63 thoughts on “2020 WGOM Draft: Round 13”

  1. Having decided that I should grab a bullpen guy at this point, this decision has been a lot of fun for me. There are so few of them off the board that I can go a bunch of directions. I could pick a great who also played as a starter and compiled a bunch of value that way. I could pick any of the most shut-down late inning guys, even if they didn't pitch forever. I could pick a save compiler. So many excellent guys. And I don't figure too many of them will be around when this comes back my way in 2 rounds (maybe I'm wrong? But then watch out for my bullpen too!)

    Anyway, I compared 5 different bullpen options, including a familiar name (I'm guessing the same one Sean mentioned... I did not actually realize how close he is to the cusp of HOF closers. A few more seasons probably would have put him there!). There really wasn't a wrong answer in the group. But when I looked at it, I think this is probably the second best closer of all time:

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    2nd all time in saves, 2.87 career ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 9.4 k/9. All the stats really show the dominance, and he played for 18 years, so he managed longevity when so many relief pitchers end up with shorter careers.

    Also, I'm going to note here that, while I don't think it justifies putting him in the top 100 players, I did not realize Rivera had the best ever ERA+. Or that his WHIP was exactly 1. Wow. I'm happy with the guy I consider to be #2, but I think I was hating on #1 more than I should have been.

  2. Re: Frank Viola
    In my head he was an old ballplayer...but he was 27 in 1987. So I'm not sure how I got that. Maybe because I was not particularly old at that time. Or maybe the mustache put him in "dad" territory for me.

    Also, y'all and your nicknames...no love for "Sweet Music?"

    Back to the peanut gallery...

    1. Viola made his debut at 22 and was extremely durable and consistent. In his first 5 seasons, he averaged 218 innings with a 98 ERA+. He took the next step to being a No. 1 in '87. After making his debut in 1982, Viola averaged 234 IP from 1983-93 with his low being 183.2 in 1993 and his next lowest inning total being 210. Then in May 1994, he tore his UCL and had TJ surgery and only made 9 starts after that for the Reds and Jays. Surprisingly, considering he played quite a few years with the Mets and Red Sox, Viola only had one opportunity to pitch in the postseason. It seems he made the most of it.

  4. Reliever time continues! I was debating between this guy and Eckersley, but Algonad was nice enough to make that decision for me. I decided to go with the more recent, specialized reliever here, as opposed to the old school guys who threw more innings, and often got some value as a starter, too. A couple of others alluded to this guy in the last round, and I considered him last time, too. In part because of the local connection, I couldn’t pass him up.

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    I like the idea of having a guy that can pitch anytime for as long as you need and be dominant. Amazing that he could debut at age 29 and pitch for 20 years and earn a spot in the Hall of Fame.

    1. And that he had a MLB-playing brother.

      Roughly, Paul:Lloyd::Joe:Dom. I think. Except that Dom was the better player and Lloyd is inexplicably in the HOF despite having accumulated only 24.1 rWAR and making only one A-S game in his 18-year career.

    2. Maybe the most remarkable thing about Paul (other than his nickname of "Big Poison" despite standing only 5'8") is that he had ten consecutive seasons of double-digit triples. I always thought Forbes Field was considered a Bandbox?

        1. Well, there you have it. 462 to center? Wow.

          Weirdly that article says 462 in the body, but 422 at the end (original dimensions).

      2. Only 5'8" would have been above average for someone born in 1903. 5'8" is 68 inches or 172 cm. According to here, he would have been average in the Netherlands while above average in France. Another graph farther down the page shows average height in North America in 1896 at 168 cm. Waner wouldn't have been "big", but not small either.

  8. no, not another reliever! SelectShow

    I don't know that I need to fill my fifth rotation spot right now, but eh. This guy might have invented the slider, he was born in Minnesota, and he even once got a compliment from Ty Cobb!

    Ty Cobb praised his intelligence, describing a play by him in the 1911 World Series as "the greatest bit of brainwork I ever saw in a ballgame".

    1. Cool bio. Also:

      Bender's brother, John C. Bender, also played professional baseball. John Bender was suspended from minor league baseball for three years beginning in 1908 after he stabbed his manager, Win Clark, several times during a fight.

      1. Chief Bender's Burden is a pretty good biography if you want to learn more about him. There's a little bit of clunky verbiage in it, but it's very well-researched.

  11. So, it's relievers time now? Okay. I can dig that.

    Let's go with a reliever whose dominance has, thus far, been pretty insane. Best xFIP ever. Second lowest FIP ever. Third lowest ERA ever. Top 5 in K/9.

    He hit a bit of a snag last season, but there are some pretty good reasons to think that he's not done just yet.

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  12. Gonna finish out my rotation. I have four guys who can throw through a brick wall. Maybe somebody better known for his grit?

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    My first Twin, and a lifer. He only made one A-S game and his WAR7 won't knock anyone's socks off. But two 6+ and two 5+ seasons demonstrate that his quality well-exceeded his win-loss record, much of which was compiled during the dark times. Still, he won 20 games in a 68-94 season.

    1. Shoot. I was hoping I'd get a shot at him next round. I looked a bit at him this time through.

    3. I'll always remember him pitching through a torn labrum in '06, and when he finally went on the DL, they announced he had a stress fracture in his shoulder, and he still came back and started in the playoffs.

  14. I have one of the weaker starting catchers (Hall-of-famer Bill Dickey) so I wanted to be the first to get a backup catcher. Thankfully, Dickey is a lefty so it's pretty easy for me to fill the platoon. I was thinking Mickey Cochrane, but he's also a lefty. Plus, my other guy can fill in at first base pretty easily and can draw a walk or HBP with the best them. Also, check out his 1972 World Series. Whew!

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  15. The Cardinals announcers keep referring to Alex Kirilloff and "Kirloff". As in Boris Kirloff, I guess.

  17. Hey Beau, and others. In order to speed this along, I was thinking that with Round 14, perhaps we give someone 8 hours to make their pick and if they don't, the next person in line can make theirs and so on. Of course the late person can still make their pick at anytime after they've been skipped but at least we will keep moving along. With over 200 players off the board and, for the most part selecting back of the bench guys, not picking in order isn't too an egregious of a penalty at this time. Harder to manage, no doubt but it would be nice to finish this before the season starts. Especially with Round 13 only being the halfway point (not including managers and ballparks rounds)

    Just spitballing here and wanted to throw it out there.

    1. I'm relatively fine with this, but with the caveats about what to do overnight or the weekends. A 12 hour limit I think would cover the first and mostly the second intervals.

      1. 12 hours would definitely work too, especially given overnight/weekends. Was thinking 8 because I didn't think anyone would be hovering at the deadline waiting to jump their turn. 12 may be easier to manage however.

    2. Yeah we'd have to average about one round every two days in order to finish by the time the season starts. Not sure that will happen even if we implement this, but I am generally in favor it if other people are.

      One thing we could do, too, is perhaps assign someone who's following along (Mags, Rhubarb) to be a designated person to receive contingency picks. Say someone knows they're going to be unavailable all weekend, they can send in a list of three players or whatever to them and they could have it posted for them.

      1. I don't really mind the pace we're going at, though I'm not opposed to speeding it up either. The "before the season starts" thing seems kind of arbitrary to me.

    3. I don't really hate the pace at which we're moving right now, and if this becomes a task, it becomes a lot less fun.

      That said, I usually get my picks in relatively quickly, so I guess whatever the group thinks works for me.

    4. Another thought is the next person might not necessarily be aware it's their turn. cheaptoy, you're up.

  18. Sorry it took me so long. I was on "vacation" and then yesterday, when I had planned to make my pick, I was so sick I was barely aware of my surroundings.

    Anywho, I'm gonna go with the current king of the unselected savers to start working on my bullpen.

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  19. I will also continue the reliever streak. I'm not sure how this guy is still on the board (he is, right?), but he will fit in very well with my team.

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  20. I'm going to buck the trend here of picking relievers and fill out my rotation. (I get to pick again next so no big deal really). Although this guy could probably start one day and then be called on to relieve the next four and still make his next start.

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    I forgot how really good he was during the early 70's. His WAR7 puts him ahead of Johan and just behind HOFers Koufax and Palmer. A fractured kneecap ended his '76 season and he was never the same pitcher after that. Probably could have compiled some HOF type numbers if not for that.

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