Original Draft Series in Review

It’s taken nearly 3 months, but the Original Draft Series was completed yesterday with the post about the #1 team, the Atlanta Braves. So what have we learned?

You can find the list of posts here

1. There are some teams that are very, very good at identifying talent.

There are quite a few teams who were able to identify players who had the potential to be Major Leaguers, but for whatever reason were unable to establish themselves with that organization.

2. There are some teams that are extremely bad at identifying talent as well.

Having looked through these teams’ drafts and international signings, it is abundantly clear as to why they have been terrible for so long.

3. Having money to spend is not necessarily a harbinger of being good at identifying young talent.

If you look at the teams on the list, the small market teams are not necessarily at the bottom, and the big market teams aren’t necessarily at the top.

Overall, I feel like this has been a very interesting experiment, and is something to look into again in about 5 years or so, as there were organizations who probably would have been better 5 years ago. While it doesn’t explain how a team does overall, it can be a very interesting group of notes to put together with other developmental pieces.

Original Draft Series: #1 – Atlanta Braves

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #1: Atlanta Braves

General Managers(since 1994)

John Schuerholz (1994-2007): 1298-902
Frank Wren (2008-Current): 158-166

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
1	3	11	11	1	3	1	0

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Brian McCann	2002 – 2nd Rd	8	5 All Star Appearances, 3 Silver Sluggers 741 gm, .290/.360/.491, 111 HR, 463 RBI	Currently with Org.
1B	Adam LaRoche	2000 – 29th Rd	6+1	457 gm, .281/.346/.512, 77 HR, 253 RBI	Traded to PIT – 1/19/07
2B	Martin Prado	Int’l FA – 2001	9	1 All Star Appearance 389 gm, .309/.357/.459, 29 HR, 159 RBI, 9 SB	Currently with Org.
3B	Chipper Jones	1990 – 1st Rd (1)	20	1999 NL MVP, 2 Silver Sluggers, 6 All Star Appearances 2261 gm, .306/.405/.536, 436 HR, 1491 RBI, 147 SB	Currently with Org.
SS	Rafael Furcal	Int’l FA – 1996	9	2000 NL ROY, 1 All Star Appearance 817 gm, .284/.348/.409, 57 HR, 292 RBI, 189 SB	Left via Free Agency – 10/31/05
LF	Jeff Francoeur	2002 – 1st Rd (23)	7	1 Gold Glove 631 gm, .266/.308/.424, 78 HR, 359 RBI, 14 SB	Traded to NYM – 7/10/09
CF	Andruw Jones	Int’l FA – 1993	14	5 All Star Appearances, 1 Silver Slugger, 10 Gold Gloves 1761 gm, .263/.342/.497, 368 HR, 1117 RBI, 138 SB	Left via Free Agency – 10/31/07
RF	Jason Heyward	2007 – 1st Rd (14)	3	1 All Star Appearance 128 gm, .288/.403/.483, 18 HR, 71 RBI, 9 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	Mark DeRosa	1996 – 7th Rd	8	393 gm, .266/.318/.371, 17 HR, 99 RBI, 6 SB	Non-Tendered – 12/21/04
SP	Adam Wainwright	2000 – 1st Rd (29)	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to STL – 12/13/03
SP	Kevin Millwood	1993 – 11th Rd	9	1 All Star Appearance 75-46, 3.73 ERA, 1004.1 IP, 840 K, 303 BB	Traded to PHI – 12/20/02
SP	Tommy Hanson	2005 – 22nd Rd	5	21-15, 3.32 ERA, 311.2 IP, 276 K, 97 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Kyle Davies	2001 – 4th Rd	6	14-21, 6.15 ERA, 237 IP, 172 K, 126 BB	Traded to KC – 7/31/07
SP	Kris Medlen	2006 – 10th Rd	4	9-7, 3.90 ERA, 175.1 IP, 155 K, 51 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Matt Harrison	2003 – 3rd Rd	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to TEX – 7/31/07
RP	Charlie Morton	2002 – 3rd Rd	6	4-8, 6.15 ERA, 74.2 IP, 48 K, 41 BB	Traded to PIT – 6/3/09
RP	Blaine Boyer	2000 – 3rd Rd	9	6-9, 5.46 ERA, 117 IP, 105 K, 47 BB	Traded to STL – 4/20/09
RP	Jonny Venters	2003	7	4-2, 1.81 ERA, 74.2 IP, 83 K, 34 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Kenshin Kawakami	Int’l FA – 2009	2	8-22, 4.32 ERA, 243.2 IP, 164 K, 89 BB	Currently with Org.
CL	Neftali Feliz	Int’l FA – 2005	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to TEX – 7/31/07
BN	Yunel Escobar	2005 – 2nd Rd	5	446 gm, .291/.368/.403, 29 HR, 183 RBI, 17 SB	Traded to TOR – 7/14/10
BN	Elvis Andrus	Int’l FA – 2005	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to TEX – 7/31/07
BN	Kelly Johnson	2000 – 1st Rd (38)	9	490 gm, .264/.346/.430, 45 HR, 206 RBI, 29 SB	Non-Tendered – 12/12/09
BN	Garrett Jones	1999 – 14th Rd	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Released – 5/21/02
BN	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	2003 – 1st Rd (36)	4	47 gm, .284/.333/.411, 4 HR, 12 RBI	Traded to TEX – 7/31/07

June Amateur Draft

The Braves have done extremely well in identifying talent in the amateur draft, with Chipper Jones represent the glory days of the past and Jason Heyward the unfulfilled future that is to come. And in between they have had a lot of solid Major Leaguers in Brian McCann, Adam Wainwright, Kevin Millwood, Yunel Escbar, and Adam LaRoche. The key to them being my top team however is the fact that with few exceptions, they have gotten this value for the Braves themselves, and only Adam Wainwright has had extreme success with another organization.

International Free Agency

The Braves have had their fair share of international free agent signees, with Andruw Jones clearly providing the most value to the Braves themselves. Unfortunately, the trade to acquire Mark Teixeira didn’t quite work out as planned, as they gave up a starting shortstop (Andrus) and an All-Star closer (Feliz) in the trade, along with 3 other valuable players. They don’t always make the big splash it appears, but they do end up with quite a few solid players as a result of their efforts.

Overall Grade

A+. To me, the Braves are in a class by themselves for this project. There was no difficulty in filling out the roster for this organization, and many of the bench players would have been considered starters for a lot of the other teams. The on-the-field success has shown that they have known what they are doing for quite a while, and their ability to make trades (although they didn’t always work out), and retain their talent has been crucial to their success.

Original Draft Series: #2 – Arizona Diamondbacks

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #2: Arizona Diamondbacks

General Managers(since 1998)

Joe Garagiola Jr (1998-2005): 652-644
Josh Byrnes (2006-2010): 318-330
Jerry DiPoto (Current)

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
1	1	4	4	2	2	1	3

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Miguel Montero	Int’l FA – 2001	9	364 gm, .270/.335/.446, 40 HR, 160 RBI	Currently with Org.
1B	Lyle Overbay	1999 – 18th Rd	5	98 gm, .271/.357/.391, 4 HR, 29 RBI	Traded to MIL – 12/1/03
2B	Dan Uggla	2001 – 11th Rd	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Rule 5 Draft – FLA – 12/8/05
3B	Mark Reynolds	2004 – 16th Rd	6	554 gm, .244/.335/.489, 121 HR, 345 RBI, 42 SB	Currently with Org.
SS	Stephen Drew	2004 – 1st Rd (15)	6	634 gm, .272/.331/.446, 62 HR, 269 RBI, 25 SB	Currently with Org.
LF	Carlos Quentin	2003 – 1st Rd (29)	4	138 gm, .230/.316/.425, 14 HR, 63 RBI, 3 SB	Traded to CHW – 12/3/07
CF	Carlos Gonzalez	Int’l FA – 2002	5	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to OAK – 12/14/07
RF	Justin Upton	2005 – 1st Rd (1)	5	1 All Star Appearance 421 gm, .272/.352/.471, 70 HR, 208 RBI, 40 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	Conor Jackson	2003 – 1st Rd (19)	7	526 gm, .277/.358/.423, 46 HR, 247 RBI, 22 SB	Traded to OAK – 6/15/10
SP	Brandon Webb	2000 – 8th Rd	10	2006 NL Cy Young, 3 All Star Appearances 87-62, 3.27 ERA, 1319.2 IP, 1065 K, 435 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Brett Anderson	2006 – 2nd Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to OAK – 12/14/07
SP	Max Scherzer	2006 – 1st Rd (11)	3	9-15, 3.86 ERA, 226.1 IP, 240 K, 84 BB	Traded to DET – 12/8/09
SP	Jorge de la Rosa	Int’l FA – 1998	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Purchased by Mexican League – 4/2/00
SP	Brad Penny	1996 – 5th Rd	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to FLA – 7/8/99
RP	Micah Owings	2005 – 3rd Rd	3	14-17, 4.97 ERA, 257.1 IP, 193 K, 91 BB	Traded to CIN – 9/12/08
RP	Javier Lopez	1998 – 4th Rd	4+1	1-1,9.42 ERA, 14.1 IP, 11 K, 11 BB	Rule 5 Draft – BOS – 12/16/02
RP	Lance Cormier	2002 – 4th Rd	3	8-7, 6.21 ERA, 124.2 IP,87 K, 68 BB	Traded to ATL – 12/7/05
RP	Brian Bruney	2000 – 12th Rd	5	4-7, 6.17 ERA, 12 SV, 77.1 IP, 85 K, 62 BB	Released – 5/20/06
RP	Tony Pena	Int’l FA – 2002	7	16-13, 4.08 ERA, 7 SV, 222.2 IP, 162 K, 67 BB	Traded to CHW – 7/7/09
CL	Jose Valverde	Int’l FA – 1997	10	9-14, 3.29 ERA, 98 SV, 260 IP, 331 K, 111 BB	Traded to HOU – 12/14/07
BN	Jack Cust	1997 – 1st Rd (30)	4	3 gm, 1-2	Traded to COL – 1/7/02
BN	Scott Hairston	2001 – 3rd Rd	6	201 gm, .238/.293/.407, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 5 SB	Traded to SD – 7/27/07
BN	Rod Barajas	Int’l FA – 1996	7	211 gm, .212/.257/.334, 11 HR, 66 RBI	Left via Free Agency – 12/21/03
BN	Chad Tracy	2001 – 7th Rd	8	704 gm, .280/.339/.453, 78 HR, 318 RBI, 11 SB	Left via Free Agency – 11/5/09
BN	Rusty Ryal	2005 – 14th Rd	5	129 gm, .265/.322/.407, 6 HR, 20 RBI	Currently with Org.

June Amateur Draft

For a team who has only been drafting for less than 15 years, they have done very well in the draft, especially in the first round. Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, and Conor Jackson have all been cornerstones of the team at one point during the career, and they have clearly gotten solid Major League talent out of other picks, with Scherzer used to acquire Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. There are a lot of players that were drafted by the organization who were turned into other players, with Brett Anderson probably providing the highest value (used to acquire Dan Haren). But they have also had some late round values as well, with Brandon Webb and Mark Reynolds being the best examples from that group. Overall, they have drafted very well.

International Free Agency

The Diamondbacks have also done very well int the international free agent market, signing future closer Jose Valverde and MVP candidate Carlos Gonzalez. But they have also had solid players, especially in catchers Rod Barajas and Miguel Montero. There were also a lot of other middling relievers that were originally signed by the Diamondbacks, but I felt weren’t as high of a quality as the ones I chose above.

Overall Grade

A. The Diamondbacks had one of the largest amounts of Major Leaguers who started in their system in all of baseball, and I was able to put together a very good roster of players who could compete with nearly anyone. There were at least another 15 players who I could have included on their roster that made the Majors and were productive for at least some length of time. They have also done well with trading a lot of these players (not all of them, clearly), as they were able to acquire the players they needed to make productive playoff pushes. I will be interested to see whether or not they retain interim GM Jerry DiPoto, or if they go get a more recognized GM to run their organization going forward.

Original Draft Series: #3 – Seattle Mariners

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #3: Seattle Mariners

General Managers(since 1994)

Woody Woodward (1994-1999):458-445
Pat Gillick (2000-2003):393-359
Bill Bavasi (2004-2008):359-451
Jack Zduriencik (2009):85-77

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	0	4	3	4	5	4	0

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Jason Varitek	1994 – 1st Rd (14)	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to SEA – 7/31/97
1B	Raul Ibanez	1992 – 36th Rd	8+5	986 gm, .284/.346/.464, 127 HR, 547 RBI, 21 SB	Left via Free Agency – 12/21/00, 10/30/08
2B	Jose Lopez	Int’l FA – 2000	10	1 All Star Appearance 853 gm, .266/.297/.399, 77 HR, 422 RBI	Currently with Org.
3B	Alex Rodriguez	1993 – 1st Rd (1)	7	4 All Star Appearances, 4 Silver Sluggers 790 gm, .309/.374/.561, 189 HR, 595 RBI, 133 SB	Left via Free Agency – 10/30/00
SS	Asdrubal Cabrera	Int’l FA – 2002	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to CLE – 6/30/06
LF	Shin-Soo Choo	Int’l FA – 2000	6	14 gm, .069/.182/.103, RBI	Traded to CLE – 7/26/06
CF	Adam Jones	2003 – 1st Rd (37)	4	73 gm, .230/.267/.353, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 5 SB	Traded to BAL – 2/8/08
RF	Ichiro Suzuki	Int’l FA – 2001	10	2001 AL MVP and Rookie of the Year, 10 All Star Appearances, 9 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers 1564 gm., .331/.376/.430, 89 HR, 550 RBI, 88 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	David Ortiz	Int’l FA – 1992	4	No Major League Appearances	Traded to MIN – 9/13/96
SP	Felix Hernandez	Int’l FA – 2002	8	1 All Star Appearance 69-51, 3.23 ERA, 1124.1 IP, 1019 K, 347 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Brandon Morrow	2006 – 1st Rd (5)	3	8-12, 3.96 ERA, 197.2 IP, 204 K, 128 BB	Traded to TOR – 12/23/09
SP	Joel Pineiro	1997 – 12th Rd	11	58-55, 4.48 ERA, 996 IP, 658 K, 327 BB	Left via Free Agency – 12/12/06
SP	Derek Lowe	1991 – 8th Rd	6	2-4, 6.96 ERA, 53 IP, 39 K, 20 BB	Traded to SEA – 7/31/97
SP	Gil Meche	1996 – 1st Rd (22)	10	55-44, 4.65 ERA, 815.1 IP, 575 K, 363 BB	Left via Free Agency – 10/31/06
RP	Damaso Marte	Int’l FA – 1992	8	0-1, 9.35 ERA, 8.2 IP, 3 K, 6 BB	Left via Free Agency – 10/18/00
RP	Matt Thornton	1998 – 1st Rd (22)	7	1-6, 4.82 ERA, 89.2 IP, 87 K, 67 BB	Traded to SEA – 3/20/06
RP	Rafael Soriano	Int’l FA – 1996	10	4-8, 2.89 ERA, 4 SV, 171 IP, 177 K, 53 BB	Traded to ATL – 12/7/06
RP	Ryan Franklin	1992 – 23rd Rd	13	35-50, 4.34 ERA, 811.1 IP, 427 K, 238 BB	Left via Free Agency – 12/21/05
RP	J.J. Putz	1999 – 6th Rd	9	1 All Star Appearance 22-15, 3.07 ERA, 323 IP, 337 K, 104 BB	Traded to NYM – 12/11/08
CL	Brian Fuentes	1995 – 25th Rd	6	1-1, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 10 K, 8 BB	Traded to COL – 12/16/01
BN	Omar Vizquel	Int’l FA – 1984	9	1 Gold Glove 660 gm, .252/.309/.303, 6 HR, 131 RBI, 39 SB	Traded to CLE – 12/20/93
BN	Greg Dobbs	Amat. FA – 2001	5	100 gm, .257/.291/.351, 2 HR, 32 RBI	Selected off waivers by PHI – 1/15/07
BN	Yuniesky Betancourt	Int’l FA – 2005	4	588 gm,. 279/.302/.393, 27 HR, 202 RBI, 24 SB	Traded to KC – 7/10/09
BN	Jeff Clement	2005 – 1st Rd (3)	4	75 gm, .237/.309/.393, 7 HR, 26 RBI	Traded to PIT – 7/29/09
BN	Luis Valbuena	Int’l FA – 2002	6	18 gm, .245/.315/.347, RBI	Traded to CLE – 12/11/08

June Amateur Draft

The Mariners have actually not been as active in the draft as I thought they had been. Clearly, the retirement of Ken Griffey Jr in the middle of the season removed him from this team, although to be honest he probably would have only been a bench player like he was in real life. The Mariners are unfortunately not seeing nearly as much success as they be expected to considering the quality level of the players listed here. Alex Rodriguez has clearly been the best player to this point overall, at least coming out of the draft. But the story for a lot of these players has been that they achieved their greatest success while with other teams. Morrow is very rapidly turning into a top starting pitcher, Lowe and Varitek were both traded short-sightedly to the Red Sox for a reliever, and of course the group of players who were dealt to acquire Erik Bedard (Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, among others).

International Free Agency

The Mariners have clearly done their best work in the international market. Ichiro, while not an amateur free agent, has clearly been the cream of the crop and has helped to define the organization ever since he arrived. But there have been so many other excellent players that were brought in by the Mariners as well, with King Felix Hernandez probably providing the most to the team while on the team. They have had some solid players go through the organization via this method as well, but unfortunately the story is very similar to the amateur draftees. The two that stand out to me are Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo, who were traded for a pair of platoon first basemen in Eduardo Perez and Ben Broussard. Both were just prospects when they were traded, but have turned into at worst solid major league regulars.

Overall Grade

A. The Mariners are one of the few teams where I had to ignore quite a few players. There were probably another 10-15 players that could very well have ended up on the rosters of other organizations further down the list. I think that they did receive quite a bit of production from these players, and clearly the one who retired (Griffey) also helped the team stay in Seattle practically. They had an All-Star closer in J.J. Putz, a clear Ace in Felix Hernandez, and a future Hall of Famer in Ichiro Suzuki. Every position has someone who has become a major league regular, as well as players on the bench who have in some capacity as well. The pitching staff has 5 pitchers who have closed for at least some time in their careers, and a solid pitching rotation as well. Overall, they were immediately on my mind as one of my top teams overall.

Original Draft Series: #4 – Toronto Blue Jays

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #4: Toronto Blue Jays

General Managers(since 1994)

Pat Gillick (1994): 55-64
Gord Ash (1995-2001): 541-575
J.P. Ricciardi (2002-2009): 642-653
Current GM: Alex Anthopoulos

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	0	0	0	1	9	3	3

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	J.P. Arencibia	2007 – 1st Rd (21)	3	6 gm, .217/.217/.522, 2 HR, 4 RBI	Currently with Org.
1B	Casey Blake	1996 – 7th Rd	3	14 gm, .256/.293/.385, HR, RBI	Selected off waivers by IN – 5/23/00
2B	Orlando Hudson	1997 – 43rd Rd	8	1 Gold Glove 462 gm, .270/.328/.418, 35 HR, 201 RBI, 19 SB	Traded to ARI – 12/27/05
3B	Michael Young	1997 – 5th Rd	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to TEX – 7/19/00
SS	Felipe Lopez	1998 – 1st Rd (8)	4	134 gm, .240/.293/.399, 13 HR, 57 RBI, 9 SB	Traded to CIN – 12/15/02
LF	Reed Johnson	1999 – 17th Rd	8	610 gm, .281/.342/.410, 42 HR, 234 RBI, 28 SB	Released – 3/23/08
CF	Vernon Wells	1997 – 1st Rd (5)	13	3 All Star Appearances, 3 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger 1367 gm, .279/.328/.472, 215 HR, 794 RBI, 89 SB	Currently with Org.
RF	Alex Rios	1999 – 1st Rd (19)	10	2 All Star Appearances 809 gm, .285/.335/.451, 81 HR, 395 RBI, 112 SB	Selected off waivers by CHW – 8/10/09
DH	Adam Lind	2004 – 3rd Rd	6	1 Silver Slugger 475 gm, .271/.323/.470, 76 HR, 270 RBI	Currently with Org.
SP	Shaun Marcum	2003 – 3rd Rd	7	35-24, 3.83 ERA, 559.2 IP, 451 K, 178 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Roy Halladay	1995 – 1st Rd (17)	14	2003 AL Cy Young Award, 6 All Star Appearances 148-76, 3.43 ERA, 2046.2 IP, 1495 K, 455 BB	Traded to PHI – 12/16/09
SP	Ricky Romero	2005 – 1st Rd (6)	5	24-17, 3.95 ERA, 358 IP, 294 K, 148 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Brett Cecil	2007 – 1st Rd (38)	3	18-11, 4.35 ERA, 240 IP, 105 K, 45 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Chris Carpenter	1993 – 1st Rd (15)	9	49-50, 4.83 ERA, 870.2 IP, 612 K, 331 BB	Released – 10/9/02
RP	Brandon League	2001 – 2nd Rd	8	7-10, 4.09 ERA, 202.1 IP, 154 K, 73 BB	Traded to SEA – 12/23/09
RP	Mark Hendrickson	1997 – 20th Rd	6	12-9, 4.94 ERA, 195 IP, 97 K, 52 BB	Traded to TAM – 12/14/03
RP	Alfredo Aceves	Int’l FA – 2001	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Purchased by Mex. League – 4/24/02
RP	Casey Janssen	2004 – 4th Rd	6	14-19, 4.12 ERA, 268.2 IP, 163 K, 70 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Kelvim Escobar	Int’l FA – 1992	11	58-55, 4.58 ERA, 58 SV, 849 IP, 744 K, 394 BB	Left via Free Agency – 10/26/03
CL	Brandon Lyon	1999 – 14th Rd	3	6-8, 5.40 ERA, 125 IP, 65 K, 34 BB	Selected off waivers – 10/9/02
BN	Cesar Izturis	Int’l FA – 1996	5	46 gm, .269/.279/.388, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 8 SB	Traded to LA – 12/13/01
BN	Aaron Hill	2003 – 1st Rd (13)	7	1 All Star Appearance, 1 Silver Slugger 748 gm, .273/.328/.429, 85 HR, 350 RBI, 22 SB,	Currently with Org.
BN	Travis Snider	2006 – 1st Rd (14)	4	161 gm, .248/.318/.434, 20 HR, 66 RBI, 6 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Gabe Gross	2001 – 1st Rd (15)	4	84 gm, .226/.316/.326, 4 HR, 23 RBI	Traded to MIL – 12/7/05
BN	Kevin Cash	Amateur FA – 1999	5	101 gm, .173/.222/.262, 5 HR, 29 RBI	Traded to TAM – 12/12/04

June Amateur Draft

The Blue Jays have done better than just about any team with finding and maintaining first round talent. Last year’s rotation featured 3 first round picks (Halladay, Romero, and Cecil), and this season’s lineup features 3 starters from the first round as well (Hill, Snider, Wells). The only position where they are particularly weak is catcher, simply because J.P. Arencibia has not been called up to stay and start yet for the Jays. The key with the Blue Jays has to be their ability to develop pitching, as shown by Marcum, Halladay, Romero, and Cecil. There were even more pitchers who have been at least serviceable in the Majors who were not included because I simply ran out of room. Clearly, not all the moves have been winners (Carpenter, Lyon, Rios), but the team has done extremely well all the same.

International Free Agency

The Blue Jays have not done a whole lot in the international markets, instead choosing to spend their money on draft picks. That said, there really isn’t a lot to like in terms of international free agents here. Kelvim Escobar is really the only player who has become any kind of success in the Majors, with Aceves limited to middle relief only.

Overall Grade

A. The Blue Jays have done poorly in the international markets, but with the amount of talent they have been getting out of the draft, it wasn’t really necessary to have. They’ve established themselves as one of the premier teams when it comes to identifying and developing pitching talent, but don’t get near enough credit for it. In addition, they have also managed to develop Major league starters at nearly every position on the diamond, with some solid players left in reserve as well. They are clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the teams to this point.

Original Draft Series: #5 – Colorado Rockies

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #5: Colorado Rockies

General Managers(since 1994)

Bob Gebhart (1994-1998): 512-559
Dan O’Dowd (1999-Current): 769-852

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	1	3	0	3	4	5	4

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Chris Iannetta	2004 – 4th Rd	6	333 gm, .236/.355/.440, 48 HR, 178 RBI	Currently with Org.
1B	Todd Helton	1995 – 1st Rd (8)	15	5 All Star Appearances, 3 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers 1906 gm, .324/.423/.556, 331 HR, 1230 RBI, 36 SB	Currently with Org.
2B	Chone Figgins	1997 – 4th Rd	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to LAA – 7/13/01
3B	Garrett Atkins	2000 – 5th Rd	9	773 gm, .289/.354/.457, 98 HR, 479 RBI	Non Tendered – 12/12/09
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	2005 – 1st Rd (7)	5	1 All Star Appearance 528 gm, .290/.362/.481, 78 HR, 302 RBI, 40 SB	Currently with Org.
LF	Matt Holliday	1998 – 7th Rd	10	3 All Star Appearances, 3 Silver Sluggers 698 gm, .319/.386/.552, 128 HR, 483 RBI, 66 SB	Traded to OAK – 11/10/08
CF	Juan Pierre	1998 – 13th Rd	4	359 gm, .308/.356/.371, 110 RBI, 100 SB	Traded to FLA – 11/16/02
RF	Brad Hawpe	2000 – 11th Rd	10	1 All Star Appearance 816 gm, .280/.374/.492, 118 HR, 464 RBI, 13 SB	Released – 7/26/10
DH	Ian Stewart	2003 – 1st Rd (10)	7	378 gm, .247/.333/.456, 54 HR, 180 RBI, 13 SB	Currently with Org.
SP	Ubaldo Jimenez	Int’l FA – 2001	9	1 All Star Appearance 48-34, 3.51 ERA, 690.2 IP, 611 K, 300 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Aaron Cook	1997 – 2nd Rd	13	1 All Star Appearance 68-58, 4.42 ERA, 1210.1 IP, 506 K, 370 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Jake Westbrook	1996 – 1st Rd(21)	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to MON – 11/18/97
SP	Jeff Francis	2002 – 1st Rd (9)	8	55-48, 4.72 ERA, 871 IP, 595 K, 284 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Jhoulys Chacin	Int’l FA – 2004	6	7-10, 3.80 ERA, 118.1 IP, 125 K, 61 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Jamey Wright	1993 – 1st Rd (28)	6	35-52, 5.40 ERA, 791.2 IP, 381 K, 387 BB	Traded to MIL – 12/13/99
RP	Matt Daley	Amateur FA – 2004	6	1-2, 4.09 ERA, 72.2 IP, 72 K, 27 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Franklin Morales	Int’l FA – 2002	8	7-9, 4.95 ERA, 127.1 IP, 93 K, 75 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Esmil Rogers	Int’l FA – 2003	7	2-2, 5.28 ERA, 59.2 IP, 52 K, 21 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Greg Reynolds	2006 – 1st Rd (2)	4	2-8, 8.13 ERA, 62 IP, 22 K, 26 BB	Currently with Org.
CL	Manny Corpas	Int’l FA – 1999	11	12-16, 3.93 ERA, 34 SV, 286 IP, 206 K, 80 BB	Currently with Org.
BN	Clint Barmes	2000 – 10th Rd	10	649 gm, .254/.300/.405, 61 HR, 285 RBI, 39 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Seth Smith	2004 – 2nd Rd	6	319 gm, .277/.352/.495, 35 HR, 119 RBI, 7 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Eric Young Jr	2003 – 30th Rd	7	62 gm, .238/.301/.298, 4 RBI, 17 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Dexter Fowler	2004 – 14th Rd	6	253 gm, .255/.351/.398, 8 HR, 66 RBI, 39 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Juan Uribe	Int’l FA – 1997	6	672 gm, .251/.293/.431, 87 HR, 324 RBI, 16 SB	Traded to CHW – 12/2/03

June Amateur Draft

The Rockies have really capitalized on their draft picks, getting a lot of good players out of the first 5 rounds of the draft every season. Todd Helton is probably the best player that the Rockies have ever had, but right behind him are also Jeff Francis, Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki, and Brad Hawpe in terms of great players out of the draft. Nearly every position in the starting lineup also had a player who was reasonable to be on the bench for this group as well (Barmes, Smith, Uribe). I really like how this team has developed, and has also gotten better by moving Holliday prior to his free agency for Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street both.

International Free Agency

The Rockies haven’t been nearly as active in the international market as some other teams, but the players that they have gotten seem to have done very well for the team. Ubaldo Jimenez has developed into a definite #1 starter, and Manny Corpas has closed for the team in the past. While there are still a lot of works-in-progress, especially Franklin Morales and Esmil Rogers, the team seems to be going about the international market the right way.

Overall Grade

A. The Rockies have done well overall in both markets, and developed a very good team for this purpose. Nearly every player in their lineup was a potential All-Star when they were in their prime, and the Rockies caught quite a bit of those years as well. Their starting rotation is solid, and the bullpen is full of serviceable pitchers as well. Honestly, I even like their bench, as these players would probably be starters for a lot of the teams below them in the rankings.

Original Draft Series: #6 – New York Yankees

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #6: New York Yankees

General Managers(since 1998)

Gene Michael (1994-1995): 149-108
Bob Watson (1996-1997): 188-136
Brian Cashman (1998-Current): 1177-763

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
5	7	15	12	3	1	0	0

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Jorge Posada	1990 – 24th Rd	20	5 All Star Appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers 1693 gm, .277/.378/.481, 260 HR, 1015 RBI	Currently with Org.
1B	Nick Johnson	1996 – 3rd Rd	7+1	272 gm, .249/.378/.414, 33 HR, 121 RBI	Currently with Org.
2B	Robinson Cano	Int’l FA – 2001	9	2 All Star Appearances, 1 Silver Slugger, 869 gm, .308/.346/.490, 113 HR, 487 RBI, 19 SB	Currently with Org.
3B	Mike Lowell	1995 – 20th Rd	3	8 gm, .267/.267/.267	Traded to FLA – 2/1/99
SS	Derek Jeter	1992 -1st Rd (6)	18	1996 AL Rookie of the Year, 11 All Star Appearances, 3 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves 2271 gm, .314/.385/.454, 234 HR, 1128 RBI, 320 SB	Currently with Org.
LF	Alfonso Soriano	Purchased from Japan – 1998	5	2 All Star Appearances, 1 Silver Slugger 501 gm, .284/.322/.502, 98 HR, 270 RBI, 121 SB	Traded to TEX – 2/16/04
CF	Austin Jackson	2005 – 8th Rd	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to DET – 12/8/09
RF	Brett Gardner	2005 – 3rd Rd	5	278 gm, .271/.361/.368, 8 HR, 82 RBI, 79 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	Hideki Matsui	Int’l FA – 2002	7	2 All Star Appearances 916 gm, .292/.370/.482, 140 HR, 597 RBI	Left via Free Agency – 11/9/09
SP	Andy Pettitte	1990 – 22nd Rd	17	3 All Star Appearances 203-111, 3.97 ERA, 2522.1 IP, 1812 K, 817 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Phil Hughes	2004 – 1st Rd (23)	6	1 All Star Appearance 29-16, 4.16 ERA, 342 IP, 300 K, 120 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Ian Kennedy	2006 – 1st Rd (21)	3	1-4, 6.03 ERA, 59.2 IP, 43 K, 37 BB	Traded to ARI – 12/8/09
SP	Daniel McCutchen	2006 – 13th Rd	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to PIT – 7/26/08
SP	Chien-Ming Wang	Int’l FA – 2000	9	55-26, 4.16 ERA, 670.2 IP, 310 K, 197 BB	Non-Tendered 12/12/09
RP	Phil Coke	2002 – 26th Rd	7	5-3, 3.74 ERA, 131 IP, 110 K, 43 BB	Traded to DET – 12/8/09
RP	Tyler Clippard	2003 – 9th Rd	4	3-1, 6.33 ERA, 27 IP, 18 K, 17 BB	Traded to WAS – 12/4/07
RP	David Robertson	2006 – 17th Rd	4	8-5, 4.07 ERA, 121.2 IP, 157 K, 65 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Joba Chamberlain	2006 – 1st Rd (41)	4	17-13, 3.80 ERA, 3 SV, 340.2 IP, 345 K, 141 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Jose Contreras	Int’l FA – 2003	2	15-7, 4.64 ERA, 166.2 IP, 154 K, 72 BB	Traded to CHW – 7/31/04
CL	Mariano Rivera	Int’l FA – 1990	20	11 All Star Appearances 74-54, 2.20 ERA, 555 SV, 1140.2 IP, 1047 K, 265 BB	Currently with Org.
BN	Francisco Cervelli	Int’l FA – 2003	7	125 gm, .263/.318/.331, HR, 43 RBI	Currently with Org.
BN	Ramiro Pena	Int’l FA – 2005	5	144 gm., .256/.288/.312, HR, 28 RBI, 10 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Melky Cabrera	Int’l FA – 2001	8	569 gm, .269/.331/.385, 36 HR, 228 RBI, 44 SB	Traded to ATL – 12/22/09
BN	Shelley Duncan	2001 – 2nd Rd	8	68 gm, .219/.290/.411, 8 HR, 24 RBI	Left via Free Agency – 11/25/09
BN	Marcus Thames	1996 – 30th Rd	6+1	71 gm, .298/.369/.539, 12 HR, 32 RBI	Currently with Org.

June Amateur Draft

The Yankees have really not done very much in the draft, and there’s probably two main reasons for that: 1) They generally have picks later in the round due to all this winning, and 2) They’ve had a tendency to sign Type-A free agents and lose their draft picks as compensation. That said, they still have found some very good players through the draft. Clearly the best one has to be Derek Jeter, who will end up in the Hall of Fame one day. Of late, they’ve gotten solid performance or value out of recent 1st rounders Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy. Jorge Posada was someone who I thought was an international free agent, but was actually drafted and has clearly been elite at times as well.

International Free Agency

The Yankees have done their best work in the international free agent market, with so many players found out of the Dominican Republic and of course Japan as well. So many of them have either turned into excellent players themselves (Rivera, Matsui, Cano), or have been turned into key players at the time (Contreras, Soriano, Cabrera). Clearly, not all of their work in this market has been amazing (See Igawa, Kei), but with the amount that they spend on payroll they clearly have the ability to absorb any issues.

Overall Grade

A. The Yankees receive my first grade of A, mostly because the team has managed to find homegrown players for nearly every position and part of the rotation. That said,  I think they are behind the rest of the teams left because they simply have the ability to absorb such large contracts and can literally outbid other teams if they want a player bad enough. I do think it has been interesting to watch over the past few seasons as the team has really made a concerted effort to not just trade away all their prospects for veterans.

Original Draft Series: #7 – Tampa Bay Rays

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #7: Tampa Bay Rays

General Managers(since 1998)

Chuck LaMar (1998-2005): 518-775
Andrew Friedman (2006-Current): 308-340

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	1	1	1	0	1	1	9

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	John Jaso	2003 – 12th Rd	7	91 gm, .280/.390/.398, 4 HR, 42 RBI, 4 SB	Currently with Org.
1B	Jorge Cantu	Int’l FA – 1998	9	332 gm, .272/.308/.448, 44 HR, 200 RBI	Traded to CIN – 7/28/07
2B	Akinori Iwamura	Int’l FA – 2007	3	344 gm, .281/.354/.393, 14 HR, 104 RBI, 29 SB	Traded to PIT – 11/3/09
3B	Evan Longoria	2006 – 1st Rd (3)	4	3 All-Star Appearances, 2008 Rookie of the Year, 1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger 406 gm, .282/.359/.523, 79 HR, 284 RBI, 31 SB	Currently with Org.
SS	Reid Brignac	2004 – 2nd Rd	6	126 gm, .254/.298/.385, 7 HR, 42 RBI, 5 SB	Currently with Org.
LF	Josh Hamilton	1999 – 1st Rd (1)	8	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Selected by CHC – 12/7/06
CF	B.J. Upton	2002 – 1st Rd (2)	8	634 gm, .261/.347/.411, 61 HR, 271 RBI, 160 SB	Currently with Org.
RF	Carl Crawford	1999 – 2nd Rd	11	4 All Star Appearances 1202 gm, .295/.336/.441, 99 HR, 570 RBI, 403 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	Aubrey Huff	1998 – 5th Rd	8	799 gm, .287/.343/.477, 128 HR, 449 RBI, 20 SB	Traded to HOU – 7/12/06
SP	David Price	2007 – 1st Rd (1)	3	1 All-Star Appearance 25-13, 3.55 ERA, 307 IP, 268 K, 123 BB, 1.283 WHIP	Currently with Org.
SP	James Shields	2000 – 16th Rd	10	55-47, 4.14 ERA, 939 IP, 768 K, 207 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Jeff Niemann	2004 – 1st Rd (4)	6	25-12, 3.88 ERA, 341.1 IP, 243 K, 114 BB, 1.307 WHIP	Currently with Org.
SP	Wade Davis	2004 – 3rd Rd	6	12-11, 4.25 ERA, 163 IP, 118 K, 64 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Jeremy Hellickson	2005 – 4th Rd	5	3-0, 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 25 K, 4 BB, 0.759 WHIP	Currently with Org.
RP	Jason Hammel	2002 – 10th Rd	6	7-15, 5.90 ERA, 207.1 IP, 140 K, 96 BB	Traded to COL – 4/5/09
RP	Brian Stokes	Amateur FA – 1998	9	3-7, 6.46 ERA, 86.1 IP, 50 K, 34 BB	Purchased by NYM – 11/28/07
RP	Andy Sonnanstine	2004 – 13th Rd	6	28-29, 5.23 ERA, 492 IP, 326 K, 120 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Chad Gaudin	2001 – 34th Rd	3	3-2, 4.25 ERA, 82.2 IP, 53 K, 32 BB	Traded to TOR – 12/12/04
RP	Josh Butler	2006 – 2nd Rd	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to MIL – 4/22/08
CL	Dan Wheeler	1996 – 34th Rd	5+1	13-22, 4.30 ERA, 18 SV, 228 K, 82 BB	Currently with Org.
BN	Delmon Young	2003 – 1st Rd (1)	4	192 gm, .293/.319/.419, 16 HR, 103 RBI, 12 SB	Traded to MIN – 11/28/07
BN	Matt Diaz	1999 – 17th Rd	5	14 gm, .167/.265/.367, HR, 3 RBI	Selected by BAL – 2/22/05
BN	Jonny Gomes	2001 – 18th Rd	6	415 gm, .235/.329/.455, 66 HR, 184 RBI, 30 SB	Left via Free Agency – 12/12/08
BN	Paul Hoover	1997 – 23rd Rd	5	8 gm, .190/.190/.190, 2 RBI	Left via Free Agency – 10/14/02
BN	Rhyne Hughes	2004 – 8th Rd	5	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to BAL – 8/15/09

June Amateur Draft

The Rays have done extremely well in the draft, and it is especially good to see that they have done well with their picks since they had so many in the top 10 in the first few years of their organization. This also seems like one of the teams that has retained the most of their prospects as well, as 12 of the 25 players listed above are still with the organization. Clearly, having the top pick 3 times and a top-4 pick 3 more times in the last 11 seasons is going to bring a lot of talent into the system. The team is finally seeing the fruits of their system, with a World Series appearance in 2008 and a team that is in contention here in 2010. The problem for them remains the same, in that they will become constrained by payroll soon enough. But the system remains extremely flush with high end prospects, and should allow the team to remain in contention even as free agents leave for greener pastures.

International Free Agency

The Rays have not done a whole lot in the international markets, as they generally are not big spenders in any market. But they have found a couple of nice players in Jorge Cantu and Aki Iwamura who both provided some decent value to the team while there. Iwamura probably has become more valuable as a trade piece, as he was moved to the Pirates for Jesse Chavez, who was part of the trade to acquire current closer Rafael Soriano. Other than that though, they really haven’t done much, and with the production they’ve received from the draft, there really hasn’t been as much of a need to work this market.

Overall Grade

A-. The Rays have done extremely well to acquire not only high end talent, but also a lot of it. Through the draft, they have done extremely well, and their success on the field has finally come to the Tampa market. It would be nice to see them do more in the international markets, but if they can continue to draft with this level of success, they really won’t need to improve much there. And with prospects like Desmond Jennings, Matt Moore, and Alex Torres down in the system ready to be called upon as well, they are set for the future about as well as can be expected.

Original Draft Series: #8 – Los Angeles Dodgers

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #8: Los Angeles Dodgers

General Managers(since 1994)

Fred Claire (1994-1998): 397-347
Kevin Malone (1999-2001): 249-237
Dan Evans (2002-2003): 177-147
Paul DePodesta (2004-2005): 164-160
Ned Coletti (2006-Current): 349-299

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	0	7	6	4	4	2	0

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Russell Martin	2002 – 17th Rd	8	2 All Star Appearances, 1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger 667 gm, .272/.365/.396, 54 HR, 300 RBI, 66 SB	Currently with Org.
1B	Paul Konerko	1994 – 1st Rd (13)	4	55 gm, .212/.271/.298, 4 HR, 16 RBI	Traded to CIN – 7/4/98
2B	Blake DeWitt	2004 – 1st Rd (28)	6	230 gm, .262/.340/.379, 12 HR, 86 RBI, 5 SB	Traded to CHC – 7/31/10
3B	Adrian Beltre	Int’l FA – 1994	10	1 Silver Slugger 966 gm, .274/.332/.463, 147 HR, 510 RBI, 62 SB	Left via Free Agency – 10/28/04
SS	Juan Castro	Int’l FA – 1991	8+1+1	270 gm, .205/.258/.271, 3 HR, 32 RBI, SB	Traded to CIN – 4/1/00
LF	Shane Victorino	1999 – 6th Rd	5	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Rule 5 Selection of PHI – 12/13/04
CF	Franklin Gutierrez	Int’l FA – 2000	4	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to CLE – 4/3/04
RF	Matt Kemp	2003 – 6th Rd	7	1 Gold Glove, 1 Silver Slugger 588 gm, .289/.338/.472, 81 HR, 310 RBI, 101 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	James Loney	2002 – 1st Rd (19)	8	586 gm, .292/.350/.442, 53 HR, 337 RBI, 24 SB	Currently with Org.
SP	Ted Lilly	1996 – 23rd Rd	2+1	4-0, 1.29 ERA, 28 IP, 26 K, 4 BB	Traded to MON – 7/31/98
SP	Edwin Jackson	2001 – 6th Rd	4	6-4, 5.50 ERA, 75.1 IP, 48 K, 39 BB, 1.566 WHIP	Traded to TAM – 1/14/06
SP	Clayton Kershaw	2006 – 1st Rd (7)	4	24-20, 3.24 ERA, 436 IP, 448 K, 210 BB, 1.298 WHIP	Currently with Org.
SP	Hiroki Kuroda	Int’l FA – 2007	3	25-28, 3.66 ERA, 448 IP, 321 K, 104 BB, 1.203 WHIP	Currently with Org.
SP	Chad Billingsley	2003 – 1st Rd (24)	7	1 All Star Appearance 57-37, 3.58 ERA, 780 IP, 703 K, 338 BB, 1.365 WHIP	Currently with Org,
RP	Hong-Chih Kuo	Int’l FA – 1999	11	1 All Star Appearance 12-15, 3.34 ERA, 5 SV, 250.1 IP, 290 K, 101 BB, 1.194 WHIP	Currently with Org.
RP	Joel Hanrahan	2000 – 2nd Rd	6	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Left via Free Agency – 10/15/06
RP	Dennys Reyes	Int’l FA – 1993	5	2-7, 4.16 ERA, 75.2 IP, 69 K, 38 BB, 1.533 WHIP	Traded to CIN – 7/4/98
RP	Takashi Saito	Int’l FA – 2006	3	1 All Star Appearance 12-7, 1.95 ERA, 81 SV, 189.2 IP, 245 K, 52 BB, 0.912 WHIP	Left via Free Agency – 12/12/08
RP	Jonathan Broxton	2002 – 2nd Rd	8	2 All Star Appearances 23-16, 2.96 ERA, 77 SV, 367.1 IP, 483 K, 144 BB, 1.171 WHIP	Currently with Org.
CL	Joakim Soria	Int’l FA – 2001	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Released – 10/12/04
BN	Andy LaRoche	2003 – 39th Rd	5	62 gm, .217/.348/.316, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 2 SB	Traded to PIT – 7/31/08
BN	Delwyn Young	2002 – 4th Rd	6	110 gm, .267/.331/.394, 3 HR, 10 RBI, SB	Traded to PIT – 7/31/08
BN	Xavier Paul	2003 – 4th Rd	7	55 gm, .230/.281/.333, HR, 12 RBI, 3 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Miguel Cairo	Int’l FA – 1990	5	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to SEA – 11/29/95
BN	A.J. Ellis	2003 – 18th Rd	7	38 gm, .159/.213/.183, 10 RBI	Currently with Org.

June Amateur Draft

The Dodgers have done really well of late, getting a lot of their first round picks to the Majors in short order. Their current pitching staff relies on both Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw, who were both first round picks in the past 8 seasons. Blake DeWitt, recently traded to reacquire Ted Lilly, was also a first round pick, but he has not been quite the performer they expected yet. James Loney was also a first round selection, and has become a solid Major League regular. The team has also done well with other rounds, getting All-Star closer Jonathan Broxton (2nd), Gold Glove outfielder Matt Kemp (6th), and Delwyn Young (4th), who was used to help acquire Manny Ramirez during the 2008 season. Even some of the later round picks have been productive, with catcher Russell Martin being the best of the later round picks. There even have been some excellent players who didn’t really play much with the team, with both Paul Konerko and Shane Victorino becoming All-Star caliber players with different organizations.

International Free Agency

The Dodgers have always been considered to be one of the leaders in looking for new talent markets, and international free agency has done well for them as well. While they have had more success with some of the professional free agents they have signed (Takashi Saito and Hiroki Kuroda), they have also seen some success with signing young players out of both the Latin American countries as well as the Asian markets. Adrian Beltre had probably the best single season of any of the IFAs, earning himself a huge free agent contract after a 48 homerun seasonin 2004. They have also had some players who kind of got away who have turned into solid Major Leaguers, with Franklin Gutierrez and Joakim Soria the highest profile ones.

Overall Grade

A-. The Dodgers, who generally have a lot more money to play with than a lot of organizations, still do very well to build their team from the inside, and add pieces as needed. They have had their few players who were essentially given up on (Victorino, Soria), but they generally haven’t missed on too many of their high level prospects. The team has also had quite a few homegrown All-Stars, with Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Takashi Saito all representing the Dodger Blue. They also have a lot of high end prospects on their way in the minors, led by Dee Gordon, Chris Withrow, Ethan Martin and Jerry Sands, and should continue to be competitive in the NL West.

Original Draft Series: Team #9 – Texas Rangers

For those that missed the guidelines I am using for this series of posts, you can find them here.

Team #9: Texas Rangers

General Managers(since 1994)

Tom Grieve (1994): 52-62
Doug Melvin (1995-2001): 568-548
John Hart (2002-2005): 311-337
Jon Daniels (2006-Current): 401-409

Team Performance

Playoffs			Division Finish
WC	League	Playoff App	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Last
0	0	4	4	2	6	5	0

All information is drawn from Baseball Reference.

Position	Name	Acquired	Years with Org.	Stats with Organization	Left?
C	Ivan Rodriguez	Int’l FA – 1988	14+1	10 Gold Gloves, 10 All Star Appearances, 6 Silver Sluggers, 1999 AL MVP 1507 gm, .304/.341/.488, 217 HR, 842 SB	Left via Free Agency – 10/28/02
1B	Mark Teixeira	2001 – 1st Rd (5)	6	1 All-Star Appearances, 2 Gold Gloves, 2 Silver Sluggers 693 gm, .283/.368/.533, 153 HR, 499 RBI, 11 SB	Traded to ATL – 7/31/07
2B	Ian Kinsler	2003 – 17th Rd	7	2 All Star Appearances 591 gm, .282/.355/.469, 89 HR, 311 RBI, 101 SB	Currently with Org.
3B	Edwin Encarnacion	2000 – 9th Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to CIN – 6/15/01
SS	Fernando Tatis	Int’l FA – 1992	6	155 gm, .264/.301/.378, 11 HR, 61 RBI, 9 SB	Traded to STL – 7/31/98
LF	Laynce Nix	2000 – 4th Rd	6	240 gm, .241/.278/.414, 28 HR, 112 RBI, 6 SB	Traded to MIL – 7/28/06
CF	Scott Podsednik	1994 – 3rd Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to FLA – 10/8/95
RF	Julio Borbon	2007 – 1st Rd (35)	3	145 gm, .281/.326/.368, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 29 SB	Currently with Org.
DH	Carlos Pena	1998 – 1st Rd (10)	3	22 gm, .258/.361/.500, 3 HR, 12 RBI	Traded to OAK – 1/14/02
SP	C.J. Wilson	2001 – 5th Rd	9	24-25, 3.84 ERA, 52 SV, 438.2 IP, 389 K, 199 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Colby Lewis	1999 – 1st Rd (38)	5+1	21-23, 5.21 ERA, 331.2 IP, 281 K, 159 BB	Currently with Org.
SP	Edinson Volquez	Int’l FA – 2001	6	3-11, 7.20 ERA, 80 IP, 55 K, 42 BB	Traded to CIN – 12/21/07
SP	Ryan Dempster	1995 – 3rd Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to FLA – 8/8/96
SP	John Danks	2003 – 1st Rd (9)	3	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to CHW – 12/23/06
RP	Derek Holland	2006 – 25th Rd	4	10-15, 6.00 ERA, 162 IP, 131 K, 57 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Ramon Ramirez	Int’l FA – 1996	2	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Released – 6/4/98
RP	Nick Masset	2000 – 8th Rd	4	0-0, 4.15 ERA, 8.2 IP, 4 K, 2 BB	Traded to CHW – 11/23/06
RP	Tommy Hunter	2007 – 1st Rd (54)	3	18-10, 4.62 ERA, 200.2 IP, 115 K, 57 BB	Currently with Org.
RP	Danny Herrera	2006 – 45th Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to CIN – 12/21/07
CL	Darren Oliver	1988 – 3rd Rd	10+2+1	54-48, 5.12 ERA, 892.1 IP, 576 K, 389 BB	Currently with Org.
BN	Travis Hafner	1996 – 31st Rd	6	23 gm, .242/.329/.387, HR, 6 RBI	Traded to CLE – 12/6/02
BN	Aaron Harang	1999 – 6th Rd	1	No Major League Appearances with Org.	Traded to OAK – 11/17/00
BN	Justin Smoak	2008 – 1st Rd (11)	2	70 gm, .209/.316/.353 8 HR, 34 RBI	Traded to SEA – 7/9/10
BN	Chris Davis	2006 – 5th Rd	4	224 gm, .249/.299/.460, 38 HR, 117 RBI, 3 SB	Currently with Org.
BN	Hank Blalock	1999 – 3rd Rd	10	2 All Star Appearances 910 gm, .269/.329/.465, 152 HR, 535 RBI, 13 SB	Left via Free Agency – 11/5/09

June Amateur Draft

The Rangers have had some pretty good success in the draft, with Mark Teixeira being the clear top performer from that group of players. Ian Kinsler was a very nice late round pick who has turned out really well. Some of the players haven’t quite turned out when they were moved (Dempster, Danks, Harang, Pena), but some of the better players that they have traded have really returned a lot of value. The Teixeira trade alone netted them 5 great prospects, many of whom have turned into solid major league players as well. Trading Smoak appears to have already had dividends as they acquired Cliff Lee as a part of it, and Nix was traded to acquire Carlos Lee for a stretch run a few seasons ago.

International Free Agency

The Rangers have done pretty well in international free agency as well, with Ivan Rodriguez being the clear cut top player acquired in that manner. Hard to argue when he’s going to be a sure fire Hall of Famer. There’s not a ton of other international free agents from the system, but Edinson Volquez was traded (along with Danny Herrera) to acquire AL MVP candidate Josh Hamilton, who has become critical to the success of the team at this point.

Overall Grade

B+. There are a lot of excellent players who have come through this system, and some very solid players who were used to acquire other important players. While they didn’t get a ton in return for players like Ryan Dempster, John Danks, and Scott Podsednik, the return for some of the better players (Teixeira, Volquez) has more than made up for it. The fact that they also have a lot of the same players in their system, and a very highly rated system of prospects coming tells me that the success they have been having this season should continue for years to come.