Perts League RCL Recap: Sniping Is Loving

Intro

Happy Opening Day to everyone except Ippei! This is my favorite time of the year. Spring is sprung, everyone is huffing hopium (EWB’s word), and we all get to talk about the excitement of baseball. It’s a magical time. And this, my final draft of each season with my fellow writers/analysts here at Razzball, is easily my favorite. The same people I’ve been bouncing ideas off of since January and sharing my hypes and fades with… now I have to compete with all of them, at the same time, in one 12-man league. For context, this year included: Grey, Truss, Laura, BDon, Son, Knoche, CramIt, MarmosDad, Mike, Lineup Builder, Kirksey, and… myself.

Draft Mayhem

One thing about our league drafting at the end of spring training… there are no secrets. Injuries have already been revealed, position battles are mostly decided, Boras’ clients have all signed somewhere, and everyone has at length already planted flags on what they believe in and don’t. As an “expert” league, we all understand draft capital, team construction, yadda yadda. Every round and pick is a bloody battlefield of love and value. This is peak “get your guy” season. Without further ado, my end-of-draft roster:

C: Francisco Alvarez (23)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3)
2B: Ozzie Albies (2)
SS: Zach Neto (19)
3B: Manny Machado (5)
MI: Jonathan India (16)
CI: Ke’Bryan Hayes (13)
OF: Mookie Betts (1st round, 4th pick)
OF: Jackson Chourio (7)
OF: Christopher Morel (14)
OF: Starling Marte (15)
OF: Giancarlo Stanton (18)
UTIL: Henry Davis (20)

P: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (4)
P: Alexis Diaz (6)
P: David Bednar (8)
P: Tanner Scott (9)
P: Shane Bieber (10)
P: Bailey Ober (11)
P: Nick Pivetta (12)
P: Nathan Eovaldi (17)
P: Aaron Civale (21)

Bench: Aroldis Chapman (22), Frankie Montas (24), Justin Lawrence (25), Jon Berti* (W)

**Picked up yesterday after being traded to the Yankees

Draft Strategy and Analysis

Always important to any explanation is the context. When talking draft strategy, it is league context. As many of you know, RCLs are 12-man roto leagues with daily moves and daily roster setting. It can be exhausting over the full season, especially with multiple teams. So know how that will affect your roster construction and management style. Here’s how approached it…

Closers: In the past, I have generally punted relievers and gone with a stars-n-scrubs approach. In daily league, many will reveal themself on waivers for “easy pickings”… is what most people would say. Not true here. My comrades are all very sharp and seems many them [staring at Truss and Laura] historically have been awake at ungodly hours of the night scooping up closers seconds after injury news or torch passing.

That is not my strength, I have a new work schedule and young kids. This season of The Great Closerpocalypse and knowing that is not my strength, I invested in bonified high K-rate guys with “safe” jobs: Alexis Diaz, David Bednar (handcuffed with Chapman), and Tanner Scott. The truth is, you have to pick safety somewhere in the draft, and it’s usually best to choose one that is your weakness. In this format, this is mine.

Starters: If closers are my weakness, then starters are probably my greatest strength (see catalog of sleeper articles that came true). In daily leagues with high turnover of streamed pitchers like our Perts League, plenty of guys will get dropped for the latest flavor-of-the-week and chase extra IP from preferred matchups. I didn’t need to invest heavily in SP, so I took one “ace” and then punted until the value rounds for pitchers I like.

Ironically, this is my first and only share of Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It’s funny everyone already calling him a bust. He’s 25 and has done more than most in his career thus far. Also, his command looked quite rusty still in Korea which is very much not his calling card. I still believe. I then waited for Shane Bieber as my #2 who is in his walk year and became a “went to Driveline” boy regaining his velocity etc. If ever the stars aligned for him to regain his glory, this is it. And due to league format… I can afford the risk with him as my #2 instead of a #3 or #4 as I did with other teams.

Bailey Ober for obvious reasons this year is a high-chance breakout candidate, part deux. Nick Pivetta is finally coming into his own and also coming up on his first free agency, after ASB last year he was only behind Peralta for the entire league in K-BB%. Seems a lot of people forget that for nearly 4 months Eovaldi was a top 5 pitcher last year. And lastly, I’ve told you plenty about why I believe in Adam Civale, here. All of which have a great chance to outperform their draft price.

Picks 1-5, The Launchpad: You can’t win a league in the first 5 rounds, but you can certainly hurt your chances. Typically I aim for “safe” 5-category production early to give myself a balanced spread and the ability to pivot any direction later in the draft. Four of the first five were bats, my first share of Betts (soon to gain SS position), Albies, Guerrero, and Machado. I would have liked to err more on the side of speed, but I wanted to nail down bats with 200 counter upside, positive AVG, and at least some SB. I’ll have to target some later in draft.

Betts should have a huge year, and if spring training plus Seoul Series are any indication, he’s going to feast hitting in front of Ohtani and Freeman. I wasn’t planning to be all in on Vladdy this year, but after not getting any shares of Alonso, I took the next, best run-producer at value. I don’t believe in the “best shape of his life” storylines but hoping it’s true for him this year and he gives something 2021-22ish. Machado seems like an afterthought after playing hurt and still topping 30/90. Last year he was 2nd/3rd round pick. (Also, due to the Seoul Series having Betts and Machado got me a jumpstart in cats with 2 HR, 5 R, 10 RBIs. Thanks!)

Risk In The Outfield: Before you jump me in the alley for not following my OF ranks to the letter, let me repeat, “context matters.” Your needs trump wants, as I tell my kids daily when they ask to play MarioKart (and in my defense, my CW$ are 19.16, surpassing the $15 minimum guideline I gave you). To go with Betts I grabbed another share of Chourio, whom I love for a sneaky 15/25 that could get hot and go 20/30. The Brewers gave him over $80MM guaranteed before playing a single inning in the majors… that should tell you something. Then I took a flyer on Marte (big speed value if healthy), Morel, and Stanton for the upside at cost. In daily leagues, you can take a lot more chances as you are not married to draft picks, and in 12-man leagues, there are so many OF on the waivers. Reminder: your OF4-5 and sometimes OF3 are churn and burn territory.

The Others: Hayes, India, Davis, and Neto are each guys I like for 5-cat seasons that cost less than they should. That goes double for India now with Noelvi suspended, McLain just had shoulder surgery, and Friedl headed to IL with a fractured wrist. Reminder: India was a top 70 pick when he had everyday at-bats and was healthy. Neto is also a stop-gap until Betts gets SS eligibility, which would then free up an OF/UT slot for [waives hands around head] anything. Finally, grabbed Berti for speed upside because I suspect DJLM is more injured than reported and Berti plays way more in a better lineup than people think at first glance.

Sniper, No Sniping: After burying the lede, you know somebody loves you when they snipe you. You share a brotherly(/sisterly) bond like fighting over who gets the last slice of garlic bread and who gets to be Player 1 on the Nintendo Switch. Here is a list of all the players my beloved league-mates sniped me for on Tuesday night…

Just Kidding! That would be almost every round. It was brutal. But here are a few key picks I had to pivot from: Grey wasted no time and nabbed Oneil Cruz in the 3rd. Knoche took Glasnow and Peralta on the 4/5 turn as I was planning to take one them to pair with Yamamoto. TLB shocked the world and jumped on Langford in the 5th. Cram took Steele right before me in the 8th. Truss took Imanaga ahead of me in the 12th (I don’t have a single share of Imanaga anywhere! I’m so bummed!). Knoche took O’Neill right before me in the 13th. And Laura basically took everything in even rounds.

So how do you think my roster looks? Did I make an error somewhere, not as high as I am on one of the players? Do you want to tell me this roster will appear in your dreams of the afterlife? Let me know in the comments below!

If you want more Coolwhip to top off your baseball experience, fantasy or otherwise, you can follow me on Twitter: @CoolwhipRB.