This draft was a killer. A killer of dreams and of expectations. But what else would I expect with this talented mass of experience and strategy?

The Lightsabers came into the draft with a few dreams and expectations of their own:

• Defense defense defense for the wilyness of Oracle.
• Youth youth youth.
• Clog the bases with high OBP guys.
• Lockdown BP.
• Formidable rotation for the playoffs (assuming the Lightsabers can be a threat in year one).

Well, ok, so nothing really original there, as who was not hunting for those bullet points – the Lightsabers feel like they were able to accomplish 4 of those, mostly…well, kinda. The one obvious miss though, is the biggest – I was not able to get the defensive studs I had targeted (looking at you Straw and others with 1’s and arms in the middle of the field with decent AB). Late picks of Joey Wendle (SS), Nick Madrigal (2nd/3rd) and Parker Meadows (CF) mean there’s some coverage for late in games to clean things up – but not ideal.

As for youth, the average age of a Lightsaber: 27. That will work. Take away some veterans needed for depth (Cutch and his 37 years), and the offensive future feels young and bright with the likes of Tristan Casas, Riley Greene, Austin Riley, Alec Burleson, Jose Miranda, Luis Rengifolo, Jordan Walker (best is yet to come – hopefully), Jake McCarthy, and Parker Meadows and his new swing, along with a minors with possible answers down the road – potentially – for the up the middle D and OBP (oh how I love what I’m seeing from Kevin McGonigale and his zone barreling, and Drew Gilbert, get healthy for your cup of coffee alright!).

So while locking down D was a failure for the immediate future, by having to play a 3(-2) in CF, a 4(+2) in RF for some of the season, and a 3e8 at SS at times, and add to that a 4 at 1st, there are ways for this to improve, at the risk of not having the best bats in the lineup. Wendel, Madrigal and Meadows will create a patch-up, situational D, but overall, the plan crashed and burned with the 1’s and 2’s flying fast. Wendel and Madrigal will end up playing a lot more than desired.

Position by Position

C: This did not go to plan; missed on picks to click, and after a hard-core run on the position, settled for Danny Jansen sooner than wanted, and Jason Delay for most of the needed AB. About 50 AB short from what is needed to finish the year, so the waiver wire will be played.

1st: Super thrilled to get Triston Casas (24) when I did. Alec Burleson (25) will get reps here, and also stoked to get him when I did. He’s done nothing but hit line drives, and this year, it’s all coming together.

2nd: Luis Rengifo (27) was a giddy moment when he fell to the 12th round. Having a monster current season (although on the IL now), he mashes L on this card and while his D isn’t great, he covers a lot of positions. Veteran Nick Madrigal (27 but hits like a 47-year-old) will boost the D v R, and Kevin Newman (old) will sub vs L, allowing Rengifo to be a true utility weapon.

3rd: Austin Riley (27) was a happy grab in the 2nd. Getting Jose Miranda (26) in the 19th was exciting. Gotta love those post-hype breakouts. 3rd feels locked up for awhile…

SS: Xander Bogaerts (old) was all that was left for SS with a bat and enough AB to cover a season. He’s a one-year patch. Joey Wendle is the defensive stopper who will play more than I like, as Bogarets is a better fit at DH. The future is hopefully the farm, as in back-to-back late-round picks, Kevin McGonaigle (19) and Roderick Arias (19) joined the fold. McGonaigle is closer than Arias, and feels like a safe floor, with a high OBP ceiling (walks more than he strikeouts). Arias is the five-tool monster still figuring it out.

OF: Riley Greene (23) was Christmas. Let me tell you, carols were sung when he landed to San Francisco with a 3rd rounder. Jake McCarthy (26) was a fun late-round grab, someone I’ve always liked and he’s putting it together this year with base thefts, solid D, and a high OBP. McCutchen (super old) was needed muscle that can play a little OF (not much with his 4), mostly DH v R and L with even splits. Parker Meadows (24) is someone I still believe in (retooled his swing and homered in his first AB back! And a double the next game! Update as I was writing this: now he’s on the IL…). Drew Gilbert (23) is future hope in the farm.

Overall, between the 13 guys expected to have the best chance of future success, the average age is 24. So the hope for the Lightsabers is a young core (we’ll take 4 successes if the baseball gods allow it) that could still be there by 2026/27 (the year where all the magic hopefully happens).  

2024 Lightsabers

PO        Name       R/L Onbase

SS/DH Bogarets 41.5/38.8

RF/DH McCutchen 44.5/44.1  

3rd Riley 43/38.1 

1st Casas 41.2/38.0 

LF/CF Greene 38.2/35.3 

2nd/LF/1st Rengifo 33.4/44.9 

DH Walker 41.6 / 28.4 (R only)

C Jansen 33.1/27.1 

CF McCarthy 32/31.3 

Bench (and lineup mixers v L)

CF Meadows 

DH/RF/LF/1st Burleson 

IF Newman 

2nd/3rd Madrigal 

3rd/1st/DH Miranda

SS Mendle

C Delay

The Staff

The draft started with much excitement – Kyle Bradish (27) was the hard target as the last pick of the first round landed to San Francisco, and then getting Bobby Miller (25) and Eury Perez (21) later gave hope of a three-headed monster for years to come (who’s kidding – the chances of 3 pitchers being healthy at the same time?). So Bradish going down brought tears, and sets back the timeline for the Lightsabers dynasty hopes. As the injury came across the newswires, in the middle of our draft, it forced the strategy to change, knowing that a lot of innings were going to be missing in 2025, so Alec Marsh, Nick Ramirez, Hogan Harris, and the dead weight of a card of Anthony Desclafini became necessary. Michael King (29) was a useful get in round 8.

Not all is lost for this year though – as the Lightsabers hold on some hope of making the playoffs with at least one killer Bradish card. The combined WHIP of the rotation is 1.23, with Marsh and Harris being the cause of dragging it higher than the top of the rotation. Bradish, Miller and Perez, with Michael King and 52 innings of Drew Rasmussen (28) create a WHIP of 1.07, so in the wily confines of Oracle, this should keep games competitive.

One sleeper that was exciting to get super late (round 29!): Luis Garcia (27) who is on his way back to the Houston rotation later this month. Still young, he’s flashed #2 potential before in his career with a 1.16 WHIP, so the candle in the wind hope is that some combo of Garcia, Bradish, Miller, Perez, King, Rasmussen, and yet to debut Adam Macko (23) can give at least a top 2 in the rotation by 2027.

Projected Rotation

Kyle Bradish

Bobby Miller 

Drew Rasmussen

Eury Perez 

Nick Martinez 

Anthony Desclafini 

Luis Garcia

Hogan Harris / Alec Marsh

On the farm: Adam Macko

The Pen

A goal to create top-heavy even splits led to excitedly grabbing Evan Phillips as the closer. Craig Kimbrel in support, and Hunter Harvey, Sam Moll. and half a season of a killer card with Brock Stewart and Angel Perdomo. 

Combined WHIP of bullpen: 1.10

Role   Name   WHIP   IP

CL Phillips .83 / 71

SU Harvey .92 / 71

SU Kimbrel 1.03 / 79

Hard L Sam Moll 1.24 / 71

SU vR Brock Stewart 1.10 // 31

SU vL Angel Perdomo 1.13  32

ROOGY Bryan Baker 1.27 55

Mop-Up: Genesis Cabrera 1.31 68

Of course, WHIP is not the whole story, but enough to feel like the bases won’t be clogged late in games too much – and that Oracle will hold some bombs to fly balls.

SUMMARY

Overall, considering the competitive nature of this draft and having the last pick of the 1st round, the Lightsabers feel pretty pleased with the balance of talent for this year, and youth for the future. Not everyone pans out of course – and with Bradish already lost for 16 months, next year will not go well in San Francisco. While the offense will have a boost with improved years from Burleson, Rengifo, Greene, etc, a huge vacuum exists with the rotation. 

So who’s up for trade talks?