2008 Mock Draft 1
Here is the first of several mock drafts coming from MoundTalk this year. In this draft 11 other trusted members of the blogosphere have helped us out. Each manager rated every pick with a “good” or a “bad” and the results are tabulated next to each pick. Below is the ordinal draft. The team-by-team picks are also available. Koby’s comments follow the draft schematic:
| Pick | Player | Manager | Good | Bad |
| 1 | Alex Rodriguez 3B NYY | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 2 | Albert Pujols 1B STL | Manager 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 3 | Matt Holliday OF COL | Manager 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 4 | Chase Utley 2B PHI | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | Hanley Ramirez SS FL | Manager 5 | 12 | 0 |
| 6 | David Wright 3B NYM | Manager 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 7 | Miguel Cabrera 3B DET | Manager 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 8 | Jose Reyes SS NYM | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 9 | David Ortiz DH BOS | Manager 9 | 9 | 3 |
| 10 | Jimmy Rollins SS PHI | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 11 | Ryan Howard 1B PHI | Manager 11 | 6 | 6 |
| 12 | Prince Fielder 1B MIL | Manager 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Johan Santana SP NYM | Manager 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 14 | Grady Sizemore OF CLE | Manager 11 | 10 | 2 |
| 15 | Carlos Lee OF HOU | Manager 10 | 7 | 5 |
| 16 | Alfonso Soriano OF CHC | Manager 9 | 11 | 1 |
| 17 | Ryan Braun 3B MIL | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 18 | Jake Peavy SP SD | Manager 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 19 | Carlos Beltran OF NYM | Manager 6 | 8 | 4 |
| 20 | Vladimir Guerrero OF LAA | Manager 5 | 7 | 5 |
| 21 | Magglio Ordonez OF DET | Manager 4 | 5 | 7 |
| 22 | Carl Crawford OF TB | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 23 | Mark Teixeira 1B ATL | Manager 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 24 | Lance Berkman 1B HOU | Manager 1 | 9 | 3 |
| 25 | Ichiro Suzuki OF SEA | Manager 1 | 10 | 2 |
| 26 | Victor Martinez C CLE | Manager 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 27 | Brandon Phillips 2B CIN | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 28 | B.J. Upton OF TB | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 29 | Travis Hafner DH CLE | Manager 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 30 | Garrett Atkins 3B COL | Manager 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 31 | Brandon Webb SP ARZ | Manager 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 32 | Alexis Rios OF TOR | MoundTalk.com | 10 | 2 |
| 33 | Justin Morneau 1B MIN | Manager 9 | 9 | 3 |
| 34 | Aramis Ramirez 3B CHC | Manager 10 | 11 | 1 |
| 35 | Derrek Lee 1B CHC | Manager 11 | 7 | 5 |
| 36 | Manny Ramirez OF BOS | Manager 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 37 | Russell Martin C LAD | Manager 12 | 10 | 2 |
| 38 | Curtis Granderson OF DET | Manager 11 | 9 | 3 |
| 39 | Adam Dunn OF CIN | Manager 10 | 11 | 1 |
| 40 | Josh Beckett SP BOS | Manager 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 41 | Brian Roberts 2B BAL | MoundTalk.com | 11 | 1 |
| 42 | Troy Tulowitzki SS COL | Manager 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 43 | John Lackey SP LAA | Manager 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 44 | Nick Markakis OF BAL | Manager 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 45 | C.C. Sabathia SP CLE | Manager 4 | 10 | 2 |
| 46 | Scott Kazmir SP TB | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 47 | Erik Bedard SP SEA | Manager 2 | 12 | 0 |
| 48 | Derek Jeter SS NYY | Manager 1 | 8 | 4 |
| 49 | Aaron Harang SP CIN | Manager 1 | 11 | 1 |
| 50 | Bobby Abreu OF NYY | Manager 2 | 7 | 5 |
| 51 | John Smoltz SP ATL | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 52 | Robinson Cano 2B NYY | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 53 | Carlos Pena 1B TB | Manager 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 54 | Joe Mauer C MIN | Manager 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 55 | Carlos Guillen SS DET | Manager 7 | 8 | 4 |
| 56 | Cole Hamels SP PHI | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 57 | Miguel Tejada SS HOU | Manager 9 | 6 | 6 |
| 58 | Chipper Jones 3B ATL | Manager 10 | 11 | 1 |
| 59 | Francisco Rodriguez RP LAA | Manager 11 | 8 | 4 |
| 60 | Jim Thome DH CHW | Manager 12 | 7 | 5 |
| 61 | Carlos Zambrano SP CHC | Manager 12 | 9 | 3 |
| 62 | Roy Halladay SP TOR | Manager 11 | 10 | 2 |
| 63 | Dan Haren SP ARZ | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 64 | Justin Verlander SP DET | Manager 9 | 8 | 4 |
| 65 | Corey Hart OF MIL | MoundTalk.com | 10 | 2 |
| 66 | Adrian Gonzalez 1B SD | Manager 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 67 | Eric Byrnes OF ARZ | Manager 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 68 | Chone Figgins 3B LAA | Manager 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 69 | Jason Bay OF PIT | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 70 | Mike Lowell 3B BOS | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 71 | Roy Oswalt SP HOU | Manager 2 | 12 | 0 |
| 72 | Brian McCann C ATL | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 73 | Jonathan Papelbon RP BOS | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 74 | Michael Young SS TEX | Manager 2 | 9 | 3 |
| 75 | Jorge Posada C NYY | Manager 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 76 | Fausto Carmona SP CLE | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 77 | Daisuke Matsuzaka SP BOS | Manager 5 | 7 | 5 |
| 78 | Chris Young OF ARZ | Manager 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 79 | Torii Hunter OF LAA | Manager 7 | 8 | 4 |
| 80 | Chris Young SP SD | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 81 | Dan Uggla 2B FL | Manager 9 | 10 | 2 |
| 82 | Joe Nathan RP MIN | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 83 | Edgar Renteria SS DET | Manager 11 | 9 | 3 |
| 84 | Ryan Zimmerman 3B WAS | Manager 12 | 8 | 4 |
| 85 | Paul Konerko 1B CHW | Manager 12 | 11 | 1 |
| 86 | Hideki Matsui OF NYY | Manager 11 | 8 | 4 |
| 87 | Gary Sheffield DH DET | Manager 10 | 3 | 9 |
| 88 | Brad Hawpe OF COL | Manager 9 | 10 | 2 |
| 89 | Felix Hernandez SP SEA | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 90 | Hunter Pence OF HOU | Manager 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 91 | J.J. Putz RP SEA | Manager 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 92 | Kelvim Escobar SP LAA | Manager 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 93 | Jeff Francoeur OF ATL | Manager 4 | 11 | 1 |
| 94 | Delmon Young OF MIN | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 95 | Andruw Jones OF LAD | Manager 2 | 12 | 0 |
| 96 | Ian Kinsler 2B TEX | Manager 1 | 7 | 5 |
| 97 | Takashi Saito RP LAD | Manager 1 | 8 | 4 |
| 98 | Billy Wagner RP NYM | Manager 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 99 | Rafael Furcal SS LAD | Manager 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 100 | Mariano Rivera RP NYY | Manager 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 101 | John Maine SP NYM | Manager 5 | 11 | 1 |
| 102 | Yovani Gallardo SP MIL | Manager 6 | 12 | 0 |
| 103 | James Shields SP TB | Manager 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 104 | Brad Penny SP LAD | MoundTalk.com | 11 | 1 |
| 105 | Tim Lincecum SP SF | Manager 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 106 | Ben Sheets SP MIL | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 107 | Matt Cain SP SF | Manager 11 | 12 | 0 |
| 108 | Rickie Weeks 2B MIL | Manager 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 109 | Dustin McGowan SP TOR | Manager 12 | 9 | 3 |
| 110 | Todd Helton 1B COL | Manager 11 | 10 | 2 |
| 111 | Javier Vazquez SP CHW | Manager 10 | 7 | 5 |
| 112 | Francisco Cordero RP CIN | Manager 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 113 | Vernon Wells OF TOR | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 114 | Bobby Jenks RP CHW | Manager 7 | 7 | 5 |
| 115 | A.J. Burnett SP TOR | Manager 6 | 5 | 7 |
| 116 | Rich Hill SP CHC | Manager 5 | 12 | 0 |
| 117 | Juan Pierre OF LAD | Manager 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 118 | Adam Wainwright SP STL | Manager 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 119 | Brett Myers RP PHI | Manager 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 120 | Trevor Hoffman RP SD | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 121 | Chien-Ming Wang SP NYY | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 122 | Carlos Delgado 1B NYM | Manager 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 123 | Francisco Liriano SP MIN | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 124 | Jose Valverde RP HOU | Manager 4 | 11 | 1 |
| 125 | Huston Street RP OAK | Manager 5 | 11 | 1 |
| 126 | Jason Isringhausen RP STL | Manager 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 127 | Manuel Corpas RP COL | Manager 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 128 | Phil Hughes SP NYY | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 129 | Placido Polanco 2B DET | Manager 9 | 11 | 1 |
| 130 | Alex Gordon 3B KC | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 131 | Adrian Beltre 3B SEA | Manager 11 | 9 | 3 |
| 132 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia C TEX | Manager 12 | 8 | 4 |
| 133 | Chad Billingsley RP LAD | Manager 12 | 11 | 1 |
| 134 | Orlando Cabrera SS CHW | Manager 11 | 11 | 1 |
| 135 | Chad Cordero RP WAS | Manager 10 | 8 | 4 |
| 136 | Nick Swisher OF CHW | Manager 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 137 | Todd Jones RP DET | MoundTalk.com | 9 | 3 |
| 138 | Pedro Martinez SP NYM | Manager 7 | 10 | 2 |
| 139 | Tom Gorzelanny SP PIT | Manager 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 140 | Brad Lidge RP PHI | Manager 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 141 | Howie Kendrick 2B LAA | Manager 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 142 | Raul Ibanez OF SEA | Manager 3 | 11 | 1 |
| 143 | Frank Thomas DH TOR | Manager 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 144 | Kenji Johjima C SEA | Manager 1 | 10 | 2 |
| 145 | Aaron Rowand OF SF | Manager 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 146 | Ken Griffey Jr. OF CIN | Manager 2 | 12 | 0 |
| 147 | Pat Burrell OF PHI | Manager 3 | 10 | 2 |
| 148 | Khalil Greene SS SD | Manager 4 | 7 | 5 |
| 149 | Julio Lugo SS BOS | Manager 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 150 | Jeff Kent 2B LAD | Manager 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 151 | Michael Cuddyer OF MIN | Manager 7 | 10 | 2 |
| 152 | Joe Borowski RP CLE | MoundTalk.com | 7 | 5 |
| 153 | Casey Kotchman 1B LAA | Manager 9 | 10 | 2 |
| 154 | J.J. Hardy SS MIL | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 155 | Johnny Damon OF NYY | Manager 11 | 8 | 4 |
| 156 | Aubrey Huff DH BAL | Manager 12 | 9 | 3 |
| 157 | Yuniesky Betancourt SS SEA | Manager 12 | 10 | 2 |
| 158 | Kevin Youkilis 1B BOS | Manager 11 | 11 | 1 |
| 159 | Adam LaRoche 1B PIT | Manager 10 | 12 | 0 |
| 160 | Josh Willingham OF FL | Manager 9 | 8 | 4 |
| 161 | Dmitri Young 1B WAS | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 162 | Jose Guillen OF KC | Manager 7 | 10 | 2 |
| 163 | Randy Winn OF SF | Manager 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 164 | Jose Vidro DH SEA | Manager 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 165 | Austin Kearns OF WAS | Manager 4 | 0 | 12 |
| 166 | Jose Bautista 3B PIT | Manager 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 167 | Casey Blake 3B CLE | Manager 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 168 | David DeJesus OF KC | Manager 1 | 9 | 3 |
| 169 | Ryan Theriot SS CHC | Manager 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 170 | Kenny Lofton OF CLE | Manager 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 171 | Jermaine Dye OF CHW | Manager 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 172 | Edwin Encarnacion 3B CIN | Manager 4 | 0 | 12 |
| 173 | Coco Crisp OF BOS | Manager 5 | 12 | 0 |
| 174 | Shannon Stewart OF OAK | Manager 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 175 | Dustin Pedroia 2B BOS | Manager 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 176 | Shane Victorino OF PHI | MoundTalk.com | 9 | 3 |
| 177 | Freddy Sanchez 2B PIT | Manager 9 | 8 | 4 |
| 178 | Orlando Hudson 2B ARZ | Manager 10 | 5 | 7 |
| 179 | Mark Ellis 2B OAK | Manager 11 | 12 | 0 |
| 180 | Kosuke Fukudome OF CHC | Manager 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 181 | Pedro Feliz 3B PHI | Manager 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 182 | Bengie Molina C SF | Manager 11 | 9 | 3 |
| 183 | Jhonny Peralta SS CLE | Manager 10 | 2 | 10 |
| 184 | Ty Wigginton 3B HOU | Manager 9 | 7 | 5 |
| 185 | Joe Blanton SP OAK | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 186 | Mike Cameron OF MIL | Manager 7 | 5 | 7 |
| 187 | Jack Wilson SS PIT | Manager 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 188 | Gary Matthews Jr. OF LAA | Manager 5 | 1 | 11 |
| 189 | Kevin Millar 1B BAL | Manager 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 190 | Melky Cabrera OF NYY | Manager 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 191 | Luis Gonzalez OF LAD | Manager 2 | 0 | 12 |
| 192 | Kelly Johnson 2B ATL | Manager 1 | 10 | 2 |
| 193 | Conor Jackson 1B ARZ | Manager 1 | 11 | 1 |
| 194 | Aaron Hill 2B TOR | Manager 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 195 | Ryan Garko 1B CLE | Manager 3 | 7 | 5 |
| 196 | Ted Lilly SP CHC | Manager 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 197 | Mark DeRosa 2B CHC | Manager 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 198 | Brendan Harris SS MIN | Manager 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 199 | Luis Castillo 2B NYM | Manager 7 | 10 | 2 |
| 200 | Matt Kemp OF LAD | MoundTalk.com | 12 | 0 |
| 201 | Tim Hudson SP ATL | Manager 9 | 8 | 4 |
| 202 | J.D. Drew OF BOS | Manager 10 | 6 | 6 |
| 203 | Jeff Francis SP COL | Manager 11 | 6 | 6 |
| 204 | Garret Anderson OF LAA | Manager 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 205 | Jeremy Bonderman SP DET | Manager 12 | 2 | 10 |
| 206 | Kevin Gregg RP FL | Manager 11 | 5 | 7 |
| 207 | A.J. Pierzynski C CHW | Manager 10 | 2 | 10 |
| 208 | Carlos Ruiz C PHI | Manager 9 | 5 | 7 |
| 209 | Ivan Rodriguez C DET | MoundTalk.com | 6 | 6 |
| 210 | Ronny Paulino C PIT | Manager 7 | 1 | 11 |
| 211 | James Loney 1B LAD | Manager 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 212 | Jason Varitek C BOS | Manager 5 | 7 | 5 |
| 213 | Josh Bard C SD | Manager 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 214 | Dontrelle Willis SP DET | Manager 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 215 | Oliver Perez SP NYM | Manager 2 | 10 | 2 |
| 216 | Jason Bartlett SS TB | Manager 1 | 9 | 3 |
In this draft I took an approach to try to minimize my offensive risk and maximize my pitching staff. When Jose Reyes was available at #8, that set the tone for the draft.
Ryan Braun and Alexis Rios were great picks for me. I’m expecting 30/20 from Braun and 20/20 from Rios with good averages and over 100 Runs and RBIs from each.
Brian Roberts was, in my estimation, my worst pick. As it turns out, I was the only one to vote it bad. There is talent available later than Roberts. I should have waited to take Weeks or Kendrick.
With Cole Hamels on the board I had to take him. 200 strikeout potential with good ERA/WHIP. I’m real happy with him.
Corey Hart was another guys I targeted as a 20/20 guy. Very pleased with that pick.
Then I went heavy on pitching. I’m happy to have picked Chris Young and Felix Hernandez. Both will have monster years and are undervalued. Brad Penney wasn’t the best pick, but I wanted another solid pitcher before I launched into some riskier picks.
Vernon Wells is highly undervalued. I can’t believe he fell to 113 after one bad season.
Phil Hughes will be the steal of this draft for me. Best value for sure. Todd Jones and Joe Borowski were taken to get me 60 saves. I plan to pick up a few more during the season and try to get to 80-90.
Dmitri Young was taken out of necessity as I didn’t have a first baseman yet. I don’t expect the same out of him but with a revamped offense, I think he could have another good season.
Victorino and Kemp were taken to fill out my offense with more speed and power options. Blanton was a good value pick.
Pudge was taken out of necessity.
