I decided to do this exercise late night on a whim, while I was drinking. I figured it would make for some decent offseason content and hopefully draw up some offseason trade action ahead of the winter meetings. To recap, I asked each franchise to quickly rank their top 4 or 5 players, prospects or draft picks from each franchise that they would be most interested in trading for. We had votes from 8 franchises, so thank you again to everyone who sent me their list. I’m sure some were quickly thrown together, some probably had a lot of thought put into it, and some may or may not have been serious. I’m not really sure what any of this actually means, so do what you’d like with the information. But it’s still fun to see.
Some quick notes…
Surprisingly, only 3 players received votes from all voters. Those three players were Mike Trout, Shane Bieber and Cody Bellinger. All worthy choices.
I was surprised that players such as Ronald Acuna Jr, Fernando Tatis Jr, Mookie Betts and Juan Soto weren’t unanimous. But most of them just missed by 1 vote (not the same owner). Acuna was surprisingly left off of 2 lists. Here is a list of players that were on all lists, but one:
Luis Robert, Bobby Witt Jr, Corey Seager, Jasson Dominguez, Jacon DeGrom, Bryce Harper, Corbin Burnes, Trea Turner, Wander Franco, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich, Anthony Rendon, Fernando Tatis Jr.
The Fajita Eaters had the highest amount of unique players listed with 16. Pro Bowlers was next with 15. Baby Seals and Ball Busters each had 14. Rollin’ Goats and Big Hurts had the narrowest selection with 8 each.
The Team lists will rank players from most votes to least. We’ll start with the champs.
Ball Busters
Most Wanted: Wander Franco, Adalberto Mondesi, Lance Lynn, Kenta Maeda, James Karinchak, Orelvis Martinez, Tommy Pham, Liam Hendricks, Jeff McNeil, Trevor Larnach, Ronny Mauricio, Domingo German, Raisel Iglesias, Mitch Garver
Eric is in an interesting spot, coming off his 2nd championship. He just sold Bellinger, and instantly restocked his franchise with some great talent. Will he continue to sell, and build back up for the future? Or will he go for it again? I wouldn’t call him a favorite for this year, but you can never count Eric out. He is an excellent manager who makes moves to win. He still has plenty of talent (and now some more potential trade bullets) to make another playoff appearance. Where anything can happen.
Rollin’Goats
Most Wanted: Trea Turner, Corbin Burnes, Manny Machado, Marco Luciano, Trent Grisham, Alek Thomas, Jared Walsh, Dylan Carlson
Cale did an excellent job of re-stocking his farm system the last 2 years through the draft, trades and pickups. And he shocked the CPL world by winning his division in the same year that he was selling off MLB pieces. Can he do it again? Probably. But he will face tough competition in an extremely competitive NL. It will be interesting to see if he sits on his hands this year and lets his farm develop, or if he makes some moves to position himself better to compete for a 2021 title.
Big Hurts
Most Wanted: Shane Bieber, Fernando Tatis Jr, Ronald Acuna Jr, Alex Bregman, Luis Castillo, Kyle Lewis, Luke Voit, Casey Mize
After years of sitting in the basement, Vince has established himself as a serious contender in the NL. Mostly through kicking my ass in trades. Here’s hoping James Paxton can return to form as a dominant pitcher. Vince probably has the best top 4 in the CPL (received the most combined votes of any top 4). His team is good, and it’s young. The Big Hurts should be an annual contender for at least the next 5 years. We will see if he adds anything this offseason to help push him over the edge.
Mauling Tigers
Most Wanted: Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Aaron Nola, Kris Bryant, Brandon Lowe, Tim Anderson, JO Berrios, Trey Mancini, Jose Altuve, Dylan Moore, Gary Sanchez
Tiger still has one of the better teams in the league, one of the top players in the League in Trout, and has a solid group of offensive players around him. A lot of them seemed to have down years at the same time last year, yet I believe he was still close to making the playoffs. He could add some more talent to make a 2021 push or he could pull an Eric and possibly trade Trout and/or Rendon for a bunch of valuable pieces. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Danimals
Most Wanted: Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer, Aaron Judge, Vidal Brujan, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Abreu, Carlos Correa, Josh Donaldson, #4 overall pick in this year’s draft, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, Andy Pages, Tejay Antone
My team is almost at a crossroads. It is still probably one of the better teams in the league, but I have a lot of players who are over 30. I will still be trying to compete this season, but honestly wouldn’t be getting better and better. So I will probably need to think about getting younger in the near future. I will always be open to exploring trade options, so feel free to send me any trade offers. I have a lot of MLB pitchers who could help a team out this year. So if you need any starters or relievers, please send me a message. I’m sure we can work something out.
Kelly’s Heroes
Most Wanted: Cody Bellinger, Trevor Bauer, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Austin Meadows, Michael Conforto, Wil Myers, Dinelson Lamet, Dustin May, Zac Gallen, Daniel Espino, Lolo Sanchez
Aries has lined up with the New Moon, so JK’s team is currently in a win-now phase. All joking aside, John has been quietly building a powerhouse . He has easily had the best offseason so far in acquiring Cody Bellinger, Dinelson Lamet and Zac Gallen. I might even be missing someone. He has added to an already really good team, and is probably the NL favorite right now. He is not afraid to make moves, so there may be more coming. Offseason A+ so far.
Motley Shue
Most Wanted: Christian Yelich, Trevor Story, Marcell Ozuna, Jack Flaherty, Yordan Alvarez, Brandon Woodruff, Ozzie Albies, Alex Kiriloff, George Springer, Aroldis Chapman, Royce Lewis, Brusdar Graterol
It was a disappointing year for Motley Shue. Much like Tiger, I believe Shue dealt with a bunch of injuries and down years in the weird 2020 season. But he still has one of the better teams in the CPL. According to the guys on our beloved CPL podcast, Shue has the best team in the CPL for years to come. So I’m thinking Shue will be in contention mode this year, and may make some moves still this offseason.
Pro Bowlers
Most Wanted: Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr, Blake Snell, Eloy Jimenez, Andrew Vaughn, Kyle Tucker, Nate Lowe, Alex Verdugo, Ryan Mountcastle, Jordyn Adams, Hunter Greene, Michael Kopech, Michael Busch
One look at Pat’s most wanted list is all you need to know about this franchise. It is a Who’s Who of current and recent top 30 prospects. Most of these guys are just coming into their own, and some already have. And there’s like 30 prospects not listed above that we’d all be happy to have. And Im sure there will be some additional Blue Jays joinging the organization soon. It’s really just a matter of time before Pat has one of the better teams in the NL. So kind of like Cale’s team, it will be interesting if Pat keeps a wait and see approach, or starts adding some additional MLB talent to try to start competing. It’s coming.
Your Mom
Most Wanted: Walker Buehler, Gerrit Cole, JT Realmuto, Jose Ramirez, Max Fried, Ketel Marte, Luis Severino, Yu Darvish, Anthony Rizzo, Hudson Head
Ray’s team is similar to mine in that he has had one of the premier teams in the league the last few years (actually pretty much every year), but he has some guys that are getting older. Although I think a lot of his stars are actually still younger than mine. His team is still really really good, so I’m 100% positive he will be trying to win it all again this year. I think we could see him try to trade some older players, but I could also see him still trying to add some veterans to win a championship. Time will tell.
Baby Seals
Most wanted: Lucas Giolito, Pete Alonso, CJ Abrams, Gleyber Torres, Dominic Smith, JD Davis, Tyler Glasnow, Yoan Moncada, Adley Rutschman, Keston Hiura, Matt Olson, JJ Bleday, Riley Greene, Jarlin Garcia
I for one think Fred did an excellent job with his rebuild. He got a ton of good young prospects close to the majors, and seemed to be competitive within a year or two. Now he’s probably a top 3 team in the AL going forward. He’sking of like Pat’s team but maybe a year ahead. Since he’s in win now mode, I could see him making some veteran additions to help fuel a championship run.
BROBs Barnacles
Most wanted: Noah Syndergaard, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Shohei Ohtani, Josh Bell, Starling Marte, Carlos Carrasco, Cavan Biggio, Charlie Blackmon, Carter Kieboom, Bryant Packard
I feel like Brian’s team is similar to Eric’s. They are both good managers who consistently make moves to improve their team. Brian’s move for Carrasco last year seems to have been a good one, and he pulled off that blockbuster with Tiger. So far, everyone in that deal has kind of underperformed for both sides, but there is still a ton of potential for both sides, so it will be interesting to see how it works out. I like Brian’s aggressiveness in making trades, and I think he’s a quietly good drafter. Which is good, because his farm looks like it has gotten pretty thin. Brian could go either way this year. His team is easily good enough to make a playoff run, or I could also see him making some moves to get younger. It will maybe depend on where hes at after the first 2 months of the season.
The Washington Football Team
Most Wanted: Bryce Harper, Jacob DeGrom, Freddie Freeman, Nolan Arenado, Stephen Strasburg, Whit Merrifield, Alejandro Kirk, Andrew Benintendi, Josh Wolf
I think everyone was a bit surprised by Rick’s mic drop last year, as he was coming off a recent championship and still had one of the better teams in the CPL. So welcome Chris! Who steps into a rare and envious position of having a ready-made competitive team. You could argue Chris has one of the best top 4’s in the league with DeGrom, Harper, Freeman and Arenado. It’s obviously up to him which direction he goes, but I think he could easily go for a championship run! Of course no one would blame him if he wanted to place his own stamp on the team and trade for some players he likes. It will be interesting to see which way he goes either way. Either way, it was nice hearing you on the podcast, and welcome once again!
TomCats
Most Wanted: Randy Arozerena, Mike Clevinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Sonny Gray, Daulton Varsho, Noelvi Marte, Eugenio Suarez, Zack Wheeler, 2021 1st Rnd pick, Jorge Polanco, 2022 1st Rnd pick
Tommy has found (almost) the most success in the CPL the last 2 seasons, making it to the Championship both seasons. He makes one beautiful bridesmaid. His team is a mix of mine, Ray’s Eric’s and Brian’s. He obviously has a team good enough to compete for a championship, but he has some guys getting older with a thin-ish farm system. I think given the division, he makes at least one more push for a title, then who knows. Could go either way. I see him addig some pieces along the way this year on his way to another playoff birth. And it looks like someone really wants his draft picks.
Fajita Eaters
Most Wanted: Corey Seager, Alec Bohm, Corbin Carroll, Jesus Luzardo, Jo Adell, Dylan Buncy, Julio Urias, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, Triston McKenzie, Tristan Casas, DL Hall, Adrian Morejon, Michael Pineda, Forrest Whitley
The RemBuild paid off last year with a playoff birth, and a shot to make a run. A lot of Rem’s young players started coming into their own last year, but he also got a lot of help from some veterans like Robinson Cano and Wilmer Flores. He has a lot of starters with upside but also have question marks with health and innings. I could see him making another playoff run, especially with 2 other teams still rebuilding in the division. It will be interesting to see if he tries adding some veteran help again. His arrow is pointing up.
Banocolytes
Most Wanted: Luis Robert, Bobby Witt Jr, Will Smith, Gavin Lux, Ke’Brtan Hayes, Joey Bart, Pick 1-1 in 2021, Christian Pache, Nick Madrigal, Dansby Swanson, Brandon Marsh, Josiah Gray, Josh Jung
Jeff has been steadily piling up an impressive collection of offensive prospect talent and draft picks. I get what he’s doing, and the strategy is starting to pay off with a number of his offensive prospects starting to reach the majors and produce. The pitching is, well… not as good. But I think that was the plan. Im thinking probably one more year of letting his offensive prospects reach the majors, and then he starts to make some moves for some pitching and or additional offensive vets to fill some holes. Im predicting he will have the opportunity to compete for the division (with some moves) in 2022. And for sure by 2023. He easily has one of the best farm systems, and will probably be adding more in the draft this year. Could be scary good soon.
G.I. Zo’s
Most wanted: Jasson Dominguez, Kristian Robinson, Jarred Kelenic, Byron Buxton, Erick Pena, Hedbert Perez, Sandy Alcantara, Bobby Dalbec, Tarik Skubal, Michael Toglia, Greg Jones, Jordan Yamamoto
After a few years of leading his division, Chris realized a lot of his MLB guys were getting older and he made the decision to go into a full rebuild. By doing so, he has started to collect a ton of super-high upside prospects like Kristian Robinson, Erick Pena, Jasson Dominguez and Hedbert Perez (among others). He made an excellent draft pick when he got Kelenic, and the verdict is still out on Dominguez. But judging scouting reports and how many other teams want him, it could pay off handsomely. Most of his uber-prospects are still a ways off, but Im not sure anyone can match his collection of prospects who could all be top 5 guys in the next few years. He may have a few more pieces to move this year, but seems like he will be in drafting, holding and picking up prospects mode this season. He will probably have the best minor league system in 1-2 years if he doesnt right now.
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