Review: First Round Rookie Draft Picks

I often find it instructive to revisit past decisions, which (with the light of hindsight) now shine so brightly or are revealed in all their awful ugliness. The instruction I receive from such visits is typically limited. Sometimes a new “Votaw Rule” is added, but usually all I can do is shake my head and marvel at the sheer ignorance of those of us who once thought we were wise.

Let’s get on with it. Today we revisit Round One of the Rookie Draft of 2016, widely regarded as the biggest pool of rookie stars to arrive at the EFL draft in a long time. How does it look today?

Pick 1: D.C., Corey Seager. I must admit that I was surprised by this pick. I thought he’d go for Carlos Correa. I would have picked Correa over Seager, and I’m a Dodger fan. All Seager has done this year is hit .312/.370/.520 with 26 HR, leading the Balk to challenge the Cheese for second-to-last place. Oh well, I guess he has potential. Well done, D.C.

Pick 2: Computer, Jung Ho Kang. Kang missed a lot of games this year but did well when he played, hitting .263/.365/.523. A good pick, but perhaps a little too early. We all hate the computer, but this one was fairly easy to forgive.

Pick 3: Portland, Carlos Correa. This was, and still would be, the best pick to make in this position. Correa’s star was outshined by outshone by not as bright as Seager’s this year, but it was still an excellent .276/.364/.455. Not bad for a guy who’s all of 21. And look what happened to Portland! Their GM could give tips to Theo Epstein. The Rosebuds won’t be picking this early in the next rookie draft.

Pick 4: Computer, Francisco Lindor. This is why we all hate the computer. Because of this, all of us who were planning to pick shortstops (note: 100% of us so far) have to move down a notch. Franky, we hardly knew ye…

Picks 5-6: Computer, Roberto Osuna, Cody Anderson. That’s more like it. The Cheese could have used somebody reliable like Osuna, but we were hating relievers last spring, and we wouldn’t have picked him. Still not forgiving the computer for the Lindor thing.

Pick 7: Kaline, Kris Bryant. Bryant has had an amazing year, even bigger than Seager’s: .295/.389/.564 is probably going to get him the NL MVP. Of course he’s been a disaster for the Drive, moving them way up towards the middle of the standings, depriving them of plummy draft picks for the foreseeable future. A great pick by Kaline.

Picks 8-10: Computer, Ryan Tepera, Noah Syndergaard, Delino DeShields. Ouch. Oh well, Syndergaard’s a rookie pitcher anyway, they’re usually a disappointment. He’s only pitched 183.7 innings with a 2.60 ERA. Stupid computer.

Pick 11: Old Detroit, Kyle Schwarber. It seems that someone’s round 1 pick is doomed every year. In 2015 it was Kaline’s, with Marcus Stroman. This year it was the Wolverines’ turn. This pick probably cost OD the championship. But it seemed like a good idea at the time.

(Skipping picks 12-15 by the computer which were of no consequence so we can get to the Cheese. Well, I should mention Odubel Herrera whom I would never have picked because everybody said he had no potential and there was no way he was going to do that again. Well he did do that again, only better, but none of us got to enjoy it. BP is a bunch of ignoramuses, sometimes.)

Pick 16: Cottage, Addison Russell. This would have been Francisco Lindor, but Get over it! OK. Moving on… Russell is definitely not Seager or Correa OR Lindor – but I still think, at this point of the draft, being fully committed to getting the best shortstop available, that I made the right choice. He’s a keeper.

Picks 17-18: Computer, too boring to list here.

Pick 19: Peshastin, Trey Turner. If you were into shortstops – and who wasn’t? – Turner was the last man standing. The Pears were very fortunate that the computer snagged that guy from Seattle instead. Of course Turner had no stats to speak of in 2015, and the computer doesn’t read BP. He (Turner, not the computer) turned out to be a fantastic pick, but Peshastin had to wait until well into the second half of 2016 to gain any benefit – too late to compete in the lizard-dominated EFL. Watch out for this guy next year.

Picks 20-24: Computer, apparently off at a party with Franky, not paying any attention to its picks.

Pick 25: Flint Hill, Byron Buxton. The bloom was already off the rose for BB, which is why he sunk this far. Flint Hill’s staff evangelist, believing that anyone can be redeemed, decided to give him another chance. Would he do it again? Tough year for Big Bux (.218/.271/.396) and for the Tornadoes. There’s always hope. Flint Hill will pick earlier next year…

Picks 26-27: Computer, Elias Diaz & Carlos Rodon. Rodon was on my list. Had a decent year with Chicago, which is better than I can say for any Cottage pitcher. Dang computer. Good pick there – he will improve. Hope the computer enjoys him.

Pick 28: Canberra, Stephen Matz. Great pick, if he could just stay healthy. That pick-trade with OD worked out better for Canberra than anyone expected.

Pick 29: apparently didn’t happen. I know that Pittsburgh declined the right, but did he pass or did he toss out a name? I have no record of what happened.

Pick 30: Haviland, Miguel Sano. Sano has not exactly set Minnesota on fire this year (.238/.323/.466) but it’s not like the Dragons needed any more flame. Maybe if they let him play where he’s used to playing (3B) he can focus on improving his hitting. At draft position 30 this was a good pick – perhaps a bit overpriced.

Hey – I guess we actually did pretty well last year. Let’s see how we do next year with a draft class that’s a little less classy.