2017 Millard Fillmore Division

As we continue to look at the prospects for each NASOMA division in 2017, let's look back at the 2016 predictions for the MFD:

Overall:
1. Zaps
2. Mavs
3. Drillers
4. Buckeyes
The Zaps don't have many holes. He should win 100 games and get that bye he missed last year. Then he can lose in the 2nd round. The Mavs and Drillers should be neck and neck all year to challenge the Zaps or to at least compete for a wild card spot. Any early guesses as to which player the Buckeyes will take with the first pick in the 2016 Draft? How about with the first pick in the 2017 Draft?

Well, we were close. The Zaps did, indeed, win 100 games. And Buckeyes did, indeed, earn the first pick again. Where I screwed up was underestimating the Mavs and overestimating the Drillers. The Mavs got off to an incredible start during Draft Weekend while the Drillers barely avoided a perfect game by Jake Arrieta. It would be a great indication of where these two teams were headed. At the end of the season, the Mavs had the best record in the league while the Drillers finished 45 games in back of them. Unfortunately, both the Mavs and Zaps were shown the door in the playoffs by the eventual champion Sidewinders.

So what happens this year? Well, for starters, we had the first manager turnover in a long, long time. The Zaps showed himself the door and has been replaced by the Skyscrapers. Can they repeat the 100-win season? Will the Mavs be back on top? Will the Buckeyes remember how to win after two years of losing a lot of games? Will the Drillers finally return to post season after several seasons away?

Here we go...

Starting Pitching
1. Skyscrapers
2. Mavs
3. Buckeyes
4. Drillers
Hamels, Scherzer, and Kluber are 3 of the top 4 SPs in the MFD. Carlos Martinez is the other top 4 guy, and with Odorizzi and Carrasco, will keep the Mavs in games. The Buckeyes have Maeda and Happ, but that's about it. The Drillers have Colby Lewis. Resist the temptation to laugh at that.

Bullpen
1. Drillers
2. Mavs
3. Skyscrapers
4. Buckeyes
The Drillers have 3 of the top 6 relievers in the division - led by Addison Reed. The rest of the division isn't very stout in the pen. Fortunately, this draft is pretty deep in relievers.

Catcher
1. Drillers
2. Mavs
3. Buckeyes
4. Skyscrapers
Posey is the best catcher in baseball. His window as a catcher is closing, though. The Drillers better win soon. Lucroy is actually better vs RHP than Posey, but oddly not very productive vs lefties. Evan Gattis is the opposite; he'll be fine against LHP. Russell Martin is adequate but the bottom of this group.

First Base
1. Skyscrapers
2. Buckeyes
3. Drillers
4. Mavs
Goldschmidt doesn't have many peers. Hanley Ramirez and Mark Trumbo will make an interesting platoon (I assume) at 1b for the Buckeyes. Abreu and Chris Davis are good players, but don't quite measure up.

Second Base
1. Buckeyes
2. Skyscrapers
3. Drillers
4. Mavs
Two Warpig castoffs dominate this position in the MFD. Kinsler gets a very slight nod over Kipnis, but if you include Cesar Hernandez, the Scrapers probably leapfrog into the top spot. Devon Travis hits RHP better than both Kinsler and Kipnis (which is weird), but is awful vs LHP.

Third Base
1. Skyscapers
2. Drillers
3. Mavs
4. Buckeyes
If you consider Machado the guy at third for the Skyscrapers, he's the obvious #1. But then, he is also a ss-2, and Rendon could play 3b. Rendon might not be a #1, but he isn't far off. Donaldson would seem like the best choice for #2, but the Mavs have a platoon of Valencia and Castellanos that is actually better - at least offensively. The Buckeyes addition of Justin Turner keeps them in the conversation.

Shortstop
1. Drillers
2. Skyscrapers
3. Mavs
4. Buckeyes
Andrus had such a great year that he leads this cast of talented shortstops. The Skyscrapers have 3 guys (Andrelton, Machado, Hernandez) that, combined, are better than Andrus, but individually, it's Elvis. The Mavs have the talent at SS (Correa and Russell), which puts them ahead of the Buckeyes, but offensively, Asdrubal's left side will make him formidable.

Left Field
1. Drillers
2. Mavs
3. Buckeyes
4. Skyscrapers
Wow, this position was hard to rank - mostly, because it is by far the worst position in the MFD. Yelich is the only quality left fielder in the group. The Buckeyes have Chris Young, who can hit lefties. But that's about it. When did Justin Upton start sucking?

Center Field
1. Drillers
2. Mavs
3. Buckeyes
4. Skyscrapers
Blackmon and Odubel give the Drillers two quality center fielders. The Mavs have Jackie Bradley, Jr., who is only a notch below Blackmon with the bat and better with the glove. He's the best player of the group, and probably should be #1. There's a big drop off after that. I still can't believe Kiermaier is ranked ahead of McCutchen, but he is, and deservedly so. Cutch and Upton and Heyward all took a class together last summer. It was called Suck 101.

Right Field
1. Skyscrapers
2. Mavs
3. Drillers
4. Buckeyes
This is a head scratcher. Before even looking at my spreadsheet, I had typed in Mavs for #1. I mean, it's Bryce Harper, right? Umm... no. Apparently when I was looking the other direction, Harper had a suck year of his own. Not to the extreme of an Upton or McCutchen, but by his standards it was pretty wretched. So yeah, Steven Piscotty gets the nod here. Who'd'a thunk it? And Puig?!? Geez. Granderson? Mazara? The outfields of the MFD are not nearly as good as I assumed they were.

Designated Hitter
1. Drillers
2. Skyscrapers
3. Buckeyes
4. Mavs
Of course, DH always depends on who each team chooses to use there. And while there's no David Ortiz in this division, there are a couple of guys who fit the DH mold more than others. Melky Cabrera is one of those. He is the reason the Drillers are in the top spot. The Skyscrapers could find themselves with a 3b-1 playing DH, and if Rendon is that guy, he slots into the #2 ranking. Apparently, Joey Bats was also on the Suck 101 class roster. Carlos Santana is another guy that has DH written all over him and has the Buckeyes at 3 - mainly because I have no idea who the Mavs might put there. It might be a good time to let the pitchers hit.

Draft Picks
1. Buckeyes
2. Drillers
3. Skyscrapers
4. Mavs
The Buckeyes will get lots of help from the Draft, namely in the person of Gary Sanchez. The Drillers are also in a position to benefit from their early picks. The MFD hasn't moved many picks around.

Overall
1. Buckeyes
2. Skyscrapers
3. Drillers
4. Mavs
I've gone back and forth on this... the Skyscrapers have the best SP and the best infield, but the uncertainty of new ownership means we have to wait and see what kind of a drafter and manager the new guy is. If he loads up on bullpen and outfield... and if he is the game manager I think he is... he could win the MFD. On the other hand, the Buckeye management is a known commodity. His pitchers will suck, but they won't give up homers. His batters will suck, but they will hit a ton of homers... and he can manage circles around every one of us. There's a good chance a wild card team comes from the MFD again this year. The Drillers have a decent bullpen going into the Draft... and they have Posey and some really good offensive pieces... but if they can't find some starting pitching before game 1, they'll have a tough time winning enough games to be a threat. The Mavs will not repeat their division title from last year - unless I have greatly underestimated them again. Still, you have to believe a core of Harper and Correa and Carlos Martinez means even if they are down this year, it won't be for long.