Fake Baseball is a gleefully expanding sport. When I was asked to return to cover the MLR’s massive new expansion, I was struck with awe ever how huge the sport has become. So many nice people have joined to put their hand into making it great, and none of these people are as nice as the newly announced Rockies GM Pretzels Poffenberger.

I was fortunate enough to chat with him about the upcoming expansion draft.

First, I would like to know your ideal 1st round pick. If you were sitting first overall, what kind of player would you be eyeing?

“An ideal pick is obviously someone active and caring about the game. I want someone that is going to put in the work and remain in contact with me about strategizing. I’ve already contacted a few potential prospects and have an idea. Some people may go with a pitcher first round, that’s understandable. There’s not a lot of outfielders on the board though so I’m thinking I’ll likely start there. That’s TBD and up in the air. My main goal is to get someone that’s active and willing to work, preferably a contact bat as the strategy I have in mind is contact. If we had an all power lineup everyone is going to strike out. I like the idea of putting the pressure on the defense.”

As you know, you are coming into an existing league. As a new GM, which of the existing or past general managers do you feel embodies your style of managing the most, and/or who do you see as your biggest framework towards running a team in the best possible way?

“The Twins GM. He has the same philosophy of avoiding power hitters. Yeah, one may be okay in a lineup, but too many and you have rally killers. I’ve been in contact with a few other GMs about setting up subreddits and the like and really look forward to trying to maintain communication with my players. That’s the key. A happy clubhouse usually means good results.”

On power hitters, let me divert the question to Johnny Dickshot and players like him. As many know, there are players opting to part from their teams to pursue a future determined by the draft. They have gotten a lot of criticism for this, especially from their teams’ faithful. Do you see players like these as assets for their experience, or do you not wish to bother with them, given their track records of disloyalty?

“I don’t think it’s as much of disloyalty as it is finding a place better suited for family and their needs. They want playing time and that’s understandable, an expansion team is likely going to give them playing time. They’ve proved themselves in the league. All options are on the table. There will always be that lingering doubt of “disloyalty”, so I could see their draft stock falling as teams would rather choose new players and draft the disloyal ones last, or at least that’s my assumption. They don’t want a disloyal player causing a ruckus in the clubhouse because he regrets his decision.”

Let’s talk about fans, and more specifically, locations. You made a lot of Denver fans very happy with your acquisition of this team. I would like to ask you about people who feel your city and park are not suitable for baseball given the thin air of the Colorado capital. Will this affect your strategies on drafting pitchers? Do you take it with a grain of salt? Explain your ideas on what people say are issues with your team out of the gate.

“I don’t think it’ll effect my strategy at all. I’m more likely to go with a fastball, strikeout kind of guy. I take it more with a grain of salt in all honesty, it’s not like the parks are switched between half-innings. The opponent still has to pitch in that Colorado air too. I think if we gear our lineup towards contact then the hits are going to come. We have a big outfield, we don’t need to be hitting moonshots every AB, though that would be nice.”

Finally, I want to go back to players, and more specifically, established players. Which player are you most concerned about facing? Which batter and/or pitcher do you feel will give your team the hardest time?

“Probably one of the Grams. Mylo Grams batted .588 last season, that’s really impressive. He’s going to be hard to stop for sure, he’s been pretty much as guaranteed of a hit as you can get. He’s definitely the one to give us the hardest time for sure.”