OBSESSED BALLERS FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE

As we prepare for the Rookie Keeper Draft on Monday February 27th, those with RK picks in the draft are aggressively researching top prospects and 2012 rookie of the year candidates.

There is no shortage of websites out there that have rankings, reports and projections for MLB prospects.  The FantasyRundown.com site has links to all of these sites, and they compile all of the data from the sites into a spreadsheet which they offer for a small fee.  I’ve taken their spreadsheet and made some additions to it for OBFBL RK Draft preparation.

The chart at the bottom of this article shows the top 60 ranked prospects from a compilation of 19 top prospects sites.  The chart shows the prospect name, overall 2012 ranking, LY rank, average/highest/lowest ranks, position and team, date of birth and highest level played in 2011.  (NOTE: I’ve discarded the lowest score to remove outliers and then did an average)

Interesting notes from the Rankings:
– there are 7 prospects already kept in the OBFBL (these have been highlighted)
– the top prospects are loaded with pitching, with approximately 2/3 of the top prospects (top 30) being pitchers
– many of the prospects are also young players taken in the 2010 and 2011 drafts which were said to be both very deep and very pitching heavy
– the International flavouring for the list is centered around Yu Darvish and Yoennis Cespedes (also Jorge Soler)
– the Jays have 3 of the top 60 prospects with Travis d’Arnaud, Jake Marisnick and Anthony Gose, plus 7 of the top 110. It’s no wonder they are being ranked top 3 or 4 for minor league team rankings

Here are two RK Mock Drafts, based on these ranks.

MOCK DRAFT #1  (based solely on rankings below)
1. Frankford Fury – Matt Moore (TB) – LHP
2. Aurora Asshats – Yu Darvish (TEX) – RHP
3. Etobicoke Crackheads – Jurickson Profar (TEX) – SS
4. London Tribe – Gerrit Cole (PIT) – RHP
5. Brampton Blue Balls – Jameson Taillon (PIT) – RHP
6. Whitby Poo Dogs – Yoennis Cespedes (OAK) – OF
7. Toronto Motorboats – Trevor Bauer (ARI) – RHP
8. Etobicoke Crackheads – Devin Mesoraco (CIN) – C
9. Brampton Blue Balls – Dylan Bundy (ARZ) – RHP
10. Brooklin Legacy – Anthony Rendon (WAS) – 3B
11. Brampton Blue Balls – Tyler Skaggs (ARI) – LHP
12. London Tribe – Jacob Turner (DET) – RHP

MOCK DRAFT #2  (excluding risky players who haven’t played above “A” ball yet)
1. Frankford Fury – Matt Moore (TB) – LHP
2. Aurora Asshats – Yu Darvish (TEX) – RHP
3. Etobicoke Crackheads – Yoennis Cespedes (OAK) – OF
4. London Tribe – Trevor Bauer (ARI) – RHP
5. Brampton Blue Balls – Devin Mesoraco (CIN) – C
6. Whitby Poo Dogs – Tyler Skaggs (ARI) – LHP
7. Toronto Motorboats – Jacob Turner (DET) – RHP
8. Etobicoke Crackheads – Manny Banuelos (NYY) – LHP
9. Brampton Blue Balls – Jarrod Parker (OAK) – RHP
10. Brooklin Legacy – Martin Perez (TEX) – LHP
11. Brampton Blue Balls – Drew Pomeranz (COL) – LHP
12. London Tribe – Travis d’Arnaud (TOR) – C

FantasyRundown.com data from 19 top prospect lists:

FINAL NOTE: there are some players who have graduated as prospects, but are still RK eligible in the O (Batters with less than 150 at bats in the major leagues or pitchers with less than 50 innings pitched in the major leagues). This group is led by Jason Kipnis who was once a strong prospect and is now in the majors as the Tribe’s starting 2B.