UPL Baseball Draft Lottery and 2010 Preview - Pick 10

The 10th pick in the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft goes to:

O.N. Thugs

History: Self-proclaimed UPL GOAT, with 5 championships and 2 runner-up finishes. However, has had a relative lack of success in recent years, with only one shared championship since 2006.

Tendencies: Goes through players like Ari Gold goes through assistants. Will make one or two trades involving legitimately good players to round off roster. Historically favors veterans with predictable performance.

2009 Result: 4th place

Likely Keepers:
Offense Locks: David Wright, Adam Dunn, Nick Markakis, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Shin-Soo Choo

Pitching Locks: Tim Lincecum, Cris Carpenter, Clayton Kershaw, Jake Peavy, Francisco Rodriguez, Joakim Soria, Andrew Bailey

Probable Keepers: Todd Helton, Josh Willingham, Julio Borbon, Russell Martin, Elvis Andrus, Ben Sheets, Rich Harden

Strengths and Question Marks:
Offensive Strengths: Strong OBP team, and strangely, has some speed with the young Rangers players. Has some talent at the shallow positions up the middle (C, SS, 2B).

Offensive Question Marks: It's all about the power. How will David Wright, Todd Helton, and Nick Markakis' power numbers look? Was expecting power from Delgado and Thome last year, but was let down. Still need to find power this year.

Pitching Strengths: Top talent across the board. At least 2 elite SP (Lincecum and Carpenter) and at least 2 top flight closers (K-Rod and Soria). Likely to get top tier performance out of either Peavy or Kershaw, if not both. Bailey appears to be a legitimate option for SV.

Pitching Question Marks: Injury questions for Carpenter (chronic) and Peavy (off of last season's surgery). Kershaw needs to continue development, but has high ceiling. Not sure about Ben Sheets or Rich Harden, but strong performances will allow for roster flexibility. A 4th closer may be in the works via draft or trade.

2010 Outlook: The pitching will anchor this team, and finishing in the top 3 in each of the pitching categories is not out of the question. On the other hand, this team will struggle to be in the top third of the league in the power categories on offense. The pitching alone makes this a top half team, and the high OBP and speed potential puts this team on the podium again this year. The power will drive the final finish. Predictions? Let's just say that you never bet against the O.N. Thugs.

When we come back, we'll announce the 9th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft.

-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)