2023 Vendetta Fantasy Baseball: Strengths and Weaknesses for each team
Fantasy Baseball at Vendetta is finally here, and with the draft now behind us, and our very own Milo releasing his very controversial Power Rankings. It’s time to take an even closer look at some of these teams and go over each one’s strengths and weaknesses and how they will affect their season.
I’ll be ranking these in the same order Milo created with his power rankings just to keep things simple. So with that let’s jump into it.
Andrew McGuinness: “I Hate This Place”
Strengths:
I must say, as a Phillies fan, this team name is a for sure strength in my eyes. But jokes aside, Andrew has put together a hell of a team and has multiple different areas that could be a strength for him. But if I had to pick a specific area I would have to say his infield takes the cake as his strength.
It’s a unit that boasts the likes of J.T. Realmuto, Paul Goldschmidt, Luis Urias, Gunnar Henderson, and Bo Bichette. And while you might view Urias at 2B as a weakness, his original starter was Jose Altuve, who will now miss multiple months after fracturing his wrist during the World Baseball classic. But the unit aside from Urias is as good as it gets and should help carry him to a lot of wins.
Weaknesses:
Well as Milo said in his power rankings, Andrew doesn’t really have glaring weaknesses. But when looking at his roster I think health/injuries will be his biggest potential downfall, especially at the pitcher position. Now he has Shohei Ohtani, who can go a long way in carrying a fantasy rotation. But two of his other starters, Carlos Rodon and Joe Musgrove, are currently set to miss a few starts with respective injuries, leaving him with just two starting pitchers as of now.
The good news for Andrew is that both of them seem to be ahead of schedule and won’t miss serious time. So he will likely only have to go a couple of matchups without them back in his rotation. But the health of these two is something he should seriously monitor and could become a pain in the neck for him if they cant stay healthy.
Milo Coulter: Bill James is Daddy
Strengths:
Well, this is one that is rather easy, Milo’s biggest asset by far is his pitching rotation. He has a deadly trio that includes Sandy Alcantara, Aaron Nola (who he took from me and made me very unhappy about), and Logan Webb. Those three on their own could be enough to make up the best rotation in the league. But Milo also has some depth with guys like Drew Rasmussen and Freddy Peralta who should be able to help hold up the back end of his rotation.
Weaknesses:
While Milo certainly has the depth you would want on your team, with no one position being an obvious weakness. Milo’s lack of star power in his lineup could find him having a difficult time keeping up with some of the other top teams. His lineup right now is very dependent on his rotation and, in the event they lay an egg, I don’t know if he has the firepower in his lineup to make up for that.
He could maybe look to trade a couple of depth pieces with a flashy name to try and bring in someone who more falls under that superstar category. But for now, it remains his biggest weakness but certainly isn’t something that can’t be fixed.
Christopher Bagdonas: NJ Bagdonas
Strengths:
Well, this may sound a little basic, but Bagdonas’ biggest strength will be his lineup’s ability to purely drive in and score runs. Guys like Jeff McNeil, Manny Machado, Corey Seager, Aaron Judge, and Kyle Schwarber are all guys who are in situations to be able to drive in a lot of runs with their respective teams.
This collection of players will be a nightmare for opposing teams to go against. As they will only be able to watch as these guys continue to produce more and more points. He has multiple guys with 100-plus RBI potential and that alone will be enough to make him a formidable foe.
Weaknesses:
Now on the opposite end, Bagdonas’ biggest weakness is his pitching, which is just overall a unit he overlooked. It’s a unit topped off with Luis Castillo ,who is certainly an ace in his own right. But the good in this rotation frankly ends there. Jose Berrios regressed heavily last season, and Clayton Kershaw plus Tony Gonsolin ,while solid, are very injury prone and are likely to miss time at some point.
Bagdonas had a clear strategy when going into this draft, and to his credit, he stuck with it and has assembled arguably the best lineup in the league. The only question is if it will be enough to carry this lackluster rotation every week.
Adam: Juul Addict
Strengths:
Pitching, pitching and more pitching, that is the strength of Adam’s team. Max Scherzer, Max Fried and Nestor Cortes make up an elite rotation, with Josh Hader and David Bednar rounding out a great bullpen. The two of them alone should be able to rack Adam up a lot of points with saves alone, making his entire pitching staff extremely dangerous.
He also has the depth to back up the top-end talent with guys like Lance Lynn, Kyle Wright and Jordan Montgomery. All of which very solid in their own right and should be able to eat up innings and accumulate points when his top-end guys aren’t throwing.
Weaknesses:
If I had to highlight one weakness with Adam’s team, it would be him relying on quite a few guys to have bounce-back seasons. Fernando Tatis hasn’t played baseball since October of 2021 and seems more concerned with riding motorcycles than playing baseball. Christian Yelich has been in a multi-season slump that we’ve all expected he would have broken out of by now. And Josh Hader is coming off his worst season as a reliever and many wonder if he can get back to his dominant form.
It’s certainly a high-risk high-reward strategy. If these guys, especially in his lineup, can bounce back to the form, we know then Adam can boast one of the best teams in the league top to bottom. But if the opposite happens then he will find himself in a difficult situation likely unable to move off any of those guys.
Jiarmani DePena: Boston Laser Show
Strengths:
I don’t want to repeat strengths and weaknesses too much with this list, so for Jiarmani a specific strength for him in the left side of his infield and outfield. The names include Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, and Yordan Alvarez who plays LF when he isn’t DH’ing. The infield boasts arguably the two best players at those positions and should provide him with a lot of runs and points. And we all know what Yordan Alvarez can do with a bat and will drive in a lot of runs.
Weaknesses:
Depth, especially for pitching is hugely important, and it unfortunately is something Jiarmani lacks. His ace Chris Sale is about as injury prone as it gets and hasn’t completed a full season since 2019. And some of his back-end guys like Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo have also struggled with staying on the field.
And the rest of his rotation leaves a lot to be desired and will likely be unable to pick up the slack in the event of injuries. Bringing in a more stable/durable ace would go a long way for Jiarmani and greatly improve his chances every week.
Matt Hanifan: 99 Problems, Winning Is One
Strengths:
I want to again give some bonus points for the team name as I did let out a little laugh upon reading it. So kudos to you, Matt. But getting back to business, I love how young Matt’s team is and think it is one of his strengths. He has a lot of proven young talent with Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, and Spencer Strider. All of them have shown they can play at a competitive level and are set to only get better with more games under their belt.
Some people may view this as a weakness, but I’m of the opposite mindset that believes that these guys can all take another step and take Matt’s team to a whole new level.
Weaknesses:
While I love the proven young talent on Matt’s team, he also has some guys who are an unknown variable with little-to-no MLB experience. Guys like Grayson Rodriguez and Masataka Yoshida have never played in an MLB game so it’s truly impossible to predict how they will do this season. It’s a risky move that could see Matt finish towards the top if they meet expectations, or slide toward the bottom if they can’t come in and perform.
Jerry Walker: Team Walker
Strengths:
Jerry was one of the couple of players who fell victim to the auto-draft. And with the way the draft went with those picking, a lot of top-end pitchers fell farther than expected and right into his lap. It’s a loaded rotation that includes Corbin Burnes, Kevin Gausman, Brandon Woodruff, Yu Darvish, and Zac Gallen. I mean if Yu Darvish is arguably your third-best pitcher, then it’s safe to say your rotation is in good hands.
This rotation alone will be enough to keep Jerry in a lot of games. It’s a lot of aces who can take one heavier workload and as a result, get Jerry more points. There isn’t a lot in the reliever department but I mean does he need it? The names listed alone are more than enough to carry a rotation.
Weaknesses:
And Jerry is going to need his rotation to carry him quite a bit because to put it frankly, his lineup sucks and the auto draft did him no favors in terms of giving him some solid bats. Some of his starters include Jose Miranda at third, Thairo Estrada at short, and Jorge Polanco at second. Now his outfield is a little improvement over his lackluster infield but overall this is a lineup that will struggle to get Jerry points every week and more firepower is needed.
Jerry should definitely look to trade away some of his pitchers in exchange for some elite bats. I don’t think he really needs that much top-end pitching talent and would benefit greatly from using them to bring in some more consistent/ proven bats.
Garrett Burroughs: Stupid Red-Bearded Heck
Strengths:
They say chicks dig the long ball, and if that’s the case, then Garrett 100 percent qualifies as a chick. At least in the strategy used when drafting his team. Garrett’s lineup is going to hit a lot of home runs, plain and simple. Sluggers like Rhys Hoskins, Jose Ramirez, Marcus Semien, and Hunter Renfroe are all guys with 30-plus HR potential. And if they all live up to this potential, then Garrett should see no shortage of points coming from his lineup.
Weaknesses:
On the flip end, I feel that Garrett is almost too reliant on the long ball and will struggle to score points in other ways on a more consistent basis. A few of his players rely heavily on the long ball as their main source of production, which means when they aren’t hitting home runs they become much less useful in his lineup.
I also don’t see a lot of stolen bases on this team, which could have been a great way for Garrett to make up points. His pitching staff is also far from great and won’t be able to make up for a lack of production from the main guys in his lineup. Bringing in a base stealer and maybe another solid arm could put Garrett in a good spot and make his team less one dimensional.
Jack Sabin: Team Sabin
Strengths:
Jack arguably boasts the best outfield trio in the entire league. I mean Mike Trout and Ronald Acuna speak for themselves as some of the best players in the world. And Luis Robert is just waiting until he can stay healthy and show everyone what he truly is capable of over the course of an entire season. If all goes well, this trio should rack Jack up a ton of points. You have elite offensive production and guys like Acuna and Robert who can steal plenty of bases.
The rest of Jack’s lineup also holds up rather well but it’s clear that this outfield is going to be his main source of points. At this point, he can only hope that the three of them can stay healthy, which has been a concern for each of them over the past few seasons. But when healthy we all know what these three guys are capable of.
Weaknesses:
Aside from hoping several guys can stay healthy like Carlos Correa, Ronald Acuna, Trout, and Max Muncy. Jack’s biggest weakness remains his lackluster pitching staff. Shane McClanahan will serve as a solid ace and should hopefully see an increased workload this season. And Luis Garcia should serve as a very solid second option, but after that, we see a significant drop-off.
He’s relying on big seasons from guys like Kodai Senga and Garrett Whitlock who is coming off an injury. But throughout the season I just don’t think Jack has the depth right now to create a rotation that can compete. It’s clear he is relying heavily on offense, but will that be his downfall?
Trey Daubert: Don Daubert
Strengths:
Suffice it to say, Trey was not happy with his 10th-place placement in the power rankings. In typical Trey fashion, screenshots have already been collected and likely printed out on a board like something out of a movie. But when looking at Trey’s team, I believe his biggest strength is the balance he has between his lineup and his rotation. Guys like Rafael Devers and Mookie Betts highlight his lineup. While Zack Wheeler, Framber Valdez, and Emmanuel Clase make up a very solid pitching staff.
Trey will be able to score points in a lot of different ways and that is probably why he took offense to his ranking. And the diversity in the scoring of his points could see him steal some wins from some of the better teams in the league.
Weaknesses:
Trey’s biggest weakness plain and simple is the love he has for his Boston Red Sox. I’m all for trying to get some guys who play on your favorite team, makes the games even more fun to watch. But I think Trey may have invested a little too heavily into the hope he has for some Red Sox players. Triston Casas starting at 1B is certainly a risk, especially with the poor stats he put up in his limited at-bats last season. And a guy like Trevor Story, who is currently on the 60-day IL list with a UCL injury after coming off one of his worst seasons in the league as an everyday starter.
He is relying heavily on his Boston boys and while I respect the hope being displayed, I can’t help but believe that it will hold his team back.
James Herrick: Team Herrick
Strengths:
The strength in James’s team comes from the potential many of his players display. If all goes right for James, his team can finish much better than expected and cause a lot of problems. A guy like Byron Buxton has that MVP potential but just can’t seem to stay healthy. Wander Franco has shown flashes of that potential superstar player but can’t put it together for an entire season. And can Oneil Cruz take that next step and become a star in the league?
It’s a team that on the surface doesn’t look great, but is booming with potential and plenty of guys ready to take that next step. And if so it can shoot James way up this list and give him one of the more complete teams in the league.
Weaknesses:
The biggest potential weakness for James is the health of his team. It is filled with guys who have extensive injury histories: Byron Buxton, Jacob deGrom and Jazz Chisholm, to just name a few. And while all three of these names are guys who can produce at an elite level. You can’t do that if you aren’t playing. And for these three that has been an unfortunate reality as of late.
James could benefit from bringing in some more durable players who are more likely to give him consistent production. Because if some of these top guys get hurt, I don’t think he has the depth to put together a roster than can compete.
Dom Gutierrez: Team Gutierrez
Strengths:
Dom was yet another victim of the auto-draft, and much like Jerry and his team, the auto-draft gave him quite a lot of pitching. And it most certainly will be his strength going into this season. The trio of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Robbie Ray should get him a ton of production. And guys like Raisel Iglesias should give him some solid points from the bullpen.
Weaknesses:
Again much like Jerry, while Dom’s pitching is elite, his lineup leaves quite a lot to be desired. Guys like Alex Bregman and Matt Olson are sure to give him elite production. But when you have Nico Hoerner and Gleyber Torres in your starting lineup, it’s clear that you have some major holes to fill. Dom just overall lacks offensive firepower and I don’t see this lineup producing him a lot of runs.
The pitching may be great, but if that ever takes a slip his lineup is far from being able to compete with some of the other teams in the league. Dom needs to trade away some of that pitching and bring in some elite bats. Because right now his lineup needs a lot of work before it has a chance to make the playoffs.
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