Odds & Ends

We just wrapped up the strangest Midseason Draft in our league's history. For the first time ever, no new information was available since the Winter Draft. Hardly any games were played, so there were no surprise or breakout performances to evaluate. Scouting wasn't allowed, so there were no new scouting reports to consider. Yet, the game must go on, and so we did. Below, I list the players we acquired during this draft. But first, we have a trade to announce.

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Although we've had a good deal of success this season, there are a couple of major issues that we needed to address at some point this season; namely, our bullpen and Andrew Benintendi. Our bullpen was primarily (almost solely) responsible for several losses last chapter. The main reason for our success in 2019, I believe, was the strength of our bullpen. It has been my goal to recreate that strength in 2020, but it hasn't been easy.

Two chapters ago, I added Mark Melancon and Rowan Wick to our bullpen. Melancon is merely an innings-eater, but Wick is the guy we identified last winter to potentially fill the role that Ryan Brasier filled for us in 2019: the righty-killer. So far, so good. Wick was very good for us in his Salem debut.

Next, my goal was to find that lefty-killer that Oliver Perez so crucially provided for us in 2019. I targeted Aaron Bummer for that role last winter, and tried everything I could to bring him to Salem. His owner, Tony DeCastro, absolutely refused to deal him no matter which names I tossed his way. Finally, with the deadline only hours away, we got our guy.

Along with Bummer, we received veteran Brett Gardner, who will immediately replace Benintendi in the starting lineup against right-handers. Benny has been absolutely useless (.187/.254/.290) against righties this season. Gardner (.256/.325/.511) should be a vast improvement.

Of course, we had to give up way too much to get these two pieces of the puzzle. Kwang-Hyun Kim has some decent stats on the projection disk, and is only $100K in salary. Garrett Mitchell and Garrett Crochet are two college prospects with very high ceilings. We were very high on Tanner Burns coming into this season, so he could become a valuable commodity as well. Hopefully, it was all worth it.

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Okay, now to our new draft picks:

#1 Sam Delaplane

It's funny, because I don't think I even listed Delaplane in my top ten list that I posted prior to the draft. Yet, as our pick approached, and the players I really wanted disappeared from the board one after another, Delaplane looked more and more attractive. He looks very much like a future shut-down closer, both in terms of his scouting reports and his numbers.

He offers a 70 slider (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and a 60 fastball. That combination has led to a minor league K/9 rate of over 15. His BB/9 rate of just over 3.0 is very reasonable. He also has some very favorable stats on the projection disk: 61+ IP, 51 H, 8 HR, 28 BB, 79 K, .715/.665 splits.

#2 Felnin Celesten

After our first pick, I decided I would switch up our entire draft strategy and focus on players with quality stats on the projection disk. Given the state of MLB at the time, it seemed like a reasonable gamble to assume that we will be using that disk for the 2021 BDBL season. With that in mind, I had Sam Selman's name written in indelible ink for our #2 pick. Then Tony Chamra swooped in and took him, five picks before ours.

Change of plans. I had 15-year-old Rodrick Arias penciled in as a possible late-draft flier. I normally wouldn't think of picking someone so young, but his scouting reports are pretty insane. Apparently, Jeff Paulson has read those same reports, as he selected Arias with his first pick, right behind us in Round One.

The only international player whose scouting reports are even better than Arias is Celesten. Just 14 years old, he has been called a "once in a generation" type of prospect, who is already graded a 50 on the 20-80 scale. With no one else on the board who provided nearly that level of excitement, I decided to roll the dice and prevent Paulson from having two of the best international prospects in the game.

#3 Hoby Milner

Returning to the projection disk, we selected Milner, who is projected to have 58+ IP and .637/.694 splits.

#4 Yadiel Hernandez

Hernandez would have never squeezed his way into the Washington Nationals outfield if the 2020 MLB season had been played, but his projected stats show plenty of playing time: 418 AB, .266/.355/.447 overall, with .736/.801 splits. If we end up playing with the projection disk, he could be our starting corner outfielder in 2021.

#5 Braylon Bishop

We decided to roll the dice on another teenage phenom. Bishop is a five-tool athlete, and one of the top prep players in the country. He is expected to be an early first-rounder in the 2021 MLB draft, but that is almost certain to change over the coming year.

#6 David Bednar

You guessed it. Another projection disk asset. Bednar's stats: 69 IP, .691/.629 splits.

#7 Taylor Guilbeau

Another yet another. Guilbeau may end up being our lefty specialist out of the bullpen next year. His projected stats: 56+ IP, .590/.698 splits.

#8 Jose Pirela

Pirela is projected to hit .274/.327/.478 against left-handers, and is rated at six different defensive positions.

#9 Christian Vaquero

Yet another very young teenage phenom from the international pool. The 2021 class is said to be among the best in years. Arias and Vaquero are currently ranked #1 and #2, but that ranking is so volatile, they could switch places by next July -- or fall out of the top ten altogether. It's all a crapshoot.

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Now that it looks as though MLB's 2020 season is a complete bust, it's all but guaranteed that we will be playing the 2021 season using the projection disk. With that in mind, here is what our team would look like next season:

C: TBA
1B: Christian Walker: 493 AB, .256/.329/.475 overall, .832/.783 splits
2B: Nick Senzel: 414 AB, .261/.326/.435 overall, .774/.752 splits
3B: Rafael Devers: 624 AB, .292/.344/.530 overall, .843/.887 splits
SS: Trea Turner: 579 AB, .282/.341/.466 overall, .815/.803 splits
LF: Andrew Benintendi: 568 AB, .269/.345/.438 overall, .737/.800 splits
CF: Ramon Laureano: 454 AB, .258/.324/.469 overall, .806/.784 splits
RF: Jose Pirela/Yadier Hernandez: .805/.801 platoon
Bench: Shohei Ohtani: 380 AB, .282/.344/.518 overall, .798/.889 splits

SP: Max Scherzer: 174 IP, 132 H, 39 BB, 236 K, 3.00 ERA
SP: Stephen Strasburg: 184+ IP, 152 H, 50 BB, 221 K, 3.22 ERA
SP: Sonny Gray: 158 IP, 132 H, 59 BB, 171 K, 3.82 ERA
SP: Jon Gray: 155+ IP, 149 H, 53 BB, 160 K, 4.28 ERA

RP: Trevor May: 52+ IP, 44 H, 24 BB, 65 K, 3.93 ERA
RP: Ryne Harper: 55+ IP, 55 H, 16 BB, 52 K, 4.20 ERA
RP: J.B. Wendelken: 71 IP, 67 H, 28 BB, 72 K, 4.18 ERA
RP: Rowan Wick: 60+ IP, 53 H, 32 BB, 66 K, 4.03 ERA
RP: Aaron Bummer: 70 IP, 64 H, 29 BB, 64 K, 3.86 ERA
RP: Hoby Milner: 58+ IP, 52 H, 18 BB, 65 K, 3.53 ERA
RP: Sam Delaplane: 61+ IP, 51 H, 28 BB, 79 K, 3.82 ERA
RP: Shohei Ohtani: 69+ IP, 61 H, 29 BB, 83 K, 3.89 ERA

It's a real shame that Strasburg's Cowtippers career will end with projected stats. He has had an outstanding career with us, but it would have been nice if he had ended on a high note by winning that elusive Cy Young award. It's also a shame to see Sonny Gray's 2019 MLB performance discounted so badly. I doubt we would have seen that much regression in his numbers.

Likewise, it would have been nice to see if Adley Rutschman and/or Nick Madrigal could have made an impact this year. Then again, it would have been nice to see some real baseball of any kind being played in 2020. It is what it is. We have no choice but to make the best of this unthinkable situation.

Midseason Draft

The Midseason draft is upon us. Of course, this year, the draft is much, much weirder than it has been in years past because exactly zero baseball has been played since the Ides of March. So, we're left with nothing but scouting reports. Still, there is some value to be had here.

Here are my top ten picks as we head into the draft. Of course, the order of this list will change a dozen times by the time we actually pick.

1. Heston Kyerstad, OF, Arkansas
2. Max Meyer, P, Minnesota
3. Zac Veen, OF, Orange, FL
4. Felnin Celesten, SS, DR
5. Rodrick Arias, SS, DR
6. Yoelqui Cespedes, OF, Cuba
7. Reid Detmers, P, Louisville
8. Bryce Jarvis, P, Duke
9. Adrian Del Castillo, C, Miami
10. Wilman Diaz, SS, Venezuela

Chapter Three Review

After splitting the first four series we played in Chapter Three, we won seven of our last eight games, giving us a record of 15-9 for the chapter. Overall, we own a .663 winning percentage, which is second only to the mighty Los Altos Undertakers.

We have a few deals in the works, and hope to make an announcement by the end of this chapter. We are also preparing for the mid-season farm draft, so that will be covered in the next post as well.

The Good

The Brothers Gray were outstanding in Chapter Three. Jon went 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings, and Sonny went 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA in 32. Our newest member, Rowan Wick, was excellent as well, sporting a 1.04 ERA in 8+ innings. The seldom-used Ken Ryan (1.50 ERA in 6 IP) was also surprisingly good.

Rafael Devers (.361/.394/.722) continues to do nothing but rake. At this point, he looks like he could possibly become the first Cowtipper to win the MVP award since John Olerud way back in 1999.

Trea Turner (.333/.400/.611) was only 2-for-4 in stealing attempts in Chapter Three, but hit four home runs and eight doubles.

Tom Murphy (.333/.360/.667) and Cameron Maybin (.333/.362/.511) have been consistently good from the beginning of the season.

The Bad

Shohei Ohtani whacked five home runs and added a pair of triples in Chapter Three, but hit just .212/.254/.545 overall.

Jose Ramirez (.205/.271/.397) has struggled most of this season. Our MVP from a year ago has been all-but-useless at the plate, and has already committed eight errors while playing out of position at second base.

Max Scherzer (3.97 ERA in 34 IP), Stephen Strasburg (3.52 in 38+), and Anibal Sanchez (3.31 in 16+) weren't bad, per se, in Chapter Three, but they weren't exactly the Cy Young-caliber pitchers they should be. Scherzer pitched a real stinker (7 ER in 5 IP) against Great Lakes last chapter. Strasburg got lit the fuck up (5+ IP, 13 H, 7 R, 5 ER) against Kansas City. Sanchez was just...meh. I expect better from these guys.

The Ugly

Christian Walker (.160/.266/.259) pretty much took the chapter off. He's our only real first baseman, so we have to plug him into the lineup every day, but man, has he been useless. At least his Ex glove takes some of the sting away.

Bryan Holaday (.130/.167/.174) had a horrendous chapter, to the point where we may just cut him loose.

I wish we could cut Andrew Benintendi (.174/.240/.290) loose as well, but he's under contract for many years to come. The face of our Jumbotron a year ago has turned out to be an automatic out at the bottom of our lineup.

New guy Mark Melancon (6.35 ERA in 5+ IP) had a rough debut as a Cowtipper. Usually-reliable Sam Dyson posted a 6.75 ERA in 8 IP in Chapter Three, and blew two saves.

But the worst of the worst in Chapter Three was Trevor May: 7 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, and 4 (count 'em, FOUR!) home runs allowed. Where the hell did that come from? May was pretty much lights-out in the first two chapters. He completely choked against Saskatoon, Las Vegas, and Kansas City last chapter. We need him to turn it around in a big way.