Tuesday, Aug. 18 marked the fifth annual Too Early Meatball Draft hosted by Rob DiPietro in which 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball players, including myself, draft the first 15 rounds of an NFBC Draft Champions league. This is a real 50-round draft-and-hold standard roto league and we'll draft the final 35 rounds early in the offseason.
Bubba won the first year of the league (2023), Steve Weimer won in 2024 and 2025, and Rob DiPietro has a 16-point lead over Steve for first place this year.
We did KDS based on the standings a week ago and I had the third choice of where to draft. I could have picked as high as third, but opted for sixth, as I liked the options through the top six or seven and wanted to mix it up a little.
I reviewed the draft with Bob Osgood the next morning:
Here's The Board and results by position:
CATCHER
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | ATL |
| 2 | Shea Langeliers | ATH |
| 3 | Hunter Goodman | COL |
| 4 | Dillon Dingler | DET |
| 5 | Samuel Basallo | BAL |
| 6 | William Contreras | MIL |
| 7 | Ivan Herrera | STL |
| 8 | Gabriel Moreno | ARI |
| 9 | Adley Rutschman | BOS |
| 10 | Liam Hicks | TB |
| 11 | Cal Raleigh | SEA |
| 12 | Carter Jensen | KC |
| 13 | Francisco Alvarez | NYM |
| 14 | Will Smith | LAD |
| 15 | Ryan Jeffers | F.A. |
| 16 | Joe Mack | MIA |
| 17 | Kyle Teel | CHW |
| 18 | Agustin Ramirez | MIA |
| 19 | Yainer Diaz | HOU |
FIRST BASE
| 1 | Sal Stewart | CIN |
| 2 | Miguel Vargas | CHW |
| 3 | Nick Kurtz | ATH |
| 4 | Ben Rice | NYY |
| 5 | Pete |
Tuesday, Aug. 18 marked the fifth annual Too Early Meatball Draft hosted by Rob DiPietro in which 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball players, including myself, draft the first 15 rounds of an NFBC Draft Champions league. This is a real 50-round draft-and-hold standard roto league and we'll draft the final 35 rounds early in the offseason.
Bubba won the first year of the league (2023), Steve Weimer won in 2024 and 2025, and Rob DiPietro has a 16-point lead over Steve for first place this year.
We did KDS based on the standings a week ago and I had the third choice of where to draft. I could have picked as high as third, but opted for sixth, as I liked the options through the top six or seven and wanted to mix it up a little.
I reviewed the draft with Bob Osgood the next morning:
Here's The Board and results by position:
CATCHER
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | ATL |
| 2 | Shea Langeliers | ATH |
| 3 | Hunter Goodman | COL |
| 4 | Dillon Dingler | DET |
| 5 | Samuel Basallo | BAL |
| 6 | William Contreras | MIL |
| 7 | Ivan Herrera | STL |
| 8 | Gabriel Moreno | ARI |
| 9 | Adley Rutschman | BOS |
| 10 | Liam Hicks | TB |
| 11 | Cal Raleigh | SEA |
| 12 | Carter Jensen | KC |
| 13 | Francisco Alvarez | NYM |
| 14 | Will Smith | LAD |
| 15 | Ryan Jeffers | F.A. |
| 16 | Joe Mack | MIA |
| 17 | Kyle Teel | CHW |
| 18 | Agustin Ramirez | MIA |
| 19 | Yainer Diaz | HOU |
FIRST BASE
| 1 | Sal Stewart | CIN |
| 2 | Miguel Vargas | CHW |
| 3 | Nick Kurtz | ATH |
| 4 | Ben Rice | NYY |
| 5 | Pete Alonso | NYM |
| 6 | Matt Olson | ATL |
| 7 | Munetaka Murakami | CHW |
| 8 | Bryce Harper | PHI |
| 9 | Vladimir Guerrero | TOR |
| 10 | Jac Caglianone | KC |
| 11 | Willson Contreras | BOS |
| 12 | Liam Hicks | TB |
| 13 | Royce Lewis | MIN |
| 14 | Alec Burleson | STL |
| 15 | Freddie Freeman | LAD |
| 16 | Rafael Devers | SF |
| 17 | Curtis Mead | BOS |
| 18 | Luis Garcia | NYY |
| 19 | Bryce Eldridge | SF |
| 20 | Jonathan Aranda | TB |
| 21 | Kyle Stowers | MIA |
| 22 | Jake Bauers | F.A. |
| 23 | Ryan O'Hearn | PIT |
| 24 | Josh Naylor | SEA |
| 25 | Vinnie Pasquantino | KC |
THIRD BASE
| 1 | Junior Caminero | TB |
| 2 | Jose Ramirez | CLE |
| 3 | Sal Stewart | CIN |
| 4 | Miguel Vargas | CHW |
| 5 | Kevin McGonigle | DET |
| 6 | Manny Machado | SD |
| 7 | Royce Lewis | MIN |
| 8 | Zack Gelof | ATH |
| 9 | Curtis Mead | BOS |
| 10 | Maikel Garcia | KC |
| 11 | Bo Bichette | NYM |
| 12 | Casey Schmitt | SF |
| 13 | Caleb Durbin | BOS |
| 14 | Kazuma Okamoto | TOR |
| 15 | Austin Riley | ATL |
| 16 | Colson Montgomery | CHW |
| 17 | Isaac Paredes | HOU |
| 18 | Ezequiel Duran | TEX |
| 19 | Alex Bregman | CHC |
SECOND BASE
| 1 | Fernando Tatis | SD |
| 2 | Jazz Chisholm | F.A. |
| 3 | Brice Turang | MIL |
| 4 | JJ Wetherholt | STL |
| 5 | Bryson Stott | PHI |
| 6 | Ketel Marte | ARI |
| 7 | Sam Antonacci | CHW |
| 8 | Brandon Lowe | F.A. |
| 9 | Nico Hoerner | CHC |
| 10 | Ozzie Albies | ATL |
| 11 | Jackson Holliday | BAL |
| 12 | Xavier Edwards | MIA |
| 13 | Ezequiel Duran | TEX |
| 14 | Luke Keaschall | MIN |
| 15 | Angel Genao | CLE |
SHORTSTOP
| 1 | Bobby Witt | KC |
| 2 | Elly De La Cruz | CIN |
| 3 | CJ Abrams | WSH |
| 4 | Konnor Griffin | PIT |
| 5 | Gunnar Henderson | BAL |
| 6 | Kevin McGonigle | DET |
| 7 | Francisco Lindor | NYM |
| 8 | Trea Turner | PHI |
| 9 | Zach Neto | LAA |
| 10 | Jeremy Pena | HOU |
| 11 | Otto Lopez | MIA |
| 12 | Geraldo Perdomo | ARI |
| 13 | Bo Bichette | NYM |
| 14 | Mookie Betts | LAD |
| 15 | Corey Seager | TEX |
| 16 | Colson Montgomery | CHW |
| 17 | Ezequiel Duran | TEX |
| 18 | Willy Adames | SF |
| 19 | Dansby Swanson | CHC |
OUTFIELD
UT:
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | LAD |
| 2 | Kyle Schwarber | PHI |
| 3 | Yandy Diaz | TB |
| 4 | Brent Rooker | ATH |
STARTING PITCHERS:
RELIEF PITCHERS:
| 1 | Mason Miller | SD |
| 2 | Cade Smith | CLE |
| 3 | Jhoan Duran | PHI |
| 4 | Louis Varland | TOR |
| 5 | Josh Hader | HOU |
| 6 | Andres Munoz | SEA |
| 7 | Aroldis Chapman | BOS |
| 8 | Bryan Baker | TB |
| 9 | Mason Montgomery | PIT |
| 10 | David Bednar | F.A. |
| 11 | Trevor Megill | MIL |
| 12 | Jacob Latz | TEX |
| 13 | Riley O'Brien | STL |
| 14 | Ben Joyce | LAA |
| 15 | Edwin Diaz | LAD |
| 16 | Grant Taylor | CHW |
| 17 | Raisel Iglesias | F.A. |
| 18 | Felix Bautista | BAL |
| 19 | Didier Fuentes | ATL |
| 20 | Justin Martinez | ARI |
| 21 | Daniel Palencia | CHC |
ROOKIES:
| 1 | Konnor Griffin | PIT |
| 2 | Sal Stewart | CIN |
| 3 | Kevin McGonigle | DET |
| 4 | Samuel Basallo | BAL |
| 5 | Munetaka Murakami | CHW |
| 6 | Payton Tolle | BOS |
| 7 | Logan Henderson | MIL |
| 8 | Carson Benge | NYM |
| 9 | Kade Anderson | SEA |
| 10 | Nolan McLean | NYM |
| 11 | Parker Messick | CLE |
| 12 | Joshua Baez | STL |
| 13 | Carter Jensen | KC |
| 14 | Sam Antonacci | CHW |
| 15 | A.J. Ewing | NYM |
| 16 | Bryce Eldridge | SF |
| 17 | Chase DeLauter | CLE |
| 18 | Cole Carrigg | COL |
| 19 | Kazuma Okamoto | TOR |
| 20 | Joe Mack | MIA |
| 21 | Spencer Jones | NYY |
| 22 | Henry Bolte | ATH |
| 23 | Esmerlyn Valdez | PIT |
| 24 | Didier Fuentes | ATL |
| 25 | Trey Yesavage | TOR |
| 26 | River Ryan | DET |
| 27 | Angel Genao | CLE |
| 28 | Walbert Urena | LAA |
| 29 | Max Clark | DET |
MULTI-POSITION ELIGIBILITY:
SS/3B/2B/OF
1B/C
1B/3B
SS/3B
1B/OF
3B/OF
2B/OF
