As I mentioned in my initial "Round 1" writeup, most of my selections were made to secure an early round 2 pick. Since round 2 provides 3 players vs just one player in round 1, one could argue that the round 2 selection is 3 times as important as the round 1 selection. In fact, I bet the correlation to team success is higher for the round 2 players than the round 1 player (see Ralph Kiner and my Pirates, for example). Let's take a look and see how my round 2 picks are doing.
League 01: Cardinals (2009)
Albert Pujols (.312, .409, .624, 2nd in MVP)
Joel Pinerio (8 GS, 51 IP, 2-3, 5.65)
Chris Carpenter (11 G, 4 GS, 39.2 IP, 3-1, 2 SV, 6.13)
Pujols is crushing it, but the two starting pitchers have mostly been disappointing. Grade B-
League 02: Yankees (1926)
Babe Ruth (.280, .455, .656, 14 HRs, 39 BBs)
Lou Gehrig (.277, .372, .581, 10 HRs)
Waite Hoyt (10 GS 57.1 IP, 3-2, 4.55)
Although their batting averages are lower than I’d hope, the two hitters are walking a lot and hitting home runs. Hoyt has been as good as one could expect in this high-scoring league (top 25 in ERA). Grade A-
League 03: Giants (1936)
Carl Hubbell (9 GS, 66 IP, 4-4, 5.05)
Mel Ott (.321, .414, .500)
Dick Bartell (.256, .324, .372, 9 + plays, 4 errors)
Hubbell has been a disappointment although he has won his last two starts. Ott and Bartell have been good enough. Grade B-
League 04: Red Sox (1944)
Tex Hughson (16 G, 3 GS, 45.2 IP, 3-2, 2/4 SV, 6.31)
Bob Johnson (.333, .440, .450)
Bobby Doerr (.333, .431, .530)
I selected 1944 for two main reasons, Tex Hughson (2.20 erc#) is supposed to be one of the better non-deadball SPs in Red Sox history. Also, this pick gave me an early pick in round 3. The two ’44 hitters have been great, but Tex Hughson not so much. I tried using him as my main setup guy, but he’s just as likely to blow a game as to save it. I recently moved him into the rotation with mixed results. Worse yet, the four 1949 players (from my early round 3 pick) not named Ted Williams have all sucked. Grade B-
League 05: Cubs (1964)
Ron Santo (.336, .449, .607, 5 + plays, 2 errors, 1st in MVP)
Billy Williams (.308, .345, .442)
Larry Jackson (25 G, 0 GS, 52.1 IP, 1-4, 6/8 SV, 4.82)
I just realized that I am really riding Larry Jackson as my main RP. 25 appearances in 35 games is not sustainable. He’s been decent enough, for a 22-13 team, even with 4 losses and 2 blown saves. Santo has been a stud. Billy Williams has been ok considering he is facing a slew of deadball pitchers. Grade A-
League 06: White Sox (1937)
Monty Stratton (15 G, 0 GS, 30.2 IP, 2-1, 3/4 SV, 1.76)
Luke Appling (.340, .404, .413, 5 + plays, 10 errors)
Zeke Bonura (.345, .398, .487)
My White Sox team is currently 16-19, but that includes 3-11 in 1-run games. We have a .571 expected winning%. All three players from 1937 have been very good. Grade A+
League 07: Dodgers (1930)
Babe Herman (.324, .398, .547)
Johnny Frederick (.221, .250, .407, 3 + plays in CF)
Dazzy Vance (9 GS, 51.2 IP, 2-6, 8.54)
Dazzy Vance (2.40 erc#) has been awful. He is the main reason I drafted this season. I wanted a season with two strong hitters and a great starting pitcher. Frederick (.334, .383, .524 in real life) has been equally terrible. Babe Herman has been good, but it’s not enough. My Dodgers are 15-20 b/c of my first two picks (1907, 1930). Grade D.
League 08: Athletics (1912)
Frank Baker (.315, .374, .523, 8 HRs, 40 RBIs, 4 + plays, 5th in VMP)
Eddie Collins (.297, .410, .372)
Stuffy McInnis (.324, .377, .438)
My A’s team is currently 22-13 and leading the league in offense by a wide margin. These three players are a big part of that. Grade A.
League 09: Phillies (1944)
Ken Raffensberger (8 G, 3 GS, 26.1 IP, 2-2, 1/2 SV, 8.54)
Andy Karl (10 G, 10 IP, 1-1, 3.60)
Buster Adams (.299, .372, .496)
Similar to my 1944 Red Sox pick, I selected this year for a SP (Raffensberger) and to get an early pick next round (which I used for 2006). The other two players were an afterthought. Raffensberger has been pretty bad while the other two players have been surprisingly decent. Grade B- (upgraded from C+) since my 2006 players have been mostly good.
League 10: Indians (1923)
Tris Speaker (.320, .398, .467)
Joe Sewell (.348, .436, .454, 11 errors)
Charlie Jamieson (.258, .346, .333)
I have the best “full” season of Tris Speaker yet he is ranked only fifth in sim OPS among all the Tris Speakers, so there’s some disappointment there. Sewell has been as good as can be expected. Charlie Jamieson (.345, .422, .447) has been way below average. Grade C+
League 11: Pirates (1928)
Paul Waner (.252, .313, .358)
Pie Traynor (.268, .300, .327)
Burleigh Grimes (11 GS, 77 IP, 2-5, 5.26)
Seriously, this same exact season of Paul Waner won the MVP in the previous Pirates draft league. How can he be so much worse here? Traynor also has been pretty below average. Grimes won the Cy Young in the last tournament. This team wouldn’t be that good even with these three guys performing like the last Pirates league, but 13-22 (worst record in the league) is about what I’d expect when all three of these guys suck as they do. Grade F.
League 12: Twins (1930)
Joe Cronin (.264, .335, .378)
Goose Goslin (.239, .329, .455)
Heinie Manush (.336, .380 .453)
Two terrible hitting performances and one good one. Not what I was hoping for, especially considering this pick caused me to pick last in round 3 which basically derailed my pitching staff for this team. Grade: C-
League 13: Reds (1924)
Carl Mays (8 GS, 58 IP, 5-1, 3.26)
Eppa Rixey (8 GS, 52.2 IP, 5-2, 3.93)
Rube Benton (6 G, 10.1 IP, 1-1, 1/2 SV, 6.10)
This Reds team has a top 5 pitching staff and Mays/Rixey is a big reason why this team is 23-12. Benton is a long reliever and hasn’t been that impactful either way. No complaints. Grade A
League 14: Tigers (2012)
Miguel Cabrera (.242, .311, .463, 8 HRs, 37 RBIs)
Prince Fielder (.333, .460, .460)
Justin Verlander (20 G, 0 GS, 41.2 IP, 1-3, 7/10 SV, 5.40)
Until I was writing this, I hadn’t realized Cabrera had slipped so badly. Thru 11 games, he was at .340, .389, .560. Since then, he’s batting under .200 in 99 ABs. At least Fielder is hitting and drawing walks (only 3 HRs though). Verlander has been my long setup guy and has had good games and bad games. Grade C
League 15: Braves (2020)
Freddie Freeman (.319, .403, .464)
Marcell Ozuna (.333, .391, .463)
Max Fried (13 G, 0 GS, 33.2 IP, 2-1, 4.01)
I can’t really complain with any of these performances. Fried comes in and pitches long relief. My Braves team has been hovering right around .500, but it’s not the fault of these 2020 players. Grade A
League 16: Orioles (1984)
Eddie Murray (.307, .411, .512, 4 + plays)
Cal Ripken (.180, .248, .302, 7 + plays, 9 errors)
Mike Boddicker (23 G, 0 GS, 49.2 IP, 2-0, 10/10 SV, 3.26)
Holy cow, I didn’t expect Boddicker to be like Dennis Eckersley out of the pen. Murray has been great, as expected, but WTF happened to Ripken’s bat? In the previous Orioles draft league, ’84 Ripken went .333, .395, .536 and finished 2nd in MVP. This is the same guy, right? Two big positives and one big negative. Grade B, I guess.
8/27/2026 4:57 PM (edited)