Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast - Effectively Wild Episode 2103: The 2024 Minor League Free Agent Draft

Episode Date: December 25, 2023

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens continue a cherished podcast tradition by conducting the 11th annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, in which they select 10 minor league free agents each and compete to see whose roster will accumulate the most combined MLB playing time in 2024. Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively […]

Hello and welcome to episode 2103 of Effectively Wild, a baseball podcast from Fangraphs presented by our Patreon supporters. I am Ben Lindberg of The Ringer, joined by Meg Raleigh of Fangraphs. Hello, Meg. Hello. Other Ben is back. Ben Clemens in the house. Hello, Ben. Short time, no talk.

How's it going? Well, it's going great. I've got the pre-Minor League free agent draft jitters right now. That's how it's going. Because when we talked to you earlier this week, we were recapping the results of our preseason predictions game. That was fun and frivolous. This is serious business.

There's nothing fun about this. People will cry. People will be bitter. People will have things hang over their head for the next year based on what goes down during this draft. My sense of self-worth wasn't tied up in the preseason predictions game. That was the first one we'd done. This is an institution. This is the 11th annual Effectively Wild minor league free agent draft.

That time has come. Wow. You've made it so dramatic. I feel very at peace about the minor league free agent draft. That might be because I won this year's minor league free agent draft. So like I'm on the board, you know? Yeah. Pressure's off.

Yeah. Did I get last? I assume I got last. You did, but it was close. None of us had a great showing, historically speaking. Yeah. It wasn't our greatest year collectively. Meg won, but even, I guess, by the standards of winners, it was probably a low total. Wow. Okay. Now I'm offended. Pressure's back on. No, it's not. I just, you know, I'm feeling less guilty about not having sent Christmas cards and you not getting one. See, I said people are going to be bitter and it only took us a minute into the podcast to get there.

That's the kind of energy that we're bringing. All our listeners want for Christmas was the minor league free agent draft. And so we're going to give it to them. It's an institution. We've done it earlier than this. We've done it later than this. But it's usually sometime around this year. And we always have to go through the spiel for those who may be joining us for the first time.

Don't want to take it for granted that you have already listened to 10 minor league free agent drafts. Although if you haven't, what are you doing? Go back, dig deep into the archives. They're all right there for you. Definitely don't do that. Definitely don't do that. You could probably without even having it spoiled for you because the players that we draft are usually so obscure that you won't actually know whether they were good picks or not. You'll have to look it up, but you have to wait several months to find out whether they were good picks or not, you'll have to look it up, but you have to wait several months to find out whether they were good picks or not. So what we do here when we do the minor league free agent

draft is we draft minor league free agents. What is a minor league free agent? You might ask. That's a great question. And we always have some difficulty explaining the concept, but basically a minor league free agents, there are hundreds of them every year there are actually 573 to be precise this year according to baseball america's canonical list and basically it's players who are not on 40-man rosters and they have had their contract renewed six times already or they've they've appeared in six seasons. See, I'm already struggling to explain the minor league free agent concept. Yeah, it's because you were so sassy about my victory.

We see all your intellect on that sass. Baseball America explained it. If you entered a team's minor league system during the 2017 season, then they can just bring you back in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. But not 2024. They draw the line there. You get to become a free agent and go somewhere else. It's an escape valve, basically. Basically, it's a mechanism to allow players to go elsewhere to find some greener pastures where they could get a shot. If they're buried in someone's system or stuck behind someone, you can get it out and you can go apply your wares somewhere else. So there are multiple ways that you can become a free agent, a minor league free agent specifically, but that's the main way.

You've just been languishing in someone's system for a while. However, there are also plenty of guys who have been in the big leagues. That is part of the appeal of the minor league free agent draft. So I'll explain this by quoting the Down on the Farm Substack newsletter. They wrote, some minor league free agents have major league experience but have been removed from the club's 40-man roster either because they have not been tendered a contract or were designated for assignment if a player cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and the club wants to send them to the minors they will have to be outrighted

the player can refuse the assignment and become a free agent if they have more than three years of mlb service time they can also accept the assignment and become a free agent if they have more than three years of MLB service time. They can also accept the assignment and become a free agent after the season. The player might do this if he believes there's a chance he'll be added back to the 40-man roster before the season ends. If a player's already been outrighted, he is given the same rights as a player with three-plus years of MLB service time, regardless of how much time he has spent in the big leagues. There are a bunch of ins and outs and details here.

But basically, once you become a minor league free agent, you're more or less a free agent just like anyone else. You're probably less desirable than most of the other major league free agents or non-minor league free agents. But you can sign a major league contract if you could convince someone to do that. And there are also free agents kind of confusingly who signed minor league deals. That does not mean that they are minor league free agents necessarily. So we're working off this list of 573 players specifically. And our goal is to draft players we think will be big leaguers in 2024 and will get playing time. That's it. That's all we care about. Will they get reps? Will they get plate appearances? Will they face batters? At the end of next season, we will tabulate all of the plate

appearances and the batter's face that our draftees accumulated. If I've done my math right, then the average figure per team in the history of the draft is 579 combined plate appearances plus batters faced. The average winning total is 816. Last year, Meg won with 504, which I'm just saying is not only below the average winning total, it was below the average participants total. But so were other bet and I. We finished with 352 and 320, respectively. So those are the numbers to beat, and whoever has the most wins.

It's a simple game, but the stakes are stratospheric. I can't believe how rude you were about my victory. I can't believe it. We won victory. You know, when she just barely squeaked by. Excuse you. Excuse you. Ben is just upset because we've won the last two. It's true.

Yeah, like, you know, if it were so easy, one of you would have done it. Huh? Huh? Who had faith in Brent Honeywell? Me. I did. That was right. I was right.

He wasn't even signed, and he was my guy. Yeah, that was a good pick. How about that? Yelling. Of course, I have won them in the past, but then again... Oh, I'm sure you have. I've done 10 of them. So, I've done this.

I've been around the block a few more times than either of you has. You are the wily veteran. It does not make me any better at this, to be clear. I've learned nothing over the years except that this matters a great deal. Yeah. Really, bragging rights are at stake.

We return to this throughout the season. We update each other on how we're doing. It gives us a nice little rooting interest, a little stake in the season in some players who otherwise we would be just completely ignorant of and oblivious to. We would have no idea whether they were in the majors or the minors. But when one of your minor league draftees gets called up, that's huge. That's a big day. That's exciting. Life-changing.

It is for them and for you and maybe their families. And that's about it. But you get to be inside that circle of people who that call up is life-changing for in a lesser way. Yeah. Who's going to go first? That is the question that we always wrestle with. Now, Ben drafted first two years ago.

I did. Because I believe that was his first minor league region draft. And we want to be kind and courteous and we extend that privilege to the guest. And it mattered that year because that was the year that Jose Iglesias was available. Yeah, he might be the best minor league free agent ever for this draft. Yeah, every now and then there is someone who just sort of slips through the cracks or becomes classified as a minor league free agent and you see their name and you do a double take because they're a different class of player.

a double take because they're a different class of player usually not good to be clear but just like virtually guaranteed to be a big leaguer but he would have made he would have made boston's postseason roster probably if he had been eligible yeah yeah he was a late trade post right trade deadline and so they were forced to take him off the 40 for the playoffs so that was the weird like uh weird poll that doesn't happen like ever yeah that was a weird one yeah and meg you drafted first last year and you also won the draft yeah so so i i feel like you're you're out here with the first pick right i mean it seems like it's you ben yeah seems like uh seems like winning um is hard and you don't want to give anyone an advantage again huh ben huh yeah usually i'm all too happy to hand it off to someone but i do kind of feel like i gotta stick up for myself

i think i think it's my turn okay i will also say i don't know that there's a clear number one this year, or if there is, then I've missed him. There's some options, but yeah. There are options. Yes, absolutely. But there's not someone who sticks out in a Jose Iglesias way. Or I guess I had the first pick three drafts ago because that was when I took Mike Fultonavich. And that was a case of, oh, I didn't think he would be here. And then he ended up dominating and I won that year. I think I would have won

without him, but he was helpful. So I don't have someone in that class this year. And we always talk about what our strategy is and who actually makes sense to sign. Do you want someone who's kind of a post-type prospect, sleeper sort? There's a shortage of those this year. Yeah. Do you want someone who's just sort of a staple in the big leagues in some sort of part-time role? You know, there's always someone who gets their 50 plate appearances a year, at least until they don't. Until they don't, yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, do you want like a utility player? Do you want a lefty in the bullpen? There are just so many ways you can go with this. Yeah. But here's the way that I think I'm going to go with this. I'm going to take Ali Sanchez. Ah! Yeah, good pick.

Okay. That was the clear number one to me. Okay, good. All right, that's a relief because what you want, the most gratifying reaction is the one that you just gave me there. I don't want crickets when I make a pick, and no one else is mad that I just sniped them or vultured that guy. So the reason why we're interested in ali sanchez for one thing he got

a major league deal now this is always typically the guys who've gotten major league deals by the time we do the draft go off the board quickly because the idea is at least in some cases they're guaranteed money or at least they were wanted enough to get a major league deal which maybe bodes well for them but in ali sanchez's case i feel like he's basically the pirates backup catcher right yeah yeah not even basically i don't think i mean we have him in that role on roster resource because of poor you know poor endy's um UCL injury. Yeah. So. Yeah. So when the Pirates signed Sanchez recently, I think that was before the news came out about Endy Rodriguez's elbow.

And so it seemed kind of curious at the time. They had a few catchers, but now not so much. So Endy's out for the season. Henry Davis is nominally a catcher, right? They are still saying that they're going to give him a chance to catch, but they didn't really last season. Yeah. So, and he's maybe not defensively gifted,

so they'll see if he can make it work. And then they have Jason DeLay in the mix. So it's those guys, and then it's Ali Sanchez. So I feel pretty good about how he's sitting here. He's only 27 years old. He was with the Diamondbacks in 2023 and had a pretty solid season in AAA. I know it's Pacific Coast League, it's hitter friendly, but he did fairly well. It's hitter friendly, but he did fairly well. And he's also a pretty gifted defensive catcher, I believe.

He has a career minor league 43% caught stealing rate, I believe, which is quite good. Sounds high. And yeah, he's been in the big leagues very briefly. In 2020, he was with the Mets for five games. In 2021, he was with the Mets for five games. In 2021, he was with the Cardinals for two games. So he's been there, but I'm banking on him being back and spending more time than that with the Pittsburgh Pirates next year. So much more explanation than you really needed to provide there for being completely honest. Well, you two have done your research. Like when I said Ali Sanchez, you're like, oh, of course.

Yeah. Everyone else who's not a Pirates fan is like, who? So that's why I feel like I get to. Well, it helped that he was towards the top of the list. Right. Yes, that helped too. Because the Diamondbacks dropped him, right? Yeah.

Right. And I would say. And the list goes alphabetical by team. Yes. And I was dragging by the end of it yeah yeah that's my process it's part of my process it's just scroll down the list yeah and yeah if someone stands out to me I might write them down although them standing out might just mean they were in the big leagues like 10 years ago and I'm like that guy still playing but which is not half the fun for me, but a solid 16% of the fun for me

of the minor league free agent draft is remembering some guys. Yeah. Usually vaguely remembering them. Like I know the name or something, but was there anyone we could, I guess, return to this at the end of the draft, but there are some guys who I can't imagine any of us will be drafting who stuck out to me just because we should wait yeah okay yeah we should wait because you don't because you don't know you don't know it's true yeah so i'm trying to tamper with the you're tampering you're trying to get us to you're like saying hey here's potential draft strategies as

if we're going to reveal our draft strategy before we've drafted Ben. Come on, we're not amateurs. This is not our first rodeo. I'm just going to mention a bunch of guys like I'm going to lick them and claim them so that you can't have them. I didn't plan to be so antagonistic, but then my victory was insulted and now here we are playing characters. Okay. So I guess it must be other Ben's turn now. Yeah.

Okay. All right. I will take Joe Ross. Yeah. Yeah. I think. I will take Joe Ross. Yeah. Yeah. You've written about Joe Ross for FanCrafts. I have. I don't know how good Joe Ross will be.

Me either. I don't even know if he'll actually even debut for the Brewers in the majors this season. But he missed all of 2022 with injury. He came back in 2023, pitched like 14 innings in the minors, and was throwing gas, which he's never done before. And the Brewers gave him a major league deal and then just basically forced a spot open in the rotation for him today or yesterday? I don't know when this is going to go up, but already yesterday now.

Yeah, by trading Adrian Hauser. So I was already going to pick Ross second, just because, like, I don't know. I like Sanchez more. Good pick. But, yeah, I feel a little bit better now that it seems like the Brewers think he's going to have... If he is not a starter for them, they're in trouble.

And the Hauser trade looks pretty dumb. So I think he's probably going to be a starter for them. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. He'll get a shot, which is all we can ask for. Yeah, exactly. He might not be a starter for them for long right right because it's second tj he's returned from right yeah but it was it was a while ago it was in what 2021 21 okay yeah so so he should be back to full strength. And as you said, he pitched.

Yeah, so, okay, yeah. I mean, I had him there, too. Just, you know, major league deal guy. Yep. Okay. Okay, I am going to take Ricky Vanasco. Yeah. Yep, good one.

And here's what I will say about Ricky Vanasco. For those of our listeners who did not read Eric Longenhgan's 40-man roster deadline reaction analysis national league piece oft injured with texas ricky vanasco's velocity was way down as he returned from tj and dealt with a knee injury early in 2023 after just a couple of short outings back in affiliated ball the rangers designated him for assignment and he was traded to the dodgers who shut him down and modified his delivery he's throwing exclusively from the stretch and has what appears to be a more, who shut him down and modified his delivery. He's throwing exclusively from the stretch and has what appears to be a more closed stride direction. By the end of the year, he was working with a pared-down repertoire

and touching 98 at AAA Oklahoma City, which has been renamed or rebranded now. That's not in the piece. That's just me editorializing. Vanasco became a six-year minor league free agent after the season, and the Dodgers signed him to a big league deal. He stands a good chance to play a key role in their bullpen next year as a mid-90s slash curveball guy so Ricky Vanasco come on down yeah another major league deal guy yeah key role in the bullpen sounds the Dodgers tend to know like when guys are um good ish and uh they reworked him and liked what they saw enough to sign him to a big league deal. So that feels promising.

It does. Yeah. Okay. Well, sorry to see that he's off the board. Good pick, I guess. At the beginning, I think we all tend to have fairly similar picks or thoughts, and then later on we diverge. Yeah.

and then later on we diverge. Yeah. And we will remind our listeners that we don't typically snake draft and we are not snake drafting again, despite me wishing we did in this exact moment. Yeah. One of these days, maybe. But at this point, it's just so entrenched, ingrained, effectively wild tradition not to.

And again, I feel like for listeners, it's just a little easier to keep track of who's going also for participants i find yeah all right my next pick i will take ben lively oh no he was the last one i really liked oh well that was a lively reaction from you ben but i got ben lively who was was signed by the Cleveland Guardians to a major league deal. And that is why he is off the board quickly here. He was guaranteed a little bit more than the league minimum on the deal. That's how much they liked him. So he was with the Reds the last couple seasons.

Before that, he had been with the Samsung Lions in Korea, and he pitched quite a bit in 2023. It wasn't great, but it was 88 and two-thirds innings, which would have been just wonderful if I had drafted him last year. I don't know if he was eligible last year, but if he were to give me that again, I would go home happy, but I would settle for a lot less. So he was primarily starting for the Reds, and of course they had a whole bunch of guys get hurt,

and he pitched to a 5-plus ERA and a 5-plus FIP, but he didn't walk, guys. He's got pretty good control. You'd like to think that Cleveland good with pitcher development. There was also like the ERA. I mean, you can always play the game where you say, if you just take out their worst outing, but it is maybe more true than most for him because he allowed 13 runs in a game so that'll do it on august 1st against the cubs they just left him out there we may have talked about that i forget but but that'll

inflate we did talk about that i think yeah i think we did so so that'll inflate your era in a hurry and he doesn't throw that hard and he doesn't miss that many bats but he's just you know control guy going to a better park for home run suppression i suppose so making a lot of arguments that aren't just like he's in the major leagues with money yeah yeah that's basically what it boils down to that's pretty good yeah i was very sad i didn very sad I didn't get him back. I was hoping, hoping you would not pick him. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Yeah, that's life. That said, I feel like I have an okay backup for my next pick.

Okay. What is it? I'm going to take Adam Kolarik. No! Who, I mean, you think Ben Lively signed for a little more than the minimum. Adam Kolarik signed for 900K more than the minimum adam clark signed for 900k toasty and i think he will be one of the few players taken today who is on a roster resource chart and not at the bottom he's third from the bottom in the woefully awful angels bullpen i mean yeah just like yeah man i look at that and it's bad. Like, it's really bad.

Like, Carlos Estevez is their closer. I think he's okay. And then it gets grim. Kleric has been like an acceptable pitcher for years. He even pitches decent volume. It's just mostly in the minors because the teams he's on are too good to need him. But that's not really the case with the Angels. So I'm hoping I get, you know, 40 good loogie innings.

He's the only lefty in that bullpen with the exception of Jose Suarez, who's more of a swing man. Yeah. Yeah. Clark, he's probably been hurt a bit by the three batter minimum, right? Yes, for sure. That limits his role and limits his playing time ceiling because he was a regular a few years ago. ceiling because he was a regular a few years ago. I mean, he threw 55 innings in 2019. The last few years he's been in and out. He's been, you know, getting there, but not spending a ton of time there. So you're right, though. A big key to this is team. And we obviously don't know the ultimate destination for a lot of players. A lot of minor league free agents are still minor league free agents. But when someone has signed by the time we do the draft and they go to a terrible team, that's always something that you bump them up their board because so

much of it is the opportunity. Like none of these guys is great. You know, they're typically not really going to walk onto a role or displace some accomplished starter. So they really have to be high on the depth chart by virtue of being in some thin system. So that's kind of a key. Okay. Well, I'm going to do an unenthusiastic but I think sensible pick. I'm going to take Austin Adams. Yeah. Yeah. I was debating that myself. enthusiastic but i think sensible pick i'm gonna take austin adams yeah yeah i was i was

he's signed to a one-year deal it's a split contract and it's non-guaranteed so you know he has to like be reasonably good in the spring in order for him to make the mets roster and our listeners will be most familiar with austin ad Adams from the year that he hit like a billion batters. He missed a good bit of time after that with a strained forearm and flexor tendon surgery. He had 24 appearances for the D-backs last year and had like an ERA in the five. So like, you know, it's not incredible, but he was also still coming back from surgery that limited him to, I think, two appearances in 2022. And his his hallmark is limiting heart contact and also hitting guys a lot. So, you know, we'll see. We'll see what he can do and how well he looks coming out of coming out of camp.

But, you know, since Adam Kalarek isn't available for me anymore, I guess I'm going to be in the Austin Adams business. I just realized this. He was so close to hitting more people than he allowed hits to. Yes. Yes. Wow. So close. It was shocking.

He had in his 2021 with the Padres, he had 24 hit by pitches. He had 24 earned runs. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. That that's crazy it was only 52.2 innings so that's too many hit by pitches i think at one point we talked about like is this irresponsible for them to do you know like are they putting out him putting him out there in a way that's irresponsible i will say that like you know his era was bad his like fit was better but it was 17 third the third inning. So, like, we're just going to see, you know?

We're going to see what he can do for those Mets. And with that, are all the Major League deal guys off the board? I mean, I guess if you're secretly harboring one thing. I think so. But I think so. I think so, yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think they're all gone.

Okay. Well, now it gets a little harder already. Now it gets weird. Do gone. Okay. Well, now it gets a little harder already. Now it gets weird. Do it. Okay. My next pick, I am going to select Armando Alvarez. Wow. Oh, silence.

I see where I have to search him. Okay, that's not the reaction I'm hoping for. He crushed in the minors last year. He did, right? I've never heard of him, but I noted him anyway because he was raking. Yeah, I can't claim to have heard of him before I was doing some minimal prep for this draft. But yes, the combination of those two things made him pretty attractive to me. yes the combination of those two things made him pretty attractive to me he is an infielder I think primarily a third baseman but he can kind of play all over except short at least and yeah he really

raked now it was Sacramento in the PCL and it was 74 games but he had a 960 OPS there, which is encouraging. And he is 29 years old. I don't know if you could call him a former prospect exactly, but he was with the Yankees and he's had some years where he hit pretty well for the Yankees in the past, but it's tough to get a shot with the Yankees. And then he was with the Giants, of course, and it seemed like maybe like they needed someone who could hit lefty pitching, and he maybe could have done that, but he didn't get the shot. So I don't know if that is a good sign or not. But yeah, he's hit fairly consistently well and the ace. I mean, it's the ace.

So that's got to be a good thing. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I had him as a, I've never heard of this guy, but if he gets to me late, I'll take him. Wow. Didn't get to me late.

Backhanded compliment that I used my third pick on this. I don't think so. I don't compliment, but yeah, I don't think any early versus late pick aside from the major league deal guys. Yeah. Is that different?

Yeah. After that, I'll bet you're up. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I will take with my next pick Dalton Jeffries. Okay.

Uh, I liked Dalton Jeffries. I don't, he's, um, he had the always furious, sorry, scary combo of thoracic outlet syndrome and TJ. Yeah. So his arm is like really, really messed up.

It's the double whammy. Yeah. That said, he signed a minor league deal with the Giants, which means he's at least healthy enough to pass the physicals necessary for a minor league deal. That's not many, I don't think, but it's something. Like, he's surely thrown some pitches that the Giants have seen. He was a very exciting prospect to me. He's, like, perhaps one of the best command prospects I've seen in a minor leaguer. Like, man, this guy just really, really never walked anybody.

It was a combo of command and intent. I feel like that may play pretty well in San Francisco. Just well enough to have them give him a shot. And that's all I'm really hoping for. Yeah. Good. Okay. He was on my board, Dalton.

Not Armand. No. He wasn't on my board. I'm going to take Daz Cameron. Oh, man. I was going to take Daz Cameron board. I'm going to take Daz Cameron. Oh, man. I was going to take Daz Cameron next. I'm going to take Daz Cameron. You guys are just hammering the A's.

Yeah, he has been like, you know, bopping around. He's been an Astros prospect and a Tigers prospect. And he was with Baltimore last year in AAA. He's had brief like big league cameos over the years with Detroit and, like, graduated from prospect eligibility in 2021 as a 40. But you know what the A's love to do? Give big league run to, like, post-type prospects to see if they're any good at all.

And I think that they will probably do that with Daz, who, like, you know, can play that field kind of. So, you know, there is Daz Cameron. Come on down. Yeah. Former first rounder, right? And still fairly young-ish. Yeah, he's 26.

Yeah. About to be 27. He turns 27 early in the new year. But yeah, he'll be an athletic and probably a big league athletic, or at least I hope so. Yeah. Well, he and Armando Alvarez will be hanging out in spring training, getting that coveted spring training invite that we want our minor league draftees to get.

And maybe one of them will be the Brent Rooker of 2024. Maybe. We can hope. We can hope. Okay. Rooker of 2024. Maybe. We can hope.

We can hope. Okay. Since you took Daz Cameron, I am forced to draft, but somewhat enthusiastically, Rafael Lentigua. Yeah. Thank you for giving me the yeah. So Rafael Lentigua, he's a small, scrappy 25 year old. He's from the D.R. He is sort of a utility guy. He's been in the Blue Jays system. And look at this line from 2023 with Buffalo in Triple A.

305, 425, 469. My man walks almost as much as he strikes out and he has excellent plate discipline and plate judgment down on the farm, wrote something about this with whatever stat cast data is available there. And he isn't just someone who's like super passive i don't think like he actually just i mean he doesn't chase much but he's uh not too passive perhaps and he's got you know pretty good looking launch angles and sweet spot percentages and stuff so the the batted ball data apparently is pretty encouraging and the slash stats are pretty encouraging now i don't know if the opportunity will be there that's the thing but he's speedy he can play competent

defense he can play short so he's not going to be like a power guy, but scrappy utility type, good infield depth. I like him. He's going to give you good plate appearances and he's going to give you some walks. And he was also named the 2023 Most Inspirational Player and Community Service Award winner for the Buffalo Bisons. So, you know, you're getting a good clubhouse presence. That's nice. I'm inspired. I'm drafting him so that he'll inspire my other minor league draftees

to be the best that they can be. So apparently pretty good guy and can contribute in a lot of ways. And come on, I mean, you got a 425 OBP in AAA and you're 25 years old. You got to get that call at some point. Yeah. My notes on him just said, might be pretty good, actually. Okay. I'll take it. Yeah. So that's, that seems like what you're hoping for in these. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we don't need them to be good again, to be clear, but it is, it is an advantage need them to be good again to be clear but it is it is an advantage for them to be good because if they're good then typically that earns them more playing

time totally fine with them being bad and getting lots of playing time that is just as satisfactory an outcome to me i mean i you know hope for the best, obviously. But yeah, the performance doesn't matter except to the extent that it affects the playing time. Which it can. So I just hope an opportunity opens up for Rafael Antigua. All right. Okay. I will take Peyton Battenfield. Yeah.

He's on my board. A guy who I like. I liked him as a prospect. Raised right into the the guardians and he played a little bit for cleveland 34 innings this past year he you know elected free agency because he ended the year i believe off the 40 they they always have 40 man uh issues the guardians because they always try to trade for bulk and he landed a minor league deal with the mets i think he's probably in line

for like an austin adams amount of playing time which is to say like i don't know as much as the mets really have to give these guys hopefully not too much for their sake but hopefully a lot for my Hmm Where does old Meg go from here? Where's Meg's direction? Hmm I think I'm gonna take Trace Thompson Yeah Okay Good pick I'm gonna take Trace Thompson

So Thompson, like, you know, people know Trace Thompson He's bopped around a big league career that started in 2015. He played for the Dodgers and the White Sox last year. And look, did it go great? I mean, like, better in L.A. than with Chicago. But maybe that was just because the situation in Chicago was sad and it bummed him out, you know?

Could be that. But I think that he is still, like, a reasonably competent defender, you know, that, like, the advanced stance don't love his defense like super a lot, but like he was deployed in center. He has signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training with the Mets. You know, he seems like the kind of guy who might get opportunities if there's injury or any other nonsense that befalls that outfield. And've heard of him you know i know who he is so crucial crucial traits but yeah it makes a big difference but i think that if you can even really just fake it in center your your odds of being like one of the guys that they bring up

if like you know something were to happen to Brandon Nimmo, which has happened, or something were to happen to Starling Marte, which has happened, or I don't know if they feel like less enthused about Tyrone Taylor, which probably not since they traded for him, but who knows, you know? So that's what I got for you. All right. Well, speaking of Chicago being sad, I'm going to bank on that being the case again.

And I'm going to go with Jake Cousins. Oh, sure, sure. Jake Cousins. All right. I earned the, ah, that's what I want to hear. So the White Sox bullpen was bad in 2023. It was one of the worst. And Jake Cousins has been added to it.

He's not the only person who's been added to it. The White Sox obviously have had well-documented depth issues, which they seem to be trying to address. But, you know, there's still a bit of a depth problem in the bullpen or maybe just a performance problem in the bullpen. Multiple problems in the bullpen, let's say. And Jake Cousins, I don't know if he's going to be the panacea, but he has been effective in the past. Not in the 2023 past, but in the two seasons prior to that, he was a strikeout monster for Milwaukee and a bit of a walk monster as well. But still, he missed a lot of bats. He has that in him or he had that in him.

And this past season didn't go so great, but probably he'll get more of a shot with Chicago than he did with Milwaukee. So that's basically what I'm banking on. It's a flimsy, tenuous hope, but that's all we can ask for here on the minor league free agent draft. Yeah. Fair enough. That seems pretty good.

Okay. I am going to go back to something that you guys have been doing, like perhaps irresponsibly much, and take an A. I'm going to take the tastefully named Jack O'Loughlin. Okay. Perhaps not on your boards, based on everyone's reactions.

I don't know. Here's what I know about Jack O'Loughlin. Reminds me of Halloween. His name sounds like Halloween. That's, I think, a key part of the whole package here. I believe you. He's 23, and he just threw, like, 120 innings between high A and triple A with the Tigers,

and he had, like, four triple A, which is just a launching pad this year. Like, pretty good numbers. 470 ADRA, 45 FIP. Like, a little wild, and doesn't have, like, great pitch quality and isn't on, like, any prospect list I've ever seen anywhere ever.

But he's lefty he's like youngish the A's could see what he looks like in the majors they don't really have a real pitching staff and I think this I probably could have taken him in the 10th round but I liked his name and I wanted to say it yeah yeah you know what you did that's as good a reason as any, I think. Okay. Well, I'm going to take, I'm debating between two things here. Two folks who signed in the same. I'm going to take, I don't know if I'm going to say his name correctly. Jared Koenig? Sure.

Jared Koenig? Sounds like a name. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so here's the thing. So he was an A at one point, and then he was a Padre. And now he has a minor league deal with the Brewers. He's a left-handed pitcher. I guess that would have been useful to start with.

He spent all of last year at AAA, and, like, you know, it wasn't awesome. He had like a five ERA. He's like a soft throwing like ground ball guy. And here's what I'll say, though. I find myself often unimpressed with both Oakland and San Diego in terms of doing anything at all with pitching. Like it hasn't been great lately. And so and I think that Milwaukee does a pretty good job and I'm throwing a dart and I'm doing it in the form

of a soft, soft tossing lefty. And we'll go from there, I guess, you know, that's my pick. Yeah. Okay. I like it. You're a liar. You don't like it. I'd also say, I'd also say, say you know the only lefty they have in the

pen right now those brewers is is hobie milner so you know there's that too it's like you know sometimes you need a lefty and you can't rely on hobies forever you got to have other people besides Hobies. Right. Okay. Well, gosh, how many picks do I have left to make? Five. Oh my goodness. That's a lot of picks. So many picks. Why do we do this at 10 rounds? That's so many rounds.

Well, look. I feel like it's because we're so bad at picking these good. Yeah, we got to give ourselves a chance. As many chances as possible. Get someone. Yeah. Okay. Okay. We might just get sk As many chances as possible. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

We might just get skunked completely. Skunked. Okay. I am going to take Jonathan Perlaza. All right. Only one of the two Jonathan Azas in this draft. Yes. So positional scarcity.

I'm taking advantage of that. Then can I get a run on the Jonathan Aza's here? So I will take Perlaza, who is a 25 year old from Venezuela with a good deal of positional flexibility. He has played outfield. He's played at least a little bit of infield in the past. He's played second and third, though he's mostly been an outfielder lately. And he hit quite well in 2023. He was with the Cubs in Iowa, AAA, 121 games. He put up a 922 OPS. So not the best hitting of my draftees, but maybe the second best hitting of them in 2023. And again, he's young. He's got some pop. He hit 23 home runs. I don't think he's signed anywhere

as of yet, but he was on spec. Yeah, I'm going to scoop some team. I'm going to lead the way here. He was actually in the same signing class as Isak Paredes and Christopher Murrell and Miguel Maya. He was a shortstop initially, and he's been bouncing around and then ultimately landed in the outfield. He actually tied for the league lead with 40 doubles in the International League in 2023. He's a strong guy.

He's like not tall, but 5'9", 195. So, you know, he is solidly built and he's a switch hitter. And he's a switch hitter. He is a good fastball guy with apparently not the best bat speed ever. But he still crushes mistakes. Or so I've been informed by Baseball America. So I'm going to hope that he gets some mistakes and crushes them and that I'm not making a mistake by drafting him now. Seems good to me.

Okay. I will take a guy we've all heard of, I think, Enoli Paredes. Yeah. Who is on the Brewers now. I don't know. I almost said Padres, but he's on the Brewers. He was very wild the last time that he pitched,

which was, you know, both in the majors in 2022 and in the minors in 2023. He pitched 54 innings, and in those 54 in 2022 and in the minors in 2023, he pitched 54 innings and in those 54 innings, he walked 45 batters. Yep. That is a lot. So many. It's like just a really ridiculous amount.

It is entirely possible that he's just never going to get it back. Right. Like he throws this like cuttery-y thing all the time. It's, like, the only thing he throws. It's really hard. He has no idea where it's going. And neither do the batters. So hopefully he figures out where it goes just enough to get to the majors for the Brewers.

All right. Yep. He was on my board. I was debating. The walks were too scary, though. I found the walks too scary. They're extremely scary. They're so scary.

Okay, I am going to take... I wonder if I've taken this guy in the past. I'm going to take Trey Wingenter. Wingenter? Trey? Certainly sounds like you've said his name before. So baseball reference says it's Wingenter. Oh, well, I hope he wing enters the bullpen for the Detroit Tigers a lot in the 2023 season. He was with Detroit.

That was fantastic. Wing entering it with this pick. Yeah, it was. No, I feel confident in this pick. People are like, sometimes we feel like Ben and Meg agree too much. And this is the fighting pod. This is the pod for fighting here Thursday nights are good for them okay so here's the deal with him um he is like your

classic fastball slider reliever is the slider good I mean like you know it kind of held back his prospect profile like the fastball is the the main attraction here he threw 17 innings for Detroit at the big league level last year and they brought him back on a minor league contract and like he he did okay like his ERA was bad his FIP was better you know he struck some guys out you know he walked some guys he had like an almost exact 50-50 split between his fastball and slider which I always find amusing with relievers because it's like you're really committed to the bit. And he looks like he could be like on a British comedy that probably has dubious politics in the year of our Lord 2023.

Like he has that kind of face, you know, like a British comedy face. So yeah, that's what I'm doing. Detroit, hang out. Let's go. All right. Gosh, I feel like I'm going with a lot of performance prospects here as opposed to your boring journeyman types. And I don't know if that's going to work out for me. Yeah. Because the boring journeyman types, they often continue to be boring journeyman types. And the performance prospects, like I could be a year or two too early. Maybe they'll break through eventually, but if they don't get that playing time in 2024, it doesn't count for me. But before I go back to boring journeyman types, I'm going to take

one more guy who just might be good. And I'm just going to hope that that is recognized. I'm taking Andres Chaparro, who is in the Diamondbacks system now. And another guy who's been pretty good recently. So he's 24 years old from Venezuela. He was in the Yankees system. And he was in Scranton in AAA. And he hit 25 dingers. And he hit 20 dingers the year before that. That is a total of 45 dingers in his past two minor league seasons, which seems pretty good. And he's young

enough. He's also absolutely raking in the Venezuelan Winter League for whatever that's worth. He's got a 974 OPS there. So that's kind of encouraging. And he was on the Yankees prospects list. According to Eric Langenhagen, he was number 33, which is down there. But hey, he was there. And he's apparently pretty fun. Like he has a big leg kick and finishes his swing with both hands on the bat. So it's kind of an interesting look, I guess. And you know, he's got a little bit of patience, doesn't strike out too, too much. So I'm just gonna hope that he gets a shot. I don't't know if he will but I feel like if he did I mean I guess he's he's more of a corner infielder really than than a corner outfielder so I guess Lourdes Gurriel's status doesn't really have any bearing on Andres Chaparro so

but Eugenio Suarez's might yes Yes. Right. So I don't know. I mean, I guess. He's such a dick. Sorry. Yeah. They got Christian Walker. They got Suarez and they've got some prospects who are also right-handed corner infielders, but he's got a little more age and experience.

I'm going to hope he gets a shot. Yeah. Okay. I like it. Thank you. All experience. I'm going to hope he gets a shot. Yeah. Okay. I like it. Thank you. All right. I am going to take, Meg, this will be mean-spirited, but not to you, to the Mariners. I'm going to take Ronhel Ravello.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Thought about him. A, I don't know, DH, let's be real. A DH who went and played for the Oryx Buffaloes in 2022. Yeah. Yeah. Did all right.

Did all right. He was not great. He had a good amount of OBp there and not a lot else um not a lot of power came back and played in the minors and was pretty good there and i wrote in my little notes here um might just be the best dh in seattle already wow so i mean i don't know if that's true, but he's projected pretty well. And, I mean, he really hit in the minors. Like, the guy can hit. He hit 310, 428, 473. He's older, but he's not going to play any defense.

But, yeah. They don't need that. Yeah. So, I think there's a shot that they, like, they try Taylor Trammell for a little bit. Or, I mean, who's he platooning with? Like, Dylan Moore? Yep. I don't know.

Caballero? Maybe, probably not Caballero. He'll actually play defense. But, and then they just go like, well, what if we tried the guy who is hit at a bunch of different levels? So here's hoping. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's hard to argue with. Okay. What do I want to do? What do I want to do with my next pick? I'm going to take, well, I guess maybe I'll stay on the Mariners train for a second here because I have to do at least one.

Have I picked the right guy who's going to sub it when the backup catcher gets hurt pick? I'm going to take Brian O'Keefe. Yeah. I'm going to take Brian O'Keefe. Yeah. Who got some big league run last year with Seattle just because Tom Murphy was hurt so much and they were like cycling through guys. He ended up getting, I think, outrated

and then he passed through waivers and is back in their minor league system. And like, no offense to Sebi Zavala, but despite their trades, I still feel like that backup catcher position is like somewhat unsettled I will say that like he has had very limited big league run and some of it has been god-awful but like what does 21 plate appearances really mean you know like do you take that 13 WRC plus seriously I, you sure don't. So I'm taking Brian O'Keefe because I'm guessing that at some point, like something will happen to either Zavala or God forbid, the big dumper and they might look within to address that need. So that's what I'm doing.

Yeah. Yeah. Seems sensible to me. Okay. Gosh. Where am I going to go now? I don't know. I got to pick up some, some just guys, you know, I was very disappointed to see that Jake Marisnyk was not a minor league free agent. I know. Yeah.

Cause the Angels signed him. Yeah. He was last year. Last year. Yeah. I drafted him and then I thought, oh great. This is, I can I drafted him. And then I thought, oh, great. I can just snap him up again. I'll just re-sign him to my minor league free agent.

Yeah, can't. Yeah, no, can't. Doesn't qualify. Doesn't qualify. So I also considered Charlie Culberson, except that only if days on the roster count. Like if days on the roster count. Like if days on the roster counted, he would have been a great person to have on your team last year

because he was on Atlanta's roster for long stretches without really getting any playing time whatsoever. So if only there were some way that we could count that, just a person who's taking up space on an active roster but never really getting into games. But that doesn't count for our purposes. So I guess I'll go with Jake Lamb. Ah, yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So Jake Lamb, just breaking news here on the podcast, was signed by the Pirates shortly before we started recording. Started recording recording yeah yeah and i just i just feel like i need more lamb like players just because i i got all these young guys with potential yeah that's that's not really the vibe we go for on a minor free agent draft team like if you have potential you don't fit in? Like, you're supposed to be low ceiling.

You're supposed to have exhausted all of your chances. So I've got this clubhouse where I've, you know, got inspirational players and players who've hit well. And what I really need is Jake Lamb, who's just like the epitome of a minor league free agent draftee. He's always in the big leagues. You know, he has not failed to be in the big leagues since 2013. That's a long time ago. He's got his 10 years and he hasn't gotten a lot of playing time in a season recently. Yeah. It's, you know, he's kind of getting there, but getting his, he got 54 plate appearances

in 2023 with the Angels. And if I get 54 plate appearances at this point in the draft, I'll take it. I'm not going to be super excited about it. But I'm going to hope that he gets more because it's the Pirates. Now, the Pirates do have Rowdy Tellez, but they're not spending an enormous amount of money on Rowdy Tellez and Rowdy Tellez has not been that good. So unfortunately, it's not like a platoon situation. They both bat left-handed.

But if Rowdy Tellez falters, which I could imagine happening, then maybe Jake Lamb steps up. happening, then maybe Jack Jake Lamb steps up. So yeah, I'm hoping just for some unexciting presence on the part of Jake Lamb. I can't believe you would talk about Seattle's own UW legend Jake Lamb that way. Yeah, he hits the ball hard still. Yeah, he just he doesn't hit it often enough, probably. probably no but he still really rakes it at triple a which again does nothing for me here except in the way that it maybe makes you more likely to be a big leaguer but i've got the all triple a team here yeah i mean jake lamb in 2023 this was uh salt lake and also scranton yeah I mean, he hit really well in Salt Lake and hit okay in Scranton.

So 874 OPS overall. So that's something. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like Jake Lamb was an all-star once, right? Yeah, he was an all-star in 2017 for Arizona. Yeah, he had that breakout, right? And he can play some third.

I mean, I don't wish unwell on Brian Hayes. I hope that he is healthy and that his late season uptick is real and sustained. But if he gets hurt or anything, Jake Lamb will be waiting in the wings. Sure, yeah. I wanted to take Armando Alvarez because that's where I am on my list, but I realized you took him. I sure did. That's very frustrating.

All right. With that walled off to me, I am going to take the lowest ceiling guy imaginable, Tucker Barnhart. Okay. Tucker Barnhart is a lot younger than I thought. He has not yet turned 33. Yeah. Sucks, huh? Yeah, I'm like a lot older than Tucker Barnhart is a lot younger than I thought. He has not yet turned 33. Yeah. Sucks, huh?

Yeah, I was like a lot older than Tucker Barnhart. Yeah. That's truly depressing. Yep. I don't know if he's going to retire. I have seen no indication that he's going to, and I feel like he doesn't need to. He did not hit very well last year,

but he also didn't hit very well the year before that. And he got another job. But he played for the Dodgers. No barriers to continuing to play baseball for Tucker Barnhart. Yeah, he did play for the Dodgers. Isn't that weird? Wild. I mean, not in the majors.

But the Dodgers signed him. Clearly, no one cares how well Tucker Barnhart hits. The whole thing is whether you need a backup catcher that day. He has not signed anywhere, but I'm hoping he will. Yeah. Well, I guess it doesn't inspire confidence when one of your first comments is,

I hope he doesn't retire, but... I will tell you, I searched Tucker Barnhart retire right before making that pick, just in case. Okay. Well, let's see. What i gonna do what am i gonna do we made it so far before i had to do my little stall song i feel like i've really leveled up

my drafts you guys because yeah you know what you know what you can't detect in this voice hint of panic not even once am i overconfident because of my win maybe have i done the least research i've ever done for the minor league free agent draft i mean i'll leave others to decide that wasn't that your winning strategy last year that you kind of came in cold it was i did come in quite cold okay well so i think that what i am gonna do is i'm going to return to the the Oakland A's well am I gonna do that hold on okay I'm gonna do that I'm gonna take Hoy Park who has a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics he was with Atlanta last year he's kind of bounced around like he topped out as a he graduated in 2021 from prospects list at Fangraphs as like a 40 with Pittsburgh.

And, you know, he's like going to be like a little utility and field guy. He's not that little. He's six one. I mean, little like, you know, like a fun little signing. You know, like a fun little signing. He doesn't hit particularly well, although he was like, he had a 101 WRC plus with Atlanta and AAA last year. It was earth shattering. But he has a bit of speed. He can play multiple positions,

although like not really shortstop. So, you know, that limits the utility ceiling there. But I'll remind everyone that he signed a deal with the Oakland Athletics. So as they continue to sort through guys, maybe he's one who gets sorted in a way that will give me some play appearances. Mm-hmm. Hoy Park. Hoy Park.

Okay. I have a final pick holstered that has absolutely nothing to do with the player and everything to do with his name. And if I get sniped on it, I'm going to be so upset. So know that, Ben, while you contemplate your pick. Okay. Well, I got to stay away from anyone with a really entertaining name then. Get out of here. Okay. Well, I will take someone with, to be honest, a fairly blasé name, but hopefully not blasé performance, Luis Contreras. So Luis Contreras has been signed by the Houston Astros. Heavy Venezuelan presence on my roster this year.

He is also, he's 27 years old. He's a righty relief pitcher. He was with Milwaukee this past season or in a few seasons and he can miss bats. So that is encouraging. He strikes out lots and lots of guys. He threw 63rd and a third innings this year, mostly in AAA, some AA, and he struck out 90 batters. That's a lot of batters. That's pretty encouraging. He walked a few too many maybe, but, you know, nothing egregious really. And I found an article about him published at astrosfuture.com.

So he is the future of the Astros. That sounds good. When Luis Contreras hit free agency, the Houston Astros were the first organization to reach out. So they really saw something in Luis Contreras. And he said, I like the Astros. I wanted to play for them. He chose the Astros, he says, because of his arsenal.

The Astros value four-seam fastballs with ride, which is what Contreras is known for. He also throws a sweeper, changeup, and bullet slider, contributing to his high strikeout rate the last two seasons. So he's going to the Astros, hoping that they can further develop that repertoire. It seems like a good match of skill set and organization, and clearly he has some bat missing ability, which I'm happy to get this late in the draft.

So hopefully he can put it all together and be the next Astros pitching find. Ben, would you believe that I have a little bit of a scouting report on him? Oh my God. Please. Yeah. Share it.

Gathered from various sources. He has more of like an invisible foreseeing fastball. I love an invisible guy. Yeah, he's like 90 has more of like an invisible foreseeing fastball. He doesn't throw that hard. Ooh, I love an invisible guy. Yeah, he's like 90-91. Not an invisible guy. But just like completely unhittable, like wild amounts of backspin. Ooh. He was going to be my next pick.

Is it a deception in terms of like he's hiding the ball, or is it more of like a weird movement with his arm angle or something? I think it's all of the above. Okay. I love a deception. I didn't even know this. I'm so much happier with my pick now. Average Velo, 91.5, and yet all these strikeouts.

It's definitely weird in at least a few ways. So I think you'll be very pleased. I am. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to take someone meaningfully less exciting, Drew Carlton. Okay. I do not have a scouting report on him.

My scouting report is that he faced 85 batters for the Padres last year, and they re-signed him to a minor league deal. So, you know. That seems good. I'm hoping he faces 85 more. That seems good. Mm-hmm. Okay.

Hmm. I'm going to, oh, do I just want to take my name pick now? Do I want to just take my name pick now? Do I want to just take my name pick now? Was it Drew Carlton? No. You're going to get Hobie Harris again? He's out there. Is he?

I think he's out there. Is old Hobie Harris out there? No, that's not who I'm going to pick. He is, yeah. Yeah, there is a, Oh, I wonder, I have a guess for who the name is, but we'll see. Do you, do you, do you, because here's who it is. I'm going to take Brewer Hicklin.

Good one. No, that was not. Okay. Here's the reason. Here's the entirety of my case for Brewer Hicklin. He's now a brewer. You guys, we did it. We did it. Everything is okay in the world. that's not at all true but like in this respect we have we have brought him to the place that he has always belonged which is the milwaukee brewers because his name i will reiterate is brewer hickland and like what kind of name is that as an aside like what kind of name is brewer hicklund what kind of name is brewer as a first name like i have questions for his family but instead i will

simply remark upon the fact that um you know he spent last year having kind of like meh season uh in triple a although better with um the phillies in 46 plate appearances there than in his 240 plate appearances with the Kansas City Royals he's an outfielder he's outfield depth will they need to use him I mean arguably probably not given some of the other guys they have on their roster particularly their young dudes like if you are a Brewers fan and Brewer Hicklin is part of your life like it feels like something has gone wrong with you know one of sal freilich or garrett mitchell or jackson churio although we're clearly not wishing that on anyone we would even say that something has gone really wrong with like joey weimer so do i expect that this is going to be a good pick for me i really don't i imagine that

he will just like be parked in triple a all as an emergency option. But again, his name is Brewer and he is with the Milwaukee Brewers. And I think that's important. I have some Brewer Hicklin content for you. Oh, do you really? I'm just on fire. Do you remember when I did an online fan run team of the Brewers during lockdowns. How do I remember that? How do I remember anything from that year? My first act as GM was to trade for Brewer Hicklin. Fantastic. Simpatico.

Life imitating art. Fantastic. I'm so excited. I hope that, you know, I, again, like one of the weird parts of this exercise is that, yes, you're right, Ben Lindbergh, that it gives you something to root for when guys come up but like often if your dudes are seeing time it means something has gone very wrong somewhere else and so it's weird to root for your guys to do well but i i have no compunction here because again brewer they're gonna do a t-shirt even if he's only up for like a day do you know how crazy people went for jake burger

i really liked the white socks like complete combo meal fry burger cola yes yes you get another version i'm so excited wow whole draft turned around for me okay last round is it this is it? This is it? Yeah This is the last pick? Oh wow It's a good thing I've been keeping track of our picks Gosh, okay Well, in that case

I guess I'll go for another lamb, low ceiling type Who I hope will just pick up a few plate appearances Last round, that's all I want here I'm gonna take Tim Lacastro Yeah, I thought about that he's around he's he's been a good bet to be around he is of course extremely fast and an extremely efficient base stealer in a small sample of playing time his stack cast sprint speed was a little lower at least his percentile he had gone 100 100 100 so he was just basically baseball's fastest man then he was 99 and this past season in fairly

limited playing time fell all the way to 93 so he's uh 31 years old. Perhaps he's lost a fraction of a step, but he is still extremely speedy. And he's just, you know, he's been there every season since 2017. He has gotten some amount of major league playing time. It was 156 plate appearances in 2021. It was 2022-46 this past year with the Mets, 67. So he's never going to give you that much, but I think he'll give you something. I don't think he's signed anywhere as of yet, but I have faith that he will sign somewhere at some point. Yeah.

Yeah. If you got pinch running appearances, this would be even better right yeah yeah that would help yeah because he got like half of his playing time in september but he got a lot of his being on the field time before then because he's like a you know pretty good defender and pinch runner right yeah somehow we've got to expand this to encompass days on the roster or or like yeah pinch defensive replacements you know maybe like maybe we should consider adding like innings in the field or outs outs in the field like batters faced in the field i don't know maybe at some point but i almost considered taking him and then i was like man every time he pinch runs and steals a base and leaves i'll just be bitter

yeah that's true that'll be not worth it even though like i think he'll do just fine like you said all right to close things out i am going to take one of my favorite names in the draft gilberto celestino i don't know like he's still young he hit okay in the minors last year he's i mean okay not great he's on the pirates so you know they have two very good outfielders and you need three so that seems like it's okay for me like they're trading for edward olivares who i just think is worse than gilberto celestino outright so i'm just hoping that they feel the same way and we're like oh we can get this guy for cheap. Awesome. But he's all right. Yeah, if he gets a Locastrian amount of playing time, I'll be happy.

Yeah. Yeah. I never know whether to shoot for the moon and go for someone who's low probability. Obviously, all of these guys are pretty low probability. Yeah, I was going to say, are you? Even relative to their peers. I mean, not Alex Sanchez, but yeah.

Yeah, right. But just someone who probably won't get there, but if he gets there, maybe he'll actually be in a regular role because Tim Lacastro, I think, has a decent shot to be there, but almost no chance of getting significant playing time. So I don't know whether that's good or bad.

Is that a waste of a pick? Like, should I be shooting higher and probably missing? But if I connect, getting a lot of plate appearances or batters faced, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Because it's tough to, like, 50 plate appearance your way to a win, you know?

Now, Meg, you know, if she had gotten 50 plate appearances from each of her draftees that basically would have been her winning total last season which would have been adequate but but usually you need someone to like break through and give you some hundreds you know right so it's just like a sweetener i guess if you can get the 50 but i mean if ollie sanchez doesn't give you 100 i'm gonna be yeah that would be like how in the world would that not yeah i feel like the only way that happens is like a really bad injury honestly yeah all right okay i'm gonna give jay glam some competition i'm gonna take sergio alcantara as my final pick solid one and look do i think that he's gonna have a meaningful impact on the pittsburgh pirates i sure don't you know but i

will say that he is very versatile just like from a fielding perspective like you play all over the infield including shortstop and i know that like that's not a pressing need for them right now but like when you're when you're thinking about who's the guy you bring up because somebody got hurt you want like as much versatility as you can now the last said about his bat the better but yeah that's that's who i'm taking he he is also one of those guys where it's like he's where it feels like he's been around forever because he signed when he was 16, but he's only 26. Or 27 now.

Sorry, 27. But, you know, what's the difference between 26 and 27 except 12 months, really? Sure. So, yeah, that's my pick. All right. Well, we've done it. I feel good about my team, actually. I didn't feel confident coming in, but I like my squad. I don't know if I like it for 2024. I feel like maybe I drafted like long term the best team here. But I'm just hoping that some of my blue chippers here in a relative sense break through. And I've got the high ceiling guys to go along with LeCastro and Lamb.

Yeah. Anyone else on your boards that you considered taking you want to mention here? Ben, you took 100% of my scout list stat line guys that I didn't take. Like just literally every single one that I didn't take. It was pretty impressive. Wow. Makes me feel good. Sam Long.

He has a minor league deal with the Royals, and he faced 200 batters last year. That seems okay. Yeah. I wrote that Yanni Hernandez is the kind of guy who the Brewers will start at third base in a playoff game because he's not very good. And this guy Kyle Dowdy, who is quite good, it looked like,

but he's 31, about to turn 32. Yeah. And that's tough. I don't know if he wants to keep playing in an up and down major league role. I had a bunch of like random like reliever types that are like not very good, but were, you know, interesting for a minute. Like Nick Nieder and Kirby Sneed and and jonathan holder that was another name one mostly michael plassmeyer and sam delaplane and sam carlson and i thought about going back to the casey sadler well but felt futile tj mcfarland was on my list. I also had Charlie Culberson and thought about it and then was like,

the only way he gets playing time is if people, like, confuse him with Zansby Swanson. I thought about taking Jorge Alfaro. Yeah. Man, that guy has fallen off fast. Yeah. Sandy Leone kind of in that same vein, although a little less. Right. In the Vola Castro.

He'll probably get some playing time. Yeah. So, you know. Yeah. I had Wynton Bernard, who was a media major leaguer player for us once. Yeah. Yeah. And gosh, I had I had a few name guys.

I had Hopi Harris. I had Zach Muckenhurn. Muckenhurn. A classic name. Yeah. Great name. And I had Zach Muckenhurn. Classic name. Yeah, great name. And I had Michael Plassmeyer. Also a good name, but I believe he's mentioned in the MVP machine. I think I interviewed him, so I've kind of followed

his career with interest since then. I had James Caprellian on my list, but I was too scared. Yeah, same. I just don't know if he has a shoulder still or not. It honestly seems like no, unfortunately. Yeah.

I wrote down the name Tyler Gilbert because it reminded me of when he threw that no-hitter, which was fun. Yeah. So, in his first start. And I also, earlier today, had Jesus Aguilar on my board. Yes. Yes. And then you had to take him off.

Yes. He took himself off my board by signing with the Cebu Lions of NPP. I don't know that I would have signed him, but he has been a big league staple. That's always a risk that has happened. Yes. You know, we've drafted guys. Yeah.

Sometimes we've drafted guys who have already signed with an overseas team and sometimes there's like special dispensation if we realize right away yeah we can do it over but i think it has definitely happened that we've drafted guys who just went to japan or korea or whatever and that was that we don't get credit for the playing time there, unfortunately. I debated. I had a conversation with myself before we got on mic, actually, about if one of the Benz takes him, do I say in the moment, like, you need to redo your pick? And I decided yes because I'm so upstanding, and you can't prove otherwise.

So there you go. My note on him said, unsigned, but really good at getting jobs. And I feel like that's proven accurate. Yes, it was. Yeah. So some of the names I enjoyed didn't consider. Oh, I'll also say we have a control group. Yes.

Now, the problem is that I believe you drafted one of the players who's on the control group. Oh. That's okay. So we're going to have to, I mean, I think I can replace him probably because I was sent some alternative names. Thomas Burton, who's a listener and Patreon supporter and was the one to suggest that we do a control group

just to demonstrate that we are, in fact, better at this than random chance, which we are. Maybe not that much better, in fact, better at this than random chance, which we are. Maybe not that much better, but better. But better. So he, once again, has done the honors here and provided a team of randomly selected players. And yes, one of them was Jared Koenig. So I'm going to take him off,

and I will instead replace him with someone from one of the other teams he sent me in the same slot. So the control group officially is Sam Carlson, Garrett Williams, Jose Peraza. Heard of him. Yes. Steven Nogasek. Eric Mendez. Yeah. Irving Lopez.

Patrick Rutolo. Tyrek Reed. Melvin Adon. And instead of Jared Koenig, I guess we will go with Brett De Geus, maybe? Sure. G-E-U-S. Okay. So thanks for that, Thomas.

I've seen that guy's name before. Yeah. The other names that kind of caught my eye just as I was browsing the list, which, as I said, solid 16% of the fun of this exercise for me. Fernando Abad out there, minor league free agent at 38 years old. He just turned 38. Did not know that he was briefly in the big leagues this year with the Rockies, which is probably why I didn't know that. That is why you didn't know. Yeah.

He was the oldest guy I came across or was conscious of coming across. But there are many mid-30s men in the minor league free agent draft pool. Mike Montgomery. Ken Giles. Ken Giles. I wondered about taking a flyer on Ken Giles. Danny Duffy's in there. Danny Duffy turned 35 today.

Happy birthday, Danny. But I didn't draft you. Robbie Erlin, Willie Peralta, Matt Adams still kicking around. Also 35. Sean Doolittle retired but eligible to be drafted. Yes, I saw that. Bringing him in. Just good guy.

Clubhouse presence. But ultimately had to go for the playing time, unfortunately. And Daniel Camarena, remember him? As soon as I saw that name, he's the guy who hit the Grand Slam against Scherzer a couple years ago. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I do remember. So that brought that back to me. I remembered that guy. You remembered a guy. A fond memory. And I saw like Wilmer Font. And I remember how Jeff Sullivan used to be intrigued by Wilmer Font.

And then I saw Max Schrock. And I remember how Carson Stooley used to be intrigued by Max Schrock. And then I saw Cole Percival. Yeah. Troy Percival's son and Preston Palmero. Yeah. Rafael Palmero's son. They were both Angels minor league free agents.

So again, just scroll down this list. It's a great time. Yeah. I mean, like I took a famous son, right? Daz Cameron is my Cameron son. True. Oldest of their kids, I think. Yeah.

Every time I hear Wilmer Font's name, I hear that song. You know, that beautiful song I just sang? Sure. It's just like that. Like Richard Lovelady was on here. I know. Yeah. I know.

And you know what? He's hurt, though. I thought about it. I did think about it just for the bit, you know, just to do the bit. And then I was like, do I call this man a coward for not going by dick? You know, do I call him a coward or do I say that is admirable restraint? Still undecided. I like the name Robbie Glenn Dinning.

It sounds like he makes scotch. Yeah. Yes. It's like he's about to start a production of Brigadoon. Yeah. There's a lot of good names on this list. I completely agree. There are so many good names.

You know? C.D. Pelham sounds like the train that goes to Pelon. Yeah. There's a lot of good names on this list. I completely agree. There are so many good names. You know? C.D. Pelham sounds like the train that goes to Pelham. Yes. I think it's the one, two, three, but you know. Yes. Famously. Movies about that. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I still think that no name is better than Brewer-Hicklin just because of the team name matchup. Yeah. I thought Jan Kervix Castillo was pretty good. Yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good.

Yeah, Brewer Hicklin is amazing. I'm going to send you both the accounting that I did of our picks to make sure that they are accurate before we send them to our official record keeper. Yes. I can tie out with you. I wrote them down too. Okay. Well, we will add the names to the Effectively Wild official drafts and competitions sheet,

which we'll link to. So you can keep an eye on these players throughout 2024, as will we. And we hope that they will do well and we'll certainly be pulling for them. So another fun, fantastic minor league free agent draft in the books. Always happy to do this with you. And also positive associations about the season when we tend to do this. We tend to do it like late December, you know, right before Christmas or between Christmas and New Year's. It's just a festive time.

And this is part of the festivities. It is the season, you know. I have the Christmas spirit and I have the minor league free agent draft spirit. Well, I appreciate you guys doing it a little earlier than we did last year, since I have to go to go to the mountains and there will be no potting for me there. There's no, no place for a pot. Well, we will talk to you when you descend from the mountains and hope you both have happy holidays And that all of our listeners do too

Yeah All right, that will do it for today And I'll have you know that as soon as we stopped recording Ben Clemens complimented my draft He said he liked my draft I don't know why he waited until after we were recording But I'm not going to let a compliment go unreported And now I guess I'll get to the outro

Wait, is that Jerry DePoto's music I hear? What did Jerry DePoto do? What did Jerry DePoto do? We're going to talk to Meg Rowley about a trade or two. Because what did Jerry DePoto do? Well, what Jerry DePoto did is sign Mitch Garver to a two-year, $24 million contract on Christmas Eve. Because, of course, he did.

Jerry made the Eugenio Suarez trade on the day before Thanksgiving, and now he makes a signing on the day before Christmas. The man can't help himself. And I say that as someone who's posting a podcast on Christmas takes one to know one. Fortunately for Meg, this does not rise to the level of an instant fancrafts reaction that would make her mom mad. Unfortunately for Meg, and also for Ben Clemens, not great news for their drafts. Ben's pick of Ronhel Ravello on the grounds that he's the best DH in Seattle, no longer the case. And Meg picked Brian O'Keefe as catcher insurance. The DH catcher picture, a little more crowded than it was when we recorded this late last week. Another thing that happened since we recorded this, Joe Kelly's family, Joe Kelly's wife specifically,

received a Porsche from Shohei Otani in gratitude for Joe Kelly surrendering number 17 and Ashley Kelly's social media campaign in which she offered up the number. I did say a few episodes ago, after Otani got his massive contract, that maybe Joe Kelly's demands would have gone up. He did say he had a list.

I don't know whether a silver Porsche was on that list. It's just like those ads you see around Christmas time where someone gets a car with a big bow on it, minus the bow, but basically the same. We don't expect a Porsche, but if you'd like to leave some presents under our trees, put something in our stockings, figuratively speaking, you can support the podcast on Patreon by going to patreon.com slash effectively wild. The following five listeners have already signed up and pledged some monthly or yearly amount to help keep the podcast going, help us stay ad free and get themselves access to some perks. Eric Mittler, Dan O'Loughlin, Finn McHattel-Strailey, Mark Sabah, and Julie. Thanks to all of you. Patreon perks

include access to the Effectively Wild Discord group for patrons only, monthly bonus episodes, Thank you. If you got some Christmas cash, spend some of it on us at patreon.com slash effectivelywild. If you are a Patreon supporter, you can message us through the Patreon site. But even if you're not, you can contact us via email. Send us your questions and comments and holiday greetings at podcast at fangraphs.com. You can rate, review, and subscribe to Effectively Wild on iTunes and Spotify and other podcast platforms. You can join our Facebook group at facebook.com slash group slash Effectively Wild. You can follow Effectively Wild on Twitter at EWPod and you can find the Effectively Wild subreddit

at r slash Effectively Wild. Thanks to Jordan Allen for her editing and production assistance. We hope you're enjoying the season, whether you're celebrating any holidays or not. Hopefully you're getting to celebrate some time off, but we're not taking time off here at Effectively Wild. So I will be back with another episode a little later this week. And maybe if you're lucky, we'll cope all by chance You never know precisely where it's gonna go

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