UFLB Franchises Feeling Optimistic, Anticipating Parity for Inaugural Season Following Veteran Play

780 players. 30 Franchises. 26 Rounds. 2 Days. Add up all the numbers and it equals a terrific Veteran Player Draft for Ultimate Fantasy League Baseball, with parity becoming the word of the weekend.

The event kicked off live on UFSN’s YouTube channel with Head of Baseball for UFFS Dean Millard hosting the first round from IKS Studios in Regina, Saskatchewan, with co-host Clark Munroe, who is also the GM of the Wheat Sox franchise that selected 17th in every round.

“I couldn’t believe how fast the first round went,” said a very pleased Dean Millard, who is also co-commissioner of UFLB. “Matt Soren (fellow co-commissioner) did a great job making sure we didn’t fall behind and there was a wide variety of picks from straight up vets to guys with barely any experience and everything in between.

“After the first 13 rounds, I was amazed at how much talk there was about parity, which you don’t usually see in a non-snake draft, but that’s the thing about baseball, if you’re really smart, you can build a contender from almost every spot in the draft.”

Things got a little tougher on Day 2 with rounds 14-26, as the pickings became a bit slimmer, but there were still gems to be had.

Below is a recap of the top 5 picks from each franchise (listed in the draft order from 1-30), plus a favourite pick from each franchise as chosen by Millard.

Reapers

1 Shohei Ohtani – SP/DH

2 Max Muncy – 1B

3 Austin Meadows – LF

4 Joe Musgrove – SP

5 Justin Turner – 3B

Millard Fav – Tough choice between Jose Abreu in the 7th round and Charlie Blackmon in the 12th round, but Blackmon’s walk-up song in the Rockies tilts the scales here for me, even though the Reapers picked up 100 RBIs in the 7th round.

Also, a big fan of the Joe Kelly pick in Round 20, sort of fits the brashness of the Reapers.

Arctic Eagles

1 Juan Soto – RF

2 Josh Hader – RP

3 Whit Merrifield 2B/RF

4 Liam Hendricks – RP

5 Yasmani Grandal – C

Millard Fav – This was an easy one for me, it’s Clayton Kershaw in the 7th round, certainly for the Legends League appeal, but I also think despite some injuries Kershaw will still provide a lot of fantasy points for the Eagles — and as long as he’s in Dodger blue, he’ll provide playoff value too. I also really like what they did with their bullpen by picking some excellent relief pitchers, including a guy like David Price who can bounce back and forth from being a starter to a relief role.

Scorpions

1 Fernando Tatis Jr. – SS

2 Sandy Alcantara – SP

3 Manny Machado – 3B

4 Cody Bellinger – CF

5 Luis Garcia – SP

Millard Fav – Tarik Skubal is a young, up-and-coming pitcher for the Tigers and I like how the Scorpions grabbed him early. He was a 9th round pick for Detroit and has spent the past two years on the Tigers’ staff. His K/9 last year was 9.9 and if he cuts down on his walks, Skubal could be a stinger for the Scorpions.

Panthers

1 Vlad Guerrero Jr. – 1B

2 Robbie Ray – SP

3 Trevor Bauer – SP

4 Chris Sale – SP

5 Wilson Contreras – C

Millard Fav – I really liked the Panthers picking up Brandon Crawford in the 8th round after the Giants’ shortstop finished fourth in MVP voting last year. But the pick that I think could really be great is KC Royals SP Carlos Hernandez in the 13th round. Hernandez throws a ton of heat among his 5-pitch arsenal and at times looked like the Royals’ ace last year.

Circa Sports Swingin’ Trout

1 Ronald Acuna Jr. – RF

2 Bryan Reynolds – CF

3 Jesse Winker – LF 4 Anthony Rendeon – 3B

5 Nick Madrigal – 2B

Millard Fav – I can’t believe the Swingin’ Trout didn’t take Mike Trout, but Acuna Jr. is a stud and much younger. Swingin’ Trout grabbed a couple of Astros’ potential starters. Jake Odorizzi in the 14th round after previously selecting Jose Urquidy in the 7th round, who I think could be a great back-end starter. He won’t rack up the Ks but his changeup is excellent, as is his command. Urquidy might end up battling Odorizzi for a starting spot.

Defenders

1 Mike Trout – CF

2 Julio Urias – SP

3 Frankie Montas – SP

4 Jorge Palanco – SS

5 Lance McCullers Jr. – SP

Millard Fav – Oh Canada! This was an easy one as well. Joey Votto in the 11th round after 36 home runs and almost 100 RBI last year. Yes, he’s 38 years old, but Votto has some good seasons still in him and he brings nice Legends League appeal. Votto can play first or DH for the Defenders, depending on CJ Cron’s season whom they took in the 7th round.

Macaws

1 Trea Turner – SS

2 Lucas Giolito – SP

3 Jack Flaherty – SP

4 Daulton Varsho – C

5 Christian Yelich – CF

Millard Fav – The Verlander pick is a nod to