Cooperstown Giants Draft

Well as John said, your either in it to win it, or complete the rebuild you started 3 years ago after winning the World Series. Guess I'm in it to win it as all of my early picks were traded away to acquire front line starters in Heath Bell, Andres Torres, Angel Pagan, Arthur Rhodes, Kelly Johnson, Paul Konerko, Roy Oswalt, Shane Victorino, and CC Sabathia. So with all those players acquired via trade here were my picks:

4.08 - Koji Uehara, Yes this was a need pick and a darn good one at this point in the draft as one can't have enough bullpen help

5.02 - Mark Trumbo, Big power bat but not great on defense and really no place to play, but maybe DH. Angels could use him way down in the lineup and put up some good power numbers.

5.05 - Alex Sanabia, Hopefully his arm is heathly because he should have a rotation spot for the Marlins and some really good numbers at AA and AAA last year.

5.19 - Gregory Infante, Chicago's bullpen needs a shot in the arm in the worst way and Infante is certainly an interesting name. The 23-year-old right-hander posted a 3.45 ERA in 55 relief appearances between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham this season, averaging 10.4 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. His control is still a work in progress, but with a fastball in the mid-90s and a developing curveball, he has one of the best arms in the organization.

6.15 - Barry Enright, A shot in the dark here, hopefully the homerun ball won't bite too much next year, but still a young arm that I had to take a chance on.

7.03 - James Russell, Russell will be given a shot at a rotation spot this spring.

Russell operated as a reliever last year as a rookie, posting a decent 4.96 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 49 innings of work. The 25-year-old left-hander relies mostly on a high-80s fastball and a sharp slider, but he also carries a curveball and changeup in his arsenal. His main competition will be Andrew Cashner, a 24-year-old righty. This is one to watch come spring time. Maybe Nick knows more about him, but his numbers looked pretty good and being in Chicago, he might have a shot next year.

7.11 - Chris Nelson, Always like a middle infielder with some pop, good AAA numbers and hopefully will win the final roster spot next year in Colorado.

8.07, Lucas Duda, This could be MY steal of the draft. Some great numbers and really good pop. With the NY outfield in a state of flux, he could be a very good everyday player and has been rated highly in many prospect draft as a sleeper to watch.

9.07, Josh Donaldson, Another possible steal if he gets some playing time. A catcher with some pop and better than average defense. Again another that is high on the sleeper prospect list.

10.05 - Robbie Weinhardt, The 24-year-old sinkerballer has a 2.01 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over 22 appearances between Single-A Connecticut and Triple-A Toledo this season. He sits in the low-to-mid 90s with his heater and has averaged 9.5 K/9 over parts of three seasons in the minor leagues. He could be a nice late pick in the Tigers bullpen.

I really had patience this year with my picks (Nick yes I said patience) as I really had some parts I could have moved to get in the draft early, but I'm happy with keeping a core of young kids around the vets I acquired. I have 9 cuts to make some will be difficult, some not as it depends on spring training also.

Good luck to everybody