For the last few days, ESPN analysts Rob Neyer, Steve Phillips, Buster Olney, and Jayson Stark have been running a player draft whereby each of the four had to fill a 25 man roster with a 40 million dollar cap. The results are fairly interesting, particularly when considering the order in which the players went. It points to a sad state of affairs that there are a multitude of Red Sox on those teams but only one Yankee per my count. The Sox just have a lot more affordable, young talent at this point. However, next week, an online simulation website will run a playoff between the various teams, with the winner facing….the 2009 Yankees. I guess that counts for something.
I personally think Neyer’s and Stark’s rosters are the best due to their strong pitching, but all of them (even Phillips’!) have their strengths. Which roster do you prefer?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
2 Responses to ESPN's Battle Of The Budgets
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Odd that Lester goes 3rd and Joba goes 18th when Joba actually makes less. I’d say Joba has an excellent chance of being better than Lester this year. Are they still considering him a reliever? They can’t be that dopey.
I think the Sox are a great team and they’ve made some terrific moves but I believer it’s gotten to the point where the bandwagon is rolling and all the pundits are jumping on, assuming everything Theo touches is gold. Joba’s ERA as a starter last year was actually significantly better than Lester (and he’s younger). Yes, Lester has a bigger sample size, but Joba’s ceiling is much higher and he’s never done anything but dominate since turning pro. Maybe you take Lester for this year because he’s done it over a full season, but it has to be closer than 3 vs 18
I think the matchups depend alot on last season’s stats.