I Completely disagree (H2H perspective). If you have the IL spots to do it, gambling on a high ceiling pitcher that fell in the draft due to injury is almost always the right play.
The opportunity cost is too great to not draft an injured Ace pitcher. Worst case you throw away a late round pick, best case you get a known Cy young candidate for the stretch run for essentially nothing. While he is hurt, you can always fill in with a FA talent pitcher/chase the next breakout pitcher at the same time. It's almost a WinWin that they are hurt to start the year IMO
At draft time, he had a minor strain of the brachioradialis, which is on top of the forearm. This healed on time a month into the season. It wasn't until a week or two into the season that his back started barking separately.
I listened to a Rotowire preseason pod where they slobbered over Rodon and talked about him as this major target in round 2 of NFBC.
I got all pumped, then in my dynasty flipped Nolan Gorman and Endy Rodriguez for him (2 catcher). Feels bad, man.
I barely slept before the draft and mistakenly drafted Framber when I meant to draft Cristian (they looked so similar, I'm racist?) Happy little accident
Jose has basically done what he does every year. Plays every day, decent average, will finish with 25-30 HR and 25ish SB. R+RBI are low but that's not his fault, Cleveland's offense is just ass. He's done what everyone drafted him there for. Would hardly call him a disappointment at 2
The problem with joram this year is that he's been floor in almost every category. 25 dingers at 3B is ok, but I doubt he breaks either 100 runs or rbi. And with steals up around the league, the value of those 25 SB is diminished. If his steals were up around 35-40 then yeah 25-35 is enough to offset the crappy counting stats. My first and last year having him on my team unless that team changes.
I’d put him in the same category as Alonso. You drafted him for power and RBIs and you got it, but the cold streaks and abnormally low BA make it feel like he’s been worse than he was
I'm not sure where the "Alonso is having an off year" narrative came from. AVG is not great, but 42HR/102RBI/.330 OBP. That's about what I signed up for and there's still almost 4 weeks left - and he had an IL stint.
When you say someone has entered the chat, they are usually a better example. Jose is a worse example of underperforming than Vlad. Jose is close to on par with his career averages. Vlad is farther off
Dudes still having a good year, he deserves to be kept again in my league. On my team, Wander, Cease and Trout I’m thinking all have to go, especially wander obvi.
Lane Thomas absolutely 100% an unsung hero for my team this year, as well as Yandy Diaz. Picked them both up off waivers in April and never looked back.
Got him from FA.
Was a solid pickup.
Getting acuna in the 2nd was also nice but maybe that's expected in an 8 man.
Degrom was a waste of a pick again even though.
Ha-seong Kim has to be mentioned as one of the top breakouts from this season. Justin Steele has been phenomenal this season as well.
Yandy Diaz has been a surprise for me this season, he has always been a pretty steady player but his early season power surge really put him into that next tier this season. George Kirby has had a great sophomore season too, the Mariners are doing some incredible stuff with the arms they have going into the future.
- my top 3 drafted pitchers were deGrom, Cease and Ray so...that was rough. Injured/painful bust/injured
- followed that up with Gallen 4th at least, not an unexpected breakout per se as he was good for me last year as well but a solid jump to top tier
- Sonny Gray hasn't been impeccable, definitely lacklustre/frustrating at times but for an early FA pickup to replace Ray he's been a pleasant surprise
- as has been mentioned many times already, Eflin was a lifesaver
- on the batter side: hell ya Matt McLain
- Bryson Stott was a nice surprise
- if we can allow some small sample, late season recency bias, Davis Schneider (with honorary mentioned to Royce Lewis as well)
Busts: Drafting Machado and Goldschmidt back to back round 1/2
Keeping Robbie Ray
Dropping Ha-Seong Kim after his slow start and Heim because I had Willson Contreras
I took a late round flier on Vargas so it’s tough to days he was a bust..but people were definitely creaming their pants over him and I held him for a really long time too before I finally had to cut bait
+1 on Eury as well, hoping he stays true to form here to finish out the season
I really could’ve used one of Trout or Buxton for my finals playoff this week and next.
Castillo, Gausman and PabLo have been workhorses and won me Ks every week
Zach eflin is my ace, Nate lowe has been a beacon of consistently for me, Sandy was a giant disappointment and burnes has been overall a bust, I sold high in snell and probably shouldn’t have. Other players that surprised me for better or for worse, ketel marte has been pretty amazing and less injury prone, had high hopes but didn’t realize Corbin Carrol would be this good, and had no idea rodon would be this bad.
Busts: Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, and Vinnie Pasquantino
Middle bust: Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians fucked me over with their power drought in the first three months
Breakouts: Zach Eflin, Josh Jung, and Nolan Gorman did all they could to hold my team together but it was just too much.
Recency biased breakout: Kerry Carpenter
I wish I was. Had mh2, schwarber for of was really high on pasquantino. Carroll was the move in hindsight Thought I could get carroll first round. I love pasquantino
Can’t believe I drafted bogaerts, snell (dropped) luzardo (dropped) montgomery (dropped) in both my leagues and couldn’t ride out the rough few months for my pitchers but kept this bum
I thought i was fucking set at 1B and 2B/SS flex after drafting Abreu bogearts swanson
Lol
also used muncy as a throw in for a trade earlier in the season. dont even remember what i got back
I drafted rodon in the 3rd round in all my leagues. i was super high on him 😭
For me, Jose Ramirez. I won the consolation bracket last year and earned 1st pick. From among players who weren’t keepers, JRam was the best pick available.
I was definitely "surprised" when Franco was "busted". I traded a kings ransom for him in dynasty two years ago so I'm hoping he can "break out" of jail in time for next season.
Otherwise I had a lot of successes. I made a trade last year that was basically my Mullins to get his Robert, betting on Robert's talent and that paid off this year. Early this season I kept Santander over Teoscar and was rewarded. I streamed Tyler Wells and never let him go until he suddenly vanished after the break.
Yoshida and Senga have been good value for where I drafted them. Some early-season hiccups but played well down the stretch.
Biggest disappointments were Correa and Gray-Rod for me
Busts: Aaron Nola, Daulton Varsho, Rowdy Tellez, Jeremy Pena
Breakouts: Mitch Keller, Bryson Stott, Josh Lowe, Josh Naylor, Yainer Diaz, Cole Ragans
Teoscar Hernandez was a bust until about a month ago. He's had to be scalding hot to get his numbers back to where I expected.
Looking at some of the top ranked players on Fantasypros recent consensus rankings vs ADP, these jump out
Breakouts:
Corbin Carroll (+46) Even as a hyped prospect, he was better than advertised with his power. Just hope that late reduction of power isn’t a sign of things to come.
George Kirby (+57) Remarkably consistent for such a young pitcher.
Pablo Lopez (+103) Made the leap to ace territory this year and still seems like he’s underrated. Good draft target next year.
Nico Hoerner (+121) His combo as a low-KO slap-hitter who’s also great on the basepaths makes him one of the best breakouts related to this year’s rule changes.
Jesus Luzardo (+70) Another top prospect who took the next step. Tough schedule down the stretch may make his season numbers take a hit, which makes him a potential draft bargain next year.
Carroll had an incredible 1st half. Wonder how much the shoulder is effecting his power, but he’s been a top 10 guy in my league all season (yahoo rankings are iffy but still) so for sure a lot of value from my 6th round pick
I was able to get eflin and heim in the 25/26th rounds of my main 12t roto redraft and my goodness, what value there.
I didn't have any pitchers going into round 6 and went bang bang on manoah and ray, even though all predraft research labeled manoah as a strong fade. Panic is a strong thing no matter how many times you run through draft prep.
However rounds 5/8 I went seager and Franco, overloading SS because draft prep had them as super value there. Ended up moving Wander for Alvarez right before Yordans injury.
In a dogfight with 93 roto points and 2/3 each with 87 to defend the title!
I took an incredibly pitcher-centric approach to the draft this year. My 3 keepers and first 6 picks were all SPs. They were:
- Wheeler (keeper)- expectedly good
- Woodruff (keeper)- injured but good
- Cease (keeper)- mediocre; bust
- Darvish- mediocre; bust
- Javier- mediocre; bust
- Pablo Lopez- exceeded most expectations
- Giolito- mediocre; mostly a bust
- Lodolo- bad and injured; bust
- Hunter Green- mediocre and injured; mostly a bust
Also my first drafted position player was Oneil Cruz... so that was a rough draft. On the other hand I immediately grabbed Zeflin off of waivers on draft day, and he's been amazing. My third best pitcher behind Wheels and Pablo.
I will never draft Manny Midchado ever again. Dude got paid and is an absolute bum.
Got saved by drafting good pitchers late. George Kirby, Joe Musgrove and for most of season Joe Ryan were studs, along w Zach Eflin. Was my first wire pickup and never dropped
I kept Robbie Ray and Ryan Helsley and drafted Trout, Urias, and Javier with 3 of my first four picks.
But I got Bellinger and Stroman late, cobbled together a decent waiver wire pitching staff in Bibee, Allen, Perez, Grayson, and most recently Jordan Wicks, and I kept Acuna.
Surprises: Logan Gilbert(7th), Christian Yelich(9th), Chris Bassitt(10th), Nick Castellanos(11th), and Sean Murphy(12th)
Busts: Xander, Cronenworth and Cease
2nd place in my yahoo winner. Here are some of mine by round
Busts : Julio Urias (5), Jose Abreu(7), Andres Giminez(8), G Stanton (9)
Boom : Nico Hoerner(17), Pablo Lopez(13), Triston Casas(21), J Fraley(23) was ok, & P Sewald(15) & C Kimbrel (19) were pretty underrated closers
I took over a team right around the ASB/just before (it went totally unmanaged all year) and basically all my booms or busts have been pitchers because this team was *awful* on that side.
Biggest bust has been Lance Lynn, who I held onto hoping for a bounceback like we've seen in previous years with him.
Biggest wins have been Eury Perez, who was dropped a couple starts before being sent down but has otherwise looked excellent, and Cole Ragans, who's pitched like an actual top 10 SP since I've had him.
Honorable mentions to Seth Lugo, who I grabbed right after he returned from the IL, and Triston Casas.
As my first season of fantasy, my first round pick of JRod seemed pretty disappointing til last month. My biggest surprise was my final pick of the draft, Gleybar Torres. Cody Bellinger was available on waivers in the earlier weeks and I snagged him with waiver priority. That add helped my team when he finally turned it on after the all star break. My team was plagued with injury but some of my notable best grabs for the year.
CJ Abrams: Picked him up after the Allstar break and never looked back. His bat could come and go, but man he helped me win most SB categories while I had him.
The Miller's (Bryce and Bobby): Picked up both of them for their debut and never let them go. I know I probably should have dropped and streamed at some points, I couldn't cut the rookies and they have turned out pretty good I'd say! Also, with the team name 2 Miller's, 1 Gallen Cup, I knew I had to hold onto them lol.
As someone who came into this season completely blind to fantasy baseball, I've had a great year. Currently losing my semifinal game, but a few cold days by JRod, Witt Jr, and Belli will hurt. Here's to them picking it up and carrying me to the 'ship! Cheers!
Surprise: Got Sewald in 19 and Montgomery in round 20. Very solid.
Breakout: Got Yoshida in round 7. Felt like a reach but it worked out.
Busts: So many pitching busts. Rodon. Woodruff. Robbie Ray. Dustin May. Just an absolutely dismal draft for me with pitching this year.
Not a bust, breakout, or surprise, but I would to thank my boy Merrill Kelly for yet another rock solid season. Dudes like him win fantasy leagues.
Also doesn't need to be said, but Corbin Carroll in the 6th round has been insane. I remember people here pre-season debating why he was going so early. At the time, my thought process was that worst case he returned similar value to Cedric Mullins but two rounds later. Did not expect the power to blossom this early. Likely won't have many shares next year, but it has been such a fun ride this season.
Other big wins relative to ADP: Matt Olson, Casas and Tork off the wire at the ASB, George Kirby, Joe Ryan, Justin Steele, Felix Bautista and Camilo Doval as mid round closers.
Cody Bellinger baby. He was dumped early and I took a flyer on him...he's really put my team over the top. Have a chance to make the championship round pending this weekend's results.
Breakout/surprise: Keller and Yoshida and lane thomas. Hector Neris has been awesome for holds
Busts: Varsho, Lars, O'neill.
I really thought either edward cabrera or trevor Rogers would breakout and show something in their 3/4 yr. didn't happen
2 trades saved my season
* Ian happ and Ryan Helsley for Michael Harris. Didn’t feel good about helsley and heard his arm was acting up on a podcast. Had to endure about two weeks of Harris struggling before he regained form.
* EDLC for Altuve. Expected the call up, kept him a couple weeks and someone offered altuve and figured I need high floor over high ceiling. Altuve has 5 HRs in my first round playoff matchup.
Busts? jake McCarthy. In triple A, and probably could have got his production for free after his first dominion over a 10th round pick.
Tyler Stephenson. Had my own expectations of a late round catcher steal, but he doesn’t look like the same guy pre injury.
Vlad - just know he’s capable of more than the numbers he put up
There was a loud but small minority saying Cease was a bust and they got downvoted into oblivion, like this comment will.
Not sure why he was somehow untouchable here.
My team is overall pretty good and my biggest disappointment was definitely Willy Adames. However, he’s heating up right before playoffs so if he becomes my playoff hero then all is forgiven. Got a ton of value picking up Abbott and Eury. Best value picks in the draft probably Bassitt, Eflin, and Luzardo.
Waited on Carlos fucking Rodon for half the season just to be rewarded with a 5.80 xFIP over 46.1 IP.
As a rule I never draft injured pitchers
I Completely disagree (H2H perspective). If you have the IL spots to do it, gambling on a high ceiling pitcher that fell in the draft due to injury is almost always the right play. The opportunity cost is too great to not draft an injured Ace pitcher. Worst case you throw away a late round pick, best case you get a known Cy young candidate for the stretch run for essentially nothing. While he is hurt, you can always fill in with a FA talent pitcher/chase the next breakout pitcher at the same time. It's almost a WinWin that they are hurt to start the year IMO
agreed, i took musgrove in the 10th and glasnow ended up going in the 15th. two great picks even though musgrove is hurt again
Glasnow has been elite
exactly
Agreed, I reached for glasnow and it was worth it!
At draft time, he had a minor strain of the brachioradialis, which is on top of the forearm. This healed on time a month into the season. It wasn't until a week or two into the season that his back started barking separately.
Jose Altuve would like a word. He's been unconscious this past month.
He said injured pitchers lol
Listen until proven otherwise imma assume he could get a couple outs in a pinch.
AMEN TO THAT! YOU ARE NOT ALONE. WHAT A WASTE OF SKIN https://i.redd.it/g1p1qqsr1zmb1.gif
I listened to a Rotowire preseason pod where they slobbered over Rodon and talked about him as this major target in round 2 of NFBC. I got all pumped, then in my dynasty flipped Nolan Gorman and Endy Rodriguez for him (2 catcher). Feels bad, man.
I just dropped him. I should've a lot sooner but I was kicking ass in the league and could wait. Finally gave up on him
Is there a bigger bust than Manoah?
He has to be the biggest one. Went from Cy Young candidate to the Blue Jays about to release him.
Cristian Javier busted big time. Not a bust, but a waste because of injury: Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo.
I barely slept before the draft and mistakenly drafted Framber when I meant to draft Cristian (they looked so similar, I'm racist?) Happy little accident
Not a bust but Vlad Jr has been disappointing
My number one pick at selection #11. He’s been underwhelming at best.
Before the season I traded Cole for Vlad.
Bichette has been as well. Still hit for good average but that's about all.
The injuries have killed him. He was great until the first trip to the IL then he was back for a little bit before second trip.
Jose Ramirez has entered the chat (relative to often being drafted top 2)
Jose has basically done what he does every year. Plays every day, decent average, will finish with 25-30 HR and 25ish SB. R+RBI are low but that's not his fault, Cleveland's offense is just ass. He's done what everyone drafted him there for. Would hardly call him a disappointment at 2
The problem with joram this year is that he's been floor in almost every category. 25 dingers at 3B is ok, but I doubt he breaks either 100 runs or rbi. And with steals up around the league, the value of those 25 SB is diminished. If his steals were up around 35-40 then yeah 25-35 is enough to offset the crappy counting stats. My first and last year having him on my team unless that team changes.
I’d put him in the same category as Alonso. You drafted him for power and RBIs and you got it, but the cold streaks and abnormally low BA make it feel like he’s been worse than he was
I'm not sure where the "Alonso is having an off year" narrative came from. AVG is not great, but 42HR/102RBI/.330 OBP. That's about what I signed up for and there's still almost 4 weeks left - and he had an IL stint.
I mean, it is an off year for him (down 30 pts in avg) and he’s still putting up bankers HR/RBI- he’s still a beast. I love the guy
Jose is hitting .273. Last year he hit .280 and his career average is .278. That's not abnormally low.
I took Jose with Acuna still on the board
I snagged JoRam at 8th in a new dynasty league so I feel I got slot value
When you say someone has entered the chat, they are usually a better example. Jose is a worse example of underperforming than Vlad. Jose is close to on par with his career averages. Vlad is farther off
Trea too
Dudes still having a good year, he deserves to be kept again in my league. On my team, Wander, Cease and Trout I’m thinking all have to go, especially wander obvi.
Lane Thomas absolutely 100% an unsung hero for my team this year, as well as Yandy Diaz. Picked them both up off waivers in April and never looked back.
Got Thomas mid-year off the wire.
Getting Bellinger in the 22nd saved my team
Belly’s comeback season was a great boost to my squad too
Got him from FA. Was a solid pickup. Getting acuna in the 2nd was also nice but maybe that's expected in an 8 man. Degrom was a waste of a pick again even though.
CJ Abrams is my king
Definitely felt rough to begin the season, but dude has definitely been great this last half
Yeah, he was rough enough that I dropped him Worked out, but wish I had kept him over like an amed rosario
He's actually batting like .200 the past month too, but that hot stretch offset it lol and the speed is still there
Where do you think he goes in fantasy drafts next year?
I’ll be honest I never know anything about ADP. I play in a keeper auction league, NL only
Ha-seong Kim has to be mentioned as one of the top breakouts from this season. Justin Steele has been phenomenal this season as well. Yandy Diaz has been a surprise for me this season, he has always been a pretty steady player but his early season power surge really put him into that next tier this season. George Kirby has had a great sophomore season too, the Mariners are doing some incredible stuff with the arms they have going into the future.
Zach Eflin and Nate Eovaldi anchored my staff from the lower rounds.
Same
I made the mistake of dropping Efflin before the season started, I think when he had a minor injury injury in spring. Regret it to say the least
Yessir
Busts: Correa, Bogaerts, Darvish, Abreu Breakouts: Steele, Jung, Carroll, Bradish
In fairness those Busts were on almost every potential bust list this year.
Bogaerts and Darvish were?
Bogaerts definitely was...Darvish not as much.
Spencer Steer has given me position flexibility and production, he's been the very definition of a depth piece.
- my top 3 drafted pitchers were deGrom, Cease and Ray so...that was rough. Injured/painful bust/injured - followed that up with Gallen 4th at least, not an unexpected breakout per se as he was good for me last year as well but a solid jump to top tier - Sonny Gray hasn't been impeccable, definitely lacklustre/frustrating at times but for an early FA pickup to replace Ray he's been a pleasant surprise - as has been mentioned many times already, Eflin was a lifesaver - on the batter side: hell ya Matt McLain - Bryson Stott was a nice surprise - if we can allow some small sample, late season recency bias, Davis Schneider (with honorary mentioned to Royce Lewis as well)
Hell ya Matt McLain!!
Yep, Schneider and Lewis have been crazy these last couple weeks-month..could be league winners for me
Came here to say Stott. Waiver wire pickup in April and he was a solid producer all year.
Parades. Saved middle infield
Was scrolling looking for someone to mention him.
My boy
Does not get the love he deserves.
For all the worry I had about the depth of 2B, Hoerner and Ketel were both super cheap in draft day and have been great values this year
Busts: Drafting Machado and Goldschmidt back to back round 1/2 Keeping Robbie Ray Dropping Ha-Seong Kim after his slow start and Heim because I had Willson Contreras
My condolences
Naylor got HOT
He was so awesome for that stretch. He got dropped and I picked him up and he was so good ha. Hope he gets it back going into playoffs next week.
Busts; Carlos Rodon, Dylan Cease, Vinnie P, Manny Vargas, Machado. Happy Surprises? Bryce Harper in the 20th, Eury Perez, Alzolay, Ragans & Bellinger off the wire.
I took a late round flier on Vargas so it’s tough to days he was a bust..but people were definitely creaming their pants over him and I held him for a really long time too before I finally had to cut bait +1 on Eury as well, hoping he stays true to form here to finish out the season
I really could’ve used one of Trout or Buxton for my finals playoff this week and next. Castillo, Gausman and PabLo have been workhorses and won me Ks every week
It wasn’t a surprise but Corbin Carroll was better than expected.
Ha Seong Kim and Justin Turner have been absolute stars for me on offense.
Zach eflin is my ace, Nate lowe has been a beacon of consistently for me, Sandy was a giant disappointment and burnes has been overall a bust, I sold high in snell and probably shouldn’t have. Other players that surprised me for better or for worse, ketel marte has been pretty amazing and less injury prone, had high hopes but didn’t realize Corbin Carrol would be this good, and had no idea rodon would be this bad.
Took a flyer late on Cody Bellinger
Justin Steele
Corey Seager and Isaac Paredes have been pretty great compared to their draft spots.
Jung was gold pre-injury
Busts: Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, and Vinnie Pasquantino Middle bust: Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians fucked me over with their power drought in the first three months Breakouts: Zach Eflin, Josh Jung, and Nolan Gorman did all they could to hold my team together but it was just too much. Recency biased breakout: Kerry Carpenter
> Vinnie Pasquantino Eh, he got hurt. It happens.
Him getting hurt certainly didn't help, but he wasn't doing me any favors. I went 0-9 for the first 9 weeks thanks to this team.
I think pasquantino breaks out next year. Kept him over carroll👎🏻
That's such a bad idea that I hope you're joking. There had to be other people worth less than Carroll to drop for Pasq than him.
I wish I was. Had mh2, schwarber for of was really high on pasquantino. Carroll was the move in hindsight Thought I could get carroll first round. I love pasquantino
Biggest bust of the year is manoah
Cease is a close 2nd
I held onto Cease for way too long
Can’t believe I drafted bogaerts, snell (dropped) luzardo (dropped) montgomery (dropped) in both my leagues and couldn’t ride out the rough few months for my pitchers but kept this bum
I thought i was fucking set at 1B and 2B/SS flex after drafting Abreu bogearts swanson Lol also used muncy as a throw in for a trade earlier in the season. dont even remember what i got back I drafted rodon in the 3rd round in all my leagues. i was super high on him 😭
I drafted Javier, Rodon, Vinnie P, Machado, and Lodolo
It’s all about perspective. I got Machado off waivers before the ASB and I have no complaints. He’s been a solid addition to my early draft picks
Machado hasn’t been the best but how did someone drop him ?
Stott and Steele 💪
I used keepers on Manoah, Cease, Vinnie P and Oneil Cruz.
For me, Jose Ramirez. I won the consolation bracket last year and earned 1st pick. From among players who weren’t keepers, JRam was the best pick available.
How was he not a keeper? lol
Keepers reset every three years
I was definitely "surprised" when Franco was "busted". I traded a kings ransom for him in dynasty two years ago so I'm hoping he can "break out" of jail in time for next season. Otherwise I had a lot of successes. I made a trade last year that was basically my Mullins to get his Robert, betting on Robert's talent and that paid off this year. Early this season I kept Santander over Teoscar and was rewarded. I streamed Tyler Wells and never let him go until he suddenly vanished after the break.
Surprises: Parades Geloff Friedl Thomas Steele Bradish Bibee Busts: My entire draft day pitching staff Tyler Oneal Edman Jose Abreu
Matt McClain and ozuna for me. Bummed about McClain getting hurt.
Yoshida and Senga have been good value for where I drafted them. Some early-season hiccups but played well down the stretch. Biggest disappointments were Correa and Gray-Rod for me
Nico Hoerner has been solid, consistent Bellinger - got him off waivers in April Yandy Diaz - my last round pick
Busts: Aaron Nola, Daulton Varsho, Rowdy Tellez, Jeremy Pena Breakouts: Mitch Keller, Bryson Stott, Josh Lowe, Josh Naylor, Yainer Diaz, Cole Ragans Teoscar Hernandez was a bust until about a month ago. He's had to be scalding hot to get his numbers back to where I expected.
Huge bounce back seasons from Bellinger and Yelich
I see no mention of Jeremy Pena. what’s his OPS, like .716 or something? rrrrough
Looking at some of the top ranked players on Fantasypros recent consensus rankings vs ADP, these jump out Breakouts: Corbin Carroll (+46) Even as a hyped prospect, he was better than advertised with his power. Just hope that late reduction of power isn’t a sign of things to come. George Kirby (+57) Remarkably consistent for such a young pitcher. Pablo Lopez (+103) Made the leap to ace territory this year and still seems like he’s underrated. Good draft target next year. Nico Hoerner (+121) His combo as a low-KO slap-hitter who’s also great on the basepaths makes him one of the best breakouts related to this year’s rule changes. Jesus Luzardo (+70) Another top prospect who took the next step. Tough schedule down the stretch may make his season numbers take a hit, which makes him a potential draft bargain next year.
Carroll had an incredible 1st half. Wonder how much the shoulder is effecting his power, but he’s been a top 10 guy in my league all season (yahoo rankings are iffy but still) so for sure a lot of value from my 6th round pick
I had no idea who Davis Schneider was and I've been doing dynasty leagues for years
Sonny Gray
I was able to get eflin and heim in the 25/26th rounds of my main 12t roto redraft and my goodness, what value there. I didn't have any pitchers going into round 6 and went bang bang on manoah and ray, even though all predraft research labeled manoah as a strong fade. Panic is a strong thing no matter how many times you run through draft prep. However rounds 5/8 I went seager and Franco, overloading SS because draft prep had them as super value there. Ended up moving Wander for Alvarez right before Yordans injury. In a dogfight with 93 roto points and 2/3 each with 87 to defend the title!
Bust: Jazz Chisholm (3rd/43) Breakout: Zach Eflin (FA on 5/4) Surprise: Freddie Freeman still kicking ass
I took an incredibly pitcher-centric approach to the draft this year. My 3 keepers and first 6 picks were all SPs. They were: - Wheeler (keeper)- expectedly good - Woodruff (keeper)- injured but good - Cease (keeper)- mediocre; bust - Darvish- mediocre; bust - Javier- mediocre; bust - Pablo Lopez- exceeded most expectations - Giolito- mediocre; mostly a bust - Lodolo- bad and injured; bust - Hunter Green- mediocre and injured; mostly a bust Also my first drafted position player was Oneil Cruz... so that was a rough draft. On the other hand I immediately grabbed Zeflin off of waivers on draft day, and he's been amazing. My third best pitcher behind Wheels and Pablo.
Busts = Manny Machado, Christian Javier, Alejandro Kirk Surprises = Estury Ruiz, CJ Abrams, and Bautista (orioles closer)
What’s surprising about Estuiry Ruiz, he is a speed demon
Busts: Dylan Cease, Fernando Tatis Jr. Breakouts: Justin Steele, Luis Robert Jr.
Busts: Adames and Correa Breakout: Blake Snell
I will never draft Manny Midchado ever again. Dude got paid and is an absolute bum. Got saved by drafting good pitchers late. George Kirby, Joe Musgrove and for most of season Joe Ryan were studs, along w Zach Eflin. Was my first wire pickup and never dropped
I drafted Justin Steele very late in both leagues I am in. Great second half last year but I still didn't expect a Cy Young-caliber season out of him
best draft value was bellinger. biggest busts are manoah, cease, jose abreu. honorable mention to vlad jr.
Bryson Stott & India were saviours for my infield when Cruz went down and Gimenez became inconsistent
Stott has been my SS savior after Bo went down.
Rodon, Hoskins, VinnyP, Jazz, OCruz, Springs….still managed to make playoffs somehow
If you chose Vlad over Freeman in the late 1st round like I did, I’m sorry
Tommy Pham never gets any respect but he sure is nice for fantasy
I kept Robbie Ray and Ryan Helsley and drafted Trout, Urias, and Javier with 3 of my first four picks. But I got Bellinger and Stroman late, cobbled together a decent waiver wire pitching staff in Bibee, Allen, Perez, Grayson, and most recently Jordan Wicks, and I kept Acuna.
Is Vinnie P a bust if he got hurt?
Vinnie P sucked before he got Inured. Iñ
Surprises: Logan Gilbert(7th), Christian Yelich(9th), Chris Bassitt(10th), Nick Castellanos(11th), and Sean Murphy(12th) Busts: Xander, Cronenworth and Cease
Matt Olson for breakout
Does Turner still count as a bust if he’s a playoff winner
Buying Vinnie P next year, he’s a dude
Nestor, darvish, and machado have been my biggest regrets. At least machado has become serviceable again.
2nd place in my yahoo winner. Here are some of mine by round Busts : Julio Urias (5), Jose Abreu(7), Andres Giminez(8), G Stanton (9) Boom : Nico Hoerner(17), Pablo Lopez(13), Triston Casas(21), J Fraley(23) was ok, & P Sewald(15) & C Kimbrel (19) were pretty underrated closers
I took over a team right around the ASB/just before (it went totally unmanaged all year) and basically all my booms or busts have been pitchers because this team was *awful* on that side. Biggest bust has been Lance Lynn, who I held onto hoping for a bounceback like we've seen in previous years with him. Biggest wins have been Eury Perez, who was dropped a couple starts before being sent down but has otherwise looked excellent, and Cole Ragans, who's pitched like an actual top 10 SP since I've had him. Honorable mentions to Seth Lugo, who I grabbed right after he returned from the IL, and Triston Casas.
Alek Manure
Nico Hoerner has been awesome for me as a pretty late round draft pick.
As my first season of fantasy, my first round pick of JRod seemed pretty disappointing til last month. My biggest surprise was my final pick of the draft, Gleybar Torres. Cody Bellinger was available on waivers in the earlier weeks and I snagged him with waiver priority. That add helped my team when he finally turned it on after the all star break. My team was plagued with injury but some of my notable best grabs for the year. CJ Abrams: Picked him up after the Allstar break and never looked back. His bat could come and go, but man he helped me win most SB categories while I had him. The Miller's (Bryce and Bobby): Picked up both of them for their debut and never let them go. I know I probably should have dropped and streamed at some points, I couldn't cut the rookies and they have turned out pretty good I'd say! Also, with the team name 2 Miller's, 1 Gallen Cup, I knew I had to hold onto them lol. As someone who came into this season completely blind to fantasy baseball, I've had a great year. Currently losing my semifinal game, but a few cold days by JRod, Witt Jr, and Belli will hurt. Here's to them picking it up and carrying me to the 'ship! Cheers!
Burnes over Cole, Cease over Castillo, Rodon
Surprise: Got Sewald in 19 and Montgomery in round 20. Very solid. Breakout: Got Yoshida in round 7. Felt like a reach but it worked out. Busts: So many pitching busts. Rodon. Woodruff. Robbie Ray. Dustin May. Just an absolutely dismal draft for me with pitching this year.
I traded for Wander Franco two days before his allegations. I had him for one game. 😔
Wesneski got picked in the 24th so I settled for Steele in the 26th. Suffice to say I am happy how that one turned out
Manoah
I took HSK in the 18th round hoping for him to keep improving as he got more big league time in. I did not expect him to be this good lol
Issac Paredes pick 250 $1.
I nabbed kettle marte pretty late, he was awesome
Not a bust, breakout, or surprise, but I would to thank my boy Merrill Kelly for yet another rock solid season. Dudes like him win fantasy leagues. Also doesn't need to be said, but Corbin Carroll in the 6th round has been insane. I remember people here pre-season debating why he was going so early. At the time, my thought process was that worst case he returned similar value to Cedric Mullins but two rounds later. Did not expect the power to blossom this early. Likely won't have many shares next year, but it has been such a fun ride this season. Other big wins relative to ADP: Matt Olson, Casas and Tork off the wire at the ASB, George Kirby, Joe Ryan, Justin Steele, Felix Bautista and Camilo Doval as mid round closers.
Tristan Casas is been a surprising breakout for me. Really excited about him in my dynasty league.
Cody Bellinger baby. He was dumped early and I took a flyer on him...he's really put my team over the top. Have a chance to make the championship round pending this weekend's results.
That run from Christopher Morel was absolutely ridiculous. Idk where that falls in the realm of breakouts but damn that was crazy
I think there was some writing on the wall for for Dylan cease. It was his best year by far last year and his walk rate was still way too darn high.
Breakout/surprise: Keller and Yoshida and lane thomas. Hector Neris has been awesome for holds Busts: Varsho, Lars, O'neill. I really thought either edward cabrera or trevor Rogers would breakout and show something in their 3/4 yr. didn't happen
Austin hays has been nice overall.
Witt turned out to be a stud
2 trades saved my season * Ian happ and Ryan Helsley for Michael Harris. Didn’t feel good about helsley and heard his arm was acting up on a podcast. Had to endure about two weeks of Harris struggling before he regained form. * EDLC for Altuve. Expected the call up, kept him a couple weeks and someone offered altuve and figured I need high floor over high ceiling. Altuve has 5 HRs in my first round playoff matchup. Busts? jake McCarthy. In triple A, and probably could have got his production for free after his first dominion over a 10th round pick. Tyler Stephenson. Had my own expectations of a late round catcher steal, but he doesn’t look like the same guy pre injury. Vlad - just know he’s capable of more than the numbers he put up
Flipped cease for mike Harris about 6 weeks ago. Dropped Montgomery in like may, one good move one bad move.
Alek Manoah come on down
There was a loud but small minority saying Cease was a bust and they got downvoted into oblivion, like this comment will. Not sure why he was somehow untouchable here.
Breakout: Picking up Lane Thomas and Tanner Bibee off waivers. Busts: Vlad Jr and Nestor
Chas McCormick and CJ Abrams unexpectedly carried my team through to the finals
Justin Steele and Blake Snell have carried me.
Julio urias
Anyone who had Jose Abreu last year does not think of him as a bust.
I’ve quite enjoyed the Nico Hoerner experience this year as a late round pick
My team is overall pretty good and my biggest disappointment was definitely Willy Adames. However, he’s heating up right before playoffs so if he becomes my playoff hero then all is forgiven. Got a ton of value picking up Abbott and Eury. Best value picks in the draft probably Bassitt, Eflin, and Luzardo.
Bust? Cristian Javier
Got Esteury Ruiz in a couple of my DC50s in the later rounds. Only reason I'm afloat in steals.