Seventh Round Draft Justifications

I apologize again that these are coming so slowly. I wanted to be done by now. Anyways, here are the full results, let's take it away.

Will- Joakim Noah
It's a little easier to critique this one since Noah's had so many lackluster games lately (last night notwithstanding.) He's really got to pick up the intensity as we approach the playoffs here. But I don't want to harp on Noah too much here, as Gomez says, that's bad karma.

Gomez- Jermaine Dye
The 4 most similar players on Baseball Reference for Jermaine are Torii Hunter, someone named Greg Luzinski, Reggie Sanders, and Tim Salmons. I feel like you could get more value here.

Ron- Harold Baines
Like Harold Baines, for example.

Conall- Joe Crede
Did you know Joe Crede only had 4 seasons of more than 100 games played? I forgot he flamed-the-fuck-out so quickly.

BJ- Mark Grace

No stats necessary for this one. Admittedly at this point I was partially motivated by trying to steal Cubs from Tristan, I could never be mad at myself for drafting Grace too high. The man was an institution at 1st for my entire childhood. Rarely flashy, or even athletic, Grace was a perennial borderline all-star and Gold Glove runner-up. His lack of obvious speed didn't keep him from being an outstanding defensive first baseman, and more than his range or assists would show, his consistency and dependability were a perfect building block for an infield. Also gets bonus points for single-handedly keeping the Cubs in the '89 playoffs and then bridging that lonely gap to the 98 team.

Sam- Will Perry

Sam will fill this in later.

Ethan- Aramis Ramirez
Just to be fair, I decided to see who the 4 most similar players were for Aramis, and number 2 was Jermaine Dye. They're still both a hell of a lot better than Joe Crede, though.

Katz- Johnny Red Kerr (coach)
I don't want to tear down Red. But if people want to give me crap for my pick's winning percentage, they should know that Kerr's as a coach was .329.

Tristan- Ed Belfour
So far I've picked a team full of good character guys and consummate professionals. We need some color in this clubhouse, so I'm taking one of the bigger characters in the Chicago sports world in Eddie the Eagle. My team needed a Vezina Trophy Winner and a guy who would try to offer a cop a billion dollar bribe. Good value.

Credit Where Credit is Due- Cubs/Giants Game 4

This is the first time I've done a credit post for baseball. It's kind of cheap, since baseball is a sport where the exact amount of credit can be assigned at the end of the game scientifically. I know you can theoretically do it for basketball, too, but I've touched on before the differences between the two sports statistically. Anyways, I'm going to try to give out credit on my own before looking at the WPA (win probability added) for each player.

Marcus Mateo- 35%

You might think about going right to Geo, but I know I said to my friend when Mateo came in, "here comes 4 or 5 runs". I did not expect 5 strong innings of 2-hit ball (both the inning he came in) with 6 strikeouts. Nice to be pleasantly surprised by the bullpen for once.

Geo- 25%

Every time a pinch-hitter came up I said "Where's Geo?" Quade chose to hit with Reed Johnson, Lou Montanez, and Jeff Baker before Geo in situations where the game could have potentially been over with one swing (and that's why Quade will not be receiving any credit here.)

The rest of the bullpen- 20%

Marshall, Samardzija, Russell, and Marmol stepped up big, too. Which is extra important when your starting pitcher can't last an 2 innings.

Aramis- 15%

Aramis is batting .360 with 5 home runs in his last 10 games. If he can stay this hot for awhile, maybe we can win more than 2 games in a row.

Darwin Barney- 5%

Huge clutch hit to keep it alive for Soto. 2-6 isn't bad in your 2nd game back.

No Credit-

Quade- Why save your only power hitter left on the bench until last when 1 swing can end the game? Oh, because you are a moron.

Big Z- I wonder if "back spasms" is code for "I hurt my pride on my (shoulda been) 2 error play.

Carlos Pena- Carlos has been great lately, but 0-5 will land you here.