DRAFT RECAP - Or How the Continental Division was Won

Well the inaugural Millennium League draft has come and gone.  Let's take a look at how it all shook out from the Stouts standpoint.

Baltimore selected 11th in the serpentine style draft.  Pretty much right in the middle of the pack.  I knew a stud would be available in the 1st round.  Was going to try to avoid both 1B and OF as there are so many quality players at those positions.  My strategy was to try and target one of the scarce positions (2B, SS, 3B).  Had my eyes set on Derek Jeter, Jeff Kent and Chipper Jones.  Jeter went a couple picks prior to mine so that's one off the board.  But both Jones and Kent were still available for the Stouts when the 11th pick rolled around.  In the end though, I couldn't pass up on Todd Helton.  Even though 1B may be the most loaded position in the league, Helton just stands out.  In my estimation, he was the best hitter in all of baseball in our kickoff year of 2000, leading the league in eight offensive categoris including batting average at .372 and OPS with a 1.162 mark.  Pretty impressive considering guys like Bonds, Giambi, A-Rod, Sosa, Manny, Vlad and Delgado, just to name a few, are in the primes of their careers.  When you can lead the league in slugging percentage against the likes of those guys, you're doing something right.  I just couldn't pass up on Helton in this spot.  So he's the cornerstone of the franchise going forward, and we're pretty excited about it.

As the rest of the 1st round progressed, and coming back up into the 2nd, it was apparent that other owners were concentrating on pitching.  18 of the first 37 players selected were hurlers.  With that in mind, I decided to ignore the trend and go for Ivan Rodriguez.  In 2000, I-Rod was coming off his MVP campaign of the season prior.  As a matter of fact, he had just completed what would be the best stretch of his career, winning six consecutive Silver Slugger Awards.  While his best years were technically behind him in 2000, he is still the best catcher available, and by a wide margin.  He hit .347 in 2000 with an OPS of 1.027, the highest of his career.  And he's arguably the best defensive catcher ever to play the position.  So he has that going for him.  Another cornerstone.


Seven more pitchers were selected in the 20 picks in between the Stouts selections.  So at this point, I've decided to adopt a strategy of ignoring pitching altogether and load up on the offense.  I'll just try to outhit everybody else.  And who falls into my lap but the Big Puma himself, Lance Berkman.  This may be my favorite pick of the whole draft.  I had him on my short list for my 2nd round pick.  All Berkman does is mash.  Take that back, as he's also competent in the field, at multiple positions no less.  And he's got decent speed as well.  From 2001-2009, he finishes in the top-15 in MVP voting six times, finishing in the top-5 four of those years.  He's a beast.  Teaming him with Helton should be illegal.


The next few rounds, I continue with my offensive strategy, nabbing hitters to fill out my lineup card.  Into the fold:  Shawn Green in RF, Garrett Anderson in CF, Jimmy Rollins at SS, Fernando Vina at 2B and Bill Mueller at 3B.  After eight rounds I'm the only team in the league without a pitcher on their roster.  But look at the lineup!  Not only good hitters all, but excellent defense as well.  Vina and I-Rod both won Gold Gloves in 2000.  Helton won three GG awards in his career.  Rollins, who is very limited in 2000, has won the award four times.  The standard motto is teams win with pitching and defense.  I'm switching it up a bit and gonna try to win with hitting and defense.  We'll see how it works out.

So after basically spending the first third of the draft on offense, I have to, out of necessity, concentrate on pitching for awhile.  First into the fold is Kirk Rueter in round nine, followed by Kevin Appier and Shawn Estes.  While these three might not be Schilling, Pedro and Unit, I'm kinda surprised I was able to do as well as I did in getting them as late as I did.  Those three will man the top half of the rotation, and all three come back with better years in 2001.  On a side-not, has anyone ever taken to the mound and just reared back and thrown like Appier.  It looked like he was gonna come out of his cleats on every delivery. Crazy delivery. Must have worked for him though.  Guy had a pretty successful 16-year career.  He joins the Millennium League as the Stouts "ace".


In the midst of concentrating on pitching, I was able to land some valuable backups for the lineup.  Ricky Gutierrez was taken out of necessity as J-Roll is only able to play a handful of games in 2000.  I drafted Rondell White in the 13th round to spell my OFs.  He'll get ABs against lefties for Berkman this year as well.  And Jay Bell was added in the 18th round.  He's a complete steal.  Bell knocked 18 HRs from the 2B position in 2000, compiling an OPS of 1.001 against left-handed pitching.  Hard to believe he lasted 435 picks?

Although I've completely ignored the bullpen for the first 13 rounds, I finally pull the trigger on Steve Kline from the Expos.  This guy provides quality innings, all from the left side.  He actually led the league in appearances from 1999-2001.  I pair him up with LaTroy Hawkins in the 15th round.  Love this tandem.  Hawkins is coming off a horrendous 1999, which saw him compile a 6.66 ERA and 1.709 WHIP in 33 starts for the Twins.  Converted to a reliever in 2000, he has never looked back, still pitching, and pitching well, to this day.


I wait a few rounds, but then fill out the bullpen in rounds 21-25 with Turk Wendell, Antonio Osuna, Alan Embree and Antonio Alfonseca.  I'm in love with these selections.  My righty/lefty combo of Kline/Hawkins is fantastic.  Got Alfonseca in the 25th round to be the staff closer.  He led all of Major League Baseball in saves in 2000 with 45.  Wendell, Osuna and Embree provide excellent late inning relief as well in my estimation.  I'm thinking the ignore pitching strategy has paid off, at least when it comes to the bullpen.

The strategy may pay off as well for the rotation.  As noted before, my top three of Appier, Rueter and Estes may not be the sexiest trio out there, but they are all quality starters.  I fill up the back end of the rotation with the best available guys I could find.  Joe Mays in the 15th round is more a pick for 2001 when he led the league in ERA+.  He'll maybe spot start and pitch long relief in 2000 for the Stouts.  Jason Bere, Elmer Dessens and Todd Stottlemyre will battle it out for the last couple rotation spots.  Stottlemyre is probably the best of the trio, but he has injury concerns, only starting 18 games in 2000.  But I got him in the 30th and last round of the draft so if he can remain healthy he should be a steal.  Also drafted Jaret Wright, but he's only good for nine starts.

The bench is filled out with the aforementioned Rondell White and Jay Bell, as well as Charlie Hayes to backup 3B, Eric Owen as my top PH and backup OF, Robert Fick as my left-handed bat on the bench, and Ed Taubensee as the backup to I-Rod at catcher.  Oh, and Rey Ordonez.  Need a backup SS.  Just hope he never see's the plate as he hit only .188 in 2000.

Baltimore's Memorial Stadium - Home of the Stouts

So let's look at the lineup, bench, rotation and bullpen as it sits prior to Opening Day.

1  Fernando Vina 2B
2  Ivan Rodriguez C
3  Todd Helton 1B
4  Shawn Green RF
5  Lance Berkman/Rondell White LF
6  Garrett Anderson  CF
7  Bill Mueller  3B
8  Ricky Gutierrez SS

I've got Jay Bell to play at 2B against lefties.  Eric Owens will be my top pinch-hitter.  He hits RHP and LHP equally well.  Robert Fick is my left-handed bat on the bench.  Charlie Hayes, Rey Ordonez and Ed Taubensee round it out.  Jimmy Rollins will spend most of the season in the minors.

SP1  Kevin Appier RHP
SP2  Kirk Rueter LHP
SP3  Shawn Estes LHP
SP4  Todd Stottlemyre RHP

The 5th starter will be a combination of Jaret Wright (9 starts) Elmer Dessens and Jason Bere.  Also have Joe Mays but he'll probably end up as long relief.

CL  Antonio Alfonseca RHP
SU  Steve Kline LHP
SU  LaTroy Hawkins RHP
MR  Turk Wendell  RHP
MR  Alan Embree  LHP
MR  Antonio Osuna RHP

Mays will be in the mix for long relief.  Elmer Dessens falls into the long relief category as well if he's not in the rotation.

So there they are, the 2000 Opening Day edition of the Baltimore Stouts.  Looking forward to a good inaugural season.  Should be an exciting one.  Bring on the games!!!