It’s 2:58 on Friday afternoon. Should be primetime real estate for escapism, but here I am staring at Dennis Franz’s naked ass.
That’s not true, but it might as well be because I’m actually looking at a 15-team dynasty draft room. There’s six hours left on what was an eight-hour draft clock. The team that has the power to move us forward timed out last time and feels likely to time out again. Another serial offender timed out earlier today after carrying over the first two of eight-hour clock from last night, so the league has seen two picks in the last 20 hours. We’re close to the end, but it’s never felt further away.
Games were not designed to be played this way, but there’s no easy fix to this flaw in the design of dynasty leagues. Even in redraft leagues with fairly high entry fees, people fart around and people time out. The problem feels magnified in dynasty partly because it tends to be the usual suspects year over year.
It wasn’t all bad though. First-Year-Player Draft season is mostly great. Or at least it should be. Here’s how it’s gone for me.
Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2nd overall in a 15-team league)
My first season in the dynasty startup from 2023 did not go well. From Oneil Cruz to Fernando Tatis to Max Fried, Tyler Glasnow, Luis Severino and even Michael Conforto, the dominoes I needed never fell, so I pulled the plug. Yamamoto was a nice reward for a lost season and joins a roster that could contend with slightly better health.
Padres SS Leodalis De Vries (10tn in a 20-team, open-universe league; 17th in a 15-team league)
De Vries is my reward for a similarly difficult season in the Highlander Invitational, but that league is overloaded with tankers, so my midseason pivot toward punting barely registered in those waters.
He also joins Yamamoto in that 15-teamer and might be trade bait if the team’s good early.
Reds RHP Rhett Lowder (21st overall in a 30-team league)
Perfect spot to get a little bit Lowder now. My Royals in the Razz 30 are looking to survive injuries to Jeffrey Springs and Sandy Alcantara, so I was thrilled to get Rhett here. I had been eyeing De Vries, but he went 18th. When I felt relief at that, I knew I how badly I wanted Lowder in that format, where quality starts are the sixth pitching category in a 6×6, and solid starters are hard to come by.
Rays OF Jonny DeLuca (29th overall in a 15-team standard)
I’ve finished 2nd a lot in this league and won it once. Our minor leagues go up to 350 at bats, so DeLuca has some roster flexibility value for me along with Johan Rojas and Sean Bouchard as up-and-down outfield depth.
Dodgers RHP River Ryan (31st overall in 15-team standard)
Same league as DeLuca. It’s hard to add to this team because the league has been going for a long time, but I’m hoping I get something useful out of Ryan, either because he keeps improving or because Fangraphs ranked as the 19th overall prospect in baseball, giving him a little more trade value than he had last week.
Padres OF Jakob Marsee (32nd in 15-team standard, 30th in 20-team standard)
You may have noticed I’m pretty high on this guy, so I was quick to click at 32nd overall in the Yamamoto league and 30th in the Highlander. Seeing Jackson Merrill playing outfield since these drafts doesn’t thrill me.
Guardians C Ralphy Velazquez (3.44 in 15-team standard)
Catcher is not where I tend to invest, but I just really like this dude.
Rays C Rene Pinto (4.47 in 15-team standard weekly)
Rays SS Jose Caballero (5.62 in 15-team standard weekly)
I needed some replacement level guys in a set-up that has no dedicated minor league spots, and here were two Rays with just enough juice to dream on becoming something slightly better than that. I see Caballero as a 10/30 guy. He went ninth overall in the Highlander FYPD. Pinto is my favorite low-rent backstop this year, as he seems to have a full-time gig and hits for enough power to help us there. I did not enjoy losing in this league last year and would never plan a rebuild or refresh that lasts longer than a season or so.
Rockies OF Sean Bouchard (4.52 in 15-team standard daily)
The report about him being the likely right fielder hadn’t come out yet, if I remember right.
Mariners OF Jonny Farmelo (4.59 in 15-team standard daily)
A power-speed-hype play in a league where I’m pretty much topped out on the build.
Padres RHP Jairo Iriarte (5.70 in same)
Phillies RHP Jeff Hoffman (5.73)
Tigers RHP Shelby Miller (5.74)
Guys like these are why I like to target last-round picks in most of my leagues. Iriarte is a Top 100 guy in some places already. Hoffman might be the closer if the season started today. So might Miller. Spring training is a long time. Either could win the role if they don’t have it already. Iriarte is
White Sox RHP Prelander Berroa (4.70 in 20-team Highlander)
Somebody’s gotta close in Chicago. Probably won’t be Berroa right away, but he’s got momentum in that direction.
Guardians RHP Ethan Hankins (3.81 in the Razz 30)
I mention in the Lowder blurb about the value of pitching in this league, and Hankins is an intriguing buy low after finishing strong in 2023. I probably could have waited a while given his ERA of 4.70, but most of that damage happened when he was just getting back in rhythm after a long time off the mound. In his final seven starts (30 innings), he recorded a 1.20 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. The Cleveland piece probably added a round for me. Did not want to miss this 6’6” off-speed specialist in this format. No small chance he adds velocity as he gets more comfortable with his health.
Orioles LHP Cole Irvin (5.90 in Highlander)
Has reportedly changed his diet over the off-season. I really need this pick to help, at least early in the season, and I feel pretty good about it. Lefties should do well in that park.
Athletics SS Max Muncy (5.110 in Highlander)
I don’t really get what’s going on with this guy. He’s a first-round pick who just hit .302 for 51 games as a 20-year-old in Double-A. He slashed .340/.428/.527 with four homers and four steals over his final 37 games of the season.
Rangers RHP Jose Corniell (4.111 in the Razz 30)
On the one hand, this guy feels underrated as a 6’3” 165 lb 20-year-old who’s cruising through the minors. On the other hand, there’s a lot of pitchers. Guys fall through the cracks. Corniell closed out the season with a 1.41 ERA and 0.75 WHIP over his final seven starts. He’ll be 20 until June 22nd and might be pushing for Triple-A by then.
Dodgers RHP Ricky Vanasco (5.141 in Razz 30)
Razz 30 is a saves/holds league and a daily lineups league, so SP-eligible relievers have a little up arrow on a lot of teams’ boards. Vanasco was dominant in relief for the Double-and-Triple-A Dodgers and signed a major league deal this winter after electing to become a free agent. This tells me he knew he’d found something that would work and so did the Dodgers, who did not want to lose him. There are a lot of good young relievers who might make a major league bullpen. Not as many who are all but guaranteed to do so.
Nationals LHP DJ Herz (6.169 in Razz 30)
Should get some starts this year.
Reds RHP Julian Aguiar (7.197 in Razz 30)
I really like this guy. So many pitching prospects.
Blue Jays RHP Bowden Francis (8.221 in Razz 30)
Royals OF Javier Vaz (9.244 in Razz 30)
We’re down to three team-affiliated players from six, but I’m still one Royal shy of three, so come on down, Javier Vaz! The league picked about ten Royals before this guy.
Cardinals 1B Luken Baker (10.266 in Razz 30)
Cardinals RHP Ryan Fernandez (11.285, Razz 30)
Rule-5 pick who has to make the team or be returned. Could be a bumpy ride, but he has the SP eligibility that gives him a bump in this league.
Astros LHP Bennett Sousa (12.302, Razz 30)
Astros LHP Brailyn Marquez (13.314, Razz 30)
Dodgers SS Jeral Perez (14.323, Razz 30)
Thanks for reading!
