First, the spreadsheet. Remember, anyone can edit. So if you want to add your player to your roster, go ahead.
rowsdower
hungryjoe
cheaptoy
TheDreadPirate
Beau
CarterHayes
brianS
Nibbish
bhiggum
sean
Freealonzo
SoCalTwinsFan
Mike
Algonad
Philosopher
your turn rows
When does the run on Twins greats start?
2024.
So many choices. Tons of players I wanted to take but decided I should get myself an ace pitcher. And I wanted a lefty, so who else but arguably the best lefty of all time.
I should get myself an
aceimpact pitcherI see your strategy here... all players with the initials "LG". Luis Gonzalez and Lucas Giolito are on notice.
Don't forget Lary Gura, Larry Gardner, and Lefty Gomez
And ex-Twins Lenny Green and Luis Gomez.
Len Gabrielson and Lee Guetterman say hello
Ah, but which Len Gabrielson?
Let's go with
cause I don't want that one a-hole pitcher.
"Old Pete" Alexander?
Surprised it wasn't the king of tweets, Old Hoss.
It's tempting. That's a really good twitter account.
I almost drafted him because he was born in Madison.
I really loved those Mariners teams from the 90's and he gets bonus points for being on the Expos, hitting that bird, and me having his rookie card.
I was torn between taking him or Lefty.
Going by positional scarcity here to snag my first position player. I strongly considered two other hitters who both play just a little lower on the defensive spectrum, one of whom has a super-fun name to say. I won't spoiler the other just in case he might still be available next round.
The good news is that I now will not need to draft a backup shortstop! Oh, and this guy also once signed an autograph for me before a game back at the Metrodome in the mid-1990s. Finally, his career line in games I attended: 8-for-21 (all singles), 5 runs, 5 RBIs, 3 walks, a hit by pitch, and 2 sac flies (also 7 assists, 15 putouts, and no errors).
I really like this pick.
I really hate this pick. ☹️
His career OPS vs. the Twins was .849 (vs. .788 career). The only other AL team he did better against was the Royals, who were horrible for most of his career. Between Mike Mussina and Ripken, there was a reason the O's dominated the Twins for many years.
Well, I'll be the first person to not have a pitcher in his first two picks. I can't pass up this guy as he's arguably the best outfielder on the board and he's my late grandmother's favorite player. She grew up in Missouri and remained a die hard Cardinals fan until her death in 2005. She talked fondly about the all St. Louis 1944 World Series and listened to Musial on the radio whenever she could.
Also, seven batting titles, two slash stat triple crowns, including his 1948 season where he OPS plussed 200. He was a plus fielder before the war and like Ted Williams lost a little bit of counting stats possibly in 1945. In his final season at age 42 he still had an OPS+ over 100.
Also, all accounts pretty much agree he was a mensch. He convinced his teammates to not boycott when Jackie Robinson came to play. Willie Mays says Musial reached out to him for support when he joined the majors. He always had time for fans and strangers.
Not sure yet which position he's going to man. He played all three outfield spots (and first base) throughout his career. I'll stick him in center for now and move him to the corner if I can.
Had lunch at a table next to Stan back in the 90s - he's a tribute to the team.
I wouldn't have guessed I'd be able to pick a player with a higher career rWAR than my first-round pick, but here it goes:
Rationale
I suppose there's some danger in this pick, given the player's era. Will his skills translate across time? Looking for reassurance, I turned to b-ref's vs. Pitcher tool. Unfortunately, the tool only goes back to 1925, so I'm getting a picture of this player completely past his prime, from his age 37–40 seasons. Here's how he fares against some notables:
Not bad. Given that he's the all-time leader in doubles — just 8 short of 800! — and ran pretty well — 222 triples, 436 stolen bases — I think he'll be able to hang at the plate.
But what about in the field? Looking at Rfield totals for center fielders, he's a pretty respectable 13th, just one run behind Chet Lemon, and the first pre-WWII player on the list. From his SABR bio:
Speaker was well-regarded as a player-manager who retained his inner-circle greatness after the Deadball Era ended. He didn't have jaw-dropping power of some of the other elite center fielders available, but ripped enough doubles & triples to float a .500 slugging percentage anyway. He was beloved in two cities. Speaker's alleged ties to the KKK gave me pause; the connection stems from a sportswriter who claimed Speaker revealed this in a confidential conversation. Hearsay being hearsay, and actions being louder than words, Speaker's work with Larry Doby swings the needle in his favor:
Speaker's connection with the KKK appears to be related to his anti-Catholic religious prejudice and the anti-immigrant focus of the Second Klan. I don't want to minimize these things, but it seems worth contextualizing. I don't know how Speaker felt in his later years about people who worshipped differently or came from Eastern & Southern Europe. If Speaker remained a committed member of the Third Klan, my guess is he'd not have been interested in helping Doby break the AL's color barrier.
I probably take him if Stan isn't available
Truth be told, I’d feel a lot better about having Stan.
Goddamn it.
Ok, fine.
You guys forced me into this. If Bob Gibson is available later, I might take him too so that I can I have a battalion of mean SOB headhunters. Maybe I will get Drysdale and Marichal too.
I refuse to take seriously any of those pre-Babe Ruth pitchers who piled up WAR by starting 50+ games per season. Just too different a game.
Twain, on the other hand, dominated right through the steroid era. Third all-time in rWAR for pitchers and tenth in WAR7, with most of the guys ahead of him being of the deadball compiler type. 4 ERA titles in his twenties, two in his thirties and one in his forties. 7 Cy Young's. Led league in FIP 9 times. Led league in WAR for pitchers 7 times. Undeniably great.
Throws a mean bat shard, too
Best ever.
GOOD PICK
If I had drafted a position player in round 1, he would have been my pick up above.
This ain't Field of Dreams. A-holes still get to play.
But I wouldn't mind having a couple Stan Musial types to balance him off.
That's why I gave you positive reinforcement
So I would clear the board of more a-holes? 😀
Don't steal Ugueth Urbina from me
I'm guessing that ex-Yankees Luis Polonia, Chad Curtis, and Jim Leyritz don't sneak onto any benches. (Same with current Yankees Aroldis Chapman and Domingo German.)
Or Kahnle, if Hawkins has a say.
Truly one of life's greatest mysteries
This was my pick if you hadn't gotten him first. When evaluating pitchers, I initially had him a ways down the list (6th or 7th). Upon further review, he's probably 1st or 2nd (depending on how you rate Walter Johnson) for me.
ditto, truth be told. I had the Big Train first, then Clemens, then probably Lefty Grove. Although Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander probably deserves a nod, given that his career stretched all the way to 1930. And Randy Johnson was a pretty solid pick as well.
That stretch from 1955 to 1961 is ridiculous. At his best, he was a force of nature. Even beyond that, there's something very, very "baseball" about him. He appeared larger than life and was 1b to Mays' 1a for a large chunk of his career.
For years, the question was whether Mays or Mantle was the superior player, and while I think the answer is obvious (and settled pretty conclusively in this very draft), I think I'm getting pretty good value at pick 24.
one wonders what he could have been if not for the knee injury and heavy drinking.
4th all-time in rWAR for CFs and he had about 4 seasons-worth fewer ABs than the three in front of him. Mays' WAR7 sets him apart from Mantle, however. 73.7 is almost unfathomable. Mantle's 64.8 was merely ridiculous.
His numbers are even more staggering considering his knees
His staggering was even more numerous considering the drinking.
Dang.
Just a reminder to folks. Some of you have gone to the spreadsheet and edited the draft order; there's also a second tab to edit your roster. With that, not sure people need to include it in each individual post.
I'm going with an up the middle defender in round 2. I really like leadoff hitters with career .401 OBP. Not sure I can say anything else about this guy that he hasn't already said himself.
Nice. He played a good center early in his career, then got pushed to left for Dave Henderson, then got old.
Eagerly waiting to see the run on catchers...
Remember what Casey Stengel said. "You have to have a catcher, because if you don't you're likely to have a lot of passed balls."
I don't know much about him prior to this pick. But, he played second base and had a lot of WAR. He also won six World Series and made it to a few more as a GM of the Red Sox. Somehow managed to keep playing after the 1919 season too despite his dreadful line over the eight games. He had a great eye for talent, so long as they were white and Protestant. I only need him to play second though.
Yup, I'm going there. If I get to pick my own team, I'm picking this guy. (Plus Sean just took my 2B)
Hey, he was going to get taken by somebody.
With a run on starting pitchers, I figured I better grab one. He might not have as much durability as pitchers ahead of him in career WAR, but I don't think there was any pitcher more dominant for his career, at least as far as run prevention relative to his era (154 ERA+).
Damn you
One of my all-time favorites. Being a nerdy kid, a nerdy-looking, thoughtful pitcher was someone to look up to. Plus, the years of those 4 straight Cy Young awards line up with my first pick's 3 (but should have been 4 straight) MVP's.
This was very nearly my pick instead of Mantle.
And Mantle would have been my pick here, had he been available. I'm guessing he wouldn't have made it this far, though.
I would have taken him over Rickey if I didn't already have one pitcher.
Shoot.
I don't know if anyone has a more entertaining love/hate relationship with the SABR crowd than this guy. He was surrounded by such talent and thrived at OBP and OPS before that was a "thing" that he might have actually been a little underrated at his peak. They even had a website dedicated at his bad baseball opinions!
I had considered a couple other guys here but I didn't like the other 2B options that would be available to me after him and didn't want Philo to steal him. By back-up plan for my next pick is more appealing than the next 2B on my list.
HOF timing mechanism at the plate too. That elbow flick!
He was the guy I strongly considered but only obliquely wanted to hint at above.
I was definitely stealing him if he was there. All my guys got taken now...
That's what happens when you sit out for 28 picks. Some GM you are
Round 3 board is up, so go ahead and make your second pick there Philo
I debated heavily between a pitcher and a position player here. I was looking ahead to my pick, and hoping that Maddux and Morgan were still going to be available. Alas, I had to come up with a different plan. Now, with those two off the board, I find myself in a position of wanting 3 different players between my back-to-back picks. But when I look at those players, I know who I'm taking in Round 3, and its a position player, so that leaves me choosing between getting a pitcher or getting positional value (I'm guessing this other person gets snatched up pretty quickly)
And while this is as much about needing to have a front of the rotation pitcher as anything else (There's a lot of SP slots to fill), when I look at the tiers of pitchers in my mind, Seaver fits more nicely with the Madduxi and Johnsons than he does with the Niekros and Blylevens. So I'll take Seaver, and be happy with all of my strikeouts, and great JAWS.
Goddamn it, Phyllo.
Seaver was easily my favorite player when I was a kid. His mechanics were soooo perfect. I remember how he would wear out the knee on his right (drive) leg pants because he often got so far over it that it would rub the ground.
This is a tremendous pick. Great value in the third round, too. I think he's probably in my top 5 pitchers.
Also, what bS said at the top.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked this pick. In retrospect, I'm surprised a number of other pitchers were taken before him. If you're playing for 1 year, he wouldn't be as high. But if you were playing for a decade or more... definitely.