PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS
FRANCHISE RECORD:
3rd season, 494-356-116 (.571)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 1st in NL, 241-171-50, World Series Champion
BATS
Cheese Steaks went into the draft with three guys who each
had more than 35 homers last year, including Jose Bautista’s 40 HRs and 114
RBIs. Add that to the production he got from Troy Tulowitzki, Dee Gordon, Todd
Frazier and A.J. Pollock, and there was a solid offensive base for the reigning
champs. Still, Cheese came out firing, taking bats with four of his first five
picks. That included back-to-back-to-back picks of Brett Gardner, Matt Holliday
and Devin Mesoraco. His first round pick, A.J. Reed has strong potential, too,
but he’ll be in the minors for a little while longer. He’ll add Odubel Herrera
via trade after getting word minutes after the draft that Pollock broke his
elbow. It’s a strong offense that will keep him in the race for another World
Series.
ARMS
In the draft, Cheese just added around the edges with guys
like Jason Hammel, J.A. Happ and Jaime Garcia. His key pitchers were all on the
roster before he selected A.J. Reed at No. 2 overall. Max Scherzer, Sonny Gray,
Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright make for a sexy top-four starters, while
guys like Drew Smyly, Masahiro Tanaka, Aaron Nola and Vincent Velasquez could
easily make this the most dominant staff in the JLB — but there are some
question marks still to the latter four arms, so that “dominant” logo will be
placed in the “Wait-and-See” box.
JARGON’S TAKE
I can’t deny that this is a good team that had a good draft.
And a champ should never be doubted in his title defense. I do have some
personal worries about a few players, some older and some who have the knack to
get injured every year. That said, I think this is a playoff contending team
for sure. I’m just not willing to hand him the division title. That belongs to
the Outs.
YOU’RE FREAKING OUT
FRANCHISE RECORD:
6th season, 1,204-898-304 (.564)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 2nd in NL, 235-178-49, lost in NLCS
BATS
MVPs and Rookies of the Year galore. It’s quite insane what
the Outs have, and it’s a wonder how he didn’t claim a second World Series
title last year. With a full lineup that includes headliners Josh Donaldson,
Bryce Harper, Carlos Correa and Kris Bryant, there’s no way this team doesn’t
finish in the top three. He added via trade Starling Marte who I love for a
huge breakout, and many MLB gurus have Mookie Betts and Rougned Odor breaking
out, too. If that happens, I don’t care that the supplemental bats he drafted
Friday don’t “wow” me. He’ll dominate.
ARMS
The big reason the Outs didn’t move on to the World Series
(where he undoubtedly would have destroyed Choo) was because the pitching fell
apart, posting a 4-7 record with a 4.21 ERA. It was not like the Outs, a team
that has been dominant in pitching, posting back-to-back 140-plus win seasons,
and a JLB-record 3.05 ERA in 2014. The 2,051 strikeouts in 2014 were a record
and the 1,910 last season were second-best all time. Of last year’s group, he
welcomes back three starters who had more than 230 strikeouts apiece in Jake
Arrieta, Madison Bumgarner and Corey Kluber. There weren’t too many arms out
there to grab and so the Outs went with potential, and Colin Rea, Juan Nicasio,
Kris Medlin, Alex Cobb and Jarred Cosart all present interesting cases to be the
next great Outs starter. Rea is a strong prospect, Nicasio is a reclamation
project in Pittsburgh, Medlen and Cobb are trying to bounce back from injury,
and Cosart is battling vertigo. The talent is there, it’s just a matter of
whether or not they’ll reach their potential. … But, let’s be serious. This is
the Outs. They will do it.
JARGON’S TAKE
Clearly the No. 1 team in the JLB. I have some questions
about depth on offense, but let’s be serious, if he’s needing to tap into his
depth, it’s because his season went terribly awry. The bigger thing is, I have
some questions — as pointed out — about the starting pitchers he added to his
staff. I thought there were much more reliable guys out there, especially
considering the number of early picks. This to me is the only crack in the
armor. If he loses, it’s because of that. … That said, this is the Outs, and I
have him winning the division in 2016.
VANDELAY INDUSTRIES
FRANCHISE RECORD:
7th season, 1,355-1,161-375 (.534)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 3rd in NL, 222-190-50, lost in NLDS
BATS
This could be scary good. Not quite the Outs, but I’ll put
Vandelay on the level just below him if a few things work in his favor. One of
those would be Mark Trumbo finally re-finding himself in Baltimore. The 22
homers and 64 RBIs from a year ago will not cut it. Vandelay needs at least 30
and 90 from that first base position to match up with the top offenses in the
NL. Maikel Franco also has to continue his progression, and if Spring Training
was any sign, he’ll be primed and ready for a huge breakout. Buster Posey,
Jason Kipnis, Kolten Wong, Carlos Gomez, Michael Brantley and Giancarlo Stanton
all factor in to make this a strong force of bats.
ARMS
I’m not sold on the depth here, but the top three are legit
in Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale and Cole Hamels. Top pick Kenta Maeda is a
question mark, but comps to a Huroki Kuroda, they say, so we’ll see what he
turns into. Jake Odorizzi looks pretty good and could make this a strong
four-man rotation, and if somehow the Orioles let Kevin Gausman actually pitch
a full year, maybe he’ll make it a five-man. The rest of the starters drafted
are mostly young with limited in innings logged a year ago.
JARGON’S TAKE
Vandelay will definitely be in playoff contention. Can he
overtake the Outs? I can make a case for it, but on paper in early April, I
just can’t see it. Either way, he’ll be right there in August for a playoff
spot, and as we have seen in the playoffs, anything can happen in a one-week
playoff matchup.
STEROID.ERA
FRANCHISE RECORD:
4th season, 611-642-193 (.489)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 4th in NL, 218-195-49
BATS
Steroid needed an injection of offense, and there were some
big bats available, but instead, for the most part, he brought back Alex Gordon
and went young with guys like Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner (who will eventually
play the same position as Swanson), Josh Bell and Lewis Brinson. In 2018,
that’s a potentially good core group of players. But in 2016, they may only
factor in to a late season push. Besides, with Francisco Lindor, why bother with
Swanson or Turner? Lindor has a chance to be an impact player at short. I've heard many say he's got the potential to be just a step behind Correa. He,
along with Nelson Cruz and Adrian Gonzalez will make this offense competitive
some weeks, but in others, I see some glaring holes at this point that will hinder
any early season success.
ARMS
Steroid went into the draft thinking Zack Greinke, Felix
Hernandez, Johnny Cueto and Tyler Glasnow were enough. Apparently, he drafted
with the same idea. He added Mike Leake and Ian Kennedy, and that’s pretty much
it for what will help him compete this year. He’ll have to hit the waiver wire
hard and look to post good ERAs each week, because accumulating strikeouts,
quality starts, complete games and wins will be tough against the 10-plus-men
rotations in the JLB. At least, he’ll have a strangle hold on saves, according
to the ESPN projections.
JARGON’S TAKE
Steroid has grown leaps and bounds from the team he took
over four years ago. From a losing team to a winning record last year, he just
barely missed his first trip to the playoffs. This year, he’ll miss it by a
little bit more unless he can flip some of those young prospects for players
who will make a difference now.
JIMMYJAM SLAMMERS
FRANCHISE RECORD:
9th season, 1,934-1,618-606 (.538)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 5th in NL, 209-204-49
JARGON’S TAKE
Yes, the “Jargon’s Take” is first in my capsule because I
figured I’d preface this all with, "Of course I love my team. I’m the drunken
head-on-my-keyboard-drafting Jargon. All should bow down and worship." … OK, for
real, though, I’m excited about this team. I have a full lineup like the Outs
with top five players at their respective positions. I also somehow added
decent depth that I’m surprised dropped as far as they did. I do strongly think
I’m a playoff team this year. Can I take the Outs? Ha, I’m not crazy. I hope to, but his core four MVPs scare the living crap out of me. But
Vandelay and Cheese Steaks will be my true enemies all year.
BATS
The lineup was full to start the draft, with top-5 fantasy
positional players in Anthony Rizzo, Jose Altuve, Xander Bogaerts, Corey Seager
and Andrew McCutchen, I'm in really good shape. George Springer, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez were not
far outside that top 5 in their respective positions, and they will help make this lineup formidable every week. I was excited for the
group coming back, but I am even more amped after adding depth like Hunter Pence (healthy and ready to hit
like he did in 2013 and 2014), Kendrys Morales (108 RBIs a year ago), and
70-plus RBI bench guys in Stephen Vogt and Melky Cabrera. Factor in (and this
is where you have to just believe me or Jim Bowden) that Tyler White is
going to be the Rookie of the Year in the A.L., and this is why I was giddy on Saturday morning.
ARMS
Time for more bragging. Man, I hope you all are still
reading. We all know about my top three — Chris Archer, Dallas Keuchel and
Shelby Miller. Two will be in the running for AL Cy Youngs. I, of course, like my younger
keepers in Carlos Rodon and Andrew Heaney to take the next steps, and Aaron
Sanchez and Blake Snell to come on strong. Matt Moore is where I really hinge
my hopes on 2016. I was going to keep him, but I couldn’t turn down the chance
to get Shelby Miller, easily a top 3 pick if he gets to the draft. Moore, I
knew he’d make it to me at 5. Hell, after Friday’s draft, he may have dropped
even farther, but it wasn’t worth the risk. Moore will be the key. If I’m right
on him, this staff leads me to the playoffs, and maybe, a bit farther if I'm lucky. Also, look out for Nate Karns and Robbie Ray. Both were targets of mine — you can ask Choo because when he put me in charge of his fantasy draft for another league, and on his roster, you'll find both Karns and Ray — and I think they'll play a pivotal role this year.
CHIEF OTTO PARTS
FRANCHISE RECORD:
6th season, 1,084-998-324 (.518)
2015 RECORD/FINISH: 6th in NL, 191-220-51
BATS
Outside of Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Kyle Seager and Manny
Machado, I wasn’t sold on this team offensively coming into the draft, and
after it, I’m not sure I feel much better. Neil Walker is a good add for second
base and Socrates Brito is an interesting pick based on what good things I’ve
heard, but there’s a lot of question marks here, too many on paper for me to
feel safe about.
ARMS
Francisco Liriano was the No. 4 overall pick, and he’ll help
with strikeout totals, but this entire staff all hinges on the health and/or effectiveness of
guys like Michael Pineda and Yu Darvish. Pineda was on-again, off-again last
year, and Darvish is questionable returning from a year off. Matt Harvey is easily the
front-runner of this staff, and I think Wei-Yin Chen and Jimmy Nelson
will provide decent depth, but it doesn’t match up on paper with the staffs we
see with the Cheese Steaks, Outs, Industries and Slammers.
JARGON’S TAKE
In my mind, Otto’s draft could have been better, but he does have enough
pieces to perhaps be a top 8 team in the JLB, like he was last year.
Unfortunately, top 8 in the JLB meant sixth in the NL. I can see him battling
it out with Steroid for that 5 spot; or with MVP performances from all of his key players, mostly mentioned above, he can regain that glory he had when he first entered the JLB six years ago.
Comments