| # | Team | Keep | Pick | Avg |
| 1 | The Angry Pirates | 5 | 2 | 3.5 |
| 2 | Ring of Fire | 2 | 7 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Donkey Punchers | 8 | 1 | 4.5 |
| 4 | One Nut Wonders | 1 | 11 | 6.0 |
| 4 | Brokeback Moundmen | 3 | 9 | 6.0 |
| 6 | Thor's Hammered | 8 | 5 | 6.5 |
| 7 | Urban Achievers | 12 | 3 | 7.5 |
| 7 | Montezuma's Revenge | 3 | 12 | 7.5 |
| 9 | Anal Hersheiser | 10 | 6 | 8.0 |
| 10 | Stroman my Cobb Odor | 13 | 4 | 8.5 |
| 11 | Cowhide Joyride | 5 | 14 | 9.5 |
| 12 | Sexual Napalm | 10 | 10 | 10.0 |
| 12 | Livin on Correa | 7 | 13 | 10.0 |
| 14 | Moose is Loose! | 14 | 8 | 11.0 |
| Rk | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | SCORE |
| 1 | Donkey Punchers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 |
| 2 | The Angry Pirates | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 119 |
| 3 | Urban Achievers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 116 |
| 4 | Thor's Hammered | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 93 |
| 5 | Stroman my Cobb Odor | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 93 |
| 6 | Anal Hersheiser | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 92 |
| 7 | Ring of Fire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 87 |
| 8 | Moose is Loose! | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 86 |
| 9 | Brokeback Moundmen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 83 |
| 10 | Sexual Napalm | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 81 |
| 10 | One Nut Wonders | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 81 |
| 12 | Montezuma's Revenge | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 73 |
| 13 | Livin' on a Correa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 66 |
| 14 | Cowhide Joyride | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 65 |
| ACTUAL PICK TOTAL | ||
| 1 | Donkey Punchers | 1314 |
| 2 | The Angry Pirates | 1436 |
| 3 | Urban Achievers | 1537 |
| 4 | Stroman my Cobb Odor | 2191 |
| 5 | Thor's Hammered | 2196 |
| 6 | Anal Hershiser | 2213 |
| 7 | Ring of Fire | 2363 |
| 8 | Moose is Loose! | 2391 |
| 9 | Brokeback Moundmen | 2476 |
| 10 | Sexual Napalm | 2483 |
| 11 | One Nut Wonders | 2532 |
| 12 | Montezuma's Revenge | 2791 |
| 13 | Livin on Correa | 2967 |
| 14 | Cowhide Joyride | 2988 |
RANKINGS
1. The Angry Pirates (Kyle) – Having started the
rebuilding process last May, and almost ensuring a last place finish and $30
penalty in the process, it’s good to see that sacrifice seems to be paying off.
Kyle has traded away some youth risk (Buxton, Benintendi) and added to a stable
of good young players with broad statistical contributions in TTurner, Myers,
Bogaerts, and Yelich to go with old-timers Longoria and Sale. The young hitters
started to come into their own last year and Longoria rebounded in a big way, with
the fiver hitters averaging a line of 85/24/84/17/.351 in the process. That’s a fine way to start a team, assuming
those numbers can be replicated. And
while his draftboard isn’t as great as it once was thanks to those moves, there’s
no way it falls below the top three. With no depth to speak of, there’s really
not much more to be done here.
2. Ring of Fire (Dagan) – Stable and boring, that’s the
Dagan way. Really though, there have been no moves this offseason, but not much
really needed to be done. He only dealt one pick last year, a 14th,
and never diluted his high-end keepers, which include the best top three in the
league with Bryant, Goldshmidt, and Votto.
Schwarber and Russell are up and comers, while Carrasco has always
seemingly been on the cusp of acehood. There’s some interesting guys down
roster like Duvall, Diaz, Semien and solid vets like Pence and Eaton, but all
in all, the Lord of the Rings is likely to stay where he is with a good balance
of high upside youth and veteran production. Could still surprise with a move depending
on how Schwarber is used in spring training.
2. Donkey Punchers (Chris Shannon) – Recent moves shored
up two spots that were holding down his keeper score, vaulting the Punchers
from a bottom-half team into the top three. It cost Chris his best keeper in
Kershaw and the present group lacks a true headliner, but it’s a solid core
with Cutch, Seager, Abreu, Kluber, and Rendon. The real wildcard is Segura, who
looks like a great keeper by his 2016 numbers (102/20/64/33/.368), but that
line does not so match his career numbers other than the first two months of
his rookie season. It may be a risk
worth taken given how solid the other keepers are, but it certainly wouldn’t
hurt him much to drop some rounds to upgrade the spot. By dealing players instead of picks, he’s
maintained what would be perhaps the best draftboard in league history, with no
picks after 16 and two first rounders. All of this bodes well for Shannon going
forward, which is particularly impressive since he didn’t give up on the season
until the open trading period last year.
4. One Nut Wonders (Jason) – The most remarkable story of
the offseason has been Jason’s place on the sidelines – despite having a roster
of 15 legit keepers. Donaldson, EE, Madbum, Braun, Cruz, Bautista, Archer,
Arrieta, and AJones were all kept last year, while Tanaka, Desmond, JTurner,
Trumbo, Kipnis, and ASanchez all played at a level where they could be
considered keepers. Yet, no moves. While he reportedly has been involved in
several negotiations, we’re running out of time. That said, Jason would still
be in fine shape if the draft was today, with the best overall group of keepers
and only a few minor holes in his draftboard. However, the story here is missed
opportunity. Most teams seem to be in pretty good shape with
only a month to go. While there is always ways to improve, very few teams need
multiple keepers at this point, making it an uphill battle for the
single-nutted one. If the draft was tomorrow and he made no trades, I wouldn’t
be surprised to see Jason’s current roster comprise more than half of the first
round.
4. Brokeback Moundmen (Matt) – It’s been a busy offseason
for Watson, who has completely remodeled his roster, including disposing of the
one and only Mike Trout. According to
his climb in the rankings, the work seems to have paid off. While some
criticized the Trout trade and at one point he had three top eight first
basemen keepers, the present roster has a top three (Miggy, Rizzo, Kershaw) that
surpasses every team with the exception of Dagan and is right up there with
Gibby (without the positional value). Lester is a solid fourth, with guys like
JD Martinez, CMart, and Gerrit Cole candidates for the final two spots. The
Moundmen also have one pick in each of the first five rounds, so Matt could afford
to make a deal and still maintain a solid draftboard. But regardless of how he
moves forward, the second year owner is in good shape for the 2017 season.
6. Thor's Hammered (Chris Shomphe) – While the offseason
may have not gone as he planned – he had hoped to be a seller and turned into a
buyer – Shomphe’s deal to send Cutch for Upton/Hosmer helped solidify some
risky options in the final two spots. He also made an under-the-radar, but
potentially highly rewarding move in swapping three rounds for Benintendi, a
high floor youngster on the home team with assured playing time. Chris’s top
three really make this group, with Harper, Thor, and Story oozing with as much upside
as any threesome in the league. Joc,
Mazara, CarGom, Puig, Schoop are all interesting and could be dealt depending
on how spring training goes, but each require a leap of faith and probably
would not yield much in pick return. The fourth place ranking in draftboard
masks what is only a slightly above average board is eons away from third
place, but it is solid nonetheless.
7. Keep Off Groin (Dan) – The artist formally known as
Urban Achievers, Dan has patiently accepted that his draftboard is great and his
keeper group is solid, despite being in the lower tier. The problem with this
group of keepers is strictly that the best guys (Marte, Yoenis, Polanco) are a
smidge below the elite group and the two young thumpers (Franco and GSanchez) have
some production to maintain in order to prove they should be among the top 84.
The trust in the spot currently occupied by Felix (it takes a lot of
imagination to picture someone else there) will probably depend on how he looks
in spring training. He’s apparently in great shape and is only 30, but there’s
a lot of miles on that arm and last season looked like the start of a downfall.
But, then again, we said that about Verlander too. Dan has the picks to upgrade
the spot and maintain the same draftboard ranking, but we’ll have to see if he
deems it necessary.
7. Montezuma's Revenge (Adam) – Usually the most active
offseason trader, it’s been one big splash and nothing else with very little
apparent on the horizon for the commish. Trading Rizzo, Miggy, and Kluber for
Trout eliminated the excess keepers that could’ve helped a bottom tier
draftboard immensely. It also didn’t
change the keeper score dramatically as it pushed Sano and Price into the final
two spots, each of whom have some questions. But Trout and Scherzer are a great
place to start while Villar’s 92/19/63/62/.369 line makes him a top keeper,
though not without risk. Dozier is a solid fourth and helps create a group with
broad contributions to all categories. Like Shomphe’s group, Ozuna, Swanson,
Pedy, Quintana, McCullers, Stroman, Taillon are all interesting, but require
some faith and in what is clearly a buyer’s market. The draftboard has a long,
grueling gap in rounds 9 through 11, but it would be difficult to improve the
situation considerably without a major sacrifice on the keeper end.
9. Anal Hershiser (Justin) – With just one trade in 2016,
Justin’s board is slightly above average.
His keepers are also about average with some great high-end guys in
Arenado, Springer, and Darvish, but the last three spots could include several
different names. De Grom, JBradley, DGordon, Lamb, Fulmer, Jose Ramirez, Brad
Miller all have their qualities and proponents in the expert field. However, each has some question marks to go
with that high upside. Judging by past
rosters and previous comments, I suspect Justin will roll with this group and
perhaps adjust depending on how spring training goes. But this is a new year without Andrew’s
opinion to be concerned with, so perhaps he makes a splash. He could easily
solidify a spot or two without much pick sacrifice. It will just depend on who
he has faith in and the amount of faith he has.
10. Stroman my Cobb Odor – After a busy 2016 offseason
after he joined the league, Jeff has reportedly had conversations but not made
any moves. Like last offseason, the current group has a lot of risk if you go
by who Jeff is most likely to keep based on his love for upside, but he’s got a
nice stable of solid-yet-unspectacular vets available as well. Bregman, Odor,
Lindor, Dahl have first round upside, but – with an average age of 22.5 – are
an incredibly young foursome to have around two great-not-quite-elite guys in Blackmon
and Verlander. Vets like Beltre, AGone, and Hendricks offer stability, but are significantly
less interesting. There’s a bunch of compelling guys like Salazar, Gray,
Travis, Mous, Rodon, Kang, and Grichuk, but don’t really compete for that
top-84 group based on early analysis. Jeff always seems pretty confident in his assessments,
so while he could make a move, it’s probably more likely than he’ll sit tight
and ride the wave of youth.
11. Cowhide Joyride (Dave) – Though less extreme than
Jason, it’s a little surprising to see Dave be so quiet with a stable of some
decent keeper options. Altuve, Seager, Giancarlo, Cueto are all clear keepers.
Posey and Dave have become the league’s most obvious manager/player pairing and
hard to argue against keeping Daniel Murphy after that season. He’s still got
guys like Frazier, Pujols, HanRam, and Kemp who have their flaws but wouldn’t
be bad sixth men for some of these squads. The thing that might make Dave’s
lack of effort more surprising is his pick situation. Gibby has transformed his
draftboard, leaving Dave in the dust at the bottom with only two picks in the
first eight rounds (7th and 10th). This could be one of
the worst draftboards in recent history if something doesn’t change. At this
point, if he wants to make a real dent, he may need to deal one of the top
hitters. Otherwise, in-season management and some late hits in the draft will
be key.
12. Sexual Napalm (Mike) – At some point, it’s OK to
accept that your draftboard won’t be great. Gibby has improved his board
dramatically through a series of high-end trades, but he still has only managed
to climb into the 10th spot.
This has come at a significant loss in talent that includes the likes of
Carlos Correa, Wil Myers, Stephen Strasburg, and Jon Lester. Now he has a top
three that rivals anyone in Betts, Machado, and Freeman, but there are huge
question marks after that. No doubt everyone loves Buxton and Moncada from a
tools perspective, but neither profiles as a guy who suddenly “get it” and
turns into an insta-star. Then you got Urias and Wilson Contreras, who come
with playing time concerns. Danny Duffy had a superb year, but expecting that
to continue takes a lot of faith. Unfortunately for Gibby, the scale of improvements
in his draft board seem to fall quite short of the detriments to his keepers.
There’s still time, but this is a risky group as currently comprised.
12. Livin on Correa (Chad) – You gotta hand it to the new
guy – when he wants something, he goes right for it. Inevitably, there are far
more sellers looking to improve their draftboards every year than there are
buyers. Chad has done a bit of both, targeting key guys he wants to build his squad
around and paying quite a lot to get them. Dealing a 7 and 9 for Correa and
Strasburg was very bold, while going after Cano required some pick currency as
well. You can argue he didn’t get enough for a top SP like Sale, you would be
ignoring the presently flooded pitching market. Along with the deal for
Pollock, Chad seems to have a foursome he likes, with guys like Carlos Santana
and Matt Carpenter as viable options for the last two spots. At this point, his
draftboard is unlikely to get discernibly better, so he could probably stand to
be opportunistic if something arises.
14. Moose is Loose! – The moose being loose sounds a lot
more threatening and aggressive than Brian has been this offseason. With not
much trading activity last year, Moose is basically at the baseline in terms of
pick score and has the top overall pick in the draft by way of ending the year in
the 9th spot. The group of
keepers as presently constructed is among the weakest and least sexy. Chris
Davis, Ian Kinsler, Cargo, and Hamels can generally be counted on to be around
the same spot production wise year to year, providing Gonzalez stays upright.
Grienke was perhaps the biggest disappointment last year, but there’s enough
track record to give him a go again. It’s just not nearly as safe as it once
seemed. Tulo doesn’t seem anywhere near his former self, while Khris Davis and
Billy Hamilton offer some intriguing category juice, but at a potentially
severe detriment to OBP. This group
could be really good, but it’s much easier to see the downside being realized
than the upside.
