2022 Draft Recap

It seems like every year I draft a few guys who aren't selected. Last year it wasn't just Peyton Stovall, but also Seth Stevenson (who did get drafted this year). In 2020, it was Tanner Witt, Colby Halter, Tyler McDonough and Braiden Ward (4 of my 6 picks that year!). This year was no different, and it makes the shadow draft so hard.

My full haul is:

• Justin Crawford (signed- $3,894,800)
• Peyton Graham (signed- $1,800,000)
• Tucker Toman (signed- $2,000,000)
• Luke Gold (signed, $386-900)
• Bryce Hubbart (signed- $522,500)
• Luis Ramirez (signed- $250,000)
• Nathan Church- (signed- $125,000)
• Devereax Harrison (signed, $122,500)
• Drew Compton (undrafted/unsigned)
• Ivan Arias (undrafted/unsigned)
• Sebastian Keane (signed- $125,000)
• Adrian Siravo (undrafted/unsigned)
• Sam Horn (undrafted/unsigned)
• Colby Halter (undrafted/unsigned)
• Gordon Ingebretson (undrafted/unsigned)
• Connor Charpring (Signed UDFA)
• Jake Gustin (undrafted/unsigned)
• Carter Young (signed- $1,325,000)

After the top 6, there are a lot of players who seem likely to head (back) to school. I'm hopeful a few sign free agenct deals to add depth to my system. Horn in the 11th round always seemed like a gamble, but that's the exact type of gamble teams should make at that spot in the draft.

I'm lighter on pitching that I would have liked to be (I really had hoped for Sims or Reggie Crawford to make it to me), but I got 4 of my top 6 realistic targets, along with two potential workhorse pitchers (Ramirez and Hubbart), and a reliever in Harrison.

I'll take it.

2022 Draft Diary Day 3

It's good news and bad news for me so far in this draft. I got most of the players on my board, but in real life, many haven't been drafted yet. I'm going to revamp the board slightly here heading into day 3, assuming some of the guys I did draft (Nathan Church, Adrian Siravo, etc) are willing to take under slot deals to put a super high upside pick in the pole position.

Here's my day 3 board:

• Sam Horn- He's there at pick 330.
• Colby Halter He's there at 360
• Gordon Ingebritson- He's there at 390
• Connor Charpring- He's there at 420 (signed as a UDFA with Seattle)
• Jake Gustin- He's there at 450
• Carter Young- He's there at 480 (was picked at 497 in real life)
• Jared Lyons- Went to the Reds at 423 (I love their draft haul)

2022 Draft Diary Day 2

Coming into the day, we've added four hitters, with Crawford, Graham, Toman and Gold.

I'm going to go off my big board with my first pick(s) here, aiming to add a pitcher ot two to the mix.

I'm adding Bryce Hubbart from Floria State and Luis Ramirez from Long Beach State to the top of Day 2. I'm also addin Sam Horn as my potential 11th round pick.

Here's what we're looking at today.

• Bryce Hubbart- The decision pays off, and Hubbart is there at 91. Now if we can double dip and add Ramirez in the 4th round, I'll feel better about the balance of this draft. (he goes 94 in real life to the Reds)
• Luis Ramirez- He's there aat 120 nd suddenly I feel good about the pitching I'll add in this draft. (goes 199 in real life)
• Nathan Church- Yes, this is probably early, but a bunch of smart teams have gone off the BA or other consensus top 500s. I'm taking him at 150. (he went 337 to the Cardinals)
• Dev Harrison- He's there at 180, and I'm excited to add him. (goes 278 in real life)
• Drew Compton- He's there at 210.
• Ivan Arias- He's there at 240
• Mack Anglin- Gets picked by KC at 205
• Sebastian Keane- He's there at 270, and I'm adding him. (went 500 to NYY in real life)
• Adrian Siravo- He's there at 300.
• Colby Halter
• Carter Young
• Sam Horn- Ideally in the 11th round
• Gordon Ingebritson- Senior Sign
• Connor Charpring- Senior Sign
• Jake Gustin- Senior Sign
• Levi Usher- Senior Sign- Went 295 to KC
• Jared Lyons - Senior Sign

2022 Draft Diary Day 1

Coming into the draft, my big board was

• Termarr Johnson
• Brooks Lee
• Justin Crawford
• Peyton Graham
• Landom Sims
• Tucker Toman
• Reggie Crawford
• Luke Gold
• Mikey Romero
• Drew Thorpe
• Chandler Simpson
• Sterlin Thompson
• Nathan Church
• Dev Harrison
• Drew Compton
• Ivan Arias
• Mack Anglin
• Sebastian Keane
• Adrian Siravo
• Colby Halter
• Carter Young
• Gordon Ingebritson
• Connor Charpring
• Jake Gustin
• Levi Usher
• Jared Lyons

The draft kicks off, and we're under way

• Termarr Johnson- Went 4th to the Pirates
• Brooks Lee- Went 8th to the Twins
• Justin Crawford- Crawford is there at 15, so I'm taking him (in real life, he goes 17 to the Phillies)
• Peyton Graham- Graham is there at 28, so I'm grabbing him too (in real life, he gores 51st to Detroit)
• Landom Sims- Went 34th to the Diamondbacks
• Tucker Toman- With the 40th pick, I'm taking Toman (IN real life, he goes 77th to the Blue Jays
• Reggie Crawford- Went 30th to the Giants
• Luke Gold- I'm taking Luke Gold at 54 (goes 147 in real life to the Tigers)
• Mikey Romero- Went 24th to the Redsox
• Drew Thorpe- Goes 61st to the Yankees
• Chandler Simpson- Goes 70th to the Rays
• Sterlin Thompson- Went 31st to the Rockies

Early, on, I've added Crawford, Graham, Toman and Gold (Gold is feeling a bit like a reach, and cost me the chance at Thorpe and Simpson, but that's OK. Based on the way my board is shaping up, this is going to be a draft that's super heavy on hitting.

2022 MLB Draft Big Board (for fake Padres)

After yesterday's review, which to be fair, was a lot more bleak than I would have expected, I wanted to get my big board for this draft up.

I'm adding the 28th pick in the draft because Peyton Stovall didn't sign coming out of high school, giving me picks 15, 28, 40 (really 39), 54 (really 53) and the rest of the Padres picks. It's a good thing too, because based on yesterday's post, I could use some serious help in the system.

My top tier has two players:

• Termarr Johnson
• Brooks Lee

Despite whatever shenanigans I can think of, neither of those guys is making it to 15.

My second tier of players is actually about 6 players deep, and includes:

• Justin Crawford
• Peyton Graham
• Landon Sims
• Tucker Toman
• Reggie Crawford
• Luke Gold

It's a weird list, but there's some serious upside there, along with a bunch of line drive hitters, and a pair of pitchers that could, if they get healthy, end up being among the best in this draft.

From there, I go to:

• Mikey Romero
• Drew Thorpe
• Chandler Simpson
• Sterlin Thompson (there's no way he falls far enough)
• Nathan Church
• Dev Harrison
• Drew Compton
• Ivan Arias
• Mack Anglin
• Sebastian Keane
• Adrian Siravo
• Colby Halter
• Carter Young

Because there's the potential for a bunch of HS players to end up on my roster early, I want to have a few senior signs ready to go (alteratively, if these guys are still on the board when the rest of my draft is done, that's cool too).

• Gordon Ingebritson
• Connor Charpring
• Jake Gustin
• Levi Usher
• Jared Lyons (he pitched for George Mason this year)

An update on my fake minor league system

Starting with a review of my last few drafts, my system is OK.

In the majors, I've got some good players:

Hitting wise, we're looking at

• Keston Hiura at 1b
• Chris Okey as a catcher, Jarren Duran in the OF and CJ Abrams at 2b doing the shuttle thing right now (Abrams obviously looks to stick at some point)

My pitching includes 5 starters who've been in the majors (yes, that's slightly damning with faint praise, but 3 of them are pitching really well) and a reliever who had set the world on fire in his first year, but seems to have developed control issues:

• Dakota Hudson
• Tarik Skubel
• Keegan Thompson
• Anthony Kay
• Andre Pallante
• James Karinchak

As for what's left, it's sort of a mix bag (numbers in parenthesis are Fangraphs future value).

Catcher
• Patrick Bailey (40+)
• Logan Driscoll (NA)

1b
• Kyle McCann (NA)
• Justin Yurchak (NA)

2b
• Michael Massey (40)
• Anthony Prato (NA)

3b
• Nick Northcut (NA- but he's among the minor league leaders for HR)

SS
• Nick Allen (45)

RF
• Kobie Taylor (NA)

CF
• Tyler Mcdonough (40+)
• Quinton Holmes (NA)
• Braden Ward (NA)

LF
• Ryan Ward (35+)
• Connor Kokx (NA)
• Ronnie Dawson (NA)

SP
• Andrew Abbott(40)
• Colton Eastman (40)
• Matt Mercer (35+)
• Kevin Abel (35+)
• Seth Lonsway (NA)

RP
• Sam Weatherly (40+)
• Connor Kopps (35+)
• Griffin Roberts (NA)
• Jeff Belge

It seems like Logan Gray is the guy who's washed out.

This is a bad, bad system right now. It seems like a few promotions (yay), coupled with a ton of unsigned picks, have really hindered this roster. In fact, as I look at the draft picks that didn't sign, yes, Tanner Witt would probably be my best prospect, though most of the other guys that didn't sign actually don't seem to hurt so much. Otherwise, the biggest impact players that could be here are (if I follow the boards ever year and don't draft unsignable players) Joshua Baez, David Calabrese and Adam Seminaris.

Turns out, drafting is hella hard.

Ironically I'm still pretty smitten with a lot of the names on this list.

Celtics GM for an hour

I really dug Jay King's recent "GM for a Day" piece,so I'm borrowing the concept.

First off, I'm not taking JD Davison with the 2nd round pick, I'm leaning towards Hyunjung Lee, from Davidson. The positives. He's a 6'7 Ray Allen. He's always moving, incredible at using picks and motion to get clean shots, and drains three like, well, Ray Allen. The cons. He sucks at defense. I don't think he'll ever be a ball hawk, but I think the Celtics (Ime, Brad, etc) have the infrastructure to teach him defense. And again. He's 6'7 and shoots the heck out of the ball.

Free agency (and the TPEs) all start with one question: Can I get Kyle Anderson via the Mid-Level Exception? If so, I do that, and the rest of my offseason is pretty much a cakewalk .I'd see about improving the 4th big role via a minimum salaried player (Moses Brown) or one of the small TPEs. And look around to see if there's someone who can help with the big one (if King's idea of Luke Kannard for a 2nd is possible, I'd do that in a minute... I'd also do Kennard for Pritchard and a 2nd).

It leaves a rotation of:

• G- Smart
• G- Kennard
• G- White
• G- TBD (Mclemore)
• Wing- Tatum
• Wing- Brown
• Wing- Anderson
• Wing- Nesmith
• Big-Williams
• Big- Horford
• Big- G. Williams
• TBD (Brown?)

In this setup, I'd also look at someone like Ben Mclemore as my 12th guy, while Lee (drafted above) gets started in the G-league.

However- if Anderson isn't available, everything changes. The backup wing to spell the Jay's is my top need this year, and I'd love to have it be someone who's great at ball movement.

• Thad Young has a lot of suitors, but he's someone I'd explore as a free agent.
• Larry Nance would be an interesting pickup if the Pelicans would consider moving him.
• The Clippers have cap woes, and around 7 wings... I'd talk to them about Kennard (as mentioned above), but also Morris and Covington.
• My surprise move here would be a 1:1 deal with Houston, sending Kenyon Martin Jr to the Celtics for Pritchard. This is a move that seems to help both teams.

I don't hate Pritchard, I just think he's probably the best chip we can move without tremendous distuption (Brown plays a lot of 2-guard, White and Smart can play both positions... so we're really only looking for a 4th guard who can hit some threes and play a dozen of so minutes per night... again, Ben Mclemore is my ideal candidate).

My ideal path involves Kyle Anderson, kickiing the tires on the large TPE to see if there's someone who really helps available for nothing but the money outlay, and adding a couple of pieces on the margins (Brown and Mclemore).

If Anderson isn't an option, I use the TPE to find someone who can do some of what Kyle does, and again, add aroud the margins.

Five Takeaways from George Mason vs Richmond

We didn't earn the split in the first game against Richmiond... and... how in the heck did Richmond's best 3 point shooter, a point guard, end up with Mason's freshmen center on him with less than 5 seconds left? Schwartz played well. Henry held his own. Ticket was Ticket and Johnson was great. Heck.. Blake Jones even had a few moment. Ugh. This one hurts. Mason missed Josh Oduro. Ugh. So close.

• Kudos to Kim English for throwing all sorts of spaghetti at the wall with Oduro and Polite out. This ganme was way closer than it could have been, and I thought the rotations, wrinkles, and everything else was outstanding.
• Mason's no-big, switch-everything lineup (with Frazier at the 5) looked a lot better than it has so far this season; they did a great job of forcing Richmond away from the basket.
• Speaking of Frazier... man, what does Mason have with this kid, and what might he be next year? I actually don't know, but his confidence is off the charts taking the ball to the hoop. If you squint hard enough, there might just a be a Jalen Adaway starter kit there.
• Hat tip to Richmond. They won at home despite an off night for BBurton and Golden.
• Jacob Gilyard... my goodness. He's amazing.

Yuri Collins and Jacob Gilyard have both pasted Mason in the last 10 days or so, and it's weird, because it doesn't feel like Johnson's defense has been bad. Great players making great plays? Mason's lack of depth meaning Johnson has to tamper it down a bit? I really don't know, but a pair of really great point guards have feasted on Mason lately, but I don't know what the fix might be.

Back home to EBA, hopefully with Josh and Ronnie back.

Five takeaways from George Mason vs LaSalle

Well, that sucked.

Immensely.

I don't have any problem with Kim English getting the boot in this one.. someone needed to have some fire, and it didn't seem to be the players.

Without further ado, here are five takeaways from LaSalle's vistory over George Mason.

• Mason only plays 7 deep, so seeing that two of those 7 were out (Oduro and Polite), it didn't take a rocket scientist to assume that there would be some odd lineups (Blake Buchannan anyone?).
• This offense really struggles without Josh Oduro, and while Schwartz might be the best player on Mason, he's seems to defer far more than I'd like to see. He seems like he can get wherever he wants on the court, and with Josh out, Mason could do a better job funneling the offense through him.
• I know he isn't a Josh Oduro replacement, but Malik Henry seems like a guy who should be able to play about 15-20 minutes a game (5-10 backing up Oduro, 5-10 next to Josh) as a guy who's only job is to run like his hair is on fire. He's terrific on the lob and amazing in transition.
• Cooper does a lot of things really well. He's a terrific defender (he draws more charging calls than anyone I can remember at Mason). He's amazing from deep. He's a good passer. He is not, however, a point guard. His handle is really rough, and it feels like he turns the ball over at least five times per game.
• I could go the rest of my life without hearing the LaSalle announcer yelling "pow" on 3 point shots.

Now we're on to a home and home with Richmond... Is it too much to hope for a split this week?

Five Takeaways from George Mason vs St. Louis

Mason had won four straight games heading into last night, so given the winning streak, I held off on starting a blog series about the team. I've been catching replays on ESPN+ due to living on the west coast, so a lot of the fun of watching the team in realtime and tweeting away has been limited (in fact, I've been avoiding my phone on gamedays until I get to watch the game).

The Patriots got beat last night in double overtime, with Yuri Collins of St. Louis playing Superman (Collins was amazing in the game).

Here's what I noticed from the game:

• Mason looked terrible for long stretches in this one. A lot of the bad habits we saw early in the season (unforced turnovers, missed foul shots) crept up on them. Everyone has an off game, but it was glaring, and if Mason wants to be one of the top teams in the A-10, this has to be corrected.
• That said, there were points where it felt like they were going to win. The team didn't panic or fold up, They lept plugging away, which is WAY different than the last few years of Mason basketball (and is wildly refreshing). I'm loving the Kim English era, and I'd note, for all of the chatter about St Bonaventure being a veteran team, Mason's not rolling a bunch of freshmen out there. This is a veteran team, even if all the guys haven't been together for all that long.
• Coach English has very little trust in his bench. At times this season, we've seen Malik Henry and Ronnie Polite as the only guys to get time, and in the case of Henry, it's usually until Henry makes his first egregious mistake (which is still pretty common). Polite seems to have been a littl injured last night, which exascerbated the issue.

  I asked Coach why Ronny didn’t get a his normal amount of playing time and he said the assistants noticed he wasn’t moving well and pulled him.

  — By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) February 3, 2022

  This left Otis Frazier, who seems like a swiss army knife as an undersized 4 that can switch everything on defense but is still developing on offense, as the only bench player the coach English wanted to play in OT. Mason's starters looked gassed at the end of the game (deservedly so... they definitely left it on the court), but both this team could use one more strong bench piece. This team has a Tyler Kolek-sized hole in the roster.
• I though the refs were... questionable. Mason got a lot of homer calls (thanks, I guess), but at the same time, there were some BIG misses (the over and back being the biggest). I suppose it all came out in the wash, and Mason looked so lackadaisical that they didn't deserve to be in this one at different points... but yeah. Some questionable calls all around.

Let's also be clear. Kim English is a WAY better coach than I am, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I was surprised to not see coach roll Oduro and Henry together in the second overtime. St. Louis was basically out of bigs, and Mason's jumbo lineup was (by the eye test, and in a limited sample), pretty interesting against UMass.

On to Lasalle.