My second season in the ToutWars 12 team mixed league with alternate categories has me coming in as the returning champ! That means I’ve got a target on my back. (If you are curious, here is my recap of last year’s title run.) Last season, I went into this league with zero expectations, barely feeling like I belonged. Maybe that was the ticket to not overthinking the draft and winning the league, who knows? This year, I’m out to defend my trophy and with the draft taking place on February 28th, it was one of my earliest drafts of the season. I’m still getting my draft strategy under my belt and it showed.
For reference, we have OBP instead of AVG, Saves + Holds instead of Saves, and IP instead of Wins.
Like any good Razzballer, I used Rudy’s War Room for this draft but made some tweaks for OBP (thanks to the OBP Player Rater!) and did some gorilla math to force in S+H. This was basically just taking the pitcher projections, adding up everyone’s saves and holds, and roughing in some dollar values for those. My draft strategy with S+H was basically…ignore most RPs until I was sure I was getting a deal and replacing these stats via FAAB should be doable in-season if needed. Alright, let’s get into it!
Here’s a link to the DRAFT BOARD and here’s the squad:
C: Alejandro Kirk (10)
C: Jonah Heim (22)
1B: Nathaniel Lowe (6)
2B: Vaughn Grissom (15)
SS: Bo Bichette (2)
3B: Jose Miranda (17)
MI: Dansby Swanson (5)
CI: C.J. Cron (11)
OF: Juan Soto (1)
OF: Cedric Mullins (4)
OF: Jake McCarthy (7)
OF: Christian Yelich (9)
OF: Jorge Soler (19)
UTIL: Lane Thomas (23)
Bench: Randal Grichuk (26), Juan Yepez (28)
P: Brandon Woodruff (3)
P: Robbie Ray (8)
P: Chris Bassitt (12)
P: Raisel Iglesias (13)
P: Pablo Lopez (14)
P: Kodai Senga (16)
P: Patrick Sandoval (18)
P: Paul Sewald (20)
P: Zach Eflin (21)
Bench: Justin Steele (24), Jose Leclerc (25), Daniel Hudson (26), Ross Stripling (29)
I’d like to thank, Random Italicized Voice for once again taking the time to interview me about this team:
The ToutWars league winner gets their choice of draft spot, you went with 1.01…how did that work out for you?
I think it worked out OK. Juan Soto in an OBP league is an amazing start, but still, my war room numbers are not what I would like:
I’m lower this year in HR/RBI than I was last year (For reference, here is last year’s draft recap) and lower in OBP despite grabbing Soto. In fact, I’m lower in just about every category. But, I also drafted Adalberto Mondesi in round six last season, so not every story is told in the War Room values alone. I feel like this team is solid if not a little power starved. I panic-drafted Mullins and Yelich and am hoping I can trade Mullins for some power in the early going. We’ll see. I still can’t believe Bo Bichette fell to me at pick 23 though, what a bargain. I definitely was too speed focused this year after chasing it all last season. Jake McCarthy was maybe a reach, but he’s my guy and I’m hoping he leads the NL in steals and I can trade from a position of strength by midseason.
I am pretty happy with my pitching staff. Woodruff is a great value and while Grey is out on Robbie Ray this year, the pants sucked me in again. I’m a little worried about Bassitt in TOR but even if he falls on his face, Senga, Lopez, Sandoval, and Eflin are a nice finish to the staff and I’ll be looking to stream two-start pitchers as much as possible, probably dopping Yepez to do so ASAP.
I pulled off a flawless victory with RPs, nabbing Raisel in the 13th and grabbing Sewald and Leclerc at the end. Hudson may not see saves right away (and can be placed on the IL, we have unlimited spots if needed) but should see holds regardless.
Any draft day regrets and/or did you stick to your plan?
I regret not pouncing on Jordan Walker earlier, I should have grabbed him and hoped Grissom fell. I was also unprepared for the one-minute clock in an early draft (and for an in-draft radio interview as the returning champ) and had some panic drafting moments, as mentioned above. This team is power-hungry and I need to make some adjustments quickly.
Alright, give us your prediction for this year.
I have my work cut out for me, comparing my War Room values to last year, I’m not sure I’m set up quite as nicely. But, I have some players to reserve (Grichuk and maybe Hudson) in week 1 and maybe I can dig this season’s Taylor Ward off waivers like I did last year. I’m predicting a top-half finish but an uphill battle for the repeat.
Want to be my Twitter pal? That’s kinda creepy, but you can follow me here: @MattTruss
