Michigan Miracle Mock Draft

With the "soft opening" of the eMLB 2011 draft set to begin on Monday it's time for the Michigan Miracles to weigh in with their version of the first round.

1.1 South Texas Heat--Roy Halladay--With Berg resigned to being in the 2012 Lottery I have 5 reasons why he won't take Fielder and place a 5 yr on him. Those reasons are HanRam, Mauer, Howard, Reyes, Tex. Any of those 5 players Berg may decide is a better option for his open 5 yr. Top shelf SP may be a better option this season. Plus Berg told me he was taking Halladay...he wouldn't lie to me.....would he??

1.2 Mid Michigan Tigers--Keith will take a long look at available options once Halladay is taken off the board but Utley just makes too much sense here to pass up.

1.3 Charlotte Orios--Tim Lincecum--With Utley gone Chris will pair Lincecum with the recently acquired Justin Verlander. Quite a combination.

1.4 San Antonio Fire Ants--Prince Fielder--Sankey gets his wish and grabs Fielder while explaining to Butler why he will have to DH this year. There is an awful lot of offense stabled in the Fire Ant camp this preseason.

1.5 Olivet Killer Eagles--Matt Kemp--The first of Larry's 3 first rounders turns out to be the best OF in the draft. After a down year where he couldn't get out of Torre's doghouse, Kemp looks to thrive playing for Donny Baseball.

1.6 Arizona Desert Swarm--Jayson Werth--The best OF available IMO takes his skills out west. I look for a big year from Werth in 2011.

1.7 Flying Squirrels--Jimmy Rollins--Completing a very balanced offense the Squirrels will now have to begin looking for some pitching from here on out.

1.8 Hackensack Bulls--CC Sabathia--Ben said he wanted to build his team up with pitching and stated he wanted CC. Well here he is. Wainwright, Lester, Sabathia. Wow. Good luck Texas Division. Wait a minute.....that's me...Damn It!!

1.9 Olivet Keller Eagles--Adam Dunn--Really a no brainer here. Big numbers going to a team that can really use him.

1.10 Rochester Red Sox--Matt Latos--Not a tough choice between Latos and Buchholz. Nice grab at 1.10

1.11 Rochester Red Sox--Derek Jeter--Rich may be a homer but taking Buchholz would be foolish here IMO. It may hurt his clicker finger putting Jeter into the lineup each week but with a bounceback year he will soon learn to live with it.

1.12 Flying Squirrels--Clayton Kershaw--Adam takes a great pitcher with his second pick in this round With his offense already in the fold, a solid pitcher to toe the rubber makes a lot of sense.

1.13 Olivet Killer Eagles--Heath Bell--The best RP on the board comes off and packs his bags for Southern Michigan. Nice haul for Larry with Kemp, Dunn and now Bell. This teams looks a lot better already.

1.14 South Texas Heat--Kendry Morales--After passing on Cecil at 1.1 Berg is all smiles after finding that Morales is still available. When questioned on the subject Berg admits that since the Heat is looking at cutting costs this year the team just couldn't justify the amount of food that would have to be available in the clubhouse just to feed Fielder.

1.15 Dallas Redbirds--Pedro Alvarez--After making very little noise during the Winter Meetings, Doyle chooses Pedro Alvarez with his first round pick. Sounds like a North Texas pick but this kid had an excellent September and is an up and comer. Time will tell.

1.16 Hackensack Bulls--Mariano Rivera--The only question now is when will the next closer get taken? Two great Yankees will be moving to Hackensack. Both CC and Rivera will be checking out MapQuest to find out where the hell Hackensack is.

That's my take on the first round, comments are always appreciated. Thanks to Hoyle for spotting a glaring error so I could fix it before too many of you saw it. Of course we all remember last year when I got every pick correct in round one so when all of these turn out correct as well it should come as no surprise to anyone. All right, maybe I got a couple of them right last year. It's always fun to put this together and gives me a little better feel as to the players I may be selecting in round 2. Good luck to all and let the games begin.

Miracle Wrap-Up

GM Chris Renner spent the past two weeks molding and remolding the 2011 and beyond version of the Michigan Miracles. We had a couple of ideas of things we wanted to accomplish during the meetings and once those were completed other opprotunities came along that we just couldn't pass up. By the time it was over the Miracles had traded their first round pick (1.5), Ian Kinsler (a spectacular but fragile 2B) and Austin Jackson (probably set for a regression in 2011) along with a small number of late, late, late round picks. In return the Miracles have 2 extra picks in round 2, and one extra pick in rounds 3, 4 and 6. Between draft pick 2.6 and 7.5 (79 selections), the Miracles have 11 of them. Couple that with the 11 contracted players the Miracles picked up and we see that the vast majority of the entire Miracle roster will be complete by the end of round 10. The players picked up along the way to complement the extra draft picks include pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez, Scott Kazmir, Jose Valverde and Joe Nathan. The only new bat that was brought in was Julio Borbon of the Texas Rangers who does seem to be slated to start the year in CF for the AL Champion Rangers. Borbon should put up solid numbers in avg, runs and stolen bases (providing he gets consistent playing time). As the meetings went along it became apparent that the top two closers available in this years draft, Rivera/Bell, would probably be gone before Renner makes his first selection. This prompted a late Sunday pair of trades that brought to Michigan, Nathan and Valverde. An earlier trade for Jimenez allows Renner to select the best possible players when the time comes. Overall an extremely busy winter meetings for Renner and his staff and only time will tell how all of these moves will pan out. Early indications show that the entire staff is very happy with how the team looks before the draft.

Winter Meetings VII

GM Chris Renner has made deals early and often this offseason in getting ready for the eMLB draft coming up in February. Not happy with his finishes the last couple of years Renner has decided to use this years draft to make improvements to his club. Starting with trading away pick 1.5 in the draft deals snowballed from there. By the time he was done Renner had traded away Miracle favorite Ian Kinsler for a first and fifth rounder, Austin Jackson for a fourth round pick and pick 1.5 for what amounts to 4 draft picks. The Miracles now enjoy 13 picks within a span of 87 spots in the draft beginning with pick 1.16. The Miracle braintrust is very excited about revamping this years team along with putting together a solid core for the future. Renner stated that there is still a chance of trading out of the 1.16 spot if there might be a team that wants in there. Adding a second rounder and another pick is not beyond the realm of possibility. Any teams interested should contact the Miracles. Whether he deals the 1.16 pick or not the 2011 draft should be very interesting. Stay tuned.

Winter Meetings VI

Those closest to the Miracle braintrust believe that GM Chris Renner is not done remolding his team for 2011 and beyond. One of the tasks that Renner wanted to accomplish was to pick up a end of the rotation starter. They were able to do that acquiring Scott Kazmir for what amounts to bus fare. The Miracles hope to get out of him exactly what any team hopes to get out of a 5th or 6th starter in eMLB. While it has been known that Renner may move Austin Jackson for a draft pick another name has surfaced in trade rumors. That is none other than the just acquired Billy Butler, who came to Michigan in the trade involving the Miracles #1 draft pick. This storyline

Winter Meetings Part V

With the winter meetings slated to begin tomorrow the Miracles have been fairly quiet in pre meeting trades. Miracles GM Chris Renner states that only one move is pending but it is a rather large one that will set up the Miracles for the 2011 season. Once the winter meetings begin things have a way of heating up for the Miracles. Historically they have made several trades during this time. Many of the Miracle players have been inquired about and Renner has always stated that no player is "untradeable" although sometimes his asking price seems rather high. Maybe that is because he really doesn't want to trade that particular player but you never know what type of offers are out there if you take a player or a draft pick off the table. Renner would still like to acquire one more 3 yr contract before the end of the winter meetings and would be open to moving an outfielder, Austin Jackson is the player that could be headed out of Miracle camp.