Taro Hits 500

[Gustav 6,407]

It occurred to me while I was doing my usual updating duties that Tsujimoto just hit 500 TPE, and I need 2 more capped (outside of my 6-pointer, coming eventually) so I figured I'd talk about that and make it as worth reading as possible.

 

-Taro is #1 in the S75 draft class in TPE, something I've never cared about too deeply (see: Ryan Kastelic) but which I suppose is nice to be able to say. Had I created a day earlier by mistake and been pushed into the S74 draft class, I'd be 17th without taking catch-up TPE into account...which, if I'd received it, would put me around 10th or so. Had I been a first-gen who created right before the deadline, I'd be back around 17th even after earning everything I possibly could. This is why I'm very outspoken against those stupid recruitment drives that happen right before the deadline to prove some sort of point to stuff the numbers for expansion or some other change--it's taking advantage of people not knowing a whole lot and signing up at a time when they otherwise wouldn't, putting some behind forever even if they earn with the best.

 

-The GM player rule getting wiped out after the S75 draft was a good move, as evidenced by Taro going 9th, Klamasteris going 14th, and Rasputin going 16th, but I wonder how much the draft really would have been screwed up for me had it not been in place. Sure, Taro would probably have gone to LA at 1 and I wouldn't have ended up with him...but if I wanted a forward I could always have gone for McJake or Stamen at 3, and with four max-earning goalers in the draft (one of which didn't go off the board until the third round because nobody needed one), I could easily have picked up one at 9 where I eventually ended up with Taro. Granted, I swapped 1sts with DC to get my second 1st last season to take Taro, so had I not done that I would have been on the board at #6 in this draft, where there were plenty of great players as well.

 

-I don't expect to be great this season, but next season I've got a chance at it. According to the numbers I ran while tracking Garcia's depreciation, I'll likely start next season around 650 TPE and end it near 800, which should make Taro a serviceable weapon for the playoffs if we don't get slapped in the face again. By S78 he'll enter his prime, and at that point the rest of you should start looking out for him with your fantasy picks.

 

I guess I've hit the word count, so Gustav out.