IAL Draft & Trade Review Rebuttal by Mike Bunch

There’s nothing like getting involved in the internal workings of the another league, right?  For years, Tedd Mallasch has posted his Illowa APBA League Draft and Trade Review (first within the league and once I had The APBA Blog, he would post it here).  And for all those years, there would be friendly grumbling about how “I thought I drafted better than that” etc.  But nothing more. 

Well, this year, after Tedd posted his annual draft and trade review (it’s right here if you haven’t read it… it’s really worth a read) someone in our league actually took the time to write a rebuttal.  That person happens to be our commissioner-for-life Mike Bunch.

So because Mike is our commissioner and nothing I can do can make up for everything he does for the Illowa APBA League and because Mike is an all-around nice guy, I’m posting this: 

I think Hellickson is a lot better than you are giving him credit. That “B Z” will be there for about 10 years or more.

The rating of the secondbaseman in the draft is a little off. Here is how I see them. Espinosa is Bobby Grich, Jason Kipnis is Jeff Kent that is a worse fielder, Dustin Ackley is Chuck Knoblauch, Jose Altuve is Ted Sizemore. All are pretty good it’s a matter of which one you like. I took Bobby Grich (Danny Espinosa).

Vance Worley is better than you give him credit. He is more like a Bob Forsch, not a super star but a real good pitcher.

Matt Downs is a good utility infielder who can really hit. Wonderdog ring a bell? Another Rex Hudler!!

Desmond Jennings is the exact player that B.J. Upton turned out to be, but Jennings is two years younger and 4 years less experience. He could still develop into a better player than Upton is.

Mike McKenry was the best fit for what was left. I never envisioned that I would get stuck at catcher. With the Catchers that were let he could help me on limits at 3B so he was the choice. I thought I would get Salvador Perez in my 3rd pick.

The Happ for Herrera trade helped both teams. Happ has a better track record than Herrera so I would give the edge to Don.

The Gordon for Michael Young trade you are way off. Michael Young is the best player in the trade by far plus he covers everywhere. Big Advantage Keith.

Keppinger & Johnson for Nix and a pick. Keppinger is a very good back up and Johnson will never be even that good. Nix is a bun for coverage. The pick however wasn’t really McKenry. It was Jennings. A back-up catcher had to be taken. Without this trade I do not have the extra pick to take Jennings. That makes a big difference.

Kuroda for Andrus Hiroki Kuroda is a proven year in year out “ B “ starter and the best player in this trade advantage Keith.

Posey for Wainwright: Which would you rather have, one of the 5 best Catchers in baseball or one of the 5 best pitchers in baseball? Since I already have one of the other 5 best catchers in baseball I’ll take the Pitcher and Catcher over two Catchers. You can only play one catcher at a time.

Upton for Hardy. A B.J. Upton type outfielder you could get in this draft (Desmond Jennings), A 30 Home Run hitting Gold Glove Shortstop you could not get in the draft. Enough said.

This is my two cents worth. Let’s hear from the rest of the manager. Do you agree with Tedd’s statement or mine. Maybe you have your own ideas. Let’s hear them!!!!!!!!