Pirates (Fantasy Draft) Dynaty

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Selig Announces League-Wide Draft

In a noon (ET) press conference today, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced that players from all 30 MLB teams would be released into free agency and then drafted, similar to a fantasy baseball draft. A draft lottery will determine the order, and each team will be assigned between one and three balls. The lottery will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN2 on January 20th at 8:00 PM ET.

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Draft Order Announced

After an hour and a half of pulling balls from a machine, MLB commissioner Bud Selig finalized the league-wide draft order for this February. There were some surprises that cracked the top ten despite only having one ball, such as the Yankees and Rangers, who placed 7th and 6th, respectively.

1. New York Mets
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Cleveland Indians
6. Texas Rangers
7. New York Yankees
8. Washington Nationals
9. Baltimore Orioles
10. Houston Astros
11. San Fransisco Giants
12. Colorado Rockies
13. Cincinnati Reds
14. Philadelphia Phillies
15. St. Louis Cardinals
16. Chicago Cubs
17. Detroit Tigers
18. Atlanta Braves
19. Oakland Athletics
20. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
21. Los Angeles Dodgers
22. Tampa Bay Rays
23. Minnesota Twins
24. San Diego Padres
25. Milwaukee Brewers
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
27. Chicago White Sox
28. Toronto Blue Jays
29. Miami Marlins
30. Boston Red Sox

(As a note, I actually cut out pieces of paper and put them in my Pirates hat. Here's the amount of chances each team got:
3 pieces of paper:
Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies

2 pieces of paper:
Oakland A's, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Francisco Giants

1 piece of paper:
Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, St Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies)

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Mets Take Verlander with First Pick



AL Cy Young winner and MLB 2k12 coverboy Justin Verlander was taken first overall in the league-wide player draft used to raise ratings for the MLB, which have been dropping for the past 7 years. Last season, Verlander lead the American League in ERA, IP, SO, ERA+, WHIP, and H/9, as well as sweeping the AL Cy Young votes and taking home the AL MVP award as a pitcher for the first time since 1992. In 34 starts last season, Verlander threw 251 innings for the Detroit Tigers, in which he had a 2.40 ERA, as well as a WHIP of 0.92, while striking out 250 batters (9.0 K/9) and walked 57 for a K/BB ratio of 4.39. He also had a 6.2 H/9 ratio and tossed two shutouts, all while going 24-5.

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Halladay Goes Second to Royals



With the second pick in the draft, the Kansas City Royals selected 34-year old starting pitcher Roy Halladay to be their ace. Halladay, a two-time Cy Young winner (AL in 2003, NL in 2010), has been an All-Star for the past six seasons, as well as eight times in the past nine years. In 2011, Halladay tossed 233 2/3 innings in 32 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies, amassing an ERA of 2.35 and a 1.04 WHIP, striking out 220 while throwing one shutout. Halladay also only walked 35 batters, bringing his K/BB ratio to 6.29, and went the distance eight times while going 19-6.

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Pirates Choose Strasburg



With the third overall pick in the league-wide draft, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington selected 23-year old pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg. After tearing his UCL in late August 2010, Strasburg did not return until September 6th, 2011 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his career, Strasburg has started 17 games, going 92 innings with a 2.54 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, while striking out 116 batters for a K/9 of 11.4.

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Kemp is the First Batter Chosen


With the fourth pick in the draft, the Seattle Mariners drafted center fielder Matt Kemp, previously of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, Kemp won a Gold Glove, the NL Silver Slugger award, and lead the NL in homers, RBI, and runs. Kemp also became a member of the 30/30 club, hitting 39 home runs and stealing 40 bases. Matt Kemp also hit a career-high 33 doubles and tripled four times, while batting in 126.

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First Round Recap

I figured that writing a recap for each pick is insensible, and I have to go to family's in a few minutes, so I decided to use Pujols4MVP's tables.

MLB Draft - Round 1 Recap
Pick	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	Justin Verlander	SP	6'5"	225
2	Roy Halladay	SP	6'6"	230
3	Stephen Strasburg	SP	6'4"	220
4	Matt Kemp	CF	6'4"	225
5	Clayton Kershaw	SP	6'3"	220
6	Cliff Lee	SP	6'3"	205
7	Troy Tulowitzki	SP	6'3"	215
8	Josh Hamilton	CF	6'4"	240
9	Jose Reyes	SS	6'1"	195
10	Feli Hernandez	SP	6'3"	230
11	CC Sabathia	SP	6'7"	290
12	Miguel Cabrera	3B	6'4"	240
13	Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	6'1"	185
14	Jose Bautista	RF	6'0"	190
15	Jered Weaver	SP	6'7"	210
16	Matt Cain	SP	6'3"	230
17	Dustin Pedroia	2B	5'8"	165
18	Robinson Cano	2B	6'0"	210
19	Evan Longoria	3B	6'2"	210
20	Ryan Braun	LF	6'1"	200
21	Zack Greinke	SP	6'2"	200
22	Adam Wainwright	SP	6'7"	230
23	Josh Johnson	SP	6'7"	250
24	Cole Hamels	SP	6'3"	200
25	David Price	SP	6'6"	220
26	Matt Moore	SP	6'2"	205
27	Adrian Gonzalez	1B	6'2"	225
28	Andrew McCutchen	CF	5'10"	185
29	Yovani Gallardo	SP	6'2"	210
30	Ian Kennedy	SP	6'0"	190

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Spring Training Depth Chart

Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart - 2011

• Catcher
• Alex Avila (81)
• Ivan Rodriguez (72)
• Mark Stanley (62)

• First Base
• Allen Craig (80)
• Scott Van Slyke (73)
• Matt Hague (73)

• Second Base
• Jose Altuve (82(
• Felipe Lopez (9)

• Third Base
• Alex Rodriguez (83)
• Chipper Jones (80)
• Brandon Wood (65)

• Shortstop
• Ian Desmond (81)
• Josh Wilson (70)

• Left Field
• Brandon Boesch (80)
• Johnny Damon (78)
• Laynce Nix (70)

• Center Field
• Emilio Bonifacio (82)
• Trevor Crowe (70)

• Right Field
• Seth Smith (80)
• Vladimir Guerrero (78)
• Erik Wallace (68)

• Starting Pitcher
• Stephen Strasburg (91)
• Brandon Beachy (86)
• Jamie Garcia (86)
• Homer Bailey (80)
• Kyle Kendrick (75)

• Relief Pitcher
• Kyle McClellan (79)
• Bill Bray (78)
• Darren Oliver (78)
• Sam LeCure (81)
• Francisco Rodriguez (82)
• Joel Hanrahan (83)

• Closer
• Mo Rivera (92)

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Series Preview - vs. Phillies


PNC Park

The Pirates take on the Philadelphia Phillies to start the 2012 MLB season. Last year, the Phillies took the season series 4-2. Game one will feature Stephen Strasburg taking on Daniel Hudson in the rubber match of the series. Strasburg had a 1.50 ERA in 24 innings last season, 1-1 in five starts. Last year, Hudson tossed a 3.49 ERA through 222 full, allowing 17 home runs and striking out 169. Brandon Beachy will face Gio Gonzalez in the second game of the series. Beachy, 25, threw 141 2/3 innings last year, going 7-3 with a 3.68 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21. Gonzalez, the man he will be facing, had an ERA of 3.12 last season, as well as a 1.32 WHIP, while going 16-12 through 32 starts last season, throwing 202 full innings. In the ultimate game of the series, Jaime Garcia will take on Wandy Rodriguez. Garcia had gone 13-7 with the St. Louis Cardinals last season, having a 3.56 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 194 2/3 innings. Wandy Rodriguez is no stranger to the Pirates, starting 18 career games against them, going 8-5 with a 3.98 ERA in 110 2/3 innings.