No doubt, it’s draft season in a lot of APBA baseball league right now. I posted about the NAPBA League’s draft which saw Fernando Tatis Jr. go #1. Not so with the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association. John Briggs hailed me to let me know that they completed their draft on January 25th.
Pete Alonso was chosen by Western NY with the top pick. This might be 53 reasons why he was chosen so high:
Alonso’s 2019 card features power numbers 1-1-5-5 with four 14s and a 42. He is rated as a 1B-3.
Here are the top ten picks in the 2020 RCMBA draft:
2020 RCMBA FREE AGENT DRAFT
| (Round 1) | ||
| 1 | Western NY | Peter Alonso |
| 2 | Albuquerque | Yordan Alvarez |
| 3 | Syracuse | Chris Paddack |
| 4 | Western NY | Vlad Guerrero Jr |
| 5 | Homestead | Fernando Tatis Jr |
| 6 | Albuquerque | Bo Bichette |
| 7 | Etiwanda | Kevin Newman |
| 8 | Centralia | Bryan Reynolds |
| 9 | Ottawa | Keston Hiura |
| 10 | Homestead | Mike Soroka |
| 11 | Bennett Run | Eloy Jimenez |
| 12 | Miami Beach | Victor Robles |
| 13 | Albuquerque | Gavin Lux |
| 14 | Bennett Run | Alex Verdugo |
| 15 | Knob Noster | Liam Hendriks |
You can read the full list of draft results of the 2020 RCMBA draft at their website.
Each year, there are a couple league drafts I pay special attention to and RCMBA is one. Yes, they have smart managers (and a cool website) but another reason is that they have similar draft eligibility rules to the Illowa APBA League.
There is a one difference between RCMBA and the IAL in their draft rules. Technically speaking, the RCMBA is a “free agent” draft in that managers relinquish the rights to some players on their team who can then be drafted. John tells me that RCMBA managers can protect 30 players on their team. Anyone else who is not protected can be drafted.
That is why you see players like Junior Guerra and Mitch Moreland chosen in the 2020 RCMBA draft. The Illowa APBA League with a few exceptions, drafts only rookies.
I would love for John Briggs to weigh in with any thoughts or clarifications. I am looking forward to hearing from the Transcontinental Baseball League about their upcoming draft. As in some previous years, they will be drafting on the same day as the Illowa League, February 22. Stephen Stein, famous for his APBA Card Computer, will most likely have a live update on the TBL website.
Good luck to RCMBA managers in 2020!
Photo by David B. King: Flickr, Blogspot – https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc/46584096435, CC BY 2.0, Link
Does anyone know of any apba leagues in the Cincinnati Ohio area?
We have 36 man rosters for the regular season. When we hit the off-season each team gets 8 draft picks of which 6 must be retained be it your own or some other teams pick. Then just before draft everyone has to cut down to at least 30, carded or not carded if you wish to hold onto the likes of Giancarlo Stanton or Luis Severino as one of your roster slots. If you go lower you get extra picks. So we are drafting all those first time carded players and the old vets who nobody wanted the prior year but now have a card such as Moreland.
Does anyone know if there are any APBA card & dice / face-to-face / non-computer leagues in Morris County NJ
Anthony……..the O.Z. League has Franchises in both NY & NJ. If you want more info send an e-mail to
Hi Tom,
As the manager in our league with the first pick I have also been watching very closely this year. I have noticed in previous years that the same top three were consistent, and this year so far very different.
Do you feel that this is a result of teams drafting more towards team needs vs. previous years top 2 or 3 players being so strong you took them regardless?
The O.Z. League held its’ Draft on February 8th. Here are the first 5:
Alonso
Soroka
Lux
Dakota Hudson
Paddack
Tom: if you want to post our Draft Grid on your blog just send me an e-mail and I will forward to you.
Dom