Wednesday 10 June 2015

The Major League Draft [From a Fantasy Prospective]

This week began the annual MLB Draft. It is a key point in the calendar when previous draftees could [or already have] start[ed] their major league journey and if you play in Dynasty leagues, you might have an advantage longer term with knowledge that non dynasty league players might not have.

Recent Callups [2015] Kris Bryant, Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Correa, JR Graham, Archie Bradley, Corey Spangenberg, Addison Russell, Blake Swihart, Carlos Rodon, Kevin Plawecki, Eduardo Rodriguez and not forgetting Joey Gallo. There are prospects still to come in 2015 Corey Seager, Steven Matz, Francisco Lindor, Slade Heathcott [although he has already been promoted and debuted, it was a quick flash in the pan before being placed on the DL],

Of the above names, I own most of them in some / multiple leagues I am in. Most of any of the names alone, could tip the scales in your favour, but if you own more than one of them [which I do in a few leagues] could mean the league is mine, [or yours if you're in a similar situation] to lose.

Archie Bradley isn't healthy right now, but was pretty good before being hit in the face, although his recent DL stint is unrelated, and is shoulder related. That alone could be worrying, as you never want to see pitchers missing time through arm/shoulder problems, but he's young so it could just be tiredness and nothing too serious. I own him in two leagues and I hope he can contribute both up to the All star Break, and in the second half of the season showing the kind of stuff he demonstrated in his first few starts.

Noah Syndergaard. Yes- all the win here. Despite recent struggles, I wouldn't read much into it as the Mets have been playing with their rotation and recently trialled 6 giving each starter extra rest between starts, which sometimes altars mechanics. I own Syndergaard in three leagues [2 of which are the same two I own Bradley in].

Kris Bryant - Arguably the biggest name on the list in terms of what he'd bring to the show and has a great line-up around him in Wrigley. I was lucky enough to snag him in one league, with many rebuttals in efforts to acquire him via trading in others.

Joey Gallo - Arrived with much fan fare via an injury to other players, I managed to snag him in two leagues [one the same league I own Bryant] and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with him whether it be another trip to the minors, or if he rakes up in the show past when he might otherwise be demoted, in other words will the Rangers have to find a spot for him in the lineup.

Steven Matz - Yet to make his debut, and I am trusting that when he does [around the All Star Break] he will be a mainstay and already have him in two leagues and I'm happy to burn a bench spot waiting for him [in the league that doesn't allow minor league rosters too].

Corey Seager - I owe Corey Schwartz a beer if my acquisition of Seager in a roto league [where at start of games on the 10th June 2015, left me in 4th place] can help me ride a storm and shoot up the board into the top 3, and possible title contention.

Carlos Correa made his debut this week and luckily enough for me, I could add him to my infield that includes Bryant,Arenado,Gallo, [Panik and A-Gon, and with an OF of Harper,Pederson and Trout] I'm pretty happy with my team in this league ! I really need to focus a little more on pitching, as that's probably a reason why I'm not winning ,although I'm in 2nd place. The other reason is lack of speed as I'm last in that category, but this league is really shallow so don't read too much into how I managed to nab such an awesome line up.

This years Draft is well under way now and the number one overall pick [has one of the coolest names] Dansby Swanson. At first glance, this years' draft doesn't have the talent that we have come to know from years previous, but it could be argued we say that every year, but the 2005 draft had some of the biggest talent to choose from, Swanson will hope for a similar career that 2005 first pick Justin Upton [also by the Diamondbacks] has had to date. Upton,Alex Gordon,Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutcheon, Jay Bruce and Jacoby Ellsbury all still have stellar careers at the top of the game, and some other players from this draft took longer to develop but also still have a career in the game such as Cameron Maybin[ who was 10th overall], Colby Rasmus [28], Clay Buchholz [42], Jed Lowrie [45] all took a little longer to adjust to the big leagues, but when healthy are very helpful in fantasy baseball. Chris Davis [Baltimore] was selected with pick #1496, 1063 initially, but didn't sign with the Yankees, nor Angels respectively, Davis eventually went on to hit 53 Home Runs in 2013, so its' not all lost if your name isn't called early on.

Hopefully, I can use this to build for future years, and who knows, one day I'll be writing about how the draft class of 2015 has helped to guide me to multiple fantasy trophies.

-> Many thanks to Stijn Oomen for the suggestion about doing the draft. Thanks dude !


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