By Cregen McMinn
Sometimes at work nerdy ideas seem amazing.
Today, one of those times happened. It occurred to me that if the two
Chicago baseball teams were drafted in a fantasy baseball style by two
owners with the future of the franchise in mind, it would be quite a
few picks before a player from the Cubs was drafted.
With that in mind I challenged my coworker Wes to a Chicago baseball draft. The following are the results.
*Note on the team setups. We decided that we would
draft three outfielders—regardless of what outfield position they
normally play. Also, we only drafted three starting pitchers and three
relief pitchers. (Sorry Kevin Gregg)
Wes’ team Cregen’s Team
C) AJ Pierzynski (25) C) Geovany Soto (24)
1B) Paul Konerko (15) 1B) Derek Lee (12)
2B) Ryan Theriot (19) 2B) Chris Getz (26)
SS) Alexei Ramirez (11) SS) Jayson Nix (28)
3B) Gordon Beckham (1) 3B) Aramis Ramirez (4)
OF) Milton Bradley (21) OF) Alex Rios (10)
OF) Kosuke Fukudome (13) OF) Alfonso Soriano (18)
OF) Carlos Quentin (5) OF) Jermaine Dye (16)
SP) John Danks (3) SP) Jake Peavy (2)
SP) Mark Buehrle (7) SP) Carlos Zambrano (8)
SP) Gavin Floyd (17) SP) Ted Lilly (20)
RP) DJ Carrasco (27) RP) Bobby Jenks (6)
RP) Jeff Samardjiza (23) RP) Carlos Marmol (14)
RP) Matt Thornton (9) RP) Angel Guzman (22)
Notes on the teams:
Wes
Jeff Samardjiza was picked with future in mind.
That, and after the top four relievers were taken the bullpen talent
falls way off.
Beckham was the consensus No. 1 pick.
The Fukudome pick was for his OBP. The 13th pick seems high, but look at who was taken after him it’s hard to argue the pick.
Floyd with the 17th pick might be the steal of the
draft. A consistent No. 3 for the rotation who helps take the pressure
off that bullpen.
Cregen
Peavy with my first pick is risky, but it’s hard to argue with a legitimate ace as a first pick.
I also reached for Jenks. I’m not a huge Jenks fan, but the closing situation with the Sox/Cubs isn’t the best right now.
I like the Rios/Soriano/Dye outfield for the next few seasons.
HUGE weakness at 2B/SS. But once again there wasn’t much left by the time I got to that position.
