15-man ‘most efficient draft ever’ blows all other drafts away

Perhaps we should have gone to this 15-team format years ago. After years of drafts that dragged on for seven, eight, nine hours — when we had just 9 or 12 managers — the I75 League pulled off its most efficient draft ever to kick off its 33rd year, conducting a 14-round, 15-team draft plus [...]

‘We’re not off Poinciana anymore, Toto!’

Before you blindly point your rental car or personal vehicle to Poinciana Blvd. this weekend, be aware this year’s Strat House is in a completely different location from past years. See Dave’s 2/26 e-mail for directions.  Here’s the relative lay of the land with key landmarks for this year’s festivities. (Not shown: Tigertown…) From Disney, be [...]

Draft tip: Act like you know the guy you’re drafting

A famous I-75 drafting faux pas occurred at the 1987 draft, when then-Michigan manager Mike Renbarger wrote down then name of Darrell Porter as his draft pick, turned in his index card, and left the room for some, er, personal maintenance. While he was gone the draft moderator, squinting at the handwriting, announced Michigan had [...]

Draft countdown: 7 days remaining

As 2012 draft fever builds, we reach into the archives for this photo of what appears to be the winning team in one of our annual softball clashes. Can you name the team members — and the year???  

Pineda for Montero could shake up draft

A big trade involving top prospects might shake up the first round of the March draft. Seattle has traded young pitching star Michael Pineda, projected as the No. 1 overall pick in our league’s draft, for young slugging prospect Jesus Montero of the New York Yankees, himself projected to be the No. 5 overall pick. [...]

Less than two months to the draft!

Here in the Washington, D.C., area, we’re still waiting for our first snowfall of the winter, but already spring is on our minds. Draft Day, Saturday March 3, is less than two months away. If history is any indication, the ratings ‘disk’ (now a download) should be available next week. Last year it was available [...]

One draft down, one mock draft to go

Forecasting the first round of the 2012 draft is especially challenging, and not just because a whopping 19 players will be chosen. For one thing, we don’t know which expansion teams will be slotted in which order. And, having not conducted the waiver draft yet, we don’t know what their specific needs will be. However, [...]

And now, the leftovers: Clubs grab what they can

The pickings were decidely slimmer in the third and final round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft, perhaps best illustrated by the selection of .159-hitting Adam Dunn. Apart from the selections of two decent starting pitchers and Florida Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez, the picks were primarily guys who’ve seen better times or hope to [...]

Pitchers snapped up in second round of expansion draft

Unlike the first round, pitchers were the dominant element of Thursday night’s second round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft, which saw seven hurlers among the 12 players chosen in the 17-minute round. English manager Rick Lackey led the way by snagging pitchers on each of his three picks: Jhoulys Chacin from Chatfield, Derek Holland [...]

Expansion draft set to unfold: Iowa has first pick

It’s not that difficult to find a dozen decent players available among the unprotected players for the first round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft. But sorry, expansion teams, only one of those players can come from the Springfield Isotopes. That goes for all of the other existing teams too. Therein lies the challenge in the [...]

Demo Dogs dispersed to four expansion teams

Justin Upton was the first selection of the Detroit Demo Dogs dispersal draft, chosen by Steve Nieroda’s Satellite Beach Brawlers. In a draft that moved at lightning pace and was over by 8:06 p.m. ET, the four new clubs took turns snapping up the best goods available at Detroit’s yard sale. Rick Lackey’s English Pig [...]

Countdown is on to submit protected lists

The deadline is rapidly approaching for teams to submit their 10-man expansion draft protected list. The deadline is 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 15. To submit your list, click on the Draft Board link in the left-hand column of the Web page, and move the 10 players you want to keep from the top roster area [...]

New stuff to mock: Protection lists

Steve Hart just couldn’t contain himself. Race for playoff spot be damned, Steve has canvassed the entire I-75 League and drawn up his assessment of which 10 players each team will be protecting. If you too have lost interest in this season, as seemingly about seven teams have, and would like to pen your own [...]

Avila could be the sleeper of 2012 draft

Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza, Alex Avila? The Tigers’ young catcher, a certain first-round draft pick in 2012, is having a season that stacks him up in pretty good company among all-time catching greats.  According to Tiger Tales: A Detroit Tigers blog, Avila’s OPS+ mark of 140 through last Friday (OPS adjusted for ballpark [...]

New No. 1 in latest Mock Draft

It’s time for another end-of-the-month installment of the 2012 Mock Draft. This time you’ll note a few adjustments, based on the new expansion format adopted since the last mock draft, starting with the fact that there are now a whopping 19 selections in the first round. But, expansion teams can no longer select uncarded players. [...]

Revised offseason expansion plan

With Detroit Demolition Dogs manager Ken Kuzdak making the decision not to return to the league for the 2012 season, the league has made modifications to the overall offseason expansion plan to account for the dispersal of Demo Dogs talent. The league will still expand to 15 teams, but now will bring in four new [...]

Scorpions, Clips go retro for July series

Savannah manager Steve Hart and Applegate manager Gary Kicinski sported a retro look for their July series, complete with short shorts, hideous facial hair and a replica of Steve’s Newburgh, N.Y., dining room circa 1985. The Clips took three out of the five games. Regarding our photo trivia from May, commissioner Dave Renbarger reports those [...]

Angels call up top prospect Mike Trout; will he get a card?

Hold the phone on that mock draft: There’s news today that the Angels have called up Mike Trout to the majors. If he’s up for the rest of the season, that will make him eligible for a card and eligible for the first-15 picks of the first round, shooting him up from 17 to probably [...]

2012 mock draft time — bring out the 18-wheeler!

We have some exciting division races and the trade wires are burning up. You know what that means — time to look ahead to next year and our mock draft for the 2012 season… This draft will be different than past years since we will be welcoming three new teams to the fold. As voted [...]

Trading frenzy highlights 2011 draft

The start to our 32nd season will be as memorable for the deals flying about the room during the draft as it will be for the picks themselves. (See photo gallery.) A total of six deals were swung during the 5-hour, 20-minute draft, including Ike Davis being traded not once but twice. (Trade recap.) The exciting [...]