Over the last month a large percentage of your questions have been focused on minors only and first year player drafts. Up until this point I’ve tried to handle your questions the best I could on a case by case basis. On who to take, where, and which player was a better fit. It was fun, I shared my biases, and you thought I knew what I was talking about. See, here’s the thing, I’m not so much an expert as I am an avid player. More than anything else these are my diary entries as I try to deal, day by day, with my crippling fantasy addiction. So today I’ve decided to give a real world snapshot of three different league’s first year player drafts. Below you’ll find a brief description of each league, and a look at the first round or two of each draft. This should give you an idea of what people are doing in actual dynasty fantasy baseball drafts in 2016. Better to show than tell, if you catch my drift.
12 team H2H points league
This league is an absolute blood bath. It’s more or less the baseball version of The League with bigger insults, and less celebrity appearances. This is one of those leagues that exudes passion, and leads its members to trash every trade, examine every pick, and most of all stay involved. In other words, you know these guys are doing their homework. The draft setup is simple, it’s done via text to the commissioner and any players not already owned and under their MLB limits are available. So all Korean and Japanese players are available in this draft. Each team has 7 available minor league spots, you’re allowed to keep as many of your minors as you like, but you can never exceed 7 unless it’s via trade, and the max then is 10. So in the draft you pick as many times as you can to meet your 7. Some people pick once, while others pick 6 times. Take a look below, and keep in mind the scoring is extremely weighted towards pitching. I’ll put it this way, in 2015 Clayton Kershaw out scored Bryce Harper by 100+ points. One of the more fun leagues to play in, and for sure one of the most competitive. Hell, one guy even made a video after making the final!
Round 1
1.1 – Anderson Espinoza, P BOS
1.2 – Brendan Rodgers, SS COL
1.3 – Kenta Maeda, SP LAD
1.4 – Francis Martes, SP HOU
1.5 – Andrew Benintendi, OF BOS
1.6 – Carson Fulmer, SP CWS
1.7 – Dansby Swanson, SS ATL
1.8 – A.J. Reed, 1B HOU
1.9 – Alex Bregman, SS HOU
1.10 – Dillon Tate, SP TEX
1.11 – Trea Turner, SS WSH
1.12 – Tim Anderson, SS CWS
Round 2
2.1 – Dominic Smith, 1B NYM
2.2 – Lewis Brinson, OF TEX
2.3 – Victor Robles, OF WSH
2.4 – Kolby Allard, SP ATL
2.5 – Orlando Arcia, SS MIL
2.6 – Cody Reed, SP CIN
2.7 – Nick Williams, OF PHI
2.8 – Kyle Tucker, OF HOU
2.9 – Brady Aiken, SP CLE
30 team Salary Cap Roto
A little different here, this a real deep league with 55 player rosters. So you’re minors are 30 players deep, and your MLB squad is limited to 25. There’s 5 rounds of 30 picks, plus a supplemental round between the first and second round for restricted free agent compensation. This league is full of really knowledgeable players with a wealth of dynasty experience. One of the most important components of long term success in this league is drafting and developing a quality minor league system. All promoted major leaguers are free from salary before they reach their limits but are available to be shuttled between your major league and minor league teams. After limits have been reached their salary is $500,000 for the next 5 years, and are still available to be moved between the MLB roster and MiLB. So a couple of good drafts, that yield productive major leagues on these 5 year deals, can open up a large chunk of your available salary to be spent on free agents to upgrade your roster. So not only are these top picks extremely valuable from a salary standpoint, but they also make handy trade chips. All unowned MiLB players under their limits are available, while Japanese and Korean free agents are off limits, and available in pre-season auctions.
Round 1
1. Rawhide (via Smokers) – SS Bredan Rodgers
2. Rattlers – SS Dansby Swanson
3. Bulls (via Blue Sox) – SS Alex Bregman
4. Blaze – OF Andrew Benintendi
5. Generals – RHP Dillon Tate
6. Generals – RHP Carson Fulmer
7. Hawks – LHP Brady Aiken
8. Smokers (via Rawhide) – RHP Yadier Alvarez
9. Rainers – OF Kyle Tucker
10. Knights – OF Ian Happ
11. Smokies – OF Cornelius Randolph
12. BlueClaws – OF Vlad Guerreo Jr
13. Dragons – C Tyler Stephenson
14. Sand Gnats (via Cyclones) – OF Anthony Alford
15. Sand Gnats (via Generals, via Bulls) – OF Trent Clark
16. Orioles – LHP Tyler Jay
17. Braves (via Red Barons) – RHP Kolby Allard
18. Biscuts – OF Daz Cameron
19. 66ers – RHP James Kaprielian
20. Smokers (via Crawdads) – RHP Phil Bickford
21. Bats – RHP Beau Burrows
22. Orioles (via River Bandits) – OF Yusniel Diaz
23. Pirates – OF Nick Plummer
24. Javelinas – OF Garrett Whitley
25. Blue Claws (via Spirits) – CI Austin Riley
26. Keys – RHP Connor Greene
27. Drive – RHP Walker Buehler
28. Braves (via Rawhide, via Braves) – RHP Francis Martes
29. PawSox – OF Eddy Julio Martinez
30. Sand Gnats – 1B Josh Naylor
Supplemental Round A
31. Rattlers – 9a
32. Generals (via Spirits) – RHP Jon Harris
33. Braves (via Rawhide, via Rattlers) – C Andrew Knapp
34. Sand Gnats (via Generals) – RHP Domingo Acevedo
35. Smokers (via Rawhide) – RHP Triston McKenzie
36. Bulls – CI Chris Shaw
37. Generals (via Spirits) – RHP Mike Nikorak
38. Gnats – RHP Mike Matuella
39. Rawhide (via Rattlers) – RHP Ashe Russell
40. Generals – RHP Jake Woodford
41. Rawhide – C Chris Betts
42. Bulls – LHP Alex Young
43. Gnats – RHP David Paulino
18 team Salary Cap H2H cats
Another long time dynasty with a salary cap, that I was brought into by our bullpen ace Smokey. It’s an uber-competitive league made up of other writers, coaches, and prospect hounds. The draft is relatively laid back as it’s a 12 hour clock with those that are skipped able to pick at anytime. Much like the aforementioned 30 team league, this league’s salary structure puts added importance and emphasis on drafting well and developing a talent pool to provide financial flexibility. All unowned minors are available, while professional players from Asia are off limits, and are instead available in the pre-season auctions.
Round 1
1) Phllies – Dansby Swanson, SS Ari
2) Rays – Andrew Benintendi, OF Bos
3) Brewers – Brendan Rodgers, SS Col
4) Giants – Alex Bregman, SS Hou
5) Pirates – Carson Fulmer, P ChW
6) Indians – Ian Happ, 2B ChC
7) Athletics – Kyle Tucker, OF Hou
8) Tigers – Paul Voelker, RP Det
9) Red Sox – Dillon Tate, P Tex
10) Rays – Cornelius Randolph, SS Phi
11) Yankees – Kolby Allard P Atl
12) Royals – Chris Shaw 1B SF
13) Nationals – Brady Aiken P Cle
14) Athletics – Trent Clark OF Mil
15) Orioles – Daz Cameron OF Hou
16) Indians – Eddy Julio Martinez OF ChC
17) Athletics – James Kaprielian, SP NYY
18) Royals – Triston McKenzie, SP Cle
Round 2
19) Phillies – Phil Bickford, SP SF
20) Rays – Garrett Whitley, OF TB
21) Royals – Andrew Suarez, SP SF
22) Royals – Michael Matuella, SP Tex
23) Pirates – Tyler Jay, P Min
24) Athletics – Austin Riley, 3B Atl
25) Blue Jays – Tyler Stephenson, C Cin
26) Phillies – Nick Plummer, OF Stl
27) Red Sox – Josh Naylor, 1B Mia
28) Pirates – Yusniel Diaz, OF LAD
29) Yankees – Taylor Ward, C LAA
30) Braves – Jonathan Harris, P Tor
31) Giants – Beau Burrows, SP Det
32) Phillies – DJ Stewart, OF Bal
33) Orioles – Kevin Newman, SS Pit
34) Phillies – Michael Soroka, SP Atl
35) Rays – Tyler Alexander, SP Det
36) Braves – Ashe Russell, SP KC
In closing each league has it’s own uniqueness and idiosyncrasies which makes the approach in each different. It’s important to take this into consideration, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your squad before entering each draft. Hopefully this week’s “show, don’t tell” approach has aided you in your quests to make your dynasty rosters great again.
