I have no problem with Hanley as the first pick, although I probably would have taken Pujols. A-Rod at six was a steal for Ed, and I personally would have taken Miggy exactly where he went, as I see him as a 4 category performer. I assume Dan covets speed which is why he went after Crawford at #4.

I’d be interested in Yoram’s reasoning behind the Wright pick; does he think last year’s production was an aberration and does he expect Wright’s power to resume? Also, I like Maurer at #14, but did Ben select him expecting the power to continue, and did the 2 catcher requirement sway his choice?

I’ve been arguing with others that if you want Lincecum, you will have to select him early, and I note that Tony did just that. I’d ask Tony if he normally takes pitching in the first round, or does he feel that Lincecum is a difference maker significant enough to pass up some decidedly valuable offense.

The five 1B picks in the first round are pretty safe, and after Pujols and Cabrera, I think are essentially interchangable, especially if Tex can ever figure out how to hit in April and early May. There’s some serious speed and speed/power players available for the second round and peeking ahead, I note that the drafters are taking full advantage. Overall, a good first round without many surprises. I’ll be interested to see how this draft plays out over the later rounds, especially with 14 teams.

I agree there were few surprises, including the 5 1Bs who will probably go in most draft’s first rounds. Pujols and HanRam are consensus 1-2, and a case can be made for HanRam at #1 (though JRoll’s BABIP was abnormally low, and Tulo arguably outperformed him in the 2nd half). The question will be HanRam’s SBs if he bats 3rd… I’d also be curious about Dan’s follow-up to Craw. Conventional wisdom would dictate a power hitter but some strategies load up on commodities like speed. That’s risky IMO because it’s now easier to find speed than power.

As for Lincecum, I think pitching may be “safer” this year than usual, though we all know the admonition about everyday vs every fifth day players (and the fragility of SPs… of course, tell that to people who drafted, say, Josh Hamilton in the first round last year). Still, there have been far more 1st round SP busts over the years, and you can find pitching gold deep into drafts. There’s also the question of Ws, which are upredictable even with offensive juggernauts like the Yankees, let alone the Giants…. I believe in trying to make first-round picks sure things, minimizing risk. Still, Lincecum is the ultimate upside pick—another “typical” year from him easily justifies a 1st round pick. But (without giving too much away), would you then focus on hitting exclusively for several rounds (unless a gem drops in your lap), Tony?

ARod is an absolute steal IMO. Project his 2009 numbers over an entire season and it’s in line with all but his monster years—at a far scarcer position than 1B, with few “sure” things.

It’s rather difficult commenting at this point without discussing players who haven’t been picked yet in depth; lots of sleeper first rounders (ie, guys who might produce like 1st rounders but are undervalued for one reason or another) coming up. I like Wright, but he IS a risk. The lineup still has question marks, and the Mets aren’t moving CitiField’s fences in (Wright barely cleared them on most of his dingers, but then again his HR% was too low to be explained simply by park dimensions, and it’s almost inconceivable that he won’t top last year’s RBI total regardless). Yoram, do you feel the need to grab a 2nd-round slugger just in case Wright’s power outage is real? And did you consider that Wright might fall back to you in the 2nd? Prelim rankings from various sites thus far are all over the place, from 6-25…

Another potential steal is Kemp. He has his own freeswinging issues, and Torre’s propensity to dicker unpredictably with his lineup could still rear its ugly head, but you can’t ignore his steady improvement. People forget the OF can get thin if your league plays 5, so grabbing a potential 30/30/100/100/.300 stud at 13 is remarkable.

But again, IMO it’s too early to comment. And asking questions after the first round might force everyone to reveal sneaky strategy

You can’t go wrong with selecting Albert or Hanley #1. After that, anyone could go anywhere. Cabrera and Crawford went earlier and Lincecum went later than I thought. I am curious to see who Dan selects in Rnd 2 to go with Crawford. Kemp could definitely be a sleeper and if Manny stays healthy and our of trouble, Kemp could have a monster year. Wright is also an interesting pick but could turn out nice if the Mets stay healthy. He has no guarantee on who will give him support this year but I still project him to have a decent season. Overall the 1st round is very good and look forward to seeing what happens in Rnd 2.

I was very pleased to be able to draft Ryan Braun at 8. I was actually planning on taking Matt Kemp, Evan Longoria or Joe Mauer at this spot, but I could not pass on Ryan Braun. I do however feel like Kemp could potentially out produce Ryan Braun.

I do agree on taking Hanley Ramirez first overall. Just based on his position scarcity and he is so far ahead of his competition at SS. Pujols is without a doubt amazing, but 1st base is so stacked this year.

I grabbed Wright at #10 because I think he will have a substantive rebound from last year. This is a player who, in his first 4 full seasons, hit 27, 26, 30 and 33 homeruns. Whatever happened to him last year, I just can’t believe he isn’t a legitimate 20+ home run hitter. He is just now 27 years old, is a career .309 hitter, and is pretty much a lock for 20+ stolen bases. Throw in the lack of depth at third base and I decided the upside was well worth the risk.

@Jordan, I didn’t think Wright was likely to make it back to me. This is a 14 team draft so he would have had to have fallen to pick #19. I wanted him and so didn’t want to risk his being gone on the way back. As for taking a round 2 slugger… I went with speed instead and grabbed Jacoby Ellsbury. I decided that the appeal of 70-100 stolen bases out of the first 2 rounds was too good to pass up. I think there will opportunities for me to get some cheaper power down the draft board, but I’ll revisit my comments later as we see what happens.

@Yoram - first base is becoming very interesting. I figured Votto would get a price hike but this exceeds my expectations, and it is in line with his spot in other drafts I have seen. Lee, Morales, and Berkman are still out there, so all is not lost.

I like the Lincecum pick the best. Arod, at 6 is a steal. I guess My philosophy differs strongly, as I build a top pitching squad, and then fill in hitting later on in the draft. It seems to work out ok for me.
Mauer may have been the steal of the round, and the Wright pick was a little early, but if he regains his power stroke it could be solid. I like Mark Reynolds better at 3b.

Nice round though.