The Gameday Gamblers walked into the draft looking pretty
good. The starting pitching was lacking depth due to Alex Meyer and Andrew
Heaney both being reassigned to the minors, but the Gamblers knew he could take
care of it in the draft.
So what does he do?
He drafts an 18-year-old pitcher who will not make any
fantasy impact for him this year, baring a miracle.
He then proceeded to add 4-ERA-type guys like R.A. Dickey,
Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris, along with Rick Porcello, who may find it a bit
tougher to duplicate his 2014 success in a division where the ballparks are
less forgiving.
To me, this staff is Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Stasburg.
Then, it’s a crapshoot.
Fortunately, for the Gamblers, he has a decent offense that
will keep him in competition. In fact, his projected lineup is slated to hit
more homers than the Choo’s starting 10.
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| One, Choo, Three The third time would hopefully be the charm for the Choo, otherwise, he would the the Buffalo Bills of the JLB. He can't lose another World Series can he? If he does, on the bright side, it means he's the AL Champ once again, which is a nice title to have. But to earn that honor, he'll face a much tighter race for sure. |
Albeit, it’s only a four-homer difference, and we all know
the Choo is a master at playing matchups.
It’s why he’s made it to the top in the American League the
last two years.
And it’s why I have him at the top once again.
Yes, he doesn’t have a Kershaw or Strasburg — he traded his
pair of aces in the offseason — but what he does have is nine pitchers who will
post ERAs in the 3s. Michael Pineda’s stuff is dirty — insert pine tar joke
here — and Jake Arrieta showed us what he could be last season. I expect both
to have great seasons for the Choo, and add in Aaron Sanchez, Hisashi Iwakuma
and Jimmy Nelson, and that’s not a bad five-man rotation.
It’s certainly good enough to compete against his American
League foes.
Even if he only takes half of the pitching categories a
week, he’ll consistently win more batting categories than he’ll lose. That will
lead him to an AL regular-season crown, however, it will not be the runaway it
was a year ago.
That you can count on.
Not only will the Gamblers be on his tail, but so will the
Bombers. At the same time, the Jerk, Sex Panthers and Chalupa all had really
good drafts and they’ll make a push for the wild card.
Chalupa added decent depth pitching in Shelby Miller and
Matt Garza, to go with his keepers, but until his young pitchers come up, he
may have some tough weeks. Playing the right matchups will be key. Offensively,
it could all come together if Joc Pederson and George Springer are all that I
believe they can be. Rusney Castillo, when he comes up, should provide some pop
in center field, too. Seriously, this could be a killer outfield for years to come.
The Sex Panthers added some great depth offensively with
Chase Utley, Aramis Ramirez and Joe Mauer, but she will have some issues on the
pitching end. Drew Hutchinson was a good pickup, but she’ll need to get lucky
with a few of the other starters in order to consistently win pitching
categories.
Of the three teams that missed the playoffs last year, I
give the Jerk the best chance at this point to jump up and knock one of the top
three out. He really had a good draft. I know he really wanted Yoan Moncada, so
much so, at one point, the Rizzo-Rendon deal in the offseason was built in such
a way that I would give him the No. 1 pick so he could draft him. Then, it
became clear he could get him at No. 4. And then, he grew the strength to let
him drop and strengthen his team for 2015. That meant adding a speedster in
Leonys Martin, who is projected to have 90 runs and 37 steals. The Jerk added
some nice depth after that, but the pitching is where he really solidified
himself as an AL contender. He may not have the best 1-2 punch — Parker has
that — but overall, this is the best pitching staff in the AL.
Sonny Gray, Mat Latos, Tyson Ross, Danny Duffy, Alex Cobb
and Jarred Cosart are a great six-man rotation, but it gets even stronger if
second-round pick Justin Verlander truly has the comeback year some were
predicting. His current injury is a bit frustrating, and it’s likely why he dropped
to the second round, but it was a high-reward pick for him.
But most of all, the pick I like the most is Raisel
Iglesias. This Cuban star has some really great stuff and he could be the
darkhorse Rookie of the Year.
Altogether, this group will make it much easier for the Jerk
to compete because he won’t be fishing as much for perfect matchups like the
rest of the AL will. He'll merely roll with the guys who constantly post quality starts.
Nevertheless, when it comes down to it, he has to dethrone
one of the top three, and the Gamblers and Choo will not yield it that easily,
and neither will the Bombers, who has a rotation that projects eight
double-digit winners. There are certainly some question marks in there, which
is why I have him behind the Jerk for best AL staff.
That said, offensively, he has the best first baseman in the
National League in Paul Goldschmidt and a breakout candidate in Starling Marte.
He’ll be one of five 30-plus base stealers for the Bombers. He’s always been
big on speed, and he was not shy about adding another speedster in the second round
when he drafted Ben Revere. The rest of the starting lineup is strong and I
really like the outlook, especially if Jay Bruce can have a bounce-back year.
Overall, the American League should be a tight battle all
year.
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