NFBC Message Boards

Okay, the first official NFBC Draft of 2008 is in the books, literally. We assembled 15 NFBC champions from 2007 and asked them to draft for our first magazine issue, with all of the results being published for 130,000 readers to see. The 15 assembled participants were well prepared as they went through the first 10 rounds in a record-setting 60 minutes!!!



I'm posting the results a little at a time to get some talk going on the boards. Here's the first eight rounds and eventually we'll post the first 23 rounds. Enjoy and let's PLAY BALL!!!



NFBC MAGAZINE CHAMPIONS DRAFT



FIRST ROUND

1. Alex Rodriguez

2. David Wright

3. Jose Reyes

4. Hanley Ramirez

5. Jimmy Rollins

6. Albert Pujols

7. Miguel Cabrera

8. Matt Holliday

9. Chase Utley

10. Carl Crawford

11. Ryan Braun

12. Ryan Howard

13. Alfonso Soriano

14. Grady Sizemore

15. Prince Fielder



SECOND ROUND

16. Russell Martin

17. Carlos Beltran

18. Johan Santana

19. Brandon Phillips

20. David Ortiz

21. Mark Teixeira

22. Carlos Lee

23. Vladimir Guerrero

24. Ichiro Suzuki

25. B.J. Upton

26. Jake Peavy

27. Lance Berkman

28. Manny Ramirez

29. Derrek Lee

30. Victor Martinez



THIRD ROUND

31. Troy Tulowitzki

32. Magglio Ordonez

33. Brian Roberts

34. Aramis Ramirez

35. Bobby Abreu

36. Derek Jeter

37. Nick Markakis

38. Carlos Guillen

39. Curtis Granderson

40. Michael Young

41. Chone Figgins

42. Alex Rios

43. Justin Morneau

44. Travis Hafner

45. Ian Kinsler



FOURTH ROUND

46. Brian McCann

47. Erik Bedard

48. Eric Byrnes

49. Joe Mauer

50. Corey Hart

51. Brandon Webb

52. Robinson Cano

53. Garrett Atkins

54. Rafael Furcal

55. Torii Hunter

56. Chris Young

57. Josh Beckett

58. J.J. Putz

59. C.C. Sabathia

60. Carlos Pena



FIFTH ROUND

61. Hunter Pence

62. Cole Hamels

63. Adam Dunn

64. Justin Verlander

65. Chipper Jones

66. Jon Papelbon

67. Paul Konerko

68. Scott Kazmir

69. Francisco Rodriguez

70. Placido Polanco

71. Joe Nathan

72. Juan Pierre

73. Miguel Tejada

74. John Lackey

75. Dan Haren



SIXTH ROUND

76. Chris Young

77. Jason Bay

78. Felix Hernandez

79. Aaron Harang

80. Ben Sheets

81. Josh Hamilton

82. Vernon Wells

83. Adrian Gonzalez

84. Roy Oswalt

85. Gary Sheffield

86. Takashi Saito

87. Carlos Zambrano

88. Roy Halladay

89. Jermaine Dye

90. Shane Victorino



SEVENTH ROUND

91. Rickie Weeks

92. Mariano Rivera

93. Jorge Posada

94. Bobby Jenks

95. James Loney

96. Jose Valverde

97. Brad Hawpe

98. Yovani Gallardo

99. Huston Street

100. Matt Capps

101. Hideki Matsui

102. Jeff Francouer

103. Billy Wagner

104. Francisco Cordero

105. James Shields



EIGHTH ROUND

106. Howie Kendrick

107. Trevor Hoffman

108. Ryan Zimmerman

109. John Smoltz

110. Andruw Jones

111. Manuel Corpas

112. Adrian Beltre

113. Kelvim Escobar

114. Daisuke Matsuzaka

115. Tim Lincecum

116. Delmon Young

117. Johnny Damon

118. Todd Helton

119. Brad Lidge

120. Edgar Renteria



NINTH ROUND

121. Javier Vazquez

122. Jim Thome

123. Rich Hill

124. Kelly Johnson

125. Rafael Soriano

126. Joba Chamberlain

127. Joakim Soria

128. Willy Taveras

129. Nick Swisher

130. Evan Longoria

131. Orlando Cabrera

132. Alex Gordon

133. Carlos Delgado

134. Matthew Cain

135. Khalil Green



TENTH ROUND

136. Josh Fields

137. Chad Cordero

138. Fausto Carmona

139. Jason Isringhausen

140. Francisco Liriano

141. Ian Snell

142. Matt Kemp

143. Jarrod Saltalamacchia

144. Mike Lowell

145. Aaron Rowand

146. Jacoby Ellsbury

147. Kenji Johjima

148. Brett Myers

149. David DeJesus

150. Pedro Martinez



ELEVENTH ROUND

151. Chad Billingsley

152. Dustin Pedroia

153. Brad Penny

154. Ivan Rodriguez

155. Geovany Soto

156. Kosuke Fukudome

157. A.J. Burnett

158. Aaron Hill

159. Julio Lugo

160. Justin Towles

161. Philip Hughes

162. Ted Lilly

163. Ken Griffey Jr.

164. Dan Uggla

165. Chien-ming Wang



ROUND 12:

166. Kevin Kouzmanoff

167. Michael Cuddyer

168. Jhonny Peralta

169. Edwin Encarnacion

170. J.J. Hardy

171. Jeremy Hermida

172. Ryan Garko

173. Adam LaRoche

174. Pat Burrell

175. Jeff Francis

176. John Maine

177. Josh Willingham

178. Hank Blalock

179. Bengie Molina

180. Adam Wainwright



ROUND 13:

181. Kevin Gregg

182. Ramon Hernandez

183. Joe Borowski

184. Raul Ibanez

185. Joey Votto

186. Derek Lowe

187. Michael Bourn

188. Todd Jones

189. Tim Hudson

190. Yunel Escobar

191. Kevin Youkilis

192. Eric Gagne

193. Justin Upton

194. Richie Sexson

195. Carlos Marmol



ROUND 14:

196. Dustin McGowan

197. Jered Weaver

198. Kaz Matsui

199. Matt Garza

200. Jeff Kent

201. Jason Kubel

202. Corey Patterson

203. Troy Percival

204. Ty Wigginton

205. Jeremy Bonderman

206. Brian Wilson

207. Scott Rolen

208. Gary Matthews Jr.

209. Oliver Perez

210. Tony Pena



ROUND 15:

211. Milton Bradley

212. Yuniesky Betancourt

213. Joe Blanton

214. Felipe Lopez

215. Wily Mo Pena

216. Orlando Hudson

217. B.J. Ryan

218. Stephen Drew

219. Curt Schilling

220. Carlos Ruiz

221. Coco Crisp

222. Freddy Sanchez

223. Jonathan Broxton

224. Troy Glaus

225. Zach Greinke



ROUND 16:

226. Tom Gorzelanny

227. A.J. Pierzynski

228. Andy Pettitte

229. Ryan Theriot

230. Bronson Arroyo

231. Homer Bailey

232. Paul Lo Duca

233. Frank Thomas

234. Jeremy Accardo

235. Eric Chavez

236. Billy Butler

237. J.D. Drew

238. Austin Kearns

239. Clay Buchholz

240. Hiroki Kuroda



ROUND 17:

241. Conor Jackson

242. Garret Anderson

243. Mark Ellis

244. Nate McLouth

245. Gil Meche

246. Felix Pie

247. Jon Lester

248. Mark Teahen

249. Michael Napoli

250. Kevin Slowey

251. Jason Varitek

252. Randy Winn

253. Melky Cabrera

254. Akinori Iwamura

255. Jack Cust



18TH ROUND:

256. Ian Kennedy

257. Casey Blake

258. Ubaldo Jimenez

259. Jose Guillen

260. Jeremy Guthrie

261. Asdrubal Cabrera

262. Chris Duncan

263. Erick Aybar

264. Greg Maddux

265. Daric Barton

266. Mark DeRosa

267. Rich Harden

268. John Buck

269. Dontrelle Willis

270. Rocco Baldelli



19TH ROUND:

271. Franklin Gutierrez

272. Barry Zito

273. Xavier Nady

274. Andy Sonnanstine

275. Mark Buehrle

276. Mike Cameron

277. Casey Kotchman

278. Scott Baker

279. Bill Hall

280. Matt Diaz

281. C.J. Wilson

282. Shaun Marcum

283. Colby Rasmus

284. Chris Carpenter

285. Mark Reynolds



20TH ROUND:

286. Jayson Werth

287. Bobby Crosby

288. Randy Johnson

289. Adam Jones

290. Jacque Jones

291. Brian Fuentes

292. Akinori Otsuka

293. Ronny Paulino

294. Chris Snyder

295. Kerry Wood

296. Jon Garland

297. Aubrey Huff

298. Lyle Overbay

299. Luis Castillo

300. Randy Wolf



21ST ROUND:

301. Lastings Milledge

302. Mike Jacobs

303. Kevin Millwood

304. Ryan Dempster

305. Brian Bannister

306. Moises Alou

307. Jay Bruce

308. Franklin Morales

309. Cameron Maybin

310. Ian Stewart

311. Ryan Doumit

312. Jason Schmidt

313. Rick Ankiel

314. Ryan Freel

315. Dave Roberts



ROUND 22:

316. Ervin Santana

317. Tadahito Iguchi

318. Kurt Suzuki

319. Michael Barrett

320. John Patterson

321. Shawn Hill

322. Carlos Quentin

323. David Bush

324. Jose Lopez

325. Andrew Miller

326. Jason Bartlett

327. Rafael Betancourt

328. Joe Crede

329. Jerry Owens

330. Dioner Navarro



ROUND 23:

331. Carlos Villanueva

332. Al Reyes

333. Kyle Kendrick

334. Carlos Silva

335. Mike Mussina

336. Marlon Byrd

337. Josh Bard

338. Scot Shields

339. Jamie Walker

340. Luke Scott

341. Octavio Dotel

342. Chris Capuano

343. Heath Bell

344. Yadier Molina

345. Chuck James



Thoughts??



[ January 08, 2008, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Things that stood out to me –



Cabrera to the Tigers moved him up from first turn to #7.



A catcher in the top 20 (Martin at the first turn)



Rios crashing to number 42 – too low. I also thought Atkins slipped too far.



The lack of closers – Papelbon, Nathen & K-rod - in the fourth



The number of second tier SS that were drafted earlier then I expected – Guillen, Young, Furcal – based on Mocks.



This draft has me thinking KDS 12/13 as I like those two after the first four rounds.



12 Howard/Phillips/Rios/Mauer

13 Soriano/Santana/Morneau/Byrnes

Sheep - a few notes on your list



1) remember that mocks are just that - yes the ones done here are better than most, but it is still very early and easy to see that some people haven't done any homework yet



2) this draft is also early, but is a Real league - and lots of pride on the line, so closer to reality



3) Cabrera was IMO being drafted too low in some prior drafts I have seen - and Yes, being in that Tiger lineup is going to help some of his numbers.



4) While I think Martin is the best catcher (even if just a hair more valuable than VMart), yes 2-1 is too early, but THAT drafter wanted him and knew in this group he had no chance at 3-15, so it's take him there or forget him



5) Yes Rios and Atkins were great values at those spots



6) People are learning there is no need to rush the closers - in fact in the NFBC, there is greater value to a very good, high K starter than a closer. It doesn't matter where you get your saves from - as long as you get them (or eschew them like GLY)



7) When you have three shortstops drafted in the first half of round one, the next tier will be pushed up



[ December 19, 2007, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: Captain Hook ]

very good notes Hook.. I was going to touch on all of those subjects... I think getting Hafner at 44 (even tho he can only be used at DH) could be the best value in the draft

Okay, I've added four more rounds to the initial post. There are now the first eight rounds there for all to see. Now any thoughts?

bumping this so people see the rounds Greg has added in the first post

Originally posted by Less than Dave:

very good notes Hook.. I was going to touch on all of those subjects... I think getting Hafner at 44 (even tho he can only be used at DH) could be the best value in the draft Why?

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

quote:Originally posted by Less than Dave:

very good notes Hook.. I was going to touch on all of those subjects... I think getting Hafner at 44 (even tho he can only be used at DH) could be the best value in the draft Why? [/QUOTE]I was going to comment on that too- Gordon said something to me one time about less experienced players always seem to think young players will get better, older players will get worse, and studs bounce back after a bad season. What he said made a lot of sense. IMO Hafner is not the best bounce back candidate and at pick 44 you better hope he bounces all the way back to earn a profit on that pick.

Very good post Kent



In addition, IMO, using a very early pick on a UT only hitter MUST guarantee a TON of production because (especially in a tough draft like this) you give up your ability to move people around - play four MI or CI if a shot you took pans out but is still not better than your group of starters for example.

Only thing that really stood out:



70. Placido Polanco



I'm a Tiger fan and if Placido earns pick 70 the Tigers are in for a HUGE season.



Cabrera (7)

Mags (32)

Guillen (38)

Granderson (39)

Verlander (64)

Polanco (70)

Sheffield (85)

Renteria (120)



I like the Sheets at 80 (even earlier), but expect I'm one of his few supporters.



Posada at 93 is too early for me.

How bout Hamilton at 81. Seems very early to me. I took him in 1 of the mock drafts much later and would no longer take him that high.

Originally posted by Vander:

How bout Hamilton at 81. Seems very early to me. I took him in 1 of the mock drafts much later and would no longer take him that high. I like Hamilton as a 30 homer guy, but still, he's got to prove it first before you start drafting him there. It's amazing when you see a guy like Hamilton who nobody really knows what he can do over a full season get picked ahead of Hideki Matsui who'll give you 600+ at-bats to go along with solid production you can count on.



You gotta like Hamilton's athleticsm though. I think if he wanted to he could be a 15 stolen base guy as well. I got a little lucky with him last year, he gave me good production with my 23rd pick. So did Upton with my 16th (although my prediction of 50+ stolen bases never came true)

HQ likes hamilton and kemp a lot. probably why you'll see them early in some of these mocks. personally, i can see vmart at 30 easier than i can see martin at 16.



[ December 20, 2007, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: cleaver beavers ]

They must really love Polanco.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

They must really love Polanco. not really 9/13 of the second basemen they think will earn $15-19 and projecting he earns 2/3 of what he did last year, still most of it in BA

Originally posted by Captain Hook:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

They must really love Polanco. not really 9/13 of the second basemen they think will earn $15-19 and projecting he earns 2/3 of what he did last year, still most of it in BA [/QUOTE]I have him hitting 320 and healthy this year, still only puts him in the range of 13-17th rd.

Is Jules maiden name, Polanco?

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Is Jules maiden name, Polanco? nope, perhaps her future name though?

Why? Because I watched almost every single at bat of Hafner's for 2 straight years where he was a top 10 (I believe top 5) hitter in all of baseball (better than Ortiz in '06).. the only thing holding him back was injuries... he has enormous talent as a hitter, and although I would hate to draft a UT, especially that early, in the 4th round you could quite easily get 2nd round value (I'd say 1st round value, but for a guy not qualifying at a position I'd lean towards 2nd round)... I know Hafner is for real because I watched the way he hit, it was no fluke.. he is one of those studs that is due for a huge bounceback year.. but hey, I'm glad to see you're all so low on him... might get a steal on draft day

Man, I'd love Smoltz or Damon in the 8th round... I realize they are aging, but Smoltz seems ageless.. I know everyone is waiting for him to break all of a sudden but he is still putting up great years year in and year out.. Damon is always a potential 25-25 guy who can hit .300 with 115 R and 80 RBI or so... great 8th round picks

Originally posted by Less than Dave:

Man, I'd love Smoltz or Damon in the 8th round... I realize they are aging, but Smoltz seems ageless.. I know everyone is waiting for him to break all of a sudden but he is still putting up great years year in and year out.. Damon is always a potential 25-25 guy who can hit .300 with 115 R and 80 RBI or so... great 8th round picks cool

IM with less than dave on Hafner 44 is great value.He's only 30 years old and look at his numbers going into last year.

2004 28 109 311

2005 33 108 305

2006 42 117 308 in only 454 at bats.

He had an off season and still drove in 100 rbi, i think another 40 homer season is on its way with another 300 bavg. Im sure i will own Hafner in a few leagues like always .In my 4 years in the auction format i paid for Hafner three times , missing him last year only because i got BIG PAPPI for 31 and was locked ouy on travis.

Looks like somebody went off their HGH. In 2006 everything jumped off his bat like they were golf balls, in 2007 those golf balls turned to tennis balls. His fall out was even worse than Andruw Jones. While Jones was tried farther and farther down the lineup, Hafner got to stay in that deluxe 3rd or 4th spot in a good lineup. From 42 home runs to 24 is bad enough, but the guy only had 51 extra base hits total.

If he gets off to a similar start this year, he will be moved down the lineup where his only saving grace from last year, rbi and runs will be affected. At pick 44, I see a lot more prospect for bust than value.



[ December 21, 2007, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

I actually agree with something Perry said which was besides his decline you must tie up your utility spot which greatly reduces your flexibility.

less than dave- since you are from cleveland. if hafner is great value in round 4- what is thome in round 9? last time thome hit 25 or less homers - he was 24. he was hurt 1 year. hafner is hurt every year. thome plays in a better park than hafner. he has a bad back- but the #'s are there every year. how did thomes at bats look when he was 29/30 and hitting around 50 homers a year. in the end i think he and griffey are the real home run hitters from the steroid era. i don't include a rod- because he is so much younger than thome/ griffey.