It's official, fantasy baseball is no longer a mere game on the internet: it's becoming a reality to Owners, teams, and fan bases striving for excitement in a game that desperately needs it. America's past time is in search of a new direction: one that aims for future success and not continual reflection on history.
Commissioner Bud Selig and a majority of Owners, along with the MLBPA agreed on a legendary deal, reshuffling the decks of baseball as we know it.
All teams are starting over. Same city, same colors, same coaches, but new players. That's right, in the best interest of the game, all 30 teams are going to partake in a fantasy draft in which players will more than likely head to new destinations, which will reshape the nature of The Show.
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Originally Posted by Cleveland Plain Dealer
MLB Draft Sparks Hope for Tribe, fans
Feller. 1948. Barker's perfect game. The 90's. The "bug" game. These words bring out the bright, fantastic moments for an otherwise disappointing representation for a baseball franchise.
But things can change. Fantasy can overcome fate, especially in the form of the upcoming MLB Draft.
General Manager Chris Antonetti mentioned the excitement surrounding the draft at a recent press conference. "It's unfortunate that we will not have the chance to see what we put into our previous roster evolve into what we were hoping, however, we, as do the the other teams, understand the excitement surrounding the draft. While full agreement may not have been achieved, we believe that baseball now has a much more healthy future."
Some Owners and General Managers did not display similar optimism. Organizations that have been notorious for spending in recent years, such as the Yankees and Dodgers, are frustrated that it came to this. Many players are upset as well - every player has a 29 in 30 shot at leaving his current organization. Contracts will remain as they were, meaning teams will have to take those into account when picking up said player, which adds further context to the Draft.
The Indians drew the 16th pick in the first round, meaning they will have the 15th in the second round, and go back and forth at those positions every other round.
"It is time to give back to the fans of Cleveland. We know their desire to see a winner, and the Draft gives us a chance to strike gold," Antonetti said.
Perhaps the Draft will give the Cleveland sports world a chance to fight fate with fantasy.
Interesting choice of teams to run with when doing a fantasy draft. Being a small market club, I assume you will go with youth and potential vs high priced win now type players..
Here's a look at the "big three", or the top three picks made by each team. The Indians picks are in bold. Keep in mind that the second round, and each even round after, had an order that was the reverse of the first round, whereas the odd rounds kept the same order as the first.
Pick Team 1st Round-2nd Round-3rd Round 1 OAK Clayton Kershaw-Ian Kinsler-Justin Masterson 2 MIL Justin Verlander-Carlos Gomez-Kris Medlen 3 STL Robinson Cano-Greg Holland-Jon Lester 4 CWS Felix Hernandez-Matt Cain-Shin-Soo Choo 5 TOR Buster Posey-Cole Hamels-Adam Jones 6 SD Dustin Perdoia-Joe Mauer-Johnny Cueto 7 ARI Yu Darvish-Jordan Zimmermann-Casey Janssen 8 CHC Miguel Cabrera-Edward Mujica-Michael Cuddyer 9 BAL Troy Tulowitzki-James Shields-Matt Harrison 10 CIN Mike Trout-Sergio Romo-Max Scherzer 11 TB Brandon Philips-Mat Latos-Albert Pujols 12 SEA Stephen Strasburg-Hisashi Iwakuma-Aaron Hill 13 HOU Joey Votto-Jason Motte-Jimmy Rollins 14 PIT Craig Kimbrel-Matt Kemp-Nelson Cruz 15 COL Andrew McCutchen-Jonathan Papelbon-Jose Altuve 16 CLE Bryce Harper-Cliff Lee-Josh Hamilton 17 LAD Ryan Braun-Chris Davis-Glen Perkins 18 SF Zack Greinke-David Wright-Jason Grilli 19 MIN Gio Gonzalez-Patrick Corbin-Tom Milone 20 KC David Price Tom Wilhelmson-Chase Utley 21 BOS CC Sabathia-Matt Harvey-Matt Garza 22 NYY Jose Bautista-Clay Buchholz-Bobby Parnell 23 DET Chris Sale-Giancarlo Stanton-Matt Wieters 24 LAA Jacoby Ellsbury-Jared Weaver-Wade Miley 25 TEX Madison Bumgarner-Price Fielder-Jay Bruce 26 ATL Yadier Molina-Paul Goldschmidt-Doug Fister 27 MIA Jose Reyes-Justin Upton-Addison Reed 28 WSH Aroldis Chapman-Carlos Gonzalez-Alexi Ogando 29 NYM Adam Wainwright-Evan Longoria-Andrew Bailey 30 PHI Adrian Beltre-Matt Moore-Elvis Andrus
Some unique notes taken from this year's draft:
- The NL East didn't have much luck in getting the top pick. In fact, the final five picks in the first round were assigned to the NL East.
- C.C. Sabathia remains in the AL East, but will now be on the Yankee rival the Boston Red Sox.
- Top closers were picked early and often. Once the Pirates picked Craig Kimbrel with their first pick, teams were hustling to get their 9th inning man before the talent was gone.
Following the draft and spring training, here's a preview at the Indians Major League depth chart:
I am okay with the M's replacing Felix with Strasburg, and interesting that they would retake Iwakuma with their 2nd round pick, but Aaron Hill in the 3rd. There was so much better talent available. I don't get it..
The Cubs, I don't even want to talk about.. Yeah Miggy is a great pick in the 1st round, but # 2 and #3 just blow. Cuddyer over A. Pujols. Please whoever there GM is needs to be fired...
07-20-2013, 11:41 PM
