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WrigleyField22 and the Ravens are now on the clock. I PMd him. Next 3 picks: 61. 49ers (Raisin) 62. Patriots (Splinter) 63. Giants (gooney) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

I guess my question is, at what point are we comfortable saying LaHair will be capable of hitting at the MLB level? If he keeps up an .830+ OPS pace until the ASB, is that enough to say with any level of certainty that that's the type of player he'll be, or is there still too much doubt that he's just on a prolonged hot streak? I'd hate to see us pass on getting even just marginal value for LaHair if he reverts back to AAAA journeyman in the second half of the season, but at the same time, I'd hate to give up a cheap hitter who can give us an .830+ OPS with at least average defense for a DLee type deal. I do have to wonder, though, if three months of production is enough time to convince me that a guy who took 6 years to hit at a high level in AAA is now a good bet to hit at the major league level. Especially since his BABIPs as a Cub have been .375 last year and .556 so far this year.

If we could get him on a reasonable 3 year deal, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. Where do you play everybody, though? We'd have DeJesus still, Jackson should be ready sometime this year and certainly by 2013, and then you have guys like Szczur and Ha who could be ready within that 3-year window. I have no problem with Swisher, I just wonder if outfield is the place to be spending money.

Next 3 picks: 60. Ravens (WrigleyField) 61. 49ers (Raisin) 62. Patriots (Splinter) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

My first thought was OLB as well. Wagner it is. Flames and the Packers are now on the clock. I PMd him.

Next 3 picks: 59. Packers (Flames) 60. Ravens (WrigleyField) 61. 49ers (Raisin) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

I like Orson Charles more than most on here, it seems. I think he'd be a good value here.

Who are they? That's for me to know and you to find out. Thought you were soliciting help. I'm guessing it's between the RBs as well.

Who are they?

He could have been referring to it in a resource allocation sense. Basically that bullpen is the spot you can put the least amount of money into and still have a really good one (in theory, at least). If that's what he meant, though, "easiest" was probably the wrong word to use.

Next 3 picks: 57. Broncos (gooney) 58. Texans (sulley) 59. Packers (Flames) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

Vanilla Ice and the Falcons are now on the clock. I PMd him. Next 3 picks: 56. Steelers (Theo) 57. Broncos (gooney) 58. Texans (sulley) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

I really thought about Ben Jones there as he would fill the need for a true center, but felt like Jones would be a bit of a reach, while Silatolu was more of a value. If the Titans really take Silatolu, I'd be pretty excited to see what the Munchak/Matthews duo can do with him.

sneakypower and the Lions are now on the clock. Next 3 picks: 55. Falcons (Vanilla Ice) 56. Steelers (Theo) 57. Broncos (gooney) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

Next 3 picks: 54. Lions (sneakypower) 55. Falcons (Vanilla Ice) 56. Steelers (Theo) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

Amini Silatolu, OG, Midwestern State The decision here is actually pretty easy for me. The Titans' run game was pretty mediocre last year despite having one of the best tailbacks in the league on the team. A large part of the struggles was the inability of the offensive line to block for the run. So, the Titans choose to upgrade that here by taking a fairly large (6'4, 311), very raw, but huge upside lineman in Amini Silatolu from Midwestern State. Silatolu is a guy who strikes me as somewhat similar to Michael Roos, another big, raw, huge upside offensive lineman from a small school who has become one of the better left tackles in the game. He'll need to move inside to guard, which is fine, and my hope would be that he would develop quickly enough to take either Leroy Harris or Eugene Amano's job by midseason. The only thing that would make this an easier decision is if he could play center. davell and the Bengals are now on the clock. I'll PM him.

I want to give the other half of my war room a little time to respond before making the pick on my own. I'll make the pick tonight either way, though. Next 3 picks: 53. Bengals (davell) 54. Lions (sneakypower) 55. Falcons (Vanilla Ice) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

Bengals trade Keith Rivers to Giants for a 5th round pick. Seems like a really good move for the Giants since they gave up so little.

Truffle and the Eagles are on the clock again. I PMd him. Next 3 picks: 52. Titans (dew, PCP) 53. Bengals (davell) 54. Lions (sneakypower) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.

Or will teams like the Pirates and Royals be more likely to lock up the few prospects who actually do pan out instead of trading them for others? I think the value of both prospects and pre-FA players have increased considerably with the new CBA in place, so both will be harder to obtain in future seasons. Keep in mind as well, it's not simply whether or not Parker is likely to be better than Cahill going forward, it's also the opportunity cost you're surrendering by giving up that group of value. By making the trade for Cahill, the Diamondbacks now don't have those three players to package together for another player and it's no longer as simple as to just buy a few similar prospects in the draft. Therefore, if you can spend nothing but money to sign an elite player to fill one need, you'll be able to keep those prospects you would have traded and potentially fill a hole later that you can't address in FA. A well-run team like the Cubs (feels good to say that and be accurate, by the way) should be able to find the right balance between signing elite FAs when they become available, while also moving some prospects for pre-FA guys and still having enough to fill holes on their own team cheaply. We should make use of all three of those avenues, not ignore free agency because prices are getting really high.

Konz was taken late in the first round, I think by the Ravens. EDIT: Yep, it was Baltimore.

I wonder what type of breaking pitches he was seeing in Cuba? I have no idea what type of stuff most of their pitchers have, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's seeing far more advanced off-speed stuff in the States. An adjustment period to get used to that wouldn't seem out of the ordinary, as long as it doesn't take too long.

How many players like Garza are we going to see hit the trade market and not be ridiculously overpriced? Just this offseason, we've seen Cain, Votto, Kinsler, Kemp, Alex Gordon, and others signed to extensions to keep them with their original team and guys like Lincecum and Justin Masterson are in talks for an extension. The As also got a ridiculous haul for a pretty average pitcher in Trevor Cahill. The Latos and Gonzalez trades were much better than the Cahill deal, but both the Reds and Nats gave up a pretty significant haul of talent for each guy and those deals were more the exception than the rule anyway. If anything, I think the changes to the CBA make keeping and developing prospects even more important. It's much harder now to simply go out and buy prospects in the draft, making it much harder for teams that deal away prospects to simply replenish them by spending a bunch of money. You also have smaller market teams like the Pirates and Royals who generally were the biggest spenders in the draft, now unable to spend as much. Some of that money may go toward locking up young players like McCutcheon and Gordon who previously may have been dealt. I'm not saying teams shouldn't trade prospects for pre-FA players, I simply think it should be done with a bit more care now since you can't just buy your way to a better farm system anymore.

I can see that. I hadn't heard everything when I posted that - it seems like less of an overreaction now.

Another one of my potential picks goes away. Raisin and the Bears' war room are now on the clock. I PMd Raisin. Next 3 picks: 51. Eagles (Truffle) 52. Titans (dew, PCP) 53. Bengals (davell) Again, if anybody isn't sure they'll be available to make the pick, shoot me a PM with your top 4 choices.