Summary[]
For the fourth consecutive year, Ben and Sam draft the 20 minor league free agents they hope will earn the most major league playing time next season.
Topics[]
- 2017 Minor League Free Agent Draft
Banter[]
- Ben and Sam recount the past results of the earlier drafts. Sam won the 1st draft in 2014; Ben won both the 2015 and 2016 drafts.
Draft Selections[]
| Sam's Picks | Ben's Picks |
|---|---|
| Jacob Turner | Lisalverto Bonilla |
| Craig Stammen | Ryan LaMarre |
| Maikel Cleto | Orlando Calixte |
| Brett Oberholtzer | Michael Choice |
| Tim Fereowicz | Michael McKenry |
| Jaff Decker | J.B. Shuck |
| Lane Adams | Ben Rowen |
| T.J. House | Cesar Ramos |
| Cory Burns | Cesar Valdez |
| Hernan Iribarren | Kraig Sitton |
Sam wins the draft with 707 combined plate appearances/pitcher outs to Ben's 375.
Notes[]
- Previous Minor League Free Agent Drafts took place in Episode 326, 607, and 809.
- Minor league free agents have more than 6 years of minor league service time who are not on a 40-man roster.
- The winner of the draft is the person who has players with the most combined MLB plate appearances (hitters) or batters faced (pitchers).
- Ben notes that their collective scores have been increasing each year, but that may be partly attributed to the fact that they began holding the drafts in February, much later in the off-season. This year's draft is in December, so there may be some regression.
- There was confusion over which list to use. They settled on the November list posted by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, with 534 players.
- Sam gets first pick and chooses Jacob Turner. When Ben chooses Lisalverto Bonilla, Sam shouts, "OH, THAT WAS GONNA BE MY FIRST PICK!" Sam explains that Bonilla started as his top choice, but then he added the elected free agents, and Bonilla started dropping. Then when the list changed, he removed the ineligible players, and Bonilla got lost in the shuffle. He found Bonilla again, but slotting him second, figured that Ben wouldn't pick him.
- Michael Choice's nickname in college was Vinny, hence why his twitter handle is @VinnyChoice.
Links[]
- Effectively Wild Episode 994: The 2017 Minor League Free Agent Draft
- Effectively Wild Competitions Spreadsheet