"30 for 30" League -- Preseason Predictions!

One of the most intense simulations is about to get underway -- all 30 franchises managed by a different MLB Showdown player, with 9000 point rosters filled out through a 25 round draft, that are about to face off in a full 162 game season thanks to Savard the GOAT's epic simulator!

Here's a full breakdown of the "30 for 30" League Rules and here's an explanation of Savard's sim!

This epic Pedro card got sniped from Boston,

but there's no reason y'all can't enjoy his epicness in your own leagues!

Before the simulation gets going though, we've got a comprehensive preview for everyone:

• Power Rankings
• Playoff Predictions
• Manager Reflections

Power Rankings: 

Every team was "limited" to drafting 9000 point rosters. Needless to say, every team is loaded with talent in every phase of the game. However, sacrifices had to be made on the 25 man roster, as 9000 points works out to an average of 360 points per player. I can honestly say that each manager took a unique spin on drafting and, as a result, we've got points allocated very, very differently across the league! The first "power rankings" are purely based off of points -- the more points, the closer to #1 the ranking in that category. We'll start simple: Lineup, Bench, Rotation and Bullpen.

LINEUP

1. Colorado Rockies (4680)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (4590)
3. Texas Rangers (4450)
4. Baltimore Orioles (4290)
5. Houston Astros (4260)
6. Minnesota Twins (4220)
7. Chicago White Sox (4190)
8. New York Mets (4180)
9. Detroit Tigers (4160)
10. Boston Red Sox (4140)
11. Montreal/Washington (4120)
12. Oakland A's (4090)
13. Los Angeles Dodgers (4050)
14. Philadelphia (4040)
15. New York Yankees (4020)
16. Cincinnati Reds (4020)
17. San Diego Padres (3990)
18. Cleveland Guardians (3990)
19. Milwaukee Brewers (3990)
20. Chicago Cubs (3980)
21. Los Angeles Angels (3920)
22. San Francisco Giants (3900)
23. Tampa Bay Rays (3860)
24. Atlanta (3860)
25. Seattle Mariners (3820)
26. Minnesota Twins (3730)
27. Toronto Blue Jays (3730)
28. Florida Marlins (3690)
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (3660)
30. Kansas City Royals (3640)

Here's some of the best hitters from the best lineups:

Bench

1. Kansas City (1390)
2. Cleveland (1040)
3. Colorado (980)
4. Toronto (920)
5. Oakland (900)
6. Minnesota (880)
7. Cincinnati (860)
8. Seattle (860)
9. Pittsburgh (840)
10. Detroit (840)
11. San Diego (830)
12. Atlanta (740)
13. Florida (730)
14. LA Angels (730)
15. Boston (730)
16. Texas (720)
17. Arizona (690)
18. New York Mets (670)
19. Houston (650)
20. San Francisco (650)
21. Baltimore (640)
22. St. Louis (640)
23. Philadelphia (630)
24. Chicago (600)
25. New York (590)
26. Montreal (530)
27. Chicago White Sox (470)
28. Milwaukee (470)
29. Tampa Bay (420)
30. LA Dodgers (220)

While many teams tried to save points on their bench, nearly half the league invested over 200 pts per player on their four man bench! Some of the best include potential HOFer Omar Vizquel for the Guardians, but I'm always a fan of last season's Ryan McMahon card for Colorado!

Rotation

1. Chicago Cubs (3040)
2. Detroit (2990)
3. San Diego (2990)
4. Montreal (2970)
5. Arizona (2960)
6. Milwaukee (2950)
7. Tampa Bay (2940)
8. LA Dodgers (2930)
9. Philadelphia (2880)
10. Seattle (2860)
11. Florida (2840)
12. St. Louis (2840)
13. Cincinnati (2830)
14. San Francisco (2820)
15. Toronto (2820)
16. New York Mets (2810)
17. Minnesota (2750)
18. Chicago White Sox (2720)
19. Boston (2700)
20. LA Angels (2680)
21. New York Yankees (2680)
22. Kansas City (2640)
23. Cleveland (2640)
24. Pittsburgh (2640)
25. Atlanta (2630)
26. Baltimore (2570)
27. Houston (2550)
28. Texas (2530)
29. Oakland (2510)
30. Colorado (2140)

Even the second worst rotation averaged over 500 pts per starter, so you *know* these rotations are absolutely stacked!!! At the top stands the Cubs, averaging over 600 pts per starter... here are some of my favorites for Cy Young!

Bullpen

1. Pittsburgh (1840)
2. LA Dodgers (1800)
3. Tampa Bay (1780)
4. Atlanta (1770)
5. Florida (1740)
6. New York Yankees (1710)
7. LA Angels (1660)
8. San Francisco (1630)
9. Minnesota (1620)
10. Chicago White Sox (1610)
11. Milwaukee (1590)
12. Houston (1540)
13. Toronto (1530)
14. Baltimore (1500)
15. Oakland (1490)
16. Philadelphia (1450)
17. Seattle (1450)
18. Boston (1430)
19. Chicago Cubs (1380)
20. Montreal (1380)
21. Cleveland (1330)
22. Kansas City (1320)
23. Texas (1300)
24. Cincinnati (1280)
25. New York Mets (1270)
26. San Diego (1190)
27. Colorado (1190)
28. Arizona (1130)
29. Detroit (1000)
30. St. Louis (930)

The key question going into the simulation -- how crucial is bullpen depth going to be? Every team is at least three superstar relievers deep, but after that.... it's a real tossup between more stalwart options and punts. I think we're all excited to see how it plays out! Here's an old favorite in '01 form that'll be competing in the 30 for 30 league!

Total Tier of Starters

To me, more telling than points for starting pitchers is the cumulative "tiers" of a rotation. The number of Tier 1 (true ace) starters is in parenthesis!

1. Milwaukee: 7 (3)
2. Chicago Cubs: 7 (3)
3. Detroit: 8 (2)
4. Arizona: 8 (2)
5. Philadelphia: 8 (2)
6. LA Dodgers: 8 (2)
7. LA Angels: 9 (2)
8. Florida: 9 (1)
9. San Diego: 9 (1)
10. Tampa Bay: 9 (1)
11. Montreal: 9 (1)
12. Toronto: 9 (1)
13. St. Louis: 9 (1)
14. New York Yankees: 9 (1)
15. New York Mets: 10 (2)
16. San Francisco: 10 (2)
17. Cincinnati: 10 (1)
18. Seattle: 10 (1)
19. Chicago White Sox: 10 (1)
20. Boston: 10 (1)
21. Kansas City: 10 (0)
22. Cleveland: 11 (2)
23. Minnesota: 11 (1)
24. Oakland: 11 (0)
25. Baltimore: 11 (0)
26. Texas: 12 (1)
27. Pittsburgh: 12 (0)
28. Atlanta: 12 (0)
29. Houston: 13 (0)
30. Colorado: 16 (0)

Computer Power Rankings:

So taking the rankings from above and blending them together in my own special formula, the "computer" has come up with the following as the "Power Rankings" heading into the season. Personally, I think Texas and Oakland are going to outperform this ranking while Arizona and Baltimore seem most likely to underperform. Based on these rankings, the NL West is going to be brutal (three top 10 teams) and AL West is going to be brutally bad. Also, computer thinks head and shoulders above the rest (gap between LA Dodgers and Tigers is same as between Tigers and St. Louis). Without further ado, here's the computer's ranking of the teams going into the season:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Detroit
3. Montreal 
4. Arizona 
5. Milwaukee 
6. Chicago White Sox 
7. Chicago Cubs 
8. Philadelphia 
9. Tampa Bay 
10. San Diego 
11. St. Louis 
12. Houston 
13. Baltimore 
    
14. New York Yankees
15. Boston 
16. New York Mets 
17. Florida 
18. San Francisco
19. Cincinnati 
20. LA Angels 
21. Seattle 
22. Colorado
23. Texas 
24. Minnesota 
25. Oakland 
26. Toronto 
27. Cleveland 
28. Atlanta 
29. Pittsburgh
30. Kansas City

Playoff Predictions:

Based on voting from the managers, here's the projected standings --

AL East: (1) Tampa Bay; (2) Toronto; (3) Boston; (4) New York Yankees; (5) Baltimore

AL Central: (1) Detroit; (2) Chicago White Sox; (3) Minnesota; (4) Cleveland; (5) Kansas City

AL West: (1) Oakland; (2) Houston; (3) Seattle; (4) LA Angels; (5) Texas

NL East: (1) Philadelphia; (2) Florida; (3) Montreal; (4) New York Mets; (5) Atlanta

NL Central: (1) Milwaukee; (2) St. Louis; (3) Chicago Cubs; (4) Cincinnati; (5) Pittsburgh

NL West: (1) Arizona; (2) San Diego; (3) LA Dodgers; (4) San Francisco; (5) Colorado

The following teams all got votes to be the World Series winners from managers.... as you can see, it is truly a WIDE OPEN season, as there were 17 different teams voted on as champs!

• Multiple votes:

• Detroit
• Houston
• Tampa Bay

• Single vote:
• Arizona
• Boston
• Cleveland 
• Chicago Cubs
• Florida
• LA Dodgers
• Milwaukee 
• Montreal
• New York Yankees 
• Oakland
• Philadelphia 
• San Francisco
• St. Louis
• Toronto 

Now, I'll reveal my personal picks.... but before I do, I must say that I truly believe that if this simulation is run 10 times, every team is making the playoffs at least once -- they're all so incredibly evenly matched!! Seriously, every manager did a phenomenal job and I'm so appreciative of the effort, creativity, and strategy that went into assembling each and every team. Thus, don't take my predictions as being a slight or a criticism, as this is the first league I've ever participated in where I honestly could see every team making the playoffs!

AL East

    1.   Baltimore

    2.   Tampa Bay

    3.   New York Yankees

    4.   Boston

    5.   Toronto

NL East

    1.    New York Mets

    2.    Montreal

    3.    Philadelphia

    4.    Miami

    5.    Atlanta

AL Central

    1.    Detroit

    2.    Chicago White Sox

    3.    Minnesota

    4.    Cleveland

    5.    Kansas City

NL Central

    1.    Chicago Cubs

    2.    Milwaukee

    3.    Cincinnati

    4.    Pittsburgh

    5.    St. Louis

AL West

    1.    Los Angeles Angels

    2.    Texas

    3.    Oakland

    4.    Houston

    5.    Seattle

NOTE - I think this is the most competitive division, top to bottom -- it was nearly impossible to choose!

NL West

    1.    Los Angeles Dodgers

    2.    San Francisco

    3.    Arizona

    4.    San Diego

    5.    Colorado

WORLD SERIES PREDICTION:    San Francisco Giants over Detroit Tigers

--Party like it's 2012, that's my prediction!! Especially with this ace taking the lead!

Manager Insights:

One of the coolest aspects of this draft was getting THIRTY different managers involved and picking, all with different Showdown strategies coming into play (as well as 30 different draft pools to use in forming their squads).... Here's some of the insights that were shared by managers following the draft after I gave them various prompts, I hope you enjoy! 

(1)    What draft pick are you most proud of?

Blue Jays:      Ryu or Cole. Ryu is probably my best steal (that I found on my own), and AJ Cole I'm proud                     that I was able to find a really nice reliever card that was also a lock, taking advantage of the                         shortened 2020 season

Rockies:        Walt Weiss

DBacks:        "Luis Gonzalez. Just because it meant I was able to get all of my top priority 'contested'                               guys. After that it was working on the margins to fill out the roster"

Yankees:    "DJ LeMahieu. He is my favorite Yankee and I just love his 2020 card"

Cleveland:        "Love the Eddie Murray pick. 1B+1 is always solid and his single range is huge. Also love                         that I was able to grab David Justice (and of course Thome/Ramirez)."

Rangers:       Milton Bradley! We think his OB 11 card must've shocked the world, we know it shocked us                     in our prep for the draft. The Orioles inexplicably not taking Rafael Palmeiro, thereby letting                     us snag his 580 point card in Round 12, was also clutch (even if it resulted in us having the                         worst rotation to afford him)

Royals:        Jay Bell at SS -- Royals are extremely limited in position flexibility and eligibility, so Bell                         was a prime target early. Soria and Davis too because they're two of my favorite players

Red Sox:        Koji Uehara. Had to take a Tier -1 closer to lock down the bullpen.

Cardinals:        Pat Neshek

Brewers:        Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall

Rays:            Ben Zobrist

Giants:        I will say Bill Swift because prior to this challenge, I had never heard of him

Cubs:        After hearing the Arizona comments, Hector Rondon, who's a key reliever for me

Astros:        Wagner/Lidge in rounds 1 and 2 because no one expected it

Tigers:        "I'm very psyched about my infield positional flexibility. Carlos Guillen, Willi Castro, Travis                         Fryman and Tony Phillips can all play multiple positions, so it really helps when adjusting                         the lineups. It basically made one of my bench spots obsolete, which allowed me to upgrade                     elsewhere around the lineup."

Dodgers:       Trea Turner

A's:            "I mean, how can I not say Mac. 11 OB 16 HR guy is just awesome and I'm so excited to see                        how he does in this sim."

Atlanta:        Rafael Furcal -- plus plus SS who can hit

Reds:        Johnny Cueto in Round 4 was huge!

Mariners:        Alex Rodriguez

Expos/Nats:        "Nick Johnson - great value leadoff guy and denies a division rival"

Orioles:        Eric Davis

(2)    What was your most surprising draft pick?

Tigers:        "Getting Max Scherzer with my second round pick. 1000000% did not expect him to come                         back around to me"

Yankees:    "Gerrit Cole. Never even thought I had a chance at him (at end of round 1)"

Blue Jays:        The Pat Hentgen card I chose isn't from the year he won Cy Young. It's better than his Cy                             Young card!

Rays:            None, draft went as I wanted!

Rockies:        Ellis Burks in round 1 instead of Larry Walker... for surprised myself, Eric Young Jr.

Atlanta:            Lemke (solid bench guy and middle infielder)

Cubs:            Dexter Fowler hanging around until the 10th round was a very pleasant surprise

DBacks:        Eduardo Escoabr, but the 20 pt version. He was an all-star for Arizona at one point, but for                         me, he is a much needed point saving tool

Orioles:        I feel like the majority of my picks surprised people! Snagging Mussina late was a pleasant                         surprise for me, and the Dodgers trying to draft Izturis justified me taking him super early                         (much needed cheap bench guy)

Rangers:        Cole Hamels had to be shocking

Cardinals:    "Randy Flores (going with two 10 pt relievers was different than most)"

Dodgers:        Me not drafting Mookie Betts

Brewers:        Definitely the Hoffman snipe

Royals:        Offerman and Gaetti -- both were found after the draft began and I believe are good and fun                         cards

Astros:        Michael Bourne -- I did not realize how great of a centerfielder he was until I started looking                        for bench players late in the draft

Reds:            Mike Remlinger -- I was counting on drafting Ron Villone's 01 card, but had to hard pivot                         when that went up in smoke. Had no plans/knowledge of this guy until I was in desperation                         mode.

Cleveland:        "Jaret Wright. Really had one decent season and having a control 0, 1-18 was an                                         interesting choice"

Red Sox:        Mookie Betts and Jacoby Ellsbury -- neither was on my board until about the 10th round

Giants:            Melky Cabrera surprised me, as I never knew he put up a chart that could that good                                     during his career. The Giants title run was at a time I was checked out of baseball.

A's:                "Probably Bartolo, he had so many options with solid to very solid cards and the fact that I                             was able to get him so late was really surprising. Huge fan of the 6-15 for only 490 points                          as well"

Expos/nats:    "Larry Walker - very surprised he was available Rd 2"

Philadelphia:    "Ricky Bottalico was low on my personal draft board but became an option when points                             played out the way. they did (in Round 21).

(3)    What draft pick do you now regret?

Rays:        "Maybe Shields a bit, but I wasn't convinced I'd get all my bullpen guys so I thought he'd be an                    innings eater. But now that I got the full 'pen, I feel like it may be wasted points since the bot                       really taxes those extra innings."

Dodgers:        Overspending on the bullpen with how good my rotation is

Philadelphia:     "Hamels over Giles (in Round 3) might have been the right play there, but Giles is my                                 best reliever"

Atlanta:            Tim Hudson (round 1 pick)

Royals:            Not taking Dye or Damon earlier and going Tier 2 SP heavy in early rounds -- probably                             could've waited on Appier and Soria

Yankees:        "AJ Burnett because I kind of rushed the LR/6th starter spot and later found one for less                                 points"

Reds:            Trevor Bauer. He would've been the best starter in the league, the sole Tier 0... but I couldn't                       afford his 2020 season after the Villone snipe

Red Sox:        Nathan Eovaldi as fifth starter

Orioles:           Javy Lopez -- took a backup catcher in the third round to punish Atlanta for mocking my                            second round pick

DBacks:        "Felix Rodriguez, meant to be a snipe for a worthless player. However, after a 10 pt reliever,                         I was planning to pick was taken by another team, he became an expensive resource that                            forced me to go with cheaper options elsewhere"

Giants:            None

Cubs:             Kerry Wood is an expensive sixth starter/long reliever. I'd rather go 10 pts there and add                              another 190 pt normal reliever.

A's:                "Khris Davis, I saw the 14 HR and just couldn't resist.... I'm also going to put Danny                                    Valencia in here, because I had other good options I was looking at in the other COF spot,                            namely Mark Kotsay and Jack Cust, but I was so focused on Valencia backing up 3B and                            thought that not having to have anyone of out of position would have been ideal, until I                                actually started laying. outmy lineups with my finished roster and realized that just having                         Ellis play 3B on Brosius' off lineup is miles better"

Cardinals:        Ryan Theriot

Blue Jays:        Bo Bichette. Ended up being slightly worse than my backup SS Scutaro in every aspect... I                          could have used the 310 points I spent on Bichette to make a stronger outfielder in Shawn                          Green and maybe been able to take slightly better options of my other cards, or slightly                             better relievers in general

Brewers:        Freddy Peralta losing Tier 1 eligibility in last game of 2021 season... my plan for a rotation                          with four Tier 1 starters was so, so tantalizing!!

Astros:            "Jordan Lyles. He is a big drop off from my other starters"

Mariners:        Nelson Cruz, kept me from getting Jay Buhner

Tigers:            "David Wells. I was playing more defense with that pick, and also did not realize his best                             season did not qualify too. He's my fifth starter, so it's all fine, but I could have done better                         here."

Rangers:         Maybe adjusting our strategy to fit in Palmeiro -- gave us the best hitting, but our rotation                           suffered a lot.

Rockies:        Miguel Oliva

Nats/Expos:    Marquis Grisson - Bench player before finishing my lineup was a bad move

Cleveland:        Corey Kluber. Don't regret taking him, but I regret drafting him in the 3rd round because I                         did not realize he was Cleveland exclusive in this league. Bad mistake, I could have had                             CC or Bartolo

White Sox:    "Probably whiffing on Liam Hendricks 2021"

(4)    What's your team's strength?

Giants:        Pitching. Bringing some high IP starters and a pretty deep & solid bullpen will hopefully lead                     to me squeaking out late wins

Expos/Nats:    "Pitching depth - Control 5/6 all tier 2 or better IP 7 starters & 4 elite bullpens guys"

Rays:            Pitching... mostly the bullpen

Astros:            Lineup -- very versatile and can mash

Orioles:        The under-the-radar Tier 2 starting pitching I was able to add in the middle was big, but we                         all know that it's landing JIM!!!!! and building a stout bullpen. My lineup is also loaded.

Rockies:        My starting nine

Brewers:        Rotation -- I'm one of two teams with THREE Tier 1 starting pitchers.

Reds:            Even though my plans got blown up, it led to my current team's strength -- balance! I think                         my team is going to stack up over 162 games pretty well.

Texas:        Our lineup. Honestly think it's the best in the league, which is saying a lot since these lineups                       are stacked.

Red Sox:        Consistency. Nixon plays three games off the bench and is still a 9 OB. Devers plays four                           off the bench as an OB 9 as well. There's only two Speed C guys on the roster. 

Tigers:            "Rotation, no question. Those five guys take up nearly 1/3 of my entire salary"

Blue Jays:        "Swagger. We're the only team with a mascot card. Also I **** heavy with Bautista and                             Donaldson's [BDE]."

Cleveland:        "Pitching is good, especially at the top with Kluber/Bieber, but middle of the lineup using                         Jose Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and David Justice (all 480+ points) is great!"

DBacks:            "Top 10 lineup and rotation. It was the goal from the start"

Cubs:                Rotation. One of two rotations with three Tier 1 guys and the only rotation over 3000 pts.                          My arms are better than the Brewers' arms too. 

Cardinals:        Offense

A's:                "The top of my order and the top of my bullpen. I think if I get a lead, my bullpen is holding                         that lead. Also, McGwire hitting behind Giambi is so fun."

Mariners:        Lineup

Dodgers:        My team's multi-positionality

Atlanta:        Pitching depth

Royals:           Solid bullpen to compliment three strong Tier 2, IP 7 guys in the rotation. Team will have                           speed throughout the lineup, similar to real life Royals' best teams. Going to play small ball                       and look for opportunities to steal wins!

White Sox:    "Top heavy lineup"

Yankees:        "I think the bullpen. I have 3 tier 0 relievers who can pitch up to 4 innings"

(5)    What's your team's weakness?

White Sox:    "Bottom half of the lineup. Rotation and bullpen are both good, but not elite"

Dodgers:        Bench

Cubs:            Bullpen depth

Royals:        Lack of elite starting pitching

DBacks:        "The bullpen... it's... not great."

Tigers:            "Bench and bullpen depth. I wish I had gotten one very solid bench guy to take over DH                             when I needed him, Jhonny Peralta is that guy and I'm not too confident. Also my bottom                             two relievers are useable but probably not useable against the teams I'm going to face. But                         I had to dump salary where I could."

Cleveland:        Speed, easily. I went for power over speed.

Yankees:        "Back end of rotation. Shouldn't have drafted two 5 inning starters"

Giants:        Lack of superstar hitters, I'll be dependent on the whole team to pick the pitching up

Expos/Nats:        "Bench lineups - 7s & 8s off the bench isn't ideal"

Texas:            Our rotation, we're pretty concerned about having three Tier 3 starters

Rockies:        Rotation.

Orioles:        Outfield defense... potentially my fatal flaw.

Reds:            Fifth starter -- my #1 overall pick is a Tier 3 starter. Ouch.

Brewers:        Lineup and bench, it gets rather thin hitting wise

A's:                "Bottom of the order and my rotation, but for different reasons. Bottom of the order is lower                        on base, I wish I had another 9 instead of Valencia, but Ellis is going to be huge for me and                        I'm so glad I got him. I like my rotation, but I'm missing that Tier 1 ace that most other                               teams were able to draft."

Astros:        "Jordan Lyles lol"

Rays:        Obviously my hitting

Red Sox:        Lack of elite starting pitching with only one Tier 1

Atlanta:        Lack of an ace

Mariners:        Back end of the rotation

Cardinals:        Back of bullpen

Philadelphia:    "The biggest weakness is being in the most competitive division"

Blue Jays:        "Bench too similar to starters. I did this for balance and to not have lineups that are                                     completely weaker than others, but I'm using a lot of points to do so. Could have maybe                             better invested in starters"

(6)    Best "snipe" pick of the draft?

Atlanta:        Kenny Lofton (who Atlanta "sniped" from Cleveland in the fourth round)

Yankees:        Kenny Lofton

Reds:            Ron Villone by the Yankees -- I doubt any other snipe did as much damage

Giants:            Bill Mueller, because I screwed the Red Sox's plans

Expos/Nats:    "For me, Pedro - He's why I chose to draft as Montreal. For everyone else, Ron Villone -                             Just a complete & hilarious dick move."

Astros:            The Trea Turner snipe was pretty unexpected!

Cubs:            Jason Kendall being taken by a division rival was shocking

Rockies:        Ellis Burks

Orioles:        Javy Lopez ;) ... but Zack Britton was a huge get for me

Philadelphia:    Kenny Lofton to Atlanta

Royals:           Definitely Jay Bell -- much needed position for Royals and took away good cards from                               other teams (Pirates, DBacks)

Rangers:        Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee... we don't know the Phillies manager, but we're sorry to have                              picked on his rotation for our top guys. 

Brewers:        Definitely Trevor Hoffman!! Outside of my team, I think the Javy Lopez pick (robbed                                  Atlanta of a 600+ point catcher) or Kenny Lofton (had to hurt Cleveland while adding a                              value OB 10 to leadoff)... underrated is BJ Ryan snipe by Toronto.

DBacks:        I guess Valverde, good for a lot of teams.

Rays:            "The [Tampa] bullpen... like all of them"

Cleveland:        Manny Ramirez for my team, Thome to a lesser extent, but I think Manny was better after                         he left Cleveland

Red Sox:        Dennis Eckersley, but it's wasn't intentional because finding punt/cheap players for Boston                           was hard, and he was in the under 100 pts category I needed. Ramon Martinez was also                               necessary to save points.

Cardinals:        Mike Matheny and his great fielding

A's:                My best snipe -- Probably Rickey Henderson or Marcus Semien. Best in the whole draft?                             Jason Kendall

Dodgers:        No one sniped anyone from me!

White Sox:    "For me, probably [Albert] Belle (in Round 2). Although I think Dye hurt the Royals a lot                             too. For the draft overall, Hoffman to the Brewers shocked me"

Tigers:            Max Scherzer

Mariners:        Nelson Cruz

(7)    Players "sniped" from you that hurt?

Yankees:        "Jeff Nelson"

White Sox:    "Nope"

DBacks:        Hector Rondon, he was the 10 pt reliever I was talking about

Royals:        "I wouldn't say terribly hurt, but it wasn't great when Damon and Dye both went on the same                      swing of picks."

Cardinals:        Mark McGwire

Rangers:        Koji Uehara and Joe Nathan, but neither was surprising

Cleveland:       I wanted Cliff Lee early, but he went in the first round (before Cleveland got a chance to                            draft him)

Astros:        Verlander, but that was expected

Giants:        Ellis Burks. I expected Bonds not to make it to me, and after that Ellis was the only player                            taken that I was planning on rostering.

Red Sox:        Would've loved to make a funny Panda (Pablo Sandoval) card. Kevin Millar was on my list,                         same with Bill Mueller... wish Sale or Pedro could have fallen, but there was no chance of                         that.

Reds:            As above, Ron Villone.

Orioles:        None! Closest would be Rafa P to Texas, but I assumed they were taking him in first couple                         rounds and budgeted my team to not need him from the start

Rays:            "Charlie Morton would have been a great get"

Brewers:        Literally every round when exactly as scripted for me!

Blue Jays:        "Roy Halladay. Imagine if I got Halladay and Clemens together? Probably shoot to the best                         rotation in the league"

Expos/Nats:    "Trea Turner, DeLino DeShields - Turns out I didn't have a shot at Turner, but I should have                         made DeShields more of a priority"

Cubs:            Maybe Kimbrel or Chapman. Would've been nice to add either of those 350ish point closers,                      but I didn't expect either to survive the first few rounds anyway.

Rockies:        Larry Walker

Tigers:            "Probably Curtis Granderson"

Atlanta:            Greg Maddux

Philadelphia:    Hamels in the fifth (Rangers snagged him right before Phillies could pick)

(8)    What team besides your own had the best draft?

Expos/Nats:    "Philly, Detroit. Philly was the most prepared of all of us. Detroit got great breaks in the top                         of the draft that allowed him to get a ton of elite contested players"

White Sox:    "I think the Phillies did well. Detroit (although 29th ranked pen could hurt in this sim).                                 Padres and Nationals did well too."

Brewers:          The Cubs -- feels like they followed my team-building blueprint, but did it better

Royals:            Cleveland will be an interesting, great team. Chicago has good bullpen depth and very                                 interesting lineup construction

Philadephia:    "In no order, Detroit, Washington, Miami, Tampa, San Diego, maybe Oakland too."

Cleveland:        "Really like what the Tigers did with their team -- some good early snipes and an overall                              nice roster"

Rays:                "It's a toss up between Detroit and Toronto"

Atlanta:            Padres

Rockies:            Rays

Dodgers:           I really like the Tigers

DBacks:            I think Detroit had a tough spot, but I really like their team

Tigers:               Rays

Reds:                As a sucker for balance, I gotta go with the Marlins!

Orioles:            The Cubbies!

Astros:            DBacks

Cardinals:        Tigers

Red Sox:        Tampa, due to pitching, Montreal with the steal of Walker

Blue Jays:        I'm a fan of Atlanta and Cleveland in real life, and their drafts look pretty sexy for the most                         part.

Rangers:        Literally every other AL West team killed it, super intimated by all these teams!

Yankees:        "I really like what Montreal did with their team. They also look like the most fun team"

A's:              "Oh man this is a tough one, I think everyone drafted pretty well. All these teams are stacked                     and I don't see any team winning less than 70 games. If I had to choose one, I would probably                     pick the Cardinals. I remember being super impressed with how their first few rounds went.                        That Pujols card is spectacular and I think the whole lineup from top to bottom is one of the                        stronger ones"

Cubs:            San Diego, Montreal and Milwaukee for their rotations. If you couldn't tell, I think starting                         pitching is going to rule the day.

Giants:        "So tough with all 9000 point teams, on paper I enjoy the Mariners because they have players                     that I like'

Thanks again to all those that gave feedback -- I hope this sets the stage for the season in a fun way!! Tune back in for updates, the simulation will hopefully be taking place soon! Get ready for bragging rights and All Star/awards voting before too long, and I'm sending you all out with some more fun cards from the league!