MLB Sim Power Rankings
Apr 22, 2019 15:34:52 GMT
Dodgers GM (Pat), Red Sox GM (Alex), and 5 more like this
Post by Marlins GM (Andrew) on Apr 22, 2019 15:34:52 GMT
MLB SIM Power Rankings - Week 3
1) Atlanta Braves. Cole's powerhouse squad was off to a dominant first two weeks but is looked vulnerable in week 3. Luckily, the Dodgers didn't quite take full advantage and with Trout/Acuna/JDingers/Bregman/Turner, Cole still has 5 guys who'd go in the first round of a 12 team draft in a 30 team league. Ridiculous.
2) Boston Red Sox. Placed here in equal parts so I don't get yelled at and because even with Mookie hitting .200 and saying things like “just took a couple seconds to loosen up” after crashing into walls Alex is still in 2nd place after dominating CHC/TEX, neither of whom are rebuilding, and NYY, who is. I still don't like your pitching staff, but they're winning me over a little. Fast Fact: BOS has scored 164 runs so far, 61 more than the 2nd place Braves.
3) Cleveland Indians. Injuries are starting to bite our champion (did you know Craig won last year? It's been a week since I was reminded and I'd forgotten), but that pitching staff of Kluber/Carrasco/Castillo is still looking lovely. Perhaps one outfielder short of world domination though, as Mallex/Brantley/Hunter Renfrow ain't scaring anyone
4) Washington Nationals. I wanted to put myself here, but you lose 11-3 in week 1, you put the team that beat you ahead. DeGrom/Sale/Flaherty/Strasburg is gonna win a lot of weeks on the mound for the Nats, and Benintendi & Albies looks like a strong core in the field. Of all the top 10 teams though, the Nats can least afford an injury, as depth is not their strong suit.
5) Los Angeles Dodgers. One of the best pitching staffs in the league right here. Buehler, Marquez, Kershaw and Urias is an outstanding core. Good bats too, but maybe missing that extra gear as Bellingers .407/.484/.852 sure would look nice in Rizzo's spot in the lineup.
6) Miami Marlins. The “no stars but Yelich” approach is working out ok so far as the Marlins are top 7 in most categories. This bullpen sucks though. Must improve.
7) Chicago Cubs. Josh had the misfortune to play the Red Sox in week 1, putting him behind in the standings to start the year, but took down the Rockies in week 2. Wrigley could use some pruning of a few extraneous parts (Nova, Schwarber, Gibson), but the Cubbies are positioned well to be competitive in a wide open NL Central. Picking up Domingo off the trash heap last fall is looking very wise this year.
8) Colorado Rockies. I think we've all slept on the monster in the mountains a little bit, but Parker has slowly accumulated a really strong squad. Machado & Freeman on the corners with Judge and Conforto in the OF and Gary Sanchez off to a hot start will get you plenty competitive. Pitching is a bit quantity over quality with Pivetta falling apart, Urena, Tanaka, Lucchesi, Montas and Duffy alternating good and bad starts...if this team could just get and stay healthy, these Rockies will be ready to fight it out with the Dodgers out West.
9) Chicago White Sox. The South Siders are off to a good start, especially with Meadows, Maikel and Moncada killing the ball. Fill in a few holes at SS and in the rotation, and baby, Tiago's got a stew going that will finally give the Indians an intra division rival - or at least lock up a wild card slot in the AL.
10) Philadelphia Phillies. The bats are as good as ever in Philly with John ranking #3 in RBIs so far. McHugh's surprising start has really been carrying this pitching staff as not much else is really going to plan just yet. Recovery from Nola and Eickhoff has to be in the plans for this team as the year winds into summer.
11) Texas Rangers. Creeg has done a nice job acquiring pieces that drag the Rangers into contention in 2019. McCutchen is looking like there's plenty left in the gas tank with a stunning 20% walk rate and a nice .250 ISO. Welcome to Citizens Bank Park old friend. Additionally, Ty Buttrey continues to look like waiver pickup of the year as he's yet to allow a run with 5 holds in this young season. It's gonna be a dogfight in the AL West this year between TEX and SEA (no one else is currently competitive).
12) Cincinnati Reds. Connor wins the record for most creative team structure for taking the Reds all the way to the World Series last year with less than 10 players on his farm. He'll go as far as Rendon, Goldschmidt and suddenly top 25 CF Kevin Pillar take him. Get well soon Didi.
13) Seattle Mariners. Josh is doing his damndest to turn the infirmary & geriatric ward he inherited into a team with a real, live farm system beyond Tim Tebow. He's off to a fine start this year in both the minors and majors behind the work of Treinen and Pham, and the consistent use of the claim system. Strong work being done in the Pacific Northwest.
14) New York Yankees. Trevor is kind of stuck in the middle here. Trying to get younger and more controllable but with two anchors in Scherzer and Stanton who are really good but really expensive. Team has been cold to start, but get Stanton back and hope that Taylor or Addison recover and there's still Wild Card potential here in the AL.
15) San Francisco Giants. Devon has a sneaky competitive team here, unfortunately he's stuck in the top heavy NL. With Healy & Beckham off to powerful starts, Soto providing staying power and an upside laden pitching core, there's real potential here. Devon needs a few things to go right and some extra bats in the infield to get into the Wild Card race but I like his core.
16) St. Louis Cardinals. Some surprisingly good bats still left around in St. Louis, but Chris's best starter is Luke Weaver (/shudders). Luckily there are lots of relievers here that can add value, led by the only 19 year old in the league, Elvis Luciano. Regardless, if reclamation projects like Kiermaier, Contreras, Kang, Wong and Kike Hernandez maintain the progress they've shown this team could be a sneaky contender for the NL Central crown.
17) Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have plenty of tools to make a rapid ascent up this ranking, every day another player gets called up to contribute to Alex's squad. As seen with the Tatis near trade, he's so close to pulling the trigger on competing this year. Might require another pitcher or two to improve upon that staff of ratio killers though. Or, you know, just wait for Gore, Gohara, Honeywell, Pearson and Morejon to get the call. Sheesh. Having played NYM, SD and STL, the road’s about to get a bunch tougher for Alex.
18) Tampa Bay Rays. There are some good pieces here Duck is working with, but a lot of slow starts. Intended contributors hitting .179 (Puig), .197 (Hosmer), .205 (Marwin), .229 (Escobar), .240 (White) is certainly not what was planned. Still possible to see a Wild Card run in 2019 if some things go right.
19) Kansas City Royals. The leaderless Royals are stuck. No farm system to speak of and MLB roster without enough talent to compete in 2019. Castellanos, Rosario & Gennett need to get moved this year for future value.
20) Toronto Blue Jays. Matt is gonna be on fire in 2020 with Vladdy coming to play. Unfortunately, in 2019 he's counting on too many breakouts from too many players to be a terribly serious a threat to the overlords of the AL. Watch out if he starts deciding to cash in some of those top tier prospects for current all stars though.
21) Arizona Diamondbacks. With 101 prospects, the future is filled with names. The present is also full of bounce back candidates, from Brinson (...) to Happ (.....) to Nick Williams (......). Whoops. Hey, it's working out for Frazier though! And with Wheeler/Nimmo rounding into form, and La Tortuga being a (no joke) serious contributor, there are assets to make a run next year in the desert.
22) Baltimore Orioles. A tough road for the Orioles as they're stuck with a bunch of good complementary MLB players without a nucleus of high quality. Devers, Margot and Musgrove have all been nice, but there's just not quite enough pieces to fit together in Baltimore.
23) Los Angeles Angels. After his surprising decision to blow it all up last summer, Sean is another team that's collecting an armada of youngsters. A little further ahead in the rebuild game, Glasgow & Soroka are looking like rotation pieces to build around, while Robles & Kieboom form the nucleus of a future lineup. Hell, maybe it's even Byron Buxton's year finally!
24) New York Mets. Home of the best and youngest talent, Phil definitely follows the international baseball market. I low-key love McNeil, Yandy and Choi as pieces of the puzzle. Also that Harper guy is ok. 2020 might just be the year of the Mets, Lord knows Phil has plenty of ammunition for the trade market.
25) Oakland Athletics. Come back soon Shohei, Tiernan could use both your bat and your arm. The pitching staff here has actually had some positive surprises, with Turnbull and Keller looking solid. Now if some guys like Guzman, Dylan Carlson & Leody Taveras can just hit the gas pedal on their careers like Luis Robert has so far this year, he'll really be in business.
26) Milwaukee Brewers. Ahmed has taken chances on a bunch of oddball players to pan for some gold, which i love. Fan favorite Rowdy Tellez and the bane of New York Sonny Gray seem to be paying off nicely, while McKinney and Brett Phillips, well…less so. At least with Hiura, Knizer & more on the way the future is looking up.
27) Houston Astros. As soon as Krush moves this team will earn the cellar. Call up Chris Paddack already - it's not like you actually own any of your 2020 picks to be invested in tanking for their sake!! I see way too many of my own prospects on this team after acquiring Verlander and Bauer from Beckett and it makes me sad. Miss you Deivi, Spencer, Vientos, Lane & Bubba. You too Daz.
28) Minnesota Twins. At least Chris Davis finally got a hit. That had to feel good. Otherwise, hopefully Alex Gordon & Jeff Samardzija continue to play like it's 2012 and are movable for youth to build some depth on that farm.
29) San Diego Padres. Staying out of 30th place by the grace of Homer Bailey, my personal favorite. Please don't let me acquire him again.
30) Detroit Tigers. Ryan's playing the long game here. The long, interminable game. On the positive side, at least Avisail Garcia is looking flippable. Someday though, when the law firm of Waters, Gorman & Lux comes up…
Week 4 Matchups to watch:
#5 LAD vs. #4 WAS: The pitching categories of this matchup will be fascinating. Degrom/Sale/Stras/Flaherty vs. Buehler/Marquez/Urias/Kershaw. Love that.
#12 CIN vs. #7 CHC: NL Central matchup could be very informative about who the frontrunner will be.
#29 SD vs. #30 DET: Race to the bottom here between the two lowest ranked teams above.
1) Atlanta Braves. Cole's powerhouse squad was off to a dominant first two weeks but is looked vulnerable in week 3. Luckily, the Dodgers didn't quite take full advantage and with Trout/Acuna/JDingers/Bregman/Turner, Cole still has 5 guys who'd go in the first round of a 12 team draft in a 30 team league. Ridiculous.
2) Boston Red Sox. Placed here in equal parts so I don't get yelled at and because even with Mookie hitting .200 and saying things like “just took a couple seconds to loosen up” after crashing into walls Alex is still in 2nd place after dominating CHC/TEX, neither of whom are rebuilding, and NYY, who is. I still don't like your pitching staff, but they're winning me over a little. Fast Fact: BOS has scored 164 runs so far, 61 more than the 2nd place Braves.
3) Cleveland Indians. Injuries are starting to bite our champion (did you know Craig won last year? It's been a week since I was reminded and I'd forgotten), but that pitching staff of Kluber/Carrasco/Castillo is still looking lovely. Perhaps one outfielder short of world domination though, as Mallex/Brantley/Hunter Renfrow ain't scaring anyone
4) Washington Nationals. I wanted to put myself here, but you lose 11-3 in week 1, you put the team that beat you ahead. DeGrom/Sale/Flaherty/Strasburg is gonna win a lot of weeks on the mound for the Nats, and Benintendi & Albies looks like a strong core in the field. Of all the top 10 teams though, the Nats can least afford an injury, as depth is not their strong suit.
5) Los Angeles Dodgers. One of the best pitching staffs in the league right here. Buehler, Marquez, Kershaw and Urias is an outstanding core. Good bats too, but maybe missing that extra gear as Bellingers .407/.484/.852 sure would look nice in Rizzo's spot in the lineup.
6) Miami Marlins. The “no stars but Yelich” approach is working out ok so far as the Marlins are top 7 in most categories. This bullpen sucks though. Must improve.
7) Chicago Cubs. Josh had the misfortune to play the Red Sox in week 1, putting him behind in the standings to start the year, but took down the Rockies in week 2. Wrigley could use some pruning of a few extraneous parts (Nova, Schwarber, Gibson), but the Cubbies are positioned well to be competitive in a wide open NL Central. Picking up Domingo off the trash heap last fall is looking very wise this year.
8) Colorado Rockies. I think we've all slept on the monster in the mountains a little bit, but Parker has slowly accumulated a really strong squad. Machado & Freeman on the corners with Judge and Conforto in the OF and Gary Sanchez off to a hot start will get you plenty competitive. Pitching is a bit quantity over quality with Pivetta falling apart, Urena, Tanaka, Lucchesi, Montas and Duffy alternating good and bad starts...if this team could just get and stay healthy, these Rockies will be ready to fight it out with the Dodgers out West.
9) Chicago White Sox. The South Siders are off to a good start, especially with Meadows, Maikel and Moncada killing the ball. Fill in a few holes at SS and in the rotation, and baby, Tiago's got a stew going that will finally give the Indians an intra division rival - or at least lock up a wild card slot in the AL.
10) Philadelphia Phillies. The bats are as good as ever in Philly with John ranking #3 in RBIs so far. McHugh's surprising start has really been carrying this pitching staff as not much else is really going to plan just yet. Recovery from Nola and Eickhoff has to be in the plans for this team as the year winds into summer.
11) Texas Rangers. Creeg has done a nice job acquiring pieces that drag the Rangers into contention in 2019. McCutchen is looking like there's plenty left in the gas tank with a stunning 20% walk rate and a nice .250 ISO. Welcome to Citizens Bank Park old friend. Additionally, Ty Buttrey continues to look like waiver pickup of the year as he's yet to allow a run with 5 holds in this young season. It's gonna be a dogfight in the AL West this year between TEX and SEA (no one else is currently competitive).
12) Cincinnati Reds. Connor wins the record for most creative team structure for taking the Reds all the way to the World Series last year with less than 10 players on his farm. He'll go as far as Rendon, Goldschmidt and suddenly top 25 CF Kevin Pillar take him. Get well soon Didi.
13) Seattle Mariners. Josh is doing his damndest to turn the infirmary & geriatric ward he inherited into a team with a real, live farm system beyond Tim Tebow. He's off to a fine start this year in both the minors and majors behind the work of Treinen and Pham, and the consistent use of the claim system. Strong work being done in the Pacific Northwest.
14) New York Yankees. Trevor is kind of stuck in the middle here. Trying to get younger and more controllable but with two anchors in Scherzer and Stanton who are really good but really expensive. Team has been cold to start, but get Stanton back and hope that Taylor or Addison recover and there's still Wild Card potential here in the AL.
15) San Francisco Giants. Devon has a sneaky competitive team here, unfortunately he's stuck in the top heavy NL. With Healy & Beckham off to powerful starts, Soto providing staying power and an upside laden pitching core, there's real potential here. Devon needs a few things to go right and some extra bats in the infield to get into the Wild Card race but I like his core.
16) St. Louis Cardinals. Some surprisingly good bats still left around in St. Louis, but Chris's best starter is Luke Weaver (/shudders). Luckily there are lots of relievers here that can add value, led by the only 19 year old in the league, Elvis Luciano. Regardless, if reclamation projects like Kiermaier, Contreras, Kang, Wong and Kike Hernandez maintain the progress they've shown this team could be a sneaky contender for the NL Central crown.
17) Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have plenty of tools to make a rapid ascent up this ranking, every day another player gets called up to contribute to Alex's squad. As seen with the Tatis near trade, he's so close to pulling the trigger on competing this year. Might require another pitcher or two to improve upon that staff of ratio killers though. Or, you know, just wait for Gore, Gohara, Honeywell, Pearson and Morejon to get the call. Sheesh. Having played NYM, SD and STL, the road’s about to get a bunch tougher for Alex.
18) Tampa Bay Rays. There are some good pieces here Duck is working with, but a lot of slow starts. Intended contributors hitting .179 (Puig), .197 (Hosmer), .205 (Marwin), .229 (Escobar), .240 (White) is certainly not what was planned. Still possible to see a Wild Card run in 2019 if some things go right.
19) Kansas City Royals. The leaderless Royals are stuck. No farm system to speak of and MLB roster without enough talent to compete in 2019. Castellanos, Rosario & Gennett need to get moved this year for future value.
20) Toronto Blue Jays. Matt is gonna be on fire in 2020 with Vladdy coming to play. Unfortunately, in 2019 he's counting on too many breakouts from too many players to be a terribly serious a threat to the overlords of the AL. Watch out if he starts deciding to cash in some of those top tier prospects for current all stars though.
21) Arizona Diamondbacks. With 101 prospects, the future is filled with names. The present is also full of bounce back candidates, from Brinson (...) to Happ (.....) to Nick Williams (......). Whoops. Hey, it's working out for Frazier though! And with Wheeler/Nimmo rounding into form, and La Tortuga being a (no joke) serious contributor, there are assets to make a run next year in the desert.
22) Baltimore Orioles. A tough road for the Orioles as they're stuck with a bunch of good complementary MLB players without a nucleus of high quality. Devers, Margot and Musgrove have all been nice, but there's just not quite enough pieces to fit together in Baltimore.
23) Los Angeles Angels. After his surprising decision to blow it all up last summer, Sean is another team that's collecting an armada of youngsters. A little further ahead in the rebuild game, Glasgow & Soroka are looking like rotation pieces to build around, while Robles & Kieboom form the nucleus of a future lineup. Hell, maybe it's even Byron Buxton's year finally!
24) New York Mets. Home of the best and youngest talent, Phil definitely follows the international baseball market. I low-key love McNeil, Yandy and Choi as pieces of the puzzle. Also that Harper guy is ok. 2020 might just be the year of the Mets, Lord knows Phil has plenty of ammunition for the trade market.
25) Oakland Athletics. Come back soon Shohei, Tiernan could use both your bat and your arm. The pitching staff here has actually had some positive surprises, with Turnbull and Keller looking solid. Now if some guys like Guzman, Dylan Carlson & Leody Taveras can just hit the gas pedal on their careers like Luis Robert has so far this year, he'll really be in business.
26) Milwaukee Brewers. Ahmed has taken chances on a bunch of oddball players to pan for some gold, which i love. Fan favorite Rowdy Tellez and the bane of New York Sonny Gray seem to be paying off nicely, while McKinney and Brett Phillips, well…less so. At least with Hiura, Knizer & more on the way the future is looking up.
27) Houston Astros. As soon as Krush moves this team will earn the cellar. Call up Chris Paddack already - it's not like you actually own any of your 2020 picks to be invested in tanking for their sake!! I see way too many of my own prospects on this team after acquiring Verlander and Bauer from Beckett and it makes me sad. Miss you Deivi, Spencer, Vientos, Lane & Bubba. You too Daz.
28) Minnesota Twins. At least Chris Davis finally got a hit. That had to feel good. Otherwise, hopefully Alex Gordon & Jeff Samardzija continue to play like it's 2012 and are movable for youth to build some depth on that farm.
29) San Diego Padres. Staying out of 30th place by the grace of Homer Bailey, my personal favorite. Please don't let me acquire him again.
30) Detroit Tigers. Ryan's playing the long game here. The long, interminable game. On the positive side, at least Avisail Garcia is looking flippable. Someday though, when the law firm of Waters, Gorman & Lux comes up…
Week 4 Matchups to watch:
#5 LAD vs. #4 WAS: The pitching categories of this matchup will be fascinating. Degrom/Sale/Stras/Flaherty vs. Buehler/Marquez/Urias/Kershaw. Love that.
#12 CIN vs. #7 CHC: NL Central matchup could be very informative about who the frontrunner will be.
#29 SD vs. #30 DET: Race to the bottom here between the two lowest ranked teams above.
.