I don't know about you guys, but as soon as I found out I had the second pick, I developed a plan in my head about how I was going to draft. For anyone that cares, my plan was: 1. Grab either Pedro or Big Unit with the second overall pick. Johnson was the one that slipped to me. 2. With the next pick, either get one of the top 3 shortstops (Jeter, Nomar, A-Rod) or one of the top 3 catchers (Piazza, Pudge, Kendall). If none of these players were there, I would take the best available athlete, regardless of position. Luckily, Kendall remained. 3. Lay the foundation for a powerful outfield early in the draft. Took Vlad and A. Jones with my #3 & #4 picks. After these concrete steps, the rest of my plan consisted of following a series of general guidelines. - Forget about 2B and SS until the later rounds of the draft. My rationale is that there are a number of young guys at these positions with a lot of upside. It's worth taking a chance on a risky young gun rather than wasting an early pick for a mediocre player at these positions. - Forget about relief pitching until later in the draft. The guys I was targetting were: John Rocker, Billy Wagner, Matt Mantei, Ugueth Urbina. Behad stole Wagner from me and I think SSG took Mantei, but I managed to get Ugueth and Rocker, and that's good enough for me. - Shore up the starting pitching staff early with high-risk, high upside guys. Wood, Millwood, Ashby, Clement, Smoltz all have potential to explode this season. If three out of five actually do, I will be ecstatic. - If Cirillo or Glaus are available to be had with a mid-late round pick, get one. Otherwise, wait until later and grab Tatis. Cirillo happened to fall further than I expected, so I took him. - Don't worry too much about 1B, but If possible, get McGwire, but don't take him too early. I think I took McGwire at the right point in the draft. The 5th round just felt right for some reason. That was my plan, and I feel I stuck to it pretty well. <u>The ones that got away</u> These are the guys I was targetting, but were snatched before I could take them. Mike Mussina Matt Mantei Billy Wagner Craig Biggio Fernando Tatis Larry Walker Eric Milton Rafael Furcal Dustin Hermanson <u>Guys I regret not taking when I had the chance</u> Al Leiter is the only one that springs to mind. <u>Guys I feel I took too early</u> John Smoltz Well, that's a brief look inside my mind. I'd love to hear about how other people approached the draft. ie: strategies, self-imposed guidelines, etc.. as well as how things worked out in the end. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
so in the draft if you started at 2 were you at the each round or did it flip like in the basketball draft ------------------ "Repression never did me any harm (I finally ceased to include "stop masturbating" as one of my guilt ridden New Year's resolutions, but that's a different topic)." Achebe - programmer by day, Mrs Palmers Husband by night
It flipped like in the basketball draft. I had the second pick in the first round, so I had the ninth pick in the second round, etc.. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
My strategy (which has worked every year for me) was, if the top 4 pitchers are gone (which they were) get the best hitters available. Pitchers are a dime a dozen (except Pedro, RJ, Maddux and Brown) Good hitters (avg, HR's RBI's) at their respective positions are hard to come by. Good C, SS and 3rd basemen are hard to come by. ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
my strategy was start off taking a premier ss..cuz after nomar,arod is tails off big time..then grab my ace(hudson) then i felt i needed to get a stud closer(nen) then i built a powerful of with damon,ordonez..with martinez sandwiched in between..because he was best 1b left and they were going fast..plus hes reliable..then i wanted a steal at 3b and saw rolen still available..then i needed more pitching and i saw zitos fp/g numbers which were outstanding..i think hes gonna be money..then garcia as hes seattles ace with nasty stuff in a nice ball park..then round 10 i knew i needed a 2b-so i took vidro..another great hitter..at 11 a pleasant surprise remained...mike lieberthal and i needed a good catcher(he avg 2.9)..then at 12..i wanted protection for nomar and decided to snatch up furcal asap.. 13..i needed a 2nd closer and all were almost gone so percival was my pick. 14.i needed 3rd of..i wanted stewart but was very happy with floyd. 15..saw chavez still available and with rolens back troubles didnt want to lose him 16.i needed 4th pitcher and russ ortiz had good numbers other than era..which i expect to be lower this yr. 17. i know it surprised people but miller had a 14.6 fp/g avg plus the astros offense should get him some wins. 18-25 i filled my backup of roles kapler,greer(two guys hitting in a stud offense), o'neill..he had decent numbers(im guessing he dhs this yr)..also i filled my backup 1st base-i wanted galarraga but grace was next best thing and is solid, also i needed a final sp and williams avg 13.7 with a good whip.plus qualcomm is a pitchers park..then i took pavano as if he gets healthy he can be a later round steal(avg 16.5)..also i wanted a 2b backup and ortiz is a young stud..the as had a reason for trading velarde..also i took sandy alomar as my backup for lieberthal..he can hit well in chicagos offense and is their starter.. that was my logic for all my picks overall im happy as i have good players and depth at every position..so i look forward to a strong season ------------------ How Sweet It Is! How Sweet It Is! Gene Peterson on the rockets winning the 1995 championship over the Orlando Magic
My Strategy was forced by Fade and Ren. I had to take Rodriquez and then go after some staff aces like Mussina and Colon. I wanted a super reliever but missed the run, so I then started looking at the best available players with each pick. Regret not taking Walker. I knew Biggio would go early, so I had to leave him alone and go with smart picks. I basically don't have second baseman because of that, but I can live with that. I filled my OF last, knowing that a bunch of average players ould still be there at the end of the draft. ------------------ humble, but hungry.
Pitching, pitching, and more pitching. I wanted guys who will give me 35 starts a season. Kile, Ankiel, Schilling, and D'Amico form a great 1-4, with Chen and Eldred poised for beakout years. Then in the bullpen I have Wagner and Hoffman...best 1-2 punch of closers in the game. And watch out for Kohlmeier. You may not have heard of him, but he will be a fantastic closer if two things happen: he walks fewer batters than last year, and the Orioles provide him with some save ops. ------------------ Behad Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS
My strategy, take two catchers and a boat load of third basemen I feel I was succesful Actual analyses coming later. ------------------ I'm worse at what I do best And for this gift I feel blessed
Behad, with Belle and C. Johnson gone from the Orioles, they will score even less runs than last year. Not many saves on that team IMHO ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
I did qualify my choice of him with that very thought Bob! He is just a late round flyer I took...wno knows? Could be the next Shawn Marion! ------------------ Behad Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS
