Spencer Jones is funny.
No seriously, he's a comedian.
Sadly for Choo, it was no joke when he typed in the name Spencer Jones this morning.
For weeks, ever since Choo's team name came out of the hat first, he was ticketed to have Kodai Senga as his No. 1 overall pick.
Even as late as yesterday, when he was torn between Senga and Masataka Yoshida, there wasn't an inkling of doubt that he was going stay on target.
I even told Gina when she sat down to prep that she should just pretend she has the No. 1 overall pick in a world where Senga and Yoshida don't exist. She didn't have to prep any other way.
But apparently, she did.
Choo took Spencer Jones (not the comedian), a New York Yankees first baseman, with the No. 1 overall pick, making it two straight years that a Yankees fan has taken a Yankee at 1-1 in the Green Draft.
Now, last year, that Yankee was Anthony Volpe, and we could all agree, Volpe was 1-1. He still is.
Not Jones, comedian or baseball player.
His name wasn't on the board. Hell, it wasn't even listed on a draft board JV has hidden in his locked garage. (Stole this joke from Spencer Jones.)
Yet here he is, the first off the board. Let's take a closer look at Round 1, which started to make more sense after 1-1.
FIRST ROUND
1. BIG LEAGUE CHOO: Spencer Jones, NYY, 1B: Jones is a 6-7, 225-pound lefty who was the Yankees first-round pick last summer out of Vanderbilt. He batted .370 his senior year with 12 homers to earn the 25th overall selection with the Yankees. Those pinstripes earned him the No. 1 overall selection with Choo. The hope here is that Choo has the next Aaron Judge, which means at age 21, we'll see his contributions to the team come in about six years.
2. CHARLESTON BOILED PEANUTS: Kodai Senga, NYM, SP: This was the right pick here. It was the right pick a pick ago. But alas, Butter gets the starting pitcher that will be slotted into one of the, if not the best rotation in baseball. This will just further help the Nutz with the loss of Ohtani on the mound, so this is yet another gift from Choo. Essentially, Choo gave him Rodon, Gausman and Senga on the mound to go with Goldschmidt, Reynolds and Sea... Let's call him Seaoscar.
3. SEX PANTHERS: Brandon Pfaadt, ARI, SP: Even though the first two picks didn't go as planned, Gina stuck with her gameplan of drafting one of the most dominant pitchers in the minors a year ago. He dominated across Double-A and Triple-A in the hitter-friendly West Coast leagues. Overall, he struck out 218 over 167 innings last year with a 3.83 ERA. At Triple-A Reno, he was 5-1 with 2.63 ERA and 74:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
4. BIG OL'COUNTRY BREAKFAST: Matt Mervis, CHC, 1B: The top first baseman on the board in the green draft is the second first baseman to go. He's going to be making a huge impact for the Cubs this year and thus, he'll be making a big impact for Breakfast. He could break camp which means Sam could have another major leaguer coming from green (Jeremy Pena 2.0). Mervis batted .309 with 36 homers and 119 RBIs across three levels last year. He finished in Triple-A, batting .297 with 15 homers and 39 RBIs in 57 games.
5. QUAD EH ALL-STARS: Kyle Manzardo, TB, 1B: Jones. Mervis. Forget them. This is the first baseman you should be looking at. Quad Eh certainly was. I was, too, hence my bias. Manzardo has the numbers in the low minors and the potential to be called up to the Rays at some point this year, and at age 22, he's the right fit for Quad Eh as he paves the way toward the future. Mervis absolutely was the No. 1 1B on the board (I was kidding earlier), so Manzardo was the right pick here if you needed a 1B.
6. BENSALEM SLAMMERS: Yoshida Masataka, BOS, LF/RF: I spelled his name correctly there without having to look it up. That's something I could not have done this morning. That's because the idea of Yoshida being available at 6 was not even a thought. At this point, I was between him and my back-up plan to Manzardo, which was Nick Gonzales, a former Slammer. With a packed INF and knowing what Masataka could provide, I had to go with him. Hopefully he finds similar OBP success in the majors, because it was off the charts in Nippon.
7. TOPTON TORNADOES: Chase Dollander, (N/A), SP: The first 2023 MLB Draft candidate to go is the No. 2 guy on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Draft list. The right-hander from Tennessee could be a No. 1 pick come July depending on how he performs in his final year for the Vols. He has a 70-grade fastball and a 60-grade slider. Pipeline says he may be the best college pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, so he will certainly be a guy who could rise in the fantasy prospect rankings in the next six months.
8. LITTLE LEBOWSKI URBAN ACHIEVERS: Tanner Bibee, CLE, SP: The Dude got a Bibee gun! Yes, a Bibee gun; not a hand gun because he only has a 60-grade fastball, but he is a strike thrower whose average tops out at 97 mph. The right-hander went 8-2 with a 2.17 ERA and 167 Ks across A+ and Double-A last year (pretty evenly split, too). His strikeout-to-walk ration is impressive and based on his 73.3 innings in Double-A last year, it wouldn't be wild to expect him to crack the majors this summer. And with Cleveland being such a pitching factory, that's a good asset to carry. I just hope the Dude has a license to carry.
9. MAIN LINE GAMBLERS: Endy Rodriguez, PIT, C: Sure, there are a bunch of Pirates fans in the League; may as well draft a Pirates catcher. He's a Top 10 catching prospect and he's not even the best catching prospect on the Pirates, which means he'll likely have to find another position. Given his size, he may fit better as an OF, and considering the fact that the Pirates are agitating OFs to ask for trades, there may be an opening for such a player to come up and fill that role.
10. THE STANTONIANS: Evan Carter, TEX, LF/CF/RF: Sounds like a boy band lead singer, but he's a Texas OF prospect who batted .295 in the minors last season, mostly at A+ level. He had 10 triples and 26 stolen bases, and with a high OBP, he has that lead-off potential down the line, but he's a 2024 projected call-up, so unless he tears up Double-A and earns that June call to Triple-A, we'll be saying bye-bye-bye focusing on this prospect until next winter.
11. PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS: Tink Hence, STL, SP/RP: The 20-year-old had a helluva 2022 season, but he's still a little ways off from the majors. He had a 1.38 ERA in 16 starts and 52.1 innings, striking out 81 to 15 walks. He was dominant at Single-A, so we should expect to see him at A+ this summer with an advancement to Double-A if all goes well there. Then we'll see him on to the Nutz by July 1.
12. CROX SOX: Nick Gonzales, PIT, 2B: I have to be honest, I was shocked he was dropped. Yes, injuries hit him, but for him to be discarded before the draft was a tad shocking. He was a former JLB first-round draft pick by me and went to the Dude as part of the Cody Bellinger deal (no comment). He would have been taken No. 6 to return home, but instead he goes to the man who didn't want to draft. And like he did a year ago at the backend of the draft with Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez in the first two rounds, Crox has a solid selection. It easily could be the best player taken in this round, too. It will take a strong start in the minors to get the Pirates to budge and call him up, but if it happens, watch out. This is a serious bat going at No. 12.
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