20 year Anniversary Recap-Rule 5 Draft Recap Season 23

 

Decided to look back at the Rule Five Draft from 20 seasons ago to see which teams  got some steals in the draft.

10. LeslieHerndon (Salem-auggieward) Salem made a few smart picks in this draft. Taken 12^th overall Herdon wasn’t all that dazzling but did finish off his career with back two back 60 appearance seasons

9. Artie Sipp (Fresno/Boise-hofstad) The first of two Fresno picks to make the top 10. Sipp played on 2 World Series winning teams. Best season as a platoon he hit 12 homers and .317 in just over 200 at bats

8. AdysCano (Syracuse-Hatton98) Workhorse bullpen arm taken 2^nd overall. Won 76 games in his career while winning over 11 in a season 3 times. Best season out of the pen came when he pitched 96 innings with a 3.08 ERA

7. Antone Prince (Fresno/Boise-hofstad) Nice late pick by Fresno as Prince was the 16^th player taken. Saved 35 games one year and had 7 seasons in which he made more then 50 appearances. Career 4.29 ERA was not great.

6. ChasenSullivan (Omaha/Sacramento-dadaniel1) The first of two Omaha picks that make the top ten, Chasen was a sturdy hitting Catcher, 4 seasons with over 10 homers in a part time role. Also topped an 800 OPS two times.

5. JohnniePalmer (Kansas City/Montreal-urbanwarrior) Short career (571 Games) but won a WS and had a career year when he hit 270 with 12 homers 10 steals and a 270 AVG.

4. JohnCrede (Indiapolis-egide10) Solid all around player, played SS well enough to make 79+ plays, also hit double digit homers twice in his career.  Not a game changer by any means but carved out a solid career of over 1450 games

3. Ron Moss (Omaha/Sacramento-dadaniel1) The second last player taken in the draft. Moss made an All Star game in season 28 when he scored 121 runs while stealing 49 bases. Made 61 + plays in CF for his career. A great pick that late in the draft

2. ChadTatum (Houston-Andyr104)  Picked 5^th overall Tatum was a tremendous fielder (143 Plus plays between SS and CF) winning Gold Gloves at both positions. Finished his career with over 1600 games and 178 steals.

1.WillieCairo (Salem-auggieward) Taken 1^st overall in the Rule 5 draft Cairo was just short of a superstar closer. He pitched in over 1000 games while picking up 331 saves. Was a 3 time All-Star and racked up over 30 saves 6 times. Carried some pens while also pitching over 100 innings in 6 different years.

Who is on my Ballot?

 Once again just my opinion....after hours and hours of research 

The Locks

CharlieAnna-The best hitter on the ballot this season.  Is easily the second best 1^st basemen this world has ever seen. Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers and a handful of MVP’s. Find me a reason why he shouldn’t get your vote?

BillHarper- In a class of his own among this years Starting pitcher Nominees. I have him ranked 8^th among all pitchers in the HOF. The 3000 K’s along with the multiple Cy Youngs make him an easy pick this season.

Should-Be’s

SlimMcGowan- Maybe doesn’t have the acclaim as some other players. But McGowan was a true work horse for many seasons racking up almost 500 saves while making an incredible 1282 appearances. Heck if Pedro Ordonez gets to be in the Hall why not Slim?

EverthHernandez-There are currently 2 catchers in the Hall, EH should be #3, a catcher with over 2000 hits and a .308 AVG while playing solid D (3.88 CERA). Why not vote him in?

WiltSchimpf- Would probably be considered one of the weaker RF’ers in the Hall, none the less had a stellar career. Scored boat loads of runs, solid power and sole over 400 bases with over an 80% success rate.  His defense in the OF would be the only thing holding him back. Played a strong 1^st base

Just on the Outside Looking in

BennyAybar-A lesser version of Wilt at almost every thing he did. A better fielder but not enough to go to the Hall yet.

TomasWong-If he played LF he might look a little better, his horrible fielding at 2^nd will keep out of the Hall for the time being

CarlosBeltre- I know the large amount of losses doesn’t look  great but he is honestly a better SP then about 5 guys who have already been voted in. If he hangs around might get my vote next year

ReggieStauffer-Was a shut down reliever, if not for a handful of crappy years at the end would have a sub 3.00 ERA and would probably be viewed as a lock

Good But Not Hall of Fame Worthy

Not going to spend much time talking about these guys.

Javier Pascual, Jim Fontenot, Alberto James, Reymond Mota, Jhoulys Caminero

Octavio Castillo, Jose Velazquez

All very fine players but putting any of them in the Hall would just make the Hall look worse

 

Shouldn’t be Nominated anymore…please

Willie Ontiveros

Norm Knight

Ken Silva

Jamie Boyd

Ozzie Benjamin

One trick ponies that played with cement gloves by the looks of it

Upperdeck Hall of Fame Review

For the past couple of seasons I have been working on a formula to help figure out who are the most deserving players to get my vote for the Hall.

For batters I take into account Single season highlights like Hits/AVG/Runs/RBI/HR/Doubles/SB and Career Milestones for stats HITS/HR/SB/AVG  as well as Factoring in Plus and Minus plays at their various defensive positions with players at SS/3^rd/2^nd/CF getting a bonus bump for plays at those positions. On top of that players are awarded points for Awards and All-Star games.

For comparison purposes I sort players by the position they played the most in their careers

 

For Pitchers its much the same, separating them into SP and Relievers.  Single season highlights like Wins, K’s, ERA, WHIP and Seasons with High Win %. Career numbers are the same with points for Awards and All-Star games.

Relievers are much the same with Saves and Games/IP’s being counted in their total score.

 

Here are the best and worst players from each position for comparison (season Elected-HOF Score)

DH-Only 1

MiguelJacquez -24-242  Monster Power bat, but not a great Run Producer (One season scored 84 runs while hitting 51 homers) Only two seasons with over 60 walks. No help on the defensive side.

1^st Basemen (7 total)

GeraldNomura-23-674 Name an award and he probably won it. In 16 + seasons he only had 2 that weren't truly incredible.

Billy RayLane-38-262 Workhorse power bat that with nearly 3000 hits and 2000 RBI.  Lackluster fielder with a Plus Minus of -113 at First base

Left Fielders (8 Total)

LanceWirth-18-378   Incredible Power Speed Combo 500 Homers/700 Steals, Bad corner Outfielder who could have been a great 1st baseman

OberGomez-27-163  700 Freaking homers and almost 2000 RBI!!! Also struck out a lot and got caught stealing too often. Also one of the worst fielders in the world 

Right Fielders (5 Total)

RobinFonville-28-482  Another dynamic player who won everything from MVP's to Gold Gloves. Also a great Walk to Strikeout ratio. 

EdTreadway-39-183  Great offensive player with both power and speed. Bad defender

2^nd Basemen (4 Total)

AdamPierce-25-470  Not only the most potent bat to play 2nd base (623 homers) was also an incredible fielder at both 2nd base and CF (213+ Plays)

Dante Sasaki-22-402 Great batter with almost 500 homers and doubles. Also stole 275 bases. Serviceable defender

3^rd Basemen (4 Total)

Emmanuel Gardel-32-470    Could do it all, run, hit and field. One of the better all around players in the HOF

Bart Drese-42-341  Aside from being a little heavy on the strikeouts Drese was a great player. The 273 avg was a little low but he was a 30-30 guy with a good glove so get over it.

Centerfielders (1 Total)

Al Carrasquel-20-477 500 Homers-300 Steals and a Gold Glove CF'er Only CF in the HOF but he is a good one 

Shortstops (2 Total)

Steve Roosevelt-40-380  Maybe the only SS to ever win the HRD.  500 career homers and a very good defender

Alex Cervelli-27-319   

Catchers (2 Total)     Better all around hitter then Roosevelt  but not a great fielder at SS

Wandy Gonzales-26-474   Catcher who could play everyday, Not a great pitch caller or thrower but could hit like a mother

Davey Torres-37-311  Another sweet swinging catcher, a small step below Wandy with the bat but maybe a slightly stronger defender.

Starting Pitchers (17 Total)

Cy Bristow-24-493  Up and down an Amazing Pitcher, even won a Silver Slugger

Bert Bechler-36-224   Power pitcher that barely won more games then he lost. Also gave up almost 500 homers

Relievers (5 Total)

Gil Gibson-39-601 Once saved 46 of 48 while sporting a 0.87 ERA

Pedro Ordonez-37-347   Quality closer whose career numbers dont look as good thanks to a handful of bad seasons towards the end 

When we get our new candidates for the next vote I will give a thorough breakdown of who I feel is the front runners for this years election.

Season 42 Rule V Draft Retrospective

Rule V Retrospective via goldenboy00

Just one mans opinion on the Ten Best Seasons put up by this years class of Rule Five Players

#10.  Mike Wilson  Pawtucket-21st   A late rule 5 pick, Wilson turned in fairly solid season. Ate up 79 innings mostly out of the Pen with good K:BB and K/9 . ERA was a tad high and will probably find himself drifting back and forth between ML and AAA for the rest of his career

#9. Tim Tonkin  Sacramento-1st   First player selected Tonkin had a very good season defensively.  Tossing out 42% of runners and a catchers ERA of 3.93  Didn’t do much with a bat, but should carve out a nice career as a platoon catcher or defensive SUB

#8. Al Crede-Salem-13th   The 23 year old was a nice find for Salem’s bullpen, 42 k’s in 58 IP while sporting a solid 4.37 ERA. Crede projects to be a solid bullpen arm for years to come

#7. Nicholas O’Dowd-Scotsdale-4th   Nick didn’t not have a great season when you look at his ERA (5.32) and WHIP (1.55)  but he did fill up the back end of the rotation for Scotsdale with 182 IP while striking out 143 and only walking 57.  He is a good candidate for a better season to come with a shot at 200 IP and double digit wins

#6. Brian Jacquez-Trenton-12th   35 steals and an solid .285 AVG with a .335 OBP.   Brian doesn’t do much else with the bat but as Pinch runner and defensive sub for COF/1st he should provide some value for a few seasons

#5. Dallas Easley-Pawtucket-10th   Another solid pick by Burk as Easley came through with 13 homers and 22 steals.  He may only end up being a platoon player at COF but grabbing one of those in the Rule 5 is always handy

#4. Alex Wang-Houston-28th   Andyr104 grabbed 5 players in the draft and this was the second best of the bunch.  Taken very late (actually the 2nd last player) Wang smashed 18 homers in just 256AB’s   He will be a bad SS or a solid 3rd baseman. His power will play well at almost any position.

#3. Pat Turner-New Orleans-11th  The best season by a Rule 5 pitcher, Turner threw 115 IP with a solid 1.18 WHIP and 2.90 ERA  Turner could work his way into the starting rotation as early as next season.

#2. Dilson Montanez-Houston-9th  Another solid pick by Andy, Dilson is maybe the most dynamic player taken.  17 homers and 11 steals with a .279 AVG and a 353 OBP.  If he could learn to run the bases a little better would be a truly great player

#1. Sam Aducci-Las Vegas-3rd   Sam didn’t have a crazy good season with the bat 13 homers/21 steals paired with a .227 AVG   He did however have a great season with the Glove. 26 plus plays in CF against 0 Negative plays. He may never hit higher then 9th but a 30 steal Gold Glove CF’er isn’t a bad guy to have in the 9 hole.

Power Rankings 12/23/2021

 

Commentary

The NL Playoff Race is mostly settled by this point, with the Scranton Schrutes as the only non-playoff team left in contention, though their path at 5 games back is narrow with only 7 games remaining. 

The only other NL teams whose fortunes could change are the Montreal Smoked Heaters and Syracuse Syndicate, who are separated by only 1 game in the NL North.

Conversely, three of the AL division races could swing in the season's final three days, with 4 games separating the Cincinnati Boom Sticks and Minnesota Millers, just 1 game separating the Baltimore Dry Docks and Iowa City Small Bears, and 2 games between the Mexico City Diablos and Atlanta Mental Patients.

Additionally, Minnesota, Iowa City, and the Tampa Bay Water Dogs are locked in a dead heat for the final AL wild card spot.

AL North and East Draft Grades!

 

Cincinnati Boom Sticks                   Grade: D+

Rd.1/Pck.27 Player Profile: Josh Mays - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.2/Pck.86 Player Profile: Sean Lasker - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

Cincinnati came into Draft night with 4 picks in the top 100, but was only able to sign two. At 27, Cincinnati picked slugger Josh Mays. Mays has very good hitting potential, but with an injury history the size of a CVS receipt, his health is a major concern for his future.

Minnesota Millers                           Grade: C-

Rd.1/Pck.17 Player Profile: Hooks Malone - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.1/Pck.46 Player Profile: Kenneth Girardi - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.2/Pck.71 Player Profile: Keith Wilkinson - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

In the first round, Minnesota selected two similar pitchers. Malone; a righty, has a little more potential then Girardi. Though Malone has a below average pitching reparatory, His VR and control can land him at the back end of a rotation.  With a second round selection, Wilkinson could be a decent bat at the plate versus lefties and a good base runner. With low contact and well below average eye, expect a lot of strike outs.

 

Pawtucket Terriers                          Grade: B+

Rd.1/Pck.14 Player Profile: Herman Bootcheck - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.1/Pck.44 Player Profile: Jedd Nappo - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.10/Pck.326 Player Profile: Joe Becker - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

In the first round Pawtucket selected the steal of the draft, Herman Bootcheck. A hard throwing righty out of Edison Community College, Bootcheck has a well-developed fastball and a developing slider. Solid VR/VL and decent control. He should be able to fill in at the top of the rotation as Player Profile: Hong-Chih Jung - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports career whines down. In the tenth round, Becker was given DITR which makes him a viable catcher for the minors. He should be able to help grow those young pitchers in Pawtuckets minors.

Rochester Whippets                       Grade: C-

 

Rd.1/Pck. 11 Player Profile: Don Wakeland - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

In the first round, Rochester selected Don Wakeland. With strong abilities in the field, at the plate, and on the base path; the only thing holding him back is his health. Wakeland plays a very demanding position and alongside a 162 game schedule, he may spend more time on the DL then on the field.

Baltimore Dry Docks                       Grade: A-

Rd.1/Pck.20 Player Profile: Juan Padilla - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.1/Pck.36 Player Profile: Kenneth Langston - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.1/Pck.40 Player Profile: Aubrey Franco - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.2/Pck.55 Player Profile: Wily Mo McGrady - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.2/Pck.57 Player Profile: Bum O'Halloran - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

With three first round picks, Baltimore was able to find 3 MLB future contributors. With their first pick, Baltimore drafted closer Juan Padilla. At 18 yrs old, Padilla lacks control but showcases a lively fastball, topping 95 on the gun, and a developing circle change. Padilla may never be able to fill a MLB closer role, but should be able to bridge the gap to the 9^th. With the 36 pick, Langston has the making of a back end SP, goof VR and a developing fast ball. With their last first round pick, 22 year old Aubrey Franco has the body of a corn stalk and may fit better in Iowa. Standing 6’7 buck 90, he show cases good range and a decent glove, subpar bat but at second base shouldn’t be too much of a drag. In round 2 Baltimore did a nice job drafting two players who can help his minors be competitive.

Indianapolis Swinging Hoosiers  Grade: C+

Rd.1/Pck.7 Player Profile: David Velazquez - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.1/Pck.41 Player Profile: Mac Kidd - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.2/Pck.62 Player Profile: Lewis Hallman - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.3/Pck.95 Player Profile: Paul Scalici - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.4/Pck127 Player Profile: Kendrys Trevino - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.5/Pck.159 Player Profile: Hank Winn - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.22/Pck.703 Player Profile: Rafael Sanabia - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

Season 42 was a much better draft haul and approach then last season for the Hoosiers. With the 7^th overall pick, Indy selected David Velazquaz, a soft throwing lefty that has wicked movement on his curveball. With good control and VL split for his age, he should develop nicely into a ML asset. With their second first round pick, Kidd doesn’t have any flashy pitches but should have no problem filling an AAAA role. Indy did a nice job with the rest of their picks filling out the minor league roster with cheap competent players who may be able to fill in for injuries. 

Iowa City Small Bears                     Grade: D+

Rd.2/Pck.76 Player Profile: Hal Carey - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

With no first round pick for the second straight year, there is no Clem Craig to salvage Iowa’s draft. In the second round, Iowa selected Hal Carey, a groundball pitching lefty. Carey has decent splits for a lefty but with no pitching flash and control, he is more likely to throw it into the ground then over the plate.

 

Pittsburgh Pilots                               Grade: C

Rd.1/Pck.18 Player Profile: William Sullivan - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Rd.7/Pck233 Player Profile: Larry Fick - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

 

William Sullivan at 18 seems to be a good pick for Pittsburgh, a DH with some pop and solid VR/VL. Though the Pilots already have two young studs at first base and DH, not sure where he will end up in the lineup. In round 7, Pitts. Selected 19 yr. old second basemen Larry Fick. Fick has better potential in CF with his well-developed range and speed. He will have better success against lefties then righties as he matures. 

 

Power Rankings 12/14/2021

 

Commentary

The AL South is streaking, with three of its four teams making up this week's biggest risers. The AL East and Wild Card races gained some clarity over the last week, but remain jumbled. The NL North is a close race between the Montreal Smoked Heaters and the Syracuse Syndicate, though division races in the rest of the NL are all but officially wrapped up.

Top Risers

The Atlanta Mental Patients have won 9 of 10, climbing 6 spots in these rankings and comfortably in a Wild Card spot, despite a 3 game deficit in the division.

The Tampa Bay Water Dogs have also climbed 6 spots after winning 6 of 10, but remain 7 games out of the division lead and 2 games out of the second Wild Card.

Mexico City, Baltimore, and Iowa City each climbed 5 spots in these rankings, with the Diablos strengthening their grip on the AL South, the Dry Docks surging into a tie for 1st place in the AL East, and the Small Bears working their way back into the playoff conversation.

Top Fallers

The Minnesota Millers have dropped 8 of 10 and 6 in a row, falling from 6th in the power rankings to 18th and losing their playoff position. They are 3 games back of the second wild card and 4 games back of the AL North-leading Cincinnati Boom Sticks.

The New Orleans Breeze have lost 6 of 10 and can now virtually guarantee that they will miss the playoffs at 15 games out of the division lead and 11 games back of the second wild card.

The Pittsburgh Pilots have dropped 4 in a row and 7 of 10 to fall from first place to last in the very tight AL East race, yet remain only 3 games back of the division and the second wild card.