Wednesday, Aug. 20 marked the fourth annual Too Early Meatball Draft hosted by Rob DiPietro in which 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball players, including myself, draft the first 11 rounds of a NFBC Draft Champions league. This is a real 50-round draft-and-hold standard roto league with and we’ll draft the final 39 rounds early in the offseason.
Bubba won the first year of the league and Steve Weimer is poised to win for a second year in a row this year.
We did KDS based on the standings last Saturday and I had the sixth choice of where to draft, and I could have picked as high as fifth, or slotted myself in the middle, but I opted to draft 15th because I thought it would be fun to see who falls and there’s a competitive edge to consider, as I will get the first pick when we start round 12 and there will obviously be some players rising in value between now and then.
I previewed the draft with Dominic Rello a few hours before the draft:
Here’s the draft board:
I am currently working on next week’s big update to the top 400 prospect rankings, so I won’t be able to provide a full break down of the draft, but I provided the positional ranks and projected positional eligibility for each player. What stands out? Who were the most surprising picks? Which of my picks do you like/dislike? Who do you think has the best team? Let me
Wednesday, Aug. 20 marked the fourth annual Too Early Meatball Draft hosted by Rob DiPietro in which 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball players, including myself, draft the first 11 rounds of a NFBC Draft Champions league. This is a real 50-round draft-and-hold standard roto league with and we’ll draft the final 39 rounds early in the offseason.
Bubba won the first year of the league and Steve Weimer is poised to win for a second year in a row this year.
We did KDS based on the standings last Saturday and I had the sixth choice of where to draft, and I could have picked as high as fifth, or slotted myself in the middle, but I opted to draft 15th because I thought it would be fun to see who falls and there’s a competitive edge to consider, as I will get the first pick when we start round 12 and there will obviously be some players rising in value between now and then.
I previewed the draft with Dominic Rello a few hours before the draft:
Here’s the draft board:
I am currently working on next week’s big update to the top 400 prospect rankings, so I won’t be able to provide a full break down of the draft, but I provided the positional ranks and projected positional eligibility for each player. What stands out? Who were the most surprising picks? Which of my picks do you like/dislike? Who do you think has the best team? Let me know in the comments or on Discord.
Catcher
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Cal Raleigh | C | SEA | 22 |
| 2 | William Contreras | C | MIL | 42 |
| 3 | Shea Langeliers | C | ATH | 63 |
| 4 | Agustin Ramirez | C | MIA | 68 |
| 5 | Will Smith | C | LAD | 89 |
| 6 | Salvador Perez | C/1B | KC | 91 |
| 7 | Ben Rice | C/1B | NYY | 93 |
| 8 | Hunter Goodman | C | COL | 115 |
| 9 | Yainer Diaz | C | HOU | 116 |
| 10 | Drake Baldwin | C | ATL | 124 |
| 11 | Adley Rutschman | C | BAL | 125 |
| 12 | Alejandro Kirk | C | TOR | 131 |
| 13 | Samuel Basallo | C | BAL | 154 |
First Base
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero | 1B | TOR | 16 |
| 2 | Nick Kurtz | 1B | ATH | 17 |
| 3 | Pete Alonso | 1B | NYM | 27 |
| 4 | Rafael Devers | 1B | SF | 38 |
| 5 | Bryce Harper | 1B | PHI | 41 |
| 6 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | LAD | 43 |
| 7 | Matt Olson | 1B | ATL | 66 |
| 8 | Josh Naylor | 1B | FA | 70 |
| 9 | Vinnie Pasquantino | 1B | KC | 72 |
| 10 | Willson Contreras | 1B | STL | 88 |
| 11 | Salvador Perez | 1B/C | KC | 91 |
| 12 | Ben Rice | 1B/C | NYY | 93 |
| 13 | Tyler Soderstrom | 1B/OF | ATH | 97 |
| 14 | Spencer Torkelson | 1B | DET | 136 |
| 15 | Jonathan Aranda | 1B | TB | 138 |
| 16 | Yandy Diaz | 1B | TB | 150 |
| 17 | Lenyn Sosa | 1B/2B | CHW | 158 |
Second Base
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Ketel Marte | 2B | ARI | 25 |
| 2 | Jazz Chisholm | 2B/3B | NYY | 28 |
| 3 | Jose Altuve | 2B/OF | HOU | 64 |
| 4 | Ceddanne Rafaela | 2B/OF | BOS | 105 |
| 5 | Xavier Edwards | 2B/SS | MIA | 133 |
| 6 | Brice Turang | 2B | MIL | 135 |
| 7 | Jackson Holliday | 2B | BAL | 137 |
| 8 | Luke Keaschall | 2B | MIN | 142 |
| 9 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | ATL | 155 |
| 10 | Lenyn Sosa | 2B/1B | CHW | 158 |
Third Base
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Jose Ramirez | 3B | CLE | 4 |
| 2 | Junior Caminero | 3B | TB | 12 |
| 3 | Jazz Chisholm | 3B/2B | NYY | 28 |
| 4 | Manny Machado | 3B | SD | 29 |
| 5 | Austin Riley | 3B | ATL | 65 |
| 6 | Alex Bregman | 3B | BOS | 67 |
| 7 | Jordan Westburg | 3B | BAL | 73 |
| 8 | Maikel Garcia | 3B | KC | 109 |
| 9 | Eugenio Suarez | 3B | FA | 113 |
| 10 | Noelvi Marte | 3B/OF | CIN | 126 |
| 11 | Matt Chapman | 3B | SF | 129 |
| 12 | Addison Barger | 3B/OF | TOR | 153 |
Shortstop
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Bobby Witt | SS | KC | 3 |
| 2 | Elly De La Cruz | SS | CIN | 5 |
| 3 | Gunnar Henderson | SS | BAL | 15 |
| 4 | Francisco Lindor | SS | NYM | 19 |
| 5 | Trea Turner | SS | PHI | 23 |
| 6 | Zach Neto | SS | LAA | 24 |
| 7 | CJ Abrams | SS | WAS | 32 |
| 8 | Mookie Betts | SS | LAD | 46 |
| 9 | Jeremy Pena | SS | HOU | 55 |
| 10 | Corey Seager | SS | TEX | 71 |
| 11 | Willy Adames | SS | SF | 120 |
| 12 | Bo Bichette | SS | TOR | 127 |
| 13 | Xavier Edwards | SS/2B | MIA | 133 |
| 14 | Dansby Swanson | SS | CHC | 149 |
| 15 | Geraldo Perdomo | SS | ARI | 156 |
| 16 | Jacob Wilson | SS | ATH | 159 |
| 17 | Ezequiel Tovar | SS | COL | 160 |
Outfield
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall Pick | |
| 1 | Aaron Judge | OF | NYY | 2 |
| 2 | Corbin Carroll | OF | ARI | 7 |
| 3 | Juan Soto | OF | NYM | 8 |
| 4 | Julio Rodriguez | OF | SEA | 10 |
| 5 | Jackson Chourio | OF | MIL | 11 |
| 6 | Kyle Tucker | OF | FA | 18 |
| 7 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | OF | CHC | 20 |
| 8 | Fernando Tatis | OF | SD | 21 |
| 9 | Ronald Acuna | OF | ATL | 26 |
| 10 | Oneil Cruz | OF | PIT | 30 |
| 11 | James Wood | OF | WAS | 33 |
| 12 | Riley Greene | OF | DET | 44 |
| 13 | Roman Anthony | OF | BOS | 45 |
| 14 | Brent Rooker | OF | ATH | 47 |
| 15 | Jarren Duran | OF | BOS | 59 |
| 16 | Jose Altuve | OF/2B | HOU | 64 |
| 17 | Seiya Suzuki | OF | CHC | 77 |
| 18 | Randy Arozarena | OF | SEA | 82 |
| 19 | Cody Bellinger | OF | NYY | 84 |
| 20 | Wyatt Langford | OF | TEX | 85 |
| 21 | Michael Harris | OF | ATL | 87 |
| 22 | Luis Robert | OF | CWS | 90 |
| 23 | Teoscar Hernandez | OF | LAD | 92 |
| 24 | Christian Yelich | OF | MIL | 98 |
| 25 | Chandler Simpson | OF | TB | 99 |
| 26 | Byron Buxton | OF | MIN | 100 |
| 27 | Ceddanne Rafaela | OF/2B | BOS | 105 |
| 28 | Jackson Merrill | OF | SD | 108 |
| 29 | Noelvi Marte | OF/3B | CIN | 126 |
| 30 | Brenton Doyle | OF | COL | 132 |
| 31 | Kyle Stowers | OF | MIA | 134 |
| 32 | Andy Pages | OF | LAD | 141 |
| 33 | Lawrence Butler | OF | ATH | 143 |
| 34 | Dylan Crews | OF | WAS | 146 |
| 35 | Jakob Marsee | OF | MIA | 148 |
| 36 | Addison Barger | OF/3B | TOR | 153 |
| 37 | Jac Caglianone | OF | KC | 161 |
| 38 | Kerry Carpenter | OF | DET | 163 |
UT
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | UT/SP | LAD | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Schwarber | UT | FA | 9 |
| 3 | Yordan Alvarez | UT | HOU | 54 |
SP
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall Pick | |
| 1 | Tarik Skubal | SP | DET | 6 |
| 2 | Paul Skenes | SP | PIT | 13 |
| 3 | Garrett Crochet | SP | BOS | 14 |
| 4 | Chris Sale | SP | ATL | 31 |
| 5 | Logan Gilbert | SP | SEA | 34 |
| 6 | Joe Ryan | SP | MIN | 35 |
| 7 | Hunter Brown | SP | HOU | 36 |
| 8 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | SP | LAD | 37 |
| 9 | Cristopher Sanchez | SP | PHI | 39 |
| 10 | Jacob deGrom | SP | TEX | 40 |
| 11 | Zack Wheeler | SP | PHI | 49 |
| 12 | Logan Webb | SP | SF | 51 |
| 13 | Freddy Peralta | SP | MIL | 52 |
| 14 | Blake Snell | SP | LAD | 56 |
| 15 | Hunter Greene | SP | CIN | 57 |
| 16 | Bryan Woo | SP | SEA | 58 |
| 17 | Dylan Cease | SP | FA | 60 |
| 18 | George Kirby | SP | SEA | 62 |
| 19 | Spencer Schwellenbach | SP | ATL | 69 |
| 20 | Framber Valdez | SP | FA | 75 |
| 21 | Spencer Strider | SP | ATL | 78 |
| 22 | Michael King | SP | SD | 80 |
| 23 | Robbie Ray | SP | SF | 83 |
| 24 | Carlos Rodon | SP | NYY | 86 |
| 25 | Pablo Lopez | SP | MIN | 94 |
| 26 | Brandon Woodruff | SP | FA | 96 |
| 27 | Eury Perez | SP | MIA | 101 |
| 28 | Nathan Eovaldi | SP | TEX | 102 |
| 29 | Cole Ragans | SP | KC | 103 |
| 30 | Max Fried | SP | NYY | 104 |
| 31 | Nick Pivetta | SP | SD | 106 |
| 32 | Tyler Glasnow | SP | LAD | 110 |
| 33 | Nick Lodolo | SP | CIN | 111 |
| 34 | Drew Rasmussen | SP | TB | 112 |
| 35 | Chase Burns | SP | CIN | 118 |
| 36 | Shota Imanaga | SP | CHC | 119 |
| 37 | Sonny Gray | SP | STL | 121 |
| 38 | Edward Cabrera | SP | MIA | 123 |
| 39 | Jesus Luzardo | SP | PHI | 130 |
| 40 | Ryan Pepiot | SP | TB | 139 |
| 41 | Shane Bieber | SP | FA | 140 |
| 42 | Jack Flaherty | SP | FA | 144 |
| 43 | Jacob Misiorowski | SP | MIL | 147 |
| 44 | Luis Castillo | SP | SEA | 152 |
| 45 | Zebby Matthews | SP | MIN | 157 |
| 46 | Hurston Waldrep | SP | ATL | 162 |
| 47 | Gavin Williams | SP | CLE | 164 |
| 48 | Kyle Bradish | SP | BAL | 165 |
RP
| Player | Pos | Team | Overall pick | |
| 1 | Jhoan Duran | RP | PHI | 48 |
| 2 | Edwin Diaz | RP | NYM | 50 |
| 3 | Andres Munoz | RP | SEA | 53 |
| 4 | Jeff Hoffman | RP | TOR | 61 |
| 5 | Josh Hader | RP | HOU | 74 |
| 6 | Mason Miller | RP | SD | 76 |
| 7 | Trevor Megill | RP | MIL | 79 |
| 8 | David Bednar | RP | NYY | 81 |
| 9 | Aroldis Chapman | RP | FA | 95 |
| 10 | Robert Suarez | RP | FA | 107 |
| 11 | Devin Williams | RP | FA | 114 |
| 12 | Randy Rodriguez | RP | SF | 117 |
| 13 | Raisel Iglesias | RP | FA | 122 |
| 14 | Cade Smith | RP | CLE | 128 |
| 15 | Tanner Scott | RP | LAD | 145 |
| 16 | Ryan Helsley | RP | STL | 151 |
