| 2006 TEAM-BY-TEAM DRAFT RECAP AND GRADES |
| BUKKAKE TSUNAMI predraft: big rando knight, finally free of the curse of the ladies, decided to venture out onto his own this year. as a second-time captain (though some might say technically this is his first time as a captain, as the ladies weren't real big on "chain of command"), knight set out to prove he's more than just a somewhat talented goofball who would still be championship-less had it not been for the tomko-weisberg connection last season. however, the big one was not about to just sacrifice the repuation he had spent years devoloping. rando needed good players, but he also needed good characters. the first person rando selected was ben smith, a player of the year finalist last season with a crushing outside shot and better than expected defensive abilities whose hard-drinking, not afraid to hump attitude more than fit what bukkake tsunami was looking for. next came pat lackey, one of those players nobody would really consider elite in spite of the fact he's, over the past 3 seasons, put up numbers few can compare with, averaging 7 homers, a .464 average, 58 ribbies and 15 double plays, increasing his totals each year. this could be the season pat finally breaks through, making him a real darkhorse for player of the year in this lineup. the final piece of the pre-draft puzzle, kurt rodemoyer, came as somewhat a suprise, though maybe it shouldn't have. kurt is a solid leadoff hitter, definately an area the first three would have struggled in, and makes sense from a character perspective. plus, at the time, rando had wrangled k-unit away from fellow captain/brother jeff knight, which was a plesent bonus. pick 1: the tsunami's selection of pat nespor certainly lightened the average weight of the team, but it was a common sense pick, as nespor was the most reliable decent player on the board. i could see him filling in the leadoff slot in case k-unit, the teams least reliable starter, would fail to show. a good first selection; patrick would have been of the board within 2 picks anyway. pick 14: stud frankovich is a men among boys, literally. the man-beast is about as likely to show up as tark, sure. but if he does come, he'll certainly piss of ben smith by taking (and making) a few of those homers. with his starting five locked up, it's hard to pass on a top-10 talent. pick 15: besides, you can take a risk on a player of stud's calibur if you have back-to-back selections, which is exactly what bukkake tsunami did. after taking the talented risk, they went with a less skilled, but certainly more reliable choice in jamie fabian. the other fabes, who spent much of last year hovering at l.v.p. status, turned up his game significantly down the stretch and should improve this year. and hell, if he doesn't, he'll still be a regular at all the after-basketball fires. pick 28: adam fabian: always selected, rarely in attendance. he came once last year for knight's ladies, and lit up the board as a member of jukebox. not looking to sully his reputation as an all-star, fabes never showed again. can big rando and co. get one more good week this season. time will tell. pick 29: john offutt, the only rookie selected for this squad, shoots the teams average weight back into the stratosphere, certainly something that will make big rando proud. he's in fairly tight with the basketball crew, working at the lube and playing frisbee with the jon olsavsky crowd, so it should be interesting to see how things pan out here. GRADE: B big rando has certainly accomplished what he set out to do this season, build the perfect pj & the ladies-like team that won't be at the top of everyone's list to finish last. i question their ability to score runs, as they really lack a true leadoff hitter- someone who can consistently get on base and isn't too big on being the hero- though they have a couple of players in kurt and patrick who may be able to fill that void. the tsunami's defense will be it's forte, as they can throw at least 4 big bodies out there on any given sunday to box out, clearing the path for any member to get the tip-in. i have a hard time finding any weaknesses in this draft for knight. i'm somewhat upset he passed on joel lepak for stud and j.fabes, but i guess that's a sign that pj&l really are finished. it will be nice, however, to see rando one again playing alongside a p.nespor. |
| THE MINORI-TEAM predraft: after much deliberation about whether she actually could be a captain, erin hayden did a decent job of filling out her roster. not wanting to be someone's late-round pick and spend most of her time sitting on the pine as she did last season, erin (after a bit of prodding from nate) decided she'd make an attempt at it, first setting her sights on former player of the year matthew mcclelland. mac, never one to say no to a pretty face... or maybe it's that he can't say no to a chinese face.... quickly signed on, ensuring that at least team hayden would have at least one good player and not be the laughing stock of the league who followed matt was quite suprising, as erin won an underground bidding war with fellow female captain danielle hennon for the services of another former poty, hall of famer william seth weisberg. the addition of the jewish one, coupled with mcclelland, gives erin not only one of the best two-man defensive units in the league, but perhaps the best two-man scrum outfit going. after considering everyone from terry hall to jimmy holl, erin finally settled on last years most improved player runner-up jeremy battyani to round out her starting lineup. free of the temptation of steve mentrek AND the retardation on hoosier daddy last season, battyani became one of the games biggest suprises, carrying a .400 average with nearly 50 rbi for the team that finished second in the league. though her team definately had a solid foundation, erin needed some big picks in the draft for her squad to be considered a serious contender. unfortunately, not even erin could make it for the draft, so billy was left in charge: pick 2: billy picciotto went of the board with the second selection in the 2006 draft, and although billy remarked he had only chosen who he was told to, he seemed quite depressed pat nespor had been swiped from him one pick before. picc, though dissapointing in both attendance and performance last year, has the tools to be one of the best players in the league. if team hayden can harness the picciotto of 2004, they will have 3 sets of taleneted shoulders on which to rely. pick 13: erin was actually considering taking terry hall pre-draft, which would have been foolish considering that she got him late in the second round. the blackest player in the sbl (though aryn christman is making a run) is one of, if not the best, all-around athlete in the league, able to scrum, hit and play defense with the best of 'em. his biggest question mark is attendance, especially if there is a frisbee game anywhere in the valley, but this pick may be my choice for best of round two. pick 16: joel lepak is getting married in june, so one would assume he'll be in town for the first few weeks of the season getting wedding stuff done. if he does manage a couple weeks, well... pick 27: admittedly, the pickens were slim by round four. billy did a noble job of finding, at the very least, a good name, selecting sami lynn. sure, she's been out of touch for awhile, but she's sam. she deserves to be on someone's roster. pick 30: for some reason, addam stainbrook is constantly being chosen way too late. in 2004, everyone passed on him for half an hour until the already dominant double bluffs called his name, and last season, he actually went undrafted while the likes of dean catania (who?) and the unborn offspring of jeff knight and tessa lockovich got picked. this dude is a stud, a surefire all-star when he's around. who cares if he's in the army? the sbl is sick for not ever picking this guy. GRADE: B given that she was at an obvious disadvantage in terms of playing ability before the predraft phase ever got underway, this turned out pretty damn good for erin hayden. she locked up two probable all-stars, then added a plethora of talent during the draft. sure, you have to question the total lack of relationships between her players (who on this team has spoken to billy picciotto or terry hall since the end of last year?), but the fact of the matter is that erin needed good players, and she got what she needed. offensively, this team should be alright. if battyani could score runs playing with biddle and random lackeys last year, he shouldn't have trouble doing the same with mac, jew, and picc this year. defense worries me, however. mcclelland and billy will get there d.p.'s, but most teams will have 3 good players to throw into the mix down low, while right now it seems this team will only have two. if the terry/addam/billy picc crowd isn't around, this team could get torn up inside. as for the draft, i'd have liked to see erin & billy pass on joel. sure, he's joel, but this is not the team he belongs on. they want to win, and he wants to be joel. not a good mix. |