Pick 10 – San Diego Padres Selection: RF Magglio Ordoñez Sometimes patience is the most underrated skill in drafting. And no team in this top ten played the waiting game better than the San Diego Padres. They watched the early picks unfold, saw the expected run on pitching, and stayed calm. And because of that, they walk away with one of the top bats in the entire class: Magglio Ordoñez. This wasn’t an easy decision. In fact, the...
Pick 9 – Florida Marlins Selection: 1B David Ortiz Every once in a while, fortune smiles on a franchise—not with a playoff berth or a breakout star, but with something quieter and equally valuable: a top-10 pick in a draft loaded with impact talent. The Florida Marlins didn’t plan to be here, but they won’t complain. And after two trades that have already added depth to their rotation, Florida enters this draft with a luxury:...
Pick 8 – Washington Senators Selection: SP Tony Saunders The Washington Senators are a machine—well-built, well-run, and well ahead of schedule. They led the DBL in wins, only to see their season end abruptly at the hands of the eventual champions. It was a disappointing finish, but not a derailing one; this is a franchise built on stability, depth, and decisiveness. And Washington wasted no time reminding the league of that decisiveness....
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...
From Bay to Desert: How the Former Giants Became the Diamondbacks — and Why Arizona Was the Home They Needed All Along When the final out settled into Tony Gwynn’s glove in Game 5, and the Arizona Diamondbacks spilled out of the dugout as newly crowned champions, the story wasn’t just about a title. It wasn’t just about Rondell White’s heroics, or Scott Karl’s artistry, or the bullpen’s quiet ruthlessness. It was about a team that...
The Cincinnati Reds didn’t flame out. They didn’t choke. They didn’t collapse under pressure. They simply hit a wall — a big, calm, desert-colored wall with “Arizona Diamondbacks” painted across the front in letters large enough to be seen from orbit. Now the question becomes:What do you fix when your team was good enough to win the World Series… but didn’t? This isn’t surgery.This is a tune-up. But make no mistake —...
There are losses, and then there are the kinds of losses that sit in a city’s chest like a weight, refusing to move no matter how many deep breaths you take. The Cincinnati Reds didn’t simply fall short in the World Series — they crashed headlong into a reality they weren’t prepared for. Not because they weren’t good enough. Not because they didn’t fight. But because, for the first time all postseason, they ran into a team that...
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...