Rookie Draft Review 2016: NL

Miami Marlins

Gotta start with the SnL Champion Miami Marlins. With most of their lineup ready to roll, Miami fortified their rotation with Eduardo Rodriguez as the 21st pick. Rodriguez will join Degrom, Wacha, and Teheran in what looks like to be traditional pitching dominance by the Fish. With no 2nd round pick, Miami looked to filling in bullpen gaps with the underrated Mychel Givens. Top 10 RP on SomWorld anyone? Miami showed that dominance has its benefits, as they look to use their picks and over 30 million in cap to re-create their masterpiece.

Washington Degenerates

On autopilot, the Degenerates barely missed out on the wild card. Attempting to avoid the same fate next year, they scooped up Devon Travis, putting some envious up the middle pop next to Brandon Crawford. The rest of their middle round picks were lent to acquiring needed prospects in Joe Ross and Kevin Plawecki at ever shallowing positions. With the addition of these new pieces and a fulltime manager, we look forward to what the Degenerates can do. I miss you Mr. Doty.

Philadelphia Phillies

With their 5 spot bump by the Lottery, “The City of Brotherly Love” cashed in with already established ace Matt Harvey. Not much too say. Stud, Ace, Done. Even with Harvey on the staff, Philly opted to rebuild with the low usage yet high ceiling Joey Gallo and Austin Hedges in the following rounds. Philly may have to give it a year, but with picks like these and a ton of cap space, look for the Phillies to have a potentially lethal homerun champ and Cy Young winner locked up for years as they make their run for a Championship.

Atlanta Tomahawks

Jonny Mnemonic was chomping at the bit to flip this team over upon arrival. With a flurry of trades, including trading up to the 5th pick, in order to draft the can’t-miss-ace Noah Syndergaard, Atlanta has something to cheer about. With the price paid up front to get Syndergaard, the Tommies didn’t get another pick until drafting Adonis Garcia at 3rd base, who is coming off of a great year. With young guns Shelby Miller and Syndergaard heading the rotation and Edwin and Upton to drive in runs, it looks apparent Atlanta will be planning on digging their way out of the NL basement.

Milwaukee Wallbangers

The Wallbangers won the division in beautiful fashion with a hundred wins. It would be difficult to repeat that success without addressing the mammoth holes left in their outfield in free agency and with an underperforming Marcell Ozuna. Milwaukee did the right thing and used their late round picks in the first and second rounds to snatch Eddie Rosario and Paulo Orlando, at the end of what would prove to be a desolate wasteland of outfield talent past the second round. The proof? Tommy Pham was the only outfielder chosen in the third round as the OF train ran out of steam early.

Chicago Pizzamakers

The Pizzamakers snagged the wild card spot in ’15 and look to leap frog the division in ’16. Drafting what I am sure was a gutbuster for the rival Wallbangers, the windy city brought home the multitalented centerfielder Odubel Herrera. Great defense and great hitting made this guy the top OF per AB candidate, and a solid 1st round selection. Chicago would then draft for the future, taking the mashing Hector Olivera and then, grabbing the keystone in the Kimbrel trade to San Diego, starting pitcher Matt Wisler. With great picks, it looks like Chicago could be the heavy favorites to take the NL Central this year

Pittsburgh Sharktopus

Oh my darling Sharktopus. What a rancid ’15. Their ineptitude forced the Sharks to snag a freefalling Addison Russell to address both future and present gaps up the middle. Following Russell with two 2nd round picks, the Sharktopus drafted Ketel Marte to further fortify the middle in the wake of an aging Ben Zobrist. The second half of the back to back picks saw Taylor Jungmann join the staff. The Jungmann pick shows the division that they are here to play in ’16 and aren’t going to be your doormat anymore MIL and CHI! Damnit…. Sorry… ok. Anyways, reaching to acquire a future mid-rotation starter coming off of a nice year (probably the best year of his career) helps put the Sharktopus’ rotation on the map for this upcoming year.

St. Louis: The Goo From the Lou

2015 was a rough year for the Goo. A couple owners bailing and the worst record in the league…bummer. Then, thrown from the 1st overall pick in the lottery to the 6th pick, thanks to our nefarious commissioner’s love for chaos… ouch. But STL rebounded nicely grabbing the best SS in the StratWorld, Francisco Lindor, then grabbing a top usage vs production SP in the 2nd round in Chris Heston. Yes, a rookie throws a no hitter and gets draft 25th in the inflated Nostalgia League Rookie Draft. Then possibly my favorite pick of the draft, the young masher from the Bronx, Greg Bird with the 49th pick. Talent and need combine to fill 1st base with an old Chris Carter on the way out. With upshots like Heaney, Odor and Solarte mixed in, St. Louis is showing they don’t plan on having the worst record again this year.

Arizona 66ers

Arizona looked to put a stranglehold on arguably the most dominant pitching staff in the Nostalgia League. Adding youngster Aaron Nola to a staff that already includes Chris Archer, MadBum, and Jordan Zimmermann? Not fair my friend… not fair. On top of that, adding two top 40 RPs in Aroldys Vizcaino and Andrew Chafin to a bullpen that already has veterans Huston Street, Wade Davis, and Sergio Romo? If you play in the NL West you better have some homerun hitters because you will be needing to make those rare hits count.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Looking to close the 14 game gap between them and the division winning 66ers, the Dodgers went with corner power in Miguel Sano. Let’s just say Sano outgrew shortstop with a bang…. when he was 12. Sano’s move to 3rd base increases his defensive opportunites, which only adds to the fact that he is locked in for 30+ homers. Los Angeles then looked to the future by adding Tyler Duffy to the rotation. You won’t have to wait long to watch these prospects mature and lead the youth movement in LA.

San Francisco Gloom

Frisco dropped five spots in the lottery, but it didn’t stop them from recruiting the last tier 1 pitching card left in the draft, Lance Mccullers…. right before me….who I really could have used. San Fran then went with the power of Yasmany Tomas and Mikie Mahtook to help put runs on the board. McCullers will bolster the rotation while Tulo, Goldy, Philips, Tomas and Heyward supply the runs in what should be sunnier skies for the Gloom.

San Diego Breeze

The Breeze opted for both production and talent when they took Jung Ho Kang and Stephen Matz in the draft. Kang’s power projects him to play third base, which is just fine by the Breeze. Who needs replaced more? David Freese or Jhonny Peralta? Matz’s ability remains obvious but will take a year to mature. With ace Wainwright on the shelf, the Breeze have the time, not to mention almost FIFTY million in cap space, to farm their team. Can you say Scherzer time in Saint Diego.