2014 MLB Predictions
2014 MLB Predictions
American League East – Boston Red Sox
American League Central – Detroit Tigers
American League West – Oakland Athletics
American League Wild Cards – Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays
National League East – Washington Nationals
National League Central – St. Louis Cardinals
National League West – Los Angeles Dodgers
National League Wild Cards – Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers
World Series – Detroit Tigers vs St. Louis Cardinals
World Series Winner – St. Louis Cardinals
I know, a lot of those picks are “chalk” and that’s boring. The teams I was considering for WC spots were the Angels and Indians in the American League, and Giants, Reds, and Pirates in the National League. However, the world series is something I feel very confident about, as least as much as you can at the beginning of the season. They aren’t too injured, their lineups and rotations are stacked, and the Cardinals especially feel primed for this to be their year.
Could there be a dark horse that comes out of nowhere and takes the whole thing down like the Red Sox did last year? Absolutely, if I had to pick one not mentioned previously it would be either the Royals in the AL or the Padres in the NL. Both would be relying heavily on youth, but that is precisely why they fit that mold.
What are your picks for this year? Which of my selections is absolutely insane, and which (if any) do you agree with? Thanks for reading and enjoy opening day!
Sirius XM Fantasy Fantistics Listener League Draft
I was lucky enough to be selected to join the Sirius XM Fantasy listener league for Fantistics to compete against a few of the hosts and other listeners. The league is 14 teams, roto, bragging rights only, 5×5, weekly with waivers. I had went with Diamondbacks Destiny as the team name which of course resulted in me getting zero DBacks in the draft, but oh well. Here is the resulting squad.
C Joe Mauer (MIN)
C Jason Castro (HOU)
1B Mike Napoli (BOS)
2B Brett Lawrie (TOR)
3B Todd Frazier (CIN)
SS Jed Lowrie (OAK)
MI Jonathan Villar (HOU)
CI Brandon Moss (OAK)
OF Matt Holliday (STL)
OF Shane Victorino (BOS)
OF Ben Revere (PHI)
OF Will Venable (SD)
OF Alejandro De Aza (CWS)
UT Adam LaRoche (WAS)
SP Clayton Kershaw (LAD)
SP Adam Wainwright (STL)
RP Trevor Rosenthal (STL)
RP Glen Perkins (MIN)
P Stephen Strasburg (WAS)
P Gio Gonzalez (WAS)
P Dan Straily (OAK)
P Rick Porcello (DET)
P Chad Qualls (HOU)
BE Wily Peralta (MLW)
BE Jorge De La Rosa (COL)
BE Justin Ruggiano (CHC)
BE Justin Smoak (SEA)
BE Pedro Strop (CHC)
I ended up getting the 5th pick overall and so I knew I was going to go with Kershaw, despite the injury (which I believe is minor, he could still pitch opening week), and then possibly load up on pitching. Boy did I ever do that!
After Kershaw only Darvish was drafted before it was my turn again, so with my next two picks I grabbed Wainwright and Strasburg. I had planned on taking Felix, but there was a pitching run between my picks (Felix, Scherzer, Lee, Jose), and Strasburg should be excellent this year.
With three aces I could have laid off on pitching for a while, and my next picks were hitters (Holliday & Mauer), but then I went right back to the well when I sensed value with Gio, Rosenthal, and Perkins as 3 of my next 4. I felt like I would be able to dominate every pitching category especially since all 4 of my aces are strikeout heavy.
My offense ended up being better than I had anticipated. Mauer, Holliday, Victorino, Revere, and Lowrie should keep my batting average respectable, and the only real drain there is Moss, Villar, and Napoli (but even they should hit .250+. I’ve got power in the aforementioned Mauer, Holliday, Lowrie, Moss and Napoli, as well as Castro and LaRoche who should hit 20-25 HRs each. Speed should be fine with Revere and Villar who should both steal 40+.
The biggest offensive strength should be that I have a bunch of guys that are power/speed combos: Lawrie, Frazier, Victorino, Venable, and Ruggiano off the bench, all 20-20 guys or thereabouts. Smoak could provide some pop or fill in for LaRoche if he’s hurt.
I’m pretty happy with how the rest of my pitching turned out too. Straily, Porcello, Wily, and De La Rosa are all quality starting pitchers, and all of them have some pretty great upside except for maybe De La Rosa (I’ll take a repeat of last year please). I will be pretty surprised if I don’t finish top 3 in saves with two studs (Perkins and Rosenthal) and two potential closers (Qualls and Strop) with it being a 14 team league, as only a couple other teams have as many closer options.
Overall I think this was a solid draft. The team is admittedly a bit weak on offense, but it has a good shot at competing in all categories. The pitching staff should be the best in the league and not really that close, and that should keep me at the top of the standings. Let’s get the regular and fantasy baseball season underway!
Fantasy Team Name Bracket
Fantasy sports is at its core all about having fun, and fantasy team names are one of the best ways of showing that. These were ones I came up with after drafting my teams, and while they aren’t all extremely funny or clever I still like them. Cuckoo for Coco Puffs won out for me because not only do I think it was one of my best names (though beating out Cishek’s Seashells wasn’t easy), but it is also my favorite (crappy) photoshop that I did.
The photoshop job wasn’t great, but that hair makes up for it! That is one heck of a fro! Anyway, which one of the names I came up with do you like the most, or do they all suck? Do you come up with creative fantasy team names and if so what is your favorite for this fantasy baseball season? Do you make goofy logos as well? I’d love to know! It’s almost time for regular season baseball, good luck!
Pitchers: Still the Risky Pick Early
Sometimes fantasy owners feel like we are playing bingo, but with all the selections being negative ones. One of the prevailing popular theories when it comes to early fantasy baseball selections is to avoid starting pitching. Sure, there are a consensus top 10-12 guys: Kershaw, Darvish, Jose, Felix, Scherzer, Wainwright, Bummy, Sale, Lee, Strasburg (and sometimes Verlander and/or Price), but when it comes to those first few rounds the experts still seem to say “wait” and maybe their still right.
Kershaw, the invincible one himself, has succumbed to inflammation in his back, a seemingly minor injury but one that has resulted in his opening day start being scratched. Yu Darvish, the strikeout king that most have as the #2 SP, is dealing with a stiff neck and there isn’t even a timetable yet for his return. It gets dicey right from the top, and as we go down the news just gets worse.
Advice: If you are in weekly leagues and have someone respectable/a good matchup play for a 2-start pitcher, it is the safer play to start them over Kershaw. You might still get one start at the end of the first week, but it’s unlikely. As for Darvish, I wouldn’t count on him at all this first week since he has no timetable whatsoever. Look elsewhere.
As we move on down the SP rankings we don’t go very far before finding another group of studs that are questionable now after already suffering injuries. Cole Hamels is just starting to pitch again as he’s working back from biceps tendinitis, but will he be the same guy when he comes back in late April or early May? Mat Latos has earned his ace status, but his knee has held him back this spring and he won’t be available for the opening week, possibly out until mid to late April.
Advice: As a Mat Latos owner in quite a few leagues it pains me to suggest keeping him on your bench for week one, but that’s exactly what I’m doing. There was some hope that he might make a start on the 6th against the Mets, but that has been dashed and Alfredo Simon is pegged for that outing. We probably won’t see him until week three, prepare accordingly.
Then there is Doug Fister who shot up the rankings when he was traded to the Nationals and the pitcher friendly National League. Earlier this spring Fister was dealing with inflammation in his elbow, something he was still just recovering from, but earlier this week he was forced to leave a minor league game with a lat strain and is doubtful for the first week of the season. Can you count on him to be healthy throughout the season? Probably not.
Other injury concerns include Mike Minor who is only this weekend finally throwing again, but his shoulder is still a major concern, Hisashi Iwakuma with his finger that will likely keep him out until May, and Anibal Sanchez and his shoulder inflammation (though his isn’t expected to hold him back).
Advice: Anibal Sanchez owners should breathe easy. He received a cortisone shot to the shoulder and said he felt fine in his recent sessions, so his start against the Royals on April 3rd is still locked in. Start him as you normally would.
Finally, there have been multiple notable pitchers shut down for the season or close to it already. Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Patrick Corbin, and Jarrod Parker are all done this year with Tommy John surgery. A.J. Griffin is battling elbow issues and will be out for at least two months. It hasn’t been an easy spring training for starting pitchers.
So, what’s the takeaway? While there have been some serious injuries to batters this spring, pitchers remain more volatile, even at the top level with guys who were supposed to be locks for 200+ IP. Sure, if you haven’t drafted yet taking Kershaw in round 1 or Darvish round 2 is still acceptable, but do you want to risk it? Perhaps targeting power, something that has dipped in recent years with the rise of dominant pitching, is a better idea when you can get it with decent averages.
I’ve went pitching heavy in a few leagues, and have tried to at least get one of the top 10 SP in just about every league, but I’m risking a lot doing so. Is CarGo any riskier now than Kershaw? Does Darvish bring more safety than Stanton or Rios? I’ll let you be the judge. Be careful with where you take SP, and good luck!
The Three Kings – One of my NFBC teams
What is the Fantasy Devotee?
This isn’t a “professional” fantasy website, and I don’t really have any intention of it becoming one at any point in the future. This is a place where I will discuss what is going on in the fantasy sports world as well as things I find interesting in the regular one. I have a separate section where I discuss my fantasy teams and what’s going on with them. Since I know it is boring I’ll keep it off this main page and you can click the tab above if you do want to know that sort of thing.
I’d also like to get a dialogue going for those that just want another outlet to discuss their teams and not fear that they will get ignored. Or if you just want to talk sports or fantasy sports in general this is a fine place for that as well.
Right now the fantasy baseball season is about to really begin and I’m incredibly excited to get more meaningful games underway. The two game Australia teaser was nice, but it wasn’t nearly enough to quench my fanatical thirst for regular season baseball, and I doubt it did so for you either.
I’m participating in a slightly insane 16 leagues this year. What makes it a bit crazier is that 15 of them are money leagues. Here’s the breakdown: 6 on CDM Sports, 5 on NFBC, 2 on RealTime Fantasy Sports, 1 on Baseball Manager, 1 on ESPN (a “home” league), and the lone freebie is a Sirius XM Listener League on Yahoo. These leagues range from 10 teams to 15, are mostly roto except two H2H, and include 11 Mixed, 3 NL-Only, and 2 AL-Only. The entry price ranges from $25 to $350.
All that previous paragraph is supposed to mean is that I know a little bit of what I am talking about and that I’m not just your everyday casual fantasy baseball player that can’t name anyone on the Astros roster besides Jose Altuve, Jason Castro, or Dexter Fowler. Does that mean I’m going to win this year? Not at all, I could go 0-16 in these leagues and all of the preparation I did and will do throughout the season will have been for nothing. It does mean I care, a lot, and maybe that’s the most important thing.
Question time! How many leagues are you in and are they for money or bragging rights (or both)? Do you prefer H2H, Roto, standard scoring or custom leagues? Are you an AL fan, NL, or Mixed? Or do you enjoy a bit of everything like I do? I’m ready for baseball and fantasy baseball to get started in earnest already and I hope you are too. Good luck and have fun!
The Fantasy Devotee's Ramblings 
