The first one to submit keepers was the last one to finalize. That's right, I had to change things up at the last second because the unthinkable happened: Jake Odorizzi found a nice, cozy home in Houston.
There was talk that he could hold out into the season looking for that three year deal, but as Casey Stern predicted a week ago, Jake would hold out and wait for that inevitable pitching injury on a contender. It happened much quicker than any of us thought.
"Not by your deadline, no," Tommy said.
Well, 13 hours later — or 36, who knows, Tommy can't count — here we are with Odorizzi signed and all of sudden back on the keeper train.
That honestly left me with a second base decision — one that I had weeks ago when I assumed Odorizzi was a keeper. Who do I drop out of Jean Segura, Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Dubon?
Segura didn't seem like an answer whatsoever, so it was between Rodgers and Dubon.
Dubon was a fifth-round pick for me a year ago — a round that saw six rookies get drafted — and I hold him in high regard, especially after he came in bulked up for 2021. Dubon batted .274 last season.
Rodgers was part of the JT Realmuto deal, so I had to keep him, right?
That left Segura, who has slightly more power than Dubon's numbers from a year ago, so how do I decide.
Easy. I left it to Slack.
And the poll was ... 3-2 in favor of Dubon. Choo came in late with the tie-breaking vote at 11:53 p.m.
With that final vote, the keepers were set, the draft pool was clear and the Sex Panthers were officially placed the clock with the No. 1 draft pick. She'll be able to make her pick at 8 p.m. on Monday, which I guess, means she won't make it until she wakes up for work at 9.
(Didn't think about who had the first pick when setting the draft start time.)
Maybe she can submit in in secret envelope earlier that day and I'll open it live on a little video for Slack.
WHO IS OUT THERE?
There are definitely some interesting picks for the first round, so kudos to those who kept their first-round picks. Then when you scroll down, you find even more interesting names in that your mind cannot grasp that so many years have passed leaving them irrelevant now.
Starting pitching has a rather quick drop-off when it comes to projections so I imagine there will be several of the top strikeout starters will be snagged right away. Catcher is the deepest position due to the fact that only eight active catchers were kept, but it would be hard to imagine a run on the catchers anytime before the third round.
Nelson Cruz is arguably the best bat out there, also among the oldest, but it's hard to deny his ability to ward off father time.
In between there, it's just a mish-mosh of young hopefuls and older bounce-back candidates.
This is where I'd love to say more, but every year, I say it. I struggle with writing draft previews because if I write about the guys I like, you'll either steal them from me in the draft, or make fun of me before I draft them earlier than I should.
So with that, good luck to all.
I plan to have daily Jargon analysis throughout the draft, as long as my crazy work-life provides the time to write a few grafs here and there.
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