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When playing Scoresheet, the Round 40 draft is the closest thing to the excitement of the June MLB draft. Instead of a series of high Midwestern malapropisms from Bud Selig and rambling asides from Tommy Lasorda, the Scoresheet draft mixes the new draftees into your existing pref list. For owners in standard and many custom leagues, Round 40 is the best chance to land a top-tier minor league talent without giving up present value in trades.

So who do you take with your high pick? We’ve prepared a preference list for both AL and NL Scoresheet leagues. We’re certainly not draft experts, and our knowledge comes from exactly where you’d expect it to have come from, so if you’re looking for deeper analysis, check out other articles on Baseball Prospectus, including Nick J. Faleris’s draft coverage and Bret Sayre’s fantasy coverage in particular. Our goal is to provide you with one example of a draft pref list that takes guidance from these sources and mixes in additional Scoresheet-specific insight. Listen to our podcast for more detail on each of these players, and submit your questions now for our Baseball Prospectus chat next week, where we hope to discuss the upcoming supplemental draft and much more.

Without further ado:

American League

  1. Carlos Rodon, LHP, White Sox (1.3)
  2. Brady Aiken, LHP, Astros (1.1)
  3. Nick Gordon, SS, Twins (1.5)
  4. Max Pentecost, C, Blue Jays (1.11)
  5. Jeff Hoffman, RHP, Blue Jays (1.9)
  6. Alex Jackson, OF, Mariners (1.6)
  7. Derek Hill, OF, Tigers (1.23)
  8. Bradley Zimmer, OF, Indians (1.21)
  9. Michael Chavis, SS, Red Sox (1.26)
  10. Sean Newcomb, LHP, Angels (1.15)
  11. Foster Griffin, LHP, Royals (1.28)
  12. Brandon Finnegan, LHP, Royals (1.17)
  13. Michael Kopech, RHP, Red Sox (1.33)
  14. Luis Ortiz, RHP, Rangers (1.30)
  15. Derek Fisher, OF, Astros (1.37)
  16. Justus Sheffield, LHP, Indians (1.31)
  17. Chase Vallot, C, Royals (1.40)
  18. Spencer Adams, RHP, White Sox (2.44)
  19. Sean Reid-Foley, RHP, Blue Jays (2.49)
  20. Ti'quan Forbes, SS, Rangers (2.59)

As we discussed with Bret in the podcast, even if Rodon slipped in the real draft, he should still be the no. 1 pick for the majority of owners in AL or mixed leagues. Gordon’s high floor for a prep pick and likelihood of sticking at second is great Scoresheet-nip, as is the all-around game of Pentecost, the one clear-cut catcher taken in the first round. Most of the prep pitchers fall down the board some, and likely non-elite corner bats such as Casey Gillaspie miss our board entirely. We would probably only recommend taking picks 1-10 in the next two rounds of the supplemental, but the cohort of mostly prep pitchers should be considered in deeper leagues and Fisher, Vallot, and Forbes are all intriguing plays for those who prefer to take chances on offense.

National League

  1. Kyle Schwarber, C, Cubs (1.4)
  2. Tyler Kolek, RHP, Marlins (1.2)
  3. Michael Conforto, OF, Mets (1.10)
  4. Touki Toussaint, RHP, Diamondbacks (1.16)
  5. Aaron Nola, RHP, Phillies (1.7)
  6. Grant Holmes, RHP, Dodgers (1.22)
  7. Erick Fedde, RHP, Nationals (1.18)
  8. Tyler Beede, RHP, Giants (1.14)
  9. Alex Blandino, SS, Reds (1.29)
  10. Forrest Wall, 2B, Rockies (1.35)
  11. Braxton Davidson, OF, Braves (1.32)
  12. Jacob Gatewood, SS, Brewers (1.41)
  13. Kyle Freeland, LHP, Rockies (1.8)
  14. Kodi Medeiros, LHP, Brewers (1.12)
  15. Trea Turner, SS, Padres (1.13)
  16. Nick Howard, RHP, Reds (1.19)
  17. Jakson Reetz, C, Nationals (3.93)
  18. Monte Harrison, OF, Brewers (2.50)
  19. Cole Tucker, SS, Pirates (1.24)
  20. Jack Flaherty, RHP, Cardinals (1.34)

The National League draft has less strength at the top than its counterpart, and a Scoresheet-friendly ranking diverges from the draft order much more quickly. Schwarber, a college hitter with a high floor and some likelihood to stick at catcher, gets enough of a bonus for every word in that sentence to move him above the high-flying Kolek. Toussaint is for owners who want to take a risk on a jolt of electricity, he’s far away, but there are few other players with ace upside. Nola is a proximity guy, but one with more natural stuff than Greg Reynolds or Danny Hultzen, two recent “can’t miss” guys who did. Freeland seems more in that vein, and tumbles down our board. Blandino, Wall, Turner, and Reetz are all presently up-the-middle players, ordered on offensive potential and likelihood of sticking at the position. Owners who like to swing for the fences with their picks should look hard at Davidson, Gatewood and Monte Harrison, and mechanics skeptics should consider popping Medeiros early.

One last thing to keep in mind is that we don’t recommend following our draft list without paying close attention to the players and prospects who are already out there as free agents in your league. As we mentioned on our podcast, Tim Anderson is available in 78 percent of AL leagues, and we’d take him before all but the very top of our draft board. Similar examples abound, and we recommend not getting hung up on that prep arm without looking at the guy already dealing in Class A or higher. With that said, load up on those youngsters and enjoy the draft!

The podcast:

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