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2024 1st Round Draft Picks

Well, the 2024 LEG annual Draft is winding down and I think it went quite.Thank you Steve Cutler and the others who set it up and kept it running smoothly. There appeared to be very few skipped picks and when they were skipped they were quickly corrected.

As far as salary costs, there were 6 players drafted with salaries 10 million or over. The highest salaried pick was Cy Young at $19,080,000. The lowest salaried pick was Dick Dietz at $500,000. When it came to picks in the first round, Purry and San Diego were the only teams with two (2) picks.

 

This year, like past years, the emphasis was pitching. Of the 32 players picked in the first round, 17 were pitchers. There were 9 starters picked and 8 relievers (Ohtani was counted as an outfielder based on his playing time at pitcher and outfield). So, the breakdown was:

9 starters

8 relievers

4 catchers

2 firstbase

1 secondbase

1 thirdbase

3 shortstops

4 outfielders

 

As you read through the comments on the first round picks, please remember that team's picks were influenced by position needs, player card numbers or grades, player names, money available to spend and player salaries. Picks are also influenced by what managers are trying to accomplish in building their teams. So as you go through the comments remember that these are my thoughts and they are probably not totally in sync with the managers thoughts.

 

 

LEG Season 4 Draft

 

  1. Delaware- Ellis Kinder-RP A solid pick that shores up a nice bullpen. Personally, I may have gone for one of the top starters, but was probably better to add to the pen and give the back end of the rotation some great help. Can't argue with the selection.

  2. Wrigleyville- Will Clark-1B In need of a firstbaseman, Mr. Sixta grabbed a good one. A 5 on defense, he also carries 4-0's with all power numbers in the second column. Clark is a nice pickup to become a cornerstone at first.

  3. Thunder Ridge- Shohei Ohtani-SP OF Considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game, it wasn't really hard to image him being picked so early. Mr. Campbell did not let the opportunity pass. Getting someone who can pitch and hit fills two holes. Good pick.

  4. Madison East- Corey Seager -SS I like Seager and I like this pick, but, I think a bigger need is the bullpen here. With only two relievers in the pen and several good relievers available, that would have been the prudent choice. But, like I said, personally, I like Seager so I can't complain with Mr. Campbell's choice.

  5. Tonka- Aaron Judge-OF When you already have 3 or 4 big power card outfielders what do you draft? Another one. Well, it just so happens to be a BIG one. Here comes the Judge. I'm a Yankee fan, so what can I say. Mr. Stevens needed relievers big time. But if he is careful he can pick up enough good ones in later rounds to shore up the pen. Here come the Judge!

  6. Cincinnati- Juan Soto-OF The fourth pick on a run on new players just added to the league. Mr. Hamel was swayed by the allure of Soto's future bat. He added an eventual good piece to an outfield that will be very strong later. Yes, he needed a SS, a C and higher grade starters. However, long term this is a good move.

  7. Motown- Al Kaline-OF Some were wondering how he made it this low. Mr. Craddock doesn't care. This is Al Kaline! When you need an outfielder and you see Al Kaline,...you take him. Nice pick sir.

  8. Iowa- Cy Young-SP Never heard of him. Hard to believe he was available in the Draft. But there he was and Jim didn't miss the opportunity to grab him. He's got many good years left and was a no-brainer pick for Mr.Willoughby.

  9. Virginia- Jim Bottomley-1B My team is set at all positions,...except firstbase. Leonard is a 670/100 so I needed someone to pair with him. I was worried Mr. Sixta would take Bottomley at #2 and am glad he chose Will Clark instead (a rather good pick). Bottomley has a very good card this year and several more down the road. Acceptable pick.

  10. San Tan- Hilton Smith-SP/RP Barry saw a high graded (17) pitcher on the board and took him. He fits nicely into a rotation that has a 15, 15,16, 17, 22. A smart pick and a good pick for San Tan.

  11. Purry- Dick Redding-SP Mr. Gabel also went for a starting pitcher. With a 14, 16, and 20 on his staff, Rob strengthened his rotation with a solid pick. Redding is a 18/21* with 927 MBF. Most of that MBF will probably be used as a starter. He also has 2 more years of grade 21 as a starter. Not bad. Suddenly the rotation looks better.

  12. Purry- Brandon Webb-SP Mr. Gabel also went for another starting pitcher. Now with a 14, 16, 18 and 20 on his staff, Rob strengthened his rotation with a solid pick. Webb's grade 16 will fit nicely into the number 3 or 4 slot. And with 4 years left, Webb has 3 years of grade 16 left. Trading for the #12 pick paid off for Purry.

  13. Fantomz- Ed Killian-SP Gordon was caught in a dilemma. He needs a power bat and he needs outfield. However, he also needs starters. With the lack of available pitching, Gordon did the smart thing. He went with pitching. Killian provides Fantomz with a grade 15 number 5 starter in the rotation. The best way to go in that predicament.

  14. Kansas City- Alex Bregman-3B With no one at 3B, Mr.Alderson took Bregman. A 5 defender with a little pop, Bregman fills the vacancy at third. There were 3 or 4 other thirdbasemen out there for the picking, but all of them were mostly 1 or 2 year stop gaps. Bregman was probably the better long term solution.

  15. San Diego- Dick Dietz-C This one surprised me. With more pressing needs at 2B, SS, OF, and Relief, a good power bat (many available) might have been a better option. In the pen there is only one arm. Help there would have been appreciated as well. Yes a Catcher would have been needed but could have been grabbed in a later round. HOWEVER, Dietz is a very good pick for a catcher. A C-8 on defense and one of the better hitting cards behind the plate (4- 0's, 10 hit numbers and 9-1's in the second column). Mr. Eliyas surprised us but got a good one.

  16. Charm City- Bryan Harvey-RP About the only thing Nigel needed was another starter. He has five, which is fine. But his back end is a 14 and 10. Another 14 or 15 at this point in the draft would have helped. But there is another way to help. Nigel went with the pen. He had a 17*, 18*, 19*, 19* and 25*. To this he added a 24*. Suddenly the backend of the rotation only has to go 5 or 6 innings. Six power arms will help you do that. Nice move Mr. Earhart..

  17. Stratford- Francisco Lindor-SS With no SS (well, he had some part timers) this was a definite need. Lindor is a very good defensive SS with a little bit of pop. And he does get hits. No problem with this pick.

  18. Chicago- Blake Treinen-RP Stray had a need at 2b and (for me) a need at starting pitcher. However, Stray has an affection for relievers. And boy did he get one. Treinen is a grade 26 ! He becomes the stopper in a pen with a 15*, 16*, 18*, 18*. I can't argue with that. Stray works relievers in an efficient manner that benefits his team. A hammer of a pick!

  19. Middle Channel- Jesse Crain-RP To me it looked like Middle Channel needed an outfielder or two,...but at least one good one as a starter. There were several good ones available, but Jamie opted to grab a high grade reliever. He already had a 20*, 20*, and 25* along with a 15*, 15*, and 16*. So why take another grade 20* reliever? Look at the starting pitching. Until the 4th round of this draft. His top starter was a grade 12. Adding another top grade reliever gives him the ability to pull starters early and bring in high grade pitchers. Smart move Jamie. I like it.

  20. Pigtown- Ryan Pressly-RP Decent pick here. Tim really didn't have a need for any position and he has several power bats. Yes he only has one SS, Ozzie Smith, but he;s a good one and several other players at other positions can cover ss if needed. So, another strong arm in the pen was a good choice. It gives Pigtown a 18*, 19*, 20*, 22* and 26* to finish games with and shorten the game. Good decision.

  21. Yucaipa- Tommy John-SP Mark could have gone with a thirdbaseman or secondbaseman but he also needed a top of the rotation starter. Talk about lucking out. He nabbed Tommy John who becomes his #1 starter in the rotation and then later in the draft he grabbed Pete Rose as his thirdbaseman. Talk about luck! Wow!

  22. Lewisberry- Don Mossi-SP/RP Not really needing position players, Bob worked on his pitching. Taking Mossi (a 20/23*) gave him the option to use him both as a starter and reliever with high grades. With only a 13, 13, 14 in the rotation at the time, it was a smart move.

  23. Cheyenne- Wes Ferrell-SP Having only one catcher on the roster (and the league requires 3) I expected a big bat catcher here. Instead, Dave opted to bolster his rotation. Which is probably not a bad idea. I figure you can always get a very serviceable catcher in later rounds. Ferrell fits nicely in the middle of the rotation and Dave added another arm in the 2nd round before getting his catcher in the 3rd round. Worked out nice.

  24. San Diego- Mark Langston-SP After getting one half of the battery with his earlier 1st round pick, Mike was able to grab a 16 starter who would anchor the staff as the ace. A nice choice at the 24th pick and a good pick for San Diego.

  25. Southlake- Carlos Correa-SS After a short delay due to Correa's health concerns, Ron decided on Correa. Ron really didn't have a NEED for anything but he picked up a SS who can play great “D” and can hit and hit with power,...better than what he had at SS. Southlake could have taken any player available at that time. I think going with Correa strengthens that position and allows them to look elsewhere next year.

  26. Jack Street- Chuck Knoblauch-2b I really like Knoblauch. I met him and he did something really, really nice for my youngest and me. Yeah, I know he has trouble throwing the ball but he loved playing and worked hard to improve. Anyway,...Joe went for need. He had no secondbaseman. A no-brainer to get one. I'm biased so I like Knoblauch. To me it's a good pick.

  27. West Michigan- Raisel Iglesias-RP Kevin had two relievers and needed to get a few to get him through the season. He also only had one thirdbaseman. Kevin made the choice to pursue relievers first. Personally I think that was the way to go, As it was, he more than filled the thirdbase problem and even added to the rotation. But then Kevin and his brother Kirk have always had a knack for top notch drafting.

  28. Hollywood- Wally Schang-C Steve needed a catcher and a secondbaseman. In round one he opted to go for a catcher and took Schang, a defensive 8 catcher. He won't replace Molina on defense but he carries a lot more pop. I would have preferred he take a big bat secondbaseman with a 9 defense, and there were a few available. But the catcher works and he filled second in a later round.

  29. Detroit- JT Realmuto-C First off, Kirk should not be allowed to draft until he cuts Nap Lajoie. I'm just saying. All the managers in the NL East would probably agree. However, when it comes to drafting, Kirk (as well as brother Kevin) always seem to have to draft about 20 new players. The thing is, they end up putting together great teams. These guys know how to pick and who to pick. Their assimilation of not just a team, but a highly competitive team is amazing. I can't address their choice because they know what they are doing,...and it works. I bow down to them.

  30. Climax- Brad Hand-RP Having one of the best rotations in the league, Nik bolstered the pen by taking a grade 19* reliever. A smart move on Nik's part. Yeah, I know,...odd huh? Having no secondbaseman I would have thought Nik would go after one, But he believed in his ability to get a good one later in the draft. He wanted to make sure he strengthened the bullpen. Personally I like the bold move,...but then again,...what do I know?

  31. Coastline- Santiago Casilla-RP Brian is kinda like Stray in his affection for relievers. Only this one is one he cut just to redraft him here. Go figure. I will say he was the highest grade available at this pick and Brian likes high grades. So it kinda makes sense. Brian's team is stacked elsewhere so what the hay.

  32. Fort Worth- Jack Clements-C Jarl went for a big bat catcher. With a defensive grade of 6, I'm not sure of how much time he'll see. He does carry a decent bat though. But remember, Jarl only had a couple of picks because he was pretty much covered at all positions. He was basically drafting to cover backups at certain positions, That's what happens when you are the World Series Champ. Must be nice,

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