ESPN Franchise Draft (1 Viewer)

[Bogart]

Interesting little exercise over at ESPN yesterday. A one round draft and chat over the idea if you could start a franchise with any baseball player, pro or minor, who would it be. Everyone took it seriously except Doug Glanville I think.

Even as a Ranger homer, I found the Feliz pick at 23 to be a little high.

1.Troy Tulowitzki 	SS 	COL     Karl Ravech (Baseball Tonight)2.Evan Longoria 	3B 	TAM     Keith Law (ESPN Scouts, Inc.)3.Felix Hernandez 	RHP 	SEA     David Schoenfield (ESPN.com/SweetSpot)4.Joey Votto 	        1B 	CIN     Dave Cameron (ESPN Insider/FanGraphs)5.Tim Lincecum   	RHP 	SFO     Amy K. Nelson (ESPN.com)6.Josh Johnson  	RHP 	FLA     Chris Singleton (ESPN Radio/BBTN)7.Jason Heyward 	RF 	ATL     Jorge Arangure Jr. (ESPN The Magazine)8.Albert Pujols 	1B 	STL     Enrique Rojas (ESPNDeportes.com)9.Bryce Harper  	OF 	WAS     Eric Karabell (ESPN Fantasy/Baseball Today)10.Ryan Braun   	LF 	MIL     Mark Simon (ESPN Stats & Information)11.Jon Lester   	LHP 	BOS     Orel Hershiser (Sunday Night Baseball/BBTN)12.Mike Trout   	CF 	LAA     Jason Grey (ESPN Fantasy)13.David Price  	LHP 	TAM     Jim Bowden (ESPN.com/The GM's Office)14.Robinson Cano 	2B 	NYY     Aaron Boone (BBTN/Monday Night Baseball)15.Joe Mauer    	C 	MIN     Jim Caple (ESPN.com)16.Justin Verlander 	RHP 	DET     Steve Berthiaume (Baseball Tonight)17.Carlos Santana 	C 	CLE     Jason Churchill (ESPN Insider)18.Buster Posey 	C 	SFO     Christina Kahrl (ESPN.com/SweetSpot)19.Starlin Castro 	SS 	CHC     Jerry Crasnick (ESPN.com)20.Hanley Ramirez 	SS 	FLA     Matt Meyers (ESPN Insider/The Magazine)21.Mike Stanton 	RF 	FLA     Mark Mulder (Baseball Tonight)22.Stephen Strasburg 	RHP 	WAS     Kevin Goldstein (ESPN Insider)23.Neftali Feliz 	RHP 	TEX     Rick Sutcliffe (Monday Night Baseball/BBTN)24.Carlos Gonzalez 	LF 	COL     Jayson Stark (ESPN.com)25.Clayton Kershaw 	LHP 	LAD     Tim Kurkjian (ESPN The Magazine/BBTN)26.Jose Bautista 	RF 	TOR     Jonah Keri (ESPN Insider)27.Michael Pineda 	RHP 	SEA     Buster Olney (ESPN The Magazine/BBTN)28.Roy Halladay 	RHP 	PHI     Barry Larkin (Baseball Tonight)29.Justin Upton 	RF 	ARI     Tristan H. Cockcroft (ESPN Fantasy)30.Wilson Ramos 	C 	WAS     Doug Glanville (BBTN/ESPN.com)

 

[sihaokills]

Can't believe Matt Kemp is not there...

 

[Bogart]

Can't believe Matt Kemp is not there...

His name came up in the chat as a big WTF. Glanville's pick is just stupid, Kemp would easily go there if not higher.

 

[brewer]

These lists are always pretty bad. This one exceptionally so.

 

[Captain Hook]

Did they have to pick someone not already taken?

And were there any parameters - like X number of years?

Am I correct that Miguel Cabrera is not on that list? WTF?

 

[Eephus]

Neftali Feliz is kind of head scratcher as well. He's got a great arm but he's not a franchise cornerstone until he proves he can be an effective, reliable starter.

 

[Bogart]

Did they have to pick someone not already taken?And were there any parameters - like X number of years?Am I correct that Miguel Cabrera is not on that list? WTF?

Yes, with it being a draft, you had to take someone not already taken.They took age, position, future potential into consideration. They did not take salary into consideration. They debated if they were a GM looking 5 years, 10 years, 15 years into the future, but didn't really come to a consensus. Basically if everyone was a free agent and you were starting from scratch, who would you build around.EDIT: I think Cabrera was brought up in chat as well with the likes of Kemp. You could surely make a case for both of them.

 

[rodg12]

Harper and Trout went way too high. Strasburg and Feliz should not have been drafted. Wilson Ramos shouldn't have been in the 5 rounds. No Miggy Cab? No Adrian Gonzalez? No Matt Kemp? No Andrew McCutchen? No Ryan Zimmerman? All those guys should have gone in the top 30 players.