I don’t know if you saw it this afternoon, but ESPN’s panel of experts held what they called a Franchise Player Draft. It’s what you probably think it is, one of those “if you could start a team with any player, who would it be” things, except in draft form. The early picks were pretty predictable – Troy Tulowitzki, Joey Votto, Feliz, Hernandez, Joey Votto – but things got a little interesting later on.
Rick Sutcliffe took Neftali Feliz 23rd overall, ahead of Carlos Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, and Jose Bautista, and then Doug Glanville took Nationals’ catcher Wilson Ramos (!) with the final pick, number 30. I mean, if he wanted a catcher that bad, Brian McCann was still on the board. Ramos is hitting a fine .252/.336/.403 this year, but … really? Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, and Miguel Cabrera were all on the board as well. I don’t get it. Bryce Harper (9th) and Mike Trout (12th) also went in the draft, and as great as they are, I’m not sure I could justify taking them over a proven, well-above-average big leaguer. Ryan Braun went one pick after Harper, David Price one after Trout. I know which one I’d rather have.
Anyway, here is tonight’s open thread. The Mets are playing the Pirates (Capuano vs. Correia) and the Giants are playing the Cardinals (Lincecum vs. Westbrook) on ESPN. The Stanley Cup Finals (8pm ET, NBC) also begin tonight. Plenty to occupy yourself with, so talk about all of that (and more!) here.