State of the Sluggers : pre-draft

The Sluggers had a very successful year last season, as the team caught fire in the second half finishing 10-2-4 to earn the bye, blitzing out the Great Ogham Griffins in round 2, and then finally hitting a wall against the Pats in the KFC Championship Game. For the second season in a row, the Sluggers lost to the eventual champions.

Whereas last year saw the Sluggers limp into the offseason with injuries galore, this season saw them enter with only two lino spots and one potential thrower position, but 5 picks to make it happen. In the end, we filled those three spots, spent all five picks and snapped a future fourth, but in a funny sort of order.

Offseason Plans:

In the Championship game, a lucky MVP brought us the block guard lino we’d been looking for. That brought the need down to:
1) Blitzer lino
2) Block/fend/AV lino
3) Something worthwhile in last slot

The Sluggers have two non-traditional blitzers, and we needed a lino to pick up a blitzer spot – i.e. be a reliable hitter/source of mighty blow. From there, I wanted a block/AV lino to sit on the wings and try to control blitz direction a bit (rather than have someone pomb my block-guard lino every kickoff). Finally I wanted something worthwhile as Thrower 2, Catcher 4 or Lino 7 – and I would consider replacing my dp lino for block/fend or something that could take hits on the line. 1 and 2 are both mid-first round talents, so my chances of getting all this was low.


New additions
https://fumbbl.com/p/team?team_id=900166

Ezekiel Ansah - the Sluggers moved fast to secure Ansah from Wolfskins for the Knights's 2nd rounder, a one-time superstar whose bloaty +ST/-ST kept him cheap and would allow me to still use the first to get a Block/+AV player. We’ll see how effective he is but the additional mb/tackle will be extremely useful even if just on LoS blocks.

Bobby Hart – Sluggers traded their first rounder to the Bruisers for Hart, a block/+Av lino 10 spps away from fend, guard, or +st (one can dream). Now he just needs to live to see it.

Bobby Mons – the Sluggers traded a 4th rounder and their dp lino Stanley Bollander, more on him later, for an mid-third, and used it to grab Bobby Mons. Mons is a block/leader thrower with accurate and kor for special teams and maybe in the offensive unit.

Stanley Bollander – this was a bit of a weird tale. I originally traded Bollander to get Foxes pick from the Legion, thinking I could get a dp later in the draft, or a wrestle lino for the LoS. In the end, a passing comment about wanting Grab meant I flipped my grab/dp to get Bollander back, as the 7spp gets him closer to wrestle so he can be a fouling LoS lad with roster spots at a premium. Until he dies, of course. In week 1.


We hardly knew ye

These three players came and went without ever donning a uniform.

Cassanova McKinzy – the grab/dp, taken in the 4th round, then traded back to the Legion for Bollander.

Mason Killebrew – Killebrew was the most fun player I ever drafted, but at the tv I was situated at would be giving up a babe most games, and actually had some value. So I shifted him to the Classics for a wrestle 7spp lino called ….

George "The Boss" Halas …who was then sent to the Gunners for a future 4th.

State of the Sluggers : post-draft

Overall, I’m pretty happy – addressed needs 1 and 2, and the LoS player in the 3rd round wasn’t available making a block/leader thrower a sensible choice (if not as exciting as it could have been). Although it’s a small thing, I’d rather have started the season with a wrestle/fend lino than a dp, but a) wrestle/block fend linos were more expensive this year than last, when I picked up two for 4ths, and b) the SoS games look so deadly that at least the dp can take a hit or two, and maybe scare off the odd PoMB.

Season 8 looks to be tough for us – Thunder look like a force with Wreckage having a whole season, rock-hard Strength of Schedule with Pats and Unicorns…. But we do start with a better team than we did last year, with more skilling candidates and some key players moving towards the next roll. Thanks for making it this far!