Mercifully, this is the last installment. Like I was worrying about, Jon Rauch was indeed traded by the Nationals yesterday, to the Diamondbacks. He'll step into the set-up role for Brandon Lyon, who has a tenuous grip on the closer's role there, and could get some sporadic save opportunities. But that's bad news for me, since K-Rod is my only other closer. So do I deal for a closer or grab Rauch's replacement? Hmm...anyways, on to the last third of my draft.
Round 15, Pick 14 (210) - Ryan Garko, 1B, Indians
Three taken before him: Dontrelle Willis, SP; Rich Harden, SP; Mark Buerhle, SP
Three taken after him: Andy Pettitte, SP; Brian Fuentes, RP; J.D. Drew, OF
This was supposed to be one of my two sleeper picks. It was supposed to be Garko's breakout year. I figured I'd platoon him every once in a while and be assured of a steady producer. In fact, this pick looked so good that one of my friends, a die-hard Indians fan, told me soon after the pick that "you'll be happy with Garko, he's gonna have a really good year. I like the pick." And then Garko pretty much literally went to sleep in the batter's box. Needless to say, he didn't last very long before I dropped him. To add insult to injury, unlike J.J. and Glaus, he's still having a terrible year.
Grade: D-
Round 16, Pick 1 (211) - Andy Pettitte, SP, Yankees (11 W's, 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 100 K's, 133.0 IP)
Three taken before him: Rich Harden, SP; Mark Buerhle, SP; Ryan Garko, 1B
Three taken after him: Brian Fuentes, RP; J.D. Drew, OF; Garret Anderson, OF
Yeah, I picked a Yankee. So sue me. As much as I don't like them, I make my picks regardless of team loyalty, only looking to do what's best for my team. Which is why I picked good ol' Andy, hoping to get a savvy veteran arm on my staff. Pettitte's been one of those Yankees I've always at least respected, and even though he took steroids, HE AT LEAST ADMITTED TO TAKING THEM. Good lesson for everyone else out there. Anyways. Pettitte had a rough start to the year, and I even dropped him for a little bit, but overall he's pitched great. Solid stats across the board, steady stream of wins...couldn't ask for much more out of a pitcher, especially one taken so late.
Grade: A- (for the couple rough starts he had to start the year)
Round 17, Pick 14 (238) - Chris Carpenter, SP, Cardinals
Three taken before him: Kazuo Matsui, 2B; Brian Wilson, RP; Julio Lugo, SS
Three taken after him: Frank Thomas, DH; Aubrey Huff, DH; Bobby Crosby, SS
The ironic thing here is that I had just finished ridiculing a fellow league-mate for taking Curt Schilling. Schill was on the 60-day DL and possibly not even able to play during the season, and obviously the kid hadn't done his homework. So I went ahead and took Carpenter, knowing that he had had Tommy John surgery sometime last year and taking a flier on his successful recovery. What I didn't know was that he would be out until at least August. Suffice it to say, I not only felt really stupid, but Carpenter was gone before I could fully recognize the irony of it all.
Grade: F
Round 18, Pick 1 (239) - Frank Thomas, DH, Athletics (formerly Blue Jays)
Three taken before him: Brian Wilson, RP; Julio Lugo, SS; Chris Carpenter, SP
Three taken after him: Aubrey Huff, DH; Bobby Crosby, SS; Orlando Hernandez, SP
For some odd reason, I forgot that a DH could only be plugged in the Utility spot, thus limiting their versatility. Plus the fact that the Big Hurt was old. But I chose to ignore all that, instead looking at Thomas's numbers, which are consistently impressive. Or were. Beyond one week where he torched the Sox for a couple of HR's and several RBI's - unfortunately mostly from my bench because he had been suck-tastic - he did absolutely nothing. And then he had to go and get himself released after complaining about playing time. Which conveniently was a great excuse for me to release him too.
Grade: D-
Round 19, Pick 14 (266) - Aaron Hill, 2B, Blue Jays
Three taken before him: Heath Bell, RP; Jose Guillen, OF; Mark DeRosa, 2B
Three taken after him: Mike Cameron, OF; David DeJesus, OF; Casey Kotchman, 1B
This was my other sleeper pick. Hill was poised for a breakout season, and he had played Double-A ball 30 minutes south of me with the Fisher Cats. So I really liked my pick here. And then he had to go and get himself concussed. Okay, so he had gotten off to a slowish start. But the concussion took him out of action for a long time. He's still on the DL, which is good for him because concussions aren't things to be taken lightly (coming from indirect personal experience). But not good for me, so I finally had to cut him loose. It was a sad day - I really had wanted to keep him.
Grade: D+ (his start wasn't entirely terrible, just primarily his power numbers)
Round 20, Pick 1 (267) - Mike Cameron, OF, Brewers
Three taken before him: Jose Guillen, OF; Mark DeRosa, 2B; Aaron Hill, 2B
Three taken after him: David DeJesus, OF; Casey Kotchman, 1B; Melvin Mora, 3B
Yet another stupidly ironic pick here. I had conveniently forgotten that Cameron was suspended for the first 25 games for steroids. He was also quickly gone. He finally did come back, and he's hit 15 HR's, but...he's hitting .226. So I'm not missing anything. Not much else to say here. It's just that embarassing, along with Carpenter.
Grade: F
Round 21, Pick 14, (294) - Akinori Iwamura, 2B, Rays
Three taken before him: Joey Votto, 1B; Jacque Jones, OF; Brian Bannister, SP
Three taken after him: None
Yep, here he is - Mr. Irrelevant. And he really was irrelevant, since I dropped him before the season started. I kind of forgot that it worked better to have more pitchers to bench, and drafted far more position players that would do nothing but sit on my bench most of the time. So I had to retool my roster to fit that mentality, and Iwamura was the first casualty of the housecleaning. I still can't imagine why I drafted 3 second basemen when one of them was the best in the majors. Oh well.
Grade: F
So there you have it. My mess of a draft. So bad that 6 out of my last 7, and 11 out of my 21 picks overall, are no longer on my team. And yet - I'm still tied for 1st. Those are the breaks I guess. It's honestly just as much about luck as it is about skill. We'll see how it turns out.
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