Would you have done this in your draft?

Question

I had the 4th pick in the draft.

The first 3 picks were Pujols, A-Rod, and Soriano.
With them gone, I passed on Howard and Beltran and took Johan Santana. Howard and Beltran went picks 5 and 6. My question is should I have taken a hitter? Or would you have taken Santana too?

I like how my staff ended up:
Johan Santana
Carlos Zambrano
Jason Schmidt
Rich Harden
Barry Zito
Brad Penny

Joe Nathan
Huston Street
Joe Borowski.

Let me know what you think!...

Here's my hitters for your info:

C: Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Kendall
1B: Nick Swisher, Adam LaRoche
2B: Chone Figgins, Josh Barfield
SS: Bill Hall
3B: Aramis Ramirez, Eric Chavez
OF: Carlos Lee, Johnny Damon, Juan
Pierre, and Jeff Franoceur
Utility: Travis Hafner

Answer 1

I'm perfectly good with taking Santana, and you can make a case for him going as high as 2. Heck, you could make a case (a wrong one) for taking him first. The case for Santana goes to position. You can take a Howard or Beltran, but really, are they that much better than a 1B that you could get in the second or third round (say, Carlos Lee or Justin Morneau)? There's a drop off, but it's not near the size of the dropoff you will see at pitcher. Santana to Carpenter is a HUGE dropoff. And Santana is just hitting the prime of his career.

So feel good about the pick. It's a good one. Generally, you want to go hitter in the first round. Santana is the one perfectly acceptable option.

In my mind, there are three players you can actually make a case for first pick. The correct answer is Pujols for obvious reasons. The other two are Santana and, surprisingly, Chase Utley, both on the grounds of the positional dropoff discussed above.

Answer 2

First off would i have taken Santana? Yes!!!!!Even if i had the 2nd or 3rd pick i would have taken him(First pick is Pujols with an Doubts about it).
That pitching staff is just completely nasty that you have.
But raise the concerns of the bats you drafted considering you have probably 5 aces and 1 top closer.

Could you list your bats as well to see how the rest of your team looks. No matter how good your pitching is if you dont have hitters behind then you wont win your league.
Look at the Astros last year:
No hitting and two great pitchers in Oswalt and Clemens.
Oswalts stats for 2006:
33 games started 15wins 8loss 2.98 era 166k's and a whip of 1.17 dominent numbers.
Clemens stats for 2006
19 starts 7wins 6loss 2.30era 104k's and a whip of 1.04 again dominent numbers.
But even with this pitching they still didnt have the offense to go anywhere.
The more well rounded your team the better!
Now that ive seen your hitting which is decent and should be middle of the pack and you should lead in almost every pitching category.
Looks like a good season ahead for you with a little adjustments to your hitting as the season goes on it could turn out to be great.
Good Luck

Answer 3

WOW!!! In my league Santana went #1!! If I had the #4 pick and Santana was available I would snatch him in a second. He is by far THE MOST DOMINANT PITCHER IN THE LEAGUE. The gap between Santana and the next best pitcher is far greater than the gap between even pujols and the next best hitter (howard or soriano or reyes are all almost as good).

Getting such a high quality pitcher that late (yes #4 is late for Santana) is very lucky and an awesome pick. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

I would have taken Santana for sure. He'll score major points in every pitching category. Howard will be intentionally walked a lot since the Phillies don't have an incredible amount of depth behind him to protect him from the walk. It will look similar to Barry Bonds. Plus, with the depth you have in your staff, if times get bad, you can always trade for some sluggers. By the way, I love the addition of Joe Nathan. Guy is lights out.

Answer 5

I think you did a smart decision. Santana is by far the best pitcher in baseball and anyway first base is loaded this year. As of Beltran I would take alot more outfielders over Beltran anyway. I think your staff is great especially with Harden, keep him besides Liriano(even though hes hurt) he is the best young pitcher in baseball hands down.

Answer 6

I think you made a solid choice. You have easily the best pitcher in baseball and he is going to dominate for you.

Your entire pitching staff looks solid from top-to-bottom, I'd have to see what your offense looks like to know how it worked out overall, but I think you made a fine choice.

Worst case scenario, you can move some of that top-flight pitching to bolster your offense, because you clearly have a surplus of great arms.

Answer 7

I think it is a pretty good pick, dpending on how well your hitting turned out, your staff looks stacked and shouldn't be an issue, but if you have no hitting it might be a problem.

Answer 8

Good Job and your Staff is Crazy

Answer 9

I would have never passed on Howard

Answer 10

do you have a two person league?? howard, beltran and santana??????? i dont belive you.