Last year I learned it’s better to come in 2nd than 1st. I was leading for most of last year but tripped in September and finished in 2nd. At first, I felt defeated, but the longer I sat with my 2nd place finish, the more I realized that 2nd place is first place without being mad if someone doesn’t say congrats to you. 2nd place gets all the modesty while 1st place gets to be all “showy.” 1st place is insane pressure for a follow-up. I might mess around and come in 3rd or 4th this year and who cares! It’s all about setting expectations. I set expectations at “sorta okay things,” so here’s to hurdling them! Okay, this league is a 12-team, NL-Only auction with two catchers, two swingmen (can be pitchers or hitters), an infield slot and a UTIL slot. No corner or middle infielder. Anyway, here’s my Tout Wars team:
First, let’s look at the team I drafted last year that came in 2nd, then I’ll hit you with this year’s.
C: Hunter Goodman – $8
C: Nick Fortes – $1
1B: Michael Toglia – $18
2B: Thairo Estrada – $10
SS: Elly De La Cruz – $40
3B: Ryan McMahon – $14
INF: Jonah Bride – $2
OF: James Wood – $27
OF: Alec Burleson – $11
OF: Andy Pages – $2
OF: Tyrone Taylor – $1
UTIL: Shohei Ohtani – $45
Swing: Nasim Nunez – $1
Swing: Matt Mervis – $1
Bench: Alex Call, Dane Myers
P: Ryan Helsley – $19
P: Roki Sasaki – $18
P: Robbie Ray – $14
P: Ranger Suarez – $10
P: MacKenzie Gore – $10
P: Jose Quintana – $3
P: Landen Roupp – $2
P: Jake Irvin – $2
P: Dennis Santana – $1
Bench: Andrew Abbott, Stephen Kolek
Michael Toglia was gross for $18 and Roki wasn’t much better. Pages and Andrew Abbott were awesome and what I’m saying is you need a grain of salt when I show this year’s. Promise? Okay, here’s this year’s:
C: Agustin Ramirez – $18
C: Luis Campusano – $1
1B: Edouard Julien – $3
2B: Willi Castro – $14
SS: CJ Abrams – $22
3B: Eugenio Suarez – $22
INF: Mark Vientos – $9
OF: Juan Soto – $50
OF: Fernando Tatis Jr. – $37
OF: TJ Friedl – $10
OF: Jacob Young – $1
UTIL: Luis Rengifo – $2
Swing: David Hamilton – $1
Swing: Graham Pauley – $1
Bench: Thomas Saggese, Luis Matos
P: Daniel Palencia – $19
P: Brandon Woodruff – $18
P: Robbie Ray – $13
P: David Peterson – $6
P: Reynaldo Lopez – $6
P: Mitch Keller – $4
P: Brandon Sproat – $1
P: Griffin Canning – $1
P: Calvin Faucher – $1
Bench: Jake Irvin, Jose Quintana
OKAY, GIVE ME YOUR WAR ROOM TOTALS SO I KNOW WHAT TO MOCK.
Here’s my Tout Wars, uh, War Room totals, please give your worst:
LET’S TRY TO LEARNS ME SOMETHING TODAY AND GIVE ME YOU FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE PICK FROM HITTERS.
Okay, I could say a few for my favorite pick–
JESUS CHRIST DON’T GIVE ME THE OL’ SONG AND DANCE! JUST THE NAME AND WHY!
Agustin Ramirez is surprisingly my favorite pick.
A’IGHT, YOU THREW ME A BIT WITH THAT ONE. I’LL LET YOU SONG AND DANCE A BIT NOW.
Catchers are not cheap in this league. Hunter Goodman went for $22; Francisco Alvarez went for $15; Will Smith went for $20; William Contreras went for $26. I had Agustin Ramirez down for $19 and I got him for a dollar cheaper. That’s about the best deal I got. That seems insane, but that’s how this league is. There’s no deals. It feels like everyone is using the same sheet of dollar values. I had Juan Soto for $44 and I got him at $50. I like Sexy Dr. Pepper, but that ain’t no deal. I have Mark Vientos for $14 and got him for $9. I guess that’s good, but feels a lot more risky. Honestly, that’s my least favorite, and the chance for the biggest head shake. Prolly most predictable surprise came from getting Eugenio at $22 when I had him for $27, but if I said a vet 3rd baseman as the most surprising pick it wouldn’t have surprised you as much.
WAIT, YOU HAD A MOST SURPRISING PICK AND A MOST PREDICTABLY SURPRISING PICK?
Yeah, does that work?
NO, NOT AT ALL. OKAY, GIVE ME THE MOST SURPRISING PITCHER PICK.
I have Jake Irvin for $2 and got him for free. Lowercase yay, start the parade. That’s not conventionally surprising though.
JUST GIVE ME ONE SURPRISING PICK AND NOT SEVENTEEN OF NINE PITCHERS AS SURPRISING PICKS!
Brandon Sproat went for $1. To me. That’s nuts. Okay, let’s recap. Mets develop players like Ronny Mauricio–Wait, not him. Like Jarred Kelenic–No, can’t blame that on them. They develop players like Brett Baty and Vientos–Okay, not best examples. They have Nolan McLean; he’s supposed to be good. Brewers, on the other hand? They develop everyone well beyond their capability. They turned Quinn Priester from a guy who looked like a swingman into a number two. (He’s injured this year though, and my top 100 starters were updated.) Brewers regularly take guys like Devin Williams and say, “Meh, you can have him in this trade, we have Random Dude In Pen to replace him.” That the Brewers wanted Sproat and he looks destined for their rotation? Well, I moved him into the top 80 starters, and updated the pitchers’ pairing tool. (Top 500 is updated constantly too.) Honestly, I don’t know why Sproat went for a $1. He’s throwing 98 MPH in the spring, and about to be one of the best draft picks.
YOU’RE STARTING TO GET MY EXCITED FOR THIS TEAM, BUT THEN I SEE YOU HAVE LUIS RENGIFO.
Meh, he doesn’t need to do much. I get a 50/50 year from Soto, Cy Young from Sproat, Palencia’s Rollie Fingers up in this mug and Edouard Julien has us all remembering it’s Ed O before U ard? I need a mnemonic badly.
Anyway, to play against us for free, hit up the below links. Once they’re filled, that will be it (and there’s not many left):
Thoughts on Grant Holmes?