The rumor mill is heating up, and as always, I’m sifting through the noise so you don’t have to. Here’s what’s bubbling beneath the surface as front offices posture, panic, and pretend they aren’t leaking like colanders: —The Champs Go BigThe defending champs didn’t tiptoe into the offseason—they cannonballed in by landing Mike Greenwell, with one exec insisting it’s “the best standard contract in the league.” Some...
Fresh off a playoff exit so brutal it might get its own “30 for 30” someday, the Toronto Blue Jays have returned with an offseason attitude best described as: absolutely not again. In barely a week, they’ve put on a clinic in methodical roster turnover. Is the roster actually better? Hard to say with so much time left on the clock. But one thing’s for sure—ownership handed out a mandate for flexibility, and the front office has...
Thanks for joining our mock draft. Only one trade happened that impacted the order, and I’m so confident as your favorite humble baseball writer that I’m keeping the picks the same regardless. Join us as we relive the mock draft: 1) New York Yankees – SP Chris Carpenter The Yankees finally pick someone who might stop the revolving door of washed veterans taking the mound every five days. Carpenter instantly becomes the most competent...
Pick 24 – Arizona Diamondbacks Selection: RP Kelvim Escobar There are a few certainties in this league: death, taxes, and the Arizona Diamondbacks spending a first-round pick on a reliever. Some teams zig, others zag—Arizona just keeps stacking bullpen arms like it’s a competitive hobby. And to their credit… it works. Last year’s first-round relief pick, Danny Patterson, was mocked by some as a reach. Patterson responded by...
Pick 23 – Cincinnati Reds Selection: SP Jaret Wright The Cincinnati Reds are in the enviable position every front office dreams of: a roster with minimal holes, a farm system that continually produces value, and a team that was a single postseason buzzsaw away from its first World Series title. When you're this close, the temptation is always there to get cute—to chase upside, swing big, or try to reinvent the roster. The Reds...
Pick 22 – Cleveland Spiders Selection: SP Brett Tomko We’ve danced around his name long enough, and the board finally lines up in a way that makes too much sense to ignore: Brett Tomko, the best available starting pitcher remaining, lands with the Cleveland Spiders. And honestly?This is exactly where he belongs. Cleveland already executed a strong first round—opening with the safe, innings-eating righty Scott Woodward, then...
Pick 21 – Arizona Diamondbacks Selection: 1B Sean Casey Some teams enter the draft desperate for pitching.Some enter desperate for bats.And then there’s the defending champion Arizona Diamondbacks, who seem to operate outside the known laws of roster construction. Let’s be honest: this team is powered by some kind of desert sorcery. Scott Karl pitching like an ace?A bullpen full of unheralded arms shutting teams down?An offense that,...
Pick 20 – Kansas City Royals Selection: OF Mark Kotsay Some picks feel inevitable. Others feel like arguments with yourself at a whiteboard at 1 a.m.This one was the latter. At No. 20, the Royals find themselves in that tricky borderland where need, value, and philosophy intersect. On one hand, this is a perfectly logical spot to dip back into pitching—Brett Tomko, for example, makes a lot of sense in a vacuum. On the other hand… can...
Pick 19 – Florida Marlins Selection: 3B/OF Fernando Tatis If there’s a franchise in the DBL that appreciates versatility almost as much as the Montreal Expos, it’s the Florida Marlins. This is a club forever shuffling its roster pieces, squeezing value out of every lineup configuration, and finding creative ways to get bats onto the field. So it’s only fitting that they land one of the most versatile position players in the entire...
Pick 18 – Los Angeles Dodgers Selection: C Jason Varitek This is where the draft gets fun—where teams stop chasing ceiling and start solving problems. And the Los Angeles Dodgers, despite adding Bartolo Colón earlier in the round, still had one glaring issue left to fix: catcher. Let’s be fair to Scott Hatteberg:The bat plays.It really does. But the glove?Not so much. Hatteberg’s defensive metrics last season bordered on stunning—in...