Draft Diary: The Free Agent Draft

January 14:

I have two dead spots in my lineup against right-handers, both in the outfield. My goal with my first draft pick was to fill one of those spots. The problem is that only one player, Mike Yastrzemski, fit the description. The other problem is that Tony DeCastro grabbed Yaz with one of his $5 million picks.

By the time I was able to make my first pick, I had a choice between Michael Conforto and Davis Schneider. Conforto would have been a good fit, but Schneider offers upside potential in addition to filling a hole this year. Ultimately, I went with Schneider. He isn't a full-time player by any stretch, but he can spot-start in left field when I need an extra bat.

Schneider was one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the second half of last year. He pretty much came out of nowhere, lit up the Triple-A level, and continued tearing the cover off the ball in his MLB debut. He's 27 years old, so his performance probably wasn't real, but there's always a chance. He's a second baseman by trade, which would fit perfectly for us in 2025.

In order to fill that second hole, I had to make a deal with the Devil. Well, the closest thing to the BDBL's version of the Devil. I offered to trade my next pick -- the third pick of the 16th round -- for an outfielder who can hit righties...and Jeff Paulson answered the call. He offered Jason Heyworth in exchange, and Heyworth just happens to be a perfect fit. Dammit.

The good news is that our roster is pretty much set at this point. Now it's just an exercise in filling out the reserves with fliers and lottery tickets.

January 16:

The $500K rounds completely obliterated my short list, to the point where I've had to create a new one...and then delete those names one-by-one. Evidently, we're all drafting from my list this year.

I assumed that with his inflated ERA and HR numbers, I could grab Josh Sborz with my first $100K pick, but DJ evidently read my notes on him and took him at $500K. So, instead of taking my final hitter for my active roster with my one and only $500K pick, I had to blow it on the last remaining semi-acceptable reliever: Bryan Shaw. With that, I now officially have enough innings to get through this season. Every year it's a nail-biter.

I need one more hitter for my active roster, but all the decent ones were snatched up in the past few rounds. The only semi-decent hitter remaining, Sam Haggerty, plays multiple positions, which is a good thing. The bad thing is that he doesn't play shortstop. Trea Turner is currently the only person on our roster who is rated at short. I'm thinking I may need to use that final pick on a glove-only shortstop like we did last year. That turned out so well, didn't it?

The smarter play, I think is to use that first $100K pick on a flier for the future, which I can possible turn into trade bait. The problem is that all of the decent flyers are also long-gone. This league is a real pain in my ass.

January 18:

It's over. As always, it's a relief when it's over. My last seven picks, all $100K, were mostly guys I am hoping can become useful bullpen arms a year from now: Kyle Hurt, Isaiah Campbell, Chad Green, Hagen Danner, Michael Grove, and Kody Funderbunk. At least one of those guys should stick. I got lucky last year and drafted two (Dauri Moreta and Alex Faedo) who stuck. Two out of eight seems to be the standard expectation for these $100K guys.

The seventh $100K pick was the last guy on our 35-man roster: Sam Haggerty. He will be an asset off the bench and can play multiple positions. In the end, I decided to leave the backup shortstop position empty. If Turner gets hurt, I'll just play someone out of position.

Draft Diary: The Auction

December 19:

I have come to the horrifying conclusion that there is only one free agent in this auction that fits the specific criteria I need to complete my lineup. Specifically, I need a right-handed or switch-hitter, with full-time usage, who hits both righties and lefties, and is rated in center field. Only five free agents fit three of those four categories, and only one -- Bryan Reynolds -- fits them all.

This conclusion is horrifying because it means that I now HAVE to sign Bryan Reynolds at ANY price or risk repeating last year's nightmare, where the bottom half of my lineup was a cesspool of uselessness. As it stands, I have $8 million allocated for Reynolds, but I'm not sure that it will be enough. He is ranked #74 in WAR. Last year, Ian Happ was ranked 49th in WAR and earned only $6 million in the auction. So it is possible.

Another horrifying conclusion I've reached is that I desperately need both Jon Gray and Wilmer Flores to NOT go Type H. I own the tie-breaker for both at $5 million. If some idiot decides to give either one of them a $5.5M deal, my entire auction strategy goes out the window. Gray is 31 years old and has never thrown more than 172 innings in a season. Giving him a guaranteed three-year contract would be insane. Flores is 32 years old, has exceeded 500 PA's just twice in eleven seasons, and has never had a WAR higher than 2.5.

You'd have to be a complete and total moron to go Type H on either one of those guys, but the auction seems to turn people into morons.

Flores fills not one, but TWO, gaping holes in our lineup. He would become Nick Senzel's platoon partner at second base and Brandon Belt's platoon partner at first. Signing Flores and Reynolds would give us a full lineup. Signing Gray would give us just enough starting innings to fill a season. We NEED all three or 2024 will be a bust.

I have a budget of $26.2 million to fill 14 spots. As it stands, this is my strategy:

• Reynolds: $8M
• Gray: $5M
• Flores: $5M
• Reliever: $5M
• The rest: $3.2M

I own the third pick in every round of the draft. Hector Neris, Hoby Milner, and Jordan Hicks are all in the draft, which means I'll get one of those three to fill the gaping hole in our bullpen.

This plan should work, but the insanity of the auction ensures that it won't.

January 2:

The placement of players in lots really screwed us over this year. The one guy we need more than anyone else, Jon Gray, is in the very last lot of this auction. There is no backup plan because no such plan is possible. There are two pitchers in this auction/draft that have similar numbers to Gray. One of them is Alex Cobb, who happens to be in the very first lot. The problem is that Cobb would perform horribly in our ballpark and has zero future value. The other is Jameson Taillon, who is in the draft and may not fall to us with pick #3. (Also, picking Taillon in the third round would mean we can't draft a quality reliever in that round.)

The pressing question, then, is do I place a $5 million bid on Cobb just to ensure that we have enough "quality" innings to get through this season? Or do I risk everything and hope that Gray falls to us with the tie-breaker at $5 million in the final lot?

The worst-case scenario is that we get neither one, and Taillon is chosen before our pick in Round Three. We would then need to draft TWO starting pitchers to fill that void, and the options are pretty gross. Our entire auction and draft relies on just ONE person believing that Jon Gray deserves a Type H contract. I can't help but think there is at least one person in this league foolish and/or desperate enough to believe such a thing.

Another player in that first lot is Reynolds, who is one of the three "must-have" players in this auction/draft. I intend to bid $8 million on him. I do not believe he is an $8 million player this year, but I believe he has the potential to be just that. His numbers will play up, big-time, in our ballpark. He played most of last season injured. I do not believe we've seen his peak yet. Currently, Jeff Paulson owns the top bid at $5 million. D.J. Shepard is the only person with a higher tie-breaker. The fact that no one has (yet) gone Type-H on him is somewhat encouraging, although we all know these auctions are decided in the very last seconds.

This may be the most stressful auction I've ever endured.

January 3:

I fucking HATE snipers. I freely admit that I have sniped before and I will snipe again. Because I am FORCED to do so by this stupid fucking system we have, which everyone seems to like but me. Instead of just bidding the appropriate maximum amount you have budgeted and letting the system do what it is designed to do, we are FORCED to wait until the very last seconds of each and every auction to make a last-second bid to prevent some douchebag from out-bidding us. It's a stupid fucking way to hold an auction, and yet we're stuck with it forever.

Bryan Reynolds would be a $6M player, max, in any other year. Case in point: Mark Canha. In 2022, I was forced to snipe a $6M Type-H bid for him after he had posted a .746 OPS in MLB '21. Reynolds posted a .790 OPS last year and has had roughly the same career, at roughly the same age, as Canha. Yet, Reynolds is currently at $7 million in the bidding with 11 hours remaining in this auction.

Ugh.

January 4:

Thankfully, that $7M bid stood up, and no one sniped at the last second to drive his salary up even higher. There are three players that we absolutely NEED in this auction, and we now have one of them. Two to go.

The good news is that Alex Cobb went for $5 million last night. Cobb's numbers are nearly identical to Jon Gray's. Chris Bassitt, whose numbers are arguably better than Gray's, is currently sitting at $5 million. It seems unlikely that anyone will go Type H on him, but we'll find out tonight if that happens. If not, it seems like a good bet that we'll get Gray at $5M.

The question is whether or not I should bump up my bid to $6M now that I've "saved" $1M on Reynolds. Do I want to go Type H on Jon Gray? I've been a Jon Gray fan for years. I franchised the guy because I believed in his stuff. But he's NEVER healthy enough to justify his salary.

Then again, Nathan Eovaldi was in a very similar career position a few years ago. By the time he was the same age as Gray, 31, he was coming off of five straight seasons where he pitched 130 or fewer innings in each season. It seemed like he would never be healthy enough to ever log 150-plus. Then, all of a sudden, at age 31, he turned in a 182-inning season and led the league in FIP. I can see that happening with Gray.

If Gray's auction were held today, I would submit a $6M bid just in case. Because if I don't win that bid on Gray, the Mulligans are absolutely screwed in 2024.

January 6:

We're now in the middle of the boring part of this auction. The three players that I want/need are four and six days away from their auction's expiration, which means I have nothing to do until then but place bids on players I know I won't get for the prices I'm bidding. I have already been out-bid for Brandon Woodruff, and his auction doesn't end until tomorrow.

So, I wait.

One encouraging note is that people seem to be hesitant to go Type H on starting pitchers. Alex Cobb, whose numbers are very similiar to Jon Gray's, went for $5 million. Chris Bassitt, whose numbers are better, went for just $5.5M. Michael Wacha and Dane Dunning are currently sitting at $5M. Call me crazy, but I think I can safely win the bid on Gray at $5 million. I don't see any reason why not.

January 8:

I placed a few bids on players in tomorrow night's lot just for grins. I don't expect to win the bid on any of them. Freddy Peralta ($5M bid) should easily get a Type H deal, and should get Aaron Nola ($7M) money at the very least. He's arguably the surest thing in this auction as far as pitching goes.

I placed a $3M bid on Pete Fairbanks, but he's almost a 100% lock to go to Lake Norman with the ultimate $5M tiebreaker. I also placed a $5M bid on Jorge Soler. His former team, Virginia, doesn't have much money left to spend after signing J.P. Crawford for $8.5 million, but there are so many teams ahead of me in the tie-breaker that it hardly matters. Soler will easily get at least $5 million, but doubtful he'll go Type-H. His numbers in our ballpark would be outstanding, though, so it's fun to dream on it.

January 9:

As expected, I'm not going to win the bid on Soler. What is not expected is that someone actually went Type-H on him. Soler has been a platoon hitter for his entire career. Paying $5.5/$5.5/$6.5 for a platoon player over the next three years is insane. Especially for a team that doesn't look like a contender any time soon.

I placed a $5M bid on Taijuan Walker, and don't expect to win that one, either. He has roughly the same exact numbers as Jon Gray, but pitched about 20 more innings. With full-time starters being so scarce in this auction, I expect someone will go Type-H. (Or one of the ten teams ahead of me in the tie-breaker will do so.)

I have a $5M bid on Matt Strahm that I also don't expect to win. I'm planning to spend $5M in round three on a reliever, and Strahm is better than any reliever in the draft, so why not place that bid?

I upped my bid on Wilmer Flores to $6M just in case. He's a "must-have" player in this auction. He fills not one, but TWO, holes in our lineup. I don't like being locked into a two-year deal with him after this year, but he finished last season very strong and seems to have turned a corner, career-wise. He always had potential, but never seemed to get the opportunity. San Fran seems to have a habit of turning mediocre hitters into stars. Maybe they turned his career around.

I highly doubt anyone would go $6M on Flores, never mind any higher than that. So I feel safe with that bid. If some idiot actually goes higher than that, then I'll let them have him and work on my Plans B and C to fill those two holes.

January 10:

I have written here before that I did not expect to get Taijuan Walker for $5 million, and in fact I did not. I am not disappointed, but I'm extremely annoyed. I refreshed his auction with 15 seconds left on his bid and I still owned the top bid. I began to dream about how nice it would be to have 20 extra innings of usage than I planned to have.

Then Chris Luhning swooped in with a last-seconds snipe.

It annoys me because it wasn't necessary. Luhning owns a higher tie-breaker. He could have upped the bid at any point in the day, but chose to snipe just for the sake of sniping. Maybe he gets off on the adrenaline rush or something. Whatever the reason may be, it is annoying as fuck.

Whatever. Moving on.

I currently own the top bids for two players in tonight's lot. I fully expect some douchebag to snipe at the last second on both. Some asshole will undoubtedly force me to go Type-H on Wilmer Flores, and some other asshole will steal Matt Strahm from me. It's practically guaranteed.

January 11:

Two down, one to go. Last night we added Wilmer Flores to the lineup. This gives us a very powerful lineup against lefties and righties. The best part is that we somehow managed to sign him to a $5 million salary, so we're not locked in to any future commitment. Ironically enough, I have sniping to thank for it. Go figure.

In addition to Flores, I also somehow won the bid for Matt Strahm last night. I did not expect that. The plan was to use my third-round pick on a reliever, but Strahm is better than any reliever in the draft, so that is now unnecessary.

Of the three players I targeted as "must-have's" coming into this auction, I've signed two. The last one remaining is Jon Gray, who is in the final lot of this auction. I placed a $6 million bid on him this morning, just to be sure I get him. Alex Cobb, Chris Bassitt, Charlie Morton, Michael Wacha, Dane Dunning, Chris Sale, Kyle Gibson, and Taijuan Walker all went for $6 million or less. If I don't get Gray for $6 million, something sinister is afoot.

January 13:

It's over. And I have to say, it couldn't have gone better. I targeted three guys (Jon Gray, Wilmer Flores, and Bryan Reynolds) I had to have, and I got all three. I was willing to go Type H on all three, but got two of them at $5 million. No future commitments necessary. I'm happy with paying $7 million for Reynolds, as I believe we haven't yet seen his peak.

I budgeted $5 million for a reliever, which I planned to use with my first pick in the third round. Instead, I ended up with Matt Strahm, who is far better than any reliever in the draft.

I'm now left with $4.2 million for ten players. I can work with that.

The Dynasty That Wasn't

The blockbuster deal between the Flagstaff Peaks and Myrtle Beach Hitmen, announced earlier this week, has conjured up painful memories of trades past. The key to that entire deal was Corbin Carroll, who was originally drafted by me in the fourth round of the 2019 winter farm draft. That summer, I traded Carroll to the Hitmen for Travis Shaw.

Shaw was an absolute beast that year. He hit .279/.416/.588 for us over the second half of the season. Unfortunately, his bat fell asleep throughout the entire playoffs. We somehow managed to win our one and only World Series title despite that. That winter, I had to pay a young Hunter Renfroe to get Shaw's $5 million salary off my books.

You could make the argument that if any trade leads to a BDBL championship then it was worth it. However, I can't help but wonder how many championships I sacrificed to make that one trade. There is never any way of knowing if a high school kid like Carroll will ever pan out. For every Carroll, there are 1,000 Jake Skoles (a high school kid drafted in the same spot as Carroll in 2010). Still, it eats away at me wondering what our team would look like today if I had simply held on to all the young talent we had.

Well, it would look something like this:

1. C Adley Rutschman
2. CF Corbin Carroll
3. RF Aaron Judge
4. 1B Matt Olson
5. LF Yordan Alvarez
6. DH Shohei Ohtani
7. 3B Rafael Devers
8. 2B Alex Bregman or Carlos Correa (playing out of position)
9. SS Trea Turner

How many trophies would a team like that have won? That is easily a 1,000+ run lineup, year after year.

And then there is the pitching staff:

Shohei Ohtani
Gerritt Cole
Aaron Nola
Yusei Kikuchi
Max Scherzer

Oh well.

Draft Diary: Farm Draft

December 22:

As was true last year, I am not jazzed about ANY of the players available for this year's farm draft. Expanded farm rosters has, predictably, dried up all of the talent. Teams are filling their farms with players who won't see any level of American professional baseball for years to come. Of the top 30 players ranked in the upcoming 2024 MLB draft, only two or three are available. Among the 2025 draft pool, nearly every top prospect is already taken. Of the international prospects, all of the top names are long gone. The farm draft is always like buying a lottery ticket, but the past two years have been an exercise in futility.

Last year, I had to make twelve picks in the farm draft. This year, thankfully, I only need to make four. Last year, with the 22nd pick in the draft, I somehow managed to find seven useful players: Fernando Cruz, Brayden Taylor, Aiden Miller, Luis Morales, Ryan Noda, Michael Sirota, and Travis Sykora. If I can replicate that 58% success rate this year, I'll be happy.

This year's draft pool is heavier on the pitching side. With the 14th pick in the draft, I doubt that my top hitting prospects will still be available. As it stands, these are my top-ranked players. Of course, this ranking will undoubtedly change several times before my pick comes up.

1. Seaver King, SS, Wake Forest
2. Paulino Santana, OF, Dominican Republic
3. Henry Lalane, P, NYY
4. Josh Hartle, P, Wake Forest
5. Victor Scott, OF, St. Louis
6. Dillon Head, OF, San Diego
7. Shota Imanaga, P, Japan
8. Andrew Walters, P, Cleveland
9. Yariel Rodriguez, P, Cuba/Japan
10. Slade Caldwell, OF, Arkansas HS
11. Devin Taylor, OF, Indiana U.
12. Seth Hernandez, P, California HS
13. Nolan Schubart, OF, Oklahoma U.
14. Jakob Marsee, OF, San Diego

King and Hartle are the last two remaining MLB '24 draft prospects available who are ranked among the top-20. I highly doubt either will be available at #14. Mike Ranney owns the pick directly ahead of mine at #13. I would bet my house that he takes Santana. Lalane pitches for the Yankees. Tony Badger owns the #2 pick in this draft. There is no way Lalane gets past Badger. Greg Newgard owns the #1 pick in this draft, and he has already told me he is taking Scott.

That leaves a group of very unexciting prospects that could potentially drop to us, beginning with Dillon Head. Head is extremely young and raw, but had a terrific pro debut out of high school last summer and was a first-round draft pick. Imanaga would be a great pickup, but given the publicity surrounding his MLB signing, it's doubtful he will fall that far.

Walters is a relief pitcher. I would hate to use my #1 pick on a reliever, but he's a great one. With both Cleveland and Akron picking behind us, he would probably fall to #14. The Cuban refugee, Rodriguez, pitched in Japan, mostly as a reliever, and sat out the entire 2023 season to escape from his contract. He's young, and has great upside potential, but there is no way of knowing how he would perform in the US.

The rest are high school and college fliers with the exception of Marsee, who had a breakout season last year, culminating in a terrific AFL performance. If all thirteen players I have ranked ahead of him are chosen, I would not be sad to be stuck with Marsee.

December 28:

Day one of the draft and our #1 is already off the board. No surprise there. Greg Newgard did tell me he would be picking a different guy at #1 (which he acquired in trade from Highland), but he decided to go in a different direction, gambling that his guy will still be there at #3. Since his guy isn't Henry Lalane, and since Tony Badger has the next pick, it's a pretty safe gamble.

Since my first diary entry I've discovered that Shota Imanaga is already taken. So that whittles my top-14 list to twelve. I have also decided to move Marsee up the ranking. The more I read about him, the more I like him. I would probably rather have Marsee than Head, so Marsee now becomes my fifth choice.

I suspect the draft will now stall until January 2nd, so I have plenty more time to waffle.

January 1:

The first round of the draft went pretty much as I suspected with one exception. Tony Badger NOT picking Henry Lalane was such a shock, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm living in a dream world. The fact that he took a 15-year-old instead doubles the shock value. I never would have bet on that happening.

Even more shocking was that Lalane fell to us at #14. I did not see that coming, especially with Johnny Bo picking just ahead of us. I'm very happy to have Lalane, although adding yet another left-handed pitcher to our roster is not something I wanted to do.

The problem (if you can call it that) is that too many prospects remain on the board that I would like to draft. There are 15 more picks until our next one, so I assume many of them will drop off the board by then. As it stands, I can't decide who my next pick should be. Josh Hartle is the next best pitcher on the board, but he, too, is left-handed. Victor Scott is shockingly still around, but I assume he'll be snatched up by Greg Newgard in Round Two. (He told me Scott was his #1 before the draft began.)

Jakob Marsee is still hanging around, and would be a great addition to our roster. Devin Taylor is probably the next-best college player available. Shunpeita Yamashita would be fun to add, although waiting until the 2030 BDBL season for him to arrive would be painful. Christ, I'll be 60 years old by then. Crazy.

January 2:

Round Two completely decimated my list more so than Round One. Yamashita, Hartle, Scott, and Marsee all vanished before the round came to my pick at #14. The only prospects left over were 2025 draft prospects, a relief pitcher, and Spencer Arrighetti. The draft prospects have the highest upside, but carry the highest risk. The reliever is a crapshoot. Arrighetti has a chance to pitch a good number of MLB innings this year, which would make him an addition to our 2025 rotation. Ultimately, that's what I chose to do.

Two more picks remaining for us, and there isn't a hell of a lot left to pick from.

January 4:

If you had told me before this draft that I would use all four picks on pitchers, I would have called you a lying, dog-faced pony soldier. Yet, here we are. My third pick went to Seth Hernandez, who is considered to be the best pitching prospect in the 2025 MLB draft class. Drafting high school pitchers is always something I try to avoid, but his scouting reports are convincing.

For my last pick, I was waffling between another 2025 prospect, Devin Taylor, and reliever Andrew Walters. John Gill made that decision for me by picking Taylor four picks ahead of me. Walters was the best closer in college baseball for the past two years. His college numbers -- especially his strikeout numbers -- are insane. Cleveland snatched him up in the second round, but he has yet to throw a professional pitch. I'm hoping he zips up the ladder as quickly as Orion Kerkering did last year.

And that's it. We're done. Until July. Then we get to do this all over again.

2024 Florida Farm Report

The Mulligans farm club hasn't ranked among the top ten in our annual BDBL Farm Report since 2021. The last time we ranked #1 was WAAAAY back in 2003. I believe this is the year we finally re-take that number one spot. The annual prospect rankings haven't been published yet, but as of mid-2023 we owned two top-ten prospects in Baseball America's ranking: Ethan Salas at #6 and Wyatt Langford at #8. Three others (Brooks Lee at #24, Ricky Tiedemann at #33, and Chase Dollander at #40) rank among the top-40.

The last time we owned two top-10 prospects was 2010, when Stephen Strasburg (#1) and Pedro Alvarez (#6) were our top two prospects. One of those two may be heading to the BDBL Hall of Fame. Say, what ever happened to Pedro Alvarez?

Florida's Top Ten Prospects

1. Wyatt Langford, of
Born: November 15, 2001 (age 22.) B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 225. Acquired: mid-season draft (pick #4), 2022.

Background: Langford was drafted fourth overall in last year's MLB draft following two monster years with the Florida Gators. His bat is his calling card. He has hit for both average and power at every level he has played over the past several years. He has excellent plate discipline and hits the ball hard to all fields.

Stats: As a sophomore, Langford hit a whopping .356/.447/.719 with 26 homers. As if those numbers weren't gaudy enough, he then improved in his junior year, hitting .373/.498/.784 with 21 homers and more walks (56) than strikeouts (44). He raked his way through Single-A (.333/.453/.644), and continued raking through Double-A (.405/.519/.762) before enjoying a brief five-game appearance in Triple-A. In total, Langford hit a total of 31 homers in a little more than 500 PAs last year.

The Future: Wyatt Langford is ready for the big leagues. Everyone knows this. But because of MLB's asinine rules he will probably rot away in the bush leagues for most of 2024 just as Adley Rutschman did for so many years. Langford is the type of player we need on our roster immediately. I have zero patience for the unique way that young athletes are treated in baseball as opposed to football and basketball and nearly every other sport on the planet. End rant.

2. Ethan Salas, c
Born: June 1, 2006 (age 17). B-T: B-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 175. Acquired: midseason draft (pick #2), 2022.

Background: After signing for a whopping $5.6 million in January of 2023, no one thought Ethan Salas would finish that year playing Double-A ball at the tender age of 17, yet that is exactly what happened. He began the year playing full-season Low-A ball at the age of 16, which is incredible in itself. He was promoted to High-A in early August. Then, on August 20th, he was promoted to Double-A, roughly two months after his 17th birthday.

Stats: Despite facing much older and more experienced competition, Salas tore up the Low-A level, posting an .837 OPS in 220 PAs with 9 homers and 22 extra base hits. He struggled in his brief nine-game High-A appearance, hitting just .200/.243/.229, but was nevertheless promoted. He continued to struggle (.179/.303/.214 in 9 games) at Double-A before he was shut down for the season with a knee problem.

The Future: It seems crazy to think that we'll see Salas on our 2025 roster, but the way the Padres are pushing him, that may actually happen. As opposed to Langford, who is Major League ready right now, I believe Salas could use at least a year or two of seasoning before he hits the big time. Unfortunately, no one from the San Diego front office has asked for my opinion.

3. Brooks Lee, ss

Born: February 14, 2001 (22.) B-T: B-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 190. Acquired: winter farm draft, 2021 (2nd round).

Background: Lee was the 8th overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft following a stellar career with Cal Poly University, where he was coached by his father, Larry. The switch-hitting Lee has well above-average plate discipline, excellent contact skills, and is excellent defensively. He also has above-average "makeup" and "instincts," and has been tagged with that golden label of "gamer."

Stats: Lee posted an .848 OPS in his professional debut at two different levels in 2022. He followed that up with a strong performance (.275/.347/.461 with 16 homers) at the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. He also racked up 39 doubles and 3 triples at those two levels.

The Future: Ideally, the Twins will name Lee as their Opening Day shortstop during spring training next month. He will then become our everyday starting shortstop in 2025, smoothly taking the place of Trea Turner, who will be a free agent after this season. Perfect timing! Unfortunately, things don't tend to work out that way for us. My hunch is that the Twins will let Lee rot away in the minors for a couple of months before finally calling him up.

4. Ricky Tiedemann, p
Born: August 18, 2002 (age 21). B-T: L-L. Ht: 6-4. Wt: 220. Acquired: trade, winter 2023.

Background: Tiedemann had a breakout year during his first full season of pro ball in 2022. With help from the Toronto Blue Jays coaching staff, he added a few miles per hour to his fastall and developed his secondary pitches into major weapons. He suffered an injury-shortened 2023 season due to a biceps issue, but finished strong, including an impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League in which he was named Pitcher of the Year.

Stats: Pitching at three different levels in 2022, Tiedemann posted an impressive 29/117 BB/K ratio in 78+ innings. In 2023, he increased both his walk (4.7) and strikeout (16.8) rates at four different minor league levels. He then posted a 2.50 ERA and a 8/23 BB/K ratio in 18 AFL innings.

The Future: There is a non-zero chance that Tiedemann will stick with the big club after spring training this year. We could really use some pitching in 2025, so I sincerely hope that happens.

5. Mike Sirota, of
Born: June 16, 2003 (age 20). B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 187. Acquired: winter farm draft (10th round), 2022.

Background: A rising junior at Northeastern, Sirota is currently ranked as the 11th-best prospect in the 2024 MLB draft according to MLB.com. He has hit at every level he has played, including two stints in the summer Cape League. He possesses excellent bat speed and raw power. He is also an excellent center fielder defensively, with Gold Glove potential.

Stats: Sirota hit .326/.411/.511 as a freshman, with only four homers in 164 PAs. He added power as a sophomore last year, hitting .346/.472/.678 with 18 homers. He also walked (44) nearly as often as he struck out (49).

The Future: Sirota is projected to be selected in the early part of the 2024 MLB draft. Baseball America has him ranked at #5 in the class. Like Langford, he could and should move quickly up the ladder once he signs. A future outfield that includes both Langford and Sirota sounds very, very, appealing. 

6. Felnin Celesten, ss
Born: September 15, 2005 (age 17). B-T: B-R. Ht: 6-1. Wt: 175. Acquired: mid-season farm draft (2nd round), 2020.

Background: Considered to be among the top international prospects on the market last January, Celesten signed for $4.7 million with the Seattle Mariners. He gave an impressive performance in the spring, but then suffered a hamstring strain in June and missed the entire Dominican Summer League. He is a slick shortstop projected to hit for power and average from both sides of the plate. He is also a plus runner.

Stats: He has yet to play a single professional game, so no stats available.

The Future: I made the mistake of trading Wander F'ing Franco because I grew impatient waiting for him to play pro ball and figured he was expendable. I won't be making that mistake again. Whether he goes bust or boom I'm sticking with him. Celesten should finally play full-time baseball in 2024. I can't wait to see what he does.

7. Aidan Miller, 3b
Born: June 9, 2004 (age 19). B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-2. Wt: 210. Acquired: trade, winter 2023.

Background: The 27th overall pick in the 2023 draft is currently ranked by MLB.com as the 90th-best prospect in baseball. He was expected to be selected much higher, but a broken hamate forced him to miss most of his senior year of high school. He has plus raw power and good hands at third base.

Stats: Miller managed to play just 20 games (80 PAs) in the pros, but impressed in those 20 games. He hit .303/.425/.379 at two different levels, finishing the year at the Low-A Florida State League.

The Future: I have made the comp of Miller to Austin Riley in the past, and I'm sticking with it. They're both right-handed third basemen drafted in the late first round out of high school. They both hit for power and average. They both got off to hot starts in their professional careers. Riley tore up the Rookie level and found himself in the big leagues by age 22. I expect a similar career path for Miller.

8. Brock Wilken, 3b
Born: June 17, 2022 (age 21). B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-4. Wt: 225. Acquired: winter draft (1st round), 2022.

Background: Wilken was the 18th overall pick of last summer's MLB draft. He set the Wake Forest record for home runs (31) and walks (69) in his junior year last year. He mashed a whopping 71 homers in his three-year career with Wake Forest. He also crushed the ball in two stints in the Cape Cod League.

Stats: Wilken managed to increase his walk rate and decrease his strikeout rate in his last year of college ball. He carried that newfound plate discipline over to pro ball, posting a 33/47 BB/K rate in 165 PAs at three different levels. Overall, he hit .285/.414/.473 in 203 PAs with only 5 home runs, but 17 extra base hits.

The Future: Wilken finished out the year at Double-A, where he hit two of his five homers, but also struggled a bit with strikeouts (nine in only six games.) I expect he will return to Double-A level to start this year. He could easily be promoted to Triple-A and could possibly get a cup of coffee in September. While he isn't currently ranked among the top-100 by any publication, I expect him to be a top-40 by this time next year.

9. Chase Dollander, p
Born: October 26, 2001 (age 22). B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-2. Wt: 200. Acquired: mid-season farm draft (pick #1), 2022.

Background: A year ago at this time, Dollander was considered to be the best pitcher in college baseball, a possible #1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, and a "generational" pitcher along the lines of Stephen Strasburg. I'm not quite sure what happened, but he didn't pitch like a #1 overall, and someone named Paul Skenes came along to take his titles away. Dollander was still chosen in the first round, ninth overall (with a bonus of $5.72 million!), but the Rockies chose to let him rest all summer and fall rather than push him into professional ball.

Stats: The hype surrounding Dollander coming into 2023 was based on the monster season he had as a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. That year, in 79 innings, he allowed just 50 hits (5.7 per nine), 13 walks (1.5/9), and whiffed 108 batters (12.3/9). Last year, as a junior, he allowed 83 hits (8.4) and 30 walks (3.0) in 89 innings, with 120 (12.1) strikeouts. He also served up a whopping 14 home runs (1.4 per nine).

The Future: Is Chase Dollander the guy we saw in 2022 or the one we saw in 2023? As a big fan of mulligans, I'm willing to give him a mulligan on 2023 and cross my fingers that he will return to the dominant version we saw in 2022. If that guy shows up this year, we could have a future ace in a short amount of time.

10. Henry Lalane, p
Born: May 18, 2004 (age 19). B-T: L-L. Ht: 6-7. Wt: 211. Acquired: 2024 winter farm draft, round 1.

Background: The ginormous lefty Lalane was signed in 2021 as an international free agent. Both of his parents were professional athletes who passed their athleticism down to their son. Lalane was named the fourth-best prospect in the Florida Complex League by Baseball America, and was the league's best pitching prospect. He possesses three plus pitches in his arsenal, including a high-90s fastball.

Stats: Lalane posted a sparkling 4/34 BB/K ratio in 21+ innings at the FCL. Those numbers were a great leap forward from the numbers he posted in two Dominican Summer League seasons.

The Future: Lalane has about as much upside as any pitcher in the game. He made a great leap forward last year and I expect him to keep improving in 2024. I was very happy that he dropped to us at #14 in this year's farm draft. I even earned the coveted "damn you" from the Sylvester family for that pick. Nothing beats that.