Pick 7 – Cleveland Spiders Selection: SP Scott Woodward The Cleveland Spiders are standing at a crossroads this offseason. Key bats are potentially walking out the door as free agents, and management faces decisions that could shape the next few seasons. Some veterans will return, some won’t—but when you strip away the narratives and look at 1996 objectively, one truth stands out: pitching is the problem. Bob Sebra led the staff in nearly...
Pick 6 – Chicago White Sox Selection: SP Kevin Millwood The Chicago White Sox are a team quietly ascending, and while they don’t command the flash or fanfare of a Washington Senators or a New York Yankees, there’s a method to their madness. Last offseason was filled with noise—smart draft picks, strategic acquisitions, and the headline-grabbing trade for Chuck Knoblauch to stabilize the infield. This is a club on the...
Pick 5 – Baltimore Orioles Selection: 1B Richie Sexson If there’s a unifying theme to the early portion of this draft, it’s this: the teams picking high have holes everywhere. And Baltimore might be the most baffling puzzle of the bunch. For years the Orioles have hovered in that uncomfortable middle zone—too talented to bottom out, too flawed to break through—and now find themselves staring at a roster that needs just about...
Pick 4 – Los Angeles Dodgers Selection: SP Bartolo Colon If there’s a team in this draft that defies easy categorization, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are a paradox wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in a .500 record. On paper, they look like a club that should be contending. In reality, they spent 1996 drifting somewhere between “not bad” and “not quite enough,” buoyed by a roster full of recognizable names who didn’t quite...
Pick 3 – Colorado Rockies Selection: 1B Todd Helton Every so often in the DBL, fate decides to flex its narrative muscle. It happened when Don Mattingly slipped on the pinstripes, a union so natural it felt preordained. And now, in 1996, we get a sequel: Todd Helton to the Colorado Rockies—the most inevitable pairing since the league first shuffled its draft cards. With the top two arms off the board, the Rockies are staring at the cleanest...
Pick 2 – Oakland Athletics Selection: SP Matt Morris By Graham Wexler The Oakland Athletics aren’t strangers to crossroads, but this year’s draft offers something far more enticing: clarity. Sitting at Pick No. 2, Oakland finds itself in an enviable position—close enough to the top to secure elite talent, but without the burden of choosing between multiple franchise-altering paths. The Yankees will take Carpenter at No. 1. Everyone...
The phones are charged, the executives are restless, and the annual trade-season curtain has officially risen. Every year, one team lights the fuse, making the move that signals the market is open for business. And this year, for the first time, we’re putting odds on which club will be the first to break the seal. Front offices are posturing, scouts are shuttling from park to park, and agents are whispering about “momentum.” Some teams...
Pick 1 – New York Yankees Selection: SP Chris Carpenter Although the Wold Series hasn't ended yet, with the release of extension numbers, let's get this party started.There’s a new tenor in the Bronx these days—less swagger, more strategy. The Yankees’ new ownership group hasn’t wasted a single month of its inaugural season, reshaping the organization with a conviction that was sorely lacking in the late Mattingly era. And yes,...
Baseball fans, prepare yourselves. Graham Wexler is back, and apparently talking in the third person, and he’s posting his mock draft—pick by pick, team by team, and mercilessly honest. “This isn’t going to be a gentle stroll through your local ballpark,” Wexler warned. “Expect picks that make GMs sweat, analysts groan, and Twitter explode. If you’re attached to your favorite prospect, maybe look away. Or don’t. I thrive on...
One season ago, Mike Stanley was carving out his legacy as the cagey, postseason-tested heartbeat of the Washington Senators. He looked every bit the franchise legend in the making. And yet—plot twist we all absolutely saw coming—he’d already been quietly shipped off in a budget-dump to the Boston Red Sox. Washington happily rode his heroics to a World Series, then tossed him aside the moment trading opened, like he was yesterday’s...