The keepers are in and we have 48 hours before the first JLB slow draft begins.
Excitement is building and Monkeys Never Cramp are unofficially on the clock right now.
He can make his selection of the next great Oriole any time between 12 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday.
As a reminder, the clock doesn’t run between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., but that doesn’t mean you can’t make picks during that time.
In fact, I imagine there’s a good chance that’s when the Sex Panthers selects many of her picks.
So, Monkey could get us off to a hot start with a pick at 12:01 a.m.
“Maybe not 12:01,” he said, tapping away on his computer at work, “but definitely between midnight at 12:30.”
That means Tommy has to be ready for a nice breakfast sandwich and a draft pick when he wakes up.
A nice, hearty breakfast would be good for him considering how busy he will be at the beginning of the draft.
And Tommy will be busy selecting major leaguers because he is walking into the draft with all 10 minor leaguers.
One would think he would be in trouble with that being the case, but with four picks in the first two rounds, he can easily take care of the lack of active keepers — especially considering some of the names that are falling into the 2020 draft pool.
And when we say “Lack of active keepers,” three of the four greens being kept on active roster — Wander Franco, Nick Madrigal and Dylan Carlson — are all in line to either break camp with their teams or be up some time this season.
Here are his keepers, and then we’ll take a closer look at all the rest of the teams in the JLB.
Topton Tornadoes
1B Alonso
2B LeMahieu
3B Urshela
SS Tatis Jr.
CF Hampson
RF Judge
DH Guerrero Jr.
WC Franco
SPs: Snell, Paxton, Tanaka, McCullers
RPs: Colome, Gallegos
Franchise: Carlson, Alcantra, Madrigal, Glasnow, Cronenworth
Minors: Thomas, Jung, Ramos, Skubal, Honeywell, Gray
Sex Panthers
The future is bright with some young stars, but there are definitely some holes to fill here. Hosmer has been absolutely disappointing and Buxton has been a bit of a mess injury-wise.
That said, new blood is coming. Bo Bichette and Joey Gallo are exciting adds offensively, and it won’t be long before Jo Adell and Jarred Kelenic are stars in this outfield. Pitchers MacKenzie Gore and Nick Lodolo will soon join Jose Berrios, too.
But all that said, there is some major work to be done in the draft to compete in 2020.
1B Hosmer
2B Arraez
3B Andujar
SS Semien
LF Gallo
CF Buxton
DH Voit
WC Cain
SPs: Hamels, Boyd, Keller, Foltynewicz
RPs: Chapman, Smith
Franchise: Berrios, Lopez, Frazier, Muller, Bichette
Minors: Edwards, Jones, Adell, Kelenic, Lodolo, Gore
Steroid.ERA
The merry-go-round was in full swing this offseason once again, but this time, I actually think it was for the better for Steroid. His final two trades may have been the best adding Muncy, Villar, Dozier and Davis to fill out the lineup.
There is a strong pitching staff in the works here, too, so Steroid can attack the bats available in the draft right away.
And after three pitching starts — yes, Ohtani lost his SP eligibility so Steroid strangely has to wait three starts — Steroid will have a stud two-way player added to his arsenal. Right now, the Angels are taking it easy and don’t have a plan in place to get him into the rotation, but it will happen at some point. And when it does, if he is as good as he was when he first arrived on scene, Steroid will be in very good shape.
1B Muncy
2B Hiura
SS Villar
3B Sano
LF Davis
CF Kingery
RF Dozier
DH Ohtani
SPs: Greinke, Rodriguez, Manaea
RPs: Yates, Rogers, Giles
Franchise: Cease, Luzardo, Kopech, Lucchesi, Marquez
Minors: Hayes, Lewis, Cruz, Pache, Mize, Patino
Quad Eh All-Stars
At first glance, you look at the keeper lineup and you shrug. It’s good, but it’s not great.
Then, you look down at franchise and see Juan Soto, Victor Robles, Gavin Lux, Kyle Lewis and Lourdes Gurriel.
Now we’re talking. The pitching will need help in the draft — I’m one to talk — but this is definitely a quality set of keepers heading into the draft. Even better, Quad Eh is among the few that doesn’t have to waste a pick on a catcher. Grandal is among the short list of catchers worth keeping.
C Grandal
1B Freeman
2B Biggio
3B Donaldson
SS Baez
LF Rosario
DH Cruz
WC Conforto
SPs: MadBum, deGrom, Hendricks, Morton
RPs: Diaz, Pagan
Franchise: Soto, Robles, Gurriel, Lewis, Lux
Minors: Baz, Kapriellian, Ruiz, White, Bohm, Singer
Crox Sox
Choo has bragged off and on about having the dream outfield. He’ll probably do it again in a month when Luis Robert starts off on fire.
But Eloy Jimenez, David Dahl and Christian Yelich may be the best. And OK, maybe Dahl doesn’t do it for you. Oscar Mercado might.
Crox walks into 2020 with a strong rotation — as usual — led by Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler. He has some bounce-back candidates in Syndergaard and Kluber, and a breakout candidate in Dustin May.
And if you would have told him in November that he’d be keeping Cespedes, Crox would have laughed and walked away from you.
1B Abreu
2B Altuve
3B Ramirez
SS Correa
LF Jimenez
CF Dahl
RF Yelich
WC Cespedes
SPs: Carrasco, Kluber, Syndergaard, Flaherty
RPs: Houser, Hader
Franchise: Mercado, Rodgers, Kieboom, Buehler, May
Minors: Dalbec, Kirriloff, Duran, Mateo, Florial, India
Big League Choo
The 2020 season will be great for Choo. Mookie Betts is on to La La Land and he’s going to go … Oh, wait. Traded.
Well, Arenado is always good for 100-plus RBIs. Choo will love … Oh, wait. Traded.
Well, Acuna will be awesome. … Finally, someone who wasn’t traded. This lineup is still potent, but it isn’t what it could have been.
Instead, 2020 is the Year of the Pitcher for Choo. He has Gerrit Cole, Clayton Kershaw — again — Dallas Keuchel and Chris Archer — again. He also has in franchise Shane Bieber, Mike Soroka — again — Max Fried — again — Caleb Smith and Justus Sheffield. That’s a lot of pitching. Only room for three more in the draft, so it’s clear what Choo will focus on to get started.
And lord knows at one point, he’ll sit there with 12 pitchers a few rounds in wondering why he can’t draft anymore. Thankfully, when he calls, I won’t be on a two-minute clock.
C Gary Sanchez
1B Santana
2B Albies
3B Machado
SS Andrus
LF Pham
CF Acuna
RF Merrifield
SPs: Cole, Kershaw, Keuchel, Archer
RPs: James, Jansen
Franchise: Bieber, Sheffield, Fried, Soroka, Smith
Minors: Robinson, Larnach, Robert, Garcia, Liberatore, Schmidt
Cheese Steaks
Hey, there’s Arenado! The Cheese Steaks team looks great. The end.
C Garver
1B Hoskins
2B Marte
SS Lindor
3B Arenado
LF Benintendi
RF Castellanos
DH Soler
SPs: Scherzer, Nola, Darvish, Lynn
RPs: Urias, Puk
Franchise: Clevinger. Montas, Paddack, Mondesi, Tucker
Minors: Sanchez, Hancock, Torkelson, Gorman, Groshans
Gameday Gamblers
This is another team that when I saw keeper submissions, I was like, “Ew.”
I mean, the lineup outside of Xander Bogaerts, this lineup isn’t super impressive. But again, look down at franchise and boom, you’re instantly impress. Josh Bell, Gleyber Torres, Brian Reynolds and Franmil Reyes add the pop needed to make Bogaerts and Co. look dangerous.
The pitching has the top-line talent to keep him in matchups, and he’ll have to fill in the back-end after keeping so much offense.
I mean, who the hell does that?
C Contreras
2B Moose
3B Suarez
3B Chapman
SS Bogaerts
LF Ozuna
RF Mazara
DH Encarnacion
SPs: Verlander, Strasburg, Gray, Castillo
RPs: Doolittle, Iglesias
Franchise: Bell, Reyes, Torres, Reynolds, Aquino
Minors: Vaughn, Manning, Waters, Greene, Greene, Trammell
Big Ol’ Country Breakfast
Can Big Country survive the wait? He sold big time to get the World Series a year ago, and with strong keepers, he’ll need a little luck to fill in the gaps starting in the fourth round, but it’s not impossible.
The JLB as a whole has proven that drafting isn’t our collective strong suit.
So maybe, just maybe, the gems he needs to defend his title will be there to draft.
At the end of the day, he’s got a few MVP candidates and Cy Young caliber pitchers on this squad.
1B Rizzo
2B Escobar
3B Rendon
SS Turner
CF Marte
RF Springer
DH Martinez
WC Blackmon
SPs: Sale, Bauer, Wheeler, Ray
RPs: Hand, Hendriks
Franchise: Weaver, Meadows, Lowe, Plesac, Hoerner
Minors: Witt Jr., Rodriguez, Davis, Howard, Gilbert, Balazovic
JimmyJam Slammers
I mean, clearly the best keepers in the JLB. Right?
Yes, I need to draft some pitchers, and I promise, I’ll address that by — let’s see, the draft starts on March 1? — maybe March 9?
Of course, I am biased, but I have to say, I do think this lineup will take care of business. We’ll see.
C Realmuto
1B Goldschmidt
2B Newman
3B Bryant
SS Segura
LF Schwarber
RF Harper
WC Olson
SPs: Hudson, Gallen, Odorizzi, Stroman
RPs: Bummer, Ottavino
Franchise: Polanco, Laureano, Senzel, Riley, McKay
Minors: Rutschman, Abrams, Bleday, Chisholm, Corry, Davidson
Monkeys Never Cramp
Why the hell is Trout still on this team?
Am I right, Choo?
There is some building to do on offense with the injury concerns of Stanton and the lack of depth, but that lack of depth comes from the fact that franchise keepers include a pair of frontline starters in Brandon Woodruff and Lucas Giolito.
I’m sorry. I need a moment.
The phrase “frontline starter” combined with “Lucas Giolito” really is painful for me.
Oh, man, I guess Trout brings back bad memories, too.
This entire team is a nightmare for me.
C Molina
1B Chavis
3B Moncada
SS Seager
LF Stanton
CF Trout
RF Mancini
WC Anderson
SPs: Gray, Bundy, Gibson
RPs: Osuna, Hicks, Reyes
Franchise: Urias, Woodruff, Giolito, Martinez, Munoz
Minors: Mountcastle, Bart, Dominguez, Anderson, Rodriguez, Hall
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers
As if the Dude needed to get better this offseason, Choo fed him twice.
First, it was Mookie Betts for Gerrit Cole, a great deal for the Dude that legit gives him a 1-2 punch in the OF that cannot be matched in the JLB. (Maybe Crox can if Eloy emerges as that legit outfielder.)
Second, same old Story for Choo. Another big bat on the move. Trevor Story joins the Dude to give him another high average power bat.
I dare say, this is the best keeper batting lineup in the JLB, and if people let a Brantley-type bat drop all the way down to him in the draft again, we could be looking at another National League regular-season title for the Dude.
2B McNeil
3B Bregman
SS Story
LF Brantley
CF Bellinger
RF Betts
DH Alvarez
WC Devers
SPs: Price, Corbin, Ryu, Maeda
RPs: Martinez, Anderson
Franchise: Rosario, Edman, Civale, Smith, Lamet
Minors: Pearson, Whitley, Lynch, Valera, Luciano, Brujan
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