Fantasy football drafts are upon us. With many people’s first drafts (oh come on, you know you have more than one team) commencing this weekend, it is time for Wayniac Nation’s Third Annual Busts, Breakouts, Sleepers and MVPs Spectacular!
This year, we go in two parts. Part I will take a look at the MVP choices of our panel, the breakout candidates as well as the top rookies to choose from in 2016. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Part II, featuring the top comeback candidates, biggest busts and everyone’s favorite, sleeper central!
The Boston Red Sox have a significant history of drafting right-handed pitchers in the first round this millennium. Eleven times since 2000, the Red Sox have invested their first-round pick (one of them, at least) on a young righty, and if you count Casey Kelly — who was drafted as an infielder and converted to a pitcher — you have a rounded dozen. The problem is none of them have really panned out as expected.
Michael Kopech is looking to change that trend, putting together an outstanding season in Salem.
John Sadak has a fun job. He is the voice of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, amongst many other announcing gigs. He has been on hand for an amazing transformation in the Yankees farm system, and has seen some of today’s stars at the big league level develop from question marks to the reigning AL Player of the Week.
He’s never been shy to talk Yankees prospects, as he brings an aspect to prospect talk little others can. He sees these prospects play every day, watching them grow in each at bat, or unfortunately sometimes never meet the lofty expectations that are placed upon them. This year, he saw a lot of positives.
This past week, 2015 first overall draft pick Dansby Swanson made his big league debut. Roughly a month earlier, Alex Bregman, the 2015 second overall pick, made his big league debut. Swanson has been a hit since day one, while Bregman — after a well-documented slow start — has been on a tear the past 10 games.
Also on fire of late, as if to say “hey guys, don’t forget about me,” is Colorado Rockies 20-year-old shortstop Brendan Rodgers, the third overall pick in 2015.
As we continue our look back at the first-round Almost Mock Draft picks, we focus at another top ten talent that slipped all the way to the back end of the 2016 MLB Draft. While the first player to slip fell because of questionable mechanics and where he fits in as a reliever or starter, the second slipped because of his own doing, getting caught in the evil baseball underworld of PEDs just days before the draft.
Somehow, the St. Louis Cardinals were able to get both.
Yesterday, we took a look at Dakota Hudson, who was projected to go tenth in the Today’s Knuckleball Almost Mock Draft. Hudson, of course, wound up going 34th overall to the St. Louis Cardinals while the Chicago White Sox — owners of the tenth pick — went a completely different direction.
Skipping over pitching, the White Sox swooped in and took the best catching prospect in this year’s crop.
Looking back at May’s Almost Mock Draft, most of the projected top-10 picks went close to where they were projected. Not Dakota Hudson.
Hudson, who has been on a roller coaster the past few months, seeing his stock rise from mid-second rounder to top-ten, wound up being selected at the back end of the first round. His roller coaster continues as he already finds himself in High-A ball.
Right-handed pitchers simply don’t go first overall. It isn’t a rule by any means, it just doesn’t happen with any sort of regularity. Thus, when we looked at Today’s Knuckleball’s Almost Mock Draft back in mid-May, and high school right-hander Riley Pint was in serious talks about being the first overall pick, it spoke volumes of the talent most felt he possessed.
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