The first ever Free Agent & Rookie (FAR) Draft for The HUM BABE DYNASTY Fantasy Baseball League took place on February 29th, 2020 as eleven teams were represented in-person at the Commissioner’s house and another three joined via video conference.  The Super Smash ‘Stros managed to make their selections while snowmobiling in Colorado and better yet, Morning Wood joined the draft room from 30,000ft in the air.  No matter if the breakfast burrito/coffee combination, raging fire place or LeBronto Blue James’ naps between picks comes to mind first, needless to say the 2020 HUM BABE DYNASTY season is off to a great start.

It is worth noting a couple funky things about this year’s FAR Draft before we get into the controversial Notable Draft Pick recap… Five new managers joined the league this season and after selecting their Keepers via a 15-Round New Manager Draft, Super Sayin Shanobi, The Thor and His Hammers, Straight Outta deGrompton, PED-co Park, and Enter Your Team Name Here drafted in a serpentine sequence between Picks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 each round while the returning teams found home in their fixed draft order determined by the reverse standings of last year’s regular season results.  Also worth noting, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms received a 3rd Round pick from a team that abandoned the league prior to the 2020 Season so instead of a New Manager forfeiting their 3rd Round pick, Brooklyn Bridegroom inserted their 15th Round pick into the 3rd Round shifting every pick after the 37th overall, back one slot – hence the St. Paul Splitters’ (best regular season team from 2019) selections reflecting a “#1st of the Round” when in actuality they should technically have been labeled the #17th of the Round prior.  Nonetheless, here are the 2020 FAR Notable Draft Picks as the Commissioner saw it, with look aheads for each player’s impact…

Notable Draft Picks

1st Round

Pick #8 (#8 Overall) – Morning Wood – Jo Adell, LAA OF (Minors)

The 2019-20 Off-season introduced an intimidating five additional Minor League Roster spots for each manager, and Morning Wood wasted no time filling their first.  Jo Adell has been a highly sought after Minor League prospect in fantasy leagues for a few years now, and may finally make his debut for the Los Angeles Angles this season.  But it’s worth noting, Jo Adell was the first Minor Leaguer taken off the board, in front of Outfielders like Kyle Schwarber, Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Braun who could have made a season-long impact during the 2020 fantasy season, and also in front of another big-name Outfield prospect, Luis Robert.  Only time will tell if this FAR 1st Round Draft Pick will pay off for Morning Wood.

2nd Round

Pick #2 (#18 Overall) – Enter Your Team Name Here – Domingo German, NYY SP

After taking the best Catcher available in the 1st Round (Salvador Perez), Enter Your Team Name Here invested a bench slot in a promising young pitcher, Domingo German, who earned himself an 81-game suspension during the latter half of the 2019 season, via a Domestic Violence Charge.  After coming out of the 2019 New Manager Draft with a hitter-heavy lineup, Enter Your Team Name Here felt the need to take a chance on securing a big name pitcher for years to come, at the expense of right-now results.

3rd Round

Pick #2 (#34 Overall) – Straight Outta deGrompton – MacKenzie Gore, SD SP (Minors)

The fourth Minor League Prospect off the 2019 FAR Draft Board, MacKenzie Gore most certainly has the potential to return the most value in both real-life results for the San Diego Padres and fantasy results for Straight Outta deGrompton.  Perhaps this is the start of a transition from “Straight Outta deGrompton” to “Straight Outta de-Gore-ton”…?

4th Round

Pick #11 (#59 Overall) – San Francisco Studs – Nick Madrigal, CWS 2B (Minors)

The San Francisco Studs has been notorious for snagging young prospects just as they transition into Major League stardom, even in the early stages of the HUM BABE DYNASTY history.  Both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eloy Jimenez were the center of controversial picks during the Inaugural Draft last season, receiving “Reach” gifs and comments in the GroupMe chat, but have ended up as solid Keepers heading into the 2020 season to say the least.  Will Nick Madrigal, the Oregon State University product, be the next in that line for the San Francisco Studs…?

5th Round

Pick #1 (#65 Overall) – St. Paul Splitters – Jasson Dominguez, NYY OF (Minors)

After seeing MLB’s #1 Overall Prospect (Wander Franco) get taken by Jackal Attack in the 4th Round, the St. Paul Splitters’ couldn’t afford to waste any more time on investing in the future, so they went out and secured Jasson Dominguez, a 17-yr old New York Yankee Outfield prospect.  MLB Scouts have been nothing but blown away by Dominguez’s physical build, talent and baseball IQ – not just for his age, but for any prospect they’ve ever seen – and have only been able to pair him with comparisons to Mike Trout and Mickey Mantle.  It’ll be interesting to see if the young international prospect returns that level of value for the Yankees on the field, and for the St. Paul Splitters in the fantasy rankings.

6th Round

Pick #5 (#85 Overall) – El Paso Border Patrol – Dylan Carlson, StL OF (R)

One of the most promising prospects coming into the 2020 fantasy season, Dylan Carlson, a switch-hitting Outfield for the St. Louis Cardinals hopes to break spring training with a starting job.  After watching Carlson rocket-up through the prospect ranks the past couple season, El Paso hopes to see a similar trend with their standing in the HUM BABE DYNASTY rankings.

7th Round

Pick #4 (#100 Overall) – PED-co Park – Sean Murphy, OAK C (R)

After locking down their starting Catcher position during the New Manager Draft with Wilson Ramos, PED-co Park took a chance on Sean Murphy, the Oakland Athletic’s rookie catcher despite the lack of return on the most recent Rookie Catchers – say Danny Jansen during 2019 perhaps.  Murphy has the potential to be a solid starter for years to come, but given he is slatted to come out of camp on the A’s active roster, it may come at the expense of a 2020 roster spot without much to say for it.

8th Round

Pick #8 (#120 Overall) – Somalia Pirates – Danny Jansen, TOR C

Did someone say Danny Jansen?  After being the clear favorite, and highly sought, Rookie Catcher in 2019 fantasy drafts, Jansen failed to impress.  Now, instead of replacing Russell Martin behind the dish for the Blue Jays, Jansen may remain on the bench behind another promising young catcher, Reese McGuire.  However, the two competing catchers wield the bat with opposite hands and may participate in a platooned role for the young Blue Jay’s team… 2020 may determine which of the two has the starting job for years to come and the Somalia Pirates certainly have their fingers crossed for Jansen to come out on top.

9th Round

Pick #2 (#130 Overall) – Super Sayin Shanobi – Sam Huff, TEX C (Minors)

Staying on the subject of young catchers, Sam Huff of the Texas Rangers has recently drawn comparisons to the great Joe Mauer thanks to his ability with the bat.  Super Sayin Shanobi may have just joined the HUM BABE DYNASTY league for the 2020 season but showed no learning curve in securing young talent for the fantasy seasons to come.  Not to mention this Minor Leaguer is looking up at both J.T. Realmuto and Mitch Garver on the active Shanobi roster.

10th Round

Pick #15 (#159 Overall) – Wisconsin neckBeards – Jake Arrieta, PHI SP

Wisconsin neckBeards made it clear to other teams at the Commissioner’s house during the 2020 FAR Draft that there were some stud players being over-looked in the draft pool.  Sum that up with the 10th Round selection of Jake Arrieta who, entering his age 33 season, is assumed to be beyond his prime years as a big-leaguer.  But Wisconsin felt the need to suit up the former superstar in a neckBeards’ jersey for the 2020 season and hope the rest of the league gave up too soon on the aging ace.

11th Round

Pick #10 (#170 Overall) – Super Smash ‘Stros – Trevor Williams, PIT SP

From the Friday night lights in a Arizona State Sun Devil Jersey to every fifth day in a Pirates jersey, Trevor Williams is a pitcher any big-league club would love to have inducing ground ball after ground ball.  But transition that to the fantasy realm and all of a sudden those ground balls are begged to be replaced with strikeouts, hence the late draft position for a starter like Williams.  Super Smash ‘Stros knows the value of starting pitching in the HUM BABE DYNASTY league after maneuvering their way to a 2019 playoff berth on the back of numerous relief pitchers, and therefore confidently used a late round pick on Williams given his secure role in a lackluster Pittsburgh staff. The ‘Stros look for the investment to return enough quality starts and wins needed to get the ‘Stros back into the playoff picture for 2020.

12th Round

Pick #16 (#192 Overall) – Brooklyn Bridegrooms – Jhoulys Chacin, MIN SP

An uncharacteristic signing for the Minnesota Twins during the 2019 off-season, saw Jhoulys Chacin come to the Twin Cites for his age 32 season.  Although minor-league eligible at the moment, Brooklyn hopes to get another quality starter from this 12th Round selection for a Twins team that may win 100+ games again this year.  Chacin will first have to earn the 5th starter role for the Twins during Spring Training, and then will have to play well enough to keep the job mid-season when other veterans like Rich Hill and Michael Pineda are activated for the Twins.

13th Round

Pick #12 (#204 Overall) – LeBronto Blue James – Tyler Mahle, CIN SP

What would a 2020 FAR Draft recap be without drawing attention to the LeBronto Blue James’ confidence that led to numerous naps between picks throughout the draft.  This pick however… makes you wonder what exactly LeBronto was dreaming about.  Mahle, although a 25-yr old starting pitcher who has two MLB seasons with 20+ starts under his belt, has failed to develop a go-to out pitch.  LeBronto clearly did some research on the investment however, as Mahle claims to be bringing a new Slider to the mix for the 2020 season.  If the dream comes true… LeBronto may very well have a solid pitcher for years to come, and why not dream with a 13th Round FAR Draft pick?

14th Round

Pick #14 (#222 Overall) – Jackal Attack – Roberto Perez, CLE C

As a piece of the 2019 controversial Kershaw/Tanaka trade, Roberto Perez found himself in a starting role for the St. Paul Splitters during a 2019 Playoff run to the Semi-Finals.  Given that track-record, Jackal Attack can easily look on this pick as the fruit of a successful wait-on-a-catcher strategy.  However, if the 31-yr old catcher has taken on a platoon role with his new teammate, Sandy Leon, Jackal Attack may also be sweating over the Waiver Wire looking for options at the most scarce position throughout the 2020 season.

15th Round

Pick #7 (#231 Overall) – The Thor and His Hammers – Austin Hays, BAL OF (R)

In the first HUM BABE DYNASTY draft since growing the Minor League Rosters to six slots, it’s a wonder a guy like Austin Hays made it all the way to the 15th Round before being selected by The Thor and His Hammers.  Perhaps other teams steered clear because the 24-yr old Outfielder plans to enter the 2020 season as a MLB starter for the Baltimore Orioles.  Perhaps Hays will be the first drop Thor makes this season, or perhaps Hays finds himself as a keeper for Thor over the next ten seasons.  Can’t help but appreciate that high of a ceiling on a last round pick.