The 10th annual live Franchise fantasy baseball draft was an awesome success, thanks in large part to our Draft Operations Officer Jeremy Scanlon (official title from here on out). That guy knows how to plan a draft, great job by the DOO. Free food, free booze, great location, great staff, the only thing we were really missing was full attendance. This marks, I think, the third year in a row we've been down at least one member at the live draft, but the fact that we got ten to show up and had no real hiccups (besides some slow drafting*), continues to serve as a testament to the dedication you guys have, so big thanks to everyone. 10 Years!
*The draft speed power rankings
1. Brad - Literally always prepared. I don't think I've waited on any pick from him ever in 10 years.
2. Dan - once in a while you can tell he's having a painful internal struggle, but he's always very conscious of his turn and the clock.
3. Greg - Pretty on top of things considering he was drafting from another state on Saturday. He's also usually on the faster side because he's been the most auto-drafted manager.
4. Andy - We didn't get to enjoy his presence this year but in the past, he has never made us wait too long.
5. Russ - I feel like I'm middle of the pack, but on the speedy side usually, I try to keep myself aware of the time/pace. (Not throwing any passive-aggressive shade, what I mean is, if the draft goes 8 hours, that's definitely the Commish's fault).
6. Jeremy - It's hard to pick fast when you have a lot of picks bunched together, but I think Scanlon was well prepared and was pretty average in his draft speed.
7. Eric - Has made us wait a couple of times over the years, but for the most part average, the clock doesn't stay on him long
8. John - His career speed numbers were ruined by this draft. Usually pretty good, but we did a nice job of completely overloading him with distractions (Andy's team, Iesha, drinks, random others popping in to chat), which made for some really long picks, including a few times when he didn't know it was his turn.
9. Richie - Another sneaky one, he took a lot of time in the later rounds on Saturday, no doubt the result of having so many picks bunched together at that time.
10. Mark - The worst part about his long waits is that they usually results in super obscure picks that were not worth that amount of time
10. Pflanz - The second most popular answer to 'Who's turn is it?' over the past 10 years
12. Eddie - It got to a point on Saturday where I was sure he was doing it on purpose. Look no further than the difference in timing of the first 94 picks (in which all of Perk's 15 draft picks resided), vs. the final 86; almost 4 hours to less than 2.
Week 1 Recap
MVP: Paul Goldschmidt, 8-2-5-.452-2
When I went to bed last night, I had won 6-4, but lost by .001 in OBP, that's a bummer, but oh well still a winning week. Cut to this morning, and the score had changed to 7-3 after a stat correction from Billy Hamilton giving him one additional hit and bumping my OBP up 4 points for the victory! Great stuff from the 15th overall (and my first) selection of the draft. Goldy wins MVP honors with a 5 category contribution that helped me take 4/5 offensive categories. Other solid contributors were Zobrist, Khris Davis, and Carlos Santana. Pflanz went off in RBI's (tied with John for most in week 1), but couldn't hang on in the other spots, despite good weeks from Sano and Schwarber.
On the pitching side, MadBum was brilliant, but could only do so much for the reigning champ, and Pflanz only squeaked out K/9 and QS over the Commish. Samarzidja and Velasquez struck out a bunch but couldn't keep the other ratios down, allowing Russ to rest Shoemaker on Sunday so as not to risk some good ratios (3rd in Whip and 4th in ERA in the league this week). Russ' 4 relievers stole the show keeping ratios down and racking up 3 NSV's en route to a nice 7-3 win to start the year.
MVP: Alex Colome (4.1) 0.00-0.46-6.23-0-3
This matchup had some weird numbers involved so it's fitting that a closer is getting the accolades for John here. Colome was great in his 4+ innings this week, collecting 3 saves with a 0.00 ERA, helping John to win those two categories. John was also able to take k/9 thanks to ridiculous ratios from Ken Giles and Justin Verlander (for whom there is also good argument for player of the Match). Kershaw had one good start and one bad start, but John cobbled together enough QS's to tie the category. For Greg, he hung on to win whip by just .05, but besides strong outings from Strasburg and Darvish, his ERA was too high. He also finished with just 1 net save, he'll have to keep an eye on that category moving forward.
On the offensive side, Greg had an above average week and took 3/5 categories. Sal Perez blasted 4 homers in the first week, but Greg still couldn't win the category. He did have some success in R, OBP, and NSB thanks to Dozier and Bryce Harper. Byron Buxton continues to disappoint with and ugley 2/26 start. John's team was interested in doing one thing this week: hitting homeruns, He led the league in homers and RBI's, but was last in runs and OBP. I'm still not sure how that happens. His team hit 12 homers so that's 12 runs right there, but as a team they finished with just 21. Mike Trout and Brandon Belt were doing most of the damage, with help from Matt Kemp. More DL troubles for John also arose this week as keeper Gary Sanchez hit the 10-day.
MVP: Nomar Mazara 6-2-9-.462-0
Richie shot out of the gate with the most impressive offensive performance in week 1, led by an unlikely candidate, the 171st pick in the draft Nomar Mazara. Richie was tops in the league in Runs and OBP, with very good peripheral numbers as well. His only category lost on that side of the ball was NSB's, where Eric led all teams. None of Richie's hitters stood out aside from Mazara, but none of them had a bad week, which leaves you with a strong and balanced 5 category week 1. Eric's roster was more up and down, with Nunez (4 NSB's), Seager, and Trumbo turning in great weeks, but Altuve was surprisingly a detriment in this one, and Eric dropped 4 out of 5.
Things weren't much better for Eric on the pitching side, though he did win a narrow whip battle and put up an impressive 6 QS. Aaron Sanchez was probably Eric's best pitcher, with Porcello and Tanner Roark close behind. Richie's bullpen was the story in this win, combining for a league leading 7 NSV's (4 from Greg Holland, runner up for MVP in this one). Chris Sale was his only QS, but strong outings from his releivers kept ratios low and helped him to a 7-3 week 1 win.
MVP: Evan Longoria 5-2-5-.344-0
So weird seeing Longoria's name on Mark's roster, feels like a real Kevin Durant move to me. Neither offense was great in this one, but Mark's was just average enough to steal 4 categories, and missed sweeping by just 5 OBP points. First round pick Wil Myers also played well for Mark in his debut. Perk's hitting week started great with 2 homers from Rougned Odor, but the rest was very underwhelming. Miggy Cabrera and Andrew McCutchen both played badly, which is too bad because all of the categories he lost were winnable.
On the pitching side of things, Perk was unmatched this week, leading all teams in ERA, Whip, and QS. As Eric mentioned, he maxed out on QS this week 8/8! Harvey, McCullers, DeGrom, and Arrieta were all fantastic, and overshadowed the -1 NSV he registered. The pitching was amazing, but the offense and bullpen held him back from a victory on the week. Again, Mark slipped through the cracks with some pedestrian numbers in a couple of categories. Two saves from Kimbrel, 2 great starts from Thor, and a strong Diaz K/9 were enough to give Mark the 6-4 win, despite only 1 NSV. .
MVP: George Springer 5-4-8-.455-(-2)
George Springer helped Andy off to a very good start, taking 3/5 offensive categories from Brad. Wilson Contreras and keeper Josh Donaldson also looked great in week 1 rout of Brad. Andy's offense put up great numbers this week besides the 0 in NSB (thanks to 2 players in the negatives). Overall, Andy should be pleased with this performance. Brad couldn't get much going in homers or on base percentage, and that will usually lead to failure in the other categories. However, his 3 NSB's were enough for a category win, and an impressive 29 RBI's gave him another. Jake Lamb, Kendrys Morales, and Troy Tulowitzki helped him out there, but 6 homers and a sub.300 OBP just isn't very good.
On the pitching side Andy was able to sweep, but it was more due to Brad's inefficiencies than Andy's prowess. Brad had the worst WHIP in the league this week, and his ERA wasn't pretty either. To top it all off, he had just 2 QS and 0 NSV, making it easy for Andy to pull off the pitching sweep. Andy's great K/9 and 7 NSV's led the league this week, but his other ratios and QS were less than spectacular. Greinke and Carrasco both had solid weeks, but Cody Allen, Cam Bedroisian, and Brandon Kintzler were the heroes, giving Andy the league-best stats and a great 8-2 win.
MVP: D. Keuchel 0.64-0.50-5.14-2-0
The biggest blowout of the week was courtesy of our championship favorite, Scanlon. He led a weakness free lineup to a 9-1 victory in week 1 without breaking a sweat. On offensee, there were very few below average performances, and strong contributions in every category. Lindor, Realmuto, and Arenado led the charge, with a 3 NSB contribution from Trea Turner as well. On the other side, Dan's offense struggled to generate power. He finished the week last in homers and RBI's, but had respectable OBP and NSB numbers. Freddie Freeman and Ryan Braun were his best two.
The draft day trade-up to get Ryan Braun doesn't quite have Alber looking like a genius though. His pitching was awful in week 1, sporting the worst ERA, K/9, NSV, and QS in the league. Andrew Miller was the lone brightspot in what had to have been the worst performance by any team on either side of the ball in week 1. However, Scanlon's pitching was excellent, and would have done well against any team. Old flame Dallas Keuchel started to rekindle things with a great week, but there were many MVPs to choose from: Duffy, Iglesias, Britton, Robertson, and Martinez were all part of the reason Jeremy swept the pitching categories en route to a 9-1 week 1 blowout.
Commish Mini-Season Preview
12. Greg - Runs and steals shouldn't be a problem for the defending runner-up, but there's not enough depth anywhere else to be a threat. He has the pitching staff to put up good numbers, but I don't think the ratios will stay consistent enough to repeat his fun runner-up campaign from last year.
11. Richie - A heavy buyer at last year's deadline, he had to settle for scraps at the draft. He should score some runs and steal some bases, but the hitting overall is not good. He might have the worst team in terms of homers and RBIs. His pitching is also bottom 5. He should be alright on QS, but there are a lot of question marks on the staff. I'll be surprised if he's not selling come the deadline.
10. Eric - Last year's bust team, Eric also bought at the deadline and had a depleted 2017 draft. He should be alright with steals and potentially QS, but will struggle everywhere else. This strikes me as one of the worst pitching teams in the league. I see him finishing near the bottom of the standings.
9. Brad - As bad as Eric's pitching will be, Brad's offense should be worse. I've got him in the bottom 4 in every offensive category, but he could surprise us in homeruns. The pitching isn't bad though, his ratios should be decent and he should do well in QS and saves. Has an outside shot at the playoffs, but only if his offense does better than I expect.
8. Dan - As we saw in week 1, OBP is his strongest category, and I wouldn't be shocked if he led the league by season's end. He should be able to generate a good amount of homers too, but everything else will be a struggle. His draft started with trading away the only starting pitcher on his roster and then neglecting the position for his first 8 picks. Seems like he is going with a heavy streamer strategy in an attempt to win QS. He's got a lot of good bullpen arms to help win ratios too, but still won't see many saves. The pitching experiment will be interesting. He's a fringe playoff contender at best.
7. Pflanz - Offense is looking great for the defending champ, with OBP and homers being his bread and butter, though steals may be tough to come by. The pitching is where I lose faith in the repeat. Similar to Richie, he's got the starters to dominate QS, but there's a lot of inconsistent guys on that roster, and he could be bottom 5 in every other category. He's a little better off than Dan, but still a borderline playoff team.
6. Russ - I ranked myself 4th in the league in terms of offense, and that may have been understated. Steals and Runs should be mine every week, and the other categories will come in more often than not. On the defensive side, I think QS and whip will be problematic, but NSV and the others ratios are good enough to be average. I'm going to "boldly" predict something that has happened 7 times in 9 years: a top 3 postseason finish.
5. Mark - Could be bottom 6 in every hitting category, but it won't matter because the pitching is that good. I have him second to John in all the ratios, but top 5 in every category. Also have to note that he now has the curse of Longoria (who managed another second place finish on Greg's team last year)
4. Andy - This is the best offense in the league, John did a nice job drafting this team as well as Andy could have, and in the same style. He should set the pace in homers, runs, and RBI's all season long, but the pitching is below average, closers will have to carry him. Will likely make playoffs, but I don't think he makes the second round.
3. Eddie - Has an offense that is just a step below Scanlon/Andy, and a pitching staff on the same level as Scanlon/John, this is another great team from Eddie. Should have no trouble with saves and ratios, and could lead the league in HR, RBI or OBP. Very good team, will make final 4.
2. John - I don't think the week 1 power was for real. This is more of a speedy, on base, run scoring offense, it's above average but not on the level of Andy or Scanlon. The pitching on the other hand, is elite, he could realistically lead the league in all three ratios. For sure a playoff team, I have him losing in the final 4.
1. Scanlon - A solid team with no real weak spots. Top 3 potential in almost every category. OBP could be better, and we should see a fair amount of streaming to pick up quality starts, but on the whole, this is one of the most complete teams we've seen in years, and my title pick.
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