MLB: Dynasty Ranks Update

The top 400 dynasty rankings (for OBP leagues) have been fully updated, and the top 400 prospect rankings (for AVG leagues) were fully updated earlier this week. 

The startup draft for The Highlander Dynasty Invitational was also completed this week. 

I don't have time to write in as much depth as I did on the prospect update earlier in the week, the main thing was just spending time to put together a quality update to the rankings before the season starts.

DYNASTY UPDATE

Casey Mize, Jordan Romano, Jesus Luzardo and Garrett Whitlock were big risers on this update on the pitching side. I became much more comfortable with Romano's role as the offseason went on. With Whitlock, I'm growing more and more intrigued by his long-term potential as a starter. He has all the pitches and I think he has the makeup. The Red Sox won't turn him loose in that role all season, but they might in 2023. Jesus Luzardo obviously looked much better this spring than he did to finish last year, and he has the pedigree and the stuff to be a classic post-hype breakout.

The big one I want to discuss is Mize. I've always thought he had the stuff to be great, it was a matter of him throwing the right pitches the right amount of time and in the right counts. It seems like he has done that this spring, and he's also finally got a good defensive catcher behind the plate and a good defender at shortstop. I barely got any Mize in redraft leagues and I'm kicking myself for not getting him in The Highlander, but I'd suggest trying to scoop him now in a trade if you can.

Cody Bellinger

I ranked Bellinger No. 154 on my draft of the rankings and then sourced the crowd to make sure a 100-spot dropped based on him looking absolutely terrible this spring wasn't an overreaction. He's looked as bad as those numbers this spring. Obviously if you trade him now you're probably not getting much, but if you can get a top-100 guy, go for it. In the one league where I have with Eno Sarris, we're probably just going to go down with the ship. 

Guys like Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel got a bump, as there's something to be said for being a healthy pitcher ready to contribute with Opening Day right around the corner. They've passed that long stretch where they could get hurt before you got anything out of them.

Michael Conforto was also a big faller. There aren't many examples I can think of where a position player signed this late and was productive that season. He might be a decent buy-low for a team that hopes to contend in 2023.

The rare case of Daulton Varsho: a 25-year-old hitter I'd happily take around pick 100 in a redraft 2-catcher roto league, but a player I have ranked 216 for dynasty. His realistic stats this year (.245 AVG, 20 HR, 10-12 SB, everyday R+RBI) will be incredibly valuable at catcher, and not all that special in the outfield, and I think this is his last year qualifying at catcher and his speed will tick down as he ages. I also like him a lot more in The NFBC specifically, where his steals help in contention for overall contests. In dynasty, I'm OK with steals being my worst of the five offensive categories.

THE HIGHLANDER

Here are the first 15 rounds of The Highlander Dynasty Invitational:

As you can see, I went with Ozzie Albies over Julio Rodriguez and Jose Ramirez, despite the fact that Rodriguez and Ramirez rank higher on this update. If given the option, I'd swap out Albies for Rodriguez now, knowing how my draft unfolded, but at the time, I wanted the flexibility to draft a win-now team or a team that was more on track for contention in 2023 or 2024. Since Albies is extremely accomplished and dependable and just turned 25, he fits well with any build. Even as recently as the first round of this startup a couple weeks ago, I thought Rodriguez would open the year in the minors, although thankfully I saw the light in time to get him in the 13th round of my solo Main Event draft a week ago.

The 20 managers in The Highlander were as good as we all hoped. It was a very tough room, and the one thing that was falling were prospects, so I pivoted to a win-later strategy after Riley Greene and Triston Casas were my clear best players available in the third and sixth round, respectively. If Tyler O'Neill had gotten to me in the third, things may have gone a different way.

Here is my full roster, with the age and overall pick:

I encourage you to check out the constitution, it's super cool and unique and mostly all from the mind of Bret Sayre of Baseball Prospectus. The full draft can be found here. Send me any questions about the dynasty update or The Highlander in the comments or on Twitter.