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I've been called in from the bullpen to jump into tonight's Mastersball.com Magazine Industry draft. Lawr and Todd were nice enough to give me the 12th pick, which I actually like. I think it will be fun to build a roster from the back of the draft. I don't think I'll be able to keep up with all of the picks and post them on this thread, but I promise to post the first six rounds after we're done. Look for them shortly and look for some analysis from me, Todd and others. Thanks.

Okay, I'm kind of diggin' the speed-power combo at the bottom of the draft in the first two rounds. After that, it gets interesting. What combo do you have for me in Rounds 1-2 at Picks 12 and 19? Give it to me.

I don't think u go wrong w/ either J-Up, Cargo, or Grandy at 12 (in our slow draft you'd have been able to take your choice of J-up/Cargo at 12 & then got Grandy at 19, not too shabby..didn't happen Grandy actually was taken 5 pks later at 23 )

I think realistically (dealing w/ those Mastersball folks ) at 19, u never know Hanley, Reyes, Kinsler, Lazer Show....great start in the MI to pair up w/ a stud OF. That's as far as hitters go....now if u took Verlander or Doc at 19 u wouldn't get an argument from me either.

What is your risk tolerance? With that first pick you have a chance at Justin Upton, CarGo, Granderson and coming back McCutchen. If you do not want to go all OF all the time, Hanley will soon have 3B (?) eligability to go with SS (does the 'stache have the cojones ) and may be there for your #19. Kinsler and Pedroia, especially coming back, may be there. And do not forget about Mr. Wright. They are moving the fences in and a hot spring showing he is healthy will send him screaming up the boards.

Edwards Kings wrote:What is your risk tolerance? With that first pick you have a chance at Justin Upton, CarGo, Granderson and coming back McCutchen. If you do not want to go all OF all the time, Hanley will soon have 3B (?) eligability to go with SS (does the 'stache have the cojones ) and may be there for your #19. Kinsler and Pedroia, especially coming back, may be there. And do not forget about Mr. Wright. They are moving the fences in and a hot spring showing he is healthy will send him screaming up the boards.

Oh, don't worry about the Commish's cajones. They are strong and they've produced three offspring already. Hanley won't make it to me at 19, but I'll take him if he does. I'm going young and I'm going for Batting Average tonight. Let's see if I can pull it off or if I panic later when my power isn't up to snuff. Granderson scares me at 19 because of the BA, but it would be tough to pass up Cargo/Upton and Granderson as a start. My cajones will take Reyes, McCutchen, Pedroia, Kinsler there as well. I like that first turn. Let's see how kind it is at 3-4 and the remaining turns.

While every draft is different, here are likely choice you will have

1.12 OF (CarGo, Grandy or JUp) or 2B (Kinsler or Pedroia)

2.04 OF (McCutchen or Cruz) 1B (if Tex falls), or SS (Reyes)

3.15 SP1 (Hamels or Haren) or 3B (Wright might fall or Zim) or C (Napoli or Santana)

4.04 A 3B might fall or C (if you like Posey there) if not and you don't have a 2B, Zobrist should be there or you could take your first SP (Sabathia or one who falls)

Show us how you dominated them, Greg!

I'd like to say thanks to Lawr and Todd for giving me a last second invite to tonight's Mastersball Magazine Industry mock draft. It was a lot of fun and another good learning experience for 2012 prep. This was especially good prep before the FSTA Industry Draft two weeks from now in Las Vegas.

We had a lot of good drafters in this league, including some NFBC veterans. The complete draft will be in the Mastersball.com Magazine, which hits newsstands in February. Look for it on newsstands everywhere or go to the Mastersball.com site for more information. Heck, I may need to talk with Todd about an ad/Lindy piece for this baby!!

Anyway, here's the first six rounds so you folks can chew on a few results. Pick up the mag for the rest of the good info:

NFBC Mastersball.com Industry Draft
23 Rounds, 15 Teams, 5x5 Serpentine
Round 1:
R1 P1 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Cabrera, Miguel 1B DET 1m 26s
R1 P2 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Kemp, Matt OF LA 48s
R1 P3 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Pujols, Albert 1B ANA 30s
R1 P4 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Bautista, Jose OF, 3B TOR 32s
R1 P5 Todd Zola - Mastersball Tulowitzki, Troy SS COL 10s
R1 P6 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Gonzalez, Carlos OF COL 3s
R1 P7 Mike Piekarski- BIS Cano, Robinson 2B NYY 30s
R1 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Gonzalez, Adrian 1B BOS 1m 25s
R1 P9 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball Ramirez, Hanley SS MIA
41s
R1 P10 Steve Gardner - USA Today Longoria, Evan 3B TB 8s
R1 P11 Mike Siano - MLB.com Ellsbury, Jacoby OF BOS 16s
R1 P12 Greg Ambrosius Upton, Justin OF ARI 36s
R1 P13 Al Mechior - CBS Votto, Joey 1B CIN 20s
R1 P14 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Fielder, Prince 1B FA 21s
R1 P15 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Pedroia, Dustin 2B BOS 10s

Round 2:
R2 P1 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Granderson, Curtis OF NYY 3s
R2 P2 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Reyes, Jose SS MIA
36s
R2 P3 Al Mechior - CBS McCutchen, Andrew OF PIT 32s
R2 P4 Greg Ambrosius Kinsler, Ian 2B TEX 1m 1s
R2 P5 Mike Siano - MLB.com Stanton, Mike OF MIA
5s
R2 P6 Steve Gardner - USA Today Verlander, Justin SP DET 1m 19s
R2 P7 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS 5s
R2 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Halladay, Roy SP PHI 1m 25s
R2 P9 Mike Piekarski- BIS Kershaw, Clayton SP LA 51s
R2 P10 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Hamilton, Josh OF TEX 3s
R2 P11 Todd Zola - Mastersball Wright, David 3B NYM 7s
R2 P12 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Teixeira, Mark 1B NYY 18s
R2 P13 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Holliday, Matt OF STL 36s
R2 P14 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Beltre, Adrian 3B TEX 36s
R2 P15 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Sandoval, Pablo 3B SF 13s

Round 3:
R3 P1 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Jennings, Desmond OF TB 4s
R3 P2 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Bruce, Jay OF CIN 41s
R3 P3 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Crawford, Carl OF BOS 12s
R3 P4 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Santana, Carlos C, 1B CLE 1m 28s
R3 P5 Todd Zola - Mastersball Hernandez, Felix SP SEA 1m 6s
R3 P6 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Bourn, Michael OF ATL 5s
R3 P7 Mike Piekarski- BIS Lincecum, Tim SP SF 36s
R3 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Pence, Hunter OF PHI 7s
R3 P9 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball McCann, Brian C ATL 7s
R3 P10 Steve Gardner - USA Today Andrus, Elvis SS TEX 3s
R3 P11 Mike Siano - MLB.com Uggla, Dan 2B ATL 42s
R3 P12 Greg Ambrosius Lee, Cliff SP PHI 17s
R3 P13 Al Mechior - CBS Weeks, Rickie 2B MIL 15s
R3 P14 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Ramirez, Aramis 3B MIL 8s
R3 P15 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Hamels, Cole SP PHI 17s

Round 4:
R4 P1 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Victorino, Shane OF PHI 3s
R4 P2 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Braun, Ryan OF MIL 10s
R4 P3 Al Mechior - CBS Sabathia, CC SP NYY 25s
R4 P4 Greg Ambrosius Martinez, Victor DH, C DET 31s
R4 P5 Mike Siano - MLB.com Rodriguez, Alex 3B NYY 56s
R4 P6 Steve Gardner - USA Today Napoli, Mike C, 1B TEX 24s
R4 P7 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball Hosmer, Eric 1B KC 7s
R4 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Castro, Starlin SS CHC 14s
R4 P9 Mike Piekarski- BIS Posey, Buster C SF 33s
R4 P10 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Young, Michael DH, 1B, 3B TEX 6s
R4 P11 Todd Zola - Mastersball Cruz, Nelson OF TEX 7s
R4 P12 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Rollins, Jimmy SS PHI 13s
R4 P13 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Youkilis, Kevin 3B BOS 9s
R4 P14 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Lawrie, Brett 3B TOR 33s
R4 P15 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Price, David SP TB 14s

Round 5:
R5 P1 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Strasburg, Stephen SP WAS 3s
R5 P2 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Weaver, Jered SP ANA 1m 2s
R5 P3 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Greinke, Zack SP MIL 55s
R5 P4 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN 7s
R5 P5 Todd Zola - Mastersball Konerko, Paul 1B, DH CHW 25s
R5 P6 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Cuddyer, Michael OF, 1B COL 3s
R5 P7 Mike Piekarski- BIS Upton, B.J. OF TB 1m 15s
R5 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Cain, Matt SP SF 11s
R5 P9 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball Haren, Dan SP ANA 34s
R5 P10 Steve Gardner - USA Today Morse, Mike 1B, LF WAS 1m 25s
R5 P11 Mike Siano - MLB.com Cabrera, Asdrubal SS CLE 33s
R5 P12 Greg Ambrosius Gallardo, Yovani SP MIL 12s
R5 P13 Al Mechior - CBS Prado, Martin OF, 3B ATL 13s
R5 P14 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Utley, Chase 2B PHI 35s
R5 P15 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Wieters, Matt C BAL 37s

Round 6:
R6 P1 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo! Sports Hardy, J.J. SS BAL 4s
R6 P2 Doug Anderson - RotoExperts Lester, Jon SP BOS 24s
R6 P3 Al Mechior - CBS Johnson, Josh SP MIA
25s
R6 P4 Greg Ambrosius Zobrist, Ben 2B, RF TB 29s
R6 P5 Mike Siano - MLB.com Kimbrel, Craig RP ATL 48s
R6 P6 Steve Gardner - USA Today Choo, Shin-Soo OF CLE 36s
R6 P7 Lawr Michaels - Mastersball Stubbs, Drew OF CIN 15s
R6 P8 Peter Kreutzer - Ask RotoMan! Kendrick, Howie 2B, LF ANA 30s
R6 P9 Mike Piekarski- BIS Jeter, Derek SS NYY 5s
R6 P10 Doug Dennis - BBHQ Jones, Adam OF BAL 4s
R6 P11 Todd Zola - Mastersball Shields, James SP TB 7s
R6 P12 Nicholas Minnix - KFFL Hanson, Tommy SP ATL 10s
R6 P13 Jeff Erickson - RotoWire Bumgarner, Madison SP SF 8s
R6 P14 Tim McLeod - RotoRob Gordon, Alex OF KC 30s
R6 P15 Gene McCaffrey - Wise Guy Baseball Ethier, Andre OF LA 9s

Thoughts?

I drafted from the 12th spot and kind of liked my draft. But obviously I came up short in at least one area and at least one position. First the picks and then the analysis:

C - Victor Martinez
C - Kurt Suzuki
1B - Adam Lind
2B - Ian Kinsler
SS - Erick Aybar
3B - Pedro Alvarez
CI - Gaby Sanchez
MI - Ben Zobrist
DH - David Murphy
OF - Justin Upton
OF - Josh Willingham
OF - Jason Kubel
OF - J.D. Martinez
OF - Seth Smith

P - Cliff Lee
P - Yovanni Gallardo
P - C.J. Wilson
P - Doug Fister
P - Hiroki Kuroda
P - Chad Billingsley
P - Ryan Vogelsong
RP - Drew Storen
RP - JJ Putz

Thoughts?

I liked my start with Upton, Kinsler, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. I had planned on taking another SP at No. 5 or 6, so was happy to land Gallardo at 5.12 and then with the dual eligibility (2B/OF) of Ben Zobrist. I had Alex Gordon also qued up, but went with Zobrist. In the seventh round, I had no intention of taking another SP, but I just felt like C.J. Wilson had fallen too far. It left me short of offensive numbers, but it was a solid start to my rotation.

My goal was to draft young players with upside, lock in batting average and build a strong pitching staff. I feel like I have one of the best rotations in this draft and should reach my goal in strikeouts, and I did land two solid closers in Storen and Putz. Offensively, however, my batting average really lacks, and I'm still short on speed and runs. I think my power should be okay, but I have a lot of work to do here.

I also waited way too long at third base and paid the price. I actually was targeting Moustakas and somehow couldn't find him in the MDC listings. I definitely would have grabbed him before he went, but just couldn't find him and thought he was gone. That left me to sit and hope for a bounce back year from Pedro Alvarez or grab Mat Gamel, who should start at 1B in Milwaukee. I chose Alvarez and could regret that. My outfield is mighty weak, but that was the chance I took by landing pitchers early. Still, I'm hopeful that some of these guys bounce back and have better seasons than they had last year. Heck, that's what we all hope for, right?

I definitely didn't mind the 12th spot. I had the third pick a few weeks ago and struggled more than this time. The first turn and even the 3-4 turn really gives you a lot of different ways to go. I have no problem drafting down there.

Any feedback is worthy feedback. Peck away at it folks. I can take it.

First glance looks short on steals and BAvg, but the pitching is nice and should have enough HR and RBI and Runs

I think you hit it on the head,you are right about getting that 3rd baseman early or you are screwed.
I also had the 12th in the 375 and started with upton and also waited on a 3rd baseman and got stuck with taking a player hoping he gets 3rd base eligibility or 1 that might get about 200 at bats.I like the pitching staff, very well put together.Low steals,good power and rbis.

Interesting draft, but pretty typical for an expert draft. Completely non-representative of drafts you'll see here.

Hells Satans wrote:Interesting draft, but pretty typical for an expert draft. Completely non-representative of drafts you'll see here.

spot on. at least pianowski put more of an effort in this time.

I like your BA more than the others - I think you could compete strongly in that category. Very short in steals. Your first seven were nearly picture perfect IMO - not sure I would have doubled up the 2b with Zobrist in the 6th but can't really fault you too much there. Getting CJ in the late 7th is a coup. Might have sacrificed the Kubel or Hammer picks for a speedier OF in that spot to trade off some of that power base you have. Front three of your rotation are as good as anyone in the league I'm sure, though you have a couple I wouldn't roster absent extreme circumstances (Fister and Vogelsong). But I think you get there in the numbers. I'd try to draft DHernandez in the reserve rounds as I don't trust Putz for 60+ innings this year (or any year for that matter). I'd expect this to be a top 4 team in the league by year end.

My 2c

Greg Ambrosius wrote: Heck, I may need to talk with Todd about an ad/Lindy piece for this baby!!

Only if I am asked for a quote to include in the piece

Hells Satans wrote:Interesting draft, but pretty typical for an expert draft. Completely non-representative of drafts you'll see here.

The player evaluation is not usually the issue. But to be 100% honest, many of these guys are not in tune with drafts of this nature. They do mocks, but rarely play them out. Everyone loves their draft when it is done, only one loves it come October.

They are also not in touch with current trends and perceptions.

I'l admit I was personally off my game tonight, doing too many things.

Really like your top four picks as well, but I gotta believe you could have done a little better taking Votto over J Upton when you had the chance. I think Joey should easily top Justin in three of five categories, with speed the only category going the Justin's way. Am I missing something there? outfield preference here or something else?

Cliff Lee @ 3.12,and Vmart @4.4 were great scores where you got them.

The Wise Guy surprised me with Desmond Jennings @ 3.1. That is what I hate about picking on the corner...if you really like someone sometimes you really have to reach in order to get them

C - J.P. Arencibia
C - A.J. Pierzynski
1B - Paul Konerko
2B - Neil Walker
3B - David Wright
SS - Troy Tulowitzki
1B/3B - Mark Trumbo
2B/SS - Jason Bartlett
OF - Nelson Cruz
OF - Corey Hart
OF - Jeff Francoeur
OF - Chris Heisey
OF - Alfonso Soriano
UT - Adam LaRoche
P - Felix Hernandez
P - James Shields
P - Michael Pineda
P - Jeremy Hellickson
P - Roy Oswalt
P - Colby Lewis
P - Tim Stauffer
CL - Jose Valverde
CL - Huston Street

Woefully short on speed and average is a huge risk. I don't mind being deficient in one or the other, but not both.

I kept saying "I'll get my speed next couple of picks" and it was either gone or I took someone else. This is a team that perhaps could be managed into being competitive in a stand alone league, but I would not want to go into the overall with this motley crew.

My first thought is that it is time for Lawr Michaels to start considering retirement, or at least to quit "smoking". Geez!

Baseball Furies wrote:My first thought is that it is time for Lawr Michaels to start considering retirement, or at least to quit "smoking". Geez!

Ouch! Man, that's cold!

Would like to see a couple of the top NFBC money winners partake in one of these industry drafs.

Best comp. for this draft is another industry draft.

Rainiers wrote:Really like your top four picks as well, but I gotta believe you could have done a little better taking Votto over J Upton when you had the chance. I think Joey should easily top Justin in three of five categories, with speed the only category going the Justin's way. Am I missing something there? outfield preference here or something else?

Cliff Lee @ 3.12,and Vmart @4.4 were great scores where you got them.

The Wise Guy surprised me with Desmond Jennings @ 3.1. That is what I hate about picking on the corner...if you really like someone sometimes you really have to reach in order to get them

Yup, I did have that choice right away. I had Votto ahead of Upton on my Cheat Sheet too and still took Upton. I just went for the upside here, the extra steals and the fact he finished so strong last year. I could have gone Votto and been happy, but then I really would have had to look for steals later and in the second round Reyes, McCutchen, Hanley and Granderson were all gone. It was tough to find steals even at the 19th pick, although Kinsler was the next best option.

I know I'm low on steals, but I think everyone is. My guys last year stole 130+ bases and I was shooting for 165. I have four guys who stole 19+ last year, but late in the draft I failed to find a good Judy. I'll admit that I had a solid Top 250 list, but later on I wasn't as prepared as I should be. There were a few guys who went and I kicked myself for not having them higher on my list. Like Cespedes in the 18th round. I nabbed him there in the Rotowire draft and should have had him ready to go before that.

Still a fun draft. I'd take this pitching staff and work my roster for more steals during the year. As for Zobrist, he does qualify at 2B and OF, so at the time I took him I was happy to have him as my second OFer. As it turned out, I left him at MI, a position that is woefully weak late in the draft.

Keep the analysis coming. It's all good fun and gets us through the cold, winter days.

I think you both did a good job. Some of the other picks are just strange.

It's almost impossible for Sandoval/Jennings to return value at 30/31

Tommy Hanson?

Martin Prado?

Cant believe Prado went so high, I just got him in the 11th round of a 15 team slow draft here. Wowza.

converge241 wrote:Cant believe Prado went so high, I just got him in the 11th round of a 15 team slow draft here. Wowza.

Maybe some of the drafters were using last year's spreadsheets.