Twelve fantasy writers in one league and you thought we weren’t going to take this opportunity to hear ourselves talk (type)? Well, then you thought wrong! We’re all loaded with hot fiyah taeks! This isn’t the ‘Perts League that Grey hosts, this is just anyone that writes for Razzball and wanted to join an RCL. Way back on Saturday, March 3rd at 9:30pm EST, we all (well, most) settled in for an early season draft. You can check out all the draft results HERE to follow along. This season’s participants in RCL draft order are:
Dokken – Writer of Team Previews and FanTrax Tips this Preseason.
Jimothy – Writing all about the sleepers you need to know.
Yost – The H2H guru.
Kerry Klug – The local ambulance chaser.
MattTruss – DFS and RCLs are my game.
Victoria B – DFS Writer/Editor extraordinaire.
MB – Two sport star covering NFL and MLB like a boss.
Viz – Our resident Hockey enthusiast.
SON – Another two sport star, running the basketball side of Razzball and writing Team Previews for MLB.
Laura Holt – Deep and Only leagues are her jam.
Smokey – Our soccer wizard and baseball SAGNOF expert.
Phil B. – OPS is his bag.
Now you know who is in the league, next we’ll hear what they had to say about it. I interviewed each writer with some questions; some personal and some generic and here’s what they had to say:
Dokken:
Q: First pick in the draft is pretty sweet. What was the game plan once you knew you had Trout on lockdown?
Anyone who gets the number one pick should definitely feel hashtag blessed. You don’t get a better foundation than with Trout, so with that in mind I was set to go best player available for a while. I was shocked when Sale made it back to me, and after that I knew I’d be able to go with a lot of upside picks in the middle to later rounds to give my team the chance to really go over the top.
Q: What is your plan for saves? It doesn’t look like you’ll have many in April.
You should always know your strengths and weaknesses. My weakness is burritos, but my strength is picking up saves throughout the season. I rarely pay up for saves and instead handcuff closers to come into saves that way. I’ll also have Britton in a few months to help me catch up over the second half of the season.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
I’ve been drafting on Fantrax for months so I sort of knew where most players would go. Therefore nothing really stood out to me in terms of an overall draft trend, but I really enjoyed the draft chat. Being new to Razzball, it gave me a chance to get to know some of the other writers. Boo to whoever said they didn’t like Altered Carbon, though. Boo!
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
My favorite pick has to be Jose Martinez at pick 240 in the 20th round. I think I have him on every team this year and expect 25+ HR with a .300 average. My instant regret pick was Daniel Murphy at 96. I rarely draft guys that are injured coming into the season, but I had drank a lot of gin by that point and decided Murphy would be a good idea. I did manage to grab Villar in the late rounds to back him up, and I’ve made worse decisions while drunk (like putting leftover General Tso’s chicken on a Tombstone pizza), but I still don’t love it.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
Michael Brantley in the 23rd round is incredible value. At that price MB can cut him like a bench bat if he doesn’t work out, but his upside is a 15/15/.300 hitter in the middle of a great lineup. Biggest reach to me is Justin Verlander at 17 overall to Viz, taken before Chris Sale. JV is 35 with a ton of mileage, and Chris Sale just struck out 300 batters. That pick is just Fruit Loops. Or maybe Coco Roos. Whatever the craziest cereal is. Franken Berry?
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
I like my chances. As long as I can stay healthy and wrangle up some closers over the course of the season I feel like I should compete for the title of supreme glory. If I stumble, I do like Yost’s draft a lot. He might be light on speed, but overall he had a great draft and took a lot of guys I like.
Jimothy:
Q: Love the Altuve/Judge start, that’s pretty huge. Are you buying a Josh Donaldson bounce back?
I’m a huge fan of Judge this year. He showed big things last year and I don’t see regression in the cards. I’ve seen his xwOBA was actually higher than his wOBA in 2017. He struggled through a shoulder injury and saw a tough month but bounced back. Now for Donaldson, he had a rough start to the season after missing the first couple of months. He eventually settled in and finished on a tear. He’s had a healthy offseason and spring training. I will keep considering him an elite threat at the plate after seeing what he could do at the end of the year while healthy.
Q: Do you think Altuve/Hamilton is enough steals for you to compete in that category?
I don’t. As the draft was winding down that was certainly on my mind but I couldn’t find that steals resource. I will be keeping my eyes open for adding to that. I’m also hoping Hamilton can find a way to actually get on base and break the 100 SB threshold.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
Going into it I was pretty uncertain. I hadn’t done a full draft in quite a while as I’ve been solely doing the same keeper league for many years now. The team structure was intimidating too. MI and CI positions plus more than three OF spots was another thing I wasn’t used to. However, I came out the other side pleased.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
I like a lot of my picks. It’s tough to differentiate best overall and favorite. I grabbed four of the guys that I have written about (Cole, Bird, Gattis, and Kepler), so I am happy there. But my favorites are my Mets picks. I rarely get Mets on my team (for good reason) but you can’t go wrong with DeGrom. Cespedes also around pick 100 is huge. He can put up MVP caliber numbers if healthy and I believe in the Mets health this year (see Harvey with the last pick).
I regretted the Pujols pick just since the time slipped and he was auto-drafted. I forget who I had in line otherwise but it’s never good to run out of time while drafting.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I know a lot of people are down on Judge this year, expecting some regression. I believe he can still deliver top 10 overall numbers. Let’s compare him to Stanton. Stanton had 6 years of promise of what he did last year and only 1 year of MVP caliber. Judge put up very comparable numbers to Stanton and that was his first season. I’ll take Judge at 23rd and you can take Stanton 5th.
My biggest reach was Greg Bird. He hasn’t done anything in the majors yet. I’m drafting him on pure hope. You can check out my post on Bird for more details on why I feel he’ll be a top of the line first baseman this year. I took him ahead of Gallo, Smoak, and Mancini.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
Viz and Smoke will be neck and neck for first across the board in pitching, but Dokken looks poised to take one of the spots right after that plus much of the offense. It’s hard to not like an offense led by Trout and a pitching staff led by Sale. Saves may be few and far between but his K numbers look fantastic if he gets the innings. Almost all his hitters look poised to hit at least 20 dingers and some 20/20 or even 30/30 candidates mixed in there.
Yost:
Q: Cain/Albies/Margot is a lot of speed in the middle rounds, do you think you’ll have enough power?
I feel pretty comfortable that I added enough power in the first few rounds to afford to add some speed in the middle rounds. Arenado, Abreu, and Springer should all be able to hit 30+ HR with Correa and Seager good for another 25 or so. I feel like later on I added enough guys that will hit ~15 while helping in other areas as well. I don’t have a ton of guys projected for 80+ RBI but I’m pretty confident that I should hold my own in that department.
Q: You left the draft with nine starting pitchers, was that a plan going in, to load up on starters?
Yes, but maybe not to that extent. I typically like to wait on pitching a little bit and then compensate by drafting a bunch I feel good about in the middle rounds. I figure that it will give me opportunities for wins and strikeouts, and that the ratios will work themselves out. I ended up taking slightly more than I typically do, but that is because I just barely missed out on some RP that were taken near my pick. I realized I was looking weak at RP so I wanted to ensure I had a group of solid starters. There is a lot of turnover with RP so I’m hoping I’ll be able to snag someone off the wire or add through trading.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
This was my first official draft of the year so I was very excited to get things going. It was a fun and competitive draft. It is one thing to do mocks and look at ADPs but I knew that an experienced group like this that not everyone would be available at their projected position. I play mostly H2H leagues so I was a little unsure of how my team would fare in roto scoring but I am still happy with how my team came out.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
I gotta go with Carlos Correa as my favorite. I’m huge on him this year and was thrilled to see him slip to me at pick 22. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’ll see him run much but he provides lots of value in the other hitting categories. I know he’s young but I think if he played a full season last year we’d be seeing him go in the first round. I think Newk in round 24 will prove to be the steal of the draft. He has elite strikeout potential and has been improving his command, expect a huge year outta him.
One pick I didn’t feel great about was drafting Johnny Cueto. I guess getting him in the 15th there’s not much risk but I’m not too confident in him this year and didn’t feel great about that pick. Though not one pick, I regretted my approach to RP for sure. I had a couple I was targeting but got taken a few picks before me. I should have added Britton since I took Brach but I waited too long to do so.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
Corey Seager at pick 50 could prove to be a steal. Expecting a big year out of him in a strong Dodgers lineup. I’m a big fan of Lewis Brinson so I think him at pick 282 has got to be one of my favorites and has 15/15 potential.
Didn’t see anything crazy, but I think Chris Taylor at pick 54 is a tad early for him. I think he’s a great player who really impressed last year but I think he went a few rounds too early. I’m a fan of Taylor so I hope I’m wrong on this one.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
Ahhh, everyone looks like they have a good team before the season starts and injuries come rolling in. Aside from saves I think I have a really balanced team. I think my hitting is pretty damn strong and loved starting Arenado-Correa-Springer. Starting pitching should be around middle of the pack. All in all, I think I have a pretty good chance at finishing top 3. Maybe I’m being a little optimistic but hey confidence is key! There are a lot of teams that seem built to win it all, but I think Son might be the team to beat though. Look out for Dokken as well.
Kerry Klug:
Q: Trea Turner sets you up amazingly for steals, but do you think you’ll have enough power?
I don’t have a true slugger, but I like the power I will get in the aggregate. Votto, Gary Sanchez, Upton and even Puig will flirt with 30 HRs while a bunch of my guys will hit in the high teens and 20’s.
Q: Any concerns with Severino’s innings jump and Paxton’s general health issues?
Yes to both. I also think last year might’ve been a high point for Severino’s career, but I waited too long for a SP and wanted to grab someone. I was hoping Nola would fall to me in Round 5 so I’d have a nice 1-2 with Sev in the 4th. Everyone should always be concerned with Paxton’s health. But for 2018 I’m going to be the idiot that hopes he pulls a Giancarlo and wins the Cy Young when he stays healthy for a full season. In reality, he’ll miss…10 starts? Let’s say 10 starts.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
In the 2017 Writers League I didn’t realize that starting pitching isn’t as important and didn’t finish as well as I’d hoped. This year I was very conscious to not overdraft starting pitching. That being said I was maybe too conscious and I’m not in love with my shallow rotation of: Severino, Paxton, Taillon, Bundy, Snell and Mikolas. A LOT of risk there instead of taking some stability in the form of say — a boring Kyle Hendricks.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
Is it arrogant to say Trea Turner was my favorite pick? A full season of him smells like 60 stolen bases to me. With a high teens HR total too. I also like Puig with pick 100. I think now that we’re all over the hype and the entire focus is off of him he’s going to be a solid contributor.
Regretted: Well considering I just wrote an article about why you shouldn’t draft Tommy Pham — I’d say Tommy Pham. (The article was actually why you should draft Brett Gardner 100s of picks later over Tommy Pham.) I actually ended up grabbing Gardner with pick #237 and Pham with pick #69. If you go read my article you’ll see why they aren’t too different. Self promotion!
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I like Laura Holt grabbing Trevor Bauer with pick #135 overall. I think he WAY out performs that pick and ends up being drafted in the 5th or 6th in 2019.
I don’t remember if it was an auto-draft situation, but Verlander in the 2nd round by Viz seems a bit high to me. But Viz’s first 6 picks were starting pitchers so they might’ve been asleep on their keyboard or something.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
I’m thinking maybe 5th. I think my offense is well balanced in all 5 categories and I like my 3 to 4 closer set-up with Cody Allen, Sean Doolittle, Mark Melancon and Greg Holland. Three of those guys have great starting rotations in front of them that should provide leads to the bullpen and Greg Holland….who knows.
Starting pitching I’m going to have to cyclops the waiver wire and trade opportunities early and often.
Saves be damned I think Yost has a pretty solid team and will finish pretty well. We might be able to help each other in a trade down the road…hmmm…
MattTruss:
Q: So, autodraft, huh? What the heck man?
Ugh, I don’t want to talk about it. That said, I did at least import some predraft rankings so I wasn’t left to the devices of FanTrax autodrafting.
Q: McCutchen, Braun, Beltre, Longoria…You should just rename this the AARP team!
Yea, and no pitching to boot! On the plus side, I have my team projected to slaughter batting average (thanks Posey!). That should leave me open to stream if I get behind in SB/HR. As for the old guys, old reliable is what I’m hoping for. We’ll see though.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
I definitely focused my preranks on the early part of the draft. The first 5 rounds went just about exactly how I would have drafted anyway. I likely would have taken Darvish over Kimbrel in round 5 though. After that, I didn’t project the Razzball hit that guys like Posey, McCutchen and Longo would take, which left them right there for my autodrafting pleasure. Oh well, I can still work with this.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
I love Andrew Miller in the RCL format, pretty happy with him at 173. As for regrets, how about rounds 7-14?
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I really like Ohtani at 82 and Acuna at 86. Biggest reach, my autodrafting Posey at 77, I’d much rather have had Ohtani or Acuna there.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
I’m behind the 8-ball to start, but I think I can push for the top 3. Winning might be out of the question with this mess but I’ll make the best of it. My ability to stream quality pitching will determine a lot.
VictoriaB:
Q: Wait, no Jedd Gyorko? Is Paul DeJong your new power infielder of choice?
I never actually thought I’d see Gyorko and DeJong mentioned in the same sentence, but I deserve that. Yes, I have officially switched allegiances <turns and whispers to the camera: But I will secretly always love you, Jedd.> I had DeJong pretty high on my target list, pre-draft; I’m still cautious, DeJong and I are in a wait-and-see relationship, but I think he’s going to be solid (he hit 25 HRs in his first year over 108 games, so the sky’s the limit for his home runs… (sorry)), and I love his position flexibility. (The thing that strikes me generally, as I look over my weird-ass lineup, is all its moveable parts. My team looks like the Tampa Bay Rays.)
Q: Do you think Jean Segura steals enough bases to keep you in the mix are will you be SAGNOFing your way to more steals soon?
It’s actually terrifying that Johnny Safe is my best option for steals. I’m hoping Grey’s right when he says Segura could still take 30 bags, but seeing that my next best steals option is JOSE REYES, I fear for my SB column. I always do this, though. I get 12 rounds in and go “dammit, I forgot about steals!”
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
This was my second year drafting with the writers, and it was as fun as last time. The competition is tough and the conversation always awesome, especially as we all get drunker. The autodrafters made things extra interesting. Viz, I shall come talk to you about pitching.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
Favo(u)rites (sorry, to this Canadian it just looks wrong without the “u”): The obvious ones: Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger. Purr.
Instant regret: Ryan %^&**#$! Zimmerman. That was an accidental autodraft, brought about by panic, procrastination, paralysis and prosecco (too much of all four) – I don’t even know why he was in my queue. I think Fantrax is haunted and it sneaked him in there just to eff with me. Yes, he’s Grey’s 100th player overall, but I owned him (Zimmerman, not Grey) one year and he was so bloody frustrating I vowed never again. And now here we are again and I can’t just drop him because he’s a top 100 player. GOD. I’m so mad. I’m also somewhat worried about Miguel Sano, as Son mentioned; that was a panic “crap I need a 3B” pick…
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I’m going to argue with Laura about the Jose Ramirez pick – Laura, I’ll confess I swore at you from the comfort of my own home, a tiny bit. And reach-wise: bloody auto-drafters, scooping up all the pitching ;-)
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
NOT me. I suspect middle to bottom of the pack for me at best. I think Dokken might take it – I like the balance of his team (and the cut of his jib).
MB:
Q: I love the balance of this team, maybe a little heavy in steals and light in power now that Cruz might be dinged, are you worried about that at all?
No, It sounds like Cruz is going to be okay, so that is a sigh of relief. As for the steals, I did end up with a lot of them but I feel like I can trade Dee Gordon later in the season if I want need something because steals will likely be at a premium. I usually play head to head so I’m happy that my team looks balanced before the season starts.
Q: I dig the upside grabs to end the draft too. What are you expecting from Brinson and Kopech?
With Brinson, I’m obviously hoping that it goes better than his first cup of coffee in the bigs. All that I can really hope for is that he doesn’t hurt me in batting average while exceeding his draft value in the R, HR, and RBI departments. I have a ton of Brinson this year, it’s just how the cookie crumbled for me late in drafts. With Kopech, I’m just hoping he can manage his walks. We all know that the talent is there.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
My previous draft before this one was a 15 team league so it was honestly a breath of fresh air to run off a Betts, Bryant, and Thor start. It got ugly later in the draft because everyone in this league is very talented and intelligent with this stuff, but I like my team. My number one takeaway is this talent that we have at this site, thankfully a couple people got screwed on auto draft, otherwise my team could look very different.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
Getting Kris Bryant in the second round is my favorite, I think he is going to have a monster year, and his floor is very high. My least favorite is probably Michael Brantley because he never is able to stay on the field so that pick makes no sense whenever you get him. That was dumb.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
It’s a two round start for me. Son went Goldschmidt-Machado and I think that is awesome. It takes care of both of his corner infield spots and they both could easily have top 10 finishes. I don’t like saying anything is a reach really. Everybody values players differently and nobody is wrong until baseball is actually played. I think Ozzie Albies went pretty early and he’s not someone that I’ve reached for this season. He is going to be great but he’s only 21 and young guys are so hit or miss.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
I think that I’ll finish inside of the top 5, hopefully top 3. I think Dokken has a really good team, a lot of value and he has Mike Trout and Chris Sale. He’d be my pick.
Viz:
Q: Ooof, you autodrafted too, huh? You got hit by the crappy FanTrax prerankings though, that stinks. We should work out a deal since I drafted no starters during my autodrafting!
Yeah, pretty upset about it. I thought I would be able to make it, but I imported Rudy’s rankings in to be safe, or so I thought. Then I attempted to get into the draft via the FanTrax app and that failed, so I was stuck with their awful rankings. Let’s just say I have all of the pitching and my hitters are, at best, lacking. Pitchers are for sale, that’s for sure!
Q: So, you up for the challenge of making this autodrafted team a competitor?
To be honest, it’s going to take a miracle to turn it into a contender. My best hitter is Joey Gallo and my second is like, Domingo Santana. Not good at all. Given what I have to work with, my goal right now is to get into the top half. If I’m fortunate enough to hit the waiver wire lottery a couple times, maybe I can do better, but it’s going to be a uphill climb.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
Jonathan Villar in the 19th round stands out a bit. Sure, he could end up platooning or just being bad, but after 200th overall, that upside is undeniable. Steamer has him at 13/29 batting .250 in 124 games which is excellent for that late in the draft. I can’t take any credit for it, but the one good thing the auto draft did for me was getting Gallo in the 11th. I think he’s a slam dunk top 100 player and would have taken him 3-4 rounds earlier if I was drafting.
As for biggest reach, I don’t see anything egregious outside of auto draft picks for yours truly. I’ll say Yoan Moncada at 9.1, so 97th overall. He’s an extremely talent player, but I think we’re a bit away from him making a big fantasy impact. That batting average has a chance to be rough. Dokken has both Villar and Moncada, and I suspect Villar gives him more value at the end of the year despite going 10 rounds later.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
It’s hard to put me anywhere but the bottom. Sure, my staff is ridiculous, but dumb things happen with pitchers. I also have 0 closers (relievers period), so it’ll be a miracle to get anything out of those categories, and I don’t have them to drive my ERA and WHIP down. It’ll be an uphill battle in all offensive categories for me so hopefully I can finish in the middle of the pack.
As far as a winner goes, there’s a couple standouts. I really like Son’s team, although the injuries to Justin Turner and Willie Calhoun’s demotion hurts quite a bit (he’s been cut since this has posted). The Goldschmidt / Machado pairing to start is terrific though. Vicky’s team also has incredible upside. It doesn’t have the highest floor, but I’d say it has the highest ceiling.
Son:
Q: Odor, Mazara, Calhoun and Kela, are you a Rangers fan?
Ha! Just kind of worked out that way, but the Calhoun pick was a mistake. I wanted a pitcher instead and I dropped him right after the draft. I replaced Kela for Nate Jones. Just taking flyers on potential closers.
Q: I actually think you’ve got one of (if not) the best teams in the league, nice work! Do you see any major issues with your team?
Thanks Truss. All honor and glory goes to Rudy, though.. With the Excel spreadsheet he provided with his projections, I definitely had PEDs. I don’t think there are any major issues with the squad. Just need to stay vigilant with the pitching.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
Very fun draft to participate in because we all have a general sense of how everyone is going to draft. With that said, Viz and Smoke zigging (or was that auto drafting), while most were Razzballin was definitely an interesting twist.
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
I was very happy to get Strasburg and Darvish in rounds 4 and 5. I instantly regretted the Calhoun pick because my queue was all messed up and internet went down.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
Best pick was Brett Gardner in the 20th round. Possible 20/20 player, more likely 15/15, but still. Is going to score a ton of runs too. As for biggest reach, I didn’t see anything too egregious. I guess I’d go with Miguel Sano. There are some questions with him entering the season: weight and assault charge. Maybe could have gotten him later. Anyways, I’m just quibbling here.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
No idea. I have a competitive team, but so much depends on health/injury and acquisitions. If I don’t win, I will say Viz because….Nobody Beats the Viz!!! (an homage to the old Wiz commercials)
Laura Holt:
Q: How excited are you for Ohtani? Pick 82 is later than I’ve seen in other RCLs so far, so nice value for sure!
I really didn’t think I’d draft Ohtani anywhere this year, but if I was going to grab him once this year, that seemed like a relatively sensible time to do it. As for what he’ll actually bring to the table this season, I’m going to be adopting my mom’s adage of expecting the best, but preparing for the worst.
Q: Matt Olson is the only player Grey has projected for over 30 HRs, are you worried you might be hurting in the power department at all?
I’m not as worried about projections in a shallow-ish daily change league with instant free agent pickups where we can adjust as the season progresses (I figured if things go like last year, adding power will be easier than adding speed, though with this group of owners nothing’s going to be too easy!). Power will definitely be an issue for me, but I actually was surprised that my situation didn’t look worse by the end of the draft — I don’t have any 40-60 home run studs, but I have more guys than I realized who could hit 20 to 30 (and I think some of them could have a sneaky number of RBI because they are in particularly good lineup/ballpark situations).
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
I haven’t been in a league shallower than a mixed 15-teamer in years, so it was a little hard for me to wrap my head around the amount of production needed in each category compared to what I’m used to. Also, I’ve never played in a league with either an innings minimum or an innings max, let alone both, and really didn’t know what to do with that information, so if nothing else I hope this year will be a learning exercise in how to handle the pitching situation in this format. By the end of the draft I was still like a kid in a candy store — and it’s been hard for me to stop churning through bench players with the likes of Michael Taylor and Nick Williams on waivers after our draft. I’m used to checking the wire and seeing Greg Garcia at the top of the list!
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
The only pick I really regret is Andrus, even though I think on paper I got good value for him in the 8th round compared to where he’s being drafted. I just didn’t need him there, since I already had Bregman slotted at short, plus I knew there would be middle infielders I like/love much later in the draft. I should have probably grabbed Rivero at that spot, and I could have gotten Tim Anderson or somewhere else I adore SO much later. I planned to grab one top closer as part of my draft strategy for this league but just couldn’t pull the trigger when it came down to it, and that may have been a huge mistake. As for favorites, even though I don’t hate any of my other picks (yet ; ), I never had that one moment where I was just ecstatic someone fell to me… which I pretty much expected with this crowd.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I’m kind of loving Victoria getting Marwin Gonzalez in the 15th. I think he’s being underdrafted anyway, and being able to play him pretty much anywhere seems extra valuable in this format. He was near the top of my queue for a long time and if I had stuck to my original closer plan, he’s one of the guys I might have grabbed later, and probably should have. You could call my taking Jose Ramirez with the 15th overall pick of the draft one of the biggest reaches, as he will have to outperform what may well have been a career 2017 to justify that pick. I don’t necessarily regret it though — as I said, I wanted a guy who could help in all 5 categories there, plus I really wanted Ramirez on at least one team this year and this was probably my last chance since he’ll be kept in the two auction leagues I still have coming up.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
Given the steep learning curve I’m already feeling for the RCL setup, I guess I’m hoping for a middle of the pack showing. I really love a lot of these teams, but if I had to make an instant decision on which one I’d take if you gave me the choice, I think I’d go with Son.
Smokey:
Q: I always look to Razzball’s SAGNOF guru to see who you drafted, looks like Acuna and Diaz only, did you get autodrafted too?
I did autodraft unfortunately. Weekend drafts are tough. I am hoping to scour the wire for steals and saves.
Q: If so, can you turn this thing into a competitor?
Gonna be tough. The starting pitching is strong and having Kershaw and Scherzer is a great thing. Hopefully I can take a strength and trade it when needed.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
Kerry starting Turner Votto and Sanchez s a great start. There are no rescues when you are in a room surrounded by razzgeniuses.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
Middle of the pack. Too many ifs and buts with my hitters as the autodraft gods hate me because I Irish good bye’d them.
Phil B.:
Q: Last year after the draft Grey had your team projected for the fewest HRs, this year you’re projected for the most, was this intended?
I was disappointed as the OPS guy around here last season to have suck little power! Had to change that, and I love guys like Schoop, KDavis, Hoskins, Rizzo, Rendon, and even Lindor being predicted for good HRs. Also adding Schwarber and Conforto in rounds 13 and 14 helps the HR totals (but not the average, will may need some work).
Q: Actually, it looks like you really learned the format well from last year, power, power, power, less on pitching, plenty of saves. You might be the team to beat, nice work!
Well thanks! I really wanted to stick to drafting hitters for at least the first 7 or 8 rounds and then get some decent K’ closers and Knebel and Giles fit the bill. Familia, Claudio and Rodney were just bonuses after round 16.
Q: What were your overall thoughts on the draft?
It’s great! I look forward to seeing where everyone is on guys, and good to have a solid group of drafters.. It went a bit longer than normal but I’ve come to expect that, especially in the later rounds with extremely knowledgeable owners. And I actually like picking at the turn (though I would rather start with Trout).
Q: Tell us your favorite pick you made and the pick you instantly regretted.
Schwarber in 13 and Conforto in 14. I see both providing a lot of value this year and should perform like 7th or 8th rounders. I had plenty of time to get my queue ready picking at the turn so I didn’t feel the clock ticking down at all, but Gohara in 21 wasn’t needed as I’ll drop him pretty quick.
Q: What did you think was the best overall pick of the draft and biggest reach of the draft?
I like Paul Dejong a lot this year and see Round 14 as great value; Josh Bell and David Dahl in Round 17, Matt Chapman and Jose Martinez in Round 20 as well.
For reach, all the picks were relatively good through 10 rounds; Greg Bird in 11 before Smoak, Gallo and Mancini surprised me.
Q: Go ahead and give us a prediction for where you think you’ll finish and who is your pick to win (if not yourself).
I feel good about finishing top 3 if injuries don’t derail and I’m able to add some SP throughout the season. Stream-o-nator here i come! I like Dokken’s and Yost’s teams as well, and we all know it comes down to managing and in this group it’s anyone’s league to win.
Finally, I thought it would a fun exercise to see who our resident experts, Grey and Rudy would pick to win the league. This obviously doesn’t take into account in-season management, trades or anything besides the draft really. Still I thought it would be a fun thing to look at. Based on the draft here are Grey and Rudy’s projections (or point shares) for each team and their corresponding roto points:
| GREY: | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | K |
| Dokken | 1081 | 331 | 1084 | 170 | 0.267 | 97 | 30 | 3.437 | 1.189 | 1410 |
| jimothy | 1088 | 341 | 1103 | 137 | 0.267 | 83 | 98 | 3.526 | 1.193 | 1304 |
| Yost | 1071 | 308 | 1050 | 132 | 0.2795 | 87 | 60 | 3.671 | 1.238 | 1320 |
| Kerry Kloog | 1208 | 295 | 1119 | 191 | 0.2744 | 72 | 65 | 3.374 | 1.18 | 1109 |
| MattTruss | 1293 | 322 | 1218 | 165 | 0.2817 | 70 | 96 | 3.427 | 1.147 | 1120 |
| Victoria’s Siegrist | 1090 | 325 | 1049 | 127 | 0.2697 | 73 | 125 | 3.457 | 1.194 | 1176 |
| MB | 1118 | 314 | 1116 | 181 | 0.2748 | 88 | 88 | 3.645 | 1.204 | 1376 |
| Viz | 842 | 267 | 838 | 91 | 0.2555 | 153 | 0 | 3.658 | 1.203 | 2292 |
| Son | 1153 | 327 | 1087 | 143 | 0.2762 | 73 | 107 | 3.552 | 1.192 | 1177 |
| LauraHolt | 1132 | 313 | 1078 | 159 | 0.2759 | 76 | 116 | 3.562 | 1.226 | 1168 |
| Smoke | 891 | 291 | 924 | 64 | 0.2593 | 129 | 36 | 3.543 | 1.179 | 1831 |
| PhilB | 1021 | 349 | 1109 | 107 | 0.2728 | 76 | 88 | 3.621 | 1.206 | 1161 |
| GREY: | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | K | TOTAL |
| MattTruss | 12 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 86 |
| Son | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 77 |
| Dokken | 5 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 75 |
| MB | 8 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 75 |
| Kerry Kloog | 11 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 74 |
| jimothy | 6 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 73 |
| LauraHolt | 9 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 64 |
| Victoria’s Siegrist | 7 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 62 |
| PhilB | 3 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 54 |
| Smoke | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 52 |
| Yost | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 50 |
| Viz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 38 |
| RUDY: | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | K |
| Dokken | 25 | 27.3 | 24.3 | 52.9 | 30.4 | 14.7 | 1.9 | 18.2 | 13.9 | 11.2 |
| jimothy | 30.7 | 41.8 | 37.8 | 25.1 | 24.9 | 8.7 | 21.5 | 14.3 | 16.6 | 5.1 |
| Yost | 32.9 | 23 | 28.9 | 30.1 | 49.1 | 13.7 | 12.3 | 15.8 | 10 | 9.5 |
| Kerry Kloog | 25.2 | 21 | 12 | 57.5 | 45.2 | 8.4 | 14.8 | 12.9 | 13 | 7.9 |
| MattTruss | 47 | 29.3 | 38.6 | 43.1 | 91.2 | 17.6 | 17.2 | 17.4 | 25.1 | 22.2 |
| Victoria’s Siegrist | 8.1 | 25.7 | 17.7 | 17.1 | 34.6 | 10.8 | 32 | 9 | 9.1 | 6.1 |
| MB | 30.9 | 27.2 | 30.3 | 49.2 | 39.1 | 6.3 | 15.5 | 12.7 | 14.1 | 9.3 |
| Viz | -13.3 | 12.3 | -7 | 11.8 | -3.8 | 31.8 | 0 | 23.2 | 26 | 36.3 |
| Son | 41.9 | 36 | 41.4 | 37.4 | 58.4 | 11.7 | 15 | 9.9 | 7.7 | 10.8 |
| LauraHolt | 30 | 14.1 | 20.5 | 52.2 | 40 | 14.6 | 16 | 13.1 | 8.7 | 18.4 |
| Smoke | 14.7 | 35.8 | 25.2 | 7.6 | 9.6 | 17.4 | 8.5 | 24.1 | 21.4 | 12.4 |
| PhilB | 18.9 | 39.9 | 30.2 | 2.2 | 29.7 | 11.2 | 6.5 | 12.1 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| RUDY: | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | K | TOTAL |
| MattTruss | 12 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 103 |
| Son | 11 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 75 |
| jimothy | 8 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 70 |
| Dokken | 5 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 69 |
| Yost | 10 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 68 |
| LauraHolt | 7 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 67 |
| Smoke | 3 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 67 |
| MB | 9 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 66 |
| Viz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 55 |
| Kerry Kloog | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 55 |
| Victoria’s Siegrist | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 44 |
| PhilB | 4 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 |
Well, there you have it, no need to play this one out, I’ve got it wrapped up! Ha! Not with this competition. What these numbers don’t say is that I have no starting pitching. Seriously, none. Pomeranz and Samardzija are both starting the year on the DL along with Salazar. That leaves…Mike Minor? So, I’ll be streaming my butt off which will clobber my ratios turning those 9s and 11s into 4s and 5s. My bet is on the second place team in these projections, Son.
Things are extremely tight in Grey’s projections with only 4 pts separating Son, Dokken, MB, Kerry and Jimothy.
Yost moves from 11th in Grey’s numbers to 5th in Rudy’s.
I love Phil B’s team, so it’s surprising to see him last in Rudy’s projections and 4th from the bottom in Grey’s.
Who are you all placing your bets on? Should be a fun league to check in on throughout the season and you can do so HERE. Best of luck everyone.
Want to be my Twitter pal? That’s kinda creepy, but you can follow me here: @MattTruss
