Post by Erbes on Apr 3, 2014 15:58:08 GMT -5
Re-Drafting 1998!
Taking a look back at some of the drafts we've done, I can confidently say that the '98 draft has turned out to be one of, if not, the best draft we have ever had. The amount of players from this draft that have gone on to become All-Stars and just general studs is mind bottling. Keep in mind that this is a re-drafting of their current ratings and stats. PDs are obvious all luck so that has a lot to do with most of these guys jumping. Just the way it goes. So here we go!
1. Cincinnati Reds
'98 Pick: SP CC Sabathia
Re-Draft Pick: C David Ross (3rd Round, 58th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: B/A/P/B/G/B
Yeah I think there could be some argument for the next guy on this list to go #1, but in my mind there's no competition. Ross plays the more valuable position, walks more than he strikes out, and is really just growing into his ratings. Scary to think what he might do next year, building on a 28 homer season.
2. Texas Rangers
'98 Pick: LF Matt Holliday
Re-Draft Pick: CF Corey Patterson (1st Round, 5th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/G/G/B/P/A
Will the real Corey Patterson please stand up? This version of Corey is amazing. Hits a ton of homers and could steal a ton of bases if he was allowed (51 in a let if fly season). The obvious downside is the horrible combination of no walks and a ton of strikeouts, but take the bad with the downright amazingness I always say. While Holliday is a franchise hitter himself, he's no Patterson. Could you imagine brilliant homers in Texas? Damn.
3. Cleveland Indians
'98 Pick: LF Adam Dunn
Re-Draft Pick: LF Matt Holliday (1st Round, 2nd overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: B/B/F/G/G/B
Big Daddy lands in the Indians' laps here at #3. Matty is still only 27 today and is still growing into his ridiculous ratings. Career .365 OBP. Yeah that's awesome especially since walks are depressed here (yeah that's me admitting it, get over it). Add in 20 SBs per year and you have the making of an MVP type guy. Dunn is great, but Holliday is more well rounded and is way more valuable because of it.
4. Oakland Athletics
'98 Pick: SP Mark Mulder
Re-Draft Pick: SP CC Sabathia
Re-Draft Ratings: 10 AR G/B/G/B/G (1st Round, 1st overall)
Well this is a gift, huh? That's how nuts this draft is and I'm going to say that like a million more times in this article. To get this at #4 is awesome for Broph, especially since it's a huge upgrade over Mulder. Career 2.64 ERA and already 149 wins in 7 seasons. I feel like he often gets overlooked in the big picture, but when it comes down to it, CC is a top 10 pitcher in the league - no bones about it. I wonder if Broph would have won a championship earlier with CC in the fold?
5. San Diego Padres
'98 Pick: CF Corey Patterson
Re-Draft Pick: LF Adam Dunn (1st round, 3rd overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/P/B/B/A
I went back and forth on this pick between Dunn and Buehrle. Trying to get in the mind of Aaron is a scary process and ultimately impossible. At one point I'm thinking he would take Dunn for the walks even though the homers would get swallowed up in Petco. And then I'm like Aar is one of the few guys who seems to value a true ace so he would take Buehrle. I went offense in the end because I think he's smart enough to see the brilliant in homers and know that even though he might not play well in San Diego that he could trade him for more pieces.
6. Chicago Cubs
'98 Pick: 1B Carlos Pena
Re-Draft Pick: 1B Carlos Pena (1st round, 6th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/G/P/B/B/A
When you get it right, you get it right. Pena is a stud. He's crushing the ball in New York right now, clobbering 33 round-trippers last season. New York is no small ballpark either! Carlos is still on the right side of 30 and signed very cheap for his production. Great pick.
7. Philadelphia Phillies
'98 Pick: RF Nelson Cruz
Re-Draft Pick: SP Mark Buehrle (1st round, 9th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 10 AR B/G/G/G/G
I think this was a Big Buhner draft and you can tell. I think Cruz was decent, but he wasn't anything special if I recall. Maybe good in homers and that's it. In the re-draft they get Buehrle. If the game did a postseason MVP, I think he would have won it this past year. His past three season have all been sub-2.70 ERAs and he's only getting better. That's a steal at #7. THIS DRAFT IS SO AMAZING!
8. New York Mets
'98 Pick: SP Ryan Vogelsong
Re-Draft Pick: 2B Alfonso Soriano (1st round, 10th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/G/F/G/A/A
Anyone heard from Vogelsong? Didn't think so. Soriano doesn't have the sexiest ratings, but he puts up solid numbers. Career .865 OPS and 179 homers in his career so far. Great defense and great speed just round out the total package. Not sure he would go this high because of the ratings, but he just sims really well. Love those kinds of guys and I think James would too!
9. Detroit Tigers
'98 Pick: SP Mark Buehrle
Re-Draft Pick: SP Nick Neugebauer (2nd round, 29th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR G/B/B/G/B
No more Buehrle, so take the next best pitcher - Nick Neugebauer. I hate to admit this, but Stutter was actually right about this guy. I think he was toiling around the minors with a fair walks ratings for a couple of seasons and boom a TIA and a lucky PD, and he's now a stud. It'll be fun to see him pitch in a bandbox stadium in Boston to see if he's legit, but if he were to pitch in Detroit he'd be filthy and that's all that matters in this article!
10. Montreal Expos
'98 Pick: 2B Alfonso Soriano
Re-Draft Pick: C John Buck (1st round, 20th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/P/B/G/A
It might be a blessing in disguise that Soriano went earlier because now the Expos get to draft Buck. Good catchers are rare and Buck is just that. Don't get me wrong he's no David Ross, but Buck has put up no fewer than 21 homers in each of his first three seasons and he's still only 26. He should develop nicely into a clean up hitter for years to come. Would have loved to see what he would have done power-wise had he stayed in Coors. Probably 40-50 each year if I'm guessing.
11. Chicago White Sox
'98 Pick: CL Francisco Rodriguez
Re-Draft Pick: SP Jeff Weaver (1st round, 13th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 8 AR G/A/B/B/B
I don't remember making Weaver this good. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge Jeff Weaver fan. Always have been. So maybe I made him a stud, but not this good. Anyways, I'm pretty sure it was Waldo who took K-Rod, but it was Nanz who made him a SP so I can't give too much credit to the one they call Waldo for that Rodriguez pick, but Weaver sure would have been pretty here. He's going to pitch in the black hole that is San Fran this year and I could see a sub-2.50 ERA in the making.
12. Chicago White Sox
'98 Pick: LF Pat Burrell
Re-Draft Pick: CF Juan Pierre (1st round, 14th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/G/F/A/B
Speed, speed, and more speed. Good grief Juan is fast. 528 stolen bases in 7 seasons. That's bonkers. Craziest thing is that Pat Burrell is a very good player - he's not even going to make this list!! Juan just brings so much to the table. Awesome defense (3 Gold Gloves), good OBP skills (career .363 OBP), and he almost never strikes out. The perfect lead off man.
13. California Angels
'98 Pick: SP Jeff Weaver
Re-Draft Pick: SP Francisco Rodriguez (1st round, 11th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR B/G/B/G/B
So I was pretty hard on K-Rod in last article, but how can you ignore those ratings!? You can't. It's like staring into Katy Perry's tits. So beautiful. At only 25, Rodriguez has a bright future in front him. If Nanz really wants to take advantage of this guy he should be IRI'ing the balls out of him to get those walks under control. Even so, he's a stud that just needs a bit more development.
14. Philadelphia Phillies
'98 Pick: CF Juan Pierre
Re-Draft Pick: SP BJ Ryan (1st round, 18th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 7 AR G/G/B/G/B
This might be a bit high for BJ, but I'm a huge fan of his. I think he's pitched in some tough stadiums (probably not going to change in Texas) and that's lead to some rough years. He's also never really started for an entire year, which is weird with his ratings. I'd run him out there every 5 days and be ecstatic. Why limit him to the bullpen? Dumb. In his only year where he was a full starter he pitched to a 3.40 ERA. I remember when Chris raped Stutter (?) for BJ too. That was fun.
15. St. Louis Cardinals
'98 Pick: CF Andres Torres
Re-Draft Pick: SP Ryan Rupe (2nd round, 48th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 8 AR G/A/B/B/B
Continuing a run of starting pitchers, Rupe was a total find by Jah. Maybe his best draft pick ever. Obviously, a great PD helped, but Jah has gotten 1500 quality innings out of this guy. He's got brilliants in all the right areas. This dude has never walked more than 52 guys in one season! Talk about a control pitcher, am I right? Torres is nice (more on that later), but you can't pass on an ace at 15. Good value for the Cards... lol duh.
16. Pittsburgh Pirates
'98 Pick: 1B Jorge Cantu
Re-Draft Pick: SP Luke Hudson (4th round, 104th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR G/G/G/G/B
Jah had a great draft in '98... it all went downhill from there, lol. Hudson was a 4th rounder (!) who's now a frontline starter. He may be a little up and down throughout the years, but when he's on he is ON. I think Steve2 would take that over Cantu. Jorge has been sort of an enigma so far, being traded multiple times and now in Texas putting up mediocre numbers.
17. Los Angeles Dodgers
'98 Pick: SP Jorge De La Rosa
Re-Draft Pick: SS Nick Punto (3rd round, 81st overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: B/A/F/G/A/B
Jorge De La Who? Currently waffling around the Angels farm system, Jorge has yet to do anything of importance. Nick, on the other hand, is a bonafide stud muffin. He's probably a little low on this list (possibly top 10?), but he's a bit of a liability on defense and no speed for a middle infield is a negative for me. Am I nitpicking? Obviously. He hits for average really well; just needs those homers to catch up!
18. Cincinnati Reds
'98 Pick: CL BJ Ryan
Re-Draft Pick: LF Aubrey Huff (1st round, 27th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/G/P/G/G/G
I don't think there's anyone better in the league at turning a mediocre prospect into a very good player than Spencer. What he did when he got his hands on Huff was pure magic. If you can't see the value in a guy who hits 40 doubles every year coupled with a career .349 OBP then you should leave. He's probably better suited for an AL team where his defense won't hurt you, but the bat is so nice that it doesn't even matter to me.
19. Cleveland Indians
'98 Pick: CL Matt Thornton
Re-Draft Pick: CF Andres Torres (1st round, 15th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/B/A/G/A/B
I think to think of Torres as Corey Patterson lite. Andres has the speed and defense of Corey, but lacks in the power and OBP, hence the lite. But in the overall scheme of things, Torres is an awesome player in his own right. I believe he recently got a PD or was finally TIA'd and it should be fun to see what he can do with his current ratings. Thornton has been pretty horrible tbh. Not a very reliable reliever. If drowe was around a bit more maybe he could have reversed his bad PD and whatnot.
20. Chicago Cubs
'98 Pick: C John Buck
Re-Draft Pick: SP Ryan Mills (4th round, 95th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR G/A/B/G/G
With Buck no longer out there, Play 'settles' for Ryan Mills here at 20. Settles is a horrible choice of words because Mills is very, very good, especially now that he's out of LA and moving across the bay to SF. He should put up monster numbers in that ballpark. I would have been interested to see what Play could have done with Mills - TIA'ing, trade him, etc. Combining with Wood and Santana could have been a lethal trio.
21. Seattle Mariners
'98 Pick: CF Chip Ambres
Re-Draft Pick: C Gerald Laird (2nd round, 35th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/P/G/B/B
So he misses out on his current catcher, but grabs a pretty great replacement in Laird. G-Lard is pretty awesome. Again he's no Ross, and maybe he's not on par with Buck either, but the dude has ratings that make me need new underwear. Definitely one of the few guys with brilliant in walks. So rare. Game needs to get to IRIing him so he can reach his full potential, but I'd say Laird is a top 5 catcher as is. And yeah he could have gone 21st in this draft... unreal.
22. Atlanta Braves
'98 Pick: MR Scott Atchison
Re-Draft Pick: SP Adam Pettyjohn (3rd round, 60th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR G/F/B/B/G
Maybe Matt would have stuck around a little longer if he didn't have to draft Atchison and got to take Pettyjohn? I honestly think that's one of the reasons why he left - he was going to have to rebuild and he bitched out. Anyways, Pettyjohn, who was recently traded, is finally coming into his own by posting a 2.96 ERA in 39 starts last year. Still only 29, he definitely has a little room to grow. I think he's going to blow up in Fenway because of his fair doubles rating, but who knows? I've been wrong before.
23. Kansas City Royals
'98 Pick: MR Bud Smith
Re-Draft Pick: SP Wil Ledezma (3rd round, 80th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 7 AR G/A/G/B/B
Kind of funny how this worked out. Really didn't try to have the Royals take Ledezma on purpose, but here we are. Wil has been traded a couple of times in his career and it wasn't until a great PD while with the Yankees that he became a hot commodity. In his 3 seasons in KC he's steadily gotten better each year. This could be the year he breaks through for real. Hopefully Marty earns some cash to improve him.
24. Cincinnati Reds
'98 Pick: SP Jeff Austin
Re-Draft Pick: SP Nate Cornejo (2nd round, 43rd overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 8 AR G/A/G/B/B
Another ace-like pitcher from this draft. You want to blame inflation? Blame all of the PDs in this draft. Crazy to get this type of pitcher this late. Cornejo was just called up two seasons ago and while he hasn't put up the stats of some of the other guys on this list I think the potential is there for him to be very good. He really should be TIA'd in double and then IRI'd all over the place. Could you imagine if Stutter had Cornejo, Huff, and Ross as a base? Pretty solid.
25. Toronto Blue Jays
'98 Pick: 3B Ty Wigginton
Re-Draft Pick: 3B David Kelton (5th round, 115th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/F/G/F/B
Right position, wrong guy! Kelton is another project pick for me. If he was on any other team with an active owner this dude would be a monster. He would have had all of his camps and been IRI'd to the max because active owners would see the potential that an inactive owner wouldn't see. I mean this guy hit 21 homers last year with zero help. Lots of potential. Hopefully someone can tap into it. Wigginton? On an MLC in Houston. Yikes.
26. Baltimore Orioles
'98 Pick: SP Nate Bump
Re-Draft Pick: RF Austin Kearns (2nd round, 34th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: G/A/P/G/G/G
Didn't Game get like 5 really good PDs right in a row at one point? Kearns, Laird, a pitcher, Encarnacion, etc.? Yeah and he's never won. Yikes. Anyways Kearns is a very good player. Doesn't get on base as much as you'd like with that good talent rating, but he does hit a nice amount of dingers (21 in '05). The real problem is that Game just doesn't have the money to improve him. I also think if he moved to a smaller ballpark he'd hit more. Just feels like one of those underachieving players unless in the right situations types.
27. Cleveland Indians
'98 Pick: SS Nate Hopper
Re-Draft Pick: SP Mark Mulder (1st round, 4th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 9 AR G/G/G/B/G
Talk about underachieving. Mulder is pretty trash outside of the ratings, which really aren't that amazing these days, unfortunately. I think moving to San Diego is going to be a good thing, but I still feel like he's going to get touched up a bit. I just think his ground ball % is miserable and kills him. But at 27 you take this guy and hope for the best. Maybe we need to make GB% a TIB? Guys can learn to be better ground ball pitchers right?
28. California Angels
'98 Pick: SP Gustavo Chacin
Re-Draft Pick: SP Brian Stokes (4th round, 90th overall)
Re-Draft Ratings: 6 AR G/G/G/G/B
Not bad for the last pick in the 1st round, huh? Stokes has been a decent starter so far. I'm a little concerned he's moving to a bandbox in Cinci, but I think he won't be anything worse than Stutter already has. Chacin was a total bust. Only got a cup of coffee for the tanking Angels.
Other notables: Jorge Cantu, Mike Nannini, Jody Gerut, Morgan Ensberg, Brett Jodie, Josh McKinley, Carlos Ruiz, Pat Burrell, Nate Bump
I think you could make a case for Cantu and Nannini replacing people, but other than that I think it looks solid. I'm sure I missed someone in the later rounds so let me have it. Open season. Vote, thanks!