2013 FBLG Midseason All-Dud Team, Draft Breakdown

Only one more day until baseball returns, people! We can get through this together. Remember that the waiver/lineup deadline is tomorrow (Friday) at noon Pacific.

OK, today's final installment of all-star break filler examines the opposite of yesterday: the All-Dud team. These are the high(ish) draft picks who just haven't worked out. Because some of these guys no longer play for the team that drafted them and just to spare everyone the ignominy, we'll skip over their stats.

First base: Ike Davis (Lawyers, Guns & Money), 7th round. (CUT)

Ike Ike Baby is hitting a whopping .165 this year and has already been banished to Las Vegas once. Now he's back in the big leagues, but no one really knows why. I mean, where could the Mets possibly turn to replace that 44 OPS+? Keith Hernandez must just die in the broadcast booth every time Ike swings and misses at another horrible pitch.

Second base: Josh Rutledge (Pitch You Blockhead), 6th round. (CUT)

Speaking of the minor leagues, Rutledge was a hot draft prospect coming into the year based on some solid hitting after being promoted last year. And because he's a Rockie. His late-2012 swoon, though, proved to be more indicative of where he was headed this season, and he's been supplanted by D.J. LeMahieu as Colorado's second baseman. He DOES have an OPS of 1.003 at Colorado Springs, though. I'm sure that makes Scott feel better about this pick.

Shortstop: Starlin Castro (Silver State Sagebrushers), 4th round.

His numbers are down across the board, and all the attitude/hustle questions that loomed around the edges of his career have now become more of an issue. That's what happens when your OBP drops to .280 and you're still on  pace for 25+ errors. Castro clearly has tons of talent, but how long will the Cubs stick with this supposed building block?

Third base: Aramis Ramirez (Manwaring a Muumuu), 3rd round.

Team Muumuu was very excited about its infield after the draft, and nabbing the portly Ramirez in the third round was a big part of that. Dude had FIFTY doubles and 27 bombs last year and would be batting behind Ryan Braun in what surely would be a potent lineup. We all know that Braun has been missing, but the Brewers lineup still has some potency. But Aramis has slimmed down... and stopped hitting for power. Eleven doubles, five homers and two trips to the DL later, he's no longer the Muumuu starting third baseman, having been supplanted by Jedd Gyorko.

Catcher: Miguel Montero (Fresh Fish), 5th round.

Miggy's biggest contribution to the DBacks this year has been giving logical and reasonable soundbites after his team gets into fights with the Dodgers. At the plate? Well, not so much. His average is down 60 points from last year and he's only slugging .339. After a June in which he got hot and raised his average a bit, he's back hitting .209 this month so far. Of course, 3 of his 9 hits in July have been homers. Rick and the Diamondbacks would sure like to see more of the old powerful Montero in the second half.

Outfield: Giancarlo Stanton (Fresh Fish), 1st round.

Bigfoot is hitting OK, when he's actually in the lineup. But that's only been 51 games this year, and his slugging percentage is almost 150 points lower than his league-leading .608 last year. He's certainly feeling the pain of being the only feared bat on a pitiful offense, and trade rumors have swirled around him since it became clear the Marlins are trying to put together a team out of the spare change in the couch cushions. Will he stay a Marlin? Will he stay healthy? If you hit a home run and no one is in the stands to see it, does it really count? All these questions will be answered this summer in south Florida.

Outfield: B.J. Upton (Going Going Gonzo), 2nd round.

When you saw this list, this is the one name you KNEW would be on it, right? Melvin Emmaunel (Bossman Junior) Upton just had one of the all-time forgettable first halves, especially for a high-priced free agent right in his prime. He is slugging .300, not getting on base, not stealing bases, not hitting for any power (only 18 extra-base hits)... well, he's not really doing anything (only 49 hits, total). And now he's on the disabled list. Well, at least his 55 OPS+ won't get any worse for the next couple weeks.

Outfield: Jason Heyward (Rookies), 3rd round.

Outside of a red-hot April by Justin Upton, this outfield could have been made up entirely of Braves. Injuries have kept Heyward to 67 games, but even in those 67 games he hasn't done much. His average is down 40 points and his slugging is down 100 points from last year, and THOSE numbers weren't exactly off-the-charts tremendous (.269, .479). He's just 2-5 stealing bases after 21-29 last year and he's put up just seven homers and 21 RBIs in 251 ABs. Let's not forget: the Braves are comfortably leading the NL East at the moment, too. Imagine where they'd be if their offense had been anywhere near expectations.

Outfield (honorary): Ryan Braun (Testosteraun Braun) and Matt Kemp (Arbitration Losers), 1st round.

The first two picks in the draft have not been horrible, but they've certainly not given their owners what they hoped for. Kemp apparently got too close to Carl Crawford and caught "Brittle-itis" from him, losing time to injuries in his legs and shoulder. His numbers are down, but he was showing signs of life before his most recent injury. If he can stay healthy for more than four consecutive days, he might put up a good second half for Tim's squad. Braun, on the other hand, has been pretty much his usual self... when he hasn't been out of the lineup with an owie thumb. But I feel like I'm forgetting some other issue with Braun right now... hmmm, maybe it will come to me later.

Starting pitcher: Stephen Strasburg (Rookies), 1st round.

It's not real fair to put a guy with a 2.99 ERA on this list, but here we are. Strasburg has been a victim of terrible run support (2.94, tied for last in the NL) and of bad luck en route to his 5-7 record, but it's also clear he hasn't been the dominant pitcher we have come to expect. His K/9 rate is down from 11.1 to 9.1 since last year and he's walking more batters too. Plus, he's been benched by Henry this year, and that should never happen to first round picks, especially in favor of Bronson Arroyo. The Rookies and the Nats both need more vintage Strasburg if they want to make second-half runs.

Starting pitcher: Matt Cain (Fresh Fish), 2nd round.

Cain's highest career ERA coming into this season was 4.15 in his rookie year of 2006. His current ERA is 5.06, and he's on pace to obliterate his season-high in homers allowed of 22, as he's already at 16. He's never had an ERA+ under 100, and he's sitting at 65. Cain has clearly been supplanted as the Giants ace by Madison Bumgarner. His walk numbers are up and Giants fans are no longer supremely confident when he strides to the mound. Oh, and he's managed to put up a negative war (-0.8) after having been above 2 every season since his first.

Starting pitcher: Cole Hamels (Pitch You Blockhead), 2nd round.

Hamels was simply awesome last year, going 17-6 and striking out a batter every inning. He was an unquestioned ace coming into the season, a pitcher to build your staff around. And he hasn't been horrible this season, not by a long shot. Still, that 4-11 record is hard to look at. He's near the bottom of the league in run support (3.40), but he's also giving up more hits, walking more batters and striking out fewer than last year. And he's not the ace of the PYB staff, handing those honors over to undrafted Travis Wood.

Starting pitcher: Johnny Cueto (Arbitration Losers), 3rd round.

Did you know that the Reds only used six starting pitchers last year? And that five of them started a combined 161 games? It couldn't happen two years in a row, so the question coming into the season was: who's gonna be the brittle one? Cueto has been the "winner" of that contest so far, managing just nine starts and 48 innings in the first half. The good news for Tim and the Reds is that he pitched pretty darn well when he was out there, but his current back injury will have him out until at least August. Will he come back to help his teams out down the stretch?

Starting pitcher: Ian Kennedy (Going Going Gonzo), 4th round.

Was it really only two years ago that he went 21-4 and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting? Since then, he's 18-18, including a 3-6 mark this season while missing some starts due to suspension. (In what world do you throw at a pitcher's head, Ian?) His strikeouts are down, his walks are way up and he's leading the league in hit batsmen for the second year in a row. He's given Jon basically nothing for a fourth-round selection and supposed staff ace. Will he be of any value down the stretch? The division-leading Diamondbacks sure hope so.

Relief pitchers: John Axford (Rookies), 11th round; Brandon League (Fresh Fish), 13th round; J.J. Putz (Silver State Sagebrushers), 13th round; Jason Motte (Manwaring a Muumuu), 16th round.

Since only four relievers were drafted before the 10th round, and all have given a reasonable return on investment, we'll give this to the four drafted closers who are no longer closing for their team, for whatever reason. Axford struggled mightily before handing over the role to Jim Henderson and then Francisco Rodriguez. League was a disaster (and remains so, just not in the closer's role) before Kenley Jansen took his job. Putz was mediocre, then got hurt, and now can't wrest the job back from Heath "Taco" Bell, which is a monumentally sad statement. Team Muumuu knew Motte was a gamble when they drafted him and that he might not pitch this year. Well, he's not gonna pitch this year. Three closers later, Team Muumuu finally might be settled at the position.

Draft analysis

Our last bit of time-wasting will look back at who drafted the best this year, at least so far. We'll break down the draft by rounds 1-5, 6-10 and 11-16, and have a look a the waiver wire too.

Best draft 1-5:

1. Testosteraun Braun: Ryan Braun, Paul Goldschmidt, Madison Bumgarner, Hunter Pence, Jordan Zimmermann... Two staff aces and two hitters over 250 points? How did Braun end up as the weak link here? 
2. Misfits: Bryce Harper, Troy Tulowitzki, Adam Wainwright, Freddie Freeman, Carlos Beltran... Injuries have kept Harper, Tulo and Freeman out, but Reid has gotten major points from all five of these guys.
3. Lawyers, Guns & Money: Andrew McCutchen, Yadier Molina, Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond... A little early to snag a closer, but Kimbrel is money in the bank. Zimmerman and Desmond have since been traded but played well and brought decent returns.

Best draft 6-10:

1. Arbitration Losers: Jonathan Lucroy, Angel Pagan, Aroldis Chapman, Neil Walker, Chase Headley... Lucroy got off to a slow start and Pagan, Walker and Headley have battled injuries. Still, good contributions from all five guys here.
2. Rookies: Marco Scutaro, David Freese, Alfonso Soriano, Zack Cozart, Carlos Gomez... Freese and Cozart have been mostly worthless, but Scutaro and Gomez were all-stars and Soriano is well over 200 points.
3. Manwaring a Muumuu: Mike Minor, Carl Crawford, Jimmie Rollins, Matt Harvey, Jason Kubel... Harvey is one of the best pitchers in the league and Minor also had a great first half. Crawford was great when healthy, and Rollins/Kubel were traded for Ian Desmond.

Best draft 11-16:

1. Manwaring a Muumuu: Shelby Miller, Denard Span, Josh Beckett, Jedd Gyorko, Domonic Brown, Jason Motte... Motte never played and Beckett barely did before injury. Span has been ok as a fourth outfielder. But Brown, Gyorko and Miller have put up major numbers.
2. Pitch You Blockhead: Edwin Jackson, Starling Marte, Matt Carpenter, Edinson Volquez, Cliff Pennington, James McDonald... Only two good picks here, but Marte and Carpenter have combined for over 400 points.
3. Arbitration Losers: Wade Miley, Pedro Alvarez, Brandon McCarthy, Brandon Crawford, Ricky Nolasco, Gerardo Parra... Parra was one of the first half's surprise stars and Miley and Nolasco have done a decent job at the end of the rotation. Crawford has been steady, and Alvarez has hit lots of homers, just not for the Losers.

Best work on the waiver wire:

1. Lawyers, Guns & Money: And it's not even close. In his first year in the league, Matt has plucked Pedro Alvarez, Yasiel Puig, Patrick Corbin, Marcell Ozuna and Anthony Rendon off the scrap heap. Those five guys have contributed 630 points to LGM.
2. Misfits: Not a ton of guys here, but three members of the starting rotation in Francisco Liriano, Scott Feldman and Tony Cingrani.
3. Pitch You Blockhead: Scott is tied for the league lead in moves made, and some of them have panned out pretty well, highlighted by Travis Wood. Other helpful parts include Yonder Alonso, Didi Gregorius, Yasmani Grandal, Kyle Blanks and Gerrit Cole.

Looking forward to a great second half.