The mock expansion draft at MLBTR was a blast! Connor Byrne ran the Las Vegas Vipers, pitted against my Portland Lumberjacks. Click here to see how the picks went down, and here to see the transcript of our live event. Which roster do you prefer?
Portland Lumberjacks
Jonathan Loaisiga
Bobby Bradley
Michel Baez
Peter Lambert
Joe Palumbo
Edwin Rios
Bryan Abreu
Derek Fisher
Jorge Alcala
Austin Adams
Tyler Mahle
Raudy Read
Kelvin Gutierrez
Rowan Wick
Tyler Alexander
Diego Castillo
Jake Cave
Dennis Santana
Huascar Ynoa
Yonathan Daza
Anthony Alford
Aramis Garcia
Skye Bolt
Josh Rojas
Tres Barrera
Jorge Lopez
Mike Shawaryn
Gregory Soto
Cionel Perez
Corey Oswalt
Javy Guerra
Daniel Gossett
Thairo Estrada
Michael Hermosillo
Matt Magill
Jeff Brigham
Joely Rodriguez
Conner Menez
Las Vegas Vipers
Randy Arozarena
Genesis Cabrera
Zack Collins
Luke Jackson
Josh Taylor
J.B. Wendelken
Alex Young
Colin Moran
Wilmer Flores
Tanner Scott
Jaime Barria
Vìctor Arano
Orlando Arcia
Robert Dugger
Drew Smith
Mike Tauchman
Lane Thomas
Jonathan Hernandez
Adam Plutko
Danny Mendick
Ty France
Cole Irvin
Robel Garcia
Yimi Garcia
Noe Ramirez
Michael Feliz
Tyrone Taylor
Cody Reed
Nick Margevicius
Paul Fry
Jose Martinez
Edmundo Sosa
Christian Arroyo
Dylan Floro
Ryon Healy
Yennsy Diaz
Seby Zavala
Rogelio Armenteros
(Poll link for app users)
Every so often y’all should do posts checking in on how each team’s players are doing and who some missed picks are
I want to apologize for the mistake I made the other day. I wrongly said the Portland,MLS team was the Lumberjacks. I realized my mistake soon after I posted it. I was busy at the time then forgot to go back on that article and correct myself. Not sure why I made the mistake but I did. Sorry and I haven’t gone back and looked but I would imagine I was rightfully chastised for it.
I agree with Doug when we get BB back it would be interesting to see how each player is doing. Once a month twice a season something. I imagine week by week would be too much. Whatever would work.
IMO that’s an honest mistake. The MLS team does have a lumberjack mascot so it’s easy to see how one could get “Timbers” and “Lumberjacks” mixed up
I’m with you Doug
cant disagree with that #1 pick. no reason Lasagna should have been left exposed.
Arozarena and Cabrera were also easy picks.
It’s galacta-moronic to think that Arozarena and J Martinez would be exposed to an expansion draft just 3 months after they were the return for trading a Top 100 prospect southpaw.
I mean the people who run baseball are morons, but even I doubt they’re quite that stupid.
Obviously Lasagna has enough cheese to make it an easy pick
Never leave lasagna exposed.
Tauchman was a bigger miss by Yankees in this scenario, he’d certainly be protected after the season he just had. Lasagna has lots of talent but is injury prone with only mild ML success and likely bound for bullpen duty. A good expansion pick for sure, but not egregious that he was left unprotected. Good chance they’d protect both in reality, but it’d be tight.
why exactly do robo umps help Collins? is it just it removes advantages other Cs have?
I believe he is rather poorly rated as a pitch framer and robo umps should negate that as a skill
Pitch framing is as real as a stripper’s chest.
Why did the Cubs trade for Miguel Montero and sign David Ross before the 2015 season? There’s more to catching than just framing but Montero and Ross were light years ahead of Wellington Castillo when it came to framing. It is the most important measurable component of catching.
Catchers today don’t know how to frame a pitch, they just jerk everything back in the strike zone, cause, you know, the umpire can’t see that…
True framers set their mitts are the best extreme edge of the strike zone, and hoped their pitchers could hit it…
Just watch Willson Contreras catch, I swear is he taken more strikes and turned them into balls then any catcher I have seen.
But his bat makes up for that major flaw at least.
You can definitley tell the visual difference between a bad framer and good framer.
No you can’t
No, YOU can’t. Other people with eyes and a brain can.
Of course. No evidence whatsoever, but YOU can see it.
The traded for Ross so they could an AARP tax break
Just watch Gary Sanchez catch, I swear he has taken more strikes and turned them into passed balls than any catcher I’ve seen. But his bat makes up that major flaw at least.
Yes you can. Watch old video of former Pirates’ catcher Ryan Doumit, statistically one of the worst framing catchers in history. Then watch Russell Martin who the Pirates signed because he was a top tier framing catcher. There is 100% of a difference in how each catch. More often than not, Doumit is moving his glove away from the plate while Martin has way more control over where his glvoe is going.
I remember Bob Gibson talking about pitch framing back in 1966. Oh wait, no I don’t.
Yea, because the stat was created in the 90’s. Just because it didn’t exist when Bob Gibson, or any other Hall Of Famer pre-90’s doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. Guess Cy Young’s ERA or Christy Mathewson’s ERA’s aren’t that valuable since it was created in 1912, and Young finished up his career in 1911, and Mathewson finsihed up in 1916 after starting in 1900.
No way, you don’t spend you last $20 on pitch framing.
contreras is terrible
Pitch framing isn’t a stat. It’s a subjective concept.
It’s a measurable skill that shows which catchers help their pitchers the most. It’s declining in importance because it can be easily learned and if Roboump takes over, it will be negligible.
Pitch framing runs above average is absolutley a statistic. It can be measured though pitch f/x and used to show how many strikes a catcher saves a game. If anything, older stats are subjective as they can be influenced by many factors out of a player’s control like RBI’s, fielding percentage, and batting average.
Does pitch framing take into consideration the subjectivity and eyes of an umpire? By the way, since it’s humans dictating the outcomes of games, there are many bad calls made. A ball or strike depends on where it crosses the plate, not where it’s caught. So once again, pitch framing is dictated by the ump not the catcher. He shouldn’t even be looking at the catcher’s mitt. And since when does a player not control his BA and RBI? A player MUST put the ball in play to have any chance at a hit. He can also get a RBI with a HR. No, they can’t control who is on base, but a good RBI guy comes through a lot when the opportunity presents itself. Where is pitch framing listed in a box score?
Pitch framing is not appropriate for a box score. Not because pitch framing is not a legitimate stat, but because it doesn’t work on a per game basis. Belief in pitch framing must come across a large sample of catcher-umpire combos over a season or so, at which point pitch-framing-% or pitches-framed-per-9 holds some predictive value. I must say though, I can’t wait for that stat to go away. Holding on to human-called balls and strikes is extremely silly and stubborn. The only argument I see for it is that we retain the ability to put pitch framing in box scores, for a few chuckles here and there.
It’s the catcher that influences the umpire by the way that he receives the ball. That is a skill and in the last 10 years, it is measurable. It’s not getting in any box score because it is an advanced metric.
As for RBIs, given the same opportunities, the best hitters will drive in the most. There may be players who rise to a huge moment once or twice or go on a unusual streak of clutch hits, but over time (several years), the ability to hit in the clutch with any significance has not been proven.
Schwarber, your comment is laughable. You ever wonder why a guy like Pujols has over 2000 rbi? “But over time(several years),the ability to hit in the clutch with any significance has not been proven.” You ever hear of hitting with runners in scoring position? Pujols has an OPS of 1.003 w/RISP. .899 when bases are empty
. Is that enough proof of clutch from a hitter? 19 years worth?
That’s pretty good for Albert, but not really a clutch stat because for all we know a lot of those PAs were during blowouts. In fact, his relative OPS in non blowout PAs compared to his career OPS is 101. In tie games, it’s 98. Within one run, it jumps to 103, which is good, but doesn’t really prove clutchiness.
His clutch rating for his career is just 0.4. Surprisingly, it is better for his Angel years which means he was below average during his Cardinal years.
No evidence whatsoever? It’s really amazing how they’ve come up with stats to measure it with nothing to go on. It’s unfortunate that you don’t understand it, Dude, but just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist
Schwarbs, just for fun I’m responding, because I can’t believe I need to argue in defense of Pujols and his hitting. Arguably one of the 5 greatest right hand hitters in baseball and clutch as hell. Pujols in games with 2 outs and RISP was 116 or 16% better than his usual split. This is known as tOPS+. To prove why he’s going to be a HOF and this other guy will likely come up short, I looked up Matt Holliday’s tOPS+. He was a 90, which is 10% below his usual split. For more proof why Pujols is great, I looked up another of Pujols’ teammates, Jim Edmonds. 2 outs with RISP he was a 77 tOPS+. 23% below. Here’s some other great RBI, HOF, and clutch hitters compared to Pujols in this same scenario. Aaron 112. Mays 112. Gehrig 102. Musial 108. ALL below Pujols. Can I stop now, or was Pujols just below average? By the way, when you look up CLUTCH STATS on Baseball Reference, 2 outs w/RISP is the very first stat line, because it’s the biggest indicator of who can hit with pressure on.
The best hitters period are the hitters you want up in clutch situations. Albert is one of the best hitters lifetime. But to be able to turn it up a notch because a clutch situation exists versus a non clutch situation probably doesn’t exist for the vast amount of players. A guy may have a clutchy year but over time it tends to average out.
Of course clutch hitting doesn’t exist for the vast majority. It’s what separates the greats from the average. It’s right there in the word, “clutch.”
KCJ, I know this much. When teams scout a catcher, like any position player, they look at hitting. Then they look for his defensive abilities like blocking balls in dirt and throwing out runners on the bases. Somewhere along the line they look for that ever popular pitch framing talent. But I can tell you this much. If I have a catcher who can hit. 280/350/450, he will play 140 games a season over the best pitch framer on the planet who hits 240/300/400. Hitting wins out every time all the time, but unfortunately, there are very few good hitting catchers in baseball, so they are inventing defensive sabermetrics to separate them.
Short answer – yes. It brings everyone down to the same level as far as framing goes.
Hernandez is head and shoulders above Palumbo
Wasting early picks on relievers lol
and most not even good…
i didnt think much of Young prior to 2019, but he showed pretty well last year. he would have been one of my top 10 SPs.
How did Jon Jay NOT get drafted #1? He’s a 5 tool player with leadership, DJ, and suck up skills like no other.
No, Jay should’ve been drafted second, and Greg Bird first.
Do you change your profile name every time you age? Or do you just create a new account?
Joined less than a year ago, so I’ve never had to change yet! I’m turning 14 soon, though, and 14yearoldbaseballfanatic just doesn’t have the same ring to it. I’ll probably end up changing my profile name.
You should make a name for yourself on these forums and then auction off your profile name on eBay.
Haha, yeah! That’ll reach the millions, no doubt.
Because his pitch framing is horrible!
Mike Tauchman was worth almost 8 bWAR per 600 PAs in 2019 and has four years of control left. Absolutely insane to take Loisaiga over him, especially given Loisaiga’s injury history
Tauchman is also not that young, hasnt shown much outside of last year, and hard to tell if he is the same player outside of New York.
He’s not….
.246/.324/.484; 111 wRC+ at Yankee Stadium
.304/.394/.522; 142 wRC+ on the road.
Was very surprised as well, we can assume Tauchman would have gone top 10 if Los wasnt picked (making him inelig for Rd 1 after)
I knew Sp would be coveted dearly early but I had Tauchman as the best Position player going and a Top 5 overall pick as well
Everything about him reminds me of Charlie Blackmon minus a little speed. CB broke out at 28, Tauch was 28 last year
More insane that they still wouldn’t protect him given three more spots…and would protect Cessa instead.
Thats on the readers though, they took them off straight from the vote in order I believe
Yeah exactly. I thought that at this point, protecting Frazier over Tauchman is absolutely insane. He’s a 25-year-old cant-field, cant-stay-healthy, busted former prospect whose only remaining calling card, his bat, has been decidedly mediocre in the big leagues. If I’m the Yanks, I easily choose Tauchman over him
Completely agree. Frazier’s ceiling is what Tauchmann is now. This wouldn’t be an issue in a real-life situation, however, as the Yankees would surely protect Tauchmann. Even if they didn’t feel like they had the room to do so, there would definitely be a decent trade market for him before the draft.
honestly as the 30th pick i dont think Alexander is all that bad.
shocked anyone would take an OF from Toronto when most of their OFs suck and they have some solid young pitchers exposed.
There’s no way the Pirates would have left Moran unprotected over Polanco and Archer. Even before the injury, those contracts were dumb. Neither will be here if we get successful again, and Moran is cheap with a lot of control, and our primary third basemen, who can move to second or be traded when Hayes comes up, but to leave him unprotected would be crazy.
Archer is a free agent after this season so that’s why he wasn’t included.
He’s not a free agent until after 2021. He’s out for 2020 regardless of what type of season we may get, and then he has one more year of control
His 2021 year is a $11 mil option with a $250,000 buyout.
I think the issue is that Moran is that they already know who he is…an average hitter at best and a butcher at 3rd base. While Polanco hasn’t lit the world on fire as once was expected, there’s still hope for him to become a real solid player. As far as Archer goes, I think the front office gets enough heat about that trade already….if they left him unprotected and subsequently lost him in the expansion draft, the Pirate fan base would completely lose their minds
i could see an expansion team agreeing to a deal to take a Longo type with the guarantee that they get traded a prospect as well to take that player. Longo is a good candidate here because he is recognizable and isnt a hugely bad contract
Your definitely onto something, at a time where money will be soo scarce, coming into a league with a balance sheet of 0 has a lot of leverage if used correctly-
I indeed would buy a couple prospects attached to bad contracts. Hell, even the publicity I get from the “Big Bad contract player” is a free net gain in most cases.
Angels might give their left leg to get outta JUp right now….I have no use for the leg but send Marsh on over too and we got a stew going
No way they would give up Marsh to shed Uptons contract. If Upton is gone, they will want to keep Marsh around to be his eventual replacement. A Marsh, Trout, Adell outfield has to be the goal for them
When though, in 4 years when Trout enters yr 15? I mean damn I feel bad for the guy at this point…where will the money come from for pitching? Its nice to say goal but the real GOAL for Ana has to be to get moving and fast
Marsh and Adell are much closer to 1 year away than 4. They may even see time in the big leagues this year
Agreed but Upton isnt-
And with Ohtani in Dh Trout Adeell Marsh would be ideal as all hell but then you have 51 mill worth of Jup to contend with –
I don’t believe there is enough money to find a staff- Sure we can wait 2 full years for Pujols to fall off then another year for Upton but thats 3 more Trout years gone by then- We have wasted 10 already, where is the sense of urgency? Is there any? I hate the fact that Trout has more eyeballs than playoff hits to date
More likely they just trade for Longoria with prospects coming with him.
Yea I have no problem with that but Z might since he kinda just did the same thing in the other direction –
Spotrac doesnt show Miggy having a NTC…. I dont think Det should do it but who knows how owners would react after losing all Rev this year. It would take quite a prospect to take the 3/94 left though.
Lotta guys would qualify here, as a Dodger fan Im really down to attach Pollock with someone!!
You would give up Mize just to see Cabrera go? Because they arent taking 100m in obligations for joe blow from A ball.
JP8 – “I dont think Det should’
I have no idea of how owners will value the chance at shedding some major payroll- I see it as a unique opportunity for the expansion team to chase after all 30 teams (I gave I.E for a bad team Det Miggy, middle ground team Ana JuP and top team LAD Pollock ) There are many others, dont get hung up on just Miggy
Hell No I wouldnt give up Mize, but its not my 94 mill-
Great buying power here in a buyers market and a 0 payroll coupled with a pandemic creating loss of revenue and insecurity makes me think its safe to say we will see some owners make moves they otherwise wouldnt. An expansion team should covet the uncertainty and different paths it can create right out the box to accumulate talent
point is this also means the trading team doesnt have to lose whoever their 16th favorite player is. its moreso that than a salery dump.
Definitely a good idea. Assuming each team still pulls $120 million or so from the revenue sharing the expansion teams will have some operating capital. Almost all of these names above are minimum or near minimum salary guys.
So you pick up a couple or overweight contracts and add a prospect haul with each one. Both the ticket sales and baseball ops guys are happy.
Curios, as an Angel fan, would you want Arte to send off Jup with a prospect if you knew he would reinvest all the money into the staff the next 2 yrs (25 mill per year; which will buy more presumably the next 2 years than in 2019)?
Adell is safe here to pair with year 11 of Trout –
Marsh is the guy to go, they could throw back a low end Sp and a Rp as well too make it work? Would you rather hold Marsh/Jup or have the 51 mill the next 2 years for arms/Simba/hopefully ARMS !??
I think with Ohtani in the Dh already and Trout Adell on the grass I do even though the optics arent great. Angels need to look at every yr in dog years right now while Trout/Rendon Prime- It starts on the mound
I don’t know what purpose this serves, since Upton received a full NTC with his last contract. He has no intention of going anywhere.
That depends….is he going to spend that $25 million on Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill again? Or is he going to going to get something useful this time?
Kcj – I dont think doing nothing is the answer
I dont think they have enough money to get a proper staff with Jup-
Yes they try and invest in some pitching, they dont have it in the system so yes they need it in free agency- We can cherry pick all we want. Id say spend it on Morton 15 per and Lynn 11 per you say Cahill and Harvey when we both know it is really x=x=25 mill and we dont know the x’s yet. Doing nothing hasnt worked for a decade, its time to make a change here
If an expansion team was willing to take miggys contract and all it cost was Mize I’d do that deal in a heartbeat.
He’s 37 and under contract till after 2023.
Clearing 30-32 mill a year would be huge. You could buy 2 good arms or 1 great arm with those savings. And it’s not like Detroit’s devoid of pitching prospects, which they certainly could target rounds 2-5 in a shortened draft.
Braves stockpiled plenty of young arms. Still haven’t found the pay day from those guys. Mize is talented for sure but clearing that much money off the books it’s be hard to pass up.
If the plan was to compete next year Id say yes. But with Det I view them a couple years away anyways so Id Imagine the owner would be doing this just too pocket the money.
Spending it on players and still not making the playoffs the next couple years (while losing Mize) is almost as worse. I find the Jup case a lot more interesting on all levels.
Mize fits the window thats already built, I see what your saying in theory, and its correct, I just dont think the window lines up here well for Det.
I find it interesting because whatever anyone wants to say its Christopher Illitches 94 mill in the end and somebody elses willingness to take that in todays uncertain economy
honestly with how guys were protected i could have seen Brown be exposed
Joc Pederson and Jake Arrieta as faces of a franchise…riiiiight
If they were on Miami right now? Maybe? Or Baltimore?
This was such a pointless exercise.
Not much else to write about. Good on them to create content at this time. Or would you rather they go on Unemployment too?
WiffleBall
And then you compound that error. Why post if that’s what you think of your own effort?
If you meant the mock draft, the point is entertainment. That the point escapes you is surprising since, at this time, why else would you be here?
If only someone was around to give the same advice that night your dad shot his load into the hooker that spawned you.
It’s for fun, and I thought it was cool. If it’s not your thing, don’t click the link. It isn’t that hard.
I agree! We are not here for fun, we are here for rumors about baseball. If you want fun go do something like play waffle ball or something!
What is waffle ball? Is it like wiffle ball, but played with waffles instead of a ball? There goes that Eggo!
Oh, and when you use the word ‘we’, it implies all of us. Clearly many of us enjoyed it, so it’s not ‘we’, it’s ‘I’ that you should be using in that statement.
Yeah way more fun than wiffle ball as long as you don’t mind syrup getting everywhere. I was totally being sarcastic. I think the draft was an awesome idea and fun.
Wow….I counted 15 that I’d ever heard of…not counting the two from my hometown Royals.
Still don’t get Drew Pomeranz being a lock for SD.
Me neither. Aging relief pitcher, up and down results, big contract. I’d happily leave him exposed and save either Baez, Munoz, or Hedges.
Now, load those 2 teams into OOTP and sim a 7 game series!
I am on it.
Did anyone else laugh at the name Vipers? It makes me think of the episode in the last season of the Sopranos…”oh, we’re with the vipahs…”
The Vegas Vipres with a pair of interlocking V’s as the logo.
Hahaha. It also makes me think of that, and I’m the guy who named the team. My Vipers would never allow their boxes of wine to get stolen, though.
Surprised Duvall wasn’t selected
I don’t think either of these teams win 50 games….either could rival the 62 Mets
Yea, my first thought was “Are either better than the 2020” Orioles?
I dont think so, but remember they get a free agency and trading opps and start with a 0 budget and not much money to pay out on those two lists above so far-
Pitching first, younger with potential. Position players later and fill in with free agents. Look how many First basemen with all the same skills and limitations have ben available these past two Off-seasons. Better than accumulating position players who are probably not any better than a diamind in the rough.
Diamond in the rough FA.
2b as well lately
Starlin Castro just signed a 2/12
Methinks Portland gets a ton at the next trading deadline for Deigo Castillo…..monster arm….
Mr. Byrne and Mr. Dierks, you should set your lineups and pitching staffs too. Give the folks a better idea of the teams you selected.
This was interesting. I liked it.
They went talent first for exercise
Free agency+ trades avail later. This is how a real expansion draft would pretty much go as well- You might not make your 1 st two picks stand-alone Ss but your really not factoring in positions that much when making the picks-
They favored upside and control years as well with the picks
I see.
I honestly know next to nothing about expansion drafts, but I would love to see one in the MLB. I was too young to remember the last one, but it would be fun to watch on MLB Network.
I think Portland and Las Vegas are good city choices, too.
Not gonna lie, if it happened today you would probably be let down in the “excitement” category – Fun to analyze but not much of a watch Live-
I can’t in good conscious think that the lumberjacks roster is better only because you picked shawaryn….have you seen that guy pitch? Holy hell…what a pile of garbage.
The notion that the Yankees would protect Luis Cessa over Mike Tauchman renders this entire exercise moot. That is pure, indefensible, unfathomable insanity.
Sorry the majority disagreed with you.
He’s not wrong though. The Yankees would clearly protect a 4 WAR outfielder over their fifth or sixth best reliever
The problem with these protected lists is that position was not factored in in most cases. If that 4 WAR outfielder is 4th or 5th on your depth chart, he probably still shouldn’t be protected on a 15 man roster. Protecting just 15 guys, you are not likely to keep any position player that is not a no doubt starter for your team. The lists that people voted had 10 or 11 position players 3 or 4 starters and 1 reliever in most cases. Teams would be foolish to protect like that.
If I am protecting 15 guys, I am filling out my 8 starting position players, 3 starters, 3 relievers, and 1 other pitcher. Even if that means I lose a higher upside player at a position I already have filled.
Tauchman might have been protected on some, even most, teams, but on a team like the Yankees that have more OF options would not need to protect him.
Right, but the Yankees’ outfielders include Judge, who’s always hurt (and currently hurt), Stanton, who’s always hurt, Hicks, who’s always hurt (and currently hurt), Gardner, who’s 36 and is only signed for this year, and Frazier, who can’t actually play the outfield (they obviously like Tauchman more than Frazier).
Position matters, sure, but again…Cessa just isn’t any good. Holder isn’t good. This is a team that has Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle and Green in the bullpen, and I’m expected to believe they’d protect replacement level pitchers over a 4 WAR outfielder (4 WAR in an abbreviated season, mind you)? That’s not reality. That’s not sane.
Id argue that NYY is thin and vulnerable in the OF, not stacked- Jason Dominguez is a long way off
I really like Hicks when hes healthy, but I wouldnt bet on that moving forward – Too small/plays violent/heals slow…..shame
Trauch reminds me so much of Charlie Blackmon minus a little speed- CB broke out at 28 as well-
Colorado is awful at developing and Id bet Trauch still has more in the tank. Careful of the Yankee self generated hype with their own prospects. Trauch over Frazier 7 days a week
That makes no sense though. Even if you accept the Yanks are stacked at outfield (given their injuries, I don’t), they could still hold on to Tauchman and then flip him for a significantly better reliever than Cessa. There’s just simply no reason to pick Cessa over him
foolish majority, even if a majority nonethesame
I mean…the majority is clearly, objectively wrong, as majorities often are. In fact, Tauchman would probably be protected over three or four players “the majority” has the Yankees protecting here, and Cessa would be very unlikely to be protected even if the list swelled to 25. One of them is good, and one is not. This isn’t rocket science.
I’m probably not understanding the rules. How was Tauchman not protected for the second round? He cane in 8th in the poll. After the first round, aren’t Hicks, Kahnle, and Tauchman protected?
Never mind. I see Deivi Garcia was protected, though he’s not mentioned in the original article. That left Ottavino unprotected in the first round but protected in the second. I’ll be able to get thru the day knowing that now.
Not sure either of these teams could beat, Chico’s Bail Bonds.
Is there an Option C for the poll?
The Rays traded Matthew Liberatore for nothing in this fantasy mock world.
I thought the exact same thing
I think in reality at least one of them would be protected. In this draft Wander Franco was put on the protected list even though he’s not in the majors. His eta is 2021 so he shouldn’t be eligible.
Surprised nobody drafted the Astro’s trashcan. Proven winner with MLB experience.
Not surprised in the least that someone used a joke that has been done to death.
It was a joke, not a dick, you don’t need to take it so hard.
Padre, reading your comments makes me think you’re auditioning as a stand up comic. Here’s some advice. You’re not funny. Your jokes are about as lame as your life. Try another forum.
It’s so funny watching a trash can own some weak minded people.
Says the guy who has gotten his knickers in a twist about the Astros on every other post and actually thinks employees should be in jail as if they committed a crime. You absolute wet flannel.
Lmao Gus you call him a wet flannel
Did not Gus smh
Padre. Are you that dense? I never said anyone on the Astros should be in jail. I said what they did was nothing like the Cardinals who had a guy GO TO PRISON for his ILLEGAL ACT. DAMN YOU’RE DUMB.
I like this idea, but I think one thing could have improved it greatly. In this exercise, both teams implemented exactly the same strategy, looking for years of control and low cost. I think it would have been better to have different views. One team drafting prospects for the future with the other team drafting to be competitive more quickly (with a reasonable salary ceiling of course). Both of these teams could be good in 2024, but It would have been interesting to see what kind of team could have been in place in 2021. Plus it would have made it interesting to see how it would work if one team chose a notable veteran like Kevin Kiermeyer or David Price instead of a prospect on a loaded team.
I don’t think taking on veteran contracts to attempt to compete is a bad idea, but I wouldn’t use picks on them. There are always teams looking to trim payroll, and you could find those types of players via trade. You may even pick up an additional prospect or two attached? I thought the strategy both utilized here was good.
Yes, it was good, but I was just pointing out that even though it was good, it was the same. Just because something is good does not mean it is the only good way to do things. In the 1992 expansion draft, the Rockies went for a few more veterans than the Marlins. They won the Wild Card in their 3rd year, the Marlins didn’t win the Wild Card until their 5th year, but they won the WS. Both were successful, but they employed different strategies. It was the same thing in the 1997 draft. Arizona went for a few more proven players, while Tampa went for more prospects. Arizona won the WS just 3 years later, while Tampa’s draft strategy did not work and they were at the bottom of the league for their first 10 years.
I cant imagine Tyler O’Neill being unselected but Bobby Bradley going 4th overall…also as a Phillies fan i can tell you Suarez gets picked if left exposed. I like Irvin more than most but even i could never see him getting picked over Irvin.
Once I drafted Genesis Cabrera at No. 3, O’Neill went on the Cards’ protected list. Had it not been for that, O’Neill would have been a high selection. If memory serves, Suarez went on the Phillies’ protected list after I took Victor Arano.
O’Neill is terrible. 110 Ks in 293 PA. Solid
He’s very flawed, like just about all players involved in this exercise, but is only 24 and has been a league-average MLB hitter so far. Agree with you on the strikeouts, which scared me away. I was down to Cabrera and fellow Cardinal Knizner at No. 3, but decided on Cabrera.
okay, guess its the between-picks situation here that is confusing me. my mistake.
Vegas came out on top in this hypothetical, in my opinion.
I just hope that when we do see expansion that both teams (assuming there are two) are in the west. Portland and Vegas would be great!
Looks like two 25 win rosters to me…
Nah they’d be better then Baltimore and I hate to say it Seattle
Luke Jackson was a reach, in my opinion.
After his closing troubles and the second half that Joe Kelly had, I’d have rather have risked either being available a few first-round expansion draft picks later.
Would anyone here have used a play-now, late first-round expansion draft on Travis d’Arnaud?
I’ve got to give props to Tim just for picking some guy named Skye Bolt. 🙂
Props to Connor for picking up Mendick
This would be more entertaining with more teams. At least throw in Charlotte and Nashville.
While I do think both cities are a great fit for a major league team, there’s the issue with the fact that both cities just built new minor league stadiums. I think a place like New Orleans would be a perfect fit because they just lost their minor league team.
Even Raleigh and Memphis would be fine but I don’t think they’d get as many fans…especially Memphis.
I wouldn’t mind New Orleans getting a team but I doubt MLB would try it. They would probably put a third team in Texas instead.
Vipers.
Moran, Arcia and Healy are 3/4 of a not totally awful infield for an expansion team..
Don’t forget about Wilmer Flores. Championship!
I agree. I really like that infield for an expansion team, which is why I voted for Vegas. It’s a better infield than Baltimore has now.
Vegas has better position players but Portland better pitching imo
That’s probably a good strategy for both. I’d imagine Portland would be very pitcher friendly? West coast parks often just seem to play that way. Vegas, on the other hand, would play more neutral possibly?
Did y’all consider that at all when drafting?
It would be helpful if you put the organizational/team origin in parenthesis for each player taken.
I’m relieved neither Tim Hill or Scott Barlow were drafted. Still can’t believe voters thought Duffy was better.
I was able to read the advertising metrics for MLBTR, and 1 out of every 6 readers wears a helmet and eats glue, so that doesn’t speak much to their level of expertise when protecting players in a hypothetical expansion draft.
These two teams look like my OOTP21 Perfect Team ‘Iron’ card tourney rosters, Low level performance, but fun to watch.
I don’t think there’s a single player that’s 30 or older on either of these teams. It’s a fun little exercise, but neither team would win 40 games, and expansion teams always draft a few veteran players since it’s a new team and they need somebody to provide leadership, hold down those spots until prospects come through the pipeline. On top of that, they have the opportunity to trade them at the deadline to a contending team.
You guys should plug these rosters into OOTP baseball and see what happens!!
This is stupid
You know, I thought so, too, but it’s turned out to be a nice diversion.
Anthony Alford sucks. Not “Well that’s why he was left exposed in a hypothetical expansion draft” sucks, but “He should not be included on an MLB roster even if they added 8 teams” sucks. I don’t understand why he was included or why it isn’t assumed that he’d go sign in Korea before that team released him in a simulated season.
Both teams pitiful.
If baseball has no season, it is more likely we will see a contraction draft in the near future.
I don’t see any need for a contraction draft. Most markets are in fairly decent shape. The only exceptions might be Oakland (w/the stadium issue) and the two Florida teams.
If anything, I think the windfall from an expansion might tempt them in that direction.
Hypothetically, if you moved one of the Florida teams (TB?) to Montreal, I think it helps both Florida clubs to different extents. Oakland will work itself out, I think. Expand by two teams out West, and move the Texas teams to the Centrals. Boom. Done.
Connor a bit obsessed with White Sox catching?
Looking at these, I’m willing to bet both teams lose 100+ games their first year. I think this is a good argument not to expand. I’m not sure there’s enough talent for 32 teams.
These look like the rosters you put together when you’re trying to lose enough games so you can move the team to Miami.
They also look like the rosters you put together once you’re in Miami.
youtube.com/watch?v=LpZ3LODBK7E
The Vipers would be the stronger team in the short term, but the Lumberjacks probably would prevail in later seasons.
Both these teams would be absolutely sick IRL. If anything they’re too good.
Arguing over a fictional draft is like picking sides in a soap opera.