The Panthers Fall Short of Glory

My Traverse City Panthers reached the National League Championship Series, to once again fall victim to the Portland Microbrewers. This was our 2nd NLCS appearance in 6 years, while both times they were against Portland.

My Panthers had the best record in the entire BoS (Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League) with a 108-54 record, but we just couldn't overcome the loss of Corey Kluber (due to injury) in Game 1. The Microbrewers defeated our team, 4 games-to-1 in a surprisingly short series, but that's sometimes how the cookie crumbles.

I am very happy for Brad Stark and his Portland Microbrewers. They always have dependable rotations, with great depth, they know how to win. Stark reached the World Series the first three seasons, and finally won it all the 3rd time around.

The Portland Microbrewers will face the Corktown Tamales in the World Series. Corktown defeated the Fairgrove Tigers (Robert Mosher) in the American League Championship Series, in seven hard-fought games.

The Panthers will have some work to do, dealing with injury problems with players such as Corey Seager and Taijuan Walker this upcoming season. The Panthers will reshuffle the deck, while remaining competitive for 2019.

I am very proud of my Panthers & am looking forward to 2019.

BoS N.L. Championship Series (Games 1 & 2)

The Portland Microbrewers won the N.L. Division Series over the Spring Branch Duffers, and will now have bigger challenges ahead of them, as they will face the Traverse City Panthers. The Panthers had a first-round bye due to having the best record in the National League with a 108-54 record.

The two teams had a memorable LCS a few years ago.

Game 1

The Microbrewers send Robbie Ray to the mound to face off against Traverse City's long-time ace Corey Kluber. Kluber, once again had a spectacular season for the Panthers.

Troubling news broke prior to first pitch, Kluber is injured, suffering some discomfort during warm-up pitches. The Panthers decide to call on Zack Godley to come into the game for Game 1.

Top of the 1st - After two quick outs, Freddie Freeman hits a single to right. Michael Conforto and Corey Dickerson draw back-to-back walks to load the bases. Matt Chapman delivers a two-run single. Portland leads 2-0.

Bottom of the 1st - Lead-off home run by Brian Dozier to cut the lead in half. Corey Seager follows with a bases on balls, while Justin Turner is then plunked by a pitch from Ray. The dangerous Giancarlo Stanton flies to Mike Trout in right, but Seager will not tag up from second, one out. Nelson Cruz flies to right, this time Seager tags up & reaches third safely, two outs with Nicholas Castellanos coming to the plate. Castellanos hits a deep fly to center, but Conforto tracks it near the wall.

Bottom of the 2nd - Yonder Alonso leads the inning off with a solo home run to tie the game, 2-2.

Top of the 3rd - With runners on 1st & 3rd, one out, following a Michael Conforto single... Corey Dickerson comes to the plate, but hits into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Bottom of the 5th - Brian Dozier rips a ball to straight-away center, Conforto dives for it, bounces off his chest. Corey Seager perfectly executes the hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Justin Turner follows up with a bloop single over short that falls between Marcus Semien & Conforto, Seager holds at second... setting things up for Giancarlo Stanton at the plate. Stanton pops it up behind the plate, as Portland escapes by only surrendering a run. Traverse City leads, 3-2.

Zack Godley would go on to pitch 6.2 innings & is pulled, while Jerry Blevins is brought in to face Michael Brantley in the top of the 7th with 2 outs.

Bottom of the 7th - Two outs, with runners on the corners (Albert Amora Jr on third, Seager on first), Justin Turner takes a Cody Allen pitch deep to right, as it had a chance, but Mike Trout leaps with his back to the wall & catches it!

The Panthers call on their 8th Inning setup man in David Robertson, to face the heart of the Portland lineup in Trout, Freeman & Conforto. Mike Trout makes Robertson pay with a home run that just makes it in fair territory of the right field foul pole... the game is tied, 3-3!

Bottom of the 8th - The Portland Microbrewers call on Ryan Tepera to face the Panthers' Giancarlo Stanton to start the bottom of the 8th... and Stanton makes him pay with a home run to deep left. That's all that the Panthers could do in the 8th though, but will it be enough?

Top of the 9th - Panthers lead, 4-3 & call on their closer Brandon Morrow. Morrow is a former Microbrewer, probably best known for the ill-fated Kluber trade early in the league's inaugural season, he was reacquired by the Panthers during the 2018 BoS Draft. Morrow gets two quick outs, but then surrenders a double to Michael Brantley, with the dangerous Mike Trout coming to the plate. The Panthers visit the mound & must be contemplating the decision to walk Trout or not, but then would have to face a tough out in Freddie Freeman who has no problem reaching base. Morrow decides to pitch to Trout & retires him for the final out.

Panthers take Game 1

Game 2

If there was a team this season that may be labeled 'The Team to Beat', that title might have belonged to the Traverse City Panthers, but the team has slowed down the last month, at one point in the season, the team was on pace for 116-120 wins, but ended with 108, while their slugger Giancarlo Stanton who hit his 52nd HR on the 128th game of the season, slowed down and finished with 56 for the season, while not hitting a home run at home the final month of the regular season.

Now the team faces adversary with the loss of Corey Kluber for the remainder of the postseason, which was reported after last night's game... Kluber out for 25 games!

Game 2 will feature Aaron Nola on the mound for the Panthers, while Portland sends out Dallas Keuchel.

Top of the 1st - With bases loaded, Corey Dickerson lines one deep to right into the corner, as Dickerson will drive in all three runners & reach third on a triple. This is a huge early statement by Portland's offense, in which Game 2 will play out to be a pivotal game for either team.

Top of the 2nd- Chris Taylor hits a single to right, to give him his 2nd hit of the game. Michael Brantley up to the plate, Aaron Nola drills him with a pitch high, Brantley is drilled on his elbow, and is rolling around in serious pain. The trainers come out as Brantley gives Nola some choice words, Michael Conforto comes in to replace him. Mike Trout comes to the plate with one out & two runners on, hits a shallow fly to center, but no one tags up. Freddie Freeman grounds out to the pitcher, Portland still leads, 3-0.

Top of the 3rd - Corey Dickerson leads off with a single. Aaron Nola answered back with back-to-back strikeouts of Jake Lamb and Francisco Cervelli. Nola pitches to Asdrubal Cabrera, jams him, as Cabrera muscles it to right, drops back of first base & rolls into foul ground, Castellanos is still after it as Cabrera reaches second, while Dickerson scores, making it 4-0, Portland.

Marcus Semien draws a walk, Nola's 3rd walk of the game, while he has already given up 5 hits & 4 runs in only 2.2 innings, as the Panthers have seen enough. Panthers call on Craig Stammen to face Chris Taylor.

Bottom of the 3rd - Justin Turner draws a two-out walk. Giancarlo Stanton hits a liner off of Dallas Keuchel's leg, reaches first, while Turner holds at second. Nelson Cruz comes to the plate & clubs a three-run homer to left center, its Cruz's first hit of the young series. Nicholas Castellanos puts a charge into his pitch, but Chris Taylor has it covered, for a minute it appeared to be gone, coming close to back-to-back homers, but Portland gets out of the inning, clinging on to a 4-3 lead. They do have the advantage with Traverse City going to the pen early though.

Top of the 4th - Panthers' reliever Craig Stammen allows a single to Michael Conforto, while Mike Trout draws a walk. No outs, with Freddie Freeman up to the plate, the Panthers decide to call on southpaw Luis Avilan to face Freeman, but it does not work in the Panthers' favor as Freeman sends this one hard to right... gone! It's Freeman's 5th hit of the series, while he has 3 RBI, further cementing his legend in his impressive BoS postseason career.

Avilan issues a free past to lefty Corey Dickerson, while he would allow a double to another lefty in Jake Lamb. Francisco Cervelli draws a walk to load the bases, while the Panthers are still seeking the first out. Asdrubal Cabrera grounds to first & is out, but scores a run in the process. Runners on 2nd & 3rd, the Panthers need to keep Avilan out there just a bit longer to eat innings. Marcus Semien hits into a double play, lining it to Dozier, who quickly doubled up the runner with the assist to Seager at second. The Panthers stop the bleeding for now, but trail 8-3 after four.

Bottom of the 4th - Albert Amora Jr draws a two-out walk from Keuchel. Brian Dozier answers with a RBI double. Corey Seager draws a walk, Keuchel's 5th of the game, with Justin Turner coming to the plate & Giancarlo Stanton on the on-deck circle. Turner flies to right, to end the threat, Portland leads 8-4.

Top of the 5th - Luis Avilan is allowed to stay in, but gives up a lead-off home run to left to Chris Taylor & that turns out to be enough for Avilan.

Top of the 6th - Blake Parker attempts to pitch his 2nd full inning, gives up back-to-back singles to Corey Dickerson (3rd hit of the game) and Jake Lamb. After a quick out to Cervelli, Asdrubal Cabrera hits a RBI double, driving in Dickerson, to make it 10-4 Brewers, as Lamb advances to third.
Parker gets out of the remainder of the inning.

Top of the 7th - Back-to-back walks (to Conforto & Trout) off of Mychal Givens to start the inning, Freddie Freeman follows with RBI double. The Microbrewers would add another run on a sac fly by Jake Lamb before the half-inning was over, giving Portland a 12-4 lead.

Portland brings in Zach Davies to face Traverse City in the bottom of the 7th.

Top of the 8th - Marcus Semien is drilled in the helmet by Mychal Givens & is instantly ejected! Tensions are starting to rise on both sides of the field. Panthers' David Robertson allows a two-run homer to Michael Conforto.

The Microbrewers even up the series, 1-1, while it came at a price, the post-game report has reported that Michael Brantley (14 days) and Marcus Semien (12 days) will likely miss the remainder of the postseason.

Two games in, and three players (including Kluber) are out for a combined 40 days.

Once again, it looks as if Portland and Traverse City plan to make this another LCS to remember.

Giancarlo Cools Off for T.C. (BoS Update)

Giancarlo Stanton at one point for the Traverse City Panthers of the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League, was on pace for 66 home runs. He hit HR #52 on the 128th game of the season, but has now been without a HR for 18 consecutive games... He is not only in jeopardy of missing 60 home runs for the season, but he may miss out on passing the single-season HR mark (56) set by Chris Davis in 2013 for Chris Baier's San Diego Heroes.

16 games now remain for the season.

The good news is that his ball club, currently holds the BoS' best record at 97-49 (.664 pct), with a 13-game lead over 2nd place Holland Hitchhikers & a 7-game lead over the Portland Microbrewers in the National League for the first-round playoff bye & home-field advantage.

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.

Rounding the Bases

A few things from a few of my projects...

Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League

My Traverse City Panthers have been rolling of late, winners of 10 straight, while we also won 17 of our last 20 games. My Panthers currently own the league's best record at 39-18, while holding a 4-game N.L. East Division lead on the Holland Hitchhikers.

The Hitchhikers' Bryce Harper is having a monster season, leading the National League in hitting (.353), On-Base pct (.455), Runs Created, Runs Contributed & OPS (1.167) to go along with his 13 HR, 43 runs & 29 RBI.

Harper's teammate - Aaron Judge leads the entire league with 21 HR, while his Yankee teammate Giancarlo Stanton (Panthers) trails with 20 home runs.

The Panthers, who had a historic offense last season, is among the top offenses again, batting .260 (tops) with 92 HR (4th) & 5.4 runs per game (tied for 3rd). This year they have pitching now, as they top the league with a 3.33 ERA, while opponents are only batting .225 against -- plus only allowing 57 HR (21 HR less than the next best team).

The Hitchhikers' Stephen Strasburg has a perfect 9-0 record to go along with 2.51 ERA & 86 strikeouts in 79 innings of work.

By the way, I no longer the commissioner for this league (that I founded), as I handed the league off to Brad Stark, who is doing a marvelous job running it.


2018 MLB Projections Season

I am currently finishing up the last series of the April portion of the 2018 MLB Schedule, while accumulating all the stats from the first 370+ games, I am half-way done with those, with plenty to come. I hope to be off-and-running (in this case, rolling) in a couple weeks. Up until June 3rd, I have been averaging 33-34 games a week.

I also got new printer ink to do some updated cards & new debut cards as well.


1994 Atlanta Braves Season (Out of the Park 18)

Every time my Braves get rolling, injuries mount up... Our latest blow came with the loss of Tony Phillips for the season (including playoffs).

Since that last post, we have had more injuries rear its ugly head, more in-depth info to come out on that season in my next post. It appears we will be limping to the finish line.

BoS Regular Season Comes to Wild End!

The 5th season of the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League (BoS) came to a wild end, as we had our league's first tie-breaking Game #163. The King Road Kings forced a 163rd game, by winning their last game at home against the Seattle Rainiers, and had to play those same Rainiers for sole victory of the N.L. West Division; Both teams are going to continue in the postseason regardless of who wins.

Winning the game is a big deal though... not only a Division Championship is at stake, but a first-round bye... Whoever loses will have to play the N.L. East Division Winner (who happened to be the Traverse City Panthers at 82-80). Traverse City was a combined 8-16 against Seattle & King Road (5 of those from Seattle).

King Road had to play game #163 on the road, due to Seattle having more Home victories for the season; Both King Road and Seattle have 101 wins for the season.

Game #163 & N.L. Setup

King Road's J.A. Happ would get his 20th win of the season, by helping the Kings defeat the Rainiers, 6-1 in Seattle. Chase Headley was huge with a three-run HR during the top of the 1st off of Masahiro Tanaka. Justin Smoak (Kings) also had a home run, while Seattle could only muster up 5 hits against the Kings' great pitching.

King Road will have a 1st Round-bye, while Seattle will play the Panthers, while Panthers will host the first two games of the series at home.

American League Playoff Setup

Meanwhile, over in the American League, the South Side Spartans won the A.L. East Division with a 103-59 record, while the Fairgrove Tigers (93-69), the defending World Champions won the A.L. West Division; The two-time champion Tigers have shown vulnerabilities of late, after a strong start to the season. The Corktown Tamales (94-68) will play Fairgrove in a best-of-five, with Fairgrove (division champs always own home field-advantage, despite records).

Season Statistics

Panthers' Prowl

The Traverse City Panthers' offense is what carried them to the postseason, as they led both leagues in team Batting Average (.267), On-Base Percentage (tied at .326 with Vancouver), Slugging (.474), OPS (.800), Hits (1,524), Home Runs (253), Runs (846 / 5.2 RPG), while being effective stealing bases (82.4% - 2nd in N.L.).

Their pitching on the other hand, 2nd to last in the National League (4.70 ERA) while teams batted .262 against them, while their defense (.979 fielding pct) was in the bottom three of the BoS; They allowed 830 runs, while only having a run differential of +16 for the season, which resulted in 82 wins.

All Roads Lead through King Road?

King Road Kings topped the entire BoS in pitching (3.05 ERA) with their remarkable pitching staff (107 Quality Starts & 1,545 strikeouts), led by J.A. Happ (20-8, 3.23 ERA & 171 K) & Chris Sale (15-9, 3.17 ERA & 237 K)... Along with top rookie & 2017 1st Overall draft pick Michael Fulmer (17-6, 2.58 ERA & 148 K), Ervin Santana (11-12, 3.47 ERA & 184 K), while Rich Hill (8-6, 2.98 ERA & 152 K) & Clayton Kershaw (11-3, 2.95 ERA & 162 K) were both stellar in limited play this season.

The Kings held opponents to an impressively low .207 batting average... that's insane!

Some questioned if they should trade some pitching for offense, but their offense did just fine, ranking 2nd in the BoS in Batting Average (.266), while their 4.6 runs per game outranked 10 other teams.

If the team has a weakness, it would be their fielding (.981) which ranked 11th in the BoS, while it ranks the worst among playoff contenders, but with that stellar pitching & good offense, that may be all they need, as they plan to make a serious run for the BoS World Title.

The Legion of Boom

The Seattle Rainiers are no slouches, they lost Game #163, to finish 101-62. They were tied for 4th in Batting Average (.255) while their 237 HR & 835 Runs only trailed the Panthers in the BoS. They also were among the top in pitching (5th / 3.56 ERA), fielding (.985 - Tops among N.L. Playoff teams) & have a tough bullpen led by their closer Kenley Jansen (31 SV, 2.52 ERA)... They are pretty solid all across the board.

The team was once again led by their team leader Jose Altuve (.315, 22 HR, 94 RBI, 115 runs & 39 steals), with big help from Nelson Cruz (.247, 49 HR & 129 RBI); Cruz's 49 homers was tops in National League, as he spoiled Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown bid.

Wil Myers also had a big year for Seattle, as he batted .283, 29 HR, 95 RBI with 23 steals -- while Kyle Hendricks (16-10, 3.39 ERA & 164 K) was pretty much the ace of the club.

The National League feels it might be their year to land a title, they have only one World Championship in the Portland Microbrewers.

Trading Faces

Trading Faces

It's that time of year, when the contenders separate themselves from pretenders, the 2017 BoS Trade Deadline didn't go down without a whimper, in fact it may have been the busiest trade deadline the league has ever witnessed in its almost 5 full seasons.

The Fairgrove Tigers made numerous trades in their quest to repeat & win their 3rd BoS World Title in 5 years; They are the only team with multiple titles (2). Owner Robert Mosher's first deal was a simple deal between him & his new son-in-law Steve Ruder -- a deal that involved swapping reliever for reliever, a deceased ballplayer for another deceased ballplayer & draft picks for draft pick -- Fairgrove acquired Jose Fernandez and Sam Dyson with Holland's 7th Round Draft pick in exchange for Yordana Ventura and Ken Giles & Fairgrove's 2nd Round Draft Pick; It should be noted that Ventura has now been traded twice since his death.

Fairgrove also added Kendrys Morales (1B/DH), Lucas Duda (1B), Brandon Guyer (OF) and Joe Panik in a trade with the San Diego Heroes (Owner Chris Baier) -- The Heroes acquired Patrick Corbin who has been pitching solid for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017, along with youngster Austin Barnes (C) of the Dodgers, along with multiple draft picks & Carlos Gomez. The Heroes also added pitcher Trevor May for a late 2018 draft pick, in a deal with the Portland Microbrewers & added reliever Trevor Rosenthal for a late pick in a deal with the Vancouver Storm.

The Traverse City Panthers' blueprint for success didn't go as exactly as they predicted, as the players they acquired before the 2017 BoS Season didn't play well for the 2017 MLB Season. Jonathan Lucroy and Yasmany Tomas went the opposite direction from their excellent 2016 seasons, while the Panthers made the mistake of releasing newly-acquired Alex Wood during player cuts prior to the season, only to be swooped up in the 2017 BoS Annual Draft by the Micatin Destroyers.

Prior to the season, the Panthers acquired Jonathan Lucroy (C), Yasmany Tomas (OF), Brad Miller (SS/OF), Alex Wood (SP), while acquiring a 2nd Round Draft Pick [White Sox' Carson Fulmer] in exchange for Masahiro Tanaka (SP), Kelvin Herrera (RP) & a 3rd Round Draft Pick [Matt Bush-RP]. Wood was the reason the deal became a big package in the first place, then I made the poor decision on releasing Wood, in favor of keeping players such as Drew Smyly, Hunter Pence, and Tyler Clippard.

The aftermath was Wood gets swooped up & has a big season for the Dodgers, while Lucroy & Tomas has down seasons, while Miller returned to earth; Seattle didn't exactly win either in the deal, he acquired Tanaka who has not been at top form with a good reliever in Herrera, who I did hate trading, but in a league where relievers are a dime a dozen, that's not much of a loss. During those players cuts, I also made the bad decision of releasing Marwin Gonzalez.

So come August, it was another deal between the Panthers & the Seattle Rainiers (Owner Merle Watkins) that would reshape things for both franchises. I think overall we compliment each other well in our past deals, and his past deals with other teams have been well thought-out deals that benefited both teams there as well. There is many things that I like about Merle, I love his attitude, involvement in the league, and the fact that he's not afraid to make a deal, it's nice to see that his Rainiers may finally reap the benefits of good trades, as it appears they will be making a hard-earned trip to the postseason.

This deal involved Lucroy again, and for the Panthers it would be the second time that they have traded both Yasiel Puig and Cody Allen, in fact they were traded together in a deal with the Chicago Nine (June 3rd, 2015) in the big Miguel Cabrera trade. Lucroy recently won the 2017 BoS All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player Award.

This time, the Panthers traded Lucroy (C), Julio Teheran (SP), Puig (OF), Jean Segura (SS), Cody Allen (RP) & a 6th Round Draft Pick in exchange for Corey Seager (SS), Taijuan Walker (SP), David Robertson (RP), Yadier Molina (C), Mark Trumbo (DH/OF) & IF/OF-Jeimer Candelario. For Puig (2014's #1 Overall pick) it is the 4th time he has been traded, traded more than any player in BoS history.

Puig gives his thoughts on latest trade.

Sometimes when you make deals, you second-guess (sometimes a lot), but I really, really wanted Seager a lot, I think he is a once-in-a-generation star, and will love seeing him on the diamond with fellow Panthers Giancarlo Stanton & Andrew Benintendi.

My Panthers currently sit in a lousy division & find themselves in last place only 5 games out of 1st, the Spring Branch Duffers currently lead the division with a 67-64 record.

2017 Panthers Report

I could not have been any happier with the outcome of the 2017 BoS Annual Draft for our Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League. Every team had a chance to draft a stud with what was our deepest draft yet.

My Traverse City Panthers were very happy with their results. A few days prior to the draft, we happened to have 2 1st Round draft picks (#6 & #16) and two 2nd Round picks (#22 & #26). Then just before the draft, the Portland Microbrewers and Traverse City produced a huge deal, in which Panthers traded their #6 & #16 overall for Portland's 1st Round (#2 overall, that they acquired from Seattle) & #28 (2nd Round pick).

• The reasons for the deal are reflected in the previous two blog pieces "The Top Six" and "Remainder of the Big Day"

This trade now gave Panthers, a higher 1st Rd pick & a bundle of 2nd Round picks at #22, #26 & #28. I drafted Red Sox' future star & Baseball's consensus top prospect Andrew Benintendi (more on him, later in post). I knew to make the gamble of moving up from #6 to #2, while trading down #16 to #28, I really had to make it all worth it. I hoped for some solid stuff to fall down in that bundle of 2nd Round picks...

The results could not have been any better. I was shocked to get the Pirates' Tyler Glasnow at #22 overall, Carson Fulmer (White Sox SP) at #26 & when it Hunter Renfroe fell to me at #28 overall -- despite the fact, that I have enough outfielders, I really could not pass him up.

Carson Fulmer (right) plans to make his paw print for the Panthers.

I landed a deal with the Seattle Rainiers, in which I finally acquired an everyday starting catcher in Jonathan Lucroy -- I'm very excited about full seasons to come of Lucroy playing in a offensive launching pad in Arlington. The trade cost me Masahiro Tanaka, but I am not completely sold on Tanaka's arm being alright... the guy I will miss most from the deal, was trading reliever Kelvin Herrera. The good news is a league of just 16 teams, relievers practically grow on trees. In the deal, I also landed Yasmany Tomas & Brad Miller, with a upgrade to a second pick that led to the drafting of Carson Fulmer.

I made little trades prior to the draft, in trading away guys that I was going to release during our roster cuts deadline anyways; I traded 2B/OF-Josh Harrison for the Swatara Eliminators' 7th Round Draft Selection, which would end up being the Pirates' young starter in Chad Kuhl -- while I also made a deal with Portland in trading rehab project Alex Cobb (SP) & outfielder Jarrett Parker, in which I acquired a 9th Round Draft Pick, which I used on a southpaw reliever in Ian Krol.

Scouting on Kuhl reminds me of when I noticed Corey Kluber, under the radar, a gold nugget found in a barrel of gravel. I didn't get Kluber in the inaugural 2013 BoS Draft, but I would acquire him early in that inaugural season, in a deal that still haunts the Portland Microbrewers, my team was going nowhere out of the gates, so I traded both Matt Harrison & Brandon Morrow (who were both Grade B starting pitchers at the time), along with OF-Austin Jackson & a 3rd Round Draft Pick to the Brewers in exchange for Kluber, SP-Nathan Eovaldi & OF/DH-Ryan Raburn... in all fairness, for that time, I thought Portland owner Brad Stark was getting the better deal, I believed in Kluber, but did not expect Harrison & Morrow to never rebound... plus I was taking a more calculated risk with a question mark in Eovaldi (and he has been a huge question mark since) & platoon-beast/full-time starter dud Raburn. In the long run... yes, I won that deal.

During this draft, I knew at the end of the draft I would have to make four additional roster cuts. I had 6 picks left, and I knew I would also have to depart the ending of the draft to make it work in time. So I decided I would just PASS on my last 4 rounds... I kept seeing a few guys that I wanted for my roster, so I would traded a player on my roster for an upcoming pick....

I traded Jorge Polanco away to the Fairgrove Tigers, so I could acquire a 7th Round Pick in Jorge Alfaro, I acquired Alfaro as a defensive upgrade on Tom Murphy. Murphy, recently injured for Colorado & known more for his offense, was now expendable... which led to Murphy being traded the next round to division rival Holland Hitchhikers, in which I acquired their 8th Rd Draft Pick, which I chose Washington reliever Koda Glover... then with my last pick, I needed some future depth at third behind Nick Castellanos, and drafted Atlanta's Rio Ruiz. Polanco will probably come back to haunt me, but I had so much depth at the shortstop & middle infield positions.

Here is the result of my draft in overall order....

• 1st Round (#2 Overall) - OF - Andrew Benintendi (Boston)
• 2nd Round (#22 Overall) - SP - Tyler Glasnow (Pittsburgh)
• 2nd Round (#26 Overall) - P - Carson Fulmer (Chicago-A)
• 2nd Round (#28 Overall) - OF - Hunter Renfroe (San Diego)
• 3rd Round (#38 Overall) - SP - Reynaldo Lopez (Chicago-A)
• 4th Round (#54 Overall) - OF - Albert Almora, Jr. (Chicago-N)
• 5th Round (#76 Overall) - RP - Michael Lorenzen (Cincinnati)
• 6th Round (#86 Overall) - RP - Michael Feliz (Houston)
• 7th Round (#100 Overall) - SP - Chad Kuhl (Pittsburgh)
• 7th Round (#112 Overall) - C - Jorge Alfaro (Philadelphia)
• 8th Round (#118 Overall) - 1B - C.J. Cron (Los Angeles-A)
• 8th Round (#127 Overall) - RP - Koda Glover (Washington)
• 9th Round (#134 Overall) - 3B - Rio Ruiz (Atlanta)
• 9th Round (#140 Overall) - RP - Ian Krol (Atlanta)
• Passed on last 3 Round Picks.

I could not have been more thrilled in my draft results, plus with the amount of players that I acquired in deals, my depth went from nil to excellent... with good players searching for playing time. I feel great about getting C.J. Cron in the 8th Round, he could be a great shipping piece for me, if people notice their current BoS first basemen struggling during their 2017 MLB Season. I am a team that is still trying to build, I really love the direction of our ball club... there was definitely some strategy by drafting Cron -- I could not go wrong with that pick.

Extra depth & possible trade chip, not bad for 8th Rd pick.

To give you an example of how far my depth has come along since the beginning of last season, I will break down each position by showing you my opening day situations in 2016 & 2017... The stats to the right are the MLB numbers, so for the 2016 guys, it would be actual 2015 stats... while for 2017, it would be naturally be the 2016 MLB stats. (italics - not a member of 2017 team)

CATCHER

2016

• Jason Castro     (.211, 11 HR, 31 RBI & .648 OPS)
• Travis d'Arnaud     (.268, 12 HR, 41 RBI & .826 OPS)
• Robinson Chirinos     (.232, 10 HR, 34 RBI & .762 OPS)
• Tom Murphy     (.257, 3 HR, 9 RBI & .876 OPS)     

2017

• Jonathan Lucroy     (.292, 24 HR, 81 RBI & .855 OPS)
• Travis d' Arnaud     (.247, 4 HR, 15 RBI & .629 OPS)

FIRST BASEMAN

2016

• Miguel Cabrera     (.338, 18 HR. 76 RBI & .974 OPS)
• Marwin Gonzalez     (.279, 12 HR, 34 RBI & .759 OPS)

2017

• Miguel Cabrera     (.316, 38 HR, 108 RBI & .956 OPS)
• Brad Miller     (.243, 30 HR, 81 RBI & .786 OPS)
• C.J. Cron     (.278, 16 HR, 69 RBI & .792 OPS)

Brad Miller will be playing everywhere for my Panthers, I have Jean Segura at shortstop already, with Jose Peraza waiting in the wings -- so with Miller capable of playing 1B & OF, we plan to play him there, plus at DH. Cron will also get some time at DH as well.

Bull-Dozier: Dozier hit a career-high 42 HR for the Minnesota Twins in 2016.

SECOND BASEMAN

2016

• Brian Dozier     (.236, 28 HR, 77 RBI & .751 OPS)
• Josh Harrison     (.287, 4 HR, 28 RBI & .717 OPS)
• Jose Peraza     (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI & .568 OPS)

2017

• Brian Dozier     (.268, 42 HR, 99 RBI & .886 OPS)
• Jose Peraza     (.324, 3 HR, 25 RBI & .762 OPS)

SHORTSTOP

2016

• Jean Segura     (.257, 6 HR, 50 RBI & .616 OPS)
• Wilmer Flores     (.263, 16 HR, 59 RBI & .703 OPS)
• Jorge Polanco     (.300, 0 HR, 1 RBI & .717 OPS)

2017

• Jean Segura     (.319, 20 HR, 64 RBI & .925 OPS)

There is plenty of players that would fill in for Segura on one of his few days off, being Brad Miller, Jose Peraza or Wilmer Flores; Segura played in 153 games for the Diamondbacks last season.

Panther Shortstop Segura has been a Panther from the beginning.

THIRD BASEMAN

2016

• Josh Donaldson     (.297, 41 HR, 123 RBI & .939 OPS)
• Josh Harrison     (.287, 4 HR, 28 RBI & .717 OPS)

2017

• Nick Castellanos     (.285, 18 HR, 58 RBI & .827 OPS)
• Wilmer Flores     (.267, 16 HR, 49 RBI & .788 OPS)

Nick Castellanos came to Traverse City in a trade with the eventual World Champion Fairgrove Tigers, in a deal involving Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was traded along with OF-Nori Aoki & a 6th Round Draft Pick in exchange for Castellanos, SP-Yordana Ventura & a 3rd Rd Draft Pick. Ventura (after his unfortunate death, prior to this season) was traded back to Fairgrove in exchange for that same 6th Rd Draft selection (which Panthers selected RP-Micheal Feliz); The 3rd Round DP that the Panthers acquired would be packaged in the deal that would get the Panthers the #2 overall pick to acquire Benintendi.

DESIGNATED HITTERS

2016

• Matt Carpenter     (.272, 28 HR, 84 RBI & .871 OPS)
• Derek Dietrich     (.256, 10 HR, 24 RBI & .802 OPS)

2017

• Brad Miller     (.243, 30 HR, 81 RBI & .786 OPS)
• Brandon Drury     (.282, 16 HR, 53 RBI & .786 OPS)  
• C.J. Cron     (.278, 16 HR, 69 RBI & .792 OPS)

Matt Carpenter, the last few years played DH for me, due to better fielders on the hot corner in Donaldson, and at second in Dozier & Harrison. Carpenter was traded to San Diego in exchange for Brandon Drury, SP-Daniel Norris, OF-Yasiel Puig & 3rd Rd Draft Pick.

Puig returns to Traverse City, in which the Panthers drafted him 1st Overall in the 2014 BoS Annual Draft; The 3rd Round pick acquired from San Diego was packaged in the Seattle-Traverse City deal involving Lucroy, Miller & Yasmany Tomas coming to T.C., with Tanaka, Herrera going to Seattle -- Seattle drafted RP-Matt Bush with that 3rd Round Pick.

Derek Dietrich was traded to Portland, in which the Panthers picked up a 5th Round Draft Pick -- eventually drafting RP-Michael Lorenzen. 

OUTFIELDERS

2016

• Giancarlo Stanton     (.265, 27 HR, 67 RBI & .952 OPS)
• Hunter Pence     (.275, 9 HR, 40 RBI & .806 OPS)
• Eddie Rosario     (.267, 13 HR, 50 RBI & .748 OPS)
• Nori Aoki     (.287, 5 HR, 26 RBI & .733 OPS)
• Juan Lagares     (.259, 6 HR, 41 RBI & .647 OPS)
• Rusney Castillo     (.253, 5 HR, 29 RBI & .647 OPS)
• Jarrett Parker     (.347, 6 HR, 14 RBI & 1.163 OPS in 49 at-bats)

2017

• Giancarlo Stanton     (.240, 27 HR, 74 RBI & .815 OPS)
• Yasmany Tomas     (.272, 31 HR, 83 RBI & .820 OPS)
• Hunter Pence     (.289, 13 HR, 57 RBI & .808 OPS)
• Yasiel Puig     (.263, 11 HR, 45 RBI & .740 OPS)
• Brad Miller     (.243, 30 HR, 81 RBI & .786 OPS)
• Brandon Drury     (.282, 16 HR, 53 RBI & .786 OPS)
• Andrew Benintendi     (.295, 2 HR, 14 RBI & .835 OPS)
• Albert Almora Jr.     (.277, 3 HR, 14 RBI & .763 OPS)
• Hunter Renfroe     (.371, 4 HR, 14 RBI & 1.189 OPS in 35 at-bats)

The outfield has been a complete makeover since opening day 2016, with Giancarlo Stanton & Hunter Pence being the only stayovers. Puig returns to T.C., while the Panthers added some young talent in Benintendi, Renfroe, Albert Almora Jr. & Brandon Drury (acquired mid-season, last year).

Panthers' OF trio of the future: Benintendi, Renfroe & Almora Jr.

STARTING PITCHERS

2016

• Corey Kluber     (Grade 9-XYZ / 1002 MBF & 3.49 ERA)
• Julio Teheran     (Grade 8-Y / 960 MBF & 4.04 ERA)
• Masahiro Tanaka     (Grade 10-XZ / 678 MBF & 3.51 ERA)
• Garrett Richards     (Grade 12-Y / 972 MBF & 3.65 ERA)
• Yordana Ventura     (Grade 8-X / 782 MBF & 4.08 ERA)

2017

• Corey Kluber     (Grade 14-X / 967 MBF & 3.14 ERA)
• Julio Teheran     (Grade 11-YZ / 848 MBF & 3.21 ERA)
• Brandon Finnegan     (Grade 7-YW / 829 MBF & 3.98 ERA)
• Drew Smyly     (Grade 3-Y / 826 MBF & 4.88 ERA)
• Aaron Nola (Grade 4-XZ) / Garrett Richards (Grade 12-X) & Daniel Norris (Grade 10-X) are all splitting 5th slot, with guest appearances by Reynaldo Lopez, Tyler Glasnow & Chad Kuhl.

When the draft was finished the Panthers had to make an additional roster cut, which ended up being OF-Eddie Rosario (due to a crowded Panthers outfield), in favor of pitcher Drew Smyly... A few days later, Smyly went on the DL for the Mariners with a flexor strain in his pitching elbow, and is out until late June (at the earliest).

Yes, the Panthers could have been more competitive this season, by keeping Masahiro Tanaka, but the team is building for a brighter future & could not ignore the package of players it received in that deal.

Behind Corey Kluber & Julio Teheran, there is a lot of young talent coming up, compared to 2016 where there was only Aaron Nola & Brandon Finnegan.

Corey Kluber & Cody Allen warming up during Spring Training.

BULLPEN

Cody Allen returns as the closer, along with relievers Luke Gregerson, Tyler Clippard & Mychal Givens. The Panthers made a tough decision & traded away long-time setup man, fan favorite Kelvin Herrera to the Seattle Rainiers, along with starting pitcher Tanaka in the deal, that the Panthers acquired Tomas, Brad Miller & Lucroy. 

In leagues that there are only 16 teams (like this one), relievers are for the most part, easy to replace, there is plenty in every annual league draft. 

The Panthers are hoping relievers like Dan Altavilla, Micheal Lorenzen, Koda Glover & Micheal Feliz can hit their potential in time for the 2018 BoS Season. 

* * * * *          * * * * *           * * * * *

This completes the 2017 Panthers Report, I will do a post in the future of how this roster will be shaping up (due to the 2017 MLB Season) and see if the Panthers are heading in the right direction.

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.

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 Kopech, Luis 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.

The Top Six (2017 BoS Annual Draft - Part I)

This year marked our 5th Season's Annual Draft. The league is 16 teams & owners strong, and there seems to be even more excitement than ever before. While Sports Illustrated is calling today's MLB the start of a new era, it seems to be the same deal in the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League as well. As the league's commissioner, this seems to be a new beginning with many great things to come, never been more excited!

My last blog post was about the guessing game that goes on before a draft, who's getting who? When do I draft so-and-so? Who's going when? Who needs what? Plus there is nothing more important than the first round pick.

Swanson: 1st Overall Pick in 2015 MLB Draft.

This year, is unlike many 1st Rounds in the past, in our 5 years, I don't believe there was ever this much talent in one round or in the entire draft; For example... the 9th & 10th Round picks still had some good picks, compared to previous drafts where it seemed after 6 rounds it was a crap shoot.

Before the draft, our teams cut down to 28 players, and we draft 12 rounds, to make the overall roster to 40 players. Due to trades, we have some teams with more picks, which would lead to them making some roster cuts after the draft.... Some would get compensation picks at the end.

My team had 16 draft picks due to many trades, I originally had two 1st Round draft picks & two 2nd Round draft picks. Then, as you all know (that read my last blog piece) I traded my #6 & #16 overall picks (both 1st rounders) to the Portland Microbrewers for their #2 pick (that the acquired from the Seattle Rainiers) & #28th overall (2nd Round). Portland already has their own #12 pick, which will make a nice #6, #12 & #16 picks in the first round for him, while I get the #2 overall, and a nice cluster of picks in the 2nd Round at #22, #24 & #28.

Through discussion, Brad Stark (Portland's owner) and I would make the deal, in an attempt to get the guys we wanted. My Traverse City Panthers had OF-Andrew Benintendi on their radar, while the Brewers had their eyes on Dansby Swanson.

Benny Baseball: The consensus #1 Prospect in all of Baseball.

The 2015 MLB 1st Round Draft Pick by Boston, Benintendi, 22, is the consensus #1 Top Prospect in all of Baseball according to all the major outlets such as Baseball America, MLB.com, The Sporting News & the MLB Network. The Ohio native won the Golden Spikes Award (Baseball's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) as a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Swanson, 23, a college star himself (Vanderbilt University) was the #1 Overall Draft Pick, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2015 MLB Draft. Swanson, a Georgia native, would return home in a trade, along with OF-Ender Inciarte, in exchange for pitchers Shelby Miller, Aaron Blair and Gabe Speier. Personally, I think that the Diamondbacks really screwed up on that trade, but I'm sure that will become common knowledge once Swanson breaks out.

Both Benintendi & Swanson cruised through the minors, both 2015 Draft Picks, Golden Spikes Finalists & college stars -- It appears that this will be one of many links once people look back at the 2015 MLB Draft & many 2017 APBA League Drafts; It will certainly be a link for both me & Brad, and this very important draft. 

So the question remained at the end of my last blog piece, did we get our guys? or did one of us, unfortunately lose out?

The #1 Overall Pick in the 2017 BoS Annual Draft belonged to the King Road Kings, who had the league's worst record last season at 61-101; Although the Kings had a long year last season, the future looks much better as their rotation will be solid this season after strong 2016 MLB seasons by Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon, Ervin Santana & J.A. Happ to go along with Rich Hill & Clayton Kershaw who had great years, but some time on the disabled list.

Their APBA Grades play out as this....

• Clayton Kershaw (17-XYZ) (613 MBF)
• Rich Hill (17-XY)
• J.A. Happ (16-Y)
• Chris Sale (13-XZ)
• Ervin Santana (12-Y)

Chris Rodon (7-X) & Miguel Gonzalez (8-Z) will serve as potential spot starters. When the Kings' top three starting pitchers are healthy, that will give them 3 A's at the top of their 5-man rotation. The Kings did end up drafting Dan Otero (22*-YZ) & David Phelps (14/17*-XY with 397 MBF - Maximum Batters Faced) in later rounds, which is a nice addition to closer Aroldis Chapman (23*-XY / A&C*-XY), giving the Kings three A relievers. 

Three 'A' Starters is definitely to have in any sized league, especially one with only 16 teams, their pitching situation is pretty set... So it came as a bit of a surprise that the Kings took the Detroit Tigers' 2016 A.L. Rookie-of-the-Year, Michael Fulmer as the top overall pick in the 2017 Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League Draft. The team has lacked offense throughout the years, and although they have more pop than usual with good seasons from Ian Desmond, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy & decent offensive years from Yunel Escobar & Eduardo Nunez to go along with that -- that's not a lot when you compare the offense to other teams, in a league where everyone has plenty of 'B' starting pitchers at least. 

King of the Hill: Michael Fulmer was selected as the top overall pick in the 2017 BoS Annual Draft.

The one obvious hole appeared from my vantage point, was at shortstop, Ian Desmond, who Charles (King Road) owner, acquired during the 2016 BoS Annual Draft at SS, moved to the outfield for the Texas Rangers, entering the 2016 MLB Season -- Then signed a big contract with the Colorado Rockies to play first base for the 2017 MLB Season. So I had him pegged to draft Trevor Story, not Fulmer.

Was Michael Fulmer an awful choice for 1st Overall pick? 

No, I can see what the Kings were thinking, make that rotation solid as cement... but you want to make the team pretty balanced all around, and I felt they missed a beautiful opportunity to take Story, have a solid shortstop for years to come with a powerful bat. 

Is Micheal Fulmer a 1st Round Pick? 

Most definitely, his upside may not compete with many that are in this 1st Round, but you take a look at many keeper/APBA leagues, especially APBA card leagues, he has been a consensus 1st Round pick; For him to fall to the 2nd Round would be a rarity for sure.

The Kings do have options & plenty of starting pitching to unload during the season, in case (and they will) they need offense. There is plenty of teams this season with more holes in their rotations, than in previous years... 2016 overall was a offensive year, and it shows on the back ends of the rotations. 

'C' Starting Pitchers will be in more need in the BoS than in previous seasons, I believe this is a big reason that the defending World Champion Fairgrove Tigers, reacquired Yordana Ventura from the Traverse City Panthers (even knowing that Ventura died); Ventura is a C starter with plenty of MBF's (917 maximum batters faced), all in exchange for a 6th Round pick. 

So knowing that there may be need for some teams that need 'C' starters, it would make plenty of sense for the Kings to trade those pitchers, like Miguel Gonzalez & even Carlos Rodon, maybe even along with some draft pieces to get bigger offensive hitters for that lineup.. especially due to the fact that they have this window of opportunity lined up for them with their rotation, it would be a shame not to take advantage of that. The team will be much improved by 20+ games, and do have a chance to really make a championship run if they play their cards right. I actually already tried to acquire Rodon in a deal, that involved SP-Corey Kluber. 

They would add veteran pieces (from the draft) in Adam Lind, Jayson Werth, Leonys Martin & Sandy Leon for more offense, while Darwin Barney helps with shortstop depth to go with likely starter Eduardo Nunez.

So with Michael Fulmer taken with the #1 Overall Pick, it was my time to draft at the #2 Overall Selection, I took without flinching the pick that I wanted the entire time, in outfielder Andrew Benintendi. I can't say enough about the kid, which (because of that) will lead to a future blog piece... 

Now up was the 3rd Overall pick by the Spring Branch Duffers, and like clockwork (especially with Benintendi off the board), the Duffers took Dodgers' young phenom Julio Urias... like he did in the Lame Duck Baseball Association (LBDA). 

Duffer Zone: Spring Branch takes a familiar guy at #3 overall in Julio Urias.

4th Overall pick went to the Swatara Eliminators, a team that I originally thought may take Benintendi, if I didn't trade up... but might also go for much-needed starting pitching -- would do just that, go for starting pitching by taking the Pittsburgh Pirates' Jameson Taillon. For my draft analysis, it was really hard for me to peg where Taillon would fall; Overall I had him not selected in the top 6 at least. 

My Top 6 by Talent Projected

1. Julio Urias - SP
2. Andrew Benintendi - OF
3. Dansby Swanson - SS
4. Yoan Moncada - OF
5. Alex Bregman - 3B
6. Trevor Story - SS

My Top 6 by Projection for the draft

1. Trevor Story - SS
2. Andrew Benintendi - OF
3. Julio Urias - SP
4. Yoan Moncada - OF
5. Tyler Glasnow - SP
6. Dansby Swanson - SS

So far....

1.  Michael Fulmer - SP
2. Andrew Benintendi - OF
3. Julio Urias - SP
4. Jameson Taillon - SP

Which brings us to #5....

The Buffalo Yankees would draft Trevor Story, I believe Buffalo did not expect to have Story gift-wrapped for him at #5, although I'm sure he didn't think he would have a chance to either draft Yoan Moncada & Dansby Swanson possibly at 5th as well, which all could have been solid picks as well at 5th overall. 

I knew that I would get a solid guy at #6 regardless, but the fact was I wanted Andrew Benintendi, and that's why I traded up, if I still had the #6 pick & Benintendi was gone, my choice would have been the same choice as Portland was at #6, and that was Dansby Swanson, who he would have taken at #2 overall if he kept it. 

I was so relieved that Brad got his guy, I was on the edge of my seat & worried that he would not get him, which I would have felt awful about. Instead, he did get his guy, plus he now has great picks in #12 & #16 to finish out the 1st Round... So our gamble paid off!

Topping the list on many 2017 lists for Top pitching prospect, is Bucs' Tyler Glasnow.

There was never a draft that I can recall where 6-to-7 guys could be the #1 overall pick, and there would be no thoughts about it, many of these other guys like Tyler Glasnow, Alex Reyes, Nomar Mazara, probably could have been taken at #1 overall as well, depending on perspective & that owner's belief in their upside. For me, it was the top 6 (above) that I have listed for Talent -- with Glasnow (actually edging Story), so that's a mix of projection with Story at #6 on that list. Glasnow has been leading many 2017 lists as the top pitching prospect.

With me trading the #16 pick away, it took me out of that 'tough decision bubble', which made it easier for me to take picks at #22, #26 & #28... and those picks could not have happened more beautifully!

*** Can't wait to share my results & more results in Part II of this blog piece. ***