The ink on the 2010 APBA baseball cards was barely dry when the O.Z APBA Baseball League started their draft on January 15. They were one of the first leagues to hold their draft in 2011. Dom Provisiero, manager of the Ozone Outlaws and member of the league since 1982, filled me in on the details.
He even sent me the rookie draft order. Here is how the first three rounds went:
| 1st Round | $50K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KINGS | J Bautista | |||
| BLUE SOX | B Harper | OF | (UNC) | |
| GAMBLERS | M Latos | |||
| GIANTS | T Cahill | |||
| AVIATORS | A Torres | |||
| ROLLERS | T Stauffer | |||
| RANGERS | D Hudson | |||
| JETS | E Meek | |||
| OUTLAWS | ROLLERS | J Hellickson | ||
| YANKEES | S Castro | |||
| 2nd Round | $45K | |||
| KINGS | ROLLERS | J Jaso | ||
| BLUE SOX | J Chacin | |||
| GAMBLERS | J Thatcher | |||
| GIANTS | K Johnson | |||
| AVIATORS | ROLLERS | B Myers | ||
| ROLLERS | AVIATORS | A Huff | ||
| RANGERS | J Benoit | |||
| JETS | JETS | M Bumgarner | ||
| OUTLAWS | C Lewis | R12X- 32gs | ||
| YANKEES | KINGS | J Garcia | ||
| 3rd Round | $40K | |||
| KINGS | B Duensing | |||
| BLUE SOX | N Walker | |||
| GAMBLERS | E Hosmer | 1B | (UNC) | |
| GIANTS | RA Dickey | |||
| AVIATORS | AVIATORS | M Olivo | ||
| ROLLERS | ROLLERS | C Johnson | ||
| RANGERS | J Garland | |||
| JETS | C Kimbrell | |||
| OUTLAWS | J Venters | |||
| YANKEES | G Gonzalez |
In case you’re wondering, (UNC) stands for uncarded. In the O.Z. APBA Baseball League, a manager may pick a player that does not have a card such in the case of MLB first round pick Brian Harper. A wise choice indeed.
Dom said the draft was quite exciting but what really gets him going is the O.Z. League Free Agent draft. I didn’t get all the details on the ins and outs of how it works in their league but by looking at the results, I have a good idea. Existing players on current league teams go into free agency and may be bid on by any manager. I can certainly see the attraction of this.
In the O.Z.League’s case, some players like Milton Bradley, Julio Lugo and Jeff Francouer were passed up and went back to their former owners. However looking at the draft sheet, I sensed there was quite a bidding war for Roy Halladay. His final price: a whopping $4,500,000. I hope he is going to be worth it.
In all, it was good to catch up with Dom. He and I have been in contact off and on since the early 90s. Every time I collaborate with a manager of another league, I find ways that our league could be doing things a little bit better. His method which organizes and distributes key info to other members was a great inspiration.
Good luck to Dom and the other O.Z. APBA League members this year!
I really don’t understand this being a rookie draft. It would be interesting to see what players were eligible for this draft, along with rosters of the teams drafting players. There didn’t seem to be a lot of sense as to which players were drafted when. Right now, I’m a little confused.
I can’t speak for Dom but it’s a “Rookie” draft because the players drafted will be rookies in their league. True, they aren’t MLB rookies but I don’t think every league drafts all MLB rookies in their annual draft.
Teddy/Tom,
We have 10 teams right now in 2011 (our 30th year by the way!) and increasing to 12 in 2012.
So in saying that, we obviously have lots of players left over from the previous Draft. So here is the information that may help you as you review the picks:
* 10 teams; 40 man rosters (25 active)
* 9 rounds in Rookie Draft (all APBA regular and XB’s that are not on a roster are eligible for the Rookie Draft. Should it be called Player Draft instead of Rookie Draft? You’re probably right)
* each team is allowed to select 1 “uncarded” prospect in our Rookie Draft. (Harper went in first round this year; Strasburg went in first round last year)
* the uncarded picks DO count against your roster. So the person who picked Harper this year is playing with a 39 man roster that can actually play in games.
Our Rookie Draft is always a day of fun, excitement and surprises. But its greatest thrill is that all of us get together in one place and hang out all day talking baseball and catching up with families, etc.
However the Draft that has provided the most excitement every year is our Free Agent Draft. Heres how it works:
* a player becomes a Free Agent when he is carded in one League and then the next year is carded in the other League. (switches from AL to NL or vice versa).
* example; Halladay was carded with Toronto by APBA in 2009. Then he was carded in Philly by APBA in 2010. So he is a Free Agent for our 2011 season. Whenever the carded player switches Leagues per APBA card he is a Free Agent. So lets say Halladay gets traded to Yankees in MLB. He would become a Free Agent AGAIN for our 2012 season.
* its a lot of fun as managers go toe to toe while trying to win the rights to a very good player. His current O.Z. League team gets the final say on if they will match the bid or let him go.
*all “match money” from the day gets re-distributed to the other teams the following season in order of games lost. So the person who lost the most games in the new season gets the most money. (call it a luxury tax??)
Trust me, its a great system used by us for many years. Some years your eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you!
I’d be happy to share any additional info you might want.
Tom, as always, your Blog is a great place to visit.
DOM IN NY