| 2007 DRAFT RECAP AND GRADES |
| TEAM BEN SMIFF predraft: ben smith is coming off a dissapointing season. many had him pegged for a number of sbl achievements, from regular season homerun champ to first-team all american, and even as high as player of the year. ben, save one glorious week in the playoffs and a round of getting hot in the homerun derby, failed to produce, and should be looking to re-establish himself as one of the greats in the game this summer. a good start was when matt mcclelland was announced as the first player to join team smith. in matt, ben has a tough as nails inside player who gets more assists and double plays than he probably should, a terrific on-court leader with both championship and player of the year experience, and perhaps most importantly, a .600 hitter to bat behind and notch rbi after rbi. the second player to join smith was defensing rookie of the year ray cataline. though he won the tark trophy in his first campaign, a few sbl insiders actually thought cataline had a dissapointing 2006. he showed up for only half of his teams games, and didn't really find his touch until late in the season, pretty much winning the tark by default. with ray undergoing some life changes over the past 6 months, it's anyone's guess as to how reliable he'll be this season (tho he claims to be an every-weeker), and how he'll hold up to the leagues substance abuse program. the final player chosen to join team smith pre-draft was quite a shocker. jamie moroco, who certainly won't be buying any "best friends" jewelry with ben smith anytime soon, grudgingly went to smith as one of the last players selected by the sbl offices. moroco, a hall of famer and one of the most consistent offensive forces in the league, will round out one of the best offenses in the game should she be comfortable playing in for this team. as moroco has shown before, she's much less of a plyer if she doesn't like the situation she's in. it should be interesting to watch this team's chemistry over the season. pick 6: ben had everyone scratching their heads with the selection of rookie matt battyani in round one. with a number of notable players still on the board, including derek lockovich, steve condo, lenny crist and even jeremy battyani, taking a risk on a rookie who by all accounts probably won't be any better than his little brother makes one wonder exactly what ben had smoked prior to making this choice. perhaps ben was just impressed with matt's beer pong abilities? pick 9: another draft, another selection of stud frankovich in the second round by ben smith. well at least this time, ben already had a solid starting rotation to lean on. if stud should show up, a teddy ballgame-sized if, he's one of the best homerun guys in the league. pick 20: as ben said himself when making his selection of erin hayden: "i need more hot girls". well he certainly did what he aimed to with this one, as everyone's favorite geisha will add a ton of sexy to this squad. question is, will the volatile hayden, who dropped her own team last season like i dropped the ball on my ncaa bracket this year even bother showing up to baseketball anymore? who knows. i haven't seen or heard from her in eons. pick 23: jeanne mentrek, who was the only player at the draft who could actually hear her name get called, finally went off the board at pick 23. jeanne, who isn't a rookie believe it or not, appeared in one game last season. given her .222 batting average, it's no wonder you've forgotten about her. pick 34: another famale rookie, marci jones, goes off the board one pick before the last one. many may better know marci as the yin to sbl batting un-champion brendan radcliffe's yang, but she's probably way, way better. GRADE: C dude, seriously. matt battyani? in the first round? true, i've never seen thsi guy shoot a basketball, and true, i love him cause he's cool as hell. but the kid can't make a beerpong cup 4 feet away, and you want to waste a first-round pick on him? i hope to god you know something i don't know, especially when jamie, matt and ray all have huge question marks around their attendance this season. i have no problem with the picks of stud, marci and erin at all. stud is worth the risk at 9, tho i don't think anyone would bet on him playing a game this year. erin has earned her spot in this league no matter what anyone thinks, and besides nate tomko, nobody tries harder than she does. finally, marci could well be a player of the year darkhorse, as she has basketball playing experience and is engaged to a player who wants to come as often as it takes to get his batting average below .000. jeanne mentrek will come often enough, but she'll most likely be wearing yellow mesh most of the time. or at least ben better hope so, because if he's counting on her (or erin or matt, for that matter) in a starting role, his season is going nowhere. seriously? matt at pick 6? |
| TEAM KIP CORBETT predraft: kippy has proven he can coach a team before, as he had the milf hunters in command of the sbl in 2003. the problem is kippy has yet to prove he can captain a team for an entire season, as those very same milf hunters who dominated through the first 8 weeks of 2003 crashed and burned over the final few weeks of the season, culminating in an embarassing 2-0 sweep in the playoffs in which his best player walked out in mid-game to toke up. corbett got off to a much better- and more reliable start in his second venture into captaining, as greg lackey was the first player named to join his squad. glackey is a former sbl most improved player who is still on his way up, and should provide kip with a solid leadoff hitter and defender to lean on. in addition, greg will provide some much needed psyche-outs for the stellar defense behind him, something kippy's team really failed to acquire with each pick beyond him. sbl rookie tony mastrian became the first and only freshman added predraft when the second round of selections were announced. mastrian, as many know, is not only a former basketball player with a killer jump shot, but also resides at the sbl world headquarters. those in attendance at hoffa centre last weekend got a sneak peak at the rookie's baseketball skills, and the italian stallion more than lived up to the hype, in spite of playing with bryan frankovich more often than not. with an very strong duo already surrounding him, kippy really stumbled into some luck when terry shernisky was announced as the fourth and final predraft addition to his team. twice a player of the year finalist, sherry is without a doubt one of the elite baseketballers in the shenangahela, and will benefit team corbett in every manner imaginable. moreso, sherry will adds a ton of consistency to a team whose players include a pair of up-and-down guys in corbett and glack, and an unproven rookie. heading into the draft, corbett had few holes to fill. let's see how he did. pick 4: with one momentous pick kippy not only loaded his team with explosive newcomers, but also sensational shernisky's. lou shernisky, who i know to be just as nice a guy as his little brother terry, went off the board with the 4th pick. and while his personality cannot be doubted, the big question mark will be his play. lou himself has admitted he's no terry when it comes to shooting the pill, but it's hard to imagine anyone who grew up in the same house, ate the same meals, and worshipped the same xenu could be that far off. pick 11: with a solid starting four and a rookie named shernisky heading up the bench, the risk of snatching up justin shaffer in the second round could be considered well worth it. it's no secret that the man formerly known as fred lives on the left coast, but he always makes sure to come back for at least one week each summer. and the skills? he's a former poty candidate! pick 18: kippy proved just how much unproven scares him (not at all) when he added a third sbl rookie to his team in round 3. "nittany" jay geletka gives corbett another solid, athletic rookie to go to in a pinch. however, with sbl president tomko recently quitting the nitt, how in touch with the league will geletka be? pick 25: jason jennings is a great person, and he works with kip, so he has two things going for him. unfortunately, he's not so good at baseketball (his only career hit was assisted), and he hates hugs, so both of those are working against him. pick 32: one has to question the addition of a player whose only goal this season is to miss every shot he attempts. brendan radcliffe is that person, and kip added him in the last round. GRADE: B greg is a capable leadoff hitter, sherry and tony should provide the outside punch, kip has had a reputation for hitting the big shot, and each member of the team can play the D. with what i consider the most dangerous starting four in the league, kippy had plenty of room to move in the draft. the first round pick of lou shernisky just makes sense. someone would have snagged him before kip's 11th pick would have rolled around based on last name alone. if he's even half, hell, a third the player his brother is, he's more than worth a first-round selection. shaffer would have been gone before kip's nest pick, too, and even one week fred isn't a stretch at the point kip took him. anytime you get player of the year stuff as your 6th man you should be stoked. kip's last three rounds were lacking, but so was the talent available. who knows if geletka will still be part of the baseketball crew come may, jennings hasn't proven himself to be anything but a bum on the baseketball court, and his ability makes radcliffe look like a preschooler. but at least the last two were close friends of both the captain and the league, so any problems with skill are minimalized. good overall job. |