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Game sites:     RotoHog     FanDuel     Fantasy Sports Live     Draft$treet     Yahoo! Baseball     ESPN 0 Subject: AAA ESPN DRAFT RATIONALES 2019 Posted by: Judy - [35493114] Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 17:06 These are optional but if you choose to do them please group them as below: 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 Thanks. 1 Judy       ID: 35493114       Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 17:06 I will not be posting as I draft as I am trying a new system which I want to keep secret!! I’ll tell you at the end! 2 JeffG       ID: 0151257       Sat, Mar 09, 2019, 00:13 Draft position Pick - 1 Trout! Cannot turn away the opportunity to get the fantasy stud, even though not a big fan of drafting on the turns. Will deal with 30 picks between my selections and possibly missing out on a run. Also may reach more than I would if I was in the middle of each round. But can’t pass up Mike Trout. 1.01 Mike Trout OF ANA Far and above the best player in fantasy. Will strongly help in all 5 categories, should steal 20 plus and will be among or close to the top 5 in the offensive other categories. Not much more to rationalize here, a unanimous number 1. 2.16 Blake Snell SP Tam It feels like a week since my last pick! But the clock is now on and the draft is flowing now. About mid round I thought a MI like Story or Baez might make it here, but no. Had thoughts of solid bats Benetendi or Hoskins here, but wanted to get at least one SP at the turn, so take I’ll care of this SP first. Leading to this pick other than the shortstops I was considering, the 4 other picks out of the last 6 were SP and my pitching queue was picked clean. Had a thought Cole may make it, but no. With Sevvy now on a mid April timetable and too many questions, I cannot risk it for just a marginal advantage over Snell. Snell was the best on my board behind Severino who will start April on the disabled list (I mean injured list). An ace for the Rays, a team who do things a bit differently with their pitching staff. Only thing keeping him from another 200 K year may be innings. Would be nice to repeat his 21W 1.89ERA <1 WHIP season, but realistically a little regression to 15W 3.00ish ERA and a WHIP around 1.1x is perfect to anchor my staff. 3.01Carlos Carrasco SP Cle Thinking of going with one of my hitters queued up here, but with so much time to think leading up to this pick definitely over thinking. I really like my hitter choices here but not feeling they are must haves. Figure that the drop off between now and my next SP pick will be greater than now and starting to fill in my hitters 30 picks down the draft. Especially with half the managers having no SP yet. Let’s load up with two top 10 pitchers to go with my Trout-anchored hitters! Carlos is another low risk 200K starter with an above 1 K/IP, albeit with a little higher ERA (mid 3s) and WHIP (> 1.2) projection, and should notch north of 15 wins, and give my pitching great base. 4.16 Lorenzo Cain OF Mil Sevvy still on the table. Also Paxton. Also Corbin. All on my queue as best available. But, I already have 2SP. Could I have 4 SP in the first 5 picks? How messed up would that be? Nope have to let ‘em go. Coming into this pick I again looked at infielders Murphy, Segura, Seager, Suarez as targets, all picked off. Outfielder Marte lasted a lot longer than I expected. Other than pitchers, the top of my board is a couple of outfielder, and it is still best available mode for me, so now after the turn I have 3 outfielders. Went with Cain here. Gets on base, should swipe 30 bases and at the top of a potent Brewer lineup should do plenty of scoring. A little light in the slugging, and rbi. 5.01 Nicholas Castellanos OF Det Also considered 1B Abreu here to try to balance the roster. But grabbing a third outfielder, already through 5 picks. No infield yet. Nick is the best on my board, a bopper to pair nicely with my Cain pick who will be pluses in runs, rbi, and SLG. 3 Seattle Zen       ID: 1610533022       Sat, Mar 09, 2019, 11:11 What slot should I take? I would like to take Mike Trout, but my buddy Jeffg gets that privilege. I really hoped that I wouldn't be stuck at number nine because there are six bats that I am really excited about and then there is a big drop. Trout/Betts/Ramirez/Martinez/TTurner/Nolan. The higher up the draft order, the better. I get slot number 7 and I'm okay with that. I figure the six guys ahead of me do not have a knucklehead among them so I can't imagine any of them taking Yelich. I mean, this is AAA, no one just fell off the turnip truck, well, maybe Mayor Perm Dude. He is a Florida Man now, who knows what living on a soon-to-be submerged limestone peninsula does to one's mind. Someone may take a chance on Ronald Acuna. And I expect someone to take Max Scherzer. But if my six favorite bats are off the board when it's my turn to pick, I will take the Heterochromia iridumed hurler. Woo Hoo! 1.7.7 JD Martinez, OF, BoSoxdrops to me, I'm fist pumping! The seven slot will have me picking at number 26 and 39. I like my chances of getting a big bopper at #26 and if I am lucky, one of my top ten starters at 39. But wait, hold on just a minute... there is no way 2.10.26 Chris Sale, SP, BoSox could still be available, is there? My favorite for the AL Cy Young, that Chris Sale? The last guy to have a 300K season, the Praying Mantis, y'all wouldn't pass on him, would you? Yeah, Trevor Story, a big bopper at short was available, but I am so excited to get Sale I can't believe my good fortune. Four picks to go and I have a four bat queue - Blackmon, S Marte, Merrifield and Hoskins. The Sale pick was the beginning of a starter run, seven SPs in nine picks. I would really like to get some steals here so I hope to land one of the first three. I'm not a Benintendi Believer so I wasn't disappointed when he is picked right before me. I took 3.7.39 Charlie, OF, Col with the 13th pick last year. I was very surprised he slipped that far and I was equally surprised he lasted this long this year. Sure, he wasn't a top five player in '18 like he was in '17, but he is not old, not likely to be traded away from Denver and as projection of a .870-.900 OPS with 180+ runs/RBI and 15 steals. That's a bargain at #39. This season in RIBC I am practicing judo, taking what comes to me and using it to my advantage. Rarely in the fourth round is a player I had second in my queue still there when it comes back around. I am flabbergasted that 4.10.58 Starling Marte, OF, Pit is still there. There have been 231 drafts in RIBC since Feb. 1 and while they don't have the exact same format, it's a pretty good ADP gauge. The latest he had been taken is 55. I do realize that I have now taken three outfielders and no infield, but I have three of my top ten OF and they are well balanced across all five categories. Looking ahead, I would like to land Jean Segura. I suspect he will have a great season in that new high performance Philly lineup. Judy grabs him. I look at Ozzie Albies, but it looks like he is slated to bat 7th and I'm not sure I believe his break out, too risky. The other bats I'm interested in would be reaches, so maybe I'll mirror Jeffg's roster and have three outfielders and two starters after five picks. I narrow my choices down to Patrick Corbin, the Big Maple Paxton and Z Greinke. All three have very similar projections. Paxton has never thrown 200 innings in a season, hell, he's 30 years old and only won 43 big league games. 160 innings last season was a career high. Last year I had a coin flip between Greinke and Justin Verlander and I choose Greinke. I was wrong. I had a feeling last year he would be better. I had a feeling this year he will be better than Corbin, but the marketplace disagrees with me, so I bowed to Adam Smith and let the invisible hand draft 5.7.71 Corbin, SP, Nats 4 jaydog       ID: 33243109       Sun, Mar 10, 2019, 10:43 Draft Slot: 9 I could have picked anywhere from 9-14, and decided to go as high as I could. I hadn't done a ton of draft analysis to this point, but figured I'd give myself the best chance to grab the best player I could. Also, I like picking in the middle of the round to try and avoid long stretches between picks, and missing out on player runs. 1.09: Alex Bregman - 3B/SS - HOU My list going into the draft had me hoping for Turner, Arenado, or Yelich, and unfortunately none of them made it to me. I hadn't considered Bregman, but while looking at his stats, combined with his 3B/SS eligibility he seemed like the best play. It was down to him or Aaron Judge, and while Judge probably has a bit more upside, there's also some downside too if his injuries and/or high strikeout rate eventually catch up to him. Ultimately it was Bregman's positional flexibility that broke the tie and made me go his way. He walks a ton, and rarely strikes out, so I feel like he's both a safe play, but also could have some growth in his numbers. Even if he just repeats last years stats, I'd be very happy with the pick. 2.08: Juan Soto - OF - WAS I had my eye on Freddie Freeman with this pick, but he was nabbed two spots early. Back to the drawing board I had my eye on several SP's, specifically Snell, Cole, and Verlander. Noticing that there was a group of SP's I all liked almost equally, I decided to roll the dice and take a bat that seemed to be in a tier above those available. Soto lit the world on fire in his rookie year, slashing .406/.517 with over 70 Runs and RBI's in only 116 games. I'm always a bit wary about a sophomore slump, however some analysis that I read seemed to indicate that his advanced statistics predict that it would be unlikely. Assuming he can replicate last years results over a full season, there's reason to expect a 900+ OPS, with over 100 runs and RBI's. He also may chip in around 10 steals which would be icing on the cake. 3.09 - Cody Bellinger - 1B - LAD I like picking in the middle of the round because it allows me to avoid positional runs. Wouldn't you know it, 7 SP's would go off the board before I selected again, 6 of which I would have taken with this pick. After the 7th pitcher went off the board, I took consolation in the fact that I would get either Charlie Blackmon or Andrew Benintendi... NOPE! Going back to the drawing board, I decided to follow up a pick in which I was fearful of a sophomore slump (Soto), with a player coming off one of his own (Bellinger). While Bellinger's power regressed last season, his OBP stayed steady, and his walk rate and k rate remained fairly flat. He also played in 162 games, and chipped in 14 steals. If his power rebounds a bit, even if he doesn't get back to 2017 levels, he'll surely return value with this pick. There's reason to expect a 350/500 slash, with 90+ runs and RBI's, and 15 steals. The 1B/OF eligibility is icing on the cake. Bellinger was never a player I targeted, but I think I've sufficiently talked myself into it. Tommy Pham - OF - TAM This was a pick I almost immediately regretted. There were a few pitchers I had on my radar, and in retrospect I wish I would have taken one of them. While Pham wasn't able to replicate his monster 2017, he did put up very good numbers once he was traded to Tampa. He's battled injuries, and is currently working on a sore shoulder, and I've since learned that he has some issues with his eyes too, which is of course scary. If he stays healthy, I think he'll return value here, and should give me nice numbers across the board (including steals which is my weakest category so far), but I think there's a good chance his injuries make this a wasted pick. Oh well, here's hoping. 5.09: Luis Severino - SP - NYY After taking Pham with the earlier pick I should have taken the safe route here, but decided to go with another risky option. Severino has the upside to be a top 5 pitcher, but he's currently on the shelf with a sore shoulder, and his second half statistics last year were abysmal (although his first half was incredible). I was between Severino and Grienke with the pick, and ultimately decided that no pitcher is safe, and while Grienke hasn't slowed down yet, he's 35 and pitching on a bad team, versus Severino who is young and on a world series contender. Also, the AL East isn't what it used to be, with 3 of the 4 teams he'll be playing most often having below average offenses (Tor, Bal, and TB). If Severino only misses 1 or 2 starts, as the Yankees are currently claiming, I think this was the right pick... but there's a lot of risk here. 5 I_AM_CANADIAN       Sustainer       ID: 01361448       Sun, Mar 10, 2019, 10:45 Slot Selection, #4: As the 7th selection, it was obvious that #1 & 2 Slots would be coveted, and would go off right away. Last year, from the middle I started my Draft off with: Stanton / Donaldson / Severino / Verlander. Where I thought I had strengths (OBP/SLG), proved to be NOT the case. In retrospect, I found CI especially hard to fill. #1. I had the injury to Donaldson (2nd round) #2. My starting 1B (Greg Bird - 12th round), also dealt with injury and couldn’t get right afterwards. #3. I tried to Fix #2, w/a trade for Chris Davis (also drafted 12th round)… the worst player in baseball… ever. :( So, my main goal this year, was to try to shore up the Infield earlier than I did last year. Also last year, I found that I was able to work the wire pretty well for pitching (ie. Flaherty & Buehler) and OF, but quality in the infield seemed harder to come by. 1.04 - Trea Turner, SS, WAS I queued up this pick, and in my mind I was going to be getting either Ramirez/Turner/Arenado here (in that order of preference). Taking Turner from the 4, might have been a little early by ADP, but considering my draft strategy, I really needed a quality INF here. I felt that Arenado was especially tempting here too, since he just signed a big contract to stay in COL (thus solidifying his “Coors Effect” ABs), but the news that he’s been hitting #2 in the order this spring, has me concerned about his main strength over the years… those RBIs. Turner on the other hand, feels like he has the potential with those SBs to really help me dominate that CAT. Last year, he was in consideration for 1st overall in Roto Leagues, this year, he just feels solid, and fits with my strategy. 2.13 - Justin Verlander, SP, HOU With how the recent landscape of teams w/o set closers, the managing IPs of SPs, and even teams like the Yankees considering employing an “opener” experiment for pitchers… this seems to be leaving a large gap between the true elite aces, and the next few tiers. Verlander can put up the 200+ Innings, w/10+ K9, & WHIP ~ 1.00… and like last year, I’m once again going to try to use him to anchor my Pitching squad. All pitchers have a certain amount of risk related to usage and age… but I haven’t seen any reason for concern. 3.04 - Whit Merrifield, 2B/OF, KC My queue I had set for this slot was Baez/Merrifield/Cole. My strategy was mainly calling for another INF here, so Merrifield was a pleasant surprise. Merrifield will once again bring steals without sacrificing too much in any other category. He may be hitting 2nd this year, which may lead to less steals (maybe not for the run-happy Royals), but more RBIs… he’s AVG’ed ~ 40 steals over the last two seasons… should be good for 30+ once again. Quality Depth at the 2nd Base position is especially shallow this year, so I’m happy have a quality one here. 4.13 - Eugenio Suarez, 3B, CIN It felt like a long time since my last pick, and I had a pretty lengthy queue that was almost completely depleted coming up to this pick. I felt that Suarez was a safer bet than fellow teammate Puig who had just gone a few picks before. Suarez is currently slotted in as the cleanup guy, while Puig currently sits at the bottom of the lineup. He’s got great contact #s, and the dingers should come too. Last year I tried to have a few players who played at the Great American Ballpark… glad to have gotten my first one here. Other players I was targeting here, but they didn’t come close to getting to me, were Carpenter (OBP/Lineup/1B&3B Eligible), and Diaz (Elite Closer). 5.04 - James Paxton, SP, NYY Last year, I had Severino as my #2 ace, and I’m hoping that Paxton can fill in nicely for him. The 200+Ks last year were real nice! He sports a lot of heat off his fastball, and that tends to be a pitch that works consistently. I’m not expecting much of a breakout. In fact, I’d be plenty happy if he can just recreate last years #s once again. 6 I_AM_CANADIAN       Sustainer       ID: 01361448       Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 02:25 6.13 - Marcell Ozuna, OF, STL Considering that I started my draft with Turner/Merrifield, I figured I could focus on a pure cleanup guy, in a potentially very dangerous lineup. The upside #s of 2017 (.924 OPS w/124 RBI) would be an amazing value if it proves to be that he’s over his shoulder issue that hampered him last year. At age 28, my expectations are somewhat hopeful for in somewhere in between 2018 & 2017. 7.04 - Eddie Rosario, OF, MIN My 2nd straight OF taken. This pick was really hard, because at the last turn I was really considering grabbing a RP, and then a flurry of them went off. I tend to try to stay out of runs on positions when I can, and since I missed this run, I’m not going to reach for taking from the next tier, I’ll probably wait a few rounds now. Back to my current pick, Rosario is sitting there ~20 or so slots past his ADP, and he does all the 5 tools pretty decently, and is still young enough that he doesn’t have much of a high risk / fall-off potential. Even though spring #s don’t mean much, but he seems to be “in a good place” right now, and I’m hoping that carries over into the regular season. 8.13 - Miles Mikolas, SP, STL I’m still having a hard time with the value at RP, but I really wanted to add a 3rd arm here, otherwise I felt I’d be letting the hitter CATs being a little too favored. Mikolas isn’t my prototypical target, as he doesn’t have elite K-rate. However, he does the ratios very well, and should be able to bring enough IPs to make that matter. 18 wins last year were really good… and the bullpen seems to be looking up for the Cardinals, and there should be plenty of run support too… but, it’s probably too hopeful, to expect the same # of wins? Maybe? 9.04 - Josh Hader, RP, MIL Here’s a true elite K guy! Last year’s 15.8 K/9 was absolutely ridiculous, but not unexpected as in 2017 his rate was 12.8 K/9! Milwaukee's closer situation is still undecided, but Hader may continue to be used in a variety of situations, so he should be seeing decent W/SV opportunities, although not a conventional closer. At this point, I’m still undecided if I’m punting saves or not, but I’m definitely trying to take the best talent / potential. So far this spring training, Hader in 3 IP, has faced 9 batters, struck 8 of them out, and give up no hits, no walks, nor any runs!? Ridiculous! 10.13 - Willson Contreras, C, CHI I was at a loss for what to do with this pick, so decided to get in on this “early tier” at catcher. It’s kind of a “meh” pick, in that I can justify his upside, but my main reason for taking him here is it gives me another hitter at a position that still needs to be filled, and I saw little value available at many other positions (except for pitching). The top 2 Catchers went in the 4th round, and nobody bit again till this 10th round, so it seems likely we’ll see 5 go off in this round. This is a 16 team league, I don’t want to risk having one of the last catchers drafted, and thus make a large impact on my OBP/SLG. 7 JeffG       ID: 0151257       Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 08:15 6.12 Kirby Yates RP SD When the draft started I loaded a 6 closer queue for this slot. Figured I’d be at the beginning of the run. The run started earlier than I thought. I loaded two more. Then those got snatched right before my pick, leading to the dreaded ‘queue is empty’ email. So settled on Yates, my best if the rest. Solid choice if he did not have the potential “traded in July to a contender as a set up guy” risk. Still plenty of options to choose from. Closers are crazy anyway, some of last year’s draft day studs struggled and this year will be no different. (Last year I bought high on WDavis and Melancon - ugh). All closers have risk, like my options now. Kimbrel, who will be a stud somewhere is still unsigned, will some team pay a 30 year old for six years. I wouldn’t if I was a GM, closers tend to lose it out of the blue, especially in their 30s. Other options - Doolittle has durability issues. DRob, a likely closer may be used in different roles. I see a potential downside with everyone but most who did not bite on the closer run still have any of a number of the options yet, will be fine. With Yates, I have a high strikeout rate, and with the Padres has little competition or someone lurking as a replacement if he temporarily sees struggles in SD 7.01 Jesus Aguilar 1B Mil First CI for me, first non outfielder hitter. All but one other team in our draft has grabbed one or two CI already, one has three, 19 in total gone, but I like who is still on the table. CI is a deep position. Jesus had a big HR season last year, 35, plus a couple more in the Brewers short post season. A similar 30+ year should see his slugging approach .500, and solid in the RBI category with a quality lineup ahead of him in the Brewer order. Looked at a few MI here but noting wowed me as a must have so figured I’d pile on in the production 8.16 Jose Peraza SS Cin Before this, all my turns had the same results where my MI queue dried up and the remaining options were reaches(IMO), thought the same think may happen here when Scooter came off, but Peraza actually made it here. Nothing to get real excited about, but in a 16 team league where we all have to fill 3 2B/SS, I’ve been burned by waiting to grab all 3 of them in the mid to bottom of the draft. Jose finished with a power spurt towards the end of last season, and not really sure that is who he is, not really a SLG guy, and as a matter of fact some projections show him sub .400, but he can swipe 25 bases. Bottom of the order would diminish his counting stats potential. But it only gets harder to fill from here. 9.01 Mike Foltynewicz SP Atl Did not really see a closer #2 here, nor did I see a hitter I loved, many I like, but I feel best available on my board is the way here. The recent news of elbow issues makes it probable that he won’t be ready opening day, and the Braves are not really talking time table which probably dropped the price, and I usually am risk averse, but will roll the dice. News is Mike is throwing on flat ground so hopefully that takes major (dare I say TJ) issues off the table. My other thought here was Tanaka, another solid pick here and also the possibility of being an inning away from getting shut down. Mike is a hard thrower in the age of the strikeout, plus should have decent ratios for an SP3, add to that playing on a winning team makes this a pick I feel good about, as long as the elbow holds up. We should find out before the season starts if this was a good pick. 10.16 Wilson Ramos C NYM Was not sure of my approach with the catchers position this season. Unless Gary Sanchez returns to form or Buster Posey (still available) finds the fountain of youth, there is Realmuto, those two, and then maybe 4 on the next tier, and then it is throw a dart and watch the free agent pool for the next short term thing. I’ve played catchers roulette for a few seasons with no success, so when I saw Grandal and Contreras go off the board this round I re-evaluated my options. Decided to pull the trigger on Ramos, who should remain reliable to sit in that slot all year and generate serviceable numbers without the need for plan B, plan C and so on. You could say I made this pick as a defensive move against the lower C tiers where I’ve seen OBP projections in the .280-.310 range and low .400 SLG. Ramos projects 50 points higher than those guys and could drive in 70. Not going to find any remaining catcher with big run projection and they all don’t steal 11.01 Jose Alvarado RP Tam Closers options drying up, just a couple options left who surely will have the job out of camp. The Rays manager Kevin Cash is kind of reinventing the concept of a pitching staff, and may not officially announce a closer, but Alvarado should see the most save opportunities this season in Tampa. Has a high strikeout rate, and had a dominant second half. 8 jaydog       ID: 33243109       Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 09:32 6.08: Blake Treinen - RP - OAK After passing on Greinke in the last round, I was hoping he might fall to me here, but no dice so I decided to turn to closer. I typically like waiting as long as I'm comfortable on closer, but always like to get one of the top tier options, and Trieinen fits the bill. His numbers were absurd last year, posting a 0.7 ERA with a ton of strikeouts and good control. I can't expect those same numbers, but even a bit of regression would return plenty of value here. I've seen him ranked as high as the 2nd best closer on several rankings. I expected a bit of a closer run to happen, and was right as Hand, Osuna, Vazquez, and Yates all went off the board in the 6th round, so very happy to get Treinen with this pick. 7.09: Robinson Cano - 2B - NYM As a die hard Mets fan, I usually try to avoid picking Mets players, as I'm wary of over valuing them and also believe firmly in the fantasy jinx. That being said, Cano's value seemed too good to pass up in the 7th round. Despite his PED suspension last year, Cano put up some of the best numbers of his career, and while he's getting up there in age, his numbers have remained incredibly consistent. The Mets now have a lot invested in him, and expect him to hit in the meat of the order, with a few high OBP guys (mainly Nimmo) hitting ahead of him. 3 years ago, Cano was consistently being taken in rounds 2-4, and his stats have remained the same, so the 7th round seems like a steal. Or, because I'm a Mets fan and we can't have nice things, he'll get hurt for the first time in his career and I'll be scrambling for a replacement. Also considered Gennett, but Cano felt a bit safer. 8.08: German Marquez - SP - COL Was hoping for Andujar here, but Fosten sniped him one pick before me. Without another offensive option I loved, I decided to try and add to my rotation. With the uncertainty surrounding Severino I toyed around with Kyle Hendricks as he felt like the safest bet on the board for solid production, but decided that if Severino was going to miss significant time I really needed someone with "Ace" upside to carry me. I don't love that Marquez pitches in Colorado, but his arm is electric and he's always had good control throughout his career. His first half was terrible last year, but he was still only 23, and reports indicate that he figured out something with his curveball that lead to an unreal second half. I'd be happy with something between that two, and if his second half from last year sticks around for most of the season, I have an ace on my hand. Seriously considered Foltynewicz here, but already having a pitcher with injury concerns in camp, I couldn't stomach having two. 9.09: Kyle Hendricks - SP - CHC After almost taking him last round, I decided to nab him here. My first two pitchers (Severino and Marquez) have incredibly high ceilings, but both come with significant risks, so I decided to go with a seemingly safer option as my 3rd starter in Hendricks. He doesn't have elite strikeout upside, but will chip in enough to hold his own, and has always had great control. He fought through some rough stretches last season, but still ended up with a mid 3's ERA and a low WHIP. While there isn't a ton of buzz around the Cubs this year, they still have a good offense, and elite defense, and should give Hendricks plenty of win opportunities too. Wouldn't want Hendricks as someone to lead my staff, but very happy with him as my #3. 10.08: Archie Bradley - RP - ARI Really wanted to secure a second closer, and wasn't loving the options on the board. Bradley clearly had the best stuff of the group, but hasn't officially been named the closer (although he is considered the most likely option). I figured that even if Bradley doesn't get the closer job out of camp, he would still find some save opportunities throughout the season, and he'll help me with ratios and k's in the innings he does pitch, which couldn't really be said about the other closer options who would likely be dropped if they lose the job. 9 Seattle Zen       ID: 1610533022       Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 12:10 Okay, now it's time to address my infield. I like Abreu, Olson, Chapman and T Shaw but they all get picked. But I don't like them as much as Justin Turner nor Nelson Cruz. The Boom Stick surprisingly signed with the Twins this offseason and I'm a big fan. Remember way back in the 90's when he was a Ranger and always got hurt? Yeah, the 1790's when the young Mozart was topping the charts, Nelly used Eine kleine Nachtmusik as his walk out track, saying "night, night" to the baseball! He is 2019's version of David Ortiz and with that in mind, I am also worried that he dabbles in the PED pool Big Papi splashed around in, too. Hoping Nelson is still around in the 7th, I pull the trigger on 6.10.90 Justin Turner, big red beard, 3B, LAD. He kills it in this format as well as Ottoneu. The only thing that has kept him from being a top ten player was getting a broken wrist in Spring Training last year. When he's on the field, he has a .400+ OBP and .500 SLG the past two years. a wOBP of .400. Cruz is taken next, so time to hop into the closer run. Writing this as Twilson further cements my disdain for his complete absence of alacrity. I drafted 8.7.103 Sean Doolittle, RP, Nats just because. Now I want to shore up my middle infield. Shortstop is ridiculously deep this year, eleven in the first seven rounds. I feel that I can take either a slugging MI or a stealer, maybe aim for one of both. I queue is Scooter Gennett, Edwin Encarancion (because he can bash), then Jose Peraza. Damn it, Tosh, took Scooter the pick before. Is 8.10.122 Edwin, 1B, Sea just a consolation prize or should I be happier? I know the Mariners' history of bringing in huge bashers to play first and the crash upon the rocky shoals of Elliott Bay. You can scuba dive right from the ferry dock and see the wreckage of John Olerud, Justin Smoak, Logan Morrison, Casey Kotchman, and Adam Lind. But he's coming to be the DH, you say, and look at Nelson Cruz. Yes, Edwin, follow the path of Admiral Nelson and show Seattle some gunboat diplomacy! Okay, I feel compelled to shore up my middle infield. I didn't get in the top half of either SS or 2b but I do not despair. I've had success with MI in the middle rounds: 2012 I took two rookies, Jason Kipnis and Jose Altuve, in round 10 and 14 and that turned out alright. If you look hard enough, you can always find some little gem, point to it and say, "See, confirmation bias!". There are three guys I believe are undervalued and I view them roughly alike, 9.7.135 Paul DeJong, SS, StL. 10.10.154 Cesar Hernandez, 2b, Phi. 11.7.167 Amed Rosario, SS, Mets. DeJong looks like he will bat 3rd for the Cards. He is a slugger with a poor walk rate in the Bigs, but he has one of the highest projected SLG% at short. His floor is high and his projections are quite similar to Carlos Correa, just a lower OBP. I reached for him, looking back I could have waited a round, sure, but I don't care. I wanted these three MIs and I got all three. Cesar had a broken foot last season. He started great and then fouled a ball off his foot in the second half. He is slated to lead off for the new, high powered Philly offense. His OBP% is elite, one of the best walk rates paired with a hit tool that has hit for a .290+ average in multiple years. I figure if he can play a half season with a broken foot, he's good for 700 plate appearances, score 100 runs, and steal 20. Pair him with DeJung and that's a five category MI pair. Beware of Spring Training! It's noise. But I just saw Amed CRUSH a homer while I was at the gym at lunch! "His OBP is awful, he won't lead off," they say. Batting 8th? What, the pitcher is going to knock him in? The kid is young. He's still filling out. He could take the next step, a power step, that would make the pitchers leery of giving into him and maybe he will take a few more walks. He's got the speed for a projected 20-30 steals. He could force his way into a higher spot in the batting order. Looking at the draft board, only one other middle infielder gets drafted inbetween Dejung and Amed. Well, until the news that Moose Tacos is going to be moved to second base for the Brew Crew. So Holt, who took two SS and a 2B in his first four picks, gets a free upgrade. Does the all-time RIBC leaderboard champ really need that? 10 jaydog       ID: 33243109       Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 09:54 11.09: Austin Meadows - OF - TAM My team could use a speed injection, and my target (Amed Rosario) was taken two spots ahead of me. Meadows doesn't project to have elite speed, but he did combine for 18 steals in 2018, and Tampa seems to encourage their guys to run more than most teams. With Meadows, I'm also hoping to get more than just speed, as he should enter the year as a starter for TB, and has 5 category upside. Most of the speedy guys left on the board only produce in 1 or 2 categories, and Meadows at least has the potential to be more than that. 12.08: Trevor May - RP - MIN Wanted a third closer to boost myself into the upper tier of that category, and of the options left May seemed like the best bet. Considered Shane Greene, but his ratios are scary, and since May moved to the bullpen last year, he's shown a nice strikeout rate with very good control. Think there's upside here to be a top 15 closer, and his downside isn't as bad as some of the other options left. 13.09: Eduardo Escobar - SS - ARI This is one of the first picks in the last several rounds where I didn't really have a positional or even category target. I considered a ton of options, and landed on Escobar. He's 3B/SS eligible which gives me a ton of flexibility, and should get a ton of playing time in Arizona hitting in the middle of the lineup. He doesn't run, but has a good chance to put up above average production in two positions. Between Bregman, Escobar, and Belinger I have a lot of flexibility to move people around to maximize games, and protect myself against injuries, which I like given our short benches. 14.08: Marwin Gonzalez - UTIL - MIN This is becoming the draft of positional flexibility for me. Is there such thing as too much flexibility? There were a few hitters on the board that I liked, all who seemed to have similar projections. What broke the tie for me was Gonzalez's eligiblity at 1B, 2B, SS, and OF, and the fact that he had the clearest path to significant playing time, hitting towards the middle of a decent offense. He had a pretty poor 2018 after an amazing 2017, but some analysis I've read seems to indicate that his peripheral statistics were still strong. If his batting average rebounds a bit into the 270 range, his strong walk rate should give me a good OBP, with nice counting stats, and given that MN invested 21M bucks in him, they should plan on playing him every day. 15.09: Danny Jansen - C - TOR There was only one catcher I liked in this draft enough to take with an early pick (Realmuto) and I wasn't prepared to take him in the 3rd round where I would have needed to. Every catcher after him had significant concerns, so I decided to wait. I held on to where there were 3 catchers left that I would have been comfortable starting (Yadier Molina, Jansen, and *undrafted*). With Yadier going off the board, I didn't want to lose out on all three, so decided to pounce on Jansen. Had Yadi not been taken, I probably would have waited. Jansen is young, but has shown an elite eye at every level of the minors, and that continued during his short cup of coffee in the big leagues last year. His power hasn't developed yet, but there's a good shot he slugs over 400, with an above average OBP. Hopefully Toronto rides the young legs, and plays him every day, and I've got myself a useful catcher who won't hurt me. 11 JeffG       ID: 0151257       Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 10:41 12.16 Ketel Marte 2B Az Was preparing to take two MI here, but Polanco plucked a few picks earlier. Slotted Marte to 2B for draft purposes, slated to play mostly outfield for the DBacks, even though he may lose time in a platoon/rotation. I like his OBP better, which should not be a minus and where my roster is tracking a little low of my targe. Projected to lead off when he is in the lineup, which is good because I’m tracking low on runs too. 13.01 CJ Cron 1B Min Looked at everything here. Pitchers, outfielders and infielders and settled on Cron to help fill the roster. At age 28, hit 30 dingers last year, slugged .493, played 140 games, so of course the Rays DFA’d him after the season. Twins took no time getting him off waivers. Fills my lineup with some late round slugging and production. 14.16 Nick Markakis OF Atl I see my team seems light with on base. Scoured the options at this tier over several positions looking for decent obp from an everyday player and Nick filled those specs. 15.01Jose Quintana SP ChC I had Heaney queued up here but while waiting for my turn saw he is battling elbow issues and I already have Foltynewicz. Maybe can stash one on my roster with a mid April return, not two. Moot anyway since he went off the board 14.15. So with only two other starters on my roster was definitely going SP here and went with a high K rate guy even though his ERA and WHIP expectations are on the high side of my target range. Obviously going for wins too and figure he should be good for low double digits. 16.16 Evan Longoria 3B SF Man oh man. I kept thinking there will be good 3B next go round and so on and so on, and now 22 are off the board. I’m looking at options for the hot corner.. This one is injured, that one is platooning, another does not have 3B eligibility yet. This will likely play out that I have some one serviceable until some other options present. If he does poorly I did not waste a high pick, if he does well good for me let’s see if I can sell high before he regresses. His projections for the counting stats are in the 60s each and that assumes he plays 140+ 17.01 Joc Pederson OF LAD I see a trend with my latest picks. It looks like I lean towards guys who were once highly coveted, as opposed to maybe an unknown with potential. In my office fantasy league I usually mock picks like the last several of mine with some trash talk like ‘put your magazine from 2015 away’. Anyway like the prior pick looking at all positions and filling in my roster with the best available in my opinion. Joc should see most of his time at the top of a Dodger order, should see counting stats in the 70s plus, and will be a positive in the ratios. 12 I_AM_CANADIAN       Sustainer       ID: 01361448       Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 13:21 11.04 (164) - Chris Archer, SP, PIT After my last pick, I was feeling a little disappointed because I had wanted to grab this guy, but I wasn’t ready to take another pitcher at that point. Now this pick puts a smile back on my face. I’ve got one more BIG arm that I like. Bounce back potential, with some interesting circumstances. Firstly, moving into the National League, and pitching in a pitchers park. So far this spring, in a small sample, his control has been impressive (SO/W of 8 over 5 IPs). I look forward to watching his starts this year to see how this works out. 12.13 (189) - Justin Smoak, 1B, TOR It’s been a long time since I drafted an infielder, and I don’t have a starter at 1B let alone CI yet. Smoak has good plate discipline, and hits 3rd in a hitter friendly park. Another player that I’m hoping for a bounce back year from. 13.04 (196) - Tim Anderson, SS, CWS Power and Speed. His OBP #s need to improve, but the signs for improvement are there. I haven’t seen a lot hype on him this year, but his spring #s, including plate discipline, are very positive. Not a lot of proven 20/20 guys out there. 14.13 (221) - Jake Bauers, 1B/OF, CLE Decent power/speed combination for a CI. Struggled late last year, but hoping he was just working through adjustments. Seems likely to be a regular this year, and should be hitting towards the middle of a decent lineup. I don’t have a lot of position flexibility yet in my roster, so that adds one more good element. 15.04 (228) - Franmil Reyes, OF, SD Hard to argue with this guys ability to hit. Potentially the cleanup hitter for the Padres squad that would have Machado going #3 in front of him. Lots of OPS/RBI potential, which are areas my squad needs to focus on. Currently fighting for a regular spot in the lineup, but seems likely the best option for them. 13 mmikulka       ID: 3225119       Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 18:46 Draft Slot: 6 I hadn't looked into baseball at all yet: I knew Trout was #1 overall and that was about it. With no banzai format, I just went with the earliest available pick. 1.06: Max Scherzer - SP, WAS I had been hoping for Trea Turner here. I took him in RIBC last year and he underperformed, but a 40+ SB player with 100 R and a decent OPS at a weak position is still elite. With Turner taken 4th, I didn't have any batters who stood out. My formula had Bryce Harper as the top remaining batter, but I have never trusted him as a top-20 player and I don't intend to start now. I rarely like to take SPs during the middle of the draft, so I figured I'd take one now to enable that approach. I considered Sale, but his late-season injury and ensuing relative mediocrity pushed me to Scherzer. He's really old for an elite pitcher, but I couldn't find any actual indications of danger. 2.11: Trevor Story - SS, COL Sale almost fell to me, and I would have definitely taken him. Votto was another player I would have considered. There are a bunch of talented shortstops this year, and I wanted at least one. I didn't think any would last to my 4th pick, so I took one now while I still had a few options to choose from. Coors Field is a major positive, and while last season was clearly a breakout year, he has a career OPS of .863. I don't know that his 27 SB from last year is repeatable, but Colorado wants to run more this year, and Story has blazing speed to go along with his absurd .261 career ISO. 3.06: Andrew Benintendi - OF, BOS I was debating Benintendi and Charlie Blackmon for a long time. I eventually decided on Benintendi because of age (24 vs 32), rooting interests (Go Sawx), and not drafting Rockies batters back to back. I think Blackmon is likely to have the better season, but Benintendi is probably a bit safer between his age, his excellent batting skill set, and the stacked Red Sox lineup. Benintendi also pairs well with Story to keep me balanced across categories. 4.11: Yasiel Puig - OF, CIN I would have taken Strasburg or Seager here if they had reached me. I considered an elite closer, but I didn't have a clear favorite, and figured at least one of either Chapman or Jansen would still be around in 10 picks. I had mixed feelings about this pick and still do. It feels strange taking Puig this high. Not too long ago, he couldn't keep his job and was sitting on the bench in the playoffs. I took him over 50 picks later last year, and it worked out great, but this price does feel like a risk. That said, I've always felt that the Dodgers absolutely botched the way they treated him, and I would have considered Puig moving to virtually any other organization to be an upgrade. Moving to the Reds should be great: he goes from one of the most pitcher-friendly parks to one of the most hitter-friendly ones, and he finally is a guaranteed everyday player with a good spot in the batting order. I do think there's regression risk, but I can also see him blowing up in the new environment and fulfilling his potential as a top-10 batter. 5.06: Aroldis Chapman - RP, NYY I always want an elite closer (the most undervalued position every single year etc...). I didn't have the same trust in Jansen this year that I typically do, and Chapman isn't as completely stable as he has been either. Edwin Diaz seems to be the consensus #1 this year and was taken 23 picks earlier, but he's just 1 year removed from a 3.94 FIP and I've watched the Mets for long enough to feel that this is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't know that Chapman will finish #1, but he is playing on a team that will win a whole lot of games, and over the last 7 seasons, his range has been: Saves: 22-38 K/9: 12.3-17.7 ERA: 1.51-3.22 WHIP: 0.81-1.15 If he finishes anywhere in that range again this year, he'll more than justify his draft position. 14 mmikulka       ID: 3225119       Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 20:17 6.11: Nelson Cruz - UTL, MIN I was really hoping for Justin Turner here. I would have wanted to draft Blake Treinen too. Cruz was my highest-rated batter remaining by a significant margin, but he is a DH only and he is also 38 years old and just switched teams. I decided to go with Cruz anyway. I had Ohtani in my UTIL slot last year, and the lack of flexibility is less of a pain when you're happy to have the batter in your lineup every day. I have some doubts about Cruz because of age and mediocre surrounding talent, but I looked at 5 projections and they all had him finishing with 95+ RBI and an OPS of at least .848. 7.06: Carlos Santana - 1B, CLE Corner infield seems really shallow this year. and I already had narrowly missed out on a few targets (seemingly all to Seattle Zen). Santana was disappointing last year, but he had terrible batted ball luck (his .231 BABIP was the worst of any qualifying batter). His underlying metrics were still solid, including his fantastic walk rate, which has been over 13.2% for all 9 years of his career. I expect regression will push his OPS back over .800, and he will continue to put up solid R/RBI totals. 8.11: Raisel Iglesias - RP, CIN I always want to draft at least 2-1/2 closers, and it was time to take my 2nd. Iglesias projects to be maybe 3/4 or 7/8 of a closer, because he will continue to be used in earlier innings when high leverage situations arise. That role got him 30 saves last year, and it also got him 72 IP. I'm okay trading a few saves for some extra innings of high quality pitching. 9.06: Billy Hamilton - OF, KC I have my eye on him every year, but I really had my eye on him this year. Off of "only" 34 steals, his ADP has dropped very low. If his SBs return to the upper 50s, he'll finish as a top 30 batter even if he has a sub-.600 OPS and only 25 RBI. Anybody who is that elite at any one category has immense value: this is especially true for SB, which are by far the rarest batting stat. The value is more apparent when his stats are averaged with those of mid-tier power hitters. How would you rank the following players? A) 84 R, 58 RBI, 23 SB, .778 OPS B) 82 R, 59 RBI, 31 SB, .736 OPS C) 79 R, 67 RBI, 27 SB, .763 OPS Player A is the Steamer projections for 4th rounder Lorenzo Cain Player B is the Steamer projections for 3rd rounder Whit Merrifield Player C is Billy Hamilton's career averages averaged with the 2019 Steamer projections for my 6th round pick, Nelson Cruz. Of course, those stats don't look nearly as nice (18 SB instead) if Hamilton's 2018 is the new normal. I think he's an obvious bounce-back candidate, though, and the Royals are a perfect fit. No team values OF defense more, so he should get more consistent playing time. The Royals also emphasize steals and small-ball, and while the large field hurts most batters, it should provide more space for Hamilton's dainty bloops to drop. 10.11: Yasmani Grandal - C, MIL I need to compensate for Billy Hamilton's awful RBI, OBP, and SLG stats. Getting a top catcher is an important component, considering how awful they get past the top 4 or 5. Grandal has been consistent: he is the only catcher to put up 400 PA and an OPS over .750 for each of the past 4 seasons. Posey and Realmuto are the only ones to have done this in 3 of 4 seasons, and only three other catchers have done it in 2 of 4 seasons. Grandal is moving from a great park for pitchers to a great park for hitters. Hopefully that will boost his power numbers a little more, but I'll be content with general offensive competence. 15 Seattle Zen       ID: 1610533022       Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 01:27 At this point I have 3 OF, my infield (no CI yet), two SP and one closer. I'm looking for a few more arms here. My targets for SP are 12.10.186 Nick Pivetta, SP, Phi., a Dodger (Hill, Maeda, Ryu) JA Happ, Bieber, Kikuchi, or Joey Lucchesi. Hill and Happ are taken. I'm not really a JA Happ fan, but I got him real late in another draft, so I hope he works for holt. Go with Pivetta because he has a crazy high K/9 and is the apple of the tout's eye. Baseball Prospectus is high on him, projecting 3.56/1.21 ERA/WHIP and 10.4 K/9. Phils are gonna be good. I like Ramon Laureano on the A's, that was a good pick by Thumper. But I like 13.07.199 Adam Eaton, OF, Nats even more in RIBC. He has crazy high OBP upside and batting second behind Trey Turner, he's likely to get a lot of RBI from the two hole. Steals 12-20 bases. People forget that he was killing it for the Nats in 2017 when he hit .297/393/462 with a 13.1% BB rate and a career high .165 ISO before blowing out his knee. 2018 started poorly with bad ankles, but once he got going .302/.401/.409 with 9 SB. The Nats won't miss a beat with Soto/Eaton/Robles in their outfield. I'm expecting a big season. Alright, maybe another arm to go with Pivetta. Ryu, Kukichi, Luchhesi and 14.10.218 Kenta Maeda, SP, LAD are all still available. Do I trust projections of JPL pitchers? More than a few people purport to have figured out a system. I hope Kukichi turns out well as I would like at least one Mariner I will be excited to catch on TV here, but I'm risk adverse. I drafted Ryu in another league over Maeda, and even though Kenta has a higher ADP, I go with him to spread the love. Both Dodgers have a forecast of a below 4.00 ERA and great WHIP, Maeda strikes out batters at a 10.1 K/9 clip. I think some people are leery of Dodger starters because they have six good arms, but two of them are Kershaw and Hill and with Wood gone, I see Ryu and Maeda make a full season of starts. I came into this draft figuring I would take 15.07.231 Randal Grichuk, OF, Blue Jays. Steamer is real high on him, he's batting fifth in the Jays lineup and should knock in a lot of runs. Great slugging, poor OBP. Think of him as a pair with Adam Eaton and that's a five category two headed hydra. But, wait, SZ, don't you already have four OF? Yeah, I guess Grichuk is my UTIL and I'm glad I didn't end up taking Nelson Cruz rather than Justin Turner. Didn't come home Wednesday night, I was tired and unprepared. My turn comes up and I don't have my queue set because I don't know who I want. I was hoping Brandon Belt would still be here. I have typed that sentence in the last six season's draft rationale and every year there is a point in the season that I say, "man, I'm glad I didn't end up with Belt after all." I'm convinced that the only thing hold Belt back from that All Star appearance he deserves is one of you fifteen have foiled my chance of getting him the year he breaks out. It's your fault this year, mmkulka. The last closer I wanted was Matt Barnes. I get back in front of my desktop and start thinking about more starting pitching. I like Sean Newcomb. Last year he started the year like gangbusters, the type of break out performance that I'm hoping for from Nick Pivetta, but something happened and he had a terrible second half. Do I take him thinking, "that first half performance was the real Newcomb, let's put together two of those first halves in 2019. Or do I look with fresh eyes at 16.10.250 Joe Musgrove, SP, Pirates? I like guys who project to have low WHIP, that's my jam. I admit that I had no idea who Musgrove was before this preseason draft prep, don't get too many Pirates games to cross my path. Hope he is good. Also thought about Josh James or Marco Gonzales. 16 mmikulka       ID: 3225119       Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 16:17 11.06: Rich Hill - SP, LAD Hill had been my formula's highest-projected SP for a while. I'd ignored him during my last two picks because of his likely low inning count, but it was the 11th round and I still only had one SP. Over the last 4 years, Hill has averaged 2.98/1.04 10.6 K/9 During that time, he also has won games at the highest rate in the MLB (minimum 400 IP). Of course, he has also never reached 140 IP and is 39 years old. I'll be happy with anything around 120 IP of 3.50/1.15 10 K/9 with 10 wins. 12.11: Jake Lamb - 3B, ARI A few rounds after missing on Justin Turner, I had debated Moustakas, but I couldn't take the plunge. By now 3B options were very thin. Lamb went in the 8th round in 2017 and the 7th round last year. Then he was awful, putting up a .655 OPS and missing 2/3 of the season to injury. His plate discipline stats were in the same general area as before, but his isolated power took a nosedive: from .260/.239 in 2016/2017 to .126 in 2018. I'm sure the humidor had some effect, but everything else about this looks like a lost year caused by an isolated injury. Lamb is only 28, and I expect him to bounce back to about 90% of his previous level. 13.06: Shane Greene - RP, DET Going from 2 closers to 3 usually nets you 6-8 roto points. Greene is not a great pitcher, but he was the only one left whose manager has declared them the full-time closer. When a manager sticks with you through a 5.12 ERA and then declares you the closer the next season too, that's pretty good job security. I don't think Greene is nearly as bad as last year indicates. He actually had 9.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9, but his HR/9 and BABIP were extremely high. In 2016, his line was much better (2.66/1.24). Either way, he's on my team for the saves. 14.11: Dellin Betances - RP, NYY I still have only 2 SP. Quintana, Ryu, and Lucchesi were my top options, but I couldn't sell myself on any of them. Quintana has been a capable innings-eater, but planning for 180 IP of an ERA over 4 just doesn't feel good with over 10 rounds remaining. Lucchesi has potential, but drafting him here requires an improvement on his 4.08/1.29 line from last year. Ryu is a poor man's Rich Hill, but I already have Rich Hill. I figured that if I was considering a player like Ryu who is likely to put up 90-120 quality IP, I might as well also look at pitchers who are likely to put up 60-80 elite IP. With Hader gone, Betances is the obvious choice. He walks more batters than is desirable, but you can get away with things like that when your K/9 is above 15 like Betances' has been for the past 3 years. Betances' average season has been: 75 IP, 4W, 2.36/1.04, 14.6 K/9 (and 7 SV) Add a hypothetical waivers-level pitcher: 125 IP, 8W, 4.30/1.35, 7.8 K/9 The composite season of those two pitchers is: 200 IP, 12W, 3.57/1.23, 10.4 K/9 15.06: Brandon Belt - 1B, SF I still needed a CI. A while back, I had been considering Edwin Encarnacion and Miguel Cabrera, but their uncertainty plus the presence of players like Belt kept me from taking either. I had Belt on my team last year and it was frustrating. He put up a solid OBP as usual, but his power dropped significantly and his R/RBI totals were weak. Belt had injury woes and the Giants were 29th in runs scored. That could still easily be true in 2019, but I'm betting on moderate improvements in both areas. As long as he's relatively healthy and the Giants aren't an offensive garbage fire, then Belt should have the kind of tolerable 70 R / 69 RBI / 4SB / .359 / .437 line that Steamer projects. 17 I_AM_CANADIAN       Sustainer       ID: 01361448       Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 19:24 16.13 (253) - Lourdes Gurriel Jr, 2B/SS, TOR Looks to be the starting 2B, and hitting 2nd as well for the Jays, which should be an improved lineup (especially when Vlad is up). The 2B/SS flexibility is an added bonus as currently, he’ll slot in as my UTIL, and will be able to backup the 2B/SS/MI as well. It’s hard to find MI’s who don’t hurt your ratios this late. He’s showing improved patience at the plate so far this spring, with equal walks/ks, and OPS 1.200+ 17.04 (260) - Corey Dickerson, OF, PIT A recent ankle injury seems to have brought down his ADP significantly (drafted 25 spots after injured teammate Polanco), but all signs point to him being fine well in advance of the regular season. Dickerson is coming off a .300 season, and seems to have re-invented his game as a contact hitter. This fits the bill for a good stable option to fill out my last OF spot. 18.13 (285) - AJ Minter, RP, ATL My saves situation so far is pretty bad, but if I at least put in a few stakes, maybe I might be able to find an option or two on the FA wire throughout the year, and maybe be at least competitive in that Category. Maybe. Minter looks to have better stuff than Vizcaino, and as long as Kimbrel isn’t headed to Atlanta, then I expect Minter to be the guy before too long. It’s also been ~120 picks that have gone off since I’ve last picked a pitcher, so maybe it’s time? 19.04 (292) - Tyler Skaggs, SP, LAA Skaggs recent shut-down seems to just be cautionary (forearm fatigue). If he’s healthy, as an owner of Skaggs last year, I can remember him being very valuable for quite a few weeks in which I streamed him. Here’s hoping he can put together another good stretch to start the year. If it doesn’t work out, then he might end up on the wire before too long. 20.13 (317) - Ryan McMahon, 1B/2B (soon?), COL IF, and that’s a BIG IF, he can hold onto the starting 2B job for the Rockies, the upside is HUGE. He’s currently hitting .462 this spring, and his career AAA OBP is. 379 and SLG .577. The results of this positional battle w/Garrett Hampson (taken in the 11th round) will have a huge impact on his value. I’ll be watching my news feed anxiously as the regular season approaches. 18 JeffG       ID: 0151257       Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 23:51 18.16 Wilmer Flores 1B Ari Still need to fill in my MI spot so getting a little creative. Wilmer currently holds only 1B eligibility in fantasy but is expected to play 2B primarily with the DBacks, and I have him a little above the other available players on my MI queue, especially in the ratios and RBI. Just have to wait a week or so to become eligible. 19.01 Brad Peacock SP Hou As of right now Peacock has the inside track for the Astros fifth starter slot. Has a 10+ K/9 rate which would probably drop some if he goes into the rotation, but additionally seems good for some wins and a mid 3 ERA. If he goes back to the pen, his reliever projections are comparable to those getting selected here and back to the drawing board for my SP5 20.16 Adam Ottavino RP NYY I have 5SP, one of whom will start on the IL and only 2 RP so time to add to the pen. I had a bunch of middle relievers to choose from and went with O because he has a very solid around 12 in the K9 rate and hopefully decent for the ratios and I think he struck out Babe Ruth once. In a very crowded Yankee pen he will likely not see any saves. Plus props for the guy who found a loophole in the no single digits will ever be worn again by a Yankee. 21.01 Jeurys Familia RP NYM Still need a MI until Wilmer gets eligible and almost grabbed Starlin Castro, but instead decided to get a second MR who is solid set up man. Again good for Ks and ratios but maybe will taste a save here and there 19 jaydog       ID: 33243109       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 12:56 16.08: Kyle Freeland - SP - COL A second Rockies pitcher... yikes. While that prospect is scary, I like Freeland better than the alternative options available at this point. I can't expect him to repeat last seasons sub 3 ERA, and 17 wins, but he's still young, so its not out of the realm of possibility. While his 2018 ceiling is extremely high, he feels like a safe pick, which I need with the tough Severino news. Something between his 2017 rookie season, and 2018 season would be perfectly fine as my 4th starter. 17.09: Trey Mancini - 1B/OF - BAL Flip flopped between Mancini and Ryan O'Hearn with this pick, who could not have had more opposite 2018's. O'Hearn's cup of coffee could not have been better with a .950 OPS across 44 games to Mancini's .715. With that said, most projections that I saw, have them projected to similar stats this year, guessing that O'Hearn should come back to earth a bit, and Mancini to rebound. Projecting similar stats, I went with Mancini, since he should have a better shot at 150 games, in the middle of the lineup, versus O'Hearn having more competition for AB's, and could end up as a platoon player. Could definitely regret this one... 18.08: Blake Parker - RP - MIN I currently have two relief pitchers (May and Bradley) who "should" enter the season as closers, but neither have been officially announced. I decided to handcuff one of them with this pick, and had to decide between Parker and Holland. Holland had a horrific 2018, and has been pretty bad this spring too, and Parker has been solid, so figured that even though Parker doesn't have the closer track record that Holland has, Parker was less likely to torpedo my ratio's while MN figured out their rotation. If May locks down the closers job, even better, but if he doesn't, having the two of them will hopefully secure me all of MN's save opportunities. 19.09: Ryan Zimmerman - 1B - WAS All of my 1B options so far (Bellinger, Mancini, and M. Gonzalez) have eligibility at other positions, so I thought taking a risk on Zimmerman made sense here. When healthy, he's been as good a 1B option as there is, with above average ratios, and good RBI's hitting in the middle of a good lineup. Of course, health has been a problem for him the past two seasons. He's healthy this spring, and should play most every day to start the season. I have plenty of depth to fill in for him when he takes a game off, or has a short term injury, so felt he made a lot of sense given my roster construction. 20.08: Matthew Boyd - SP - DET Time to start rounding out my rotation. Boyd misses bats at a decent clip (8+ k/9) and had decent control (2.7 bb/9), but also gets hit around a bit to a 4.3 ERA last season. Not expecting that to improve much, but he has little competition for starts in Detroit, pitches in a good ballpark, and gets to face a few sub par offenses a bunch. Seems like a safe enough option as a 6th starting pitcher. 20 JeffG       ID: 0151257       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 14:28 22.16 Carlos González OF Cle Free agent CarGo just signed a minor league deal with the Tribe who have outfielder uncertainty going into the season. Pending a physical and playing in extended spring training he’ll get a chance to be back in the Majors in early April. Last year with the Rockies CarGo slugged .467 in 120 games, drove in and scored over 60, however if you look at his home/away splits he was a different player outside of Coors Field (SLG .561 vs .361) which explains his lowball contract with tons of incentives. It’s round 22 so the risk is low and the upside is someone worth at least 10 rounds higher. 23.01 Ryon Healy 3B Sea I’m not strong at 3B and no way this makes me better but it does give me someone else to mix and match. Healy does not have 3B eligibility yet but with a recent injury to a teammate Ryon should be at the hot corner for at least a month. He is good for slugging but does not walk much, so yet another OBP killer on my squad. On the plus side I now have someone playing in the Japan games so maybe gets me a few counting stats before deciding his long term position on my roster. 24.16 Brock Holt 2B Bos Still do not have a MI (until Flores becomes eligible) and it became a late draft running gag or inside joke I had with myself (can one have an inside joke with oneself). Anyway figured someone like LeMahieu or Pedroia would make it to the penultimate round. Pedroia did but is hurt so Red Sox “supah sub” (imagine me doing air quotes as I said that in some bad New England accent) Brock Holt is the pick. He should be a fair stop gap fill-in until the next best thing presents itself in our fantasy league. He is not a producer and has little real fantasy value but I have seen him go deep against a pitching position player in a blow out once. 25.01 Diego Castillo RP TB Still filling my pen and still some good options for round 25. Castillo is probably the Rays high leverage situation pen guy and has good strikeout stuff. May be the occasional opener which does no fantasy good for wins or saves potential however. 21 mmikulka       ID: 3225119       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 14:58 16.11: Jonathan Schoop - 2B, MIN Trevor Story was still my only middle infielder. I also only had two SP, and was considering Chris Paddack, but with 9 rounds still to go, I couldn't sell myself on drafting somebody who might not even end up starting. Schoop, Adam Frazier, and Ryan McMahon were my top 2B options. McMahon was interesting, and I think he has a good shot at starting the year with the large portion of a platoon, but there was a lot of risk there, and it would take a while for him to gain eligibility. Between Schoop and Frazier, I decided on Schoop for the SLG. Last year he was terrible, but he also got victimized by one of the 20 lowest BABIPs, and Schoop is only 1 year removed from 92R/105RBI and an .841 OPS. He'll hurt my OBP, but I've generally been good about drafting high-OBP players and I have some more lined up. 17.06: Steven Souza Jr - OF, ARI Yet another batter who disappointed in an injury-filled 2018 and who will hopefully bounce back. Add him to my list alongside Carlos Santana, Billy Hamilton, Jake Lamb, Brandon Belt, and Jonathan Schoop. If half of them return to their 2017 production, I should be in good shape. 18.11: Adam Frazier - 2B/OF, PIT I still needed a MI and a bunch of SPs. Brad Peacock was my top choice, but I worried about his history of struggling mightily the 3rd time through the order and the likelihood he would spend a good portion of the year in the bullpen. At MI, it was McMahon vs. Frazier: I was sort of able to sell myself on McMahon's playing time and sort of able to convince myself that he'd produce while in the lineup, but putting the two things together was still a little too much risk for my taste. Adam Frazier offered a stable role, a bit of upside, and dual eligibility. Frazier has had an OBP over .340 in all 3 of his seasons, which makes him a good foil for Schoop. Last year, he hit with power for the first time. All but 1 of the projections that I looked at have that power disintegrating, but it's not unthinkable that he may have gained some strength at age 27. 19.06: Chad Green - RP, NYY Since I'm underdrafting SPs, I need to compensate with elite RPs. While there will be a plethora of quality relievers on waivers, there are only a few with a track record of stats that are extreme enough to make a significant difference. Green has been one of those the past two years, where he averaged 72.1 IP, 2.18/0.90 with a 12.3 K/9. He also averaged 6.5 wins, and while wins are heavily luck-based, Green is often the first reliever used in close games for a team that scores a ton of runs and that has spectacular 7th-9th inning RPs following him whenever the Yankees take the lead while he's pitching. 20.11: Ben Zobrist - 2B/OF, CHC Good ol' reliable Ben Zobrist!! He and Shin-Soo Choo have been my most frequently drafted RIBC players, and since I didn't get Choo this year, I felt an obligation to draft Zobrist. He should start roughly 2/3 of the games again, and provide a high OBP and decent R/RBI totals while providing roster flexibility. I doubt his OPS will be .818 like last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Zobrist finishes the season with more walks than strikeouts. 22 I_AM_CANADIAN       Sustainer       ID: 01361448       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 15:27 21.04 (324) - Joe Jimenez, RP, DET Another bullpen arm, and a guy that has potential to take over the job. Last year, he blew 4 Saves (while converting 3), and managed a 1.197 WHIP. The potential for the Tigers aged veteran closer to get traded at some point seems high too, so Jimenez looks to be a season long hold, if I don’t end up dealing with too many injuries. 22.13 (349) - Jimmy Nelson, SP, MIL In 2017, he put together a 3.49 ERA and 199Ks over 175IP. That was when he suffered a season ending injury that also kept him out all of 2018. In his first outing this spring, he’s throwing 95 MPH, with good control. At this point in the draft, it’s worth a flyer to grab one more high risk pick. 23.04 (356) - Avisail Garcia, OF/DH, TAM A post hype slugger (2017 OPS .886), who suffered quite a few shutdowns last year due to lower body injuries. He appears to be slotted into the cleanup spot for his new team. I probably don’t expect him to get anywhere close to 600PA this year, but maybe DH’ing might keep him away from the IL / my waiver wire. I needed an extra power guy who should be in a guaranteed roster slot, as some of my picks are a little on the high risk side (Franmill Reyes currently shut down with Fatigue). 24.13 (381) - Keone Kela, RP, PIT Another “the next guy” closer, who also has the advantage this year stats wise of moving into the National League in a better park. At pick 381… he should help bring down my ratios, and add in a great K-Rate, which is about all I can hope for here. A handful of saves would be bonus, although, the potential of a Felipe Vazquez to RedSox trade in June/July (or a similar team/trade), could lead to bonus on the bonus for the last couple months of the season. 25.04 (388) - Joe Kelly, RP, LAD This is pretty much a copy/paste of my last pick, in that it’s mainly a ratios/ K-Rate pick. The only other difference, is the fact that the current closer, although deeply entrenched, had a significant amount of serious injuries last year, so there is some potential for saves while playing for a good Dodger team. 3 of my last 5 picks were RPs, which tends to be my end of draft strategy most years. 23 jaydog       ID: 33243109       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 15:42 21.09: Sean Newcomb - SP - ATL Have had Newcomb on my radar for a few rounds now, and decided to pounce. I've seen his ADP around the 225 range, so getting him 100 or so spots below that seems like good value. He's had a pretty rough spring, but should open the season in the Braves rotation, and if he can find a reasonable amount of control, he's a k per inning gut that should provide some nice value. 22.08: Kevin Kiermaier - OF - TAM With Keirmaier I now have all three starting OF from Tampa... not sure that's a good thing. At worst, when healthy, Kiermaier should be a cheap source of steals, which I desperately need. At best, he could hit leadoff for Tampa, also helping me in runs scored, with decent power. He's only one year removed from an 800 OPS with 16 steals in 90ish games, so the potential is there. Also, as arguably the best OF in the game, he should be in the lineup more often than not. Injuries have derailed him in the past, but where I'm drafting him, he'll be easy to cut if he gets hurt again. 23.09: Sonny Gray - SP - CIN Was debating between Sonny Gray and "undrafted" with this pick, and decided to give Gray another chance after I took him to be my 2nd starter last year. He's now out of the spotlight in NY, and has had a good spring. While the ballpark isn't good in Cincinnati, he's now in the national league, and is young enough to expect a bit of a rebound. As my 7th starting pitcher, I think there's a reasonable chance that he greatly out performs his draft selection, and if he doesn't, I'll no doubt cut him a lot quicker than I did last season. 24.08: Luis Urias - 2B - SD Didn't really have a plan going into these last few picks, other than to take some upside guys with a decent ceiling. In years past I've used the picks on middle relievers, and rarely keep them past the first or second week of the season, so this year figured to target some bats. With the schedule a bit sparser in the first few weeks, I figure I can get a head start on some games played. Urias should be the starting SS for SD, at least until they call up Tatis, and there's a chance he hits leadoff in front of some decent RBI guys. He's appeared on a few "deep sleeper" lists that I've seen, so figured he's worth a flier here. 25.09: Roman Quinn - OF - PHI Quinn would have been more intriguing if Bryce Harpers ankle was more seriously hurt, but its appearing he'll enter the season as the 4th OF for Philly. Despite that, he has "spot starter" appeal as a base stealer. Looking at my team, SB's will likely be my worst category, so figure if I can vulture a few in the first few weeks of the season, its a worthy use of my last pick. 24 mmikulka       ID: 3225119       Mon, Mar 18, 2019, 16:14 21.06: Jung Ho Kang - 3B, PIT As I write this, I'm reading that Kang officially won the starting 3B job. As I was drafting him, it was still questionable, but there were plenty of indications that he was likely to get it. I wanted a backup CI, and with two 1B and only one 3B, this was an ideal choice (especially since Jake Lamb is no sure thing). Kang was very good in his previous MLB experience: in his two full seasons, his OPS was .816 and .867. He has had 2 years off, but he has been raking in spring training (other than a high K rate). There was also the tease of him possibly playing shortstop, which would have been a fantastic dual eligibility, but with the news that he won the starting 3rd base job, that looks unlikely. 22.11: Luke Weaver - SP, ARI Through 21 rounds, I still only had 2 SP. There were a few of them that I was interested in, primarily Luke Weaver and Caleb Smith. I also was looking at Steve Pearce, Eric Thames, Josh Reddick, and Teoscar Hernandez. SP took priority, and I decided on Weaver. He was a hot commodity in 2018, going in the first half of the 8th round. He regressed significantly last year, but he is only 25 and he had a K rate over 10.5 and BB rate under 3 during limited action in 2016-2017. Hopefully a new venue and a secure rotation spot will allow him to put it all together. 23.06: Eric Thames - 1B/OF, MIL All the batters I was considering last round were still available: Teoscar Hernandez has a lot of upside as a bounceback candidate, but he seems to be on the short side of a platoon with (undrafted) Josh Reddick is boring but competent and part of a great offense. His limit is probably 500 PA, though, and his upside is capped at this stage of his career. He might lose his job mid-season if the Astros call up Kyle Tucker. Even Reddick's normal platoon splits went haywire last year, so it's not as safe to just start him against righties. He stayed on my radar because he is being given reps at 1B, though it looks like he is only third in line. Pearce has always been good in limited action, and was great last year. If his role expands at all, he would be a solid starter. Unfortunately, he still looks like he'll be on the short side of a platoon with Moreland, and as a 1B only, he doesn't fit my roster very well. Thames is in a similar situation, but his upside is higher and he has dual eligibility. He's projected to get less playing time, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that 35-year-old Ryan Braun (or another Brewers OF) could get hurt or Jesus Aguilar could turn into a pumpkin. Even without that, if Thames hits at the .341/.505 rate he has these past two years, it shouldn't be tough for the Brewers to find him a few more at bats somewhere (or to find a trade partner). 24.11: Mark Melancon - RP, SF Melancon is being paid a ton of money, was brought in to close, and has not been nearly as bad as people imagine. Will Smith is a lefty who is in the final year of his contract. Smith is undoubtedly the better pitcher, but I think there's a good chance that Melancon will start the season as the Giants' closer. If so, these are some nice cheap saves. If not, he'll be on waivers soon. 25.06: Drew Pomeranz - SP, SF Unfortunately twilson wanted an 8th SP and drafted Caleb Smith. Pineda (also recently taken) and Pomeranz were my backup options. Last year was a debacle for Pomeranz, but from 2014-2017, he averaged 3.24/1.23 with 9.1 K/9. He is also going from Fenway Park and the AL to AT&T Park and the NL. Every single projection I looked at says Pomeranz will be unusable this year, but hey - it's the 25th round. 25 Seattle Zen       ID: 1610533022       Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 01:03 I realized a bit too late that Sean Newcomb was undrafted when I posted that above. Whoops. Can't blame it on being high, though. All the other rationales got up there just fine... If I was thinking of taking him at #250, I obviously like the pick at #329, nice job Jaydog. At this point I had five OF and SP. I had every infielder except C and CI. I was leaning towards a quality RP and 17.07.263 Ryan Pressly, RP, Hou fits the bill. He was a good arm in the Twins bullpen, then when he gets to Houston he just blows up. An ERA under one, strikes out like four batters and inning. Something amazing is going on in the Astro pitching braintrust. Trevor Bauer says it's cheating, some sticky substance is behind the large increase in spin rate the pitchers show upon arrival to Choke City. I think Pressly will be the closer in Houston sometime this season. I envision him rolling into Spring Training camp this year like Cedric the Entertainer in Top Five, "I'm the MFing Man in Houston. I'm the mf'ing MAN!" I'll take his stats even if he doesn't sniff the closer spot. Want to get a back up first baseman right now because I don't like a single third baseman left. I may get even better stats out of Kendreys Morales, but I think I want all five of my outfielders to bat every day. I'm looking at 18.10.282 Justin Bour, 1B, Angels because he is just one year removed from a .900 OPS season in the cavern that is Marlins' Park. The man can crush. Yes, the Angels have Albert Pujols and some $100 million due to him but you can't swing a bat from a wheelchair and that's just about where he is at. Otanhi is not going to get that many days at DH. Bour will start the season at first and will likely bat cleanup. All the has to do is bat halfway decent and I could envision some autoimmune disorder befalling Pujols that requires him to convalesces in the Dominican... until November. I don't know what to think of Ji-man Choi and Mitch Moreland must have rubbed a genie's lantern and wished that he could have a part time job for the World Champions no matter how poorly he hit. And who are all these Ryans? I reached my limit with the motherf'ing MAN in Houston. I'm not interested in these McMahons or Braiers, or O'Hearns, or Healeys, or Zimmermans... there has got to be a great Dr. Zeus rhyme in there. Should someone have whispered into mmkulka's ear that while, yes, there is only one designated SP slot, it is encouraged to draft more than one. Max Scherzer is great and all, but wins and strikeouts are categories and you ain't gonna get enough innings. That goes for you, too, Blue Hen. Strasburg and the aptly named Dreck Rodriguez ain't going to cut it. Your squad makes me think about the Tour de France. There is a prize they offer, a polka dot jersey, for the rider who does the best in the mountain stages. Called the King of the Mountain, this guy is all about these uphill stages and does not ever pose a threat to winning the whole thing. I think Blue Hen thinks he is going to get a polka dot jersey to wear as the King of the Saves. I'm not sure your seven relievers even make you the odds on favorite, mmkulka, Thumper, maybe jaydog hall will give you a run at it. I'm not going to emulate those two, I'm going to pick my sixth starting pitcher. I'm looking at Tyler Skaggs and 19.07.295 Alex Wood, SP, Red Stockings of Cincinnati Tyler goes to All Caps so let me explain why I'm happy with Alex. Last year he went #139 in this league. He is 28 years old, had been pitching in the majors since he was 22. Every single year in the Bigs his ERA has been below 3.84, two years of sub 3.00. His FIP has always been below 4.00. Great American ballpark ain't Coors Field. He will be fine in Cinci. His health "scares" some and right now he isn't throwing in Spring Training because his back is stiff. It ain't his elbow. He will be fine. He projects to have an ERA from 3.57-3.78 and a low WHIP with a 9 K/9. I like him, a lot. There are some late round second basemen that I'm keen on. At the start of this draft he wasn't one of them, but as I realized that he might hit second in the mighty Indians' line up, 20.10.314 Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cle starting to appeal. He has a great walk rate and if he an get his BABIP up just a bit, his OBP should be between .320 and .330. That will lead to a lot of runs scored. Steal 8 to 10 bases and he's a worthy backup. Speaking of killer walk rates, how has 21.07.327 Francisco Cervelli, C, Pit lasted so long? He had an .808 OPS last season! .378 OB% with a walk rate of 12.6%? Even if he gives back some of his OBP, he projects for a 750 OPS. In the Tout Wars mixed draft (they switch AVE with OBP, too) he was taken in the 12th round. After my Kipnis pick, only Thumper was missing a catcher, so I was biting my nails when he picked Burnes and then Castro, leaving me with the Walking Catcher! 26 Seattle Zen       ID: 1610533022       Tue, Mar 19, 2019, 11:45 Quite a few of my end game targets get picked in round 22. I've been waiting for Kevin Kiermaier to put it all together. It's like watching a roulette wheel land on red twelve times in a row, surely it will land on black this time. Why 2K? Brandon Crawford has had some excellent seasons, not a bad flier, Radar. Fosten finally pulls the trigger on K Morales, I suspect he will profit from that. The Mayor will get some early production from Tulo, at minimum. I took Leonys Martin as a fifth outfielder in another league, I think he is criminally under appreciated. Brandon Woodruff has an electric arm, even if he doesn't make the rotation I think he will produce. Jimmy Nelson may keep Woodruff out of that rotation and if he does, All Caps got a steal. Jung Ho Kang looks like the starting third baseman for the Pirates, he has a great career OBP, but he is also a Bill Cosby-style rapist. If you are fleeing persecution in your war-torn country, too bad, you can't some here. Can you hit a baseball? Yay! Here's your visa! I went with 22.10.346 Jared Hughes, RP, Cin simply because the third generation manager David Bell thinks it's cool to use the Slinging Cuban Iglasias in "high leverage multi-inning" situations, leaving Hughes to finish the game and getting a save here and there. Hughes had a great season last year and I see no reason he won't put up decent numbers again. If he doesn't, he will be cut quick. 23.07.359 Josh Harrison, 2B, Det was a spring signing by the Tigers and was given the second base job and likely the leadoff position. He had the talent for homers and steals in the teens. All I need is an OPS above .700 and regular at bats so he can score some runs, maybe steal ten bases. That's enough for a fifth MI. I like to take a flier on a SP late in these drafts because when you hit gold, it can be so profitable. I'm deciding between Vincent Velasquez and 24.10.378 Kyle Gibson, SP, Minnesota and I go with Gibby because 1) I already own a share of Vinny and 2) Gibson made a significant change to his approach in 2018, bringing his ERA below 4.00. If he takes that change one more step, throws his fastball even less and gets more swings and misses from his better pitches, that would move him from decent to very good. As a Twins fan, I'd like that very much. I also like the next three picks - Melancon, Schebler and Kela, a graduate of Chief Sealth High School in West Seattle, my parents alma matter. After my one bat Q of Schebler is emptied, I start poking around for a replacement for my final pick. Looking at projected lineups for every team, I see 25.07.391 Yandy Diaz, 1b/3b, Tampa may bat clean up. Didn't know much about the Cuban, so I read up about the prize the Rays got back from Cleveland for Jake Bauers. It seems that the Rays have been focusing on guys with high exit velocities from their batted balls that have not seen the results they should. Yandy had the 19th highest exit velocity of all qualifying batters and I guess that's not surprising for a man who looks like he has been cast from iron, but it is surprising for a man who hit a single homer last season. His launch angle is the culprit for that result and the Rays think that if they simply teach Hulk to lift his swing, good things will happen. Since Matt Duffy is hurt, Yandy will have a starting gig in April and he should gain first base eligibility early in the season as he is to split time there with Ji-man, I think. Worth a shot. Want to thank Judy for captaining another smooth RIBC draft. I didn't wait long to bitch about how slow it was going, only two picks into this thing before blowing up. There were some interesting experiments in team creation this year, I'm eager to watch the results. I have been relegated every year I have been in the same RIBC league with holt. Will we all be playing for second? I do like his squad, some likely profitable picks in the second half. 27 Judy       ID: 35493114       Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 18:49 My rationales so to speak are in the recap thread. 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