VOL. XXXII No. 3
August 1, 2022
Fewest
league records set: 0
HOME AWAY
Randy
17-11 .607 Jed 16-11-1
.589
Jed 16-12 .571 Arnie 15-13 .536
Robin 15-12-1
.558 Robin 15-13 .536
Tom 15-12-1
.558 Tom 13-14-1 .482
Arnie 14-13-1
.518 Randy 13-15 .464
Sam 12-13-3
.482 Sam 12-15-1 .446
Harold 13-15 .464
Eric 11-16-1 .411
Eric 10-16-2
.393 Harold 9-15-4
.393
Totals
112-104-8 .518 104-112-8
.482
-----------------
Playoffs
Oceanus vs. North Dakota (Internet March 5, 2022)
Background: Oceanus begins the season with a disappointing 4-7-1 record, but an 11-5 December (highlighted by a sweep over the hapless Vita-Rays) has the Assholes in third place, just one game out of first at the break. The Assholes continue to play well with a 10-6 January that has them now tied for first place. A 7-5 February is enough to give them first place and top seed in the post-season. Similar to OC, North Dakota begins the season in last place after a 6-10 November. A mediocre (6-6) December has the team at 12-16 in 7th place at the break. But an 8-4 January brings them back to .500 and a 9-6-1 February (including a sweep over the hapless Vita-Rays and a last week of the season series win (2 games to 1 with a tie) over CN earns them 4th place, finishing just a ½ game ahead of 5th place CN.
These two teams split both of their season’s series.
rolling. Jed took it well (at least over the phone - for all I know, his room was completely destroyed and trashed) and was gracious in defeat.
Background: Future Wax jumps out to first place with an 8-4 November, including beating BC 3 out of 4. This is followed up by a mediocre 8-8 in December and they are in 2nd place, ½ a game behind BC at the break. Despite a 6-10 January, FW is still tied for 3rd place 3 ½ games out. They finish strong, with an 8-4 February (including a sweep of New Orelans to finish the season) and end up in third place. Meanwhile, Robin begins her season 9-6-1 (including a 3-0-1 series against Jed). After a 7-5 December, she in first place at the break (16-11-1). Another 7-5 month and the pre-season favorites are still in first place at the end of January. But she goes 7-9 to finish in 2nd place, 2 games behind.
The teams each won 3 of 4 in their home parks to split the season series.
FW
put up a crooked number in the first inning of this game, and four of the next
five games as well. Cronenworth walked, Belt doubled, and Mountcastle hit a
3-run homer. And that was it for the FW offense. Darvish found his groove and
stopped the bleeding. Winker’s solo shot put BC on the board in the 4th.
On to the bottom of the 9th, with FW up 3-1. Kershaw give up a lead
off single to Iglesius, and Randy brings in Chris Martin (acquired from New
Orleans at the last possible moment) for just this situation. His first
pitch grazes mutant pinch-hitter Stephenson. Hernandez grounds out, but then Bobby
Dalbec launches a walk off 3-run moonshot. The BC fans are rolling!
FW
plates 2 in the first on a Moreland homer. But the 3rd kicks
off a slew of X-roll hits and errors (for both teams) that plague the rest of
the series. A HBP, a walk, and a 2-base error by Stevenson (RF) puts BC on the
board. Another walk loads the bases. Randy brings only the corners in, so a
ground out to SS yields another run. Another walk reloads the bases, then
another error (Cronenworth) produces the 3rd unearned run of
the inning. Winker homers for BC in the 4th but Profar answers for
FW in the 5th. In the 6th, Perez doubles in two, knocking
out a shaky Lamet. Kershaw is no help, yielding a walk and single to load the
bases. In comes Martin, who again hits the first batter he faces, forcing in a
run. Then he grooves one down the middle of the plate, which Hernandez clobbers
for a grand slam, giving BC an 8-run lead. Homers by Nola and Springer barely
put a dent in the lead, and BC cruises to an 11-5 thrashing.
The
first-inning FW fireworks continue. After the first two batters reach base,
Belt hits his fourth double in 3 games for an RBI. Productive outs from
Moreland and Locastro knock in two more. In the 2nd, Murphy and
Machado homer to double the lead. BC closes the gap with 2 unearned runs in the
5th when Cronenworth boots another one. But a bases-loaded
Gimenez single re-establishes the lead, and a Cronenworth sac fly extends it.
Moreland homers again in the 6thto make it 10-2. BC rallies in the 7th for
4 runs. Hayes singles, steals second, and scores on an Iglesias hit. A walk and
two outs later another error – this time Machado – sets up a Myers 3-(unearned)
run double. FW longman Gausman shakes it off, and shuts down BC in the last two
innings for a 10-6 win.
This
time BC flips the script, scoring in the 1st on a Myers solo
shot and blanking FW in the bottom of the frame. FW takes the lead on a single,
Herandez error, then back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Murphy, Merrifield,
and Cronenworth. A Springer error in the 3rd sets up a 2-run blast by Winker, tying
the game 3-3. Voit homers (following Belt’s fifth double) in the 3rd,
and FW is back in the lead again. Machado hits into a double play in the 4th,
notable only in that it plates an insurance run for FW. As a result, FW was
still up by 1 following Perez’s two-run bomb in the 8th. Martin,
Armstrong, and Ramirez each get an out in the 9th for a relay
save. It’s now a best of 3 series.
Moreland’s
second 2-run homer of the series puts FW ahead in the 1st. Albies
singles in a run in the 3rd, but it is off-set by a run-costing
Urshela error in the 4th. BC ties it in the 6th on a
Myers homer, Urshela single, and Iglesias double. An Albies error sets up a
Turner sac fly in the bottom of the frame, and FW is back on top. Murphy homers
in the 8th, and FW adds another run due to an Iglesias error. Just
to be sure, Machado doubles in a final run on the way to a 7-3 FW win.
At
this point, BC is down a game, but the home team has won every game of the
series, and the last two games are at BC.
At
this point it may not surprise you to learn that FW put up a crooked number in
the 1st on Moreland’s third 2-run homer of the series. Profar
added 2 HR and a triple for 4 RBIs, putting FW up 7-0 after 6. Brosseau’s
pinch-hit homer in the 7th broke up the shut out, but it was
too little too late. Dejected BC fans filed out of the silent ballpark, their
hopes for a championship dashed yet again.
Mitch
Moreland was named the “Steve Pearce” MVP, with 3 HR and 7 RBI over 10 AB.
The
Future Wax series victory sets up the series no one wanted to see (again):
Future Wax vs. North Dakota.
Bay
City 4, Future Wax 3
Bay
City 11, Future Wax 5
Future
Wax 10, Bay City 6
Future
Wax 6, Bay City 5
Future
Wax 7, Bay City 3
Future
Wax 7, Bay City 1
Future
Wax takes the series 4 game to 2.
P.S.
How you know you have been playing in the SOMBILLA a long time? In proofing the
draft report I caught myself referring to my outfielder as “Salmon” instead of
“Springer.”
World
Series (March 22, 2022 at Holliston)
FW had beaten ND
6 out of 8 games this year. Instead of this fact being in their heads, the
North Dakota team and its manager used this as motivation for being the
underdog. This
will be the fourth playoff meeting of these two teams in the last 5 years (and
3rd World Series). The last two WS between these teams went to
game 7: a walk off win for FW in 2018, and an extra-inning game 7 win for ND in
2019.
Game 1
North Dakota 2
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 - 5 11 1
Future Wax 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1
3 0
WP - Bieber LP - Woodruff HR - ND: Betts
North Dakota jumps on
Woodruff early on a 2-run single by Mayor Pete Alonso. The Wax gets an unearned
run in the 2nd, but Kyle Tucker's rbi in the third singles in Betts who was 4
for 5 with 2 stolen bases in this one. An easy game one win as Bieber throws 8
innings, giving up just 1 unearned run, 3 hits and 2 walks (he did hit 3
batters), with 10 k's, and North Dakota has stolen a game in the Wax Home.
Game 2
North Dakota 0
0 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 - 8 14 1
Future Wax 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 4
5 0
WP - Givens LP - V. Gonzalez HR - ND: Walsh, FW: Springer
George Springer hits a 3-run
bomb off deGrom in the 2nd inning to delight the home crowd. Jared Walsh hits a
2-run homer for ND in the 5th to get 2 runs back, but a Belt walk, Machado
double and Moreland sac fly make it 4-2 FW after 6 innings. North Dakota starts
off the 7th with a Bohm double and Contreras single to chase Armstrong. Lefty
Victor Gonzalez comes in to face Grisham. A terrible matchup for lefty
Grisham, but rather than pinch-hit for him, the ND manager surprises the
infield back FW defense with a squeeze bunt that he beats out to give ND the
5-4 lead! This is followed by rbi singles from Walsh and Lindor and then
a one out pinch hit rbi double by Alex Dickerson makes it an 8-4 game against a
demoralized Future Wax. Rich Hill, Dolis, and Soria finish off the game for ND,
going home with a surprising 2-0 lead.
Game 3
Future Wax
0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 - 0 3 1
North Dakota 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 4 6
0
WP - Lynn LP - Lamet HR - ND: Lowe
Lance ("I love pitching
in this park") Lynn throws 6 shutout innings and combines with Rich
Rodriguez, Andrew Miller, and Liam Hendricks to hold Future Wax to just 3 hits
in the spacious Gackle Park cow pasture. Gackle Park was the only park in the
league to favor lefty hitters and this helped the team all season
long. Dickerson and Bohm's rbi hits in the first inning provide all the
run support needed as North Dakota is on the brink of its 2nd straight
post-season sweep. Can they go 8-0 in the post-season?
Game 4
Future Wax
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 2 5 1
North Dakota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7
0
WP - Martin SV: Ramirez LP - Bieber HR - FW: Springer
No they cannot go 8-0. A
frustrating game for ND as they strand 9 runners through 5 innings, knowing
that this would come back to bite them. Sure enough Turner and Machado double
in the 6th inning for FW to break the tense pitchers' duel. Shawn Armstrong,
David Peterson and Erasmo Ramirez pitch the final 4 1/3 innings, giving up just
one hit. The luck, which was all with North Dakota in the first three games,
has now shifted.
Game 5
Future Wax
0 0 2 1 2 3 0 1 0 - 9 14 0
North Dakota 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 3
1
WP - Peterson LP - deGrom HR - FW: Cronenworth, Belt (2), Murphy
Future Wax lays a good old-fashioned
beating on North Dakota, which never had a chance. Belt hits two homers to lead
the hit parade against a procession of North Dakota pitchers. Sean Murphy's
ballpark homer (1-4) is emblematic of the reversal of fortunes between the two
teams, and Future Wax is heading home in high spirits after forcing a game 6.
Game 6
North Dakota 4
2 2 0 0 1 6 0 0 - 9 11 0
Future Wax 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 - 6 12
0
WP - Dolis LP - Lamet SV - Hendricks HR - ND: Betts, Slater
FW: Machado (2), Arozarena
The Nuclear Warheads are pissed
off. Goldschmidt begins the game with a double off Lamet's card. Betts
promptly singles him in. After an out, Bohm hits a single, then mutant
Luis Guillorme cracks a 2-run double to make it 3-0. First round MVP Contreras
singles him in, it's 4-0, and ND is smug. The smug is wiped away in the bottom
of the first after a Turner single, Machado homer, out, and Arozarena homer. Lefty
Rich Hill is pulled after just 1/3 of an inning, as ND still has plenty of
bullpen left thanks to Bieber’s 2 long starts (both 8 innings). Still pissed
off, Mookie hits a 2-run homer in the 2nd to tire out Lamet. In the 3rd, Randy
elects to leave Kershaw in to face the lefty-killing Slater (in his defense,
Randy needed some innings from Kershaw after playing desperation managing for
the last few games). Slater makes him pay with a 2-run homer and it's 8-3.
But FW chips away, scoring runs in the 3rd (another Machado homer), 4th
(Cronenworth rbi) and 5th (Stevenson pinch-hit rbi single) and it’s 8-5 ND. In
the 6th, the ND manager elects to let Betts (not good against lefties) bat and
stay in the game against lefty V. Gonzalez with men on 2nd and 3rd and one out
and he hits a sac fly to make it 9-6. In the 7th, FW manages to load the bases
against Pomeranz and Hendricks with 2 outs and Springer up and a chance to tie
the game with a homer. Hendricks strikes
him out to end the inning. Bottom of the 9th, a tired Liam Henricks is still
pitching (the best bad option remaining in the bullpen as the teams combined to
use 14 pitchers in this one). With one out, Arozarena hits a tired single. With
two out, Belt gets another tired single. 2 on, 2 out, and George Springer is up
against the tired Hendricks with a second chance to tie the game. Hendricks
strikes him out and North Dakota has won its second championship in 4 years.
North Dakota
5 Future Wax 1
North Dakota 8 Future Wax 4
North Dakota 4 Future Wax 0
Future Wax 2 North Dakota 0
Future Wax 9 North Dakota 1
North Dakota 9 Future Wax 6
North Dakota wins series 4 games to 2, its first championship in 3 years and
7th overall.
MVP - Shane Bieber 1-1, 16 innings, 7 hits, 5 walks, 21 strikeouts, 0.50
ERA. Saved the bullpen for the other 4 games
Honorable mention - Mookie Betts 7 for 17 (.412), 6 runs, 2 homers, 5
rbi, 2 stolen bases
THOUGHTS
WHILE WATCHING THE DOG FROLICKING IN THE OCEAN
For the first time in three years the annual meeting and draft was held in person!
1. Dues No official blasting! Everyone is paid up, thank you.
2. Awards Voting - 5 points for 1st place, 3 for 2nd place, 1 for 3rd place. Since managers cannot vote for their own players, 7 votes would be a unanimous vote.
S. Perez, BC 5 1 28
Myers, BC 1 4
1 18
Story, OC 3
1
10
Goldschmidt, ND
1 1 6
d’Arnaud, OC
2 2
Harper, CN
2 2
Cy Young 1 2 3 Tot
Nola, OC 3
2 1 22
Gallen, BC 2 3
19
Hendricks, ND 2 2
1 17
Bieber, ND
1 2 7
Maeda, NV
1 1 4
Gonzales, CN
2 2
Bauer, NO
1 1
Manager of the Year 1 2 3 Tot
Arnie 5
2 31
Robin 1 3 3 17
Jed 2 1
1 14
Randy 2 3
9
Harold
1 1
3. Presentation of the Richman Cup by last
year's champion, Sam, to this year’s champion, whoever that was. Arnie appreciated Sam’s having the trophy engraved
(even if it was in a different font) and called out a former champion (Eric) for
having delivered the trophy to the next champion not even having added his own
name let alone the new champion’s.
As usual, Robin took pictures.
4.
Rule change
proposals
a. Reversions back to the old pre-pandemic 162-game-season rules:
1. 26-man rosters for each series with a 27th man callup after the 44th game (last three series). This passed by acclamation.
2.
Restore the old roster freeze after game 20. The
league voted 6-1-1 to do away with the roster freeze! Arnie was the only one to vote
against it, but when pressed, could not present a good argument other than “but
we’ve always had a roster freeze!”
3. Trading deadline for post-season eligibility – before game 41. Trading deadline for regular season – before game 49. A proposal was made to do away with these deadlines, but was defeated 7-1. A proposal by Tom to change the trading deadline to be effective for both teams involved in a trade as the later of the two teams to hit game 41 (or 49) was defeated 4-1, with 3 shrugs. The main reason for this latter vote was that it’s rarely been an issue. The shruggers noted that if it does become as issue next year we can revisit. To summarize, we are reverting back to the old trading deadlines (before game 41 for post-season eligibility and before game 49 for regular season).
4. Playing limits for limited batters (< 400 plate appearances) and relievers are 42% of (AB + BB or IP, respectively) on card. This passed by acclamation,
Refresher notes from the bylaws –
Calculating whether someone
has > 399 plate appearances and is unlimited: Player limits are
calculated based on plate appearances. For this purpose, plate appearances
equal AB+BB+HBP+SF (sac flies) + SH (sacrifice bunts).
Once you have determined how many SOMBILLA plate appearances your player has during the regular season, AB + BB + HBP will count toward that limit. IBB, sac bunts, and sac flies will not.
5.
Playing limits for unstarred starters will be 42%
of IP on card and for starred starters 50% of IP on card. A proposal by Jed
via email before the draft was to use 42%/50% of starts on the pitchers’ cards
instead. This generated a flurry of email responses. After much debate, the
proposed change to use starts instead of IP failed to pass by a vote a 4-4. A
proposal that each manager could decide before the season whether to use starts
or IP was voted down 6-2. To summarize, we are reverting back to 42% of
IP on card for unstarred starters and 50% for starred starters.
b.
Relievers
must face 3 batters unless they end the inning. Arnie proposed that we adopt this actual baseball rule. This passed a vote of 6-1, with one abstention. (Robin was opposed). Randy’s argument that this rule was actually reflected in the stats on the
cards was persuasive. Note that if a pitcher faces one batter to end an inning,
he may be removed, but if he is brought back for a second inning, he must still
face two more batters for a total of three. (Real baseball also has exceptions
for injuries or illness to the pitcher – n/a for the SOMBILLA.)
c.
Extra
innings will be played with a ghost runner at 2B. Arnie proposed that we adopt this real baseball rule. This rule passed by a vote of 6-1 with
one abstention. Harold was
against it and Robin abstained.
d. The Ohtani rule. For next year, replaying the 2021 season,
there is no change. The pitcher bats for himself. If Ohtani is pitching and
also hitting for himself, the team has no DH. Once he is removed from the game
as a pitcher, he must be replaced by a hitter (the new pitcher batting for
himself or a pinch-hitter).
Next
year, with the 2022 cards, this all changes and if Ohtani is pitching and
batting for himself, he can stay in the game as a DH even if removed from the
game as a pitcher. This all passed by acclamation with a note to clarify
various nuances next year.
There
was a little confusion pre-draft about what it all meant. Here is a Q&A:
Tom: You're saying that if Ohtani is the starting
pitcher and also in the lineup as a hitter, once he stops pitching he must be
removed as the DH but the team doesn't lose the DH?
No for both seasons, but for
different reasons.
2021 cards: no. He is
considered a pitcher batting for himself and the team does not have a DH at all
for the game.
2022 cards: no. He can stay
in as DH.
Tom: If Ohtani has not been
used in a game as a pitcher or DH, he is still allowed to be a pinch-hitter of
the bench?
Answer: Of course. For both
2021 season and the 2022 season, like any other player
Tom: In the post-season, if
he is the starting DH only but comes in to relieve does the team lose the DH?
2021 cards, yes you lose the
DH but only if he bats while pitching because that's the MLB rule. Once he
starts pitching, he is a pitcher batting.
2022 no, even if he bats
because that's the MLB rule.
Tom: In the post-season, if
the DH is not lost when Ohtani stops relieving, he cannot continue as the DH
(?) so a DH would need to be announced at the pitching change?
2021 cards: if he relieves
and he bats for himself he'd be a pitcher batting for himself and you lose the
DH. The new pitcher would have to bat.
2022 cards: if he stops
pitching, he can continue hitting and you don't lose the DH. Same as if he was
the starting pitcher.
Tom: If he is the starting
DH, and then he relieves, can the team elect to lose the DH and move him to RF
(he is carded in RF) when he is replaced by another reliever?
2021 cards: Once he starts
pitching, he is a pitcher batting for himself and you have lost the DH. He can
bat for himself as a RF but the pitcher now has to bat.
2022 cards: If the DH goes
to play a position in the field (other than Ohtani the pitcher), you lose the
DH. This is the same rule as is in effect today.
Tom: If Ohtani was pitching,
but then goes to RF, and he then relieves again can the previous reliever go to
RF if there is no RF on the bench?
2021 and 2022 cards: No.
Under Strat-O and our rules, you must use a LF or CF on the bench and if there
is no one, another position player becomes a 5+5e25.
Tom: If Ohtani is playing in
RF when he comes in to relieve, does the team lose the DH at that point or can
they keep the DH spot and the new RF is announced and bats in Ohtani’s spot and
then Ohtani can no longer hit?
Answer: Both of your
scenarios are correct depending on which MLB season you are talking about.
2021 cards: As stated
several times above, if Ohtani is pitching and batting for himself, he is
considered a pitcher batting for himself, not a DH, and you lose the DH.
2022 cards: Once he starts pitching after playing RF, if
he stays in to bat for himself, he is now the DH and replaces the prior DH. A
new RF would now bat in the old DH's spot.
(We should double check this one before next Strat-O season).
e. Randy proposed that for the waiver draft, we can all draft one player who was actually available in the regular draft. This was voted down 6-2.
f. Tom proposed that the waiver draft use the order of round 3 of the regular draft (which is based on the final standings) and not round one of the regular draft (which is based on the results of the roll off). This passed 8-0.
After the card-burning (Jed burned Marcel Ozuna in front of us via Zoom and we burned Trevor Bauer, Sam Dyson, Domingo German, Starlin Castro, and Odubel Hererra), we proceeded with the rolloff. The results were Eric, Sam, Harold, Tom.
As usual, many players were drafted who have played in the SOMBILLA previously. Here is the retread report:
· The first player drafted who had a previous appearance in the league was Buster Posey by Harold in the 2nd round. Posey had a long career with Bay City and also played a season for Future Wax.
· Also in the 2nd round, Arnie drafted former Asshole Brandon Crawford.
· In the 3rd round, North Dakota redrafted lefty reliever Andrew Chafin.
· Robin redrafted her own lefty reliever Aaron Loup in the 4th.
· Arnie drafted former Bay City IF Jorge Polanco in the 4th round.
· Randy redrafted former Wax pitcher Colin McHugh in the 5th.
· Tom picked up Eric’s former lefty reliever Aaron Bummer in the 6th.
· Arnie picked up former Bay City IF Josh Harrison in the 6th.
· Former New Orleans prospect Garrett Cooper was drafted by Arnie in the 7th round.
· Tom picked up former BC and ND pitcher Kyle Gibson in the 8th round.
· Former Bay City and Vita-Rays lefty reliever Tony Watson was snagged by Sam in the 10th round.
· Former BC and FW OF Darren Ruf was drafted by Tom in the 10th.
· Mike Zunino, once drafted by Jeff, was picked up by Randy in the 11th round.
· And finally, because ND did not feel they had enough former BC players, Jimmy Nelson was drafted in the 12th round.
SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 –Mr.
Irrelevant
This study was suggested by someone (I think Eric) at the draft. A look at the last pick in every draft. Without even examining the list, I can think of one player who stands tall above the others. Do you know who it is? Here is the list:
|
Player &
Manager |
Comments |
|
|
1985 |
Rich Dotson, Joel |
The original 35-round draft. Dotson was actually usable and played one season for Joel. Also chosen in round 35? Dennis Eckersley by Eric |
|
1986 |
Dave Lapoint, Yitz |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
1987 |
Don Sutton, Joel |
The future hall-of-famer was 42 when Joel drafted him. Enough said. |
|
1988 |
Andres Thomas, Eric |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
1989 |
Jody Davis, Dave |
Was at the end of his career, never usable after this. (He did have a fine career with Yitz’s team.) |
|
1990 |
Fred Manrique, Dave & Clint |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
1991 |
Chuck Nagy, Jed |
Nice pick, played 3 seasons for Jed, going 15-17 |
|
1992 |
Dave Hollins, T&A |
Young 3B who played 12 years in the majors, but only 1 for T&A. |
|
1993 |
JT Bruett, Dave |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
1994 |
Lonnie Smith, Arnie |
Played one season for North Dakota at the end of his career |
|
1995 |
Danny Jackson, Jed & Clint |
Played one season after being drafted at the end of his career. |
|
1996 |
Jason Giambi, Land |
The real deal! Chosen in the 12th round, Giambi was a 5-time all-star, an MVP and played 20 years in the majors. He had a long and distinguished (steroid-infused) career for Land and is the 2nd best Mr. Irrelevant. I also found this in the archives from Robin “*RP note: Land had the last pick in the draft and was choosing between Giambi and Mark Whiten. I counseled him to take the pre-steroid Giambi because he was so cute.) Also of note is that Harold chose Mariano Rivera in the 10th round. |
|
1997 |
Rob Deer, Matt |
Played one season for Matt. Would have been a great last pick 12 years earlier. |
|
1998 |
Someone named Andy Sheets, Matt |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
1999 |
David Ortiz, Arnie |
Who? |
|
2000 |
Paul Abbott, RAT |
Played one season for RAT |
|
2001 |
Mark Grace, Harold |
Well after his prime, Harold got 2 more years out of him. |
|
2002 |
Jeremy Burnitz, Harold |
Well after his prime, never played in the SOMBILLA after this. |
|
2003 |
Tim Spooneybarger, RAT |
Although he never played in the SOMBILLA, his legend continues. |
|
2004 |
Doug Waechter, Tom |
Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
2005 |
Damian Easley, Tom |
“Damian Easley deserves some kind of honorable mention for being the last pick of the draft and supplying .886 OPS for two years on a World Series winning team.” - Tom |
|
2006 |
Russell Branyon, Arnie |
He was immediately traded to Tom for a 6th round pick in ’07. |
|
2007 |
Chris Sampson, Tom |
One-year wonder RP, cut after one year |
|
2008 |
Lee Gardner, Harold |
One-year wonder RP, cut after one year |
|
2009 |
Carlos Gomez, Jed |
“CarGo has been the best of what is one of the best late rounds I have ever seen.” - Tom |
|
2010 |
Francisco Cervelli, Harold |
Catcher, played one season at least |
|
2011 |
Andrew Jones, Harold |
Note this was well after his prime. He played one season from this. |
|
2012 |
Josh Reddick, Robin |
“Reddick has been a better major league player than SOMBILLA player, but he has potential well beyond the last pick of the draft (Ed note: and he’s cute).” - Tom |
|
2013 |
Felix Doubront, Arnie |
Hung on to for several years but never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
2014 |
James Loney, RAT |
Never played, cut after one year |
|
2015 |
Joakim Soria, Tom |
Originally drafted by Jed in 2008, for whom he had a fine career. Played one season for Tom. Redrafted by Arnie in 2020 and pitched in last year’s SOMBILLA WS. |
|
2016 |
Cody Anderson, Robin |
Cut after one season |
|
2017 |
Manual Margot, Jed |
Never played for Oceanus. He was picked up during a waiver draft by Arnie and hit .239 in limited action during the 2020-2021 campaign. Still owned. |
|
2018 |
David Freese, Randy |
“Freese was originally drafted by Future Wax in 2011 and cut in 2014. In 2017 I think he was a lefty-killer? Certainly he was much better vs. L. Anyway, in 2018/19, he hit .296 for Randy 54 AB.” - Jed |
|
2019 |
Nick Martini, Harold |
Friends with Boston Bruins announcer Bob Beers. Never played in the SOMBILLA |
|
2020 |
Stephan Crichton, Tom |
|
|
2021 |
Dylan Moore, Sam |
|
|
2022 |
Josiah Gray, Randy |
|
Yes, I definitely got
lucky with Hall of Famer David Ortiz. I do remember that with that last pick I
wanted to take a flyer on a slugger and that Big Papi had the highest projected
OPS and slugging percentage of any player still available. It wasn’t a
particularly eye-popping projection; a player with such a projection would have
been long gone. In researching this study, I was surprised to find out that the
Minnesota 2000 David Ortiz card made my team in ’01-02, batting .182 in 55 AB
with 1 HR and 2 RBI. (Real David Ortiz batted .282 for the Twins that year with
10 HR.) I also remember that I was planning on cutting Ortiz at the 2003 draft (need
that roster spot!) until the Red Sox signed him on January 22, 2003. So I
figured I’d give him another chance since he was now a Red Sox. The rest is
history.
Behind Big Papi, I think Land’s
Jason Giambi is a distant second as best last pick ever. Jed’s Carlos Gomez is
3rd. He was an all-star twice, won a gold glove and played for Jed
through the 2014 carded season (’15-16) – six years. He also played for CN after
Jed finally cut him.
In fourth place, a tie
between Robin’s Josh Reddick, who played 13 years in the majors and Jed’s Chuck
Nagy.
Worst pick: From the first
Mr. Irrelevant study, back in 2005: When Joel
drafted Don Sutton with the last pick of the 1987 draft, the guy was 42, and
Joel was about to end his affiliation with the SOMBILLA. To me, that’s the
worst Mr. Irrelevant pick. Although there were plenty of swings and misses on
this list, at least everyone else was trying.
SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – What about the
first overall picks? Aren’t they more
important?
It seems to me that if we’re going to focus on the last pick of the
draft, shouldn’t we also look at the first pick in the draft, which is clearly
more important? Although many of these
players had great careers and ended up in the hall of fame, more would be
perceived as busts.
|
Year |
Player & Manager |
Comments |
|
1985 |
Dwight Gooden, T&A |
He was 20 years old and had just gone 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA. Pretty sure he was the consensus first pick. 4-time all-star, had several great seasons, but ultimately derailed by injuries at age 27 and was never great again. |
|
1986 |
Vince Coleman, Matt |
Rookie of the year and a 2-time all-star |
|
1987 |
Ruben Sierra, Arnie |
Despite being a 4-time all-star with a 20-year career, he was always considered a disappointment. Joel drafted Jose Canseco 2nd overall, who’d be in the HOF but for steroids. |
|
1988 |
Mark McGwire, Matt |
HOF but for roids |
|
1989 |
Greg Jefferies, T&A |
2-time all-star. Other first rounders were Cone (Robin) R. Alomar (Arnie) HOF, Sheffield (T&A) |
|
1990 |
Ken Griffey Jr., T&A |
HOF |
|
1991 |
Frank Thomas, Robin |
HOF |
|
1992 |
Phil Plantier, Matt |
LOL. He passed on HOF Pudge Rodriguez (Robin picked him 3rd), Mike Mussina (5th overall by Arnie), HOF Jeff Bagwell (7th overall by Durga & Harold) |
|
1993 |
Curt Schilling, Dave |
Borderline HOF based on career, but an asshole Trumper. |
|
1994 |
Manny Ramirez, Harold |
HOF but for roids. Pedro was chosen 5th overall by T&A. |
|
1995 |
Alex Rodriguez, Land |
HOF but for roids |
|
1996 |
Charles Johnson, Matt |
2-time all-star, 4-time gold glover. HOFs Chipper Jones (2nd by Dave & Jeff) and Derek Jeter (6th by Robin) were also first-rounders that year. |
|
1997 |
Edgar Renteria, Jeff |
5-time all-star, 2-time gold glover. |
|
1998 |
Ben Grieve, Robin |
Rookie of the year, but never became a star, despite several solid seasons. Vlad Guerrero (see 2002 below) was chosen 2nd by Jed & Clint. (From Robin: Hopefully I made up for this pick by drafting Vlad Jr. when I had the chance to.) |
|
1999 |
JD Drew, Eric |
Much-maligned Sox player made one all-star team, but had a 14-year career with a .384 career OBP and career .489 slugging pct. |
|
2000 |
Kris Benson, Harold |
A disappointment. Never became a star. Finished MLB career 70-75, 4.42 |
|
2001 |
Rafael Furcal, Matt |
Won Rookie of the Year and was a 3-time all-star. Never panned out to be a superstar as projected; it turns out he was older than everyone thought. |
|
2002 |
Vlad Guerrero, Jeff |
HOF. This was the year of the expanded draft due to the league contraction of Jed & Clint’s BiG DiG franchise. Their best player, Vlad, became a free agent and Jeff pounced. |
|
2003 |
Mark Prior, Robin |
Had a spectacular card when he was drafted, but injuries derailed his career and he retired at age 25, and he is still alive! |
|
2004 |
Miguel Cabrera, Robin |
Should be HOF. Makes up for Prior. |
|
2005 |
David Wright, Harold |
A 7-time all-star and 2-time gold glover. |
|
2006 |
Felix Hernandez, Jed |
A truly great pitcher, until he wasn’t. |
|
2007 |
Delmon Young, Jeff |
“ Delmon Young as a first overall pick just escaped worst pick status by putting together a good year this year that leads hope to future usability. I do not think he will ever live up to the pre-trade hype.” – Tom. Verlander was chosen with the very next pick by Eric. |
|
2008 |
Fausto Carmona, Harold |
“Fausto Carmona turned out to be older than MLB thought and really named Roberto Hernandez. He turned out to be a malcontent in the clubhouse and while we cannot fault Harold, Carmona/Hernandez has to be considered the worst pick of this exceptional first round.” - Tom (First rounders that year – Lincecom, Eric; J. Hamilton & M. Ordonez, Arnie; A. Gordon, Jeff; Gallardo, Robin; Braun, RAT) |
|
2009 |
Evan Longoria, Jeff |
“Both Evan Longoria and Hiroki Kuroda did play in the SOMBILLA all four years, but Evan Longoria has to be the choice [for best first round pick that year]. He is a perennial 1 at third and the #2 Lamanna choice at his position for the near future, and the 4th best in the current set. It is surprising that his slash lines were not better given his performance in MLB, but I think anyone would take him #1 overall if there was a re-draft now.” - Tom |
|
2010 |
Matt Wieters, Arnie |
A 4-time all-star and 2-time gold glover. |
|
2011 |
Buster Posey, Robin |
“Posey comes close [to Stanton], as he is listed as the best C for the future and in the current set. Posey’s bat is good enough that SF hopes that playing him at first will lengthen his career and effectiveness.” - Tom |
|
2012 |
Brett Lawrie, Jeff |
Almost the worst pick of the first round and was drafted before Trout who went 2nd. |
|
2013 |
Bryce Harper, Tom |
“Bryce Harper has been one of the most hyped, young players and as such a no brainer number 1 overall pick. He has a MLB NL MVP and even in his off years he is still a top 5 player at his position. After a strong comeback year, he is still the best pick in the round.” - Tom |
|
2014 |
Jose Fernandez, Harold |
“This draft has a number of pitchers who have passed on. If not for a boating accident fueled by narcotics, the best pick laurels would have graced this young hurler’s head. Alas, it seems that water and SOMBILLA pitchers do not mix.” - Tom. Tom picked Josh Donaldson 7th. |
|
2015 |
Jose Abreau, Jed |
Passed up Mookie Betts (3rd overall by Arnie) to draft this 26-year old with a great card. Had very good stats for Jed. Still playing and has 238 career homers. |
|
2016 |
Carlos Correa, Robin |
(Arnie chose Lindor #2). “So the battle [for best first round pick] goes down to Lindor versus Correa and you could go either way but Lindor wins on health and a better SS glove.” – Tom (Arnie: A year after this draft after Lindor had had a much better 2016 than Correa, I offered Robin to trade Lindor straight up for Correa, but she said no.) |
|
2017 |
Andrew Benintendi, Robin |
“Benintendi hasn't justified being selected #1 overall. However, he did hit .285 in one SOMBILLA year (the 2018-2019 season) and he's still on Bay City's roster. He just turned 27 and he's having a relatively good year so there's still hope. Hence, he's not the worst pick [in this round].” – Jed [Robin: and is the second cutest]”. Was an all-star this year but is not vaccinated. |
|
2018 |
Cody Bellinger, Eric |
See Summer Study #3 – 2018 draft analysis below. |
|
2019 |
Shohei Ohtani, Tom |
I remember Tom was shocked to win the roll off with only a 27% chance to do so, and so pessimistic that he had not prepared for this. He paced back and forth for a bit (losing his chair to Gus the cat) before choosing Ohtani. |
|
2020 |
Yordan Alvarez, Eric |
|
|
2021 |
Luis Robert, Harold |
|
|
2022 |
Franco Wander, Eric |
|
All-star team of first picks overall:
C – Buster Posey
1B – Miguel Cabrera
2B – Greg Jeffries
SS – A-Rod
3B – Evan Longoria
OF - Ken Griffey Jr.
OF – Manny Ramirez
OF – Bryce Harper
DH – Frank Thomas
P – Dwight Gooden (with Schilling #2?
Maybe don’t choose pitchers first overall?) Too soon for Ohtani
Worst first pick overall? Phil
Plantier. He was a mutant who batted .331 with 11 homers in 175 AB. Although he
played 8 years in the majors, he was never usable again, finishing with a
lifetime batting average of .243. Remember the toilet seat crouch? Brett Lawrie comes close to Plantier.
SUMMER STUDY NO. 3 – The 2018 SOMBILLA Draft – A Retrospective
By Jed Corman, guest columnist
Introduction
It's that time of year to reflect upon the past. To ask such questions as
“what the fuck was I thinking?” To
wonder what might have been if you hadn't followed Lamanna's advice. And if
you're Future Wax, to rue not going with G8 instead of H5.
To refresh memories, North Dakota won the 2018/19 World Series. Future Wax
was the runner up. These were clearly the two best teams. Did they go for it in
the 2018 draft or was their success more due to their past team-building
efforts? Who positioned themselves the
best for the next 4 years? Read on to
find out.
Executive Summary
Fine, if you don't want to read the whole article, which I labored over for
hours, here's what you need to know. This draft kind of sucked in terms of
overall talent. The best players (with maybe one exception) were in fact taken
in Round 1.
In terms of tallying a score based on who won or lost each round, Robin and
Tom had the best draft. Arnie had the worst draft. Both Arnie and Randy were
net negative.
So clearly just judging on a round-by-round basis is of limited usefulness.
For example from 2018/19 through 2021/22 Arnie and Randy had the second and
third most regular season wins and between them won 3 out of the 4 World Series.
And during 2018/19, based on a quick assessment, both Arnie and Randy got some
fine performances out of their 2018 draftees (see: Marwin Gonzalez).
96 players were drafted. 30 are still rostered (21 of whom were selected in
the first 5 rounds). Some of whom were cut and redrafted. It's a tough league.
Round 1
|
1 |
Bellinger, Cody |
LAD |
1B,OF |
Eric |
|
2 |
Olson, Matt |
OAK |
1B |
Jed |
|
3 |
Pham, Tommy |
STL |
OF |
Harold |
|
4 |
Devers, Rafael |
BOS |
3B |
Tom |
|
5 |
Albies, Ozzie |
ATL |
2B |
Robin |
|
6 |
Moncada, Yoan |
CWS |
2B |
Jeff |
|
7 |
Hoskins, Rhys |
PHI |
1B,OF |
Arnie |
|
8 |
Robles, Victor |
WAS |
OF |
Future Wax |
Well, we can certainly say that Future Wax wasn't going for it with this
pick. Robles jumps out as the worst pick of the first round. In the Washington,
DC, area we are painfully aware that he has not panned out. And he was just cut
in the most recent Waiver Draft.
Bellinger was the clear-cut choice for the #1 pick and I remember being
pissed that Eric won the thing-off. However, Bellinger, after his excellent
performances in 2017 and 2018 and a transcendent 2019, has been pretty awful. He
is only turning 27 this year, though, so there's still time to reverse course. In
the SOMBILLA, in the half year's worth of statistics I could find, Bellinger
was awesome: OBP of .440 and SLG of .848.
There are 3 players who could be considered the best choice of round 1:
Olson (who was a mutant that year), Devers and Albies. Something of a toss up
to choose between them but Devers and Albies are younger and since Albies is a
superb defender at 2B (and cute – Robin). I'm going to give him the nod as the
best selection. Devers is having an awesome 2022 though..
Pham gave Harold some good years (after being cut by Arnie the year before).
He was on the SOMBILLA leader board in several categories in 2018/19. Hoskins,
in spite of a .200 BA, had an OPS of .972 in 50 AB. And an OPS of .830 as a
regular in 2019/20. Hoskins only got 15 AB in 2020/21 and hit only .133. He
will presumably get some usage during the 2022/23 season. Not a world beater
but far from a bust. Moncada has had only one good season (2019) but that's
more than Victor Robles can say.
As of now 6 of these players remain rostered (Robles and Pham are out of
the league).
Scoring: Robin 1. Randy -1.
Round 2
|
9 |
Castillo, Luis |
CIN |
SP |
Tom |
|
10 |
Anderson, Chase |
MIL |
SP |
Harold |
|
11 |
Zunino, Mike |
SEA |
C |
Jed |
|
12 |
Green, Chad |
NYY |
SP |
Eric |
|
13 |
Godley, Zack |
ARI |
SP |
Robin |
|
14 |
Madson, Ryan |
WAS |
RP |
Harold |
|
15 |
Ray, Robbie |
ARI |
SP |
Arnie |
|
16 |
Rivero, Felipe |
PIT |
RP |
Future Wax |
Robbie Ray has had two excellent years (including winning a Cy Young award)
and that's sufficient to earn him a tie for the best choice of round 2. That
and the fact that he's still rostered. As a lefty in the SOMBILLA, he wasn't
treated particularly kindly during the 2018/19 season, but he did ok: 4-5, 4.10
ERA, 88 K in 68 IP. He did close out North Dakota's World Series victory by
pitching a 1-2-3 10th inning in Game 7!
I'm going to give a half vote to Luis Castillo, who has quietly, overall,
had better stats than Ray. Castillo did not do so well in limited appearances
in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19 – a 6.57 ERA (but a 3-1 record!). He did so-so this
past season (4-4, 4.16 ERA). Bottom line is, he's been a contributor and he's
still rostered.
Worst pick? A few contenders. Godley
has had one usable season – 2017. He went 2-5 for Bay City during 2018/19, with
a 4.02 ERA in 65 IP. I would say he's the worst pick of the second round. Zunino
(another in a long line of failed attempts to find my Catcher of the
Future) has been awful but he was just
re-drafted this year, so he's produced 2 usable seasons. Although.that
shouldn't count toward evaluating this pick. However, he also had an OPS of
.959 in 122 AB for Oceanus in 2018/19. Chase Anderson seems to have steadily
gotten worse over time. You could certainly argue he's just as bad as Godley
but his overall career has been better. But factoring in their SOMBILLA careers.I'll
make it a tie between Godley and Anderson.
I think Madson was the best reliever available that year. He was never good
again but he'd had some usable cards in the past. In the SOMBILLA in 2018/19,
he had a pretty unremarkable season. A 3.47 ERA and a record of 1-2 with 2
saves. Similarly, Rivero (a lefty) had a spectacular 2017 and outperformed
Madson in the SOMBILLA (1.84 ERA with 4 saves). Rivero had 3 good years in a
row (especially 2017 and 2019) and then he changed his name to Felipe Vazquez
and then he was found guilty of sexual assault. And speaking of relievers, Chad
Green (not to be confused with Shane Greene) was cut during the most recent
Waiver Draft (in spite of being the 27th best reliever in the set
according to Lamanna), snapped up gratefully by Arnie and quickly succumbed to
injury probably because of proximity to Bay City. He has provided several
usable years and given that he's been continuously rostered one could make an
argument that he's the best choice in this round.
4 of these picks are still rostered.
Scoring: Robin -1/2, Harold -1/2, Tom ½, Arnie ½.
Round 3
|
17 |
Garcia, Avisail |
CWS |
OF |
Jed |
|
18 |
Happ, Ian |
CHC |
2B,OF |
Eric |
|
19 |
Claudio, Alex |
TEX |
RP |
Harold |
|
20 |
Bradley, Archie |
ARI |
RP |
Tom |
|
21 |
Minor, Mike |
TEX |
RP |
Robin |
|
22 |
Albers, Matt |
MIL |
P |
Harold |
|
23 |
Gonzalez, Marwin |
HOU |
1B,2B,SS,OF |
Arnie |
|
24 |
Hader, Josh |
MIL |
RP |
Eric |
I think without even doing any research we can declare Eric the winner of
this round. Happ and Hader are still rostered. Hader is a dominant reliever. He
has a career WHIP of .85 (at the time I am writing this). He is obviously the best
selection in round 3. Happ has had a career OPS of .806 (but has been somewhat
limited I presume by injuries).
Of the rest, only Avisail Garcia is still rostered (he was re-drafted in
2021). So we'll say he's not the worst choice of the round. He has a career OPS
of .749. A marginal SOMBILLA player.
Is there a clear worst choice? In
terms of their 2018/19 SOMBILLA performances, Matt “Fat” Albers did pretty well
(2.28 ERA), Claudio was solid (3.18 ERA), Bradley was excellent (2nd
in Rolaids), Minor was decent (a 4.06 ERA but 5 saves) and Gonzalez was
excellent (.316 average). These guys were all drafted to contribute immediately
and they did. None of these guys are still rostered (Bradley was dropped in
this year's Waiver Draft). As hard as it's going to be to do the math, I'll say
it's a 4-way tie for worst pick. Since two of these picks were Harold's, he
loses the round. But.again.these guys did what they were asked to do.
3 of these players are still on SOMBILLA rosters.
Scoring: Eric 1, Arnie -1/4, Robin -1/4, Harold -1/4, Harold -1/4
Round 4
|
25 |
Rosario, Eddie |
MIN |
OF |
Jed |
|
26 |
Berrios, Jose |
MIN |
SP |
Eric |
|
27 |
Taylor, Chris |
LAD |
2B,OF |
Harold |
|
28 |
Bour, Justin |
MIA |
1B |
Tom |
|
29 |
Winker, Jesse |
CIN |
OF |
Robin |
|
30 |
Giolito, Lucas |
CWS |
SP |
Jeff |
|
31 |
Parker, Blake |
LAA |
RP |
Arnie |
|
32 |
Barnes, Austin |
LAD |
C,2B |
Future Wax |
The two names that stand out to me on this list are Giolito and Berrios. These
guys are basically the same age (turning 28 in 2022) and have comparable career
statistics. I'll give a slight nod to Giolito as the best choice of the round
as he has turned in 3 seasons with a WHIP of 1.10 or less.
Eddie Rosario has been a SOMBILLA contributor (he had an OPS of .911 as a
regular player in 2018/19) so even though he got cut by Oceanus in the 2022 Waiver
Draft (and he waited for months before revealing he had vision problems) he's
not the worst choice of the round. And New Orleans did pick him up in the 2022
Waiver Draft..
Jessie Winker, still rostered, has a career .868 OPS and had his best year
in 2021. He may end up being the best choice of this round, if we were to look
back 5 years from now. Prior to 2021, though, he was limited (injuries?). Robin
note: of course, injuries. He plays for
BC.
Chris Taylor is still hanging on in the SOMBILLA. He has a career OPS of
.781 and 2017 was his career year. Maybe not a star but a contributor and not
the worst choice of the round.
Justin Bour had a solid season for Constantinople in 2018/2019. Granted,
their fences were as usual only 200 feet to all fields and the playing surface
was laminated to speed up balls hit on the ground. But Bour did hit .299 with
an OPS of .798 in 117 AB. Bour never hit higher than .227 again in real
baseball.
And then we have Blake Parker and Austin Barnes. Parker went 4-3 with a
3.21 ERA during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign. Barnes hit .229 in limited play
(83 AB). 2017 was an outlier for Parker. He had a WHIP of .83 that year, but
never had a WHIP of lower than 1.22 after that. Barnes has similarly sucked
since 2017. I'm going to choose Barnes by a hair as the worst pick in this
round.
5 players still rostered.
Scoring: Jeff 1, Randy -1.
Round 5
|
33 |
Neshek, Pat |
PHI |
RP |
Jed |
|
34 |
Nicasio, Juan |
SEA |
RP |
Eric |
|
35 |
DeJong, Paul |
STL |
2B,SS |
Jeff |
|
36 |
Haniger, Mitch |
SEA |
OF |
Tom |
|
37 |
Alonso, Yonder |
CLE |
1B |
Robin |
|
38 |
Mancini, Trey |
BAL |
1B,OF |
Jeff |
|
39 |
Cashner, Andrew |
BAL |
SP |
Arnie |
|
40 |
Swarzak, Anthony |
NYM |
RP |
Future Wax |
Wow, a lot of meh here!
Going in order, Neshek I'm sure had been in the league before as he had a
few usable seasons. 2017 was probably his second best year. In the SOMBILLA, in
2018/19, Neshek led Oceanus in saves with 7. He was solid.
Juan Effin' Nicasio? In the half
season of SOMBILLA stats I have for him, he had a 10.95 ERA. He never had a
usable card again. I think we have a candidate for worst pick but hang on..
Paul DeJong is still rostered! 2017
was his career year but he did hit 30 homers in 2019. His batting average has
fallen off a cliff though. He did not do well in very limited play in the SOMBILLA
– a .190 BA in 21 AB.
Mitch Haniger is still rostered too!
He has a career OPS of .819. He's turned in 3 excellent seasons
(including 39 homers in 2021, who knew?). By gosh, I'm going to boldly declare
he's the best choice of this round before I even look at the rest of the guys. In
the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign, he had an OPS of .834 and 13 HR while playing
regularly.
Yonder Alonso. Where is he now? Over
yonder. To be fair, he contributed during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA season – he had
a .797 OPS in 165 AB. But unless he changed his name to Pete, he is no longer
rostered. 2017 was his only usable year. But thanks to Nicasio, he wasn't the
worst choice in this round.
Trey Mancini remains rostered. He has hit over 20 homers 4 seasons in a
row, including 35 in 2019. I'd say he's the second best pick of the round. Unfortunately,
he does play for the Orioles.
Andrew Cashner looked like a good bet at the time, coming off a season
where he had a 3.40 ERA in 166 IP. He went 5-4 for Arnie in 2018/19, with a 4.30
ERA. He was a decent contributor.
Finally, Swarzak! He was great in
2017 but had a 6.44 ERA for Tom during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA season. Adjusting
for the ballpark, that's like a 2.50 ERA elsewhere. Alas, Swarzak never
replicated 2017 and at the time I'm writing this doesn't seem to be on an MLB
roster.
3 of these players are still in the SOMBILLA.
Scoring: Tom 1, Eric -1.
Round 6
|
41 |
Avila, Alex |
ARI |
C |
Jed |
|
42 |
Martinez, Jose |
STL |
1B,OF |
Eric |
|
43 |
Smoak, Justin |
TOR |
1B |
Harold |
|
44 |
Kahnle, Tommy |
NYY |
RP |
Tom |
|
45 |
Cishek, Steve |
CHC |
RP |
Robin |
|
46 |
Morrow, Brandon |
CHC |
RP |
Harold |
|
47 |
Alfaro, Jorge |
PHI |
C |
Arnie |
|
48 |
Rosenthal, Trevor |
FA |
P |
Future Wax |
Once again, nobody really jumps off the page here.
Going in order, Avila if I recall correctly was something of a mutant that
year. Certainly, 2017 was an outlier for him, although 2011 was a career year. Anyway,
Avila did turn out some usable cards because he was a left-handed hitter with
good on base and a touch of power. And not bad defensively. In the 2018/19
SOMBILLA season, he had an OPS of .814 in 92 AB. Not the worst pick in the
round. Not the best. Like every round in this draft for me thus far..
Jose Martinez had a career .803 OPS so pretty decent. 2017 was, you guessed
it, his best year. However, it was limited (272 AB). He did hit over .300 in
2018 but declined rapidly after that. He seems to be out of the MLB even though
he's only 33 years old. I know he had a torn meniscus at one point, not sure if
that torpedoed him. In the 2018/19
SOMBILLA season, he did absurdly well in limited appearances: an OPS of
1.656 in 45 AB (with 8 HR). He must've been a mutant – yes, he was a
lefty-killer! It doesn't look like
Martinez played again in the SOMBILLA.
Smoak had 38 homers in 2017. He never had more than 25 in any other season.
2017 was his career year by a long shot. He must have been somewhat injury
prone as he only had more than 500 AB in 2 seasons. Anyhoo, in the SOMBILLA
2018/19 season, Smoak didn't play much (61 AB) but had an OPS of .910. Smoak
did horribly in the SOMBILLA in the 2019/20 season, hitting under .100 in 32 AB.
But he was on the roster for two seasons. Not the worst pick.
Kahnle also had his best season in 2017. In the SOMBILLA, he provided Tom
with 15 IP and an ERA of 1.80. He got cut but was redrafted in 2020. So he got
two years of SOMBILLA experience, but in re this selection, he was one and done.
But his good SOMBILLA performance saves him from being the worst pick of the
round.
Cishek I'm sure had been in the league previously as he had at least one
usable card from 2011 to 2016. In the
SOMBILLA, in 2018/19, Cishek had 4 saves for Robin and an ERA of 2.60 in 17 1/3
innings. Pretty good. Also, had a 2.73 ERA and 2 saves in 26 1/3 IP in 2019/20.
Can't call him the worst pick.
Brandon Morrow. He sounds promising for worst pick, doesn't he? He was a starter earlier in his career and
then switched to the pen after his ERA went into the 5s (something went wrong).
This was a redraft (2013 and he was cut after 1 year). Well, as it turns out,
he had a few years as a reliever where his ERA was 2.something or even
1.something. But very limited innings. In the SOMBILLA, in 2018/19, Morrow
pitched 17 innings and had an ERA of 3.71 but with 3 saves and a good WHIP. Doesn't
look like Morrow pitched again in the SOMBILLA.
Alfaro seemed like a promising catcher. And he's only just turning 29 in
2022 so I don't want to write off his career yet. But he went in the wrong
direction year after year. In 2017, albeit in only 107 AB, he hit .318 with an
OPS of .874. But the next year, he hit .262 with an OPS of .731. Etc. During
the 2018/19 SOMBILLA season, Alfaro performed miserably in his 42 AB. His OPS
was .565. I acquired Alfaro from Arnie and I know he got some limited playing
time. So maybe not the worst pick but maybe?
Circling back I'm going to say Alfaro was the worst pick. He hung onto a
SOMBILLA roster for quite a while but really if anything had a negative impact.
The oft-injured Rosenthal has had flashes of brilliance. I re-drafted him
in 2021 and in 2018 he was also a redraft (originally drafted in 2014). Overall,
then, Rosenthal has been useful. But just focusing on this 2018 selection.he
performed very well in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19, with 8 saves and a 2.70 ERA. He
didn't play in the SOMBILLA in 2019/20 so for this iteration of Rosenthal he
went one and done. I'm going to say Rosenthal was the best pick because he
played a key role in getting Randy to the World Series and won the Rolaids
relief award for 2018/19.
None of these guys is still on a SOMBILLA roster.
Scoring: Randy 1, Arnie -1.
Round 7
|
49 |
Petit, Yusmeiro |
OAK |
RP |
Jed |
|
50 |
Taylor, Michael |
WAS |
OF |
Eric |
|
51 |
Williams, Trevor |
PIT |
SP |
Harold |
|
52 |
Knebel, Corey |
MIL |
RP |
Tom |
|
53 |
Pirela, Jose |
SD |
OF |
Robin |
|
54 |
Peacock, Brad |
HOU |
RP |
Jeff |
|
55 |
Jackson, Austin |
SF |
OF |
Arnie |
|
56 |
Chapman, Matt |
OAK |
3B |
Future Wax |
If you've made it this far, I'm impressed. I'll get briefer with the
comments from here on out. For those keeping score at home, so far, Tom is having
the best draft (he is + 1.5) and Randy and Harold are tied for last (at -1).
Petit was rostered up until the 2022 Waiver Draft. He's had a career WHIP
of 1.15 and has been particularly good over the last 5 years. He had a 3.65 ERA
and a save in 2018/19. He had a 3.18 ERA in 2019/20. And he had a 2.12 ERA in
2020/21. By gosh, he might be the best pick of the round..
Taylor is another Nationals prospect who never panned out. 2017 was of
course his career year. He was effectively one and done in the SOMBILLA. In his
2018/19 cup of coffee, he had an OPS of .892 in 37 AB.
Williams did horribly in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19 – 7.86 ERA in 34 1/3 IP. New
Orleans' worst pitcher that season. But his career year was 2018 and in 2019/20
in the SOMBILLA he went 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA. Probably not the worst pick of the
round then.
Corey “Evil” Knebel did poorly in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19: 7.98 ERA albeit
with 2 saves. In real baseball, in 2017, he had 126 K in 76 IP. Knebel may
still produce usable cards in the future but so far he's one and done in the
SOMBILLA. Candidate for worst selection though at the time this was probably
considered a great pick. He had a nice 2021 season (.97 WHIP) but wasn't
drafted presumably because of limited innings.
Pirela? Who? Let me guess: he had his career year in 2017
and hasn't been heard from since. Bingo. He was kind of marginal in the
SOMBILLA in 2018/19 – an OPS of .799 in 62 AB. Tied with Knebel for worst pick
so far.
Peacock strutted his stuff for one year in the SOMBILLA to the tune of a
2-4 record with a 4.91 ERA. Tied with Knebel and Pirela for worst.
Jackson had an OPS of 1.084 in 42 AB in the SOMBILLA 2018/19 season. But
that was that.
Chapman, without looking anything up, feels like the best pick of the round.
He's the only guy still rostered. He has hit over 20 HR 3 times, including 36
in 2019. He's a stellar defender. However, he didn't play in the SOMBILLA in
2018/19. He hit .235 in 2019/20 with 8 HR and .183 in 2020/21 with 13 HR. Ok,
I'll make it a tie for best pick between Chapman and Petit.
Again, only 1 guy from this round still rostered.
Scoring: Randy ½, Jed ½, Tom, Robin, Jeff -1/3
Round 8
|
57 |
Lyons, Tyler |
STL |
RP |
Jed |
|
58 |
Greene, Shane |
DET |
RP |
Eric |
|
59 |
Hedges, Austin |
SD |
C |
Harold |
|
60 |
Gennett, Scooter |
CIN |
2B |
Tom |
|
61 |
Nelson, Jimmy |
MIL |
SP |
Robin |
|
62 |
Freeman, Sam |
ATL |
RP |
Jeff |
|
63 |
Faria, Jake |
TB |
SP |
Arnie |
|
64 |
O'Day, Darren |
BAL |
RP |
Jed |
I'd be lyin' if I said I remembered Lyons. I'm sure
he was one and done in the SOMBILLA. Ah, he was a lefty who had the best ERA
for me (2.55) in 2018/19. 2 saves to boot. He can't be the worst pick of the
round..
Shane (not Chad) Greene was part of Eric's effort
to get a monopoly on all green players. And he's still on the team currently
named the Vita-Rays! Without complete
SOMBILLA stats it's hard to say but his multi-year tenure makes him a candidate
for the best choice of the round. He's had 3 usable cards..
Harold tried Hedging his bets but it didn't work
out. Hedges is a career .194 hitter but as a catcher with double-digit HR power
it seemed worth taking a flyer on him. He did get 3 AB in the SOMBILLA in
2019/20 (and hit .333). Something he can tell his grandchildren someday. Worst
pick thus far.
Gennett had a couple of excellent seasons and got
some decent usage in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19 and 2019/20. I'll say he's tied
with Greene.
Nelson had a 5.05 ERA in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19
but soaked up 73 IP with a 5-3 record. Missed some time due to injury (but
thankfully avoided death) and was redrafted in Round 12 in 2022 (by Arnie,
whose main goal was to re-draft former yet still living Bay City players). Not
the worst.
Freeman pitched 8 IP in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19
with a 7.88 ERA. One and done. Arguably as bad as Hedges.
Faria didn't play in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19. I
guess he was a prospect who had a promising 2017 but went downhill from there. Faria
takes over last place in the race for worst pick!
Darren (“why can't I get players like that?”) O'Day
enjoyed previous and future success in the SOMBILLA. In 2018/19, he had a 4.35
and 2 saves. Kind of meh but not the worst pick. Cut in the 2022 Waiver Draft.
3 of these guys are still rostered (Nelson via
re-draft).
Scoring: Arnie -1, Tom ½, Eric ½
Round 9
|
65 |
Leone, Dominic |
STL |
RP |
Jed |
|
66 |
Mauer, Joe |
MIN |
1B |
Eric |
|
67 |
Maddox, Austin |
BOS |
P |
Harold |
|
68 |
Duvall, Adam |
CIN |
OF |
Tom |
|
69 |
Hernandez, Teoscar |
TOR |
OF |
Robin |
|
70 |
Rodney, Fernando |
MIN |
RP |
Jeff |
|
71 |
Gyorko, Jedd |
STL |
3B |
Arnie |
|
72 |
Suarez, Eugenio |
CIN |
3B |
Future Wax |
A clear winner for best choice in this round:
Teoscar Hernandez. I don't think he was on my radar but he did have a .907 OPS
in 88 AB in real baseball in 2017. Kudos to Robin for sticking with him through
a couple of unusable seasons. He blossomed in 2020 and 2021 (32 HR). One of
only two guys from this round who has survived in the SOMBILLA (and the only
one with continuous SOMBILLA service).
Leone was one and done (but re-drafted in 2022). He
had a 4.71 ERA (and a save) in the SOMBILLA in 2018/19. Tied for worst pick.
Potential Hall of Famer Joe Mauer was of course a
redraft in 2018 after several unusable seasons. He hit .286 in 82 AB in 2018/19
for his swan song in the SOMBILLA.
Austin (“unfortunately not Greg and it's spelled
differently”) Maddox only pitched for one year in MLB. He did have a .52 ERA in
17 IP. Presumably he was seen as a prospect. If he'd been drafted by Robin I'd
assume he'd died. He did pitch 7 IP in
the SOMBILLA with a 1-0 record and a 2.57 ERA. Tied for worst pick.
Duvall is one of those guys perpetually on the cusp
of making the SOMBILLA. A power hitter and decent fielder with a painful BA. He
hit 33 HR in 2016 (undrafted), 31 in 2017 (drafted) and 38 in 2021 (undrafted!
- the most HR ever for an undrafted player?). He hit .214 in the SOMBILLA
2018/19 campaign with 4 HR in 56 AB. Marginal. Tied for worst pick.
Rodney sure played for a lot of teams (in real
baseball)! 2017 was of course his best
year (he had 39 saves). In the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign, he had a 4.85 ERA and
1 save. Tied for worst pick.
Gyorko, a former Asshole, was once a promising
power-hitting second baseman. He played well for North Dakota in 2018/19 –
hitting .275 with an OPS of .817 in 109 AB. Solid.
Suarez hung in there in the SOMBILLA until the 2022
Waiver Draft. He hit .199 in 181 AB (ouch!) for Future Wax during the 2018/19
campaign. He also hit .222 in 2019/20. But in 2020/21 he hit .313 with 12 HR. Overall,
a solid pick.
2 players are currently rostered (one a re-draft).
Scoring: Robin 1, Jed, Tom, Jeff, Harold: - 1/4
Round 10
|
73 |
Marisnick, Jake |
HOU |
OF |
Jed |
|
74 |
Nunez, Eduardo |
BOS |
2B,3B,OF |
Eric |
|
75 |
Frazier, Clint |
NYY |
OF |
Harold |
|
76 |
Kintzler, Brandon |
WAS |
RP |
Tom |
|
77 |
Camargo, Johan |
ATL |
3B,SS |
Robin |
|
78 |
Chisenhall, Lonnie |
CLE |
OF |
Jeff |
|
79 |
Weaver, Luke |
STL |
SP |
Arnie |
|
80 |
Hunter, Tommy |
PHI |
RP |
Future Wax |
Marisnick was a mutant, if I remember correctly. Also,
good defensively? He had an .831 OPS in
64 AB during the 2018/19 SOMBILLA campaign. One and done.
Nunez did well in the half season of stats we have
for him in 2018/19: OPS of .931 in 40 AB. He was originally drafted in 2012 and
cut in 2013. He was drafted again in 2014.
Frazier was drafted by Harold solely on the basis
that a) he played for the Yankees and b) with a name like Clint Frazier, he
ought to be good. He ultimately got to play in the SOMBILLA in 2021/22 and had
a .868 OPS in 123 AB. He got cut in the 2022 Waiver Draft. But I'll still say
he's the best player picked because he had the most impact in the SOMBILLA.
Kintzler had a win and a couple of saves and a 3.94
ERA for Tom in 2018/19. Seems like that was his SOMBILLA career.
[The cute] Camargo had a 1.002 OPS in 19 AB for
Robin in 2018/19. He went on to hit .203 in 182 AB in 2019/20. So he got some
SOMBILLA playing time but it wasn't productive overall. He seems to have fallen
off a cliff after 2018 (which may have happened literally since he was playing
for Bay City).
Chisenhall hit .194 in 67 AB in the SOMBILLA during
2018/19. Must've gotten injured – out of baseball after a limited 2018. Tie for
worst pick.
Weaver pitched 8 2/3 IP with a 7.27 ERA for Arnie
in 2018/19. I think that was it for him. Tie for worst pick.
Hunter had an 11.37 ERA in 6 2/3 IP in 2018/19. I
feel like he was a re-draft in 2018 and I feel like it was Robin who drafted
him. But in a quick glance through previous drafts I didn't find him. Tie for
worst pick. (Robin: I don’t recall drafting him and if I did, it certainly
wasn’t for his looks.)
No player remains rostered.
Scoring: Harold: 1, Jeff, Arnie, Randy: -1/3
Round 11
|
81 |
Bundy, Dylan |
BAL |
SP |
Jed |
|
82 |
Newcomb, Sean |
ATL |
SP |
Eric |
|
83 |
Morrison, Logan |
MIN |
1B |
Tom |
|
84 |
Lamet, Dinelson |
SD |
SP |
Robin |
|
85 |
Leake, Mike |
SEA |
SP |
Jeff |
|
86 |
Chirinos, Robinson |
TEX |
C |
Arnie |
|
87 |
Delmonico, Nicky |
CWS |
OF |
Future Wax |
Out of this group, only Lamet is still clinging to life
in the SOMBILLA. By virtue of that he's the front runner for best pick of the
round. He really hasn't pitched much in his career. In the SOMBILLA in 2018/19,
he got in 15 IP with a 6.60 ERA. Has that been it for him thus far? [Ed note,
actually he was 6-4 for FW last year with a 4.40 ERA in 88 IP and appeared
frequently in the World Series. He’s the
pitching equivalent of Brantley). Hmmm,
let's see if anyone's SOMBILLA performance elevates them above Lamet.. Nope,
I'll give it to Lamet.
Dylan Bundy had one very usable year where he was
in the top tier of SOMBILLA starters. His performance though (in 2021/22) was
not great: 2-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 58 1/3 IP. Cut during the 2022 Waiver Draft.
Sean (“not Don and it's spelled differently
anyway”) Newcomb was a prospect that never played in the SOMBILLA as far as I
can tell. Thus, worst pick of the round.
Morrison had an .877 OPS in 90 AB for Tom in
2018/19. I believe that was it for him. (Robin had him before this)
Former Asshole Leake (an excellent fielding
pitcher, if I recall) did well in 2018/19: a 3.04 ERA in 74 IP. But nothing
after that.
Robinson Chirinos spent a few years on a few
different franchises in the SOMBILLA. He had an OPS of 1.273 in 35 AB (6 HR)
for Arnie in 2018/19. I'm assuming he was a lefty-killer that year.
Delmonico sounds delicious but had a brief SOMBILLA
career. He did have an OPS of .863 in 33 AB for Future Wax in 2018/19. He did
hit a couple of homers against me as Future Wax beat me in the first round of
the playoffs. Never heard from again.
No player remains rostered.
Scoring: Robin 1, Eric -1.
Round 12
|
88 |
Souza, Steven |
ARI |
OF |
Tom |
|
89 |
Barnhart, Tucker |
CIN |
C |
Robin |
|
90 |
Hays, Austin |
BAL |
OF |
Jeff |
|
91 |
Alvarado, Jose |
TB |
RP |
Arnie |
|
92 |
Suzuki, Kurt |
ATL |
C |
Future Wax |
Round 13
|
93 |
Rosario, Amed |
NYM |
SS |
Jeff |
|
94 |
Goody, Nick |
CLE |
RP |
Future Wax |
Round 14
|
95 |
Crawford, J.P. |
PHI |
3B |
Jeff |
|
96 |
Freese, David |
PIT |
3B |
Future Wax |
Three of these guys are currently rostered! However, one (Hays) was a re-draft and
another (Crawford) is on a different team.
Souza had an OPS of .796 in 58 AB during 2018/19.
Barnhart, a fine defensive catcher, does not appear
to have ever gotten a PA in the SOMBILLA?
Tied for worst pick.
Hays, redrafted in 2022, also may never have gotten
a PA in the SOMBILLA. Tied for worst pick.
Alvarado appeared in the 2019/20 SOMBILLA campaign.
He notched 2 saves and compiled a 3.12 ERA in 26 IP.
Suzuki totally had a career year in 2017 and hit
.290 for Future Wax in 2018/19. He got a little playing time in 2019/20 as
well.
Rosario doesn't appear to have had a PA in the
SOMBILLA. Since he's still rostered, though, I'll elevate him above being the
worst pick.
Goody hasn't worked out so good. He had a 6.53 ERA
during the 2018/19 season with 1 save in 20 2/3 IP.
JP (not Brandon, even though he's also a SS)
Crawford is an excellent defensive SS who has gotten some playing time for New
Orleans in the SOMBILLA. He hit .210 in 195 AB in 2021/22. I'll say he's the
best pick because he has played the most and is still rostered. But there were
no great picks in this round.
Freese was originally drafted by Future Wax in 2011
and cut in 2014. In 2017 I think he was a lefty-killer? Certainly he was much better vs. L. Anyway,
in 2018/19, he hit .296 for Randy in 54 AB.
Again, 3 players still rostered.
Scoring: Jeff 1, Jeff -1/2, Robin -1/2
SUMMER STUDY NUMBER
4 – Ages in the SOMBILLA
Who has the oldest team in
the league? Who has the youngest team? Does
it matter? It stands to reason that the youngest teams should improve in the
near future while the oldest teams will have to retool. Is that true? Since
this is the first time I’ve done a study like this, we have no historical data
to analyze. And no, Eric, I’m not going to research that. We’ll have to relook
at this list in a few years.
I got the idea after
realizing that in my draft this year, I drafted a lot of old guys (under the
philosophy that I’d rather draft someone who’s good instead of someone who is
young.)
Looking at each team’s 45-man
roster, here are the results (ages as of 7/1/22):
|
Average Age |
Players 35 and over |
Players 24 and under |
|
|
Vita-Rays |
28.1 |
4 (Brantley, Molina, Verlander, Wainright) |
8 (Anderson, Crochet, Franco, Graterol, Rodgers,
Soroka, Soto, Vaughn) |
|
Oceanus |
28.2 |
2 (Abreau, Kluber) |
5 (Chisolm, Doval, Huff, Marsh, Sanchez) |
|
Bay City |
28.6 |
2 (Darvish, Gurriel) |
4 (Baddoo, Carlson, Guerrero, Luzardo |
|
Future Wax |
28.8 |
5 (Blackmon, Castro, Greinke, McHugh, Scherzer) |
4 (Giminez, Gray, Kelenic, Ruiz) |
|
Constantinople |
29.1 |
5 (Carrasco, Donaldson, Luetge, Ruf, Votto) |
7 (Adell, Manoah, May, McKenzie, Patino, Sanchez,
Tatis |
|
Neverwinter |
29.5 |
5 (Bleier, Cain, Clippard, Morton, Watson) |
3 (Acuna, Bichette, Kirilloff) |
|
New Orleans |
29.7 |
2 (McGee, Posey) |
2 (Clase, Robert) |
|
North Dakota |
30.2 |
3 (Crawford, Hill, Lynn) |
1 (Lux) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
League Ave |
29.0 |
|
|
Eric has the youngest team in
the league, although Jed is close. Eric has 8 players 24 and younger, most in
the league. Meanwhile, as I predicted, North Dakota has the oldest team, with
only 1 player 24 and under sadly.
Does this mean that Eric will
be a powerhouse in a few years? Will North Dakota be rebuilding in a few years
but is going for it now? We’ll see.
But what about teams for the
upcoming year? That is, ignoring unusable prospects and other players on your
taxi squad, who has the oldest and youngest players?
Using the computer’s choices
for each team’s 26-man roster here are the results for each franchise’s
upcoming Strat-O Team:
|
Team |
Average Age |
Players 34 and over |
Players 25 and under |
|
Oceanus |
28.3 |
2 (Abreau, Pollock) |
4 (Doval, L Garcia, Varsho, Webb) |
|
Vita-Rays |
28.7 |
2 (Molina, Wainright) |
5 (Alvarez, Anderson, Rodgers, Rogers Soto) |
|
Bay City |
28.9 |
3 (Darvish, Kelly, Tepera) |
4 (Albies, Baddoo,
Guerrero, Stephenson) |
|
Future Wax |
29.4 |
4 (Belt, Kershaw, McHugh, Scherzer) |
1 (Mountcastle) |
|
Constantinople |
29.4 |
5 (Gibson, Luetge, Martinez, Ruf, Votto) |
4 (Devers, Manoah, Tatis, Urias |
|
Neverwinter |
29.6 |
2 (Cain, Morton) |
3 (Acuna, Bichette, India) |
|
New Orleans |
30.3 |
6 (Cruz, Jansen, McGee, Posey, Treinan, Turner) |
4 (Clase, McClanahan, Riley, Robert) |
|
North Dakota |
30.4 |
5 (Crawford, deGrom, Goldschmidt, Kimbrel, Lynn) |
2 (Grisham, Tucker) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
League Ave |
29.4 |
|
|
Of course, the
computer is not 100% accurate in choosing everyone’s 26-man roster, but it’s
good enough for a study like this. The league average is a little older, which
makes sense. These are established good players not just hopeful prospects. But
the overall order is close to the first one. North Dakota is still the oldest
team, Jed and Eric still have the two youngest teams. Harold has the most
extreme aged team with 10 of his 26 players old or young, rather than
mid-career.
Does any of this
matter? We’ll check back in a few years and see,
Here is our
first unscientific look ahead to the 2022 cards (due out in February).
THE 2022 SOMBILLA/FOX ALL-STAR
COUNT
Tom (11) – Castillo, Devers, Harper, Manoah, JD Martinez, Ohtani, Rodon, Seager,
Swanson, Trout, D. Williams
Eric (10) – Y. Alvarez, Arenado, Arraez, Bogaerts, E. Diaz, Hader, Happ, Y.
Molina, Pederson, Soto, Verlander
Harold (9) – Alcantara, Bednar, Clase, Cortes, Gonsolin, Holmes, Judge,
McClanahan, Riley
Arnie (8) –Alonso, Betts, Contreras, Cooper, Goldschmidt, L. Hendricks, Romano,
Tucker
Sam (8) – Acuna, T. Anderson, Cron, France, Freeman, Fried, Mikolas, Schwarber
Robin (7) – Benintendi, Burnes, Cole, Espinal, Guerrero, Marte, McNeil
RAT (7) – Cronenworth, Gimenez, Kershaw, Machado, Springer, Stanton, T.
Turner
Jed (6) – Altuve, Buxton, Chisholm, d’Arnaud, Musgrove, J. Ramirez
Tentative SOMBILLA Opening Day: Sunday, November 6!
Note that as of press time, MLB has not announced the World Series
dates. So we will adjust if need be.