News from the Dream Team Baseball League

  • 2026 DTBL All-Stars

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    Sorry I am so late with this, but I’m finally ready to announce the 2026 DTBL All-Star rosters. The 32nd annual DTBL All-Star Game will take place sometime in the next couple weeks, most likely later than usual because I’m so tardy in getting everything lined up this year. The Diamond Dogs will be the official host of the mid-summer classic for the first time. The American Division will look to snap a two game losing streak.

    The tables have turned a bit in terms of which division has superiority in the league standings. American Division teams currently occupy four of the top five spots in the standings. It does appear they have the stronger roster on paper too. However, anything can happen in a single game. These rosters are loaded with young stars making their first All-Star Game appearances. It is starting to look like this year’s draft was much stronger than initially thought because a whole bunch of DTBL rookies found their way onto these rosters, including four who will be starting the game. On the flip side, Chris Sale and Freddie Freeman will be representing the National Division, each making their ninth career All-Star team.

    Jacob Misiorowski will be the starting pitcher for the American Division. The Diamond Dogs have already gotten more out of him than they could have imagined after nabbing him in the second round of this year’s draft. He will be opposed by Mavericks righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is making his All-Star debut in his second DTBL season. The Darkhorses and Diamond Dogs lead the way with seven All-Stars each.

    As usual, there were several deserving players who couldn’t quite crack these rosters. A couple notable omissions include the league’s home run leader, Choppers slugger Kyle Schwarber, and on the pitching side, Cougars steady righty Joe Ryan just missed making it for the second straight year.

    Here are the players who did make the 2026 DTBL All-Star rosters.

    American Division

    Starters:

    • Pitcher – Jacob Misiorowski, Diamond Dogs (1st All-Star appearance)
    • Catcher – Drake Baldwin, Komodos (1st)
    • First Base – Nick Kurtz, Diamond Dogs (1st)
    • Second Base – Brice Turang, Diamond Dogs (2nd)
    • Third Base – Junior Caminero, Moonshiners (1st)
    • Shortstop – CJ Abrams, Choppers (2nd)
    • Outfield – Yordan Alvarez, Komodos (4th)
    • Outfield – Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jackalope (2nd)
    • Outfield – James Wood, Komodos (2nd)

    Reserves:

    • Catcher – Ivan Herrera, Diamond Dogs (2nd)
    • First Base – Sal Stewart, Choppers (1st)
    • Second Base – Luis Garcia, Komodos (1st)
    • Shortstop – Elly De La Cruz, Diamond Dogs (3rd)
    • Outfield – Oneil Cruz, Diamond Dogs (1st)
    • Outfield – Shohei Ohtani, Moonshiners (6th)
    • Pitcher – Chase Burns, Jackalope (1st)
    • Pitcher – Dylan Cease, Choppers (1st)
    • Pitcher – Cristopher Sanchez, Komodos (1st)
    • Pitcher – Cam Schlittler, Moonshiners (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Jhoan Duran, Komodos (2nd)
    • Relief Pitcher – Josh Hader, Diamond Dogs (7th)
    • Relief Pitcher – Raisel Iglesias, Jackalope (3rd)
    • Relief Pitcher – Cade Smith, Moonshiners (1st)

    National Division

    Starters:

    • Pitcher – Yoshinobu Yamamoto , Mavericks (1st)
    • Catcher – Ben Rice, Kings (1st)
    • First Base – Matt Olson, Kings (4th)
    • Second Base – Xavier Edwards, Cougars (1st)
    • Third Base – Miguel Vargas, Cougars (1st)
    • Shortstop – Bobby Witt, Mavericks (4th)
    • Outfield – Bryan Reynolds, Cougars (1st)
    • Outfield – Juan Soto, Mavericks (3rd)
    • Outfield – Jordan Walker, Darkhorses (1st)

    Reserves:

    • Catcher – Hunter Goodman, Darkhorses (1st)
    • First Base – Freddie Freeman, Demigods (9th)
    • First Base – Bryce Harper, Darkhorses (6th)
    • Shortstop – Otto Lopez, Cougars (1st)
    • Outfield – Randy Arozarena, Kings (4th)
    • Outfield – Byron Buxton, Demigods (1st)
    • Pitcher – Jacob deGrom, Darkhorses (5th)
    • Pitcher – Sonny Gray, Darkhorses (3rd)
    • Pitcher – Chris Sale, Mavericks (9th)
    • Pitcher – Zack Wheeler, Kings (5th)
    • Relief Pitcher – David Bednar, Demigods (3rd)
    • Relief Pitcher – Mason Miller, Mavericks (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Tanner Scott, Darkhorses (1st)
    • Relief Pitcher – Robert Suarez, Darkhorses (3rd)

    All-Stars per team

    • 7 – Darkhorses, Diamond Dogs
    • 6 – Komodos
    • 5 – Mavericks
    • 4 – Cougars, Kings, Moonshiners
    • 3 – Choppers, Demigods, Jackalope

    Mike will manage the American Division this year. He selected Elly De La Cruz as his team’s final player. For the sake of time, I made the decisions on the National side and went with the Demigods veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman who was on most ballots anyway. Here are the full 2026 All-Star voting results.

    Categories:

  • 2026 Season Preview: Part IV

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    We’ve reached the final installment of the 2026 DTBL season preview. I doubt too many of you are surprised by the teams that made it into this section, but perhaps you will be surprised by the order and the margin. In fact, the team projected to finish in first place may have deserved its own article since the team that slots in second is considerably closer to the few teams below it in the projected standings. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the post if you want to take a glance at the full projected standings.

    It’s so early in the season that it would be silly to draw any significant conclusions. However, both of these teams are off to good starts, and in ways that could spell trouble for the rest of the league if they continue. Here are the teams projected to finish in the top two positions in this year’s standings.

    Marc’s Mavericks

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 7th (4th)
    • Home Runs – 1st (1st)
    • Runs Batted In – 1st (1st)
    • Runs Scored – 2nd (1st)
    • Stolen Bases – 7th (3rd)
    • Earned Run Average – 2nd (1st)
    • WHIP Ratio – 5th (1st)
    • Wins – 4th (5th-T)
    • Saves – 9th (8th-T)
    • Strike Outs – 5th (4th)
    • Total Batting Points – 2nd-T (1st)
    • Total Pitching Points – 3rd (4th)
    • Total Points – 2nd (1st)

    Summary:

    Despite what these numbers say, I would think most would consider the Mavericks the favorites to win their third straight championship. One reason to throw some doubt into these projections is that the Mavericks pitching numbers are probably under cooked a bit because they completed the draft with just three relief pitchers on the roster and therefore starters are overrepresented here compared to the other teams. On a per inning basis, relievers generally outperform starters in every category except wins. That said, that certainly doesn’t explain the full margin they find themselves behind the Moonshiners here. Most of the drop from last year’s point total to these projected totals is on the batting side where there may actually be a couple chinks in the armor in the categories of batting average and stolen bases. But overall, it is still hard to imagine there being a better offensive team than the Mavericks. Three of the top four players in projected Batting PAR are on this roster: Bobby Witt Jr, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. With Judge and Soto, they almost certainly still have the best outfield in the league despite Jazz Chisholm moving back to the infield this season. Mike Trout is off to a great start this season. As is first round pick Ian Happ. And don’t forget Jarren Duran who might be better than the best outfielder on several other teams. The infield isn’t quite as strong, but Chisholm helps make it anything but a weakness. He joins returning middle infielders Witt, Ozzie Albies and Willy Adames. Vinny Pasquantino and Manny Machado continue to anchor the corners. At catcher, William Contreras has become one of the best hitting catchers in the game. The stability up and down the lineup allowed the Mavericks to take some swings later in the draft at some young hitters who short term hurt these projections, but may not even be needed unless they are exceeding expectations. That group is higlighted by Jac Caglianone and Bryce Eldridge. The Mavericks are basically running back the same pitching staff that helped them win the title a year ago. It wasn’t the league’s best staff as a whole, but the top trio of Chris Sale, Hunter Brown and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto are hard to beat. Freddy Peralta is a pretty strong #4 too. Nick Lodolo was tabbed to fill the fifth spot, but is currently on the IL, being replaced by another promising youngster in Cade Horton. The bullpen is probably the weakness of the team. Except for the fact that they may have the best relief pitcher in the game in Mason Miller. He is the only sure thing to rack up saves though. Finishing near the bottom in saves wasn’t a problem for their title hopes last year and probably won’t be this year either. The Mavericks may not be the projected champion here, but they remain the team to beat until proven otherwise.

    Mike’s Moonshiners

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 1st (1st)
    • Home Runs – 3rd (3rd)
    • Runs Batted In – 2nd (2nd)
    • Runs Scored – 1st (3rd)
    • Stolen Bases – 10th (9th)
    • Earned Run Average – 1st (4th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 2nd (6th)
    • Wins – 3rd (2nd)
    • Saves – 3rd (6th)
    • Strike Outs – 1st (1st)
    • Total Batting Points – 1st (3rd)
    • Total Pitching Points – 1st (2nd-T)
    • Total Points – 1st (2nd)

    Summary:

    These have to be among the best projections we’ve ever seen for a team that isn’t the defending champion. The Moonshiners gave the Mavericks a run for their money last year, but came up a bit short as they couldn’t match the Mavs’ offensive prowess. These projections show a significant improvement of an already strong squad, but mostly on the pitching side. The Moonshiners offense looks much the same as a year ago. They are not going to steal many bases, but they are very strong in every other facet of the game. Of course, it all starts with Shohei Ohtani, who is projected to lead the league in Batting PAR, almost a point and a half ahead of the Mavericks star trio. He’s joined in the Moonshiners outfield by two other Dodgers: Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages. Of the non-Dodger outfield variety, they return Riley Greene and Brandon Nimmo. On the infield, they can go toe-to-toe with anybody, starting at the corners with Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Junior Caminero and Rafael Devers. Bo Bichette anchors the middle infield with a couple youngsters in Jacob Wilson and second round pick Luke Keaschall. The Moonshiners rebuilt their catching core, which was one glaring weakness a year ago. They added two backstops at very different stages of their careers in youngster Samuel Basallo and veteran J.T. Realmuto. The Moonshiners don’t need to lead the league in batting points as they are projected to do here in order to win the championship. It certainly couldn’t hurt though. Where the Moonshiners stand head and shoulders above the rest is with their pitching staff. The top two finishers for the Cy Young award last year were both Moonshiners and are back for more this season. That’s a pair of southpaws by the names of Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. They were the Moonshiners first round picks in each of the past two seasons. That worked out so well, they figured why not try it again? So they selected young righty Nolan McLean this year to add a little more depth to this loaded rotation. And then they added another youngster with great stuff a few rounds later with Cam Schlittler. Plus, Robbie Ray and MacKenzie Gore are still around too. Assuming full health, they will have tough decisions to make each week on which of these six to keep out of the lineup. The bullpen should be excellent as well. Edwin Diaz and Cade Smith provide them with two of the best closers who also add huge value in other categories. Dennis Santana should also help ensure they finish near the top of the league in saves. On paper, this is pretty clearly the best pitching staff in the league. The Moonshiners have what it takes to dethrone the Mavericks. Now let’s see if they can do it and earn their second DTBL championship.

    That brings us to the conclusion of our preview of the 2026 DTBL season. Here are the full projected standings and team totals in the 10 categories:

    This should be a very fun season. We’re just getting started with more changes to come on the website redesign front. I’d still like to write about how that whole project took shape and was executed. But now might not be the time for that as I keep fine tuning things. Please let me know if you encounter any issues or have your own feature requests. In the meantime, good luck this season!

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  • 2026 Season Preview: Part III

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    A couple days of the 2026 MLB season are in the books. Early takeaways are that Mike Trout may have found the fountain of youth this winter, as if the Mavericks were hurting without him at his peak. And the Moonshiners rotation may be even more loaded with the addition of Cam Schlittler. But we’ll get to the Mavericks and Moonshiners more later, because they are not among the rest of the middle pack of teams in the projected standings.

    The three teams that we will cover today are very closely packed with the three teams in the previous article, especially the first team to go today. These are teams that are strong enough to contend for the title if they exceed expectations in a few key areas. Their weaknesses aren’t so glaring that they can’t be overcome though. Here are the teams projected to finish in third through fifth places this season.

    Kat’s Komodos

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 2nd (6th)
    • Home Runs – 8th (8th)
    • Runs Batted In – 5th (9th)
    • Runs Scored – 9th (9th)
    • Stolen Bases – 3rd (4th)
    • Earned Run Average – 5th (8th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 8th (9th)
    • Wins – 5th (3rd)
    • Saves – 1st (3rd)
    • Strike Outs – 10th (8th)
    • Total Batting Points – 5th (9th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 7th (7th-T)
    • Total Points – 5th (7th)

    Summary:

    The Komodos have not finished in the top half of the standings since 2022, but it appears there is a decent chance of that changing this year. These projections point to them being a much stronger offensive team this year, which was a significant weakness a year ago. That’s interesting because the individual projections of the hitters they added in the early rounds of the draft are good, but not great. It starts at catcher where they added first round pick Drake Baldwin and later picked Austin Wells to give them a solid foundation there. Josh Naylor somehow becoming a base stealing savant was one of the most surprising developments of 2025. Assuming that remains part of his game this year, he and his former Cleveland teammate Jose Ramirez give the Komodos an elite duo at the corner infield spots. They have another solid first baseman in Yandy Diaz as well. The middle infield was largely revamped with veterans Brandon Lowe and Xander Bogaerts brought in and Gleyber Torres brought back to add stability. The Komodos outfield is very intriguing with a bunch of guys capable of carrying the squad. Yordan Alvarez hopes to shake off an injury riddled ’25. James Wood was one of the best players in the league in the first half of last year, but had major contact issues in the second half that he will look to remedy this season. Cody Bellinger and Luis Robert are back to provide big upside to this outfield. One potential wild card here is the addition of Chandler Simpson who is capable of winning a team the stolen base title all by himself. Where he will fit into this deep group of Komodo outfielders remains to be seen. The Komodos pitching staff is not quite as settled, particularly the rotation. Well, the top two spots are. Christopher Sanchez and Framber Valdez give them two lefty aces who they don’t have to worry about at all. Tanner Bibee is a fairly safe bet to be a solid contributor too. Its the other two spots that are open questions. Shane McClanahan missed two full seasons following Tommy John surgery. He had a very good spring training though, so there is some hope he is finally healthy and can return to being an elite pitcher. Jack Flaherty was added as insurance. And who knows if Walker Buehler can resuscitate his career? The bullpen looks very good, at least from a saves perspective. Jhoan Duran is one of the game’s best closers. Carlos Estevez and Kenley Jansen should provide plenty of saves too. Even Edwin Uceta has a chance to be the Rays closer once he gets healthy. Overall, this should be a very interesting team to watch. The Komodos hope to end their top division drought.

    David’s Darkhorses

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 9th (9th)
    • Home Runs – 6th (5th)
    • Runs Batted In – 7th (4th)
    • Runs Scored – 7th (6th)
    • Stolen Bases – 6th (8th)
    • Earned Run Average – 3rd (3rd)
    • WHIP Ratio – 1st (3rd)
    • Wins – 2nd (5th-T)
    • Saves – 7th (1st)
    • Strike Outs – 3rd (2nd)
    • Total Batting Points – 9th (6th-T)
    • Total Pitching Points – 2nd (1st)
    • Total Points – 4th (4th)

    Summary:

    On paper, the Darkhorses look pretty similar heading into this season as they did a year ago. They led the league in pitching points, but slipped to a fourth place finish because of a pedestrian offense. These projections show an even starker split between those two parts of the team heading into this year. But that certainly isn’t because of their approach to the draft. They took hitters with each of their first three picks. Much of what I wrote about the Kings offense applies to the Darkhorses as well. They have a very deep lineup with no obvious weak spot. However, their offensive core is veteran players who may be past their primes, leading to few players with truly elite offensive projections. Bryce Harper is the only Darkhorse with a Batting PAR projection over 3. Alex Bregman has a surprisingly mediocre projection, for which I would bet the over. Spencer Torkleson and Jonathan Aranda give the Darkhorses a very deep group at the corner infield spots. The middle infield is almost completely made up of newcomers to the roster who are proven performers: first round draft pick Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jose Caballero. Perhaps the biggest potential upside player here is Jackson Holliday who could be a post-hype sleeper once he gets healthy. The Darkhorses added versatile catcher Agustin Ramirez to pair with Hunter Goodman to solidify that position. The outfield is perhaps a bit underwhelming compared to the teams that are yet to come in this preview series. But it is also an incredibly reliable group, led by veterans Christian Yelich and George Springer. Jackson Merrill is capable of taking his game to another level. Then there is under the radar youngster Jakob Marsee. The strength of this team lies in the pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation. Take your pick on who you consider the ace of this staff among Jacob deGrom, Logan Webb and Jesus Luzardo. Hunter Greene would have been included there too if he were not expected to miss a good chunk of the season with an elbow injury. They have someone to replace him though with what I thought was one of the steals of the draft, reacquiring veteran Sonny Gray in the sixth round. If Spencer Strider can get fully healthy and back to his old form, this might be the deepest rotation in the league. The bullpen is good on talent, but they probably won’t lead the league in saves again with Robert Suarez no longer having a closing gig to himself. Andres Munoz does though and will likely lead this group in saves. This is a relieving core that will contribute in other categories too though. The Darkhorses definitely have the pitching to win another title. The question will be if they can get enough elite performances out of their deep stable of hitters to chase down the other top teams.

    Dom’s Demigods

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 5th (2nd)
    • Home Runs – 5th (2nd)
    • Runs Batted In – 6th (3rd)
    • Runs Scored – 3rd (2nd)
    • Stolen Bases – 5th (5th)
    • Earned Run Average – 7th (9th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 7th (8th)
    • Wins – 1st (4th)
    • Saves – 2nd (4th)
    • Strike Outs – 9th (6th)
    • Total Batting Points – 4th (2nd)
    • Total Pitching Points – 4th (7th-T)
    • Total Points – 3rd (3rd)

    Summary:

    Just like the Darkhorses, the Demigods are projected to finish in the same spot as they did a year ago. However, the shape of that profile is a bit different this time around. Last year, they trailed only the champion Mavericks in batting points, but were below average on the pitching side. This year, they shape up as a well balanced squad, more so than any team covered to this point. Earlier this spring, the Demigods were in a rough spot with several of their key players suffering injuries early in camp. However, Francisco Lindor and Corbin Carroll made it back in time for Opening Day. Only Jordan Westburg and Seiya Suzuki remain on the shelf among players who suffered injuries this spring. Lindor and Carroll are two of four hitters on this roster with Batting PAR projections over 4. The others are Zach Neto and Francisco Lindor Jr. That’s a great starting point for an elite offense. Mainstay Demigods Freddie Freeman and Jose Altuve join Lindor and Neto to make up an excellent infield. The temporary loss of Westburg hurts a bit at third base, but Royce Lewis was added to give them another option there. The outfield is thin on numbers with Suzuki down. However, Carroll, Tatis, Byron Buxton and newcomer Ceddanne Rafaela all provide five category production. Alejandro Kirk joins Yainer Diaz behind the plate. Assuming injuries don’t continue to plague this group, the Demigods should be a very good hitting team again this year. Where they will look to improve upon is the pitching staff which was not good enough to keep them in the title race until the end last year. It does seem they have made some key additions to address that, starting with first round pick Kyle Bradish. Bradish returned from Tommy John surgery late last season looking as good as new. If that continues into this season, the Demigods may have another ace to join with Max Fried. Another strong addition to the staff is the under appreciated Ranger Suarez who has been released by three different DTBL teams the past two years despite always putting up solid numbers. The other key holdovers from last year are Shota Imanaga and Zac Gallen. And then there is Carlos Rodon who had one of the best seasons of his career last year, but will miss the first month or so of this season recovering from an elbow injury. Gone are the days of the Demigods punting the saves category. Aroldis Chapman, David Bednar and Pete Fairbanks should give them a shot at leading the league in saves this year. This is a strong pitching staff that raises the floor pretty high for the Demigods as a whole. Their second championship could be within reach this season.

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  • 2026 Season Preview: Part II

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    Hey, there is a real MLB game today! As we get ready for the official start of the 2026 season later this evening, let’s take a look at the next set of teams in our DTBL season preview series.

    As is custom, I’m not going to show the full projected standings until the final segment of this series. However, here is a bit of a spoiler. There are two teams that are head and shoulders above the rest, to go along with the two teams already covered that are a fair distance behind the pack. That leaves six teams closely bunched together in the middle. Those teams that will be covered in the next two articles are separated by a total of just nine points in the total standings. So you could very easily shuffle them up and pick them out of a hat in any order to come up with a reasonable prediction for this season. With that said, we will now take a look at the three teams in the bottom half of that group. It contains one team that is projected to improve greatly over their ’25 finish and two teams that are once again tied in the standings just like they were at the conclusion of last season. Only this time, it is a coupe spots lower in the standings. Here are the teams projected to finish sixth through eighth (or rather, tied for seventh) this year.

    Charlie’s Thunder Choppers

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 4th (7th)
    • Home Runs – 9th (9th)
    • Runs Batted In – 9th (5th)
    • Runs Scored – 8th (5th)
    • Stolen Bases – 2nd (2nd)
    • Earned Run Average – 6th (5th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 6th (5th)
    • Wins – 8th (5th-T)
    • Saves – 5th (2nd)
    • Strike Outs – 2nd (5th)
    • Total Batting Points – 7th-T (5th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 5th (5th)
    • Total Points – 7th-T (5th-T)

    Summary:

    The Choppers were about as average as you could get last year, finishing in fifth place in batting points, pitching points, total points and in six of the ten categories. Unfortunately, they took a massive blow to one of the areas where they were above average, in the saves category, when Emmanuel Clase got himself embroiled in a gambling scheme that will likely end his big league career. With one of their most impactful players off the roster, they put their primary focus on filling that gap using their first two draft picks on closers: Devin Williams and Daniel Palencia. Even after doing that, they are still slotted to drop a few points in the saves category this year. Robert Garcia, Clayton Beeter and Paul Sewald are all candidates to add to that save total though, making it a reasonable gamble to at least hold serve in the bullpen. The problem is they had to allocate so many resources to plug that hole that other spots on the roster have been left dangerously thin. The rotation should be pretty good though if they can stay relatively healthy. They are led by a pair of Mariners aces, Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo. Woo was one of the breakout stars of 2025. You just never know what you are going to get in any given year from Dylan Cease, except a reliable number of innings and loads of strikeouts. Blake Snell and Eury Perez are strikeout artists as well, but not as reliably healthy as Cease. Snell will open up this season on the shelf with a worrisome shoulder injury. Overall, the pitching staff should be good enough to keep the Choppers in contention. The question will be if the offense can do the same with few upgrades made to last year’s squad. It would certainly help if Adley Rutschman could return to form as an elite catcher. His new Orioles teammate, first baseman Pete Alonso is the standout of the Choppers infield. WBC MVP Maikel Garcia anchors the other side of the diamond. Nico Hoerner, CJ Abrams and Trevor Story make up a reliable, if not flashy middle infield. Youngster Sal Stewart and veteran Jorge Polanco are the newcomers on the infield. The outfield is also mostly reliant upon returners, led by slugger Kyle Schwarber. Wyatt Langford was solid for the Choppers in his DTBL rookie campaign and could be ready to take his game to another level this year. Lawrence Butler and Steven Kwan are the other reliable returners. The main newcomer to the outfield is Daylen Lile who was one of baseball’s surprise rookie stars a year ago. There is enough upside on this roster for the Choppers to easily exceed these projections. We will see if the bullpen focus in the early part of the draft pays off.

    Kevin’s Kings

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 10th (8th)
    • Home Runs – 2nd (7th)
    • Runs Batted In – 4th (6th)
    • Runs Scored – 6th (4th)
    • Stolen Bases – 9th (7th)
    • Earned Run Average – 8th (6th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 4th (4th)
    • Wins – 6th (1st)
    • Saves – 6th (5th)
    • Strike Outs – 4th (3rd)
    • Total Batting Points – 6th (6th-T)
    • Total Pitching Points – 6th (2nd-T)
    • Total Points – 7th-T (5th-T)

    Summary:

    I’m not sure the Kings have ever been projected to finish this low following a season in which they weren’t awful. But it’s not necessarily a huge surprise to see them here. Their roster is in a weird spot right now where they are probably as deep as all but a couple of the league’s best teams. However, they lack the truly elite talent needed to win championships. Gunnar Henderson is the only offensive player with a PAR projection over 3. So far, it looks like they completely whiffed on last year’s draft and are paying the price now as they had to try to upgrade some of the same spots on the roster again this year. There is some hope for strength in numbers with the bats though. A whole bunch of guys have solid projections and there aren’t any glaring holes. First round pick Ben Rice should give the Kings a leg up on most of the league at catcher, joining Will Smith at that spot. Time will tell if Rice is one and done at that position where he’s obviously more valuable than he would be at his primary position of first base. At the corner infield spots, the Kings will roll it back with the Braves duo of Matt Olson and Austin Riley, plus veteran third baseman Matt Chapman. Henderson and Mookie Betts anchor the shortstop position, with Ezequiel Tovar joining the fray as well. Bryson Stott is still around too. That’s seven infielders with solid projections. The outfield once again looks like a weakness though. Randy Arozarena leads the group. The Kings hope Jo Adell wasn’t a one year wonder. Second round pick Kyle Stowers is the key newcomer, but he will start the season on the IL. Much more alarming is that last year’s first round pick Dylan Crews struggled so badly this spring that he will open the season in AAA. Him figuring it out is absolutely vital to the Kings operation. They did bring back Heliot Ramos and added Alec Burleson as outfield insurance. The Kings brought back their entire top five starting rotation from last year. The problem is that the ace of the group Zack Wheeler’s ’25 season was cut short due to shoulder surgery and it remains to be seen when he will return from that and if he will still be the same dominant pitcher. Cole Ragans is also returning from a less serious injury. George Kirby is probably the safest bet of this group. Michael King, Ryan Pepiot and newcomer Emmet Sheehan provide decent depth here. The bullpen looks decent on paper from a saves projection standpoint, though Jeff Hoffman is the only one with a strong track record and good projections in the other categories. This is a strong roster from top to bottom, but several guys will need to join Henderson in elite status if the Kings are going to make run at the title.

    Dan’s Diamond Dogs

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 6th (10th)
    • Home Runs – 4th (6th)
    • Runs Batted In – 3rd (8th)
    • Runs Scored – 4th (7th-T)
    • Stolen Bases – 1st (1st)
    • Earned Run Average – 10th (10th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 10th (10th)
    • Wins – 7th (9th-T)
    • Saves – 4th (7th)
    • Strike Outs – 8th (10th)
    • Total Batting Points – 2nd-T (8th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 9th (10th)
    • Total Points – 6th (10th)

    Summary:

    Here we have the first team projected to improve upon their 2025 finish, and in a pretty significant way. The Diamond Dogs are coming off of a disappointing last place finish, which came on the heels of their best ever fifth place finish in ’24. What immediately jumps out in these projections is the improvement on the offensive side where they are tabbed to be one of the league’s leaders in batting points after finishing among the back of the pack last year. First overall draft pick Nick Kurtz is the main reason for that. He has by far the highest Batting PAR projection of any DTBL rookie and should dramatically help the Dogs in four of the five batting categories. The only one he won’t help much in is stolen bases, where they don’t need any help as the reigning league leaders and projected to do so again. The middle infield, in particular, is filled with speedsters who happen to slug it pretty well too: Elly De La Cruz, Trea Turner and Brice Turang. Eugenio Suarez returns as the slugging third baseman. Steady veteran Willson Contreras joins Kurtz as the Dogs new first basemen. Ivan Herrera and Carter Jensen give them a solid young catching pair with plenty of upside. The outfield was a major weakness last year, but should benefit from Oneil Cruz shifting out there and away from their crowded infield. Julio Rodriguez is by far their best outfielder and a potential MVP candidate. Teoscar Hernandez is their other top returning outfielder. The Diamond Dogs hope last year’s first round pick Brenton Doyle has a much better sophomore campaign with them. But if not, perhaps his Rockies teammate Jordan Beck will give them a boost instead. On paper, this looks like the best offensive squad the Diamond Dogs have ever fielded. For them to make the leap all the way to contender status will require major improvement from the pitching staff too though, which doesn’t look as likely. Veteran Nathan Eovaldi had one of the most under the radar spectacular seasons you’ll ever see last year. The Dogs could use another one of those from him. He is joined in the rotation by a couple splashy young guns in Jacob Misiorowksi and Trey Yesavage, their second and third round picks respectively. Their staff will be heavily reliant on Orioles pitchers, three of whom are new to Baltimore: starters Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers and Chris Bassit, plus closer Ryan Helsley. They could really use a bounce back season from Sandy Alcantara who struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery last year. The bullpen could be excellent if Josh Hader recovers from the arm injury that currently has him on the shelf. Helsley and Trevor Megill will look to pick up the slack while he is gone. The pieces are in place for this to be a very good season for the Diamond Dogs. They shouldn’t be picking first again in next year’s draft.

    Categories: , ,

  • 2026 Season Preview: Part I

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    Welcome to Opening Week! We’re just under 48 hours away from the first pitch of the 2026 MLB regular season. I’m a tad tardy on getting our season preview articles started as I’ve been spending more time than I had hoped cleaning up a few issues with the new site. But hopefully I’ll be able to get through at least half of the team previews before the season officially begins.

    As I believe I suggested I might do during these previews last year, I’ve decided to make a change in the projection system I’m using to compute these projected stats and standings. For years, I’ve been using FanGraphs’ Depth Chart projections, which combine Steamer and ZiPS and then adjust for playing time expectations on a per team basis. It’s that last part that was starting to bother me a little bit as I have felt they are far too optimistic in *not* projecting missed time for players who are rarely able to make it through a full season without spending time on the IL. Adjusting the plate appearance or innings pitched numbers really paints a different picture than the source projection systems intended. So I’ve decided to go with a different source which also combines multiple freely available projection systems, but does so in a way that makes more sense to me and tends to have a better predictive track record.

    Staring this year, I am going to use the ATC projection system, created by Ariel Cohen and also available on FanGraphs. ATC utilizes a whole bunch of other freely available projection systems, including Steamer and ZiPS. It weights each of the systems it uses based on their historical strengths and weaknesses in various categories. So essentially it becomes a “best of the best” compilation of all these systems.

    I grabbed the ATC 2026 projections for all players just a few days before our draft started and updated my spreadsheet throughout the draft to leave as little work as possible to be done after the draft completed. So if there was any new information such as injuries that could have popped up these past few weeks, these numbers don’t reflect that. The one exception I made was to completely remove Jurickson Profar from the Darkhorses projections since his full season PED suspension was recently upheld. Interestingly, this very slightly improved the Darkhorses final projections across the batting categories.

    The usual caveats remain. I’m not attempting to make any individual team roster composition guesses, so all 28 players who were on your roster at the conclusion of the draft are fed into this with their full season projections. Then each teams’ totals are scaled to meet a certain plate appearance and innings pitched target. Position slots are not considered at all, so the fact that the Demigods are currently the only team with three catchers on their roster probably does ding their batting numbers relative to other teams even though they likely won’t use more than two catchers at any time this year. So just something to keep in mind.

    Now let’s get to it. As usual, I’m grouping these articles based on teams that are projected to finish near one another in the standings, and am planning on going back to a four part series after doing just three last year. So we’re starting with the two teams that are expected to finish in the bottom two spots in the standings according to these numbers. Notably, last year’s last place finisher is not among them. Also notable that last year’s projected tenth place finisher actually finished five spots higher than that. So keep in mind that the point of this exercise is to peek at each team’s relative strengths and weaknesses more so than trying to predict the actual order of finish.

    Jay’s Jackalope

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 8th (3rd)
    • Home Runs – 7th (4th)
    • Runs Batted In – 8th (7th)
    • Runs Scored – 5th (7th-T)
    • Stolen Bases – 4th (6th)
    • Earned Run Average – 9th (7th)
    • WHIP Ratio – 9th (7th)
    • Wins – 10th (9th-T)
    • Saves – 10th (8th-T)
    • Strike Outs – 7th (9th)
    • Total Batting Points – 7th-T (4th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 10th (9th)
    • Total Points – 10th (8th)

    Summary:

    After a disappointing 8th place finish last year, the Jackalope decided it was time for a reboot and went with an extreme youth movement in this month’s draft. Each of their first six draft picks were used on players who made their MLB debut in 2025. So with such small big league sample sizes also comes volatility in the projections. With little to no track record on these guys, projection systems unsurprisingly temper expectations. Of those first six picks, only the first and second rounders, outfielder Roman Anthony and starting pitcher Chase Burns have positive PAR projections. They are clearly the stars of this group. Anthony joins an outfield that is by far the best position group of this roster. Ronald Acuna Jr, Jackson Chourio, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Harris are All-Star caliber players. And of course they have all-world catcher Cal Raleigh back too. It’s the infield where these numbers point to the Jackalope being well below average. Jeremy Pena and Dansby Swanson do give them a solid pair of shortstops though. To exceed these projections, the Jackalope will need at least one of the three young infielders they took with consecutive picks in rounds three through five, Colson Montgomery, Matt Shaw and Marcelo Mayer, to really break out this season. The Jakalope’s disappointing season a year ago was mostly because of the pitching staff. It doesn’t look like this year will be much different in that regard. Burns has exciting potential, but the rest of the rotation consists of veterans past their prime or extremely injury prone hurlers. Getting Gerrit Cole back will be huge boost if he’s able to return to his pre-Tommy John form. Luis Castillo has been the constant in the Jackalope staff for years now, but is clearly not the dominant ace he once was. Bubba Chandler is the other youngster besides Burns who they will turn to if the vets continue to decline or get hurt again. The bullpen looks like what you might expect from a rebuilding team with only Raisel Iglesias firmly entrenched as a closer for his MLB squad. Bryan Abreu has sneaky upside though if Josh Hader misses significant time in Houston. The Jackalope are relying on so many youngsters that it makes it nearly impossible to predict how this will go in the short term. The good news is that when you take that many shots, your chances of a couple big hits increases. That’s exactly what the Jackalope will be hoping for in 2026.

    Kelly’s Cougars

    Category – Projected Rank (2025 Rank)

    • Batting Average – 3rd (5th)
    • Home Runs – 10th (10th)
    • Runs Batted In – 10th (10th)
    • Runs Scored – 10th (10th)
    • Stolen Bases – 8th (10th)
    • Earned Run Average – 4th (2nd)
    • WHIP Ratio – 3rd (2nd)
    • Wins – 9th (8th)
    • Saves – 8th (10th)
    • Strike Outs – 6th (7th)
    • Total Batting Points – 10th (10th)
    • Total Pitching Points – 8th (6th)
    • Total Points – 9th (9th)

    Summary:

    This is exactly where the Cougars were projected to finish a year ago, and it turned out to be almost exactly correct not only in the place of finish, but where they would rank in most of the categories as well. The Cougars will hope that these projections aren’t quite as accurate this time around. The pitching staff was much improved last year, so the hope is that their offense can take similar steps in the right direction in this year’s campaign, even though it is not predicted to happen here. They took a more conservative approach to their offensive rebuild than the Jacklope, going with more proven commodities like Taylor Ward and Luis Arraez in the first half of the draft. Even first round pick Geraldo Perdomo was more of a substance over style pick. Perdomo joins a crowded middle infield, but he and Ketel Marte are the clear headliners. They return the Marlins double play combo of Xavier Edwards and Otto Lopez. Maybe the biggest key for the Cougars offense to improve would be a full healthy season from second baseman Matt McLain. It will be interesting to see which of these guys get a bulk of the time at middle infield for the Cougars. They had to completely rebuild the corner spots with Tyler Soderstrom moving to the outfield. Arraez and Caleb Durbin were key additions for those spots. One clear strength is behind the dish with returners Salvador Perez and Shea Langeliers, who are both among the top catchers in fantasy baseball. The outfield is filled with steady veterans like Ward, Bryan Reynolds and underappreciated star Brent Rooker. Rooker actually has the highest projected Batting PAR on this entire roster. The pitching staff looks solid once again, with more or less the entire starting rotation in tact from last year led by reigning NL Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes. Joe Ryan, Nick Pivetta and Kevin Gausman also return and each of them have solid projections for this year too. The one newcomer is another veteran, second round pick Brandon Woodruff, who looks to put a couple injury plagued seasons behind him. The bullpen is a wild card here. Ryan Walker is the only safe bet to rack up saves, but Griffin Jax and Abner Uribe are two others with hopes of earning saves and solid projections in the other categories to go with it. The Cougars should have another solid pitching staff this season. The key to moving up in the standings will be for some of the bats to exceed these projections, with several strong candidates to do so in the middle infield group.

    Categories: ,

  • Kurtz Kicks off Draft

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    The 2026 DTBL Draft is in the books. I usually write this recap article while the draft is still in progress. Even though that is not the case this time around, I’m going to keep it focused on the first round. There will be time to cover some of the other players taken during the team previews, which will start to roll out soon as we approach Opening Day next week. Going into this year’s draft, it was pretty clear this was not going to match last year in terms of clear cut rising stars occupying the bulk of the first round selections. So it was not surprising that four of the players taken in the first round this year are not new to the DTBL and even one of the newcomers has a few years of MLB experience under his belt.

    The Diamond Dogs got things started by taking one of the few players in this draft who would have been a certain first round pick in any year’s draft. They selected reigning American League Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, whose game power took no time at all acclimating to the big leagues. Kurtz slugged 36 home runs for the Athletics while maintaining an elite .290 batting average as well. This is the first time since 2018 that the first overall pick has been a first baseman. It was the fourth time in five years that the Diamond Dogs have made the first pick in the draft. If Kurtz keeps doing his thing, the Dogs offense could be good enough to make sure a different team gets that opportunity to pick first next year.

    The second pick wasn’t quite as clear cut as the Kurtz selection. The Cougars opted to go with one of last year’s breakout stars, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. Perdomo’s disciplined plate approach mixed with excellent speed and newfound power turned him into a complete player in 2025. He hit .290 with 20 homers and 27 stolen bases. What perhaps made this a surprise selection for the Cougars specifically is that the middle infield was already a bit crowded even before the draft started with four of their keepers being second basemen or shortstops. Nonetheless, Perdomo joins Ketel Marte as the cornerstones at those positions moving forward.

    The Jackalope went with youngsters with big upside pretty much throughout this draft, starting with third overall selection Roman Anthony. Anthony entered last season as the consensus top prospect in the game. Like Kurtz, it took very little time for Anthony to show his potential in the big leagues. The five tool outfielder hit .292 with eight home runs before an oblique injury cut his season short. His recent performance in the World Baseball Classic showed that he’s healthy again and already among the best young players in the game. It remains to be seen if the Jackalope youth movement pays immediate dividends. Anthony figures to be a big part of their future regardless of how long it takes to return to contention.

    While this may have been a down year for talent in the draft overall, that was not the case for every position. The league hasn’t seen an influx of top flight catchers in a while. This could be the year that changes. The Komodos selected ’25 National League Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin with the fourth pick. It is the earliest a catcher has been taken in the draft since Gary Sanchez went second overall in 2017. While Baldwin was a prospect of note in the Braves organization, he wasn’t really expected to be a big contributor in 2025 with veteran Sean Murphy leading the Braves catching core. But Baldwin replaced an injured Murphy early in the season and likely took his starting job for good. He hit .274 with 19 homers and 80 RBI, all outstanding numbers for the offensively challenged position of catcher. He will team up with later draft pick Austin Wells to potentially give the Komodos one of the best catching combos in the league.

    The Komodos saw one of their former players go off the board in the pick following their own. The Choppers were the first team to select a non-DTBL rookie when they nabbed closer Devin Williams with the fifth pick in the draft. It was definitely a case of picking for need as the Choppers did not bring back a single reliever from their ’25 squad. Williams had established himself as one of the best closers in baseball prior to an injury riddled ’24 season and then a rough 2025 campaign in which he eventually lost his job as the Yankees closer. Now he’s across town with the Mets where he will look to fill Edwin Diaz’s large shoes as their ninth inning stopper. The Choppers went reliever again in the second round taking Daniel Palencia, in hopes of turning this obvious weakness into a strength.

    One of the more interesting players in this year’s draft pool was Ben Rice who has incredible value as long as he remains eligible at catcher in this league. The problem is, that very well could be for this year only depending on how often the Yankees decide to put the slugger behind the dish. He’s far less valuable from a fantasy perspective manning first base. The Kings decided the gamble was worth it for this year anyway, making him the sixth selection of the draft. Rice hit 26 home runs with well above typical catcher numbers in average, runs and RBIs as well. So long as he puts up similar numbers this year, he will give the Kings a huge leg up on most of the league at that position. Whether or not he is one and done at that position in this league is something the Kings will worry about next offseason.

    A second former Komodo went off the board with the seventh pick. The Darkhorses nabbed veteran shortstop Corey Seager who perhaps had lost favor with the Komodos after a string of injury marred seasons. When healthy though, he’s about as reliable of an offensive performer as you can get. The Darkhorses offense is what prevented them from being a serious title contender a year ago. They were particularly weak up the middle. Seager should provide an immediate upgrade at that spot. If he stays healthy this time around, the Darkhorses figure to be in the championship mix all the way to the end.

    Kyle Bradish has a chance to be this year’s Garrett Crochet, a player who has been on the DTBL roster before but retains rookie eligibility due to never seeing an active roster before succumbing to Tommy John surgery in 2024. I think people forget how good he was prior to that injury. Obviously the Demigods didn’t, as they selected him with the seventh overall pick, making him the first starting pitcher taken in this draft. Bradish is the second straight Oriole taken by the Demigods in the first round, following Jordan Westburg a year ago. Bradish returned from the long rehab process late last season and looked like his old self, throwing 32 dominant innings. Because he never saw time on the active roster with the Jackalope, he enters this season as a strong DTBL Rookie of the Year candidate.

    Another starting pitcher followed Bradish with the Moonshiners selecting young righty Nolan McLean with pick number nine. McLean really flew up prospect rankings last year and had an extremely impressive MLB cup of coffee. He retains MLB rookie eligibility entering this season and is the consensus preseason favorite for NL Rookie of the Year. Drafted out of college as a two-way player, it has just been a little over a year since he started focusing solely on pitching. So there is still huge room for growth. As we saw in last night’s WBC Championship Game, he’s not afraid of the biggest of stages, and has the stuff to back it up. This is the third straight year the Moonshiners have used their first pick on a starting pitcher. Good luck to McLean in living up to the standard set by Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet.

    The Mavericks really have no weaknesses, so the two time defending champs could go in pretty much whatever direction they wanted with their early draft picks. This time, they opted to pick up a steady veteran outfielder in Ian Happ. Happ joins an outfield that already consisted of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Jarren Duran and Mike Trout. Jazz Chisholm is moving onto the dirt this season though, opening up a spot for another solid outfield contributor. Happ figures to be just that. Going with proven commodities with their first several picks allowed the Mavericks to take some big swings at youngsters later in the draft. If history is any indication, they will probably hit a couple home runs with those picks. The Mavericks remain the team to beat in this league.

    Thanks to everyone for a well paced and well executed draft. We’re less than a week away from Opening Day. Season preview posts will be coming very soon. Stay tuned!

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  • Judge Earns Second MVP

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    The Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani debate is one we no longer get to have when it comes to MLB MVP awards since Ohtani switched to the National League and both superstars are the default favorites for their league's MVP award every season.  But in the DTBL, that competition is alive and well.  Both players had their typical otherworldly seasons in 2025, propelling them to winning the MVP award in each league once again.  Ohtani's extra greatness of not only being one of the best two hitters in all of baseball is that he also happens to be one of the best pitchers too.  That doesn't play into his DTBL value though where he is only allowed to impact the Moonshiners roster on one side each year.  So when comparing their hitting accomplishments only, MVP voters preferred Judge by a comfortable margin as he propelled the Mavericks to their second consecutive league title.  Aaron Judge is the 2025 DTBL Most Valuable Player.

    What has been really incredible about the career arc of Judge is that he has maintained his status as the best power hitter in the game while becoming an even better all around hitter.  This season, he led the league with a .331 batting average.  Only five players in the entire league cleared the .300 benchmark, while Judge did so by 31 points.  His DTBL career batting average is now on the verge of going over .300 as well, currently sitting at .299.  Judge also set a career high in runs scored with 137, the second highest total in the league.  Amusingly, his league standing in those two categories was higher than in his bread and butter categories of home runs and runs batted in, where he was still among the top five.  He hit 53 homers and drove in 114.  This is the third time in the past four years that he has surpassed 50 home runs in a season.  For good measure, he also stole a dozen bases.  His 11.4 Batting PAR bested Ohtani and all others by more than a point.  He now holds three of the top eight single season Batting PAR totals since 2005.

    The Mavericks blitzed the rest of the league in batting points, thanks in large part to Judge.  Even with Mike Trout on the downside of his career, they still have an incredibly loaded outfield, led by Judge and fellow MVP candidate Juan Soto.  Judge is probably the best free agent signing in DTBL history.  He went undrafted in 2017 when the Mavericks signed him a few weeks into the season.  They have been reaping the rewards ever since.  He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2017 and also finished third in the MVP vote that season.  This is the second time he has been named the DTBL Most Valuable Player.  The first time was in 2022, which was probably his best season to date.  That year, he broke the AL single season home run record with 62 while hitting .311 with 16 stolen bases.  The other season in the discussion for his best was last year when he hit .322 with 58 homers.  That would have been a MVP campaign almost any other year.  However, Ohtani had the first ever 50/50 season a year ago, relegating Judge to a second place finish in the MVP vote.

    This year's MVP vote was nearly the inverse of last year in the top two spots.  A year ago, Ohtani got 9 of 10 first place tallies with Judge receiving a single one.  This year, Judge garnered nine of the ten, with one second, to finish with 97 points.  Ohtani got the other first with eight seconds.  He was dropped to fourth on one ballot though, tallying 69 total points.  The Moonshiners superstar hit 55 home runs, but the stolen bases dropped considerably from a year ago, with "only" 20 swipes on the season.  This is the fourth time in the past five years that Ohtani has finished in the top five of the MVP vote.  Finishing third is Judge's Mavericks teammate and former Yankees teammate Juan Soto.  Somewhat surprising considering his consistent dominance, this is Soto's highest MVP finish to date.  His batting average took a bit of a step back from his career norms, but he more than made up for that by setting a career high with 43 home runs and obliterating his career high in stolen bases with 38.  Prior to this year, he had never stolen more than a dozen bases in a season.  Soto received the one second place vote that didn't go to Ohtani or Judge and was no lower than fourth on any of the ten ballots.  That computes to 42 points.  Probably the biggest debate during MLB award season was Judge vs. Cal Raleigh for AL MVP.  Raleigh led the league with 60 home runs, becoming the fifth different player in DTBL history to ever reach the 60 mark.  What made that even more incredible is that he did so while catching 121 games at an elite defensive level.  Obviously the defensive value isn't relevant to fantasy baseball, but providing offensive numbers like that while occupying a traditionally weak positional slot is extremely valuable.  For years now, I have been playing around with a modified version of PAR that does include a positional adjustment.  Perhaps this winter would be a good time to implement such a change so we can get a better understanding of just how valuable Raleigh is compared to his catching counterparts.  He will have to settle for a fourth place finish in this year's MVP vote though.  The Jackalope backstop received six third place votes and 35 total points.  Finishing in the fifth spot is another guy who is on the periphery of the MVP discussion basically every year.  Komodos third baseman Jose Ramirez had his second straight 30/40 season.  He hit exactly 30 homers this year while stealing a career high 44 bases.  This is the fifth time in his career that he has finished in the top five for the MVP award, yet he has never been higher than fourth place.  He appeared on eight of the ten ballots, all in the fourth and fifth place slots, for 14 voting points.

    Click here to view the full voting results.

    So the Moonshiners weren't quite able to sweep the 2025 DTBL awards.  It is the second straight year they have taken two of the three though.  All three of the awards went to players on teams who finished in the top two spots in the standings.  Thanks to everyone for taking the time to vote a few weeks ago and apologies on being so tardy in actually announcing the winners.  Now we turn our eyes to the 2025 season.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

    Categories: ,

  • Skubal Wins Cy Young Again

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    With the infusion of three DTBL rookie pitchers who immediately became stars, the pool of players who were serious contenders for the Cy Young award became even deeper. However, those guys still have some work to do to topple the gold standard in the league today. Moonshiners lefty Tarik Skubal rode a truly dominant 2024 season to a unanimous Cy Young selection. In his follow up campaign, he nearly replicated his '24 numbers, making him the man to beat again for this award. While it was not unanimous this time thanks to his new teammate, Tarik Skubal is the 2025 DTBL Cy Young award winner.

    It is quite remarkable how similar Skubal's 2024 and 2025 seasons were. This year, he led the league with a miniscule 0.89 WHIP and finished second with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts. All three of those numbers were slight improvements over a year ago. His 14.3 Pitching PAR also led the league, but was down a hair from '24 mainly because his win total dropped from 18 to 13 this year. Skubal continues to be an enormous outlier in baseball with his ability to strike out hitters without sacrificing control. He only walked 33 batters, the lowest total in the league among qualified pitchers. His 7.3 K/BB ratio was nearly two points higher than the next best pitcher. In the years for which PAR has been calculated (2005-present), Skubal is just the third pitcher to accumulate 14+ Pitching PAR in consecutive seasons, joining Clayton Kershaw (2014-15) and Justin Verlander (2018-19). Nobody has ever done it three straight years, so that is something for him to shoot for in 2026.

    Skubal's path to the Moonshiners has been well documented at this point. His two years with the team have transformed them into one of the league's top staffs after a few years of inconsistency. The back to back years of first round selections of Skubal and then Garrett Crochet have set them up to dominate the pitching categories for years to come. The Moonshiners ran away from the field in strikeouts this year, whiffing 132 more hitters than any other team. They trailed only the Darkhorses in total pitching points this season on their way to their second consecutive second place finish. Presumably, they will be able to focus their attention on the offense in next year's draft unless another pitching gem falls to them again.

    Skubal did not quite repeat as a unanimous selection for the Cy Young award. He received nine of ten first place votes, plus a second, for 97 out of a possible 100 voting points. The only first place vote he didn't receive went to his Moonshiners teammate Crochet. The 2025 DTBL Rookie of the Year probably would have doubled up with the Cy Young award as well if Skubal didn't exist. Crochet led the league in strikeouts and was just 1/2 point behind Skubal in PAR. In addition to the single first place vote, Crochet also garnered seven second place tallies and a pair of thirds for a total of 69 points. This is the first time teammates have finished 1-2 in Cy Young voting since Choppers hurlers Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer topped the 2020 vote. Behind them is another DTBL rookie, Cougars fireballer Paul Skenes. It is kind of shocking that a pitcher with a league leading ERA under 2 (1.97) would not receive a single first place vote for Cy Young. However, the competition for this award was incredibly stiff. Skenes got a pair of second place votes and seven thirds to comfortably finish third with 52 points. This year's National League Cy Young winner figures to have plenty of future opportunities to win the award in the DTBL. There was a bit of a gap after those top three. The fourth place finisher is one of this season's breakout stars. Choppers righty Bryan Woo emerged as the ace of a loaded Mariners staff. The sixth round pick from '24 has already soared past expectations for a mid-round selection. He appeared on eight of ten ballots and finished with 21 points. Rounding out the top five is veteran righty Nathan Eovaldi, who wasn't even on an active roster until May. The Diamond Dogs picked him up a quarter of the way into the season and all he did was shove. His 1.73 ERA easily would have led the league, except he was 20 innings shy of qualifying due to his late start. He still managed to accumulate 11 Pitching PAR in 3/4 of a season. Eovaldi accumulated eight total points in this vote. The depth of pitching in the league was quite impressive this year as many others outside of the top five had strong cases as well. In total, 11 different pitchers received at least one vote.

    Click here to view the full voting results.

    Two awards down, two awards won by the Moonshiners.  With Shohei Ohtani looming, can they make it three for three with tomorrow's Most Valuable Player announcement?  The reigning MVP has some pretty stiff competition to win the award again this year.

    Categories: ,

  • Crochet Sparkles in Delayed Debut

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    2025 was the year of the DTBL rookie pitcher.  Three of them were selected in the first round of the draft, including the first overall pick.  And all three of those pitchers had monster debut seasons in this league.  Paul Skenes lived up to the hype and then some as the first pick of the draft by the Cougars.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto was probably the biggest steal of the draft with the last pick of the first round by the defending champion Mavericks.  One pick before him, the Moonshiners selected Garrett Crochet who was on a DTBL roster three years ago, but did not make an appearance on an active roster, preserving his rookie eligibility.  Three years later, the hard throwing southpaw is the 2025 DTBL Rookie of the Year.

    Crochet took one of the more unique paths to winning the DTBL Rookie of the Year award you will ever see.  He made his MLB debut with the White Sox in the covid shortened 2020 season just three months after being drafted and having never pitched in a minor league game because of the pandemic.  He then spent the 2021 season in the bullpen for the Sox before being added to the DTBL roster as a relief pitcher in 2022.  The Jackalope selected him in the seventh round in '22.  Unfortunately, he blew out his elbow that spring not long after being drafted and missed the entire season following Tommy John surgery.  When he returned to action, he was nothing more than a mid-leverage reliever for the Sox until they took a chance and moved him into the rotation in 2024.  That was a smashing success, despite playing for one of the worst teams in baseball history.  Following that season, he was traded to Boston and reinstated to the DTBL roster as a starting pitcher.  4 1/2 years after making his MLB debut, the Moonshiners selected him with the ninth pick in the 2025 Draft.

    As well as Crochet's first go-round as a starting pitcher went in 2024, his follow up campaign in Boston was even better.  He led the league with 255 strikeouts, the second highest total ever by a Moonshiner, trailing only Kerry Wood in 2003.  He finished second in the league with 18 wins and was also among the league's best in ERA (2.59) and WHIP (1.03).  Perhaps most impressively, he threw the second most innings of any pitcher in the league with 205, almost 60 more than his previous career high the year prior.  His 13.7 Pitching PAR trailed only his fellow left handed Moonshiners teammate Tarik Skubal.  Skubal and Crochet give the Moonshiners an embarrassment of riches in their rotation as probably the two best southpaws in the game right now.  They were largely responsible for keeping the Moonshiners in the championship race until the end, finishing in second place when it was all said and done.  Both of those guys will be among the top contenders for the Cy Young award as well.

    The Rookie of the Year vote always figured to be a tight race between Crochet and Skenes, in particular.  Crochet had a slight edge over Skenes in PAR, primarily thanks to his advantage in wins and strikeouts.  However, it remained to be seen if some might give Skenes the nod due to his superior ratios, and maybe some would hold Crochet's rookie eligibility technicality against him.  Not many did.  Crochet garnered eight of the ten first place votes plus a pair of seconds to finish with 94 points.  Skenes received the other two first place votes and eight seconds for a total of 76 points.  So this pair was 1-2 on all ten ballots.  The Cougars young ace led the league with a 1.97 ERA in his DTBL debut, while also accumulating a WHIP under 1 (0.95) and 216 strikeouts.  The NL Cy Young award winner should be a candidate for that award in this league too, however it probably doesn't bode well for him relative to Crochet with the results of this ROY vote.  The third place finisher was the other part of the trio of first round pitchers in this year's draft.  Yamamoto was a big reason why the Mavericks were able to win their second straight DTBL title.  He was one of three Mavericks pitchers to put up a 10+ Pitching PAR season.  That was all before becoming the Dodgers World Series hero.  With Clayton Kershaw now gone, Yamamoto figures to fill his void as the Dodgers star in the Mavericks rotation for years to come.  He received seven third place votes and was the only player besides Crochet and Skenes to appear on all ten ballots, finishing with 40 points.  The top finishing position player is Jackalope outfielder Jackson Chourio, picked second in the draft.  Chourio led all DTBL rookies with 5.1 Batting PAR, while showcasing power and speed with a matching 21 in the home run and stolen base columns.  He garnered three third place votes and 31 total points.  Rounding out the top five is another first round pick from this year's draft, Komodos outfielder James Wood.  Wood looked like a strong candidate to win this award around mid-season.  However, he had a rough second half, marred by contact issues.  It should still go down as a very successful debut for the 23 year old slugger.  He led all rookies with 31 homers.  His 17 voting points put him fifth in this tally.  So half of the players drafted in the first round in March wound up finishing in the top five of the DTBL Rookie of the Year vote.  A lot of teams are no doubt happy with their selections not only for what they provided this year, but their bright futures as well.

    Click here to view the full voting results.

    Sorry I am a bit tardy with these award announcements.  I wanted to get it started last weekend, but ultimately decided to hold it for this week when I have considerably more free time.  I intend to announce the Cy Young award winner tomorrow and then the Most Valuable Player on Wednesday.  The Cy Young race figures to involve several of the names mentioned in this article.  We'll see who came out on top soon.

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  • Mavericks Run It Back

    Written by:

    Kevin

    Embed from Getty Images

    Happy Halloween!  With the World Series potentially ending tonight and certainly no later than tomorrow (barring another 18 inning marathon), we're about to move onto awards season.  So if I'm going to finally get around to recapping our own season which ended over a month ago, this is the last chance.  With that in mind, I'm trying something new here.  I decided to use AI (ChatGPT) to write almost all of what follows this paragraph.  I imagine a couple of you are very much against the use of AI to write articles.  Believe me, I'm very sympathetic of that viewpoint.  However, this feels like an ideal use case.  I am decidedly *not* a professional writer, I don't enjoy writing, and am increasingly unmotivated to actually do so.  So it was basically try this out or no Mavericks championship recap for the second straight year.  We'll see how it goes.  Perhaps this will eventually lead to more site content down the road.  I definitely intend to use it to recap future All-Star games.  In fact, reading about using AI to recap OOTP simulations is actually what gave me this idea in the first place.  Anyway, I now turn it over to our AI overlords...

    In a league that rewards careful roster construction and long-term planning, sustained excellence is difficult to achieve. But in 2025, Marc’s Mavericks proved once again that their success is no accident. With a final tally of 79.5 roto points, the Mavericks captured their second consecutive Dream Team Baseball League championship and the fifth title in franchise history, adding another chapter to what has quietly become one of the DTBL’s most consistent and well-run organizations.

    The Mavericks didn’t win with overwhelming dominance in a single category. They won by assembling a roster that performed at an above-average level across nearly all facets of the game. Their offense ranked among the league’s best in home runs, RBIs, and runs scored, while their pitching staff delivered exceptional ratios and anchored the team’s week-to-week stability. The result was a club that rarely experienced prolonged slumps — the hallmark of championship-caliber roto construction.

    Few DTBL lineups could match the Mavericks’ combination of star power and depth. At the center of the attack was Aaron Judge, whose 53 home runs, 114 RBI, and league-leading 11.4 PAR made him one of fantasy’s most impactful players. Right behind him, Juan Soto delivered another season of elite on-base skills and power, his 43 HR, 105 RBI, and 9.7 PAR placing him among the league’s most valuable hitters. Bobby Witt Jr. added a rare all-category foundation with 23 HR, 38 SB, a batting average near .290, and 8.0 PAR.

    Around them, the supporting cast continued to produce. Manny Machado delivered another excellent season with 27 HR and 95 RBI, while Ozzie Albies, Willy Adames, and William Contreras each posted positive PAR seasons that reinforced every corner of the lineup. Complementary pieces like Jarren Duran and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added needed speed, athleticism, and situational power. From top to bottom, the Mavericks’ offense played with a level of consistency that kept them among the league’s scoring leaders throughout the season.

    The Mavericks’ pitching strategy was as deliberate as it was effective, built around stability, ratios, and reliable strikeout production. Freddy Peralta’s 17 wins, 2.70 ERA, and 204 strikeouts made him one of the league’s most valuable starters. Hunter Brown was nearly as dominant with a 2.43 ERA and 206 strikeouts, and newcomer Yoshinobu Yamamoto immediately proved his worth with a 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 201 Ks. As one of the league’s strongest Rookie of the Year candidates — and tremendous value as the 10th overall pick in the DTBL draft — Yamamoto gave the Mavericks an anchor-level arm from day one. It is rare for any team to field a trio of double-digit PAR pitchers; the Mavericks made it look routine.

    In the bullpen, Mason Miller emerged as a high-leverage force, collecting 22 saves with elite strikeout rates and a 2.63 ERA. Edwin Uceta added steadiness and flexibility, giving Marc valuable support in late innings and preserving the staff’s excellent ratios. The combination allowed the Mavericks to finish first in ERA and WHIP while still pulling strong point totals from strikeouts.

    With the 2025 title, the Mavericks now stand at five championships: 2004, 2006, 2017, 2024, and 2025. They have finished in the top three 13 times and in the top five 18 times, a level of long-term competitiveness unmatched in most fantasy leagues. Rarely does a franchise sustain relevance for two decades; even rarer is one that regularly contends for league titles across multiple eras of scoring environments and player valuation trends.

    The back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025 underscore more than a hot streak. They reflect a franchise identity built on disciplined drafting, efficient roster usage, and a clear understanding of how value is constructed in a 10-team roto environment. This was not a team that relied on a few breakouts or a lucky waiver pickup. It was a team in which every active roster spot produced value.

    The 2025 season demonstrated the same qualities that have defined the Mavericks for years: balance, discipline, and a keen eye for player value. As a result, Marc’s squad now stands as the premier benchmark for roster construction in the Dream Team Baseball League. With a young core still in their prime and a proven approach that has delivered across eras, the Mavericks don’t just look like champions — they look like a franchise positioned to contend for years to come.  The rest of the DTBL may rise and challenge again, but for now, the Mavericks remain the franchise everyone else is chasing.

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