1871 Inaugural Draft, Rounds 1-5
Round 1, 4th overall
2B Thomas Kling, 29
Kling is a little old for a first round pick, but he is hands down the best hitter available. He’s got extremely good bat skills. I could see this guy winning a couple batting titles. He’s also got some power to back it up, and with his blazing speed could also lead the league in triples and stolen bases. Defensively, he’s a little above average at second. His biggest selling point is that he’s perfected the art of the double play, which should hopefully help keep us out of trouble. He’s a switch hitter and he does have some platoon splits, but I don’t think there’s going to be too many lefty pitchers in the league this season. The age is still a concern, but I think I’ll get a good 5-6 years of MVP-level production here.
Round 2, 13th overall
LF William Day, 25
Day’s another high-contact, high-gap power hitter who should fit into the 3 or 4 spot in the lineup. He doesn’t have the speed of Kling, but his instincts are good enough that he’s still an outstanding base stealer. As a lefty, he has similar platoon splits as Kling but I’m not concerned about my guys being average against lefties. He can play all three outfield spots, but he’s going to better in the corners. It’s good to have those options, though. And at 25, I’m hoping for a good 10 years of production out of him.
Round 3, 20th overall
SP Charles Edmondson, 22
What do you do when your two best hitters have a tough time hitting lefties? You draft the best left handed SP in the draft. I believe that pitching does not matter at all in 1871. Take a look at Baseball Reference’s individual pitching stats for 1871. You’ll see 9 guys who are pretty much the same. Charles is only rated as a 45/80 pitcher overall, but I’ll bet the farm he ends up doing just fine. I think the top pitchers are going to be determined by the skills of their fielders. Edmondson has an 83-85 MPH fastball to go with a curve, slider and changeup. He’s slightly below average in stamina, which might backfire on me, but I plan on getting a second SP to back him up.
Round 4, 29th overall
CF Jim Farr, 32
Jim Farr is not a center fielder. He’s a first baseman. His outfield abilities are just a little below average, but his bat is something to behold. He’s sort of the last of the elite contact hitters in this draft and I took a chance despite him being over 30. He’ll probably end up being the leadoff hitter (him or Kling). With his speed he should rack up triples and stolen bases throughout the season.
Round 5, 36th overall
2B Joseph Cuff, 25
I decided to shift gears this round and get someone to help the defensive aspect of the club. Cuff can play second and short, and with Kling only knowing how to play the keystone position Cuff is going to be our shortstop. His bat isn’t great. He’s an average contact hitter and he’ll probably only hit singles. He does have some base stealing skills which will help stretch his value a bit. I might have been able to wait another round or two on him, but I really don’t want to get stuck with a bunch of bad fielders up the middle. So I took a chance here. He’s also young and with good personality ratings so maybe I’ll luck out and get a talent boost.