Fighting Tigers' Early Picks from 2020 UAL Draft

The Traverse City Fighting Tigers played better at the wrong time to really knock itself out of the top three picks, but still had the 6th overall pick, and 6th pick in each round, plus two additional 2nd Round picks and one 5th Rd pick. There's a total of 9 rounds in the draft.

The Fighting Tigers landed the following...

• SS- Bo Bichette (TOR) - 6th overall, 1st Rd
• SP - Zac Gallen (ARZ) - 30th overall, 2nd Rd
• OF- Nick Senzel (CIN) - 31st overall, 2nd Rd
• RP- Nick Anderson (TB) - 41st overall, 2nd Rd
• 3B/1B - Yandy Diaz (TB) - 55th overall, 3rd Rd
• SP - Josh James (HOU) - 79th overall, 4th Rd

I needed a backup catcher who can fill in for at least 48 games, I almost drafted Austin Nola (C/3B/UT) instead of Diaz, and thought if he was picked that I could pick someone like a Jacob Stallings, but both were gone by the time I drafted Josh James.

A team offered me C-Russell Martin for one of my 5th round picks, so I made the trade in desperation of really needing a backup catcher, and the fact that my options in the draft were dropping off quickly.

Normally, I wouldn't trade a higher pick like a 5th round on Martin, probably more like a 7th round or lower pick, but I can't complain with the draft that I am already having.

Last season, I feel we landed the biggest steal in the draft by drafting starting pitcher Jack Flaherty 16th overall, and I am confident that I may have pulled another late diamond in Zac Gallen at 30th overall... Never would I have imagined getting either that late in either draft.

The Tale of Two Dickeys

Now.. now.. let's keep it mature fellas...

I am of course speaking of the knuckle-baller R.A. Dickey.

In my Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League (APBA Baseball for Windows), my Traverse City Panthers acquired R.A. from the South Side Spartans in exchange for a 2019 6th Round Draft Pick. I paid a little hefty for a guy who is pretty-much retired, but he will be of big help with the innings he still has in the tank & his Grade C upgrades the back-half of my rotation.

At the time of the trade, my Panthers currently own the league's best record 76-35 (.685). We have been excellent at home (39-12 / .765 pct), while winning many one-run games (22-7 / .759 pct) and going 10-4 in extras.

We also added some relief depth in Craig Stammen & lefty Jerry Blevins, who both had productive years in the majors during the 2017 MLB Season.

The back-end of the rotation & pen depth were my only concerns going down the stretch, and all it cost me was draft picks and reliever Micheal Lorenzen.

In the Ultimate APBA League (UAL) which I joined earlier this summer, my team the Traverse City Fighting Tigers, made their first trade by trading away R.A. Dickey to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for outfielder Keon Broxton. The league also uses real-life salaries and salary caps, so by trading away Dickey, I am also shedding $7.0 million in the trade (Dickey $7.5 / Broxton $0.5), my team happened to be $7.4 over the cap, so now I am only $0.4 million over the cap. Both players will provide their teams as decent one-year rentals for their ball clubs. Broxton is not much, but he will serve a better purpose for my team than Dickey would have, I needed one more outfielder to add to its depth, he batted only .220, but he has 20+ HR & 20+ steals... so say hello to pinch duties there, Keon.

I also have a player to cut before the roster cuts deadline (August 22nd). We can have 29-32 players on our main roster, while keeping as many non-carded XC's.

By the way, I ended up going with Traverse City Fighting Tigers, due to the fact there was another team named the Tigers in the opposite league. I will also be using the logo that I used for the Traverse City Tigers during my Mid-West Winter Baseball days.