The code I cracked? Not the Da Vinci Code or The Code, a movie I think I saw that I can’t remember seeing or who was in it and Google no longer works. This time, I cracked the NFBC code by drafting the best team I’ve ever drafted in forever. Forever, forever ever? Forever ever? Forever never seems that long until you’re grown and drafting from your home. The best team ever. Usually, I leave these drafts with a mixture of regret and meh. A rueful meh. Mehful. Not this time. This time I managed to draft a team I really like, which confirms to me how awful this team is going to be. Oh, it’s gonna be big awful because I love it. All right, get ready to feast your peepers! For those unfamiliar, it’s a 50-round draft and hold, so no waivers. It’s 15-team, two catchers and weekly for pitchers, and bi-weekly for hitters. Anyway, here’s my Draft Champions draft recap:
PSYCHE! The first week’s Buy/Sell is already available for Patreon members. It will be released all year early for Patreons, so if people are getting a jump on you, it’s because they paid the $10. Anyway, the draft recap:
C: Ryan Jeffers (15)
C: Bo Naylor (21)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2)
2B: Luke Keaschall (7)
SS: Gunnar Henderson (1)
3B: Munetaka Murakami (13)
MI: Nolan Gorman (22)
CI: Mark Vientos (23)
OF: Cody Bellinger (5)
OF: Jarren Duran (6)
OF: Andy Pages (10)
OF: Lawrence Butler (11)
OF: Jordan Beck (17)
UTIL: Ernie Clement (19)
Bench: Austin Hays (25), Hyeseong Kim (27), Joey Ortiz (29), Joe Mack (31), Edouard Julien (33), Gavin Lux (35), Carlos Santana (37), Nathan Lukes (39), Yohel Pozo (40), Jake Fraley (42), Taylor Walls (44), Otto Kemp (46), Jimmy Crooks (47), Sebastian Walcott (48), Kyle Isbel (49), Tommy Troy (50)
P: Hunter Brown (3)
P: Jacob deGrom (4)
P: Daniel Palencia (8)
P: Nathan Eovaldi (9)
P: Ranger Suarez (12)
P: Robert Garcia (14)
P: Joe Musgrove (16)
P: Casey Mize (18)
P: David Peterson (20)
Bench: Chad Patrick (24), Will Vest (26), Slade Cecconi (28), Jared Jones (30), AJ Blubaugh (32), Michael Soroka (34), Mark Leiter Jr. (36), Drew Anderson (38), Logan Allen (41), Ryan Thompson (43), Liam Doyle (45)
OH MY GOD, YOU GOT TOMMY TROY!!!
Are you being sarcastic?
YES. OKAY, YOU’RE DYING TO DO IT SO DO IT.
You’re right, I am. Here’s my War Room totals:
HMM, IT SEEMS LIKE IT DOES WELL ON THE WAR ROOM, BUT ISN’T BASEBALL PLAYED ON A FIELD NOT IN A WAR ROOM.
I see what you’re doing, but you can’t knock the enthusiasm out of me.
I WILL TRY! YOUR PITCHING IS BORING WITH LITTLE UPSIDE.
Who needs upside? Not this guy with two thumbs pointing directly at himself! I wouldn’t write a Nathan Eovaldi sleeper, because he’s boring, this is true. If valuable is boring! Why is Nathan Eovaldi always so underrated? Serious question. Drafted before him was Tyler Glasnow — can’t throw more than 120 IP — Trey Yesavage — has never thrown 120 IP in the majors. Actually, hasn’t thrown 20 IP — Emmet Sheehan — has thrown 133 2/3 IP, in his career — Cam Schlittler — has 73 career IP. Okay, you get the idea. I love these guys (except Glasnow). I am in on them. I wrote an Emmet Sheehan sleeper. Eovaldi is in front of all these guys. Eovaldi threw 130 IP last year, and was 42nd overall on the Player Rater. Eovaldi hasn’t had an ERA over 4.00 since 2019 when he was in Fenway. He pitches in the best pitchers’ park in Texas and is one of the safest pitchers.
IF EOVALDI WASN’T BORING ENOUGH, YOU DECIDED TO FOLLOW THAT WITH RANGER SUAREZ AND JOE MUSGROVE, HUH? YOUR PITCHING REMINDS OF THAT TIME I WATCHED A POT OF WATER BOIL. BOY, WAS THAT EXCITING.
Even though Hunter Brown is one of the best starters and coming off a season that was excellent, he has upside. He could supplant Skubal and Skenes as the top pitchers in baseball. Insane thought? Well, Crochet was the top pitcher last year so Skubal and Skenes never were. Casey Mize’s Ks went up 5% and 6.9 K/9 to 8.4. Mean’swhile, his walks dropped from 2.6 BB/9 to 2.2. He is headed into his first full season after his breakout and was considered a top prospect. Impossible to say how long it takes to break out for a pitcher, but Mize about to make me smize.
WAS THAT AN AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL REFERENCE?
Yeah, good, right?
OPPOSITE OF THAT WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING. ALL RIGHT, HOW ABOUT YOUR HITTING. LOOKS GOOD…[SCANNING DOWN] HOLD UP! YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T WANT ANDY PAGES THIS YEAR?! YOU FARKIN FREAKIN LIAR!
All right, here’s how that went down. This is what I was looking at in the War Room at that exact moment:
I just drafted Eovaldi so no pitchers, and needed an outfielder, so it was between Butler, Nimmo and Pages. At that point, I was on tilt for steals, so I was leaning Pages or Butler. The War Room told me Pages was the best selection for across the board stats and I had built a five-category team to that point. Plus, he had a small edge in steals to Nimmo. At pick 141, it says I would have a 20% of getting Pages and, lo and behold, he was there, so it also felt like I was getting a bargain. His ADP was 128.7 and I was at 141. I really needed steals, though, so I was leaning Butler, but the War Room told me I would have a 35% chance of him being there for my 11th round pick at pick 160, and even a 7% chance at pick 171. So, I went Pages, then crossed my fingers Butler would make it back, and he did. I could go through every draft pick like this.
PLEASE DON’T.
Maybe one more.
UGH.
I needed an MI and I needed power. I was at pick 280 and in round 19. I was met by this:
At that point, ADP didn’t really come into play. I just wanted a regular (so looked at PA) and I wanted the most power. Quickly scanning down, you see Nolan Gorman has the best power of the available options and also the most plate appearances. If being honest, Colt Keith and Brooks Lee were interesting. Neither had power I wanted, but Lee’s position eligibility was attractive and Colt Keith’s average was enticing. I was intrigued, y’all! Ended up taking a negative in average and went NoGo.
THIS WAS MORE THAN I EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR DRAFTING.
Come on, it was kinda interesting.
NO.
I can’t lose this league and that bothers you.
HERE’S WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF YOUR TEAM:
