Stevenson captures Home Run Derby crown

The Home Run Derby was a two man show this year with Milwaukee's Burt Stevenson and San Juan's Osvaldo Johnson providing all of the fireworks. But in the end it was Stevenson who took home the hardware, clobbering a whopping 41 home runs to beat out runner-up Johnson's 33.

Stevenson racked up 21 home runs in round one and another 8 in round two to advance to the final round against Johnson who hit 11 in round one and 12 in round two. The final round saw Stevenson narrowly edge Johnson by two home runs, 12-10.

Stevenson also claimed the furthest home run of the derby when his eleventh home run in round three, the home run that secured the Home Run Derby title for him, traveled an estimated 524 feet.

Burt Stevenson Milwaukee Manic Maulers Age: 30 B/T: L/L Born: Berlin, MD Position(s): LF/1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

DITR Guess

After reading an article somewhere about DITR's. I have decided to take a guess of who my DITR's might be this season. Things have been running late or slow, wonder if they are testing the new draft update? Sounds like someone that has too much time on their hands and thinks way tooooo much. The Gamblers gamble so here we go with a somewhat educated guess..lol!!

Being to the fact that they like catchers I have chosen this one in that realm.
Polin Villalona
Why? His pathetic ratings make him a prime choice and he has shown some improvement this season.

In the pitching realm I have chosen this raw draftee.
Jacob O'Brien
Why? His current health and makeup won't let him pass Hi A if he gets that far.
I was going to select L.J. Kirwan but after being passed over twice already, will probably retire a hopelessly unhappy Rookie League pitcher.

In the hitting realm I have chosen this poor guy.
Johnny Philips
Why? With a makeup like that, everyone thinks he is psycho.

Gamblers Draft Board Review

Drafting 25th and a scouting budget of 16/10 the Gamblers had to be precise in who they were going to draft in the first round. The draft was very weak in our eyes as it seemed to favor a High School draft, but after seeing the draft I am not so sure about that either. So first I will show what the scouts thought were the top 10 players and where they ended up on my board.

1. Ossie Acker - was the highest overall and a pitcher, no chance for him to fall to 25. He dropped on my board as I did not like his patience nor his bad third pitch. Drafted:6

2. Dan Benard - I don't think he was as good as the scouts proclaimed but was really the best pitcher on my board. Drafted:2

3. Joe Forrest - The best reliever on my board. Drafted:18

4. Steve Lofton - Was the best CF/2B on my board, too bad I can't trust the scouts being accurate. Drafted:8

5. Vernon Taubensee - Another great looking pitcher on the surface but his pitches threw me for a loop. Drafted:13

Okay folks, that was the blue chip players so the scouts say. Now for the second tier.

6. Johnny Guerrero - The best SS on my board, don't really like his temper and a little short in the glove but can hit and it is something I lack at the position. Drafted: 25

7. Bob Hauser - Another HS player at 2B but I don't think is good enough to play the position well that is what the scouts tell me. Drafted: 9

8. Sidney King - Another so called 2B, a position he could never play but can hit right handed pitching well, his temper was a turn off. Drafted:33

9. Bing Brow - A pitcher that fits the late first round profile but his pitches is another story, the name says it all...Bah Duh Bing Drafted:24

10. Sean Watson - Egads he is in the top 10, mid second round maybe. Drafted:63

Think that looked bad, just wait, here was my top 10 after I got done.

1. Dan Benard - I trusted the scouts anyway but chances were slim he would fall that low. Drafted:2

2. Vernon Taubensee - I didn't like him but he was one of the best pitchers, something I lack in the minors. Drafted:13

3. Joe Forrest - I liked him for a closer role, not sure he would have been good enough for that but hard to turn down an every day 20+ pitch pitcher for the pen. Drafted: 18

4. Larry Driskill - A real closer even though I highly disliked the patience. I really thought he might fall to me. Drafted:10

5. Johnny Guerrero - Not sure if he will make his defensive ratings well enough to play SS but a shoo in for 3B at a minimum and maybe even 2B. Would have liked a higher eye, but I like the fact he hits left handed, throws right and has high even splits with a little power and and above average contact. Drafted:25

6. Sidney King - Not sure what I was thinking because he couldn't play 2B on a good day but I did like the fact he was was very strong against righties. Drafted:33

7. Bob Hauser - Just because he was a power hitter and they fit my team profile. Drafted:9

8. Fritz Wise - I figured I would have a shot at one of the above which made him a good second round pick if he was still there. Drafted:65

9. Esmailyn Silva - Was the best catcher and 4th best hitter on my board plain and simple. For the longest time I had him as my #1 pick. With seeing his overall being a 66 to me, I was hoping he would fall to me in the second round. Dumb thinking in the end and I put him in the wrong slot, he should have been in the 8th slot, an oversight on my part but didn't make a difference. Drafted:35

10. Steve Lofton - I really liked him, I just couldn't trust the scouts. Drafted:8

I actually like my first pick as I did get the best SS on my board. Zeke McDonald has ML potential and a very good second round pick. I got some decent minor league position players in rounds 3 through 7. A great crop of career minor league pitchers in rounds 8 through 15. Picks 16 thru 25 were no where near the top 500. I signed my 22nd pick in Stu Brumfield because he was the best of them all and ranked 710. He might even get to be this seasons DITR, well I can hope. Everything considered I would say I had an outstanding draft.

The Bigs Season 5 Top 100 Prospect List

THE BIGS SEASON 5 TOP 100 PROSPECTS

This season in the bigs there are more prospects than before in the lower levels whereas in previous years most of them were in AAA or AA. Carter Leonard took the number 1 spot this year. Jackson again wows us with two prospects in the top 10 like last year, and these are two totally different prospects. Watch out for the Vipers as they will have a gluttony of young cheap talent for years to come. I decided to reward the offensive hitters a little more than as it was clear some of them were being undervalued in the past.

LEVEL	COUNT
AA	27
HI-A	24
AAA	23
LO-A	22
ML	3

POS	COUNT
SP	29
OF	20
SS	16
RP	13
2B	9
C	7
1B	3
DH	2
3B	1

RK	PLAYER	POS	LEVEL	RATING	TEAM
1.	Carter Leonard	SP	LO-A	9.7	D.C.
2.	Amp Palmer	SS	AAA	9.5	LOU
3.	Raul Vallarta	2B	LO-A	9.45	JAK
4.	DeAngelo Martin	SP	AA	9.4	BUF
5.	Barry McEnroe	OF	HI-A	9.35	BOI
6.	Fausto Almanza	SP	AAA	9.35	JAK
7.	PT Lee	OF	LO-A	9.25	SYR
8.	Watty Miller	OF	HI-A	9.2	SEA
9.	Turner Dolan	CF	AA	9.1	SCR
10.	Nick Robertson	CF	LO-A	9.0	SLC
11.	John Balfour	SP	AA	8.9	D.C.
12.	George Lowe	CF	AA	8.85	SLC
13.	George COrtez	OF	Hi-A	8.8	AUS
14.	Yogi Anderson	SP	AAA	8.75	STL
15.	Thurman Allen	CF	HI-A	8.75	OKC
16.	Doc Bowen	SS	HI-A	8.7	PHI
17.	Ryan Hamill	SS	ML	8.7	BOI
18.	Santiago Perez	SP	Hi-A	8.7	N.O.
19.	Vladimir Bibby	SP	LO-A	8.65	AUS
20.	Vin Logan	DH	AA	8.6	MNT
21.	Sammy Garrido	SP	HI-A	8.6	TRE
22.	Al Cruz	1B	HI-A	8.6	NFK
23.	Benito Fuentes	OF	LO-A	8.6	SLC
24.	Kevin Pong	SP	AA	8.6	N.O.
25.	Ken Keagle	OF	AA	8.6	AUS
26.	Victor Soto	SP	HI-A	8.6	BOI
27.	Shane Fletcher	CF	AA	8.6	SJ
28.	Willis Biddle	2B	AAA	8.6	D.C.
29.	Magglio Perez	OF	AAA	8.6	TRE
30.	Brian Sweney	SS	LO-A	8.6	PHI
31.	Alex Silva	SS	LO-A	8.6	STL
32.	Peaches Thompson	SP	LO-A	8.55	ANA
33.	Tony Johnson	2B	AA	8.55	JAK
34.	Lonny Hernandez	SP	HI-A	8.5	SYR
35.	George Hurst	SP	LO-A	8.5	BUF
36.	Gustavo Contreras	SS	ROO	8.5	CHY
37.	Jim Clyburn	RP	HI-A	8.5	SJ
38.	Mariano Terrero	SS	HI-A	8.5	AUS
39.	LJ Jordan	RP	LO-A	8.5	ANA
40.	Slash Ruffin	SP	AA	8.45	SEA
41.	Rex Kent	DH	AA	8.45	STL
42.	Odalis Lopez	C	HI-A	8.45	ATL
43.	Juan Flores	C	AA	8.45	FAR
44.	Ed Allen	SP	AAA	8.4	AUS
45.	Tino Okajima	RP	AA	8.4	STL
46.	Tito Martin	2B	AAA	8.35	BUF
47.	Gary Nelson	CF	AAA	8.35	TRE
48.	Julio Rosa	SS	AA	8.35	AUS
49.	Danys Almonte	SS	HI-A	8.35	SLC
50.	Philip McCartin	CF	HI-A	8.3	SLC
51.	Yeico Solano	C	LO-A	8.3	CHY
52.	Sam Brumfield	C	AA	8.25	AUS
53.	Allie Fielder	SP	AAA	8.25	LOU
54.	Rod Cather	SP	HI-A	8.25	TOR
55.	Melvin Taylor	OF	AAA	8.25	SAL
56.	Bobby Davenport	SP	AAA	8.25	NFK
57.	Steven O'Malley	C	AA	8.2	LOU
58.	Cliff Miller	RP	AA	8.2	SLC
59.	Phil Creek	1B	LO-A	8.2	SLC
60.	William Satou	SS	AAA	8.2	AUS
61.	Trot Turner	OF	HI-A	8.1	MNT
62.	Hiram Spooneybarger	C	AAA	8.1	BOI
63.	Vic Mercado	SS	HI-A	8.1	ANA
64.	Dennis Huang	SS	HI-A	8.1	BOI
65.	Brandon Martin	SS	LO-A	8.05	MNT
66.	Clarence Jennings	SP	AA	8.05	TOR
67.	Victor Sierra	SP	AAA	8.05	BOS
68.	Jonathan Lollar	SP	HI-A	8.05	TOR
69.	Red Karl	SS	LO-A	8.0	SLC
70.	Lucas Worthington	SP	AA	7.95	SYR
71.	Lorenzo Santana	2B	LO-A	7.95	MIL
72.	Will Weston	CF	HI-A	7.95	LV
73.	Alex Samuel	SP	AA	7.9	D.C.
74.	B.C. Stone	SS	AAA	7.9	BOI
75.	Miguel Hernandez	SP	HI-A	7.85	BUF
76.	Glenallen Wehner	SP	AA	7.85	VAN
77.	Dwayne Malloy	SP	AAA	7.85	LOU
78.	Mark Hogan	RP	AA	7.85	FAR
79.	Craig Sheman	RP	LO-A	7.85	NFK
80.	Bob Stewart	2B	HI-A	7.85	ANA
81.	Steven Kirk	RP	LO-A	7.85	PHI
82.	Torey Bryant	RP	AAA	7.8	CHY
83.	Tito Mercedes	SP	ML	7.8	TRE
84.	Mickey Stanifer	RP	LO-A	7.75	STL
85.	Tom Zimmer	RP	AAA	7.75	BUF
86.	Fernando Ibanez	OF	LO-A	7.7	TOR
87.	Eddie Peters	1B	AA	7.75	D.C.
88.	Vern Monroe	3B	LO-A	7.75	SLC
89.	Alex Suarez	OF	AA	7.75	HOU
90.	Victor Flores	2B	AA	7.75	BOI
91.	Raymond Black	OF	HI-A	7.7	OKC
92.	Kevin Stewart	C	AAA	7.7	D.C.
93.	Dan Callaway	RP	AAA	7.7	SCR
94.	Vic Molina	RP	ML	7.7	JAK
96.	Danny Wilson	SS	LO-A	7.65	SAL
97.	Luis Melo	OF	AAA	7.65	NAS
99.	Del Aquino	RP	AA	7.65	NFK
99.	Alex Saenz	2B	AAA	7.65	BUF
100.	Miles Guerrero	SP	AAA	7.65	CHY
Last 3 out Jesus Amezaga AAA SP VAN, Felix Comer AAA SP Nashville & Red Rose AA SS LOU

Bad Draft?

I have been using a 16 College and 10 High School split for all my drafts this year. I normally make the settings the same for each and it takes me two or three to figure how best to rank players and set the settings. These scout splits has worked pretty well for me so far in two drafts. Oh, if you are wondering what the split does, it is about 400 college and 100 HS players in the original 500. This draft board though is a little odd. Originally when I looked at it and shook my head and thought it was because I was drafting 25th. Between the high and low possible 1st rounders (looking at overalls) I have 34 total. I still thought maybe that it was because I was drafting 25th at first. Then I started counting the HS players and came up with way too many in the top 25 and top 50. Then I started looking in the top 100 and found the rest of the supposed 1st and 2nd round candidates in HS players which put the total near 50. Yeah, that is still way short for being a deep draft, well maybe not as I won't see a bunch of HS players and probably missing 10 or so college players easy.

The big problem is where they fall, with a 10 scouting in HS you know they are inflated and they were put where they belonged (funny but that's how it works you only need to worry about your blue chip ones being inflated). With this type of budget you have to be real careful drafting HS players period. The bigger problem is that I have only been seeing 10 in the top 100 total and most iffy picks at that. This one I am seeing almost 20 which is totally wrong from what I had been seeing. Which I wonder sometimes if they watch for patterns with owners and throw them a curve so they have to change their thinking, okay don't just blame me as their are others here also.

I really had to look at the 4 HS players from top to bottom because they are amongst the highest rated on my board. I have figured out what to look for by the way, basically one rating looks funny. What normally happens is that one will go up and the others go down and it could be up to 10 points on one and spread across the others. If you stare at them long enough you can figure out which ones will go down and which ones will go up. Then you have to decide how bad it will hurt him.

With the college players for the most part, they had been a little fuzzy but nothing to get excited about being a bad pick. So I looked closely at my top rated pick on the board and shook my head, a college player with an inflated overall. I couldn't believe it myself. I thought to myself that it can't be true, maybe they made it more fuzzy all of a sudden. So off I go looking for identical players and found several in my top 25 that were actually better but their overalls were where they should be. My thought was to leave it alone and he might fall to me at 25 which is about right actually, doubtful but a thought anyway, hmm wait, that is what happened last year. The way it stands, if I get my first pick the way I have it now everyones jaw will hit the floor calling me crazy. Of course I have been known to set and think about the players and change the rankings right up to the last minute. For some reason though, I don't see it happening this time. So call me crazy already.

If you are wondering how players are described as inflated, it is like this. Starting Pitchers with a high Stamina without other corresponding ratings for one. Hitters is normally high power. They are suppose to change this, but I haven't seen it happen yet.