Friday, April 28, 2017

Early BoS Highlights (1st 3 Weeks)

Moreland has been a runaway train for the Urbana Locomotives during young 2017 BoS Season.

Here is some of the action that has taken place during the 1st 3 weeks of the 2017 BoS Season in the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League...

Masahiro Tanaka threw the 12th no-hitter in league history, by pitching a no-no for his new club in the Seattle Rainiers (against the Holland Hitchhikers); Tanaka was acquired in a big trade with reliever Kelvin Herrera in a deal with the Traverse City Panthers.

The Seattle Rainiers and Traverse City Panthers made plenty of deals this off-season & are both at the moment, enjoying the changes they made, as both teams finished the week on top of their respective divisions. The Panthers may be the biggest surprise with a 12-5 record, while leading the National League with 29 homers, .808 team OPS & .272 team Batting Average, while they only trail the Rainiers in Runs Per Game, with 5.2 RPG. Traverse City has also wreaked havoc on the base paths with 22 steals, early on.

Miguel Cabrera is looking strong in all of the Triple Crown categories: .406 AVG (1st), 6 HR (2nd) & 18 RBI (tied for 2nd in N.L.).

The Panthers' problem will be a long season with no pitching in the bottom two rotation slots, which will eventually wear the team out. The Panthers at the moment, may be the MLB equivalent of the Chicago White Sox, a surprising start, but may have to sit back (and actually sell) when the All-Star break comes; Traverse City's pitching is 11th in the BoS in ERA with a 4.06 ERA, while their team has allowed a .246 BA (which is near the top for opponents).

Traverse City's lineup will get its first real test against the best rotation in the BoS in the King Road Kings. The Kings sport a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw, followed by Chris Sale, Rich Hill, J.A. Happ, Michael Fulmer & Ervin Santana. King Road's offense (.256 BA) has shown up a bit so far, but their 4.1 runs per game, may be a troubling sign that lies ahead, with all that pitching they may want to trade for a bat down the road, if a they want a BoS Championship -- Time will tell, if their great pitching will be enough.

Early on the Kings are in good shape for playoff contention, as they currently lead the wildcard slot, with a 10-7 record... Their 3.49 ERA (7th/BoS) will only get better from here on out.

The Vancouver Storm's Dustin Pedroia is off to a hot start, collecting a hit safely in ALL 17 of his games so far; Pedroia is batting .347 with a .415 OBP, while leading entire BoS with 18 runs scored. The Storms' lineup currently leads entire league with a .276 batting average, while tied on top (with Seattle) with 5.4 runs per game. Albert Pujols is also having a fantastic season for the Storm, batting .361 with 3 HR & 10 RBI -- while boasting a 1.032 OPS!

3 of the top 4 hitters in the American League are playing for Vancouver presently, with Brandon Belt (leading the A.L. with a .393 AVG) having a great season as well (1.151 OPS), to go along with his 3 HR & 16 ribbies.

By the way, if Pedroia hits safely in the next 5 games, he will break the A.L. record for longest hitting streak in A.L. history; Jose Abreu (Corktown) holds the mark at 21 games.

Mitch Moreland (1.142 OPS) has been a big surprise for the Urbana Locomotives, leading the entire BoS with 7 HR & 22 RBI through 17 games, while batting .309 -- He only hit .233 with 22 HR during the 2016 MLB Season, so he will certainly come back down to earth, but you certainly can't take this start away from him though.

The Portland Microbrewers currently have the best 1-2 punch in a rotation at the moment with Chris Tillman (3-0, 1.17 ERA & .815 WHIP) & Anthony DeSclafani (3-1, 1.44 ERA & 1.200 WHIP). The Brewers seem to have a great balance of pitching & hitting (although hitting is down at the moment), that they should (as always) be in the National League playoff mix by the end of the season. Portland won the National League Championship, the first 3 BoS Seasons, finally winning the World Series in 2015.

Portland's early rotation anchor - Chris Tillman.

Mad Max Scherzer is off to a red-hot start on the mound for the Corktown Tamales -- He has a 3-0 record, 2.17 ERA & has notched 47 strike outs in only 29 innings (14.6 K/9 IP)! Scherzer could have a shot at breaking his teammate Jake Arrieta's record of 306 Strike Outs in a single BoS Season.

The Corktown Tamales are one of the early A.L. favorites with a 10-7 record, while the defending World Champion Fairgrove Tigers (13-4) and Watersmeet Nimrods (12-5 Dispersal Team) are duking it out on top of the A.L. West.

The San Diego Heroes are off to a 2-14 record with the worst record in the entire BoS.



Thursday, April 27, 2017

Astros Finally Win (MLB 2K9)

Carlos Lee ends Houston's season-opening losing skid.
The Houston Astros finally have notched a win in my APBA 2K9 Project -- featuring the best cards for each franchise from 2009 through 2011.

The Astros entered the game at home, with a 0-7 record, while they faced the Kansas City Royals at 1-5 -- the Royals won their previous game to earn their first win, but the Astros remained the last team in the majors without a win, until today.

The Astros got things rolling quickly as Hunter Pence & Lance Berkman delivered back-to-back one-out doubles to kick off the 1st, which was followed up by a Carlos Lee two-run HR, to give the Astros, a 3-0 lead.

The Royals would trim the lead down to a single run with Jeff Francoeur's 2nd Inning two-run homer, but that's as close as they would get as Houston would add 3 runs combined in the 7th & 8th innings, as Houston's bullpen (which has been a problem) anchored down K.C's attack with 3 scoreless innings; Mark Melancon locked down the save.

Houston's Chris Johnson had 3 hits (including a double), while Pence went 2-for-4, with a double & 7th Inning RBI single.

Brett Myers pitched 6 solid innings for Houston, allowing only 2 hits & 2 walks, 1 ER, with 6 K's.


Wednesday, April 19, 2017

2017 BoS Opening Week

Tomas exploded out of the gate with the T.C. Panthers, hitting 4 bombs.
The 2017 Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League had it's opening week this past week! Like every start to any season, there are always some surprises.

I was a bit surprised by my team, the Traverse City Panthers on sweeping my brother Chris' San Diego Heroes in a 6-game series. I do know that my Panthers will rake, but that should be about it, this season... I was surprised how much power they put on display in that opening series.

  • .315 AVG, 18 HR & .981 Team OPS.
  • 8.7 runs per game (52 runs).
  • Currently have 3 of the Top 5 leaders in Batting Average: Nick Castellanos (.500), Jean Segura (.458) & Miguel Cabrera (.423). 
  • Yasmany Tomas & Miguel Cabrera tied with 4 HR, while Giancarlo Stanton added 3 HR.
The Panthers have been in a reshuffle, while San Diego was rebuilding a bit in the off-season, both teams will definitely have their downs... Panthers may have that lineup carrying them further than they would expect. You need pitching to compete in this league & both teams compared to other teams, definitely don't have pitching.

Big K Daddy: Scherzer notches 30 strike outs in 2 opening week outings.

For the Corktown Tamales, Max Scherzer exploded out of the gate with a 2-0 record, while throwing for 30 strike outs in his opening week -- in all my time in this league, I have never seen one week's worth of K's like this, let alone opening week. Scherzer, has a 2.35 ERA & a .848 WHIP.

Corktown starts the season with a 5-1 record, leading the A.L. East, while the Swatara Eliminators (3-3) are in second after splitting their series with the Vancouver Storm. The A.L. West is headed by the Fairgrove Tigers (defending BoS Champs) & the Watersmeet Nimrods at 5-1.

The King Road Kings who have the pitching, but their team hitting .215 opening week, led to their team faltering at 2-4, while the Portland Microbrewers (3-time Division champs) are tied with the Seattle Rainiers on top of the N.L. West at 4-2.

The Vancouver Storm also batted over .300 their opening week at .311, while the Nimrods lived on the long-ball with 13 round-trippers.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

My 2017 MLB Picks

The Cubs will be the best dynasty since those Yankees.

In the past, I have done in depth division-by-division breakdown... this year, I'm doing a quick report of my thoughts & predictions on 2017 MLB Season. Last year, I predicted the Chicago Cubs to win it all from day one & kept with them all season long... this year definitely gave me tougher decisions to make on my predictions.

I'm going to show Sports Illustrated (SI) & The Sporting News (SN) picks, along with mine (SB)...

A.L. East
SI: Boston, Toronto, New York (A), Tampa Bay & Baltimore.
SN: Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, New York (A) & Tampa Bay.
SB: Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, New York (A) & Tampa Bay.

Kimbrel comes with warning labels.
Universal choice at top in A.L. East with the Boston Red Sox, they have amazing depth, excellent rotation, with bullpen bringing up the most question marks -- starting with Craig Kimbrel, whose numbers dictate that he's not the same Kimbrel we experienced from 2010-2014. It came off as a shock in Baseball when Atlanta right at the start of the 2015 season traded Kimbrel to San Diego, then (especially after slow start in 2015) Kimbrel was pitching unlike his usual self, makes you wonder if Atlanta knew something no one else did.
  • 2010-2014: 186 Saves, 1.43 ERA, 14.8 SO9, 3.4 BB9, 0.903 WHIP & 266 ERA+
  • 2015-2016: 70 Saves, 2.96 ERA, 13.6 SO9, 4.2 BB9, 1.068 WHIP & 139 ERA+
His control has been a bigger problem, while his ERA & ERA+ shows that his era of dominance is over, he might have fallen out as one of the elite closers... numbers have definitely declined.

Back to the picks, I completely disagree with Sports Illustrated's choice of the Baltimore Orioles as a last place team. This team, year-in & year-out, still doesn't get enough respect, they seem to be knocking on the door of the playoffs (or making the playoffs) every year since they landed Buck Showalter as the skipper... I see them as 3rd place, at worst 4th place, after Edwin Encarnacion departed Toronto for Cleveland, for a moment, I even questioned if they are capable of 2nd place. 

Toronto should still be a second place team, and a team on the wild card bubble.

For Boston there has to be a lot to go wrong for them not to make the playoffs, the bullpen has a lot of upgraded pieces & pieces that showed much improvement in 2nd half of last season to show it has the potential to be a solid bullpen, but don't be surprised to see them get a few arms during the All-Star break to beef the pen up.

A.L. Central
SI: Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota & Chicago (A).
SN: Cleveland, Kansas City, Minnesota, Detroit & Chicago (A).
SB: Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Chicago (A) & Minnesota.

Andrew Miller redefining the reliever with his mean slider.
Another no-brainer at the top of this division choice with the Cleveland Indians, who have great depth with their starting pitching, they found out they have other options at starting if any of their starters go down (like last season; Cleveland is hoping for no repeat in the starting pitching situation when it comes to 2017. Corey Kluber, once again, will be a Cy Young candidate, while anchoring a rotation with a solid #2 in Danny Salazar. The team also has maybe the deepest bullpen in baseball led by Andrew Miller, who may have the nastiest stuff -- I'm really curious to see how he is used for an encore of last season, he could have a chance to holster the Cy Young at the end of the season, himself.

Overall, the Detroit Tigers' long run of dominance & Championship window from 2011-2014 is over... There is still plenty to be optimistic about for 2017, they missed the playoffs barely, while they dealt with plenty of injuries that came up at the worst times possible. 

2017, is it for Detroit, any last shot for this group happens this year... but with that would come ridiculous luck, breakout seasons from Daniel Norris & Matt Boyd, a comeback season for Jordan Zimmermann, a full season of 2nd-half caliber Justin Upton, a repeat season of Micheal Fulmer (who I feel may suffer a sophomore slump), a fully healthy J.D. Martinez & Nick Castellanos, while Justin Verlander & Miguel Cabrera have solid seasons.... 

All of the above has to happen for Detroit to become Cinderella, crashing the ball... I feel that, not all of that will happen & that they will be a wild card at best. Of course, I will be cheering my lungs out for my Tigers, but I just don't want my Tiger fan friends to get overly-excited, that championship run is over. If all goes bad... we may see many familiar faces elsewhere.

Duffy had a breakout 2016 for the Royals.
All the teams in this division for the most part can be inter-changeable, I do not agree with SN's choice of Tigers at 4th though. I think Kansas City is a hard one to peg, taking a chance on Ian Kennedy paid dividends, while Danny Duffy has emerged as a rising star (finally); I think they will have a hard time dealing with the passing of Yordana Ventura, then again, maybe they will get sick of all the disrespect, come together & make another run. I do like their bullpen pieces actually, despite trading off Wade Davis. I think Brian Flynn & Matt Strahm will be pleasant breakouts for this season.

A.L. West
SI: Houston, Texas, Seattle, Los Angeles (A) & Oakland.
SN: Houston, Texas, Seattle, Los Angeles (A) & Oakland.
SB: Houston, Texas, Seattle, Oakland & Los Angeles (A).

When you first glance at the division, while thinking of the history of the division, the first thought is ...what a boring division.. but when you start looking deeper into the teams, there is plenty of reason to believe there will be plenty of excitement coming from the division.

Just like many of the divisions, I feel it has consensus 1st place team as well, and I'm going with the Houston Astros as well. They made a good run last season, and that's after a slow start out of the gate, and some down years -- I expect them to only be better, while they made some strong additions to their lineup as well.
Astros' Jose Altuve will make MVP run, leading Houston.

There was a big part of me, wanting to buy into the changes that the Seattle Mariners, but for some reason they always fall short, so third place is where I have them slotted. The Texas Rangers have an unheralded bullpen that could be among the very best, in 2017... they'll need the pen to be top notch, while the back end of that rotation will have some huge question marks.

I think the Oakland Athletics will only improve, while the Los Angeles Angels continue to be one of the most bland teams out there. They just seem to get worse & worse for poor Mike Trout, who you have to think may jump ship when he hits the free agent market -- Sure, the Angels will throw tons of cash his way, but so will the New York Yankees, New York Mets & Los Angeles Dodgers, all teams going in the right direction & have shown to make great choices of late.... Angels' upper management is piss-pour at best; Also their scouts just don't seem to know how to find any talent.

N.L. East
SI: Washington, New York (N), Atlanta, Miami & Philadelphia.
SN: Washington, New York (N), Miami, Atlanta & Philadephia.
SB: Washington, New York (N), Atlanta, Miami & Philadelphia.

Not much argument with the above placements, I think Atlanta Braves have the least pressure on them, which means they could over-achieve and reach 3rd at least, there is no way they reach 2nd... unless, the floor falls out beneath the New York Mets' rotation & they are dealing with more injuries than usual to that rotation. That Mets' rotation has the potential to be the very best in all of baseball, if they were to stay healthy... noting their track record, not all their pieces will deliver. The Miami Marlins will still be thinking of that over-sized shadow darkening the clubhouse with the absence of Jose Fernandez.

Braves' New World: Dansby Swanson leading new batch of Braves youngsters to new territory.
The Philadelphia Phillies are heading in the right direction, unfortunately the rest of the division for the most part (except maybe the Marlins) have improved.

N.L. Central
SI: Chicago (N), St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee & Cincinnati.
SN: Chicago (N), St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee & Cincinnati.
SB: Chicago (N), Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Milwaukee & Cincinnati.

The Chicago Cubs own this division -- Simple as that! Cardinals & Pirates fans, you are in some deep denial or taking some impressive drugs if you think (even in the slightest bit) that you are going to win this division. The Chicago Cubs ARE the NEXT dynasty, first since the New York Yankees that made an impressive run between 1996-2003.

The St. Louis Cardinals are an overrated bunch that may have a hard time making it to the post-season for 2017. Their lineup is not strong one bit, while their rotation is banged up, they always seem to have a bunch of depth, but the starters don't look much better than the ones projected to be on the bench. I see a team of average stars, with Matt Carpenter being the biggest star on that club.

Chad Kuhl & Jameson Taillon will be part of bright rotation for Bucs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are my N.L. dark horse, with their up & coming rotation with the likes of Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow & Chad Kuhl to go along with excellent defense, that star-studded outfield, which will be led by a bounce-back Andrew McCutchen (who will be playing with a chip on his shoulder), along with stars Starling Marte & Gregory Polanco -- There could be plenty to be excited about in the Steel City.

I do want to pick Cincinnati Reds over Milwaukee Brewers, I feel they have more to offer with their pitching, but their lineup looks fringy. I do like the Reds' bullpen with Micheal Lorenzen & Raisel Iglesias at the top. 

N.L. West
SI: Los Angeles (N), San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona & San Diego.
SN: Los Angeles (N), San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona & San Diego.
SB: Los Angeles (N), San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona & San Diego.

Only division that there is total agreement to... That said, I think this will be the weakest contending team that the San Francisco Giants have had since 2009, a year before they have made this incredible run. The Colorado Rockies made many improvements, and I would like to think they could leap San Fran, but with all the injuries & bad luck this spring, plus the fact that they never seem to have a pitching staff, makes it very difficult to make such a bold prediction. The Arizona Diamondbacks seem to make a surprise effort every so often, and this could be one of those years, if their potential ever gets there.

The San Diego Padres will be a fun, young bunch to watch, but will lose many games in the process.

Before jumping to the playoffs, here is my prediction on the Award Winners...

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Most Valuable Player - Jose Altuve (Houston)
Cy Young Award -  Justin Verlander (Detroit)
Rookie of the Year - Andrew Benintendi (Boston)
Manager of the Year - Terry Francona (Cleveland)

Safe bets would be more on Mike Trout (Angels) or Mookie Betts (Red Sox) for MVP, Altuve will win the MVP as he helps Houston reach new astronomical heights. For some of my readers, picking Justin Verlander may feel like a homer pick for the Cy, but just from his one outing, he looks like a man on a mission -- he knows just like many of us, he got screwed out of last year's award. I was really going to pick Corey Kluber, than I saw J.V. come out with a vengeance. I had a tough time picking the ROY, so I went along with what I feel will have a Boston theme, and will go with Andrew Benintendi. Ex-Red Sox skipper Terry Francona will win the Manager of the Year, hard to go against a winner.

Justin Verlander will show why he still among the very best in 2017.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Most Valuable Player - Nolan Arenado (Colorado)
Cy Young Award - Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles)
Rookie of the Year - Dansby Swanson (Atlanta)
Manager of the Year - Dusty Baker (Washington)

I really wanted to go against the norm & go against Clayton Kershaw, but if he remains healthy, he will be a lock for the N.L. Cy Young Award. Dansby Swanson seems to be the guy to beat for top rookie. Nolan Arenado is only getting better, it's his time to hold the MVP hardware, as he may lead a surprising Rockies team.

A.L. PLAYOFF TEAMS (* Wildcards):
SI: Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Texas* & Seattle*
SN: Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Texas* & Seattle*
SB: Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Texas* & Detroit*

I wanted to pick Toronto over Detroit, but the loss of Edwin Encarnacion may hurt the Jays in the long run... I don't expect Tigers to go any further though. Other teams that will likely be in the mix: Baltimore, Kansas City & Seattle.

Trea Turner & Bryce Harper will give plenty of title hopes for those in Washington.

N.L. PLAYOFF TEAMS (* Wildcards):
SI: Chicago (N), Los Angeles (N), Washington, New York (N)* & San Francisco*.
SN: Chicago (N), Los Angeles (N), Washington, St. Louis* & San Francisco*
SB: Chicago (N), Los Angeles (N), Washington, New York (N)* & Pittsburgh*

ALDS Results
SI: Cleveland over Seattle, Boston over Houston.
SN: Boston over Seattle, Cleveland over Houston.
SB: Boston over Texas, Cleveland over Houston.

We all agree that Houston will not get past the LDS one way or another.

NLDS Results
SI: Chicago (N) over New York (N), Los Angeles (N) over Washington.
SN: Chicago (N) over St. Louis, Washington over Los Angeles.
SB: Chicago (N) over New York (N), Washington over Los Angeles.

I believe heavily that the Washington Nationals has a legitimate shot at winning the whole thing this season, I just feel their bench lacks something, but at the same time would not be surprised if they win it all.

LCS Results
SI: Cleveland over Boston, Los Angeles (N) over Chicago (N).
SN: Boston over Cleveland, Chicago (N) over Washington.
SB: Boston over Cleveland, Chicago (N) over Washington.

I was in such agreement with Sporting News, that they ended up picking who I believed all winter & early spring-long that the Chicago Cubs will defeat Washington & then will repeat as World Champions... so at the last second, I went with the below...

WORLD SERIES Results
SI: Los Angeles (N) over Cleveland.
SN: Chicago (N) over Boston.
SB: Boston over Chicago (N).

I really like Boston's rotation a little better, and I believe the Cubs will have a bulls eye on their backs, a little hesitant on their back end of rotation & bullpen... There is a lot of scouts & rumblings saying Wade Davis' arm is not in good shape, if he's out -- the Cubs bullpen may end up spoiling the repeat.

It was like a 51-49 decision for me, I want to back what is clearly the best team in the Chicago Cubs, that lineup is beyond sick, I would hate to be the opposing pitcher that has to face them.... but something's got to give. I am confident that the Chicago Cubs are in solid shape to be the next dynasty, but I'm going with Boston sneaking a title out.

We'll find out mid-season if I am still backing the horse out of "Beantown"

Flexing Some Muscle (L-to-R): Benintendi, Bradley Jr & Betts.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Remainder of the Big Day (2017 BoS Draft - Part II)

For the last few days, I have been posting about the 2017 BoS Annual Draft; The lead-up to the draft that took place March 26th & have been blogging about the draft results as well.
Yoan Moncada during the 2016 Futures Game.

We left off with the Top 6 picks of the draft. For those who are joining us late & are asking why the top six picks? I will answer by saying "read the two previous posts", but if you want to skip ahead, then here it goes...

The Portland Microbrewers and the Traverse City Panthers made a swap in picks, with Portland acquiring my #6 & #16 overall picks from Round 1, while T.C. acquired the #2 Overall Pick & #28 (2nd Round Pick). So the first part of the article, was to see if their gamble of a trade paid off, which it did, the Panthers got OF-Andrew Benintendi & Portland got SS-Dansby Swanson. Turns out the decision for Brad was not as easy as mine, he knew entering the draft he wanted Swanson, but did not expect to see Yoan Moncada (who he had as the top pick in mock draft) still sitting there at #6. He did some frantic thinking for 60 seconds & still went with Swanson; I believe it's the right move, I feel Moncada has some holes (or at least at this point).

As a recap, the top 6 picks, went as follows...
  1. SP - Michael Fulmer (DET) - King Road
  2. OF - Andrew Benintendi (BOS) - Traverse City
  3. SP - Julio Urias (LAD) - Spring Branch
  4. SP - Jameson Taillon (PIT) - Swatara
  5. SS - Trevor Story (COL) - Buffalo
  6. SS - Dansby Swanson (ATL) - Portland
Which leads us to the 7th Overall pick for Spring Branch, who have two other picks at #11 & #13 overall in the 1st Round. How did this happen, four 1st Round picks in the 1st Round, the 3 new Dispersal Teams had the first 2 rounds of draft slots for the 3 teams thrown into the Dispersal Draft pool, and Spring Branch happened to draft all three of 1st Round draft slot positions available, while the team (as the Louisville Sluggers) acquired a 1st Round pick (with Doug Fister) in a transaction with the Micatin Destroyers, in which the Destroyers acquired pitcher Sonny Gray for last year's pennant race.

The 7th Overall pick would be Yoan Moncada, who was 2016's Top Prospect according to MLB.com; The Chicago White Sox, as we all know now, acquired Moncada along with Michael KopechLuis Alexander Basabe & Victor Diaz in exchange for Chris Sale. This is a great pick to fall to #7, because who would have ever guessed Moncada falling to 7th?!

By the way, the three new Dispersal Teams are...
  • Spring Branch Duffers - formerly Louisville Sluggers (N.L. East)
  • Vancouver Storm - formerly Brooklyn Mets (A.L. West)
  • Watersmeet Nimrods - formerly Chicago Nine (A.L. West)
Those three new owners being Neil Leininger (Spring Branch), Brian Hamilton (Vancouver) and Rob Spatz (Watersmeet), who you all may know from running the Chicagoland APBA Baseball Tournaments; While Neil & Brian are league members along with Brad Stark (Portland) in the Lame Duck Baseball Association (LDBA)

Top Catching Prospect - Willson Contreras.
The Urbana Locomotives would go on select C-Willson Contreras with the 8th Overall Pick; The choice was off their draft list that was sent in, their other two choices, were already off the draft board. Contreras going in the 1st Round is not a stretch given the fact that there is only 3 catchers that are big prospects in this draft with the other two being Pedro Severino (Watersmeet / 3rd Round, 45th overall) & Jorge Alfaro (Traverse City / 7th Round, 112th overall). 

As if the Chicago Cubs don't have enough talent, they have players like Contreras to go along with Albert Almora Jr, Carl Edwards Jr & Jeimer Candelario-- plus a full season of Kyle Schwarber & a future phenom in Ian Happ (who will probably debut in late 2017).

Traverse City's late draft pickup of Alfaro allowed T.C. to trade Rockies Tom Murphy to the Holland Hitchhikers for an 8th Rd Draft Pick that landed Washington reliever Koda Glover, allowing the Panthers to collect another pick in which they would use on sleeper Rio Ruiz of the Atlanta Braves. The Panthers went from a lousy catching situation in 2016 to a much better situation when they landed Jonathan Lucroy from the Seattle Rainiers; Add Lucroy to roster stay-over Travis d'Arnaud & late pick Alfaro... they now look solid at the position. 

The South Side Spartans have been a team steadily climbing since their 2015 franchise inauguration, led by owner Matt Hoeppner; They would draft Dodgers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda (11-XZ) at 9th overall, adding him to a rotation that is already anchored by two Grade 'A' starters in Jon Lester and Rick Porcello, plus Jake Odorizzi. The Spartans would add a closer in Seung-Hwan Oh (Cardinals) with a 2nd Rd selection (while Andrew Miller is the setup specialist) & add another starter in Ian Kennedy (3rd Rd pick) as his career has been resurrected of late. The Spartans have a pretty good offense, and if they struggle more than expected, expect them to trade draft picks to get more offense as the season progresses; They already added a big bat in DH-Victor Martinez in a trade with the San Diego Heroes during the draft, costing them a 4th Rd Draft Pick (SP-Jose De Leon).

Another surprise late pick would come in the form of the Houston Astros' bright young third baseman star, Alex Bregman -- who was selected by the Corktown Tamales at 10th Overall. 

Spring Branch Duffers would take Rangers' outfielder Nomar Mazara and Oakland starting pitcher Sean Manaea at 11th & 13th Overall to add to their previous two picks.

The Duffers' 1st Round Haul
  • #3 Overall - Julio Urias - SP
  • #7 Overall - Yoan Moncada - OF
  • #11 Overall - Nomar Mazara - OF
  • #13 Overall - Sean Manaea - SP
Their additions of Julio Urias & Sean Manaea makes a very strong young rotation to go along with Jacob deGrom, Aaron Sanchez & Carlos Martinez; The Duffers also have Matt Wisler in the wings, while they added vets Ivan Nova and Nathan Karns -- all while Yoan Moncada & Nomar Mazara join Maikel Franco & Carlos Correa in the lineup.

The Portland Microbrewers took starting pitcher Blake Snell of the Rays at #12, solid upside, but must work on his career, while they drafted ready-to-go Zach Davies of the Brewers to end the 1st Round.

Shelved Prize: Alex Reyes hurt his arm in Spring 2017, will miss entire MLB Season.
My younger brother Chris Baier drafted OF-David Dahl of the Colorado Rockies to add some power back into the Heroes' lineup, while Holland's Steve Ruder drafted Alex Reyes, whose 1st Round stock may have slipped a few spots due to his recent arm injury that will require Tommy John Surgery. If for some reason, Reyes slipped down to my Traverse City ballclub, I would have taken him at #22 overall, but honestly even with the arm injury, it would have been a shocker if he fell that low... which doesn't mean that I still didn't get a steal or two or three in the 2nd Round.

My Panthers would get 3 big picks in the 2nd Round...
  • #22 Overall - Tyler Glasnow - SP
  • #26 Overall - Carson Fulmer - SP
  • #28 Overall - Hunter Renfroe - OF
My strategy paid off, trading up to get Benintendi (#6 to #2), while trading down #16 to #28 -- and I still got what I consider two 1st Round-caliber talent in Glasnow & Renfroe... but to also land Vanderbilt's Carson Fulmer as well? Sure, I could have took the chance of waiting on Fulmer, since on APBA paper, he is a 1*-W (D*-W), but if anyone has seen video on him, would know he's a beast on the mound. There is much more to be excited about the Panthers' draft results & I would have to post about that sometime in the near future. 

Andrew Toles of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Other Later Draft Steals?
  • OF- Tyler Naquin (Swatara) - 3rd Rd / #36 Overall.
  • SP - Reynaldo Lopez (Traverse City) - 3rd Rd / #38 Overall.
  • C - Pedro Severino (Watersmeet) - 3rd Rd / #45 Overall.
  • RP - Matt Bush (Seattle) - 3rd Rd / #46 Overall.
  • RP - Blake Treinen (Spring Branch) - 4th Rd / #55 Overall.
  • OF - Andrew Toles (Urbana) - 4th Rd / #56 Overall.
  • SP - Jose De Leon (San Diego) - 4th Rd / #57 Overall.
  • RP - Brad Hand (King Road) - 5th Rd / #65 Overall.
  • RP - Yohander Mendez (Corktown) - 5th Rd / #74 Overall.
  • 3B/1B - Travis Shaw (Micatin) - 5th Rd / #75 Overall.
  • RP - Carl Edwards Jr (Urbana) - 6th Rd / #88 Overall.
  • OF - Aaron Judge (Holland) - 6th Rd / #95 Overall.
  • SP - Chad Kuhl (Traverse City) - 7th Rd / #101 Overall.
  • RP - Dan Altavilla (Traverse City) - 7th Rd / #103 Overall.
  • P - Brian Flynn (Spring Branch) - 7th Rd / #104 Overall.
  • 3B - Yuniesky Gurriel (Micatin) - 7th Rd / #107 Overall.
  • C - Jorge Alfaro (Traverse City) - 7th Rd / #112 Overall.
  • 3B - Hernan Perez (South Side) - 8th Rd / #121 Overall.
  • RP - Hansel Robles (Swatara) - 9th Rd / #132 Overall.
  • SP - Ivan Nova (Spring Branch) - 9th Rd / #135 Overall.
  • P - Alex Wood (Micatin) - 9th Rd / #139 Overall.
  • RP - Jake Barrett (San Diego) - 9th Rd / #142 Overall.
  • 3B/IF - Wilmer Difo (Spring Branch) - 10th Rd / #151 Overall.
  • C - Omar Narvaez (Portland) - 10th Rd / #156 Overall.
  • RP - Matt Strahm (San Diego) - 11th Rd / #174 Overall.
  • 3B - Pablo Sandoval (Seattle) - 12th Rd / #178 Overall.
  • OF- Raimel Tapia (San Diego) - 13th Rd CP / #197 Overall.
Corktown Burglary: Big Texas prospect Yohander Mendez, drafted 74th Overall.

There is plenty that could be surprises & plenty that could be duds, only the 2017 MLB Season can tell. Every season brings excitement & mystery in the draft, only the future knows how it all will play out for these clubs.
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