Week 1 MLB Power Rankings
Week 1 Power Rankings
Note: ‘Projected Points’ are based on FanTrax player projections this season. ‘Positional points’ are scored 1-12 where you finish at each position. Corner Outfield, UTILITY/DH, Aces, and Starting Pitchers are all ranked double ‘points.’
Tier 1
1- Win’s Up Doc (12300 proj. points; 134 positional points)
2- Wait ‘ Til Next Year (12200 proj. points; 121 positional points)
3- Sporty Strauss (12200 proj. points points; 119 positional points)
4- Minnesota Moose Knuckles (12200 proj. points; 117 positional points)
5- The Pullies (11550 proj. points; 117 positional points)
Tier 2
6- The BamO’s (11850 proj. points; 99 positional points)
7- $traight Cash Homie (11750 proj. points; 91 positional points)
8- Ornery Otters (11850 proj. points; 87 positional points)
9- Cooper Troopers (11250 proj. points; 82 positional points)
Tier 3
10- Las Cabras (10850 proj. points; 82 positional points)
11- Shepherd Goods Choppers (10950 points; 56 positional points)
12- DTC Porkchop Express (10700 points; 50 positional points)
(Tier 1) There are five clear teams at the top of MLB League of Leagues, and right now, not much separates them. Win’s Up Doc (1) had the most impressive draft on paper, but how much is that worth when the laces start flying. Position-by-position, Oat doesn’t have a position lower than 9th, and he has 7 position groups graded in the top-3. It’s a balanced team that went for big bats and excellent aging starting pitching instead of pure dynasty value. His first basemen (Freeman, Abreu, Bell) might be the single best position group in all the league of leagues.
Wait ‘Til Next Year (2) comes in second. When healthy, Cole/DeGrom is an almost unbeatable 1-2 punch at starting pitcher. And this is (by far) the best corner outfield group in the league (Soto, Harper, Yelich, Schwarber). Kyle and Oat come in first or second on the Power Rankings without caring about positional value in the draft. They just took the best bat on the board on any given round, and now have powerful lineups that will carry their teams.
Sporty Strauss (3) is third because he’s suffered some minor injuries and imperfect draft decisions, though it looks like Strauss is going to be very competitive. The bonus picks from $traight Cash Homie and Shepherd Goods Choppers definitely have helped bolster a team that could be more in the middle without Dylan Cease or Austin Meadows. The outfield and 3rd Base for Sporty Strauss are his two dominant positions. Trout, Mookie, Castellanos, Austin Meadows, Manny Machado and Alex Bregman. That’ a lot of right-handed bats for a team that can win it all.
The MN Moose Knuckles (4) sneak in at fourth. After a shaky start to the draft, the MN Moose Knuckles have redeemed themselves. Hall focused on a starter-heavy build. Bieber, Giolito and Berrios is the league’s best top-3 SPs. After he locked in some starting pitching, that’s when he focused on drafting big bats. Every other team started focusing on pitching, and the Moose Knuckles zagged, finding some great value in the mid-rounds of the draft.
Last in Tier 1 is The Pullies (5), who had a strong start to the draft, but then everyone else caught up. That’s the trick of going heavy into depth starting pitcher early in the draft. After Corbin Burnes, there’s really not a huge difference between their 2nd best SP and their 8th. That should give them a higher floor every week, but I’m not sure the ceiling is there for The Pullies unless Shohei Ohtani goes crazy again or they get superstar performances from boom-or-bust players like Byron Buxton or Kris Bryant.
(Tier 2) The BamO’s (6) are going to be fascinating to watch. Sam declined to draft any stars, and he build a very well-rounded team infused with both age and some youth. The BamO’s also focused on the bullpen more than any other team in the league, and we will see if that pays off. Sam should feel very happy with his draft, but the lack of superstar talent prevents him from being a Tier 1 team.
$traight Cash Homie (7) are another solid, fringe playoff team, but there’s more upside to this team than the next two teams. Getting two day-1 starters in the Prospect Draft (Keibert Ruiz and Oneil Cruz) could be huge, just giving him some bodies at important positions. The lineup is filled with as many power bats as any other team in the League of Leagues. $traight Cash Homies has some big bats. As a result, Jack might be an inconsistent team. When Vlad Guerrero, Aaron Judge, Austin Riley, Yordan Alvarez, and/or Franmil Reyes get hot for a week+, he could boat race some top teams. When they start striking out all the time, he could be left holding a big, fat ‘L’ against teams he wasn’t supposed to lose to. Either way, this team will be fun to watch and pay attention to.
The Ornery Otters (8) are another team that looks like is in firm competition for the last playoff spot. In the dreaded Fhima’s Division, he’s a distant 3rd behind Sporty Strauss and Win’s Up Doc’s arms race. He’s going to have a hard time keeping up without any real positions of strength – particularly with Acuna out for a month. Until he comes back, it’s hard to point out what the Ornery Otters’ calling card is, and this looks like another classic Korey team that finishes 5th through 8th. Never too high. Never too low.
Last in Tier 2 is the Cooper Troopers (9) who are a little bit interesting, but are a little bit built more for the future. There’s a few bad draft picks sprinkled into a draft in which Coop never really reached for anyone. He just took the top guy on the board, and it could serve him well. The biggest problem is that there’s a huge difference between his excellent top-2 starting pitchers (Buehler and Wheeler) and the 3rd through 8th pitchers. The Cooper Troopers lineup is going to have to make up for being one of the worst starting rotations beyond the top, and there’s no guarantee the firepower is there.
(Tier 3) Las Cabras (10) aren’t this low if Tatis was healthy, but this team is clearly one of the three worst teams in the league without him. It’s not just his absence, it’s the build of the team. Las Cabras, more than any other team, focused on multipositionality. While it was important to draft one or two players who can bounce around the diamond, players with that positional advantage are graded higher solely because of the ability to play multiple positions. So the more you take, the less value each of them have. Also, this team made a bold move by drafting Seiya Suzuki higher than he should have gone, a prime candidate to start the league cold without seeing MLB pitching much before. They also took a top second catcher, reducing the value of both catchers that they selected. This draft was a bit of a mess looking back, and the icing on the cake is the injury to Jack Flaherty, who they took 2nd overall in the snake.
The Shepherd Goods Choppers (11) slide in at 11th, but this shouldn’t be a team without hope. Dye’s draft strategy focused on drafting upside arms, and if he can hit big on a starting pitcher or two, he could climb the standings quickly. He focused way too much on young players, and this team is far likelier to be terrible than good, but there’s some players to be excited about.
Last is DTC Porkchop Express (12) who drafted as many tanking players as they could. Adell. Glasnow. Dustin May. Even Luis Severino. Those are outstanding keepers if things break right, and DTC Porkchop Express is simply trying to find as much value for next year’s team as possible. It’s the first draft that is intentionally designed to tank, and the 2023 results will tell us whether or not DTC Porkchop Express made the right call when he was very much competitive in this year’s standings.
Positional Power Rankings
C
1- Las Cabras – Salvador Perez, Willson Contreras
2- The BamO’s – Will Smith, Joey Bart
3- Cooper Troopers – JT Realmuto, Omar Narvez
4- MN Moose Knuckles – Daulton Varsho
5- Sporty Strauss – Yasmani Grandal
6- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Tyler Stephenson
7- Ornery Otters – Gary Sanchez, Travis D’Arnaud
8- Win’s Up Doc – Mitch Garver
9- The Pullies – Christian Vazquez, Jacob Stallings
10- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Sean Murphy
11- $traight Cash Homie – Keibert Ruiz
12- DTC Porkchop Express – ??
1B
1- Win’s Up Doc – Freddie Freeman, Jose Abreu, Josh Bell
2- The BamO’s – Pete Alonso, Nathanael Lowe, Luke Voit
3- $traight Cash Homie – Vlad Guerrero Jr, Spencer Torkelson (MiLB)
4- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Jared Walsh, CJ Cron
5- Ornery Otters – Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo
6- DTC Porkchop Express – Matt Olson, Brandon Belt
7- Cooper Troopers – Rhys Hoskins, Bobby Dalbec
8- MN Moose Knuckles – Max Muncy, Yuli Gurriel
9- Las Cabras – Ryan Mountcastle
10- Sporty Strauss – Joey Votto
11- The Pullies – Trey Mancini, Frank Schwindel
12- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Jesus Aguilar
2B
1- DTC Porkchop Express – Ozzie Albies, Jonathan India
2- MN Moose Knuckles – Trae Turner
3- Cooper Troopers – Brandon Lowe, Ryan McMahon, Kolten Wong
4- The Pullies – Whit Merrifield, Chris Taylor
5- Win’s Up Doc – Jose Altuve
6- Las Cabras – Ketel Marte, Luis Arraez
7- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Jake Cronenworth, Jean Segura
8- The BamO’s – Jazz Chisholm, Jonathan Schoop
9- Sporty Strauss – Ty France, Kike Hernandez
10- Ornery Otters – DJ LaMahieu, Cesar Hernandez
11- $traight Cash Homie – Brendan Rodgers
12- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Nick Madrigal, Josh Rojas
3B
1- Sporty Strauss – Manny Machado, Alex Bregman
2- Ornery Otters – Rafael Devers, Josh Donaldson
3- Cooper Troopers – Jose Ramirez
4- $traight Cash Homie – Austin Riley
5- Win’s Up Doc – Nolan Arenado
6- MN Moose Knuckles – Matt Chapman, Justin Turner
7- The Pullies – Kris Bryant
8- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Anthony Rendon
9- Las Cabras – Adalberto Mondesi, Eduardo Escobar
10- The BamO’s – Yoan Moncada
11- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Ke’Bryan Hayes
12- DTC Porkchop Express – Mike Moustakas
SS
1- Win’s Up Doc – Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena
2- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Bo Bichette
3- Cooper Troopers – Corey Seager, Javy Baez
4- The Pullies – Francisco Lindor, Eugenio Suarez
5- MN Moose Knuckles – Marcus Semien, Willy Adames
6- Sporty Strauss – Tim Anderson, JP Crawford
7- Ornery Otters – Trevor Story
8- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Wander Franco
9- Las Cabras – Luis Urias, Brandon Crawford, Fernando Tatis (INJ)
10- DTC Porkchop Express – Jorge Polanco, Bobby Witt (MiLB)
11- The BamO’s – Dansby Swanson
12- $traight Cash Homie – Gleyber Torres, Ahmed Rosario, Neil Cruz
CO
1- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich, Kyle Schwarber, Marcell Ozuna
2- Sporty Strauss – Mookie Betts, Nick Castellanos, Austin Meadows, Andrew McCutcheon
3- Ornery Otters – Ronald Acuna, Jesse Winker, Dylan Carlson
4- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Eloy Jimenez, Teoscar Hernandez, Jesus Sanchez, Austin Hayes, Andrew Vaughn
5- $traight Cash Homie – Yordan Alvarez, Lourdes Gurriel, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall
6- The Pullies – Tyler O’Neill, Mitch Haniger, Tommy Edman
7- Win’s Up Doc – Kyle Tucker, Hunter Renfroe, Avisail Garcia, Michael Brantley
8- The BamO’s – Randy Arozarena, Andrew Benintendi, Max Kepler
9- Las Cabras – Alex Kiriloff, Seiya Suzuki, Harrison Bader
10- DTC Porkchop Express – Joey Gallo, Jo Adell, Michael Conforto, Charlie Blackmon
11- MN Moose Knuckles – JD Martinez, Eddie Rosario, Robbie Grossman
12- Cooper Troopers – Alex Verdugo, Adolis Garcia, Julio Rodriguez
CF
1- Sporty Strauss – Mike Trout
2- The BamO’s – Starling Marte, Cody Bellinger
3- $traight Cash Homie – Aaron Judge, Ramon Laureano
4- Ornery Otters – Lois Robert
5- The Pullies – Byron Buxton, Myles Straw
6- Las Cabras – Cedric Mullins
7- DTC Porkchop Express – George Springer
8- Cooper Troopers – Bryan Reynolds
9- Win’s Up Doc – Jarred Kelenic
10- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Trent Grisham, Akil Baddoo
11- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Mark Canha
12- MN Moose Knuckles – Mike Yastzemski
UTIL / DH / Top of Bench
1- The Pullies – Shohei Ohtani (DH), Myles Straw (CF), Jeff McNeil (??)
2- Win’s Up Doc – Josh Bell (1B), Michael Brantley, (CO), Jeramy Pina (SS)
3- MN Moose Knuckles – Nelson Cruz (DH), Yuli Gurriel (1B)
4- $traight Cash Homie – Franmil Reyes (DH), Adam Duvall (CO), Amed Rosario (SS)
5- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Kyle Schwarber (CO), Marcell Ozuna (CO)
6- Sporty Strauss – Giancarlo Stanton (DH), JP Crawford (SS), Andrew McCutcheon (CO)
7- The BamO’s – Luke Voit (1B), Jonathan School (2B/1B)
8- Las Cabras – Willson Contreras (C), Luis Arraez (2B/3B/CO), Harrison Bader (CF/CO)
9- Cooper Troopers – Kolten Wong (2B), Bobby Dalbec (1B)
10- Ornery Otters – Ian Happ (CF/CO), Cesar Hernandez (2B)
11- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Jesus Sanchez (CO), Andrew Vaughn (CO)
12- DTC Porkchop Express – ???
Aces (Top-3 Starting Pitchers)
1- MN Moose Knuckles – Shane Bieber, Lucas Giolito, Jose Berrios
2- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Gerrit Cole, Jacob DeGrom, Shane McClanahan
3- Win’s Up Doc – Max Scherzer, Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodon
4- The Pullies – Shohei Ohtani, Corbin Burnes, Alek Manoah
5- Cooper Troopers – Walker Buehler, Zack Wheeler, Tarik Skubal
6- Las Cabras – Aaron Nola, Freddy Peralta, Jack Flaherty
7- Sporty Strauss – Brandon Woodruff, Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn
8- Ornery Otters – Robbie Ray, Max Fried, Tyler Mahle
9- The BamO’s – Logan Webb, Joe Musgrove, Charlie Morton
10- $traight Cash Homie – Frankie Montas, Zach Gallen, Sean Manaea
11- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Luis Castillo, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan
12- DTC Porkchop Express – Julio Urias, Pablo Lopez, Anthony DeSclafani
Starting Pitchers (Pitchers 4-8)
1- The Pullies – Logan Gilbert, Ian Anderson, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, Jordan Montgomery
2- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Shane Baz, Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Hyun Jin Ryu, Jon Gray
3- Win’s Up Doc – Yu Darvish, German Marquez, Kyle Hendricks, Alex Wood, Yusei Kikuchi
4- MN Moose Knuckles – Luis Garcia, Chris Bassitt, Ranger Suarez, Bailey Ober, Taijuan Walker
5- Sporty Strauss – Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Justin Verlander, Kyle Gibson, Patrick Corbin
6- The BamO’s – Nathan Eovaldi, Blake Snell, John Means, Zach Plesac, ??
7- Ornery Otters – Sonny Gray, Marcus Stroman, Zack Greinke, Steven Matz, Brady Singer
8- $traight Cash Homie – Trevor Rodgers, Jose Urquidy, Aaron Civil, Huascar Ynoa, Andrew Heaney
9- DTC Porkchop Express – Adam Wainwright, Luis Severino, Marco Gonzales, Tony Gonsolin, Cole Irvin
10- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Michael Kopech, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Houck, Chris Flexen, Patrick Sandoval
11- Las Cabras – Mike Clevinger, Noah Syndergaard, Madison Bumgarner, Jameson Taillon, ??
12- Cooper Troopers – Jesus Luzardo, Stephen Strasburg, Cal Quanrill, Elieser Hernandez, Drew Rasmussen
Relief Pitchers
1- The BamO’s – Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly, Blake Treinen, Gregory Soto, David Bednar, Lou Trivino
2- Win’s Up Doc – Raisel Iglesias, Edwin Diaz, Paul Sewald, Aaron Ashby
3- MN Moose Knuckles – Liam Hendriks, Craig Kimbrell, Matt Barnes
4- Sporty Strauss – Will Smith, Kenley Jansen, Chad Green, Andrew Kitteredge
5- Las Cabras – Emmanuel Clase, Nate Pearson, Scott Barlow
6- $traight Cash Homie – Aroldis Chapman, Camilo Doval, Joe Barlow
7- Ornery Otters – Gio Gallegos, Taylor Rogers, Corey Knebel
8- Wait ‘Til Next Year – Devin Williams, Tyler Rodgers
9- The Pullies – Jordan Romero, Aaron Loup
10- Shepherd Goods Choppers – Tyler Matzek, Garret Whitlock
11- DTC Porkchop Express – Michael Fulmer
12- Cooper Troopers – ??
Week 1 Matchups
Nolo’s Division
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs Sporty Strauss (3)
Ornery Otters (8) vs DTC Porkchop Express (12)
Fhima’s Division
MN Moose Knuckles (3) vs Cooper Troopers (9)
Wait ’Til Next Year (4) vs Las Cabras (10)
Shepherd Goods Division
The Pullies (5) vs $traight Cash Homie (7)
The BamO’s (6) vs Shepherd Goods Choppers (11)
Week 1 MATCHUP of the WEEK
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs Sporty Strauss (3)
Notes: Who else could it be? This matchup is massive for Week 1 when these two top-3 teams won’t play again until the final week of the season. This matchup has come to define the season so far. Strauss barely beat Win’s Up Doc in week 14 of the NFL season to make the playoffs and go on his run to win that sport. Then Strauss beat Win’s Up Doc in the final week of the NBA season to force an infamous matchup in Round 1 of the playoffs, which Strauss lost and only got 7 points in NBA.
Now, these two teams circle each other as two of the biggest threats to win MLB, both from the same division. Only one can win the division. Only one could get a BYE. And this is a crucial key to securing a Head-to-Head victory.
In the game itself, both of these lineups are relatively equal. Win’s Up Doc has a better infield. Sporty Strauss has a better outfield. But Sporty Strauss has much better pitching matchups, despite Chris Sale’s injury. Win’s Up Doc generally has better pitchers, but he might run into some bad luck this week and a half.
Here’s hoping for a close week 1 MATCHUP OF THE WEEK.
Lineups (114 Hitter plays, 14 SP Plays)
C - Mitch Garver vs Yasmani Grandal
1B - Freddie Freeman vs Joey Votto
2B - Jose Altuve vs Ty France
3B - Nolan Arenado vs Manny Machado
SS - Xander Bogaerts vs Tim Anderson
CF - Jarred Kelenic vs Mike Trout
CO - Kyle Tucker vs Mookie Betts
CO - Hunter Renfroe vs Nick Castellanos
CO - Avisail Garcia vs Austin Meadows
DH - Josh Bell vs Giancarlo Stanton
UTIL - Jose Abreu vs Alex Bregman
UTIL - Carlos Correa vs Kiki Hernandez
UTIL - Michael Brantley vs JP Crawford
SP1 - Max Scherzer (@WAS, @PHI) vs Brandon Woodruff (@CHC, @ BAL)
SP2 - Kevin Gausman (TEX, @NYY) vs Lance Lynn (@DET, SEA)
SP3 - Carlos Rodon (MIA, SD) vs Dylan Cease (@DET, TB)
SP4 - Yu Darvish (@ARI, @SF) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (CHW, BOS)
SP5 - German Marquez (LAD, CHC) vs Justin Verlander (@LAA, @ARI)
SP6 - Kyle Hendricks (MIL, @COL) vs Patrick Corbin (NYM, @ATL)
SP7 - Alex Wood (SD, @ CLE) vs Kyle Gibson (A’s, @MIA)
Win’s Up Doc: Advantage at 7/20 positions
Sporty Strauss: Advantage at 11/20 positions