There were no major surprises in the first few picks of the DTBL Draft, but that didn’t mean there was a lack of drama. Two blockbuster trades by the Jackalope shook up their team and perhaps the league as a whole. The Demigods grabbed the young phenom catcher Buster Posey with the first pick in the draft, but the Jackalope stole the headlines.
The 2011 DTBL Draft began with the Demigods selecting Posey, who was probably the general consensus number one player available. In his first MLB season, all he did was hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in just over 400 at bats, on his way to leading the San Francisco Giants to their first World Series title since 1954. Posey’s fantasy value is especially high at a weak position like catcher. He gives the Demigods almost indisputably the best catching duo in the league, paired with Joe Mauer. Mauer was also a first round pick of the Demigods back in 2005. Off the top of my head, the only other time I recall a catcher being selected with the first pick in the draft was Mike Piazza by the Metros way back in 1994. The Demigods had a rough year in 2010, but Posey should be a major step towards turning things around.
The Mavericks had the next two picks, the second straight year in which they possessed a few early picks. Their own pick was third overall and they acquired the second pick from the Cougars in a trade for Adam Dunn last summer. With that pick from the Cougars, they selected another one of last year’s rookie sensations: outfielder Jason Heyward. And the youth movement continued with the next selection when they took another catcher, Carlos Santana. The Mavericks clearly foresaw the two outstanding catchers that would be available when they dealt veteran Jorge Posada last year. While the Demigods have the most impressive catching combination, the Mavericks pair of Santana and Wieters has a ton of potential as well. Heyward will give their outfield a much needed boost. This pair of picks should help the Mavericks recover from the hugely disappointing 2010.
The Choppers were the first team to draft a “veteran” when they selected outfielder Jose Bautista with the fourth pick. Bautista will be a DTBL rookie this season, but has several years of MLB experience. He had a breakout season in 2010, leading all of baseball with 54 home runs. He drove in 124 and scored 109 runs. Bautista’s home run total was 12 more than any DTBL player accumulated last season. Whether or not he will be able to duplicate those numbers remains to be seen, but he was pretty much a no-brainer selection for the Choppers at this point. None of these first four picks were very surprising.
With the big four gone, the Gators were left with a less obvious choice at number five. They elected to take outfielder Angel Pagan. Like Bautista, he sort of came out of nowhere to have a great 2010 season. A platoon player most of his career, Pagan now has a firm grip on any everyday spot for the Mets and should reward the Gators with a good average, a lot of steals and even some surprising power.
The second half of the first round is where things got really interesting. The Moonshiners held the sixth pick and there was only one highly sought after player left on the board. However, the Moonshiners greatest need was starting pitching, and while this was a strong field for pitchers, none of them really stood out as first round material. Fortunately for the Moonshiners, the Jackalope came calling because they were very interested in outfielder Mike Stanton. So the Jackalope dealt one of their five superstar pitchers, Jared Weaver, along with a fifth round pick to the Moonshiners for the sixth overall selection. The Jackalope then used that pick to grab the young, powerful outfielder Stanton. This is one of those trades that will probably wind up helping one team more than the other, but made perfect sense for both. Weaver is one of the most underrated pitchers in the game and actually led the DTBL in strike outs last season. He probably would have been a top three pick in this draft.
Meanwhile, the Jackalope started their bold transformation by acquiring Stanton. But that was just the beginning. Minutes after trading Weaver, the Jackalope dealt another one of their starting pitchers. In one of the biggest trades in recent history, the Jackalope dealt Zack Greinke and a fourth round pick to the Naturals for first baseman Ryan Howard and a sixth round pick. If you are wondering how the Jackalope could survive trading two elite starting pitchers in the matter of minutes, keep in mind that they basically had five of the top ten pitchers in the entire league on their roster last year and easily led the league in total pitching points, blowing out the competition in ERA and WHIP. Even without Weaver and Greinke, they still have three pitchers that are better than anybody on most teams: Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. There is no reason to think they still can’t dominate the pitching categories. But now they actually have a legitimate offense around Albert Pujols. Howard and Stanton should immediately turn the Jackalope from a below average offensive team to one of the league’s best. Make no mistake about it, the Jackalope will be one of the teams to beat this season.
The Kings were totally thrown off by the Jackalope deals, particularly the one to acquire the Stanton pick. They thought they were going to be in a good spot to grab Stanton after the Gators took Pagan. The Kings had only identified five players as being solid first round picks, but with all of them off the board, they had to go a different route and fill a position of need instead. They decided to take catcher Miguel Montero with the seventh pick. They had no catchers on their roster and felt there was a major drop off in the available players after him. Montero was the first non-DTBL rookie selected in this draft. He was also the third catcher taken in the first round, which has to be unprecedented. Next, with their regular pick, the Jackalope grabbed speedster outfielder Michael Bourn, further emphasizing their focus on offense.
The two defending champions completed the first round, but went different routes in doing so. The Naturals picked another young potential superstar, third baseman Pedro Alvarez. I didn’t mention it earlier, but the Jackalope weren’t the only team trading from a position of strength in that Greinke/Howard deal. The Naturals could afford to lose Howard since they already possessed two of the game’s best first basemen in Miguel Cabrera and Joey Votto. The deal also paved the way to be able to grab a young slugger like Alvarez with the ninth pick. Finally, the Darkhorses completed the first round by taking the guy who they had tagged as the best pitcher in the draft, Ted Lilly. The veteran Lilly could have a great season pitching a full year in pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium.
We almost went an entire first round without a pitcher being taken. This points to a lack of standout pitchers in the draft pool, but does not speak to the overall talent level at the positions. Plenty of pitchers started to fly off the board in the second round, including a run of four straight relief pitchers. The Cougars used their first pick of the draft to take starting pitcher Daniel Hudson with the second pick of the second round. There was also another trade in the second round. The Mavericks dealt Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera to the Choppers for their second round pick. The Mavericks used that pick to draft shortstop Starlin Castro, immediately after picking outfielder Nick Markakis with their own pick. This gave the Mavericks four of the first 14 selections in this draft.
The implications of this draft could be felt for quite some time. Although there were only a handful of elite players available in the first round, the top championship contenders still found a way to improve their teams. It should be a fun season.