Welcome back campers to the second season of Razzball’s homegrown dynasty baseball league, “The Razznasty”, filled with readers, writers, commenters, and J-FOH. It’s with great pleasure that I ring in the second year of updates. Since we last left you a few teams have changed hands, a commissioner switch took place, a whole lot of trades before the winter trade deadline, and our inaugural 10 round draft comprised of the unkept, free agents, 2015 draftees and internationals. A couple of teams with ownership changes included, J-FOH pulling a Jay-z and retiring for like 5 seconds after winning last year, and then handing the M-I-C to commenter and hip-hop aficionado Nick the Dick. This was then followed by the “Hatest that ever did it” coming out of retirement to manage the first vacancy available. We also welcomed Smokey into the fold, as he stepped in to take over an up and coming squad. Finally this club will have the quality ownership to match it’s competitive roster. In addition to those three changes, we were gifted a real wheeler and dealer by the name of Raskals. An owner, that from his first day in the league, has aggressively built what seems to be a formidable contender.
In our latest installment we’ll discuss a couple of the trades from the deadline, and hear from some of the members of the Razznasty on their takeaways form the draft. Yes there were takeaways, just like the Oscars, but more like the swag from an insurance conference. Yeah another stressball!!! Well here it is Razzball’s 2016 dynasty baseball league.
2016 Trades and Winter Trading Deadline
Under the foresight of former commissioner Mike, a January 31st trade deadline was put in place to freeze all trading between the keeper deadline and the conclusion of the free agent draft. This made for a flurry of action at the end of January, with 5 trades going down on deadline day alone, and another 9 total in the final 3 days. When all the dust settled the big winner was Raskals, pulling off 3 deadline deals, and upgrading his squad across the board.
Smoke Show receives: Julio Teheran, P – ATL, and 2016 Draft Pick, Round 3 Pick 13
Raskals receives: Jorge Mateo SS,MI – NYY, 2016 Draft Pick, Round 9 Pick 4, and Brian McCann C – NYY
An interesting deal to say the least, as the former owner of Smoke Show bought Julio Teheran, and a jump up 6 rounds in the draft for a lofty price. As he sold Raskals top 50 prospect Jorge Mateo, and a very solid fantasy catcher in Brian McCann.
Deeper Data Collection receives: 2016 Draft Pick, Round 2 Pick 6, Derek Fisher OF – HOU, Taylor Guerrieri P – TB, Jameson Taillon P – PIT
Yes Cheese receives: Nelson Cruz OF – SEA
Cheese gets the best player in the deal and I added 2 prospects I like, plus a pick in the early second round. Ultimately this pick turned into Daz Cameron, another high upside player for my rebuild.
Raskals receives: Marcus Stroman P – TOR, Marco Gonzales P – STL
Cobra Kai receives: Aaron Nola P – PHI, Dominic Smith 1B,CI – NYM
An excellent move from both sides, as Kai adds a couple of good young players on each side of the house, and Raskals adds the best player in the deal in Marcus Stroman.
Deeper Data Collection receives: Ruddy Giron SS,MI – SD, Steven Matz P – NYM
Smoke Show receives: Masahiro Tanaka P – NYY
This one all comes down to who you like more Matz or Tanaka, can either of them stay healthy for an entire season? I liked adding Giron, as a high upside flier to pair with Matz. Another move made by Smokey’s predecessor. Hey man, at least he’s a Yankee….
Nightpandas receives: Jordan Patterson OF – COL, Collin McHugh P – HOU
Fresh Prince Of Hells Lair receives: Hunter Pence OF – SF
An aggressive move by Nick the Dick, or Fresh Prince of Hell’s Lair as he’s known here. (Solid Celph Titled reference my man.) As he added a nice win now piece in Hunter Pence, barring he stays healthy. While on the other end Nightpandas grabs a nice dynasty bat in Patterson, and a solid innings eater in McHugh.
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2016 Free Agent Draft Wrap
Lets hear from some of the league members about the recent 10 round slow draft of unkept players, all free agent players from the majors and minors, as well as 2015 draftees, and international signings, including first overall choice Yoan Moncada. Now let’s hear from the league!
Cobra Kai
“Given that I built an extreme spec-heavy roster last year, I wasn’t surprised about finishing dead last. Now is the time for me to begin the long, slow climb out of the cellar, which meant that I needed to use the bulk of my picks on current major leaguers or specs with a 2016 ETA. That being said, Moncada at 1.1 was a no brainer, and I like the risk/reward pick of Eddy Julio Martinez late in the 1st. The pickings were slim in the draft for major leaguers in round 2 and beyond, so I focused on younger players with a legitimate shot to start at some point this year (Duvall, Colon, Polanco) and possible closers who could be flipped later in the year (Diaz, Jepsen). My biggest learning from this draft will impact future trade strategy – quite simply, picks after the 1st round really aren’t that valuable when each team keeps 30 players.”
Shill Team 6
“Yuck! It was filled with teenagers and mediocre old guys with old guy upside(id est none). My plan was to grab a lotto ticket in the first and grab as many immediate contributors as possible. I really don’t like players who are two to four years away. But you gotta put someone in those minor spots. I took Trent Clark(OF) with the 10th pick. The only other MILB guy I took was another 2015 1st rounder Chris Shaw(1B) at 100ish to fill my farm team. The rest of my picks went to big leaguers who will get a shot at PT. At the close of the draft, I ended up with some spec saves, a little speed, a couple MI with starter helium, 2 RP who I threw back first chance I got, and a comeback candidate SP. Overall the quantity and quality of players is thin with 480ish players kept. It was honestly a drag.”
Hippos
“There wasn’t anything too fancy going on with my draft this year. I finished third last year and still feel as though I have a team to contend this season. That said, my target in round 1 was to snag an elite prospect from the incoming class. I think I got that in Dillon Tate. Sure, I most likely just drafted a future closer, but hopefully one that’s Craig Kimbrel-esque. If Tate does become a starter, that’s gravy, basically the same deal as a Roberto Osuna. After that it was all about loading up with depth for this year. I am only returning one closer, so saves were a big target. Spec saves go for crazy dough in this league, so if I could grab one or two now, I might save some FAAB. Welcome brain freeze extraordinaire, JJ Hoover and David Hernandez. What followed was boring MLB SP depth (Porcello, Holland), a starting SS (Aybar) since Jimmy Rollins is doing his best to keep my waiting Tim Anderson in the minors and some minor league/DL stashes I like (Jacob Faria, Brian Johnson, Lance Lynn – Who was DL’d so I could snag Henderson Alvarez).”
West Reading Phillies
“With the team looking to compete this year and mostly reserve/minors slots to fill, our draft focused on high-minors guys that can help us this year and next. A handful of relievers/starters in Givens, Almonte, and Gonzales and the high floors of Daniel Robertson and Alex Blandino helped round out the roster.”
Yes Cheese
“I sold the farm. In 2015, I finished top 3 in offense and bottom 3 in pitching. The path to contention was clear: since August 1st, thru the offseason, I sold the farm and acquired Gerrit Cole, Jose Fernandez, Jordan Zimmerman, Ken Giles, Jonathan Papelbon, Huston Street, Brad Boxberger, Brad Ziegler, Mike Leake, and Jesse Hahn. So when it came to the draft, I had to replenish with prospects. Dansby Swanson (1st) is sure to hype near immediate trade value. Christin Stewart, DJ Stewart, Gilbert Lara, Isan Diaz, Luis Alexander Basabe, Kevin Padlo, Nick Plummer are all 20/20 bets primed for breakout campaigns. This is the natural cycle of contention – the beauty of dynasty. If you’re in a competitive league where you’re excited for acquiring Mike Leake, you’re in a good league.”
Hannibal Montana
“I went into the draft without picks in the first three rounds, I like the players I picked but they aren’t exactly superstars. I was surprised that Rymer Liriano was still there at the end of the 6th round, he’s not a top prospect anymore but he should get regular playing time this year. I made one mistake and forgot about Tyler White, but I was able to pick him up for 2 bucks right after the draft, I’m hoping he can help me this year as well.”
Georgia Peach
“Here are my thoughts on my draft – As a rebuilding team my focus was on stockpiling depth with an emphasis on upsidey trade bait or near ready guys who fit my timeline. Should my window be pushed back, that leaves me with high upside specs at every position. For the final few picks I speculated on saves as those guys can easily be dropped for breakout players/ prospects or be used as additional trade bait given the scarcity of saves in a deeper league.”
Deep Data Collection
“After a disappointing year where the bi-polar rollercoaster that was Giancarlo Stanton ownership took me from early leader to late seller. I decided to try and flip over a chunk of my roster, and upgrade my hitting. This was mostly at the expense of a very solid staff I had built in the original draft. With this in mind, I tried to target as many young hitters as possible. Some in the form of prospects (Ian Happ, Cornelius Randolph, Daz Cameron, Wilkerman Garcia, Sam Travis) and others in the form of up and coming quasi-prospects (Travis Shaw), and flamed out former hype machines (Jon Singleton, Desmond Jennings, Drew Pomeranz, Jake Marisnick). What I’m left with is three things I didn’t have much of in my lineup last year, youth, depth, and potential.”
J-FOH In Haiku
Not enough Mlbers
These play for 5 years away
F***s ruined the draft
The End
