NL Central Draft Grades

In this quick write-up, I'd like to take a look at the jobs done by the various gms in the 2020 draft. The NL Central is argueably the best division in baseball and with the 2020 draft being a solid draft class, the results of this year will have a significant effect on the future of the National League. I will attempt to keep my bias out of the grades and keep it honest, not trying to hurt anyones feelings but I'm not going to sugarcoat a poor draft.

Chicago Cubs
Draft Grade: D+
Best Value Pick: P Chris Vieira (4th Round, 120th Overall)
Draft Notes: I am not really sure that any player that Sean drafted this season has any serious MLB career ahead of them. Sean drafted some very raw talents and I have my doubts that they will end up panning out. Sean didn't really need a great draft because his team is already great but he is always going to be looking for cheaper options and I doubt this class will produce any good options in the future. Out of all the players, RP Chris Vieera might have the best shot of being a solid bullpen piece.

Cincinnati Reds
Draft Grade: B+
Best Value: P Gustavo Telon (3rd Round, 71st Overall)
Draft Notes: I was much more impressed by the mid round picks of JPS than the early round picks. I realize JPS did not stay around for the whole draft and I am not sure who credit really goes to but for Cincinnatti it was a solid draft. He picked up good value in players like P Telon, LF Page and P Wilder but to me his first 2 picks were very risky. He had the 3 and 11 pick in the draft and he picked a terribly overrated 3B in Marv Eason and a questionable high schooler in 1B Eric Gentner. Considering the other talent that was on the board in the early first round, I feel that he will look back and regret his top 2 picks in this years draft.

Houston Astros
Draft Grade: B
Best Value: SS Peter Conwell
Draft Notes: Conwell was argueably most projectable position player in this years draft and to scoop him up in the late first round was certainly a good move. I know from talking to DJ he was quite high on his mid round picks but I personally believe that is where his picks fell off. I don't see the projectability in players like Nufio, Porcell, or Mezquita so that hurts his grade significantly. He had a ton of picks anticipating a loaded draft but the more I look at the draft, I feel many GM's were fooled by the top heavy talent and the 4th round and beyond were average. DJ agree to disagree on his mid round picks here.

Milwaukee Brewers
Draft Grade: C-
Best Value: LF Joseph Powell
Draft Notes: Simply, Erick had two of the first 5 picks and in a draft that I considered to be top heavy, Erick landed two questionable prospects. He could have made a huge move to set up his team for competition in the NL Central but I feel he missed his shot with this draft. This draft could have proven to be critical in his growth and honestly, I feel like he blew it.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Draft Grade: -
Best Value: P Jeff Vail
Draft Notes: Vail to me, was the best prospect at any position in this draft and to land him at the 6th pick was huge for me. I am obviously not going to give myself a grade because it would be biased. I felt like I made the most of my picks and picked up some projectable players that will help my team within a couple of season.

St Louis Cardinals
Draft Grade: C-
Best Value: Billy Rogers (practically by default)
Draft Notes: I am highly doubtful anybody in this group of draftees becomes a major league starter in their career. Maybe I am too low on their draft but I question the projectability of all the draftees and I could turn out to be wrong but I see a group of MLB bench players and AAAA players for the Cardinals draft

FCM History Made in Chicago





Lars Anderson, 1B Detroit Tigers

 On sunday evening, may 2nd, 2015 was a memorial day in FCM history. Over 32,000 fans got to witness something that had never been done in the six year existence of the league.  Lars Anderson of the Tigers, the 2011 AL rookie of the year, and the 2012,  league.  In the first time in league history, not only did a batter hit 4 homeruns in a game and another batter hit for the cycle, but on may 2nd, 2015, both of these happened in the same game!  AL MVP, had his first four homerun game, and only the 4th in FCM history.  Lars hit his fourth consecutive homerun in the game in the top of the 7th to give Detroit a 7-2 lead.  Lars had a chance to break a baseball record and hit five homeruns in game in the top of the 9th, but missed it by just a few feet as he flew out to right field.  Lars currently has 13 homeruns and a .350 batting average.   He is tied for 4th in the American League in homeruns, and is third in the AL in batting average.



Chris Dickerson, LF Chicago White Sox



Lars wasn't the only player to make history this day.  On the home team, outfielder Chris Dickerson his for the cycle for the first time in his career.  The four year White Sox has served as the leadoff man this year, but he is struggling so far this season with a .211 batting average.  The game on Sunday night really gave Dickerson an extra boost of confidence he desperately needed.  Dickerson, who was batting 6th in this game, got his triple out of the way right in the first inning, hitting the ball into the right field power alley.  Dickerson led off the bottom of the 9th and hit a double off Ric Soto to give him the cycle, and give his White Sox fans something to be proud of in their 9-4 loss.  Dickerson was the 11th person in FCM history to hit for the cycle.  Alex Gordon of the Braves and Ryan Haven of the Twins have more recently hit for the cycle, being the 12th and 13th player to ever do so in FCM.  It is also the first time in FCM history that three players hit for the cycle in the same month.

In other news, Derrick Saito of the Los Angeles Angels pitched a no-hitter earlier this month against the San Diego Padres.  He is the 10th player in FCM history to pitch a no hitter, and the first since the fall of the 2013 season when Tyler Sample of the Royals no-hit the Seattle Mariners. 

Chicago Times edition 1

The Chicago White Sox would like to introduce our recent acquisitions of Barry Zito, Rafael Furcal, Todd Doolittle, and Cameron Maybin. The White Sox GM said "We look to clinch the division with these new players and go in strong with these last two months." Zito and Doolittle will be starting in the rotation at the 4 and 5 spot hopefully to add some more strength and depth to the rotation. Maybin will add to the already fast and young hitters and provide some more stolen bases. While Furcal will add some infield assistance and a big stick to the great lineup. The White Sox overall are looking promising as the trade deadline has ended and The Trio (Peavy, Danks, Floyd) has absolutely dominated with low ERA's and many strikeouts. Hopefully they will bring Chicago a long wanted World Series Trophy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
               The new addition of Maybin looks to be promising.