Now that we are starting to get the cards for the 2020 baseball season, APBA leagues are gearing up for the 2021 season. John Briggs, the commissioner of the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association emailed me this week and had some news.
We held our draft January 30th. Usually we all gather in Lancaster, Pa from all over the country but this year, well we gathered in our homes at Rolz.org. It took a little over three hours to make 172 selections. Ken Brand selected Luis Robert was #1 and Mark Featherstone with Jon Berti made him Mr Irrelevant.
We don’t allow future drafts. You must have a card to be drafted. Pre draft our 15 teams could hold up to 30 players. Some cut far below that maximum.
Luis Robert played 56 games as a centerfielder for the White Sox. He is rated as a Fast OF-3. He has power numbers 1-5-5 with a 15-11 and 25-10 with three 14s.
He is rated a J-1.
Check out the rest of RCMBA’s draft
You can see the first three rounds of RCMBA’s draft below but feel free to check out the entire 2021 RCMBA draft at the league’s website (I never get tired of the Bud Selig pic there).
While you’re there, spend some time browsing rcmba.com. This league has put together a pretty nifty website.
I told John that I always look forward to this particular email from him each year. Not only does the RCMBA traditionally draft earlier than the Illowa APBA League but their draft rules are somewhat similar to our league’s. Technically, the RCMBA calls their draft a “free agent draft” implying that not all draftees are rookies. The IAL’s is a “Rookie draft”. That said, the resulting choices falls in line with what the IAL would would be choosing.
This helps managers in leagues like the IAL so we can see who gets picked early. Sometimes it’s an obvious pick. This was never more true in 2019 when Ronald Acuna was chosen first in pretty much every league that reported in. We’ll see if Robert will follow suit.
I know I’M paying attention. Do me a favor and don’t forward this to my IAL pals, okay?? ;)
Thanks John for reporting in. Good luck to you and rest of the managers in the Roberto Clemente Memorial Baseball Association!
Our league draft is in mid-March and I have the 3rd pick. I’m hoping the teams with the first two picks don’t see this. I’m talking up Lewis and Arozarena every chance I get.