*takes a long inhale* You smell that? No, not your sweatpants you’ve been wearing for the last week. Well, them, but I’m talking about the smell of the 2023 fantasy baseball draft season. So fresh, so clean. So ulcer, so sniped. It’s good to be back to one of the best times of the year. It’s so much better than “Playing your 9th outfielder because everyone is hurt” time of the year. I’ve even begun rolling out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. So, me and a bunch of Razzball commenters got together and took part in an NFBC Draft. Will get another draft started prolly around January/February, if you wanna take part, and, of course, Happy New Year (of drafting fantasy baseball)! Anyway, here’s my NFBC 2023 fantasy baseball draft recap; it’s a 15-team, two-catcher, draft and hold league that goes 50 rounds and has no waivers:
C: Tyler Stephenson (9)
C: Elias Diaz (23)
1B: Jose Abreu (6)
2B: Thairo Estrada (12)
SS: Bo Bichette (1st round, 11th pick)
3B: Austin Riley (2)
MI: Josh Rojas (14)
CI: Matt Mervis (17)
OF: Cedric Mullins (4)
OF: Tyler O’Neill (7)
OF: Seth Brown (13)
OF: Christopher Morel (19)
OF: Jose Siri (21)
UTIL: Brendan Donovan (22)
Bench: Kyle Stowers (25), Drew Waters (28), Kyle Farmer (30), Stone Garrett (31), Jacob Stallings (32), Elehuris Montero (35), Nick Pratto (36), Nelson Velazquez (38), Max Stassi (40), Taylor Walls (42), Josh Smith (44), Michael A. Taylor (47), David Peralta (47), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (48), Conner Capel (49)
P: Brandon Woodruff (3)
P: Max Fried (5)
P: Clay Holmes (8)
P: Daniel Bard (10)
P: Jeffrey Springs (11)
P: Merrill Kelly (15)
P: Charlie Morton (16)
P: Dylan Floro (18)
P: Zach Eflin (20)
Bench: MacKenzie Gore (24), DL Hall (26), Kyle Gibson (27), Cody Morris (29), Trevor May (33), Nate Pearson (34), Ryan Yarbrough (37), Jared Shuster (39), Chris Flexen (41), Mychal Givens (43), Dane Dunning (46), Cole Winn (50)
YOU LOOK WEAK ON POWER. WHAT ARE YOU, 145-POUNDS SOAKING WET? SORRY, CHEAP SHOT. BUT YOUR TEAM DOES LOOK WEAK ON POWER TOO, NOT JUST YOUR BICEPS.
I drafted without the War Room, because this draft was before that was available, so I did eyeball it, and was wearing my new glasses that I can’t see out of, so, yeah, maybe. Absolutely higher on steals than I usually am, which is just fantastic going into a year when limited pickoffs might add steals to everyone. Tried my best to balance my speed with some power, grabbing Jose Abreu, Austin Riley, Tyler O’Neill, Seth Brown, Tyler Stephenson and some bench bats like Kyle Stowers, Nick Pratto, and, oh yeah, my new favorite player, Matt Mervis. At some point in early December, after my Matt Mervis fantasy, I wrote back in October, I began to feel my temperature rise whenever I saw his name. At one point, someone walked by my house and said, “Not nervous,” and I heard, “Matt Mervis,” and I dove out my first-floor window into a rose bush, and confronted the passer-by to see if there was any news on Matty. There wasn’t obviously, they were talking about not being nervous because they hadn’t heard back from their doctor about some tests or something. I stopped listening halfway through. Not Nervous Matt Mervis is the truth, and will make everything better. Thinking Matt Mervis is going to hit 35 homers this year, because I just came up with that number in my head and want to believe it.
ALL RIGHT, COOL. LET’S HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT TAKING A PITCHER IN THE THIRD ROUND AND GOING BACK ON TEN YEARS OF NONSENSE I’VE HAD TO LISTEN TO FROM YOU. MAKING A STUPID GREY VOICE, “DON’T DRAFT A PITCHER UNTIL PICK 45 OVERALL BLEH BLEH I’M SO STUPID.”
You sound angrier than usual, Mr. Al Capps.
SORRY, I HAVEN’T EATEN LUNCH YET.
Brandon Woodruff was drafted by me at 41st overall, so, really, only a few picks before I usually grab my 1st starter. This league is so deep and there’s no waivers, so my next pick wouldn’t be for eight picks, and, as I always say, if a guy falls, then you have my go-ahead to draft. Woodruff was the 11th pitcher off the board! No idea what others are thinking, but three closers went before him! Josh Hader went before him. Didn’t Hader just have an egregious 2nd half? I get it, closers are boosted in this league (again, no waivers), but I got Clay Holmes and Daniel Bard roughly 75 to 100 picks after Hader. Not saying they’re great, but, again, 75 to 100 picks later, and they both were better than Hader on the Player Rater last year.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIMES PASSES, ONE THING REMAINS THE SAME, YOUR TEAMS NEVER HAVE ANY FLAWS. WELL DONE DRAFTING LEAGUE WINNERS EVERY TIME!
Okay, I get the sarcasm. Last year, I drafted Aaron Judge and Jose Ramirez in the same league, and finished 9th, so, clearly, the recent track record needs some gleaming over. I truly do love this team. Grabbed my already-fawned-over Matt Mervis; Tyler O’Neill sleeper, Thairo Estrada sleeper; Seth Brown sleeper, and there’s another sleeper on this team I haven’t even gone over yet. Also, in years past, I leaned heavily on safe, late picks. This year I tried to work in some upside plays like Stowers, DL Hall, Cody Morris, Pearson, Shuster, Drew Waters and Stone Garrett. Oh, yeah, I’m about to turn Cole Winn into Will Winn.
ANY ACTUAL TAKEAWAYS BESIDES SOME EMPTY VICTORY LAPPING?
There’s a ton of outfielders to draft, but somehow it still gets shallow super quick. If I had to point to one issue with this team, it’s my outfield could be Cedric Mullins and a wing and a prayer. It’s why I went a little heavier on outfield on my bench too. Solid part of this team is a lot of guys have extra position eligibility. Did I just jinx myself into a starting team by June of Kyle Farmer, and Taylor Walls? Oh God, I think I did. I’ll be starting Farmer with no chance for the overalls.
