Here at Pitcher List, we thought it would be fun to give the readers a look into the dynasty leagues of Pitcher List staff members. I will be providing reviews throughout the season of my dynasty team in my home league, which originated in 2009.
The league is a 10-team, weekly, head-to-head points league and I am playing the 2019 season under the team name of Angels in the TROUTfield.
Offseason!
After a roller coaster of a season, I can finally take a deep breath and reflect on my 2019 2nd-place finish. It didn’t end like I planned but I am excited to take on the task of making it to the championship again in 2020. With a few high profile contracts expiring, I have some work to do to replenish my team. Below is the squad I will have the opportunity to take into the 2020 draft. I haven’t made a decision on all of the players (a few are obvious keepers) but these are the players I have the chance to keep and their respective remaining years and prices.
Major League Contracts
3B – Anthony Rendon (1, $29)
OF – Mike Trout (1, $46)
OF – Tommy Pham (1, $15)
OF – Michael Conforto (2, $8)
SP – Gerrit Cole (2, $36)
SP – Yu Darvish (2, $8)
Minor League Contracts – (reminder: 1st year = $0, 2nd year = $5, 3rd year = $15
2B/OF – Nick Senzel (0mL)
1B – Andrew Vaughn (0mL)
My ‘no-brainer’ keepers are Trout, Rendon, and Cole, as well as Senzel and Vaughn who will cost me $0 to keep in their first season on my Major League roster. The other keepers who are obvious to me but might not be to the consensus are Conforto and Darvish.
My biggest decision will likely come down to Pham. I am a big supporter of Pham, but $15 for him headed into the 2020 draft where I will be using a lot of my $260 budget on my keepers might prove to be a little pricey, especially for an aging OF. I will consider keeping him but I could also foresee a scenario where I release him to the draft pool and attempt to grab him at a cheaper price. Although there are some potential health concerns to bake into his price, another 20-20 season with (hopefully) more R and RBI than he had in 2019 (77 and 68, respectfully) would not be out of the question in 2020. Pham finished as the number 25 overall OF in my league this year and was well worth the $15 investment so I will need to see if he can fit into my team next year as I progress with my pre-draft analysis. After doing a little digging into OF prices in our 2019 draft, $15 for Pham might actually be a decent bargain, but like I said, in terms of team context, it might come down to how much money I want free for the draft. Some notable OF prices for comparison are – Bryce Harper ($38), Giancarlo Stanton ($46), Mookie Betts ($48), A.J. Pollock ($14), Michael Brantley ($16), Charlie Blackmon ($25), and Starling Marte ($14). Obviously, Pham doesn’t match up with Betts in terms of production, but if you are looking at production vs. cost, $15 for Pham isn’t looking too terribly high.
The 2020 draft will have a number of exciting players in the draft pool. There are quite a few free agents who will garner much attention in the draft. I obviously haven’t done my complete research and planning on what players I will specifically target but here are a handful of high profile targets headed into the draft, in no specific order, just to give you an idea of who is available:
Yordan Alvarez
Luis Castillo
Mike Soroka
Lucas Giolito
Ketel Marte
Walker Buehler
Christian Yelich
Alex Bregman
Jacob deGrom
Clayton Kershaw
Gary Sanchez
Justin Verlander
Charlie Blackmon
Zack Greinke
Trevor Story
Jose Ramirez
This is just a few of the players available in the draft with MANY, MANY other notable players as well as buy-low/sleepers/under-the-radar guys that will undoubtedly gain attention in the draft.
I am excited to go into the draft with, in my opinion, the top hitter and pitcher in fantasy, Trout and Cole. Although I have a lot of expenses in my current lineup, $142 if I were to keep everyone, I still have some flexibility and budget space to be a force in the draft.
2020 Season
I hope you have kept in mind throughout this article that all 2020 analysis and planning is incomplete and will be an evolving process throughout the offseason and into the days leading up to our draft. But nevertheless, it is never too early to start planning and prepping. I have began my tier rankings for 2020 as well as my short-list of players to target. I have also been asked to take over as commissioner of the league and have accepted the request. In doing so, I hope to expand the league to 12 teams and improve overall league interaction. At times throughout the 2019 season and over the past couple of years, it seems that only 6-7 teams are active in free agency and in trades. This is true for probably the majority of leagues but my goal is to continue to construct an active league with owners that are invested in their team year after year.
Thank you all for following my team throughout the 2019 season, from the draft, to free agent moves, to trades and to the analysis behind the decisions I made. I hope that it was as fun for you as it was for me!
(Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)