| 2008 DRAFT RECAP AND GRADES |
| B.FRANK SUXX predraft: bryan frankovich will be captaining an sbl squad for the third time in as many seasons this summer, but for the first time in his life he'll be able to tell people he's doing it as a world champion. as captain of hot fuzz last year, the sbl's resident second banana finally broke the curse that has seemingly hexed him for years. since he burst onto the scene in the spring of 2003, bryan had yet to win any substantial sbl award... not a championship, not a player of the year, not rookie of the year, not a playoff m.v.p., not even a lackey of the year award. but all that changed last summer, and now one of the best players in league history has something he hasn't heading into a season- self-sonfindence. joining frankovich will be 2-time all-star aryn christman, who has to be considered the captain of the year last season after guiding her very flaky team to a berth in the sbl finals, winning game after game with a patchwork group of sbl'ers week in and week out. christman bats for a ridiculous average and should provide b.frank with all the runners he needs to drive in to make a run at another sbl title, or perhaps a player of the year award. in addition, christman is a solid defender, perhaps the best female in a league full of goofy, uncoordinated males. also on b.frank's ship this summer is homerun aficianado lee nespor. though le shrugged his reputation as a one-dimensional homer reginging wonder last season, that was probably more out of neccesity than desire. expect lee to get back to what he's best at this summer... popping from deep and cracking nate up with absurd psyche-out attempts. finally, shitty bryan coached team will be airded by louis shernisky. the elder brother of the best offensive player in the business isn't quite on par with terry, but is far from a slouch. in his debut campaign last year, lou batted a very respectable .495, and with one year under his belt he could give this squad a trio of batters hitting over .500. in addition, lou will give frank help inside, as both lee and aryn will struggle against the more athletic teams in the sbl. b.frank may have a more solid foundation to build on this season than he did last. he heads into the draft with a perennial all-star already on board, but most importantly with 3 very likeable players who will make his team less despised by the world than usual. pick 5: though it's hard to argue with this pick, something about ben elliott at 5 just doesn't sit right with me. first of all, talent-wise, is ben the right choice? he's shown tons of potential in his career, actually winning the 2005 sbl fall classic m.v.p. honors. however, his play of late has been far more down than up, and without playing on a regular basis (he'll be living at i.u.p. this summer) can we expect him to turn things around. the biggest question is will ben, who has openly stated his disdain for the young frankovich, be willing to play at all for this drill sergeant of a captain? pick 10: john davidson is coming off a rookie season that showed tons of potential. in eight games, john batted .359 and tipped in 4 double plays, but consistently hit big shots throughout the summer. if he gets enough p.t. this year, j.d. could blossom into a most improved player contender. pick 19: if ben smith couldn't get bryan's cousin stud frankovich to come, maybe bryan can. stud is a homerun producing dyanmo, but hasn't played more than a handful of games in the last few seasons. if he'll come even half the time for bryan, a starting lineup of b and s.frank and aryn christman will be nearly unbeatable. pick 24: as if this team couldn't get any deeper, b.frank pulled the trigger on elysa farrell and her .600 average- in round 4!!! the bad news is that there is no freakin' way she'll ever come to play on team frank. pick 33: with ben elliott already onboard, snatching big ando kall at the end of the draft made sense. he's a decent offensive player, at least from the middle lines, and will be a tank to deal with in scrums. but, ando do what ben do, and now ben might have enough muscle to execute a mutiny on his captain if he so chooses. GRADE: C+ as usual, bryan didn't exactly blow me away with his drafting prowess. sure, he probably got a skill set that was second to none in the sbl. between elliott, stud, elysa and ando, frank practically raped the talent from the rest of the league. however, i don't see ben, ando or elysa ever, ever suiting up for this squad. perhaos stud will, but it definately won't be with any regularity. perhaps he was just trying to keep the best players off other rosters, but he'll be wishing he hadn't done that if he ever comes up short staffed (which probably happens a lot! ha!) for talent, bryan gets an A. for drafting people who will actually play for him, an F. average them out and you get a C. the plus is for john davidson, cause i like him. |
| THE LASER CATS predraft: obviously, before any players were named to rosters, this team was at an advantage. terry shernisky was the best captain heading into 2008, an absolute beast on the offensive side with defense right with the upper echilon of the sbl. his first predraft acquisition was second year player bob spohn, who in his rookie campaign with double stuf made it all the way to the championship series... before sleeping thorugh it whilst his team got trounced. since then, spohn has found a new girlfriend who occupies all his time, so it seems as though spohn would be categorized as "not real likely to show" at best. however, the decent-at-everything, not-great-at-anything spohn has pledged his allegiance to shernisky and the sbl this summer, so we'll see how things go. second to join the laser cats was rookie and spohn coworker billy deforest. while nobody, save a select few, have ever seen billy in any sort of sport other than beerpong, he's a swell guy and a regular at the parties at the sbl world headquarters, and even if he's total mud when it comes to baseketball will still be awesome to have in the league. after two acquisitions were in the bag, shernisky had gone from the top of the league all the way to the bottom, as nobody really knows what to expect from either deforest or spohn. that all changed when the sbl offices announced defending 3-time player of the year nate tomko as sherry's final teammate. little needs to be said about the sbl hall of famer that isn't already known. he's the best all-around player in the game, as capable on offense as he is on defense, and just as likely to kill you with a timely homer, assist, or psyche-out. the lone thing to worry about with tomko heading into 2008 is if he'll be around enough- or at the right time- to win a left eye. work will undoubtedly keep him away from the shenangahela at some point this summer, and an early august lube opening will absolutely wreak havoc on this teams chances. sherry needed help going into the draft. even with the two best players in the game, this team was not the favorite. lots of holes needed filled, notably someone to drain the close shots and set up the big guns, but also someone to step in and fill nate's shoes when he isn't around. pick 6: andy esenwein will help out in at least one of those areas. at one time, the mohawked youngster was the heir apparant to tomko, long before shernisky was lighting it up at his current pace. just as he began to reach his pique, esenwein all but fell off the earth, heading to the army and missing pretty much every game of the last four seasons. he's back in the valley now, as athletically gifted as ever, and looking to pick up right where he left off; nailing big shots from outside and pushing nate (and now terry) to be the best all-around player in the game. pick 9: bob spohn's cousin and a fourth lube employee, second year man tim martin finds a home in the second round. martin is another athletic body, but he struggled with his shot as a member of double stuf last year, batting .333. he did hit 5 homers, and if he can continue to improve, he's got all the tools to be an all-star for years to come. pick 20: zach kaikis goes off the board here. don;t really know much about him, but sherry took him to prevent frankovich from getting his prized ringer with the next pick. days into season: -14, frankovich screwjobs: 1 pick 23: so he won't be around much this summer, that's obvious. but why on earth was pat lackey still on the board at 23? after jeanne mentrek? after jeremy battyani? for shame, sbl... have you no sense of decency?!? he's coming off a career year! if he comes once he's an insane asset! come on! .552 with 70+ rbi! if you take a chance on jared clayton or tony mastrian, why not roll the dice on plack!? jesus! pick 34: team sherinsky continued pillaging the draft of it's top players with the selection of FORMER PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST TERRY WAREHAM IN THE LAST ROUND! GRADE: B+ so they didn't get their high-percentage single/double hitter (though time will tell if deforest can do it, spohn or martin can be trained to do it, or tomko or shernisky has to step in and do it), but they pretty much stole this draft, even while using a middle round pick to fuck frankovich. esenwein was, not only the best overall player of the board, but more likely to come than any of the other top-tier talent. martin is, if he breaks out, capable of being a starter on any squad, plackey is a living legend, and wareham is a FORMER PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALIST THAT WE GOT IN THE LAST ROUND! and if b.frank entered kaikis into the draft, he's got to be good. think pat o'mahoney, dennis lackey, gavin st. john.... you get the idea. still, it would be unfair of me not to take into account the pissing away of the three pick and failing to get someone who has been proven from the single stripe. |