Dave 2003
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Draft Capsule:
I think he paid too high a price for a bunch of different guys, such as Jeter, Kielty, Loretta, Mussina and a couple others. Maybe no great picks, but Edmonds, Wolf, and the relievers all made Dave's season go as smoothly as anyone would have imagined. I always like the idea of loading up in the pen. I thought Marrero would be a good bench player. Guardado and Marte seemed like good bargains relative to their draft position.
The best part of the draft was getting Ohka in the 7th. Ohka was not much different than Padilla taken in the 3rd. To me, getting a 3rd rounder in the 7th (or whatever Ohka's true value was) makes up for an early selection of Jeter ... and basically it means Jeter was taken in the 7th, making him a much better value considering this puts him after Tejada in draft order.
Season Highlight:
Probably getting 2nd and 3rd with no outs in the 9th inning of game 7 against Steve. Maybe the whole season was elation for Dave, as he held a playoff position for the whole season. Makes me ask the question, did the playoff participants change at all after about, say, 15 games?
Season Lowlight:
Losing 5 of 6 to Chris before it was realized it was the wrong ORG, I would guess. Or not getting a run home against Steve in the 9th. Or maybe the whole playoff experience with Steve. I was part of the stress of it all, I'll admit, as I did not want anything to do with waiting 6 weeks to play ... something that probably again provided another lowlight for Dave.
If I analyzed the scripts or boxes, I'd check how:
Well or poorly the team did with Pierzynski vs. Kendall vs. ChuckJ. Dave said after Kendall's first bunch of games that AJ for Kendall was a deal that helped both teams. I did not see it that way, as I saw Kendall as a player who probably did not belong in the league, and I saw AJ as an 8 who could get occasional big hits. That was my perception, and I know it might not have been the reality, but I still would like to have looked at the data to back it all up. ChuckJ fits into it all as the very capable backup, who maybe was the reason Dave was able to make the trade, as he was a better complement to Kendall than AJ.
2003 Surprises:
I didn't think Dave was going to be an asterisk away from the World Series after the draft. Edmonds has had a number of really good MLB seasons now, and this was the first time he really backed it up in the SL. Loretta surprised many with his season, which for awhile looked like he was Dave's MVP. Wolf was a huge surprise. Reitsma gave up all the home runs Wolf didn't.
Best Strategy:
Going to the bullpen whip early and putting distance between himself and other playoff contenders. I liked how effective the lower part of the lineup was near the end of the year, with Dave being very aggressive with Jeter and Kendall. Not sure how effective Kennedy at the top of the order, but as Dave might attest, Jeter wasn't doing anything there.
Worst Strategy:
Mabry played way too much, and at times he was in the lineup at the same time as Mondesi, with Mabry having to bat as high as 5th. There just had to be a better way to compete than that. And it's hard to fathom Loretta DHing, which Dave did a few times ... sure, Loretta probably went 2-5 with a double, but I still think it's a bad strategy.
GM Summary:
Dave got his manager the right horses. In proper perspective, I thought his 2002 team was much better after the draft, compared to the rest of the league, but they obviously were not the right fit. This team was the anti-Rainmakers. It was a good job of GMing, ultimately, whether I liked the picks or not, they complemented each other and Dave did right by them.
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