2008 DRAFT RECAP AND GRADES
VOLTRON
predraft: voltron captain billy weisberg certainly had a lot to build on heading into 2008.  he's coming off his best year as a baseketballer, which is pretty impressive for someone who has been on every single all-star team since the league's inception and is generally considered one of the best ever to play the game.
  billy's first addition this spring was defending rookie of the year
gavin st. john.  after being smuggled into the league by bryan frankovich last year, gavin used a steady and consistent approach, remeniscent of weisberg himself, to outmuscle george kovac, tony mastrian and bob spohn for honors last season.  in gavin, weisberg has a player very similair to himself; he hits for a fair average and can step back behind to the home line if needed, he's a solid and selfless defensive player, and he's as quick as lightning.
  the second addition to team weisberg brought some 2007 bling with him as well.
jamie fabian is coming off of his breakout season in which he garnered most improved player honors.  jamie's 2007 stats doubled those of every season he had played in before, most importantly his games played total which was at the magical number of 20.
  finally, to give a bit of size to the smallish voltron squad, weisberg was blessed with
mike frankovich in the final round of predraft acquisitions.  while m.frank won't put up a bunch of double plays, his size is enough to knock away opposing tip-ins, and under the tutelage of weisberg, mike could become one of the premiere defensive players in the game.
  with a solid starting four already on board, weisberg had little to do heading into the draft.  he's got a pretty reliable team, tho nobody can really say for sure when it comes to fabian, that should be consistent of both sides of the ball.  a good homerun threat would be nice, as would a wide body underneath. 
mike frankovich and gavin st. john would be doing the picking for weisberg.
 
pick 3: jared clayton almost single-handidly turned around pj & the ladies last season, and with little in doubt in terms of attndance, team weisberg could certainly roll the dice on clayton.  he won't be here much, but voltron could get about 4 weeks and maybe some in the playoffs out of the hall of famer.  clayton is a beast on both sides of the ball, and may be the best in the game in terms of tip-ins.

pick 12: mike frankovich obviously liked the taste of winning his first sbl championship last season, as both of his first picks had big games, tho not a lot of promise in terms of showing up regularly. tony mastrian, who came into the league with a ton of hoopla last season, was well on his way to a rookie of the year award before a fallout with sbl president tomko shunned him for the late summer.  tony is once again cool with all that is the sbl, but he's now a pittsburgh resident, which should prevent him from coming regularly.  four weeks is likely.

pick 17:  though he won't be laying claim to any player of the year honors in 2008, i like the addition of jeremy battyani in round 3.  he can be counted on to fill out a roster on short notice, and he's certainly got the skill to be a fair hitter in this league as he showed during his most improved player finalist campaign of 2005 

pick 26: valerie taylor is local, bats around .300,  and she showed up for a handful of games late in 2007 when pj&l were having trouble getting a full team.  perfect for a fourth round player.  plus, she's a chick, which technically voltron didn't have up to this point.

pick 31:  i'm a fan of the addition of derk lockovich in the final round.  he's skill set certainly merits a higher pick than 31.


GRADE: A-
gavinovich certainly passed where weisberg has failed before, and heading into 2008 voltron is much better off than they would have been had their captain done their drating.  after billy's disasterous draft last year (joel lepak in rd. 1, jabidd in 2, katie burger in 3... and none of them played a single game) it probably wasn't a coincidence he had to work at 3 on a sunday afternoon this time around.
as i said before, with the starting four they had on board, voltron could gamble with clayton and mastrian in the beginning.  the last three picks were spent on roster-fillers who can be counted to on show up and play- and play well- if the starters cannot make it for some reason... like being in kent.
  more big ups for:  pairing cousins battyani and fabian, snatching one of the top12 players in the draft in the last round, and becoming the first team ever to feature a previous rookie of the year and a most improved player on the same roster the following season.. how much upside is that?
  my big question... if you wanted a stud in the first round, why take a clayton from texas over an esenwein that lives 3 blocks away?
FEAR THE SUN
predraft: as the last captain to throw his hat in the ring, sbl president in training kippy corbett has been playing catch-up all spring.  with his draft this past sunday, kip put the final touches on his roster and is certainly no longer in the back of the sbl pack.
  with the 'steady as she goes' corbett at the helm, this roster got a huge shake up with it's first addition, human psyche out
dennis lackey.  lackey is the polar opposite of steady, as in his career he's alternated phenomenal seasons with subpar ones, frequently going from player of the year consideration to yellow mesh regular.  the good news for corbett is that it's an even year, which means dlack should be on an upswing, hopefully to the tune of his 20gp 70rbi campaign of 2004.
  following lackey in the predraft announcements was another up and down player, perennial all-star
ben smith. unlike dlackey, who'se been ona lifetime rollercoaster ride,  smith's up and downs are usually relegated to seasons, and sometimes even games or innings.  he's the only player in sbl history to be nominated for player of the year honors and least valuable player in the same game.  will kippy be getting 6 for 9, 5 homer, 10 rbi ben this year or 1 for 10, 5 dumb thing smith?  probably a little of both.
  the last acquisition for team corbett had to be the happiest of all for kip.  preseason rookie of the year favorit
chuck muszik was the last to join up, and immediatley gives fear the sun credibility under the glass.  muszik should be the biggest player in the paint this summer, fundamental and athletic with size that the weisbergs and shernisky's of the league will envy.  the big question about muszik will be his shooting, but if smith, dlack and kippy are stroking, he'll havee time to get in rythym.
  as with many other captains, reliability was kippy's big issure heading into the draft, as dennis is about as unreliable as can be and muszik is an unproven rook.  however, picking up a steady shooter who will consitently get on base should be another top priority.

pick 4: dank elly gives team corbett more of what they already have and then some.  dank is obviously a huge risk in terms of showing up, and he's also very up in down in terms of play.  that being said, dank brings a level of athleticism- and scrumming- that this team doesn't have a lot of yet.  a justifiable first pick.

pick 11: snatched up way earlier than i would have liked (because i wanted to get him about 3 rounds later, ass) was daryll yeager. he's athletic- i've played football with him before, and works at the baseketball factory that is quaker steak and lube.  unfortunately for me, he dates kippy's sister which i didn't know, so kippy stole him from me.

pick 18:  i said earlier that this team needed a consistent on base guy, and in my opinion john offutt is just that.  think of him like a pudgy danielle hennon- he's gonna shoot a ton of singles, make about half of them, and never complain about playing time or not getting to shoot glorious homeruns. 

pick 25:  with a nice foundation of fairly reliable players on board, and not a lot left to choose from, kippy made a pretty good selection with jimmy holl in round four.  he was the most athletic player left on the board, and one of only a few who actually still lives in this state.

pick 32: like pj nespor years ago, kippy decided that some good things come in packages, like the former all-star duo of jason biddle and justin shaffer.  for the sake of the sbl, i hope these guys show up at least once this season and blow those of you who haven't had a chance to see them in action away.



GRADE: A
kippy did a great job in rounding out his roster, as he always has as a captain.
  he got a proven commodity in round one; a rookie who could push muszik for r.o.t.y. on this team, much less the sbl in round 2; exactly what he needed in selfless close-hitter offutt in round 3; the best available athlete in round 4; and 2 names synonymous with the early sbl with his final pick!
  a few minor concerns from me, because that's what it's all about as far as i'm concerned.  first, why no girls?  second, why not a can of nair for smith?
  that's about it.
  good job kippy!
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