Here’s the news story from Dan’s announcement that he was leaving the game… for FOOTBALL.
It’s the moment all the High Heat Stats OOTP League prospects have been waiting for—you’ve been drafted (well, almost all of you) and you’ve played some games! I simmed through the end of the 2013 season, so you’ve got a half season of games under your belt.
The biggest news:
- We had a player quit and leave baseball… for football. Seriously, Mr. McCloskey? What the hell are you thinking? And that came after you won the Outstanding Hitter Award in your league? Sheesh.
- Five players failed to sign with their clubs and will be in next year’s draft. This includes Rich Warren (3rd overall by the Rockies) and Bill Brockman (6th overall by the Red Sox).
- One player (Luis Gomez) wasn’t even drafted for some reason (I’m guessing it was an error on my part when entering his eligibility). No worries. He signed on with the Rockies (who were shunned by Mr. Warren) and played at four levels, becoming the first of our merry group to reach AA.
- Dalton, despite his weak intelligence, was the first of the group to be drafted. The Cubs took him second overall, giving him almost $7 million. Who was #1 overall? It was a fictional guy I made by mistake and couldn’t remember his name (so I couldn’t delete him). Oops. I probably cost Dalton even more money.
- Three players were actually put on waivers and signed on with new clubs. Baltimore gave up on Bryan O’Connor, but Houston nabbed him. The Yankees waived Darien Sumner, but the Marlins came calling. The Marlins also picked up CJ Miller, who the Cardinals allowed to get away. I don’t understand why these players were waived.
- Ryan Hennesy was the only one to suffer a serious injury. He missed about six weeks.
- Of the 29 of us who were drafted, 28 were taken within the first 49 picks. Andrew Tarwerdi had to wait until the fifth round. He’s taking it out on all his opponents to the tune of a 155 OPS+.
Here’s how we all did:
| Name | Previous | Position | Bats | Throws | Drafted | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan O’Connor | 2013 | P | Right | Right | 23rd, BAL | Apparently, he was waived by Baltimore after the season and picked up by Houston. He dominated in short-season A ball (in ten starts), but appears to be pitching in relief lately. |
| Dalton Mack | 2013 | P | Right | Left | 2nd, CHN | Signed for just under $7 million. Is still starting and managing to average five innings per start. |
| Yank Mosc | 2013 | P | Right | Right | 39th, TOR | Pitching in relief, struck out 24 in 15.1 innings in the Gulf Coast League. |
| David Horwich | 2013 | P | Left | Left | 8th, KCR | Fanned 77 in 53 A ball innings (11 starts), but with a 5.09 ERA. |
| Rich Warren (RichW) | 2013 | P | Switch | Left | 3rd, COL | Failed to sign. He’s going to be in next year’s draft. |
| Hal Ensrud (Hartvig) | 2013 | P | Right | Right | 16th, MIL | Was the Pitcher of the Month for August in the Midwest League. Was 4-0 with a 3.49 ERA and 77 K in 59.1 IP there. |
| Whitey Chevrolet (BryanM) | 2013 | P | Right | Right | 20th, DET | Won a Minor League Gold Glove in the Gulf Coast League. Had a 3.90 ERA in 11 starts. |
| Steve O (CursedClevelander) | 2013 | RP | Switch | Right | 25th, SFG | Got in 26 games, earned the save in 14. 5.31 ERA over 20.1 IP in Class A. 26 Ks, but 18 BB. |
| Duke Sims (Jim Bouldin) | 2013 | CL | Left | Left | 44th, PHI | Dazzled in A ball, with a 1.90 ERA and 27 Ks in 23.2 IP (vs 11 walks). Threw five shutout innings in the postseason. |
| Adam Darowski | 2013 | C | Switch | Right | 18th, LAD | Hit .289/.353/.397 in A ball (215 PA). Hit .310/.429/.448 in the playoffs, winning a championship. Made two errors and threw out 47% of runners. |
| Vincent D’Angelo | 2013 | C | Right | Right | 17th, CHA | Hit .191/.279/.372 in rookie ball (215 PA). Threw out 30% of base stealers. |
| Luis Gomez | 2013 | C | Left | Right | Unsigned | For some reason, went undrafted (perhaps I forgot to make him eligible?). Let’s pretend he was an international free agent then. Signed on with Colorado and played across 4 levels (despite hitting in the .230s. Drew 50 walks, though. Threw out 50% of base stealers. His morale is “angry”. Uh oh. |
| Nick Pain | 2013 | 1B | Right | Right | 13th, PIT | Hit .254/.363/.408 in rookie ball. Played only 4 of 51 games in the field. Hit .279/.357/.508 in 15 postseason games. |
| Mark Jay (MJ) | 2013 | 1B | Right | Left | 22nd, TBA | Failed to sign. He’s going to be in next year’s draft. |
| Brandon Robitaille (989baseball) | 2013 | 2B | Right | Right | 28th, CIN | Crushing it so far—.323/.413/.500 in A ball after spending a couple successful games in Rookie ball (in which he homered twice). Very versatile—started 13 games at second, 8 at shortstop, 13 in left field, and 20 in center field. |
| Frank Tichell (wx) | 2013 | 2B | Right | Right | 49th, STL | Showing some pop (.278/.390/.465) in A ball with speed (11 steals in 13 tries). Made only one error in 206 chances (with +1 range). |
| Andrew Tarwerdi (ATarwerdi96) | 2013 | 2B | Right | Right | 137th, CHA | Picked late, but making up for it. Hitting .341/.393/.584 in A ball with 11 homers and a 155 OPS+. Only made two errors. |
| Darien Sumner | 2013 | 2B | Left | Left | 29th, NYY | Hit .265/.334/.417 with average defense and was waived by the Yankees. Signed on with Miami. Morale is “angry”. |
| Andy HHS | 2013 | 3B | Right | Right | 11th, SEA | Our fearless leader played at three levels and hit .269/.357/.351 at A ball. Made 26 starts at third and 28 at first. Nice glove at third so far. Can’t help but notice his local popularity is “well known”. |
| Dan Smith | 2013 | 3B | Right | Right | 26th, OAK | Failed to sign. He’s going to be in next year’s draft. |
| Bill Brockman | 2013 | 3B | Right | Right | 6th, BOS | Failed to sign. He’s going to be in next year’s draft. |
| Jon Harris (cubbies) | 2013 | 3B | Right | Right | 15th, ARI | Failed to sign. He’s going to be in next year’s draft. |
| Jeff Stearns (lazyrasmus) | 2013 | SS | Right | Right | 12th, SDP | Just 18, hit .265/.363/.393 in rookie ball before moving up to short A for a couple games. Made ten errors with –1 range at SS. |
| RJ Jackson | 2013 | SS | Right | Right | 41st, SEA | Spent most of the year in short A, batting .244/.304/.382. Made 29 starts at third and 26 at SS. +5.7 range at 3B and +3.9 at short. |
| Dan McCloskey | 2013 | LF | Right | Right | 32nd, CHN | Immediately took the Arizona League by storm, winning a Batter of the Month and a Player of the Week. Also won the league’s Outstanding Hitter award for going .366/.464/.634 (174 OPS+) with 13 homers. Mostly played DH (8 games in right). His player page says he was injured, but in the game it said he was retiring from baseball to pursue a career in football. Really. |
| Ryan Hennesy (whipstache) | 2013 | CF | Left | Right | 14th, PHI | The first of the group to suffer a somewhat serious injury, he suffered an intercostal strain, missed four weeks, and then had a setback and missed two more weeks. Looked good in center while hitting .264 /.297/.339 in short-season A ball. |
| Chris Castonguay (Chris C) | 2013 | CF | Right | Left | 9th, TOR | Showed good range in both left and center while hitting an impressive .342/.424/.495 in rookie ball. Also stole twelve bases. Played in the postseason, with a .538 OPS in five games. |
| CJ Miller (GrandyMan) | 2013 | CF | Right | Right | 19th, STL | Hit well in short-season A ball (.305/.370/.539) but somehow was waived by the Cardinals. Miami picked him up. Had a .737 OPS in five playoff games. Errorless in 20 starts in left, but made seven errors in 34 RF starts. Won a player of the week award in late July. |
| Jeff Hill | 2013 | RF | Right | Right | 10th, NYM | After a .915 OPS in Rookie ball, had a .717 OPS in short-season A. 22 walks in 27 rookie ball games (5 of 7 EBH were homers). Showed exceptional range in right field so far. |
| Andrew Nadig | 2013 | RF | Left | Left | 21st, LAA | Hit .323/.375/.559 with nine homers in 38 rookie ball games before moving up to A ball. There, he proceeded to hit .330/.395/.500. Has shown poor range in left so far, but he’s hitting the shit out of the ball. Went 4-for-9 in the postseason. |
Complete coverage:
Up next is 2014. As for Dan… I think I should make a new player for him so he can enter the pool with the guys who didn’t sign. I think I’ll call him Dan McCloskey, Jr.
