough, those pitchers went with the two picks immediately after mine.

Round 2: Kenta Maeda
Maeda pretty much always delivers stud numbers for me relative to other pitchers in whatever league I have him in. Not as many innings as I’d like, but he’ll hopefully be a big asset in a league like this.

Round 3: Justin Verlander
With Maeda giving me access to Target Field to cut down on homers, Verlander seemed like a good option here with his low OAV. I’ll have to be careful pitching him on the road.

Round 4: Chris Sale
Pitching remains the theme. Another player with limited innings, but elite production. Managing pitch counts will be key, but I like my choices so far.

Round 5: 2003 Carlos Beltran
In hindsight, I’m kicking myself over this pick the most. I selected 1996 Bernie Williams with my final pick, and in comparing the two, there’s not a ton of difference. I reached way too much here to get a solid hitter, baserunner and defender, not anticipating so much OF quality would be left in later rounds. Beltran is a strong player, I just don’t think I needed to go OF this early.

Round 6: Max Scherzer
Carrying on with the theme of low-OAV, high-K pitching. As previously mentioned, I’m gonna have to be careful with this team on the road in potential HR parks, but I anticipate I’ll be seeing a lot of Target Fields and Kaufmann Stadiums.

Round 7: 1993 Gregg Jefferies
I was trying to hold off on 1B, but a .342 hitter with low Ks, speed and high % SBs fit well with the team I was trying to build, and my ballpark.

Round 8: 2019 Ketel Marte
Another OFer, but again, a hitter I couldn’t resist. Well rounded, with double digit doubles, triples and HRs, as well as good speed and a strong SB %.

Round 9: 1894 George Davis
And now, my DH. My plan to avoid these non-critical positions is going swimmingly so far. But alas, yet another hitter I loved, bringing a high average, low Ks and a ton of triples.

Round 10: Cisco Carlos
I decided to stick with the theme of dominant pitching. No further explanation needed.

Round 11: Spencer Strider
I’ve had mixed results with Strider in limited usage, but I’m hoping his raw numbers (low OAV, high Ks) will translate to success in this theme.

Round 12: Sean Doolittle
Doolittle is one of the few modern relievers who consistently performs well for me in the SIM. His ’18 season is pretty dominant and I was happy to snag him here.

Round 13: BJ Ryan
I’m not sure I’ve ever used BJ in the SIM. No time like the present. Feels like a strong RP to be able to get at this point in the draft.

Round 14: Neftali Feliz
Keeping on with the dominant RP strategy. If nothing else, I should have the best bullpen in this theme.

Round 15: Rich Hill
I wanted his dominant 29 IP season. However, due to limited PA among my eventual hitters, I needed a 4^th bench player. As a result, I had to go with his 100 IP season (still decent) to make up for a shortfall in IP.

Round 16: 1954 Mickey Mantle & 2009 Asdrubal Cabrera
I was ready to snag ’91 Tettleton here, but razorclams took him right before my pick.

This Mantle felt like a great value at this point in the draft (.933 OPS, decent defense) and filled the need for an OFer.

Cabrera is a stud defender at 2B and very good at SS. He gave me flexibility to wait on another MIFer. He also hits doubles at a really high rate.

Round 17: Tiny Bonham & 1997 Neifi Perez
Bonham had a great 105 IP season and a 200 IP season (which I eventually went with) to give me flexibility depending how the rest of my draft went.

Perez provides elite defense and solid hitting at both 2B and SS. He makes up for the shortfall in PA from Cabrera and my eventual choice at SS.

Round 18: 1971 Ted Simmons & 1996 Todd Hundley
Simmons was a solid remaining option here after missing on Tettleton. Solid BA, relatively low Ks and an A+ arm. I wanted to platoon him with ’93 Chad Kreuter, but schwarze beat me to it, so I opted for Hundley. Hundley will play vs teams that don’t steal much, to take advantage of those 41 HR. Hundley can also provide some back up at DH and 1B if needed.

Round 19: 2009 Erick Aybar & 2005 Willy Aybar
The Aybar brothers! Erick brings stud D at SS, along with a solid BA, low Ks and…you guessed it, triples. Willy provides a good-hitting backup to Chipper to make up for the shortage in PAs.

Round 20: 1996 Bernie Williams & Doug Fister
Williams makes for a nice 4^th OFer. Good average, some pop and very good defense. Much like the pick I made all the way back in the 5^th round. Ooops.

I love 2011 Fister’s short IP season. Not sure how it will play here, but he was a nice final piece to this puzzle.

OFFENSE:

C – Ted Simmons (.304/.347/.424, B/A/A+) / Todd Hundley (.259/.356/.550)
1B – Gregg Jefferies (.342/.408/.485, B/B+)
2B – Asdrubal Cabrera (.308/.361/.438, A/A)
3B – Chipper Jones (.364/.470/.574, B/B-)
SS – Erick Aybar (.312/.353/.423, A/A)
OF – Carlos Beltran (.307/.389/.522, B/A+)
OF – Mickey Mantle (.300/.408/.525, C/B+)
OF – Ketel Marte (.329/.389/.592, A/D+)
DH – George Davis (.352/.435/.537)

Totals: .315/.390/.506, 324 2B, 94 3B, 228 HR, 775 BB

PITCHING:
Justin Verlander – 238 IP, 1.66 ERC#
Max Scherzer – 200.2 IP, 1.88 ERC#
Kenta Maeda – 180 IP, 1.40 ERC#
Chris Sale – 158 IP, 1.71 ERC#
Spencer Strider – 131.2 IP, 1.87 ERC#
Tiny Bonham – 238 IP, 2.20 ERC#

Rich Hill – 110.1 IP, 2.00 ERC#
Doug Fister – 70.1 IP, 1.61 ERC#
BJ Ryan – 73 IP, 1.25 ERC#
Neftali Feliz – 31.1 IP, 1.03 ERC#
Cisco Carlos – 43 IP, 1.20 ERC#
Sean Doolittle – 45 IP, 0.93 ERC#

OUTLOOK:
I think my offense is going to be a bit lacking relative to other teams, but they fit my ball park. My defense and pitching should be top notch. I opted for Target Field over Kaufman to preserve my pitching staff, as I presume we'll be seeing a lot of hitter-friendly parks in this theme. I'll generously put this team at 88 wins.

Pre-Draft Plan:
I was pretty happy with the fourth overall pick but I’d have preferred third as I had a solid top three. I wanted 1956 Mantle, 1957 Mantle and Greg Maddux in that order. I then had a tie for 1885 Roger Connor and Pedro Martinez but I was leaning toward Connor. I really thought everyone would concentrate on pitching so I thought Maddux and Pedro would go 1 – 2 and then I’d have a chance at one of the top two Mantles. If I got 1957 Mantle, I’d plan to build around a power team and, if I got 1956 Mantle, I’d go with power and average. If I ended up with Connor, I’d go with a Palace of the Fans type stadium and I’d have all my options if I ended up with Maddux. I decided that I would go against the grain and would go with hitting over pitching. I thought that pitching would go early and often and the hitters would fall. Ideally, I thought I’d get one of the Mantles and then would have Caminiti fall to me in round 2. Turns out there was no chance of that happening.

Round 1:
Well, it looks like everyone had my strategy. I held my breath after both Mantles went as, while I had Connor 4, I had a tight top three with Maddux being in a tier of his own at SP. When Connor went 3^rd (and I understand it as 1B didn’t seem to have as much depth as some of the other positions), I gladly jumped on Greg Maddux. I decided right away that I’d use his 1995 as it’s so dominant. The extra innings and lower HR rate of the 1994 version didn’t interest me. If I was low on innings at the end, I would just grab an innings eater instead of switching versions.

Round 2:
Pitching picked up but not enough to have Caminiti drop. I decided I’d go best non-pitcher available but got nervous once Raines and Mcgee went. As there were five Mantles off the board through the first 18 picks, I had figured I’d look elsewhere. I didn’t want to go OF but I was willing to if I could get a top hitter. 1969 Pete Rose was the last of what I considered the non-defensive liablility hitters so I jumped on him. It also helped that the Reds are my favorite team and I love watching old clips of Pete playing.

Round 3:
Joe Horlen was still on the board and I had him ranked pretty high. That’s when I decided to follow through with my pre-draft plan and go all in with offense without sacrificing defense. I went with 1890 Roger Connor due to his A+ range, .349 average, .450 OBP and .998 OPS. At this point, I figured I’d grab 1908 Bob Bescher in the last round and would go with Palace of the Fans. I considered 2001 Lance Berkman here but thought he’d drop to the next round. I also lightly thought of 1897 George Davis as he was the best SS option but I liked the SS depth better than the 1B depth.

Round 4:
Schwarze grabbed 2001 Berkman and a lot of starters and relievers went. I really liked 1927 Frankie Frisch but, due to the 2B depth (2^nd most behind OF), I kept hoping Davis would drop. I was very happy to get 1897 George Davis late in the 4^th. I did have some regret later in the draft as I was struggling finding a 3B and there were several George Davis versions that dropped.

Round 5:
1927 Frisch went and I thought about grabbing one of the top catchers here. I needed some power for away games so I was eyeing 2007 Posada. However, I thought there was a good chance a catcher run wouldn’t happen yet so I was going to go 1999 Bernie Williams or grab another Frisch. I like 1921 Frankie Frisch and OF has so much depth so I went with Frisch. It turns out that was a decent decision as two more versions of him went in the same round. I also considered Dave McNally here and decided I’d take him in the next round if the catcher run hadn’t started as pitching was going at such a high rate that there weren’t a lot of really solid ones left.

Round 6:
The catcher run started and my top three all went. I thought 1975 Simmons would make it back to me but Schwarze grabbed him early in the round. McNally went as did Harry Breechen. I thought Tom Seaver was the best starting pitcher left. I was at a cross roads – Do I go with Seaver or stick with my good hitter/decent defense philosophy. I probably should have stuck with it but I grabbed Seaver.

Round 7:
1922 Max Carey was my top hitter/defender on the board so I took him over 1980 Willie Wilson without doing a lot more research. I also considered 1934 Ripper Collins but thought that was a tad early for a full time DH. I had considered Craig Kimbrel and Derek Lowe here but I went with a starting CF with a crazy stolen base %.

Round 8:
Kimbrel went but Derek Lowe did not and I felt good with him compared to a lof the of SP that went the last three rounds.

Round 9:
I had purposefully held off on DH as there were so many good ones available. Since I had already decided to go all in with high average hitters and I thought 1894 Tuck Turner would be gone by now, I pulled the trigger. In fact, for the first time in any draft I’ve been in, I pulled the trigger a pick early as I had in my head I was going after Pick1or2 instead of after Mpitt. I felt bad about it but Mpitt went in a completely different direction.

Round 10:
I was hoping 2012 Melky Cabrera would make it back to me but he went midway through the round. I know I needed power as I had all high average types with plenty of speed and triples but I needed to be able to play in some HR parks too. I didn’t feel good because of his poor defense but I went with the best power bat available in 1995 Bobby Bonilla to man RF. I actually liked his combined season better than the two partial seasons as one had better power and the other better average but the combined season had the best mix of both.

Round 11:
Looking back, it was a bad decision that worked out as I still needed a reliever and Johnny Niggeling, Blake Treinen, Goose Gossage and Fernando Rodney were still available. I panicked at 3B as there weren’t many options left, especially since I had already taken versions of Rose, Davis and Bonilla at other positions. Also, I decided to stick with my hitter first philosophy so I grabbed 2011 Pablo Sandoval. While his PA was only at 466, he had 23 HR and I was still hurting at HRs, especially in a league where deadballers aren’t allowed.

Round 12:
This is where I felt my hitter only approach completely paid off. I have no idea how my both Blake Treinen and Fernando Rodney fell to me but they have did. I like them both equally but I went with the five additional innings as I felt Blake Treinen had a better chance of going in the next six picks than Rodney.

Round 13:
I was all about Fernando Rodney here as, while Gossage went and he would have been an excellent consolation prize, Rodney was still on the board. In rounds 12 and 13, I grabbed 155 innings with an ERA well below 1, HR/9 below .25 and WHIP around .8. Both pitchers usually go in the top 7 – 8 rounds in the DEAL draft.

Round 14:
I was in a church meeting when my pick came up and I had fully planned to take 1926 Wally Schang here. Once he went, I looked at best RP available and saw Emmanuel Clase was still available. Since I didn’t have time to do much research, I went with Clase. I’m pretty happy with him as he gave me a 3rd RP with over 70 innings, a low HR/9 rate and a crazy good OAG. All three are .167 or better.

Round 15:
Catcher was my only position left and I looked for a good arm and good average. 1927 Wally Schang only had 330 PA but he had a A+ arm with with decent average and OBP. My plan was to take him here and take the best hitting catcher avaiable in round 16. That way, I could platoon depending on how much the team I’m playing runs.

Round 16:
2006 Josh Bard provided a .943 OPS but a D- arm. I still targetted him as I will platoon as needed. I saw the best hitter available to platoon at DH was 2008 Felipe Lopez. However, round 16 is pretty early to draft a DH with just 169 PA. I probably took him a good round too early.

Round 17:
I know I needed more RP as they were going fast and a 4^th starter but I also needed to get a platoon 3B and more DH PAs. I was happy to see 1984 Terry Pendleton available so that left me with DH. I don’t like Bonilla’s defense so, instead of grabbing another DH, I went with OF ABs in 2021 Ketel Marte. I will switch Bonilla between DH and RF.

Round 18:
Gaylord Perry went right before me so I tried to find the best SP left that had over 250 innings. I’ve never used him but Roger Wolff looks like a good option for this league. I was RHP heavy and could use a fifth starter/long reliever so I grabbed Teddy Higuera to play at home only.

Round 19:
There were some reallly good 40 – 50 inning RPs available but I needed more innings so I went with my only other lefty in Kevin Saucier. I also finalized the C position with 73 PA from 1903 Duke Farrell.

Round 20:
OK, I really messed up as all the top relievers went. Also, 1908 Bob Bescher was taken so there went my plan to play at the Palace of the Fans. Municipal was a good fallback and Steve Busby provided additional value at RP so I grabbed him here. I needed another reliever and 1924 Babe Adams seemed like a good value here. I was hoping to grab Huston Street or Casey Sadler but I’m OK with Adams.

Postdraft Outlook:
Ronthegenius was playing chess while I was playing checkers and I can’t believe I missed the strategy of going with Hilltop since almost all my pitchers are RH. That said, I’m interested to see if my hitting strategy pays off. I see a floor of 75 wins and a ceiling of 95. My best guess is in the 86 range.