Draft Notes '95 (B)

Dan protected Bagwell and a bag o' shit. He could have righted himself, but selected poor players in important rounds 5 through 9. If Sandy Alomar was the best catcher available at the end of round 2, Dan really should have considered taking a pitcher or an outfielder or a good shortstop or trading down. He also took Carlos Rodriguez way too soon.

Jim sold his soul for Maddux before the draft. He gave Greg stud pitchers Saberhagen and Mussina, and future MVP Larry Walker. Trading for a 22 double Z H is never a terrible move, but Jim did give up a ton of talent. His biggest problem was drafting a cruddy team, including his four-headed monster behind the plate.

Ken traded away future Cy winner David Cone to Keith for Moises Alou before the draft, then protected a mediocre middle-infield combination of Larkin and Phillips. He benefitted from another steal of a trade mid-season when he got Bagwell from Dan for Mo Vaughn. Again, the might is right mentality dominated Ken's draft mindset, as he waited until round 16 before selecting a starting pitcher.

Chris protected Mondesi, which surprised the hell outta everyone. I recently asked Chris about this, and he said he protected Mondesi because this put his outfield in place and he wouldn't have to worry about drafting an outfielder later on. My wife buys Christmas presents in May and spends the rest of the year returning things and rebuying gifts. Point being, filling out your outfield for the sake of filling out your outfield is not neccessarily the intelligent thing to do.

Of course, my wife doesn't have to spend December 23rd running around trying buying crap (like Ken and starting pitching), and neither did Greg in regards to his starting rotation, which was arguably the best GM-ing done in the '95 B draft. Greg also uniquely filled out his DH platoon with Molitor, Franco, and Justice. Justice, a superb on-base guy was often pinch-run for by PR extraordinaire's Molitor and Franco, who could also hit.

Keith picked five guys with V as the first letter of their last name. His round 18, 19, and 20 selections weren't even picked in '95 A. Team voted worst league champ.