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mobius-prime · 4 years

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78. Sonic the Hedgehog #50/Sonic Super Special #6 - Director’s Cut

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Endgame Part 4 of 4 (For Whom the Bell Tolls!)

Writers: Ken Penders, Michael Gallagher, Karl Bollers, and Kent Taylor Pencils: Patrick Spaziante, Manny Galan, Nelson Ortega, Sam Maxwell, Dave Manak, Ken Penders, and Art Mawhinney Colors: Karl Bollers

Oh, yeah! I told you this was a landmark issue! Not only was it the big 5-0, but this issue was in fact rewritten and touched up some time later by Penders himself, into a "Director's Cut" printed in one of the series' Super Special issues! Hence why two issues are listed in this slot, and two covers shown. They got absolutely everyone on board for this one, because remember, they were uncertain if this would be the comic's final issue, so makes sense to go out with a bang, right? I consider the revised version to be "true" canon, since it fixes some issues to align with later continuity as well as expanding on some things that were poorly explained in the original, but for the sake of the analysis I decided to read both side by side and comment on the differences. Some changes are simply minor dialogue alterations and recoloring of certain panels, while others are massive additions and rewrites of entire sections. Let's do it to it!

The original's intro page is once again a recap of previous events, while the Director's Cut contains an opening statement from Penders expressing his excitement to be able to go back and perfect the original story. Say what you will, but I agree, the revision is far better, and I have to give him credit and recognize that yeah, him getting to do something like this for one of his stories really is a treat, both for the writer and for any fans reading it.

We open with a flashback. Julian (referred to as "son of Ivo" in the original and "of the house of Ivo" in the Director's Cut) is running through a swampy landscape, attempting to escape his pursuers, an indistinct bunch of shadows firing lasers at him. He falls into water and passes out, with his pursuers losing track of him… and two spiny figures find him facedown in the mud.

That’s right, Sonic's uncle and father were the ones originally responsible for finding ol' Julian and bringing him back to the king. Jules' kind heart wins out over Charles' more suspicious tendencies, noting that "his kind" - Overlanders, as he calls them - have apparently done some pretty awful things in the past. Well this is all very interesting stuff, isn't it? After all, the comics never went into Robotnik and Snively's species before now. The entire planet has always been shown to be populated with anthropomorphic animals, and yet these two random humans stick out like a sore thumb. Guess we're finally getting some information on how exactly that came to be.

The king gives Julian shelter after Julian reveals how much he knows about his own people, and thus quickly finds himself appointed King Acorn's warlord, commanding his troops in a battle against the Overlanders. How fascinating! Apparently the kingdom, shortly before Julian's coup, was locked in a different war, the Great War (which I think has been mentioned once or twice before now but never elaborated on), which is how Julian rose to power so quickly.

Anyway, all of this turns out to be a dream that Robotnik is experiencing while he sleeps in some kind of weird upright pod. I guess he's just too crazy for normal beds. In the original, swatbots merely wake him up to go about his day, but the Director's Cut elaborates on what exactly his morning entails. Apparently, the swatbots have captured an Overlander for him, and the poor victim's awaiting some "tests."

So wherever these Overlanders are residing (considering we've only ever seen Mobians so far), they knew Julian, but believed him to be dead, and they're familiar with the terrifying figure of "Robotnik." Robotnik is merely mildly amused at the Overlander's confusion and terror, and tests some kind of beam on him, causing him to disintegrate and disappear… oh, boy.

Back on the Floating Island, things begin to break into a fight again, only for Dulcy to get fed up and break things up.

Oh, so now not only can dragons sense truth, but they can't even lie themselves? Again with the eleventh hour superpowers, Kenders! With Dulcy's testimony, Geoffrey is finally convinced of Sonic's innocence, having really no choice, and together they make haste back to Knothole, where the situation has gotten dire. Everyone has been rounded up by swatbots and are being shuffled along to be roboticized. Tails and Rotor make an attempt to sneak away, but no dice with Drago overseeing operations.

In the original, we get a quick cutaway for one page where Crocbot is called by Robotnik and reports that he's dealing with a sudden prison uprising, but the Director's Cut gives us a lot more detail. Somehow, Bunnie and Antoine have gotten free of their collars and detonated Antoine's from a safe distance, making their guard think they've all been obliterated. (How this all went down is actually explained in a future issue - none of these escape from Downunda sequences were included in the original, so a later issue actually went out of its way to explain the whole thing. As a result, even though some detail is revealed here in the Director's Cut about the escape, there are still some blanks waiting to be filled in further on.) The freed prisoners soon find the other three members of the Downunda Freedom Fighters, and they head to the loading docks where Crocbot is overseeing the transport of the ore to Robotropolis. The Downunda Freedom Fighters cause a distraction, ready to get some much-needed payback on Crocbot, while Bunnie and Antoine make their way onto one of the shipping airbuses headed back to their own continent.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Knuckles, and Geoffrey and all his troops have arrived at Knothole, and well, cheers love, the cavalry's here!

While Drago attempts to make his getaway, the Director's Cut cuts away for one page to show Bunnie and Antoine stumbling upon a very interesting video log on board their airbus, in which Robotnik happily rambles on about his new "Ultimate Annihilator, " with which he intends to erase Knothole from existence entirely, followed by conquering the rest of the world unopposed.

Sonic pursues Drago, and in the original, he's knocked out not very far from the commotion by a rock thrown by an angry Hershey. However, the Director's Cut goes a little further. She lures him in by flirting, telling him that "What girl wouldn't want a winner…"

She basically straight up attempts to murder his ass in a screaming rage, which honestly, I don't blame her for one bit. She does indeed end up knocking him out with the rock, at which point Sonic arrives to observe the scene. She sobs and reveals her part in Sally's supposed death, to which Sonic merely replies that she shouldn't blame herself, because "we were all duped." While by now Bunnie and Antoine have arrived on scene (and thus so has the ore Robotnik needs to complete his Ultimate Annihilator), Sonic races toward his final destination - Robotnik himself.

He barely even stops to kick Snively out of his way, with Snively apparently quite determined to stop him from reaching his destination. Hey, what's up Snively? Didn't you want your uncle's plans to fail?

From here, I'll basically just be using the Director's Cut, since the ending sequence was so drastically changed for the better that the original isn't even worth our time. Sonic runs into Antoine and Bunnie in the halls, where they inform him of their plan to attempt to detonate Robotnik's weapon before it can fire. Sonic races to buy them time, but as the pair reach the cannon…

There's still a chance! That was only the initial activation! Come on Sonic, you can get there in time! He races into Robotnik's room with seconds on the clock…

Unfortunately, sometimes, even Sonic's speed isn't enough.

I feel like if there was any moment that Sonic would have let out a precision F-bomb, it would be now. First this kid lost his girlfriend, then everyone he ever loved was wiped out in an instant. Damn, dude…

Things aren't over, though. Bunnie and Antoine plant their bomb anyway, and as Sonic races for Robotnik, an alert announces a catastrophic system crash, with the Annihilator set to explode and hit the war room directly - right where Sonic and Robotnik are standing. Both stand facing each other. Surprisingly, Robotnik isn't even angry. He merely states that he's gotten to see his plans finally come to fruition, and that the only thing he wants now before he dies is to finally kill his most hated nemesis.

And so, as the Annihilator fires, they fight - and the explosion hits them.

We get a full blank white page after this. Just empty nothingness.

Then, a hand shattering through. A torso. Somehow, incredibly, Sonic is alive, and has broken back through oblivion to collapse in the rubble of the war room. As he loses consciousness, voices call out, noticing him and racing to get him immediate medical attention.

He wakes up several hours later in bed, and to his shock, Dr. Quack is there - as well as Rotor. He's in Knothole. Knothole! The Ultimate Annihilator did indeed hit the village, but it didn't destroy it as monitors seemed to indicate - rather, strangely, it catapulted the place three hours into the future, in its own little pocket zone. New zones have begun to emerge all over Mobius as a result of the Annihilator's explosion, in fact. Dr. Quack explains how this happened - as it turns out, Snively was indeed plotting his treachery from the beginning of this adventure, and Robotnik was so caught up in his success that he had no idea. Dr. Quack had watched, as he looked after the crystallized king in captivity, as Snively had made his own little "adjustments" to the Annihilator - causing it to target only the organic matter of Robotnik himself, leaving the rest of the inhabitants of the world unharmed.

And, oh, right, almost forgot. Sally's alive.

Sonic races out of the medical ward to see her, finding her memorial "coffin" in a field, lying undisturbed. He opens it and kisses her cheek, quietly begging her to come back, admitting that he loves her. And her eyes open. The original merely moves on to the final page from here, but in the Director's Cut, we finally get what we shippers have been waiting for this whole time - the Big Damn Kiss.

*wipes tear from eye* And that's it! We've reached the end of Endgame, and thus the end of the comic! Well it's been a wild ride, everyone, but I guess we're - wait, what? There's more? 289 issues more, you say? Well, I guess it's a relief the comic didn’t end here after all! There're so many more loose ends to tie up and explore, new worlds to see… and a new era of the comic to enter!

Seriously though guys, let's hear it for this arc. I know some people who dislike it, but I honestly love it - I think it's one of the most epic, pulse-pounding, action-packed stories so far, and it's really the arc that finally took the comic from still hanging onto its goofy, episodic roots into something really special. Next issue, we enter the third era of the comics, where we get to see everyone explore a freed world, and an end to the war that's plagued them for eleven years. Our Brave New World awaits!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 50 #sonic super special 6 #era 2 the freedom fight #writer: ken penders #writer: michael gallagher #writer: karl bollers #writer: kent taylor #pencils: pat spaziante #pencils: manny galan #pencils: nelson ortega #pencils: sam maxwell #pencils: dave manak #pencils: ken penders #pencils: art mawhinney #colors: karl bollers

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viraljournalist · 5 years

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How many bad teams would it take to beat the Astros, Dodgers or Yankees?

New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/how-many-bad-teams-would-it-take-to-beat-the-astros-dodgers-or-yankees/

How many bad teams would it take to beat the Astros, Dodgers or Yankees?

9:00 AM ET

Sam MillerESPN.com

ESPN baseball columnist/feature writer Former editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus Co-author of “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work”

It is, like the story began, the best of times and the worst of times — an era received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There are three major league teams on pace to win 104 or more games — a mark reached by only 10 teams in the past 40 years — and another two on pace to win 99.5. (There have never been four 100-win teams in a single season.) There are three teams on pace to lose 104 or more games, another on track to lose 101 and a fifth on pace to lose 99. (There has only once been four 100-loss teams in a single season.) Fully a third of the league could end up at one of the two triple-digit extremes that typically would mark The Best or The Worst team in baseball.

How to put the gap between, say, the Yankees and, say, the Orioles, in context? A simple way is to note that the Yankees are 17-2 when the two clubs play. Or to note that the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers — the three 104-wins-or-better clubs — are collectively 41-12 against the Orioles, Tigers, Royals and Marlins, the four 101-losses-or-worse clubs.

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A more complicated way is to ask this: How many of these bad teams would it take to make up one of these great teams? Would a playoff superteam of the Royals, Orioles, Tigers and Marlins be able to hang with the super playoff teams in Houston, New York and Los Angeles? In an era of total teardowns on the bleak side of the standings and insatiable depth hoarding on the bright side of them, is there room for any good players on a last-place roster?

To answer this question took 17 tabs in a spreadsheet.

Here were the rules: We built 25-man rosters for the Astros, Yankees, Dodgers and Tigeroyiolins — on second thought, that’s the only time we’ll attempt to call them that. Henceforth, they will be the Superteam — based entirely on 2019 stats: a starter at every position, four bench players covering infield, outfield and catcher, a four-man starting rotation (because only four are needed in the postseason) and an eight-man bullpen. We prorated each player’s 2019 WAR for a full, healthy season in the role he is assigned to: 600 plate appearances for starters (except 500 for the catcher), 250 for bench players, 175 innings for starting pitchers and 65 for relievers (except 95 for one designated swingman).* The plan was to see how many bad teams it takes to compete with the Astros, Dodgers and Yankees.

We’ll start the bidding at four teams, do I hear four teams?

SUPERTEAM

C Pedro Severino, 1B Garrett Cooper, 2B Jonathan Villar, 3B Hanser Alberto, SS Adalberto Mondesi, LF Trey Mancini, CF Whit Merrifield, RF Hunter Dozier, DH Jorge Soler

DODGERS

C Will Smith, 1B David Freese, 2B Max Muncy, 3B Justin Turner, SS Corey Seager, LF Alex Verdugo, CF Joc Pederson, RF Cody Bellinger, DH A.J. Pollock

ASTROS

C Robinson Chirinos, 1B Yuli Gurriel, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman, SS Carlos Correa, LF Michael Brantley, CF Jake Marisnick, RF George Springer, DH Yordan Alvarez

YANKEES

C Gary Sanchez, 1B Luke Voit, 2B DJ LeMahieu, 3B Gio Urshela, SS Gleyber Torres, LF Giancarlo Stanton, CF Brett Gardner, RF Aaron Judge, DH Edwin Encarnacion

The best player on any of the Orioles, Royals, Tigers or Marlins, by total WAR, has been Jonathan Villar, acquired in a midseason trade by Baltimore last summer. At the time, the competitive Brewers were trying to upgrade at second base, so they traded their second baseman (Villar) and a couple of prospects for the non-competitive Orioles’ second baseman, Jonathan Schoop. Since then, Villar has been the 42nd-best player in baseball, just ahead of Trea Turner, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado. He has been the ninth-best second baseman, while Schoop is 42nd. It was a masterful trade by the Orioles: 21 homers, 33 steals, 3.8 WAR this year.

Mike Trout is now better than … wait for it … Derek Jeter. Sam Miller »

So, there are good players on the Superteam, of which Villar is undeniably one. Soler has 44 homers, Alberto is hitting .320, Mondesi has 39 steals, Dozier is slugging .550. But the fact that Villar is the best player that the four teams can produce puts the Superteam’s uphill climb in perspective: Teams who are committed to losing don’t keep MVP candidates around. Villar is not an MVP candidate, the way Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman are. He is not even above-average by the standards of the other three teams’ rosters: There are 21 Dodgers, Astros or Yankees who have produced more WAR than Villar on a per-plate-appearance level this year. Villar is cast here as the best player on any of four major league rosters.

The Superteam might make it up on depth or pitching, but its nine best players simply can’t compete with the nine regulars on any of our three historically great teams:

Superteam: 175 homers, .281/.341/.474, 26.4 WAR (scaled to 600 plate appearances per player) Dodgers: 199 homers, .276/.361/.532, 42.3 WAR Astros: 210 homers, .293/.372/.544, 46.2 WAR Yankees: 206 homers, .279/.355/.519, 39.7 WAR

(Note that all of these teams’ WARs are exceptionally high, even higher than the Astros, Dodgers and Yankees’ lineups have actually produced this year. That’s because we’re picking only their very best player performances, after the fact, giving the teams full health and awarding nearly all playing time to those nine best players. Real life doesn’t go this smoothly.)

But those are just the starters. In theory, depth could benefit the Superteam. There’s no Cody Bellinger on a 100-loss team, almost by definition, but there might be a whole lot of Mike Fords.

On the other hand, depth is part of what makes these Dodgers, Astros and Yankees so incredible. They’re not building nine-man lineups, but 13-man lineups — players able to platoon, to move around the field and to not just fill in but very nearly replicate injured starters. Over the course of a full season, when 50 or 60 players might be called upon, the Superteam’s depth almost certainly would win out. But for just a 25-man roster, the good teams are nearly as deep:

SUPERTEAM

C Jorge Alfaro, INF Miguel Rojas, OF Anthony Santander. UT Jon Berti

DODGERS

C Russell Martin, INF Enrique Hernandez, OF Matt Beaty, UT Chris Taylor

ASTROS

C Martin Maldonado, INF Abraham Toro, OF Josh Reddick, UT Aledmys Diaz

YANKEES

C Austin Romine, INF Didi Gregorius, OF Cameron Maybin, UT Mike Ford

Superteam: .276/.330/.437, 4.6 WAR (scaled to 250 plate appearances per player) Dodgers: .254/.331/.434, 4.1 WAR Astros: .251/.322/.425, 3.9 WAR Yankees: .260/.318/.473, 3.6 WAR

The Superteam inches up, but barely.

As to starting pitchers:

SUPERTEAM

Matthew Boyd, John Means, Brad Keller, Spencer Turnbull

DODGERS

Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Walker Buehler, Rich Hill

ASTROS

Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, Wade Miley

YANKEES

James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, Domingo German, J.A. Happ

The Superteam’s staff has one All-Star appearance (Means, this year) and zero Cy Young votes. The other three teams’ pitchers have won five Cy Youngs and appeared in 31 All-Star Games. But it’s not quite as bad as it looks. The Superteam’s rotation actually has been better than the Yankees’ rotation, despite a 28-48 combined record this year (thanks to terrible offenses behind them and terrible bullpens protecting their leads). Still, it’s not great:

Superteam: 4.24 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 12.0 WAR (scaled to 175 innings per pitcher) Dodgers: 2.84 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 15.6 WAR Astros: 3.08 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 17.0 WAR Yankees: 4.45 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 10.5 WAR

Again, in a longer season the Superteam might benefit. It’s fair to say the Superteam’s eighth- and ninth-best starters — Daniel Norris and Jakob Junis, maybe? — are better than Houston’s. But Houston isn’t going to need eight starters to get through October, and at the top of the staffs it’s a huge mismatch.

For bullpens, we chose to limit our options to actual relievers, so unused starting pitchers (for example, Daniel Norris, Jakob Junis) were not generally considered for the Superteam’s bullpen. Pitchers such as Ross Stripling and Kenta Maeda, who have both started and relieved this year, and who are likely to be in the Dodgers’ actual postseason bullpen, were:

SUPERTEAM

CL Ian Kennedy, RP Mychal Givens, RP Scott Barlow, RP Buck Farmer, RP Shawn Armstrong, RP Jarlin Garcia, RP Jose Cisnero, SWING Sandy Alcantara

DODGERS

CL Kenley Jansen, RP Pedro Baez, RP Yimi Garcia, RP Ross Stripling, RP Dustin May, RP Kenta Maeda, RP Joe Kelly, SWING Julio Urias

ASTROS

CL Roberto Osuna, RP Ryan Pressly, RP Will Harris, RP Joe Smith, RP Hector Rondon, RP Chris Devenski, RP Josh James, SWING Brad Peacock

YANKEES

CL Aroldis Chapman, RP Tommy Kahnle, RP Adam Ottavino, RP Chad Green, RP David Hale, RP Zack Britton, RP Luis Cessa, SWING Jonathan Loaisiga

Superteam: 3.96 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 7.3 WAR (scaled to 65 innings per pitcher) Dodgers: 3.74 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 7.9 WAR Astros: 3.24 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 6.9 WAR Yankees: 3.15 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 8.4 WAR

Add it all up:

Superteam: 50.3 WAR

Dodgers: 69.9 WAR

Astros: 74.0 WAR

Yankees: 62.2 WAR

To repeat something from earlier: 74 WAR is a crazy-high total for the Astros, and it would equate to about a 120-win team in real life. But it assumes almost perfect health and almost perfect decision-making by the Astros, funneling nearly all of their playing time to the players who actually were the best this year.

Who has clinched a postseason spot and who could be next? Playoff tracker

2019 postseason schedule

But the same applies to the Superteam. The ex post facto nature of this exercise benefits them most of all, because it allows us to accurately pick, from the 215 or so mostly anonymous players these four teams will field this year, the 25 who actually had the best years — in many cases, career years, years unlike any they’ve ever had or will have again.

Indeed, if we were to use not actual, observed WAR to measure each roster’s strength, but projected, future WAR, the Superteam would fall even further behind. In that case, team strength would look something more like this:

The Superteam built above, in other words, projects to be somewhere around a .500 team, assuming good health, while the others project to be around 100-win teams. I think we can say, conclusively, that four teams put together still aren’t as good as the Astros, the Dodgers or the Yankees. Wild.

Do I hear five teams?

Superteam 2: Superteam + Blue Jays. Add Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Bo Bichette, Danny Jansen, Wilmer Font and Ken Giles. Remove Miguel Rojas, Trey Mancini, Jorge Alfaro, Jose Cisnero and Sandy Alcantara.

Total WAR: 58.1.

Do I hear six teams?

Superteam 3: Superteam 2 + Mariners. Add Kyle Seager, Tom Murphy, Marco Gonzales and Sam Tuivailala. Remove Jon Berti, Danny Jansen, Brad Keller and Jarlin Garcia.

Law’s 2019 prospects of the year

A home run mark for all 30 teams

One key for each wild-card hopeful

Olney: What’s next for the Red Sox?

Total WAR: 64.3, good enough to pass this year’s Yankees (who, it’s worth noting, are without excellent outfielders Aaron Hicks and Mike Tauchman, both key contributors this year but both out for the season, and Luis Severino and Dellin Betances, who have no statistical records to go on this year but could each return for the playoffs).

Do I hear seven teams?

Superteam 4: Superteam 3 + Rockies. Add Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, Ryan McMahon, Jon Gray, German Marquez and Scott Oberg. Remove Adalberto Mondesi, Hanser Alberto, Garrett Cooper, Spencer Turnbull, Marco Gonzales and Buck Farmer. Break the rules and move Bo Bichette to second base.

Total WAR: 68.4. Still worse than the Dodgers and the Astros. Do I hear eight teams?

Superteam 5: Superteam 4 + Pirates. Add Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds, Jacob Stallings and Felipe Vazquez. Remove Ryan McMahon, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Pedro Severino and Shawn Armstrong.

Total WAR: 72.9. Ahead of the Dodgers and somehow still behind the Astros.

Do. I. Hear. Niiiiiiine teams?

Superteam 6: Superteam 5 + White Sox. Add Lucas Giolito, James McCann, Aaron Bummer and Tim Anderson. Remove Matthew Boyd, Jacob Stallings, Scott Barlow and … Jonathan Villar.

Total WAR: 75.7. Phew.

Is the conclusion too hard to believe? Does it seem credible if you simply look at the rosters?

SUPERTEAM

C Tom Murphy, 1B Josh Bell, 2B Bo Bichette, 3B Nolan Arenado, SS Trevor Story, LF Bryan Reynolds, CF Whit Merrifield, RF Hunter Dozier, DH Jorge Soler, UT Tim Anderson, UT Kyle Seager, UT Anthony Santander, UT James McCann, SP Lucas Giolito, SP John Means, SP Jon Gray, SP German Marquez, RP Felipe Vazquez, RP Ian Kennedy, RP Ken Giles, RP Mychal Givens, RP Sam Tuivailala, RP Aaron Bummer, RP Scott Oberg, RP Wilmer Font

ASTROS

C Robinson Chirinos, 1B Yuli Gurriel, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman, SS Carlos Correa, LF Michael Brantley, CF Jake Marisnick, RF George Springer, DH Yordan Alvarez, UT Aledmys Diaz, UT Abraham Toro, UT Josh Reddick, UT Martin Maldonado, SP Gerrit Cole, SP Justin Verlander, SP Zack Greinke, SP Wade Miley, RP Ryan Pressly, RP Roberto Osuna, RP Will Harris, RP Joe Smith, RP Hector Rondon, RP Chris Devenski, RP Josh James, RP Brad Peacock

The Astros have the two best starting pitchers, maybe the three best. They have, easily, the best player (in Bregman), and by WAR per plate appearance this year they have the three best (Bregman, Alvarez, Springer). They have five of the top seven, with only Trevor Story and Bo Bichette reaching 5 WAR per 600 plate appearances on the Superteam side. While depth eventually will favor the Superteam, all of the 104-win teams have built extremely deep 25-man rosters. Of our original Superteam 1 players, maybe half would have made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster.

The point is, this is really some kind of era we’re living in. You’re seeing some of the worst baseball that’s ever been played. The Tigers actually don’t have a single above-average hitter, in any number of plate appearances above two. And you’re seeing some of the best baseball that’s ever been played. According to Baseball Prospectus’ third-order winning percentages, this year’s Astros and Dodgers actually are the two best teams since 1950. It’s amazing that these teams have coexisted in the same league, occasionally playing against each other, standing next to each other, and had it even look like baseball at all. It’s a baseball miracle.

But that’s not the payoff for this era. The payoff is the postseason, when as many as five 100-win teams — and three historically great ones — are going to smash into each other, with barely a below-average player in the bunch. Truly, it can’t get here fast enough.

* In cases of injury, the player was included on the roster if he seemed likely to return sometime this year or if he would return but for his team being out of contention. He was not included if he definitely is out for the year, like the Marlins’ Brian Anderson. Players who have been traded away, like the former Tiger Nick Castellanos, aren’t eligible. There was some preference to players with more playing time, but mainly we went with the most productive players on a per-PA basis. And players are allowed to play slightly out of position if, as with Whit Merrifield, they’ve played at least some significant time at the position to which we wish to assign them. We used Baseball-Reference’s WAR for hitters and FanGraphs’ WAR for pitchers.

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usatrendingsports · 6 years

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2018 NFL Draft: Replacements for the highest 20 underclassmen leaving school early

As ordinary, the suspense has been taken out of declaration day. Monday marks the deadline for underclassmen to declare for particular eligibility with the NFL forward of the 2018 draft.

You’ll find the complete record of underclassmen who’ve already finished so proper right here. However who replaces the perfect of the perfect?

These are the 20 juniors you simply do not change. Certain, there are alternatives at every of those faculties. However there may be additionally a cause these star gamers are popping out early.

They’ve finished sufficient … with out getting paid.

In alphabetical order, this is the highest 20 underclassmen who’ve declared and who their respective groups hope will change their manufacturing subsequent season.

Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming: Whereas Allen solely went 16-11 as a starter, he led the Cowboys to the 2016 Mountain West title sport. Meaning the sting of New 12 months’s Six relevance. It seems like a battle will begin led by senior Nick Smith (Three.9 GPA in finance), who stuffed in for a few video games when Allen damage his shoulder. Redshirt freshman Tyler Vander Waal will see the sector for the primary time, whereas early enrollee Sean Chambers, a three-star from Kerman, California, might even be within the combine. Not one of the three are getting comparisons, like Allen, to John Elway simply but.

Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame: The very best bets are senior Dexter Williams (9.2 yards per carry) or Tony Jones Jr. That includes both one means changing a robust franchise again who briefly grew to become a prime Heisman challenger.

Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma: The lack of Baker Mayfield’s favourite goal is much less about Andrews than changing Mayfield himself. Kyler Murray will likely be throwing to a deep receiving corps. The subsequent man up at tight finish is sophomore Grant Calcaterra, who caught 10 passes as a promising freshman.

Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State: There will not be one other one like him for a very long time. That does not imply Penn State is not a prime 10 program going into 2018. Rising junior Miles Sanders is extra of a velocity man. James Franklin in contrast Sanders’ arrival with Barkley in place to Aaron Rodgers coming in and studying below Brett Favre at Inexperienced Bay. Excessive reward.

Can Miles Sanders actually step in for the nice Saquon Barkley? USATSI

Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma: In all probability the important thing to Mayfield profitable the Heisman when you think about his blindside obligations. Proper sort out Bobby Evans will almost definitely transfer to left sort out to switch Brown. Evans was graded second within the Massive 12 and prime 10 nationally amongst tackles, forward of even Brown, in accordance with Professional Soccer Focus.

Sam Darnold, QB, USC: Reclassified freshman J.T. Daniels has a shot together with redshirt freshman Jack Sears. Daniels was already the No. 1 prospect within the 2019 class. Now Daniels — the Gatorade nationwide participant of the yr — has an opportunity to be the man this yr if he follows by way of on his dedication. USC has had a bunch of success with Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei merchandise. Do Matt Barkley and Matt Leinart ring a bell?

Derrius Guice, RB, LSU: Leonard Fournette begat Guice who begat … who? The Subsequent One at LSU must be a difference-making energy runner in Ed Orgeron’s second full season as head coach. Three gamers — none who ran for a complete of 100 yards in 2017 — have a shot: senior Nick Brossette, sophomore Clyde Edwards-Helaire and junior Lanard Fournette. Sure, he is the youthful brother of Leonard. 4-star signee Chris Curry is also within the combine. Clip and save for additional use this fall. The Tigers lose 92 p.c of their 2017 speeding complete.

Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State: The Buckeyes’ fearsome entrance takes an enormous hit as Tyquan Lewis and Jalyn Holmes are additionally leaving. However solely at Ohio State can that line be simply as fearsome. Joey Bosa’s brother Nick is the following nice one after posting eight.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss.

Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa: You do not simply change the nation’s greatest defensive again. Iowa’s All-American had freshman Matt Hankins beginning reverse him. The opposite nook initiatives to be junior Manny Rugamba, who was suspended and misplaced his beginning job final season. Iowa simply appears to pump out difference-making defensive backs (see: Desmond King).

Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville: How do you change a Heisman winner? You do not. However Jawon “Puma” Move — that is actually his identify — will attempt. As a freshman, the 6-foot-Four, four-star from Georgia handed for 238 yards in mop-up obligation. Motive to be optimistic: In that restricted taking part in time, Move truly had the next passer ranking than Jackson.

Will one of many sport’s greatest names be one in every of its greatest gamers in 2018? USATSI

Ronald Jones II, RB, USC: Solely 4 gamers had extra speeding touchdowns than Jones’ 19 final season. Solely 4 different Trojans have extra profession speeding yards. That is a giant ask for the following man up at Troy. Freshman Stephen Carr averaged 5.5 yards per carry getting solely 6.5 carries per sport. Additionally watch redshirt junior Vaeve Malepeai and junior Aca’Cedric Ware. Collectively they mixed for barely greater than half of Jones’ 1,550 yards.

Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M: Some of the productive school gamers lately, Kirk will not get replaced by one participant. No different Aggie apart from Kirk had numbers in all 4 all-purpose classes (speeding, receiving, punt return, kick return). The closest factor to it’s tailback Trayveon Williams, the main rusher and third-leading receiver.

Hercules Mata’afa, DT, Washington State: The most effective inside offensive line disturbers within the nation, the All-American contributed to what was Mike Leach’s best-ever protection. Redshirt junior Nnamdi Oguayo, one other undersized lineman, began six video games posting 4 sacks and 7 TFLs.

Da’Ron Payne, DT, Alabama: Nick Saban covets that noseguard who can occupy two linemen within the A and B hole. Payne was that man this season turning into each the Sugar Bowl and School Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship defensive MVP. Saban additionally loses Payne’s backup in senior Joshua Frazier. Changing Payne is a real concern with Saban wanting on the 2018 recruiting class for assist or rising senior Johnny Dwight.

Kamryn Pettway, RB, Auburn: The bigger concern is the best way to change among the finest 1-2 combos within the nation? Gus Malzahn can be shedding 2017 workhorse Kerryon Johnson. The Tigers will not be as deep at tailback Kam Martin was the following man up with 453 yards however solely 16 of his 74 carries got here when the rating was inside a landing both approach.

Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama: From Julio Jones to Amari Cooper to Ridley, Saban normally options an NFL-quality edge receiver who can stretch the protection. With Ridley gone to the NFL, search for Jerry Jeudy to fill it. Jeudy was a distant second this season in receiving with 14 catches averaging virtually 19 yards.

Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA: Who is aware of who Chip Kelly needs with what is out there on the roster? Redshirt sophomore Devon Modster is the quarterback with expertise and had been backing up Rosen. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, an incoming freshman from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, is a chance. That is vital as a result of Gorman runs an offense much like Kelly’s well-known unfold.

Bo Scarbrough, RB, Alabama: The largest information might not be that that Scarbrough left however that rising senior Damien Harris stayed. Harris ran for precisely 1,000 yards and is inside 1,300 yards of Derrick Henry’s faculty file.

Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia: Whoever replaces Georgia’s Will linebacker will likely be in comparison with one of many program’s all-time greatest. Rising senior Juwan Taylor — in Smith’s recruiting class — will seemingly get a shot however the competitors will likely be unbelievable. Senior Natrez Patrick is predicted again, however is he dependable after getting remedy for substance abuse? Sophomore Monty Rice has essentially the most upside. Whoever it’s, the following man should have velocity — maybe Smith’s greatest trait. Any dialogue of Georgia in 2018 begins with the linebackers with center linebacker Reggie Carter additionally leaving.

Vita Vea, DT, Washington: CBS Sports activities’ Chris Trapasso believes Vea “could be the strongest prospect in your entire draft.” Greg Gaines, a rising senior, is already a U-Dub defensive position starter however seems like the following nice one. He graded out the fifth-best D-lineman within the Pac-12 and a top-20 nationally run stopper. Gaines missed solely 5 tackles in 520 snaps.

Connor Williams, OT, Texas: The Longhorns acquired a very good take a look at the longer term as Williams, a 2016 All-American, began solely 5 video games in 2017 as a result of damage (solely 28 in his three-year profession). Search for Elijah Rodriguez, an rising expertise, who missed your entire common season with an ankle damage however then performed within the bowl sport. That could be sufficient. As Williams’ alternative at left sort out, Rodriguez will likely be a central determine in Tom Herman creating a difference-making quarterback.

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junker-town · 7 years

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Which players would your team keep in an MLB Expansion Draft?

Your team gets to protect 15 players. The Montreal Youppis get to sniff around the rest. Good luck.

Two weeks ago, the NHL’s (Las) Vegas Golden Knights held the first major-league expansion draft in 13 years. It’s been almost two decades since the Rays and Diamondbacks got the chance to poach players from rosters around the league, and I thought it would be fun to think about what would happen if Major League Baseball did something similar. So I set out to figure out which players each organization would protect from being selected if, let’s say, the Montreal Youppis! or Monterrey Canyons joined the league.

For the purposes of this mock exercise, I’ll use rules similar to the rules of the last MLB expansion draft, which took place after the 1997 season, and I’ll assume that this draft is being completed after the 2017 season. This means that any player who is set for free agency this winter will not be protected and that we’ll ignore what will likely happen at next month’s trade deadline. We are also not factoring in no-trade clauses.

Here are our rules from 1997, adjusted to the 2017 baseball world:

For the first round, teams may protect 15 players from the rosters of their entire organization—both their 40-man roster, plus all minor-league affiliates.

In addition, players chosen in the 2016 and 2017 amateur drafts were automatically protected, plus players who were 18 or younger when signed in 2015.

Players who are free agents after the end of the 2017 season need not be protected.

Special thanks to SB Nation’s team site managers for their help in compiling these lists.

Arizona Diamondbacks:

Protected: 1B Paul Goldschmidt, OF A.J. Pollock, OF David Peralta, INF Brandon Drury, INF Chris Owings, 3B Jake Lamb, RHP Archie Bradley, RHP Zack Godley, LHP Robbie Ray, RHP Taijuan Walker, LHP Anthony Banda, LHP Patrick Corbin, INF Domingo Leyba, INF Dawel Lugo, RHP Shelby Miller

Notable exemptions: 1B Pavin Smith, RHP Jon Duplantier, 3B Drew Ellis, C Daulton Varsho, OF Anfernee Grier

Notes: A bit of a tough organization, with two big contracts (Zack Greinke and Yasmany Tomas) they’d probably be fine shedding and zero prospects in the top 100 in baseball. Corbin and Miller get a bit of a longer leash because of potential, leaving pieces like Nick Ahmed and Randall Delgado exposed.

Atlanta Braves:

Protected: 1B Freddie Freeman, SS Dansby Swanson, OF Ender Inciarte, RHP Julio Teheran, RHP Mike Foltynewicz, RHP Arodys Vizcaino, RHP Jason Hursh, INF Ozzie Albies, LHP Kolby Allard, SS Kevin Maitan, RHP Mike Soroka, LHP Sean Newcomb, OF Ronald Acuna, LHP Max Fried, 2B Travis Demeritte

Notable exemptions: RHP Kyle Wright, RHP Ian Anderson, SS Kevin Maitan, OF Drew Waters

Notes: Atlanta lucks out a bit with four top prospects (including two top-5 picks) already being exempt, and is very prospect-heavy, as expected. Matt Kemp’s resurgence and Matt Adams’ success thus far are not significant enough to push them ahead of the prospects John Coppolella has dealt for in the last few years, though Kemp would be an unlikely pick for an expansion team, anyway.

Baltimore Orioles:

Protected: 3B Manny Machado, OF Adam Jones, 1B Trey Mancini, 2B Jonathan Schoop, OF Mark Trumbo, LHP Zach Britton, RHP Brad Brach, RHP Dylan Bundy, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Darren O’Day, OF Joey Rickard, RHP Mychal Givens, C Chance Sisco, RHP Hunter Harvey, SS Ryan Mountcastle

Notable exemptions: LHP D.L. Hall, RHP Cody Sedlock, LHP Keegan Akin, OF Austin Hays

Notes: Trumbo and O’Day barely made the cut, but keeping them around makes a lot of sense for the Orioles in their current state. Both contracts aren’t that bad, and having both veterans on a club with a closing window (Machado and Jones are free agents after 2018) is probably the avenue the O’s, who are loyal to their guys, would take. There’s not really a lot of talent in the minors they’d need to protect, anyway. Chris Davis’ regression and monster deal means he goes unprotected.

Boston Red Sox:

Protected: OF Mookie Betts, OF Andrew Benintendi, OF Jackie Bradley Jr., SS Xander Bogaerts, 2B Dustin Pedroia, LHP Chris Sale, LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, RHP Rick Porcello, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Craig Kimbrel, 3B Rafael Devers, C Christian Vazquez, RHP Joe Kelly, 1B Sam Travis, 1B/DH Hanley Ramirez

Notable exemptions: LHP Jay Groome, 3B Bobby Dalbec, RHP Tanner Houck, SS C.J. Chatham

Notes: Ramirez gets protected just because the Red Sox’ time to win is now, and there aren’t a ton of prospects that were left unprotected. Brian Johnson and Matt Barnes almost made the cut, though an expansion team would be unlikely to claim David Price and a change of scenery may be the best thing for him anyway.

Chicago Cubs:

Protected: 3B Kris Bryant, 1B Anthony Rizzo, 2B Addison Russell, LHP Jon Lester, RHP Carl Edwards Jr., RHP Kyle Hendricks, LHP Mike Montgomery, OF Kyle Schwarber, INF Javier Baez, OF Albert Almora, C Willson Contreras, OF Ian Happ, OF Eloy Jimenez, RHP Dylan Cease, C/1B Victor Caratini

Notable exemptions: LHP Brendon Little, RHP Alex Lange

Notes: The Cubs had a lot of obvious picks, headlined of course by the Bryzzo duo. Things got a little trickier down the stretch, as it made more sense to protect younger players than vets Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward. An expansion team would be unlikely to take on Heyward’s contract in this scenario, making him a good choice to stay unprotected.

Chicago White Sox:

Protected: LHP Jose Quintana, LHP Carlos Rodon, 1B Jose Abreu, OF Avisail Garcia, SS Tim Anderson, RHP Tyler Danish, RHP Nate Jones, 3B Matt Davidson, 2B Yoan Moncada, RHP Michael Kopech, SS Luis Robert, RHP Lucas Giolito, RHP Reynaldo Lopez, RHP Carson Fulmer, OF Luis Alexander Basabe

Notable exemptions: C Zack Collins, 3B Jake Burger, RHP Zack Burdi, RHP Alec Hansen, RHP Dane Dunning

Notes: The ChiSox are actually one of the toughest teams to do this for, as they have tons of controllable talent in their system and would likely want to protect about 25 guys. They’re helped out a little bit by the exemptions but still likely wouldn’t have room for Yolmer Sanchez, Leury Garcia or Zach Putnam, who have been big-league contributors. They wouldn’t let any recent trade acquisitions go unprotected.

Cincinnati Reds:

Protected: 1B Joey Votto, OF Adam Duvall, OF Scott Schebler, OF Billy Hamilton, 3B Eugenio Suarez, 2B Jose Peraza, LHP Brandon Finnegan, LHP Amir Garrett, RHP Raisel Iglesias, RHP Michael Lorenzen, RHP Anthony DeSclafani, OF Jesse Winker, LHP Cody Reed, RHP Robert Stephenson, RHP Luis Castillo

Notable exemptions: SS/RHP Hunter Greene, 3B Nick Senzel, OF Taylor Trammell, SS Jeter Downs

Notes: Cincinnati’s protected list benefits from having two of its high-end prospects (Greene and Senzel) exempt, letting high-upside guys like Stephenson and Luis Castillo make the cut. Rookie Davis, Homer Bailey and Tucker Barnhart fell short of the prospect-heavy list of 15.

Cleveland Indians:

Protected: SS Francisco Lindor, 2B Jason Kipnis, 3B Jose Ramirez, OF Bradley Zimmer, OF Michael Brantley, DH Edwin Encarnacion, RHP Corey Kluber, RHP Carlos Carrasco, LHP Andrew Miller, RHP Cody Allen, RHP Trevor Bauer, C Francisco Mejia, RHP Triston McKenzie, 1B Bobby Bradley, OF Greg Allen

Notable exemptions: 3B Nolan Jones, OF Will Benson

Notes: Encarnacion’s big contract was the toughest call here, though Cleveland did guarantee him $60 million knowing their window is open for the next couple years. Danny Salazar and Lonnie Chisenhall, who are both under club control, were tough cuts in a talented org.

Colorado Rockies:

Protected: 3B Nolan Arenado, OF Charlie Blackmon, 2B D.J. LeMahieu, SS Trevor Story, RHP Jeff Hoffman, LHP Kyle Freeland, OF David Dahl, RHP Jonathan Gray, RHP Tyler Anderson, RHP German Marquez, C Tom Murphy, SS Brendan Rodgers, OF Raimel Tapia, 3B Ryan McMahon, RHP Ryan Castellani

Notable exemptions: RHP Riley Pint, 3B Ryan Vilade

Notes: The Rockies have a ton of major-league talent under control and a few top prospects, meaning there were some tough decisions at the back-end of their list. It makes sense that a team that plays in Coors Field would value controllable, young pitching, so we stocked them with arms instead of other options such as Ian Desmond and his significant contract, which would probably not be taken anyway.

Detroit Tigers:

Protected: 1B Miguel Cabrera, RHP Justin Verlander, 2B Ian Kinsler, LHP Justin Wilson, RHP Michael Fulmer, LHP Daniel Norris, RHP Shane Greene, LHP Matthew Boyd, 3B Nick Castellanos, RHP Alex Wilson, OF JaCoby Jones, OF Christin Stewart, RHP Joe Jimenez, RHP Beau Burrows, OF Michael Gerber

Notable exemptions: RHP Alex Faedo, RHP Matt Manning, RHP Kyle Funkhouser

Notes: Detroit is in the wonderful spot of having a subpar major-league team and weak farm system. That’ll likely change at the trade deadline, but we’re acting like that’s not happening so all of the likely trade chips (Verlander, Kinsler, Wilson, etc.) should be protected. Some prospects made the cut over major-leaguers like Jose Iglesias, Justin Upton and Jordan Zimmermann, with the latter two having huge contracts that the Tigers would likely love to get rid of.

Houston Astros:

Protected: OF George Springer, SS Carlos Correa, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman, 1B Yulieski Gurriel, LHP Dallas Keuchel, RHP Lance McCullers, RHP Mike Fiers, RHP Ken Giles, RHP Will Harris, RHP Chris Devenski, RHP Francis Martes, OF Kyle Tucker, OF Derek Fisher, RHP Franklin Perez

Notable exemptions: RHP Forrest Whitley, RHP J.B. Bukauskas

Notes: There’s so much talent throughout this organization that the last few picks were some of the toughest of this entire exercise. Obviously, Houston’s window is open now so it makes sense to protect some successful major-league pieces (Giles, Harris, Fiers) over projectable talents like David Paulino and A.J. Reed. Collin McHugh and Joe Musgrove also came under consideration.

Kansas City Royals:

Protected: C Salvador Perez, 2B Whit Merrifield, LHP Danny Duffy, RHP Kelvin Herrera, RHP Matt Strahm, RHP Nathan Karns, OF Jorge Soler, 3B/OF Hunter Dozier, RHP Jake Junis, LHP Foster Griffin, C Chase Vallot, RHP Josh Staumont, 1B Ryan O’Hearn, SS Raul Mondesi, OF Jorge Bonifacio

Notable exemptions: OF Nick Pratto, C M.J. Melendez, RHP A.J. Puckett

Notes: With so many veterans set to depart in free agency this winter and a shallow farm system, the Royals would have to dig deep to find 15 solid options to protect. Alex Gordon, Paulo Orlando, Eric Skoglund and Joakim Soria among the cuts.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:

Protected: OF Mike Trout, OF Kole Calhoun, SS Andrelton Simmons, RHP Alex Meyer, LHP Andrew Heaney, RHP Matt Shoemaker, LHP Tyler Skaggs, RHP Nick Tropeano, RHP Garrett Richards, RHP Cam Bedrosian, RHP Keynan Middleton, 1B C.J. Cron, OF Jahmai Jones, RHP Chris Rodriguez, RHP Jaime Barria

Notable exemptions: OF Jordon Adell, 1B Matt Thaiss, OF Brandon Marsh, RHP Griffin Canning

Notes: I wish I could’ve just protected Trout 15 times. Lots of injured starters in here, but they’re some of the guys with the most potential long-term value. With almost all of the top prospects already exempt, an extremely hard list to fill out (see Cron, C.J.). No expansion team is taking Pujols...

Los Angeles Dodgers

Protected: LHP Clayton Kershaw, SS Corey Seager, OF Cody Bellinger, 3B Justin Turner, RHP Kenley Jansen, LHP Alex Wood, LHP Julio Urias, OF Joc Pederson, OF Chris Taylor, RHP Yadier Alvarez, OF Alex Verdugo, 2B Willie Calhoun, RHP Walker Buehler, RHP Brock Stewart, C Austin Barnes

Notable exemptions: SS Gavin Lux, OF Jeren Kendall, RHP Mitchell White, RHP Jordan Sheffield

Notes: There were a ton of great options for the Dodgers to protect, which is a great problem to have. Besides the obvious plays, Pederson and Taylor made it based on control and potential. Toughest cuts: Yusniel Diaz and Kenta Maeda.

Miami Marlins:

Protected: OF Christian Yelich, OF Marcell Ozuna, 1B Justin Bour, C J.T. Realmuto, 2B Dee Gordon, RHP Dan Straily, RHP Jose Urena, RHP Kyle Barraclough, RHP Tyler Kolek, INF J.T. Riddle, RHP A.J. Ramos, LHP Adam Conley, INF Miguel Ramos, LHP Nick Wittgren, 3B Brian Anderson

Notable exemptions: LHP Trevor Rogers, OF Brian Miller, LHP Braxton Garrett

Notes: An expansion team wouldn’t be likely to claim Giancarlo Stanton’s mega-deal, so he’s left off. The rest is the too-heavy collection of controllable talent Miami has due to a weak farm system. Even more reason for them to look to move Ozuna, Yelich, Ramos and others this summer (in real life).

Milwaukee Brewers:

Protected: 3B Travis Shaw, 1B Eric Thames, RHP Corey Knebel, OF Domingo Santana, SS Orlando Arcia, RHP Jimmy Nelson, RHP Chase Anderson, RHP Junior Guerra, RHP Zach Davies, INF Jonathan Villar, OF Lewis Brinson, LHP Josh Hader, RHP Luis Ortiz, SS Isan Diaz, RHP Brandon Woodruff

Notable exemptions: OF Corey Ray, OF/2B Keston Hiura, OF Tristen Lutz, RHP Lucas Erceg

Notes: Ryan Braun’s mega-deal (and regression so far this season) would cause him to go unprotected. It was hard to keep all four major-league starters, though they’re all controllable and have shown upside. Very difficult group overall, weighing prospects against guys with about a year of service time. Jacob Barnes, Trent Clark and Hernan Perez didn’t make it.

Minnesota Twins:

Protected: 2B Brian Dozier, 3B Miguel Sano, RHP Jose Berrios, RHP Ervin Santana, OF Byron Buxton, OF Max Kepler, OF Eddie Rosario, SS Jorge Polanco, SS Nick Gordon, LHP Stephen Gonsalves, RHP Fernando Romero, LHP Adalberto Mejia, RHP Kohl Stewart, LHP Tyler Jay, RHP Felix Jorge

Notable exemptions: SS Royce Lewis, OF Alex Kirilloff, 1B Brent Rooker, RHP Blayne Enlow

Notes: A really solid list for Minnesota, aided by two top picks being automatically exempt. Not yet ready to give up on the two first-round pitchers (Stewart and Jay), which made for some tough unprotected guys (Tyler Duffey, Zack Granite, J.T. Chargois, Trevor May).

New York Mets:

Protected: OF Michael Conforto, OF Yoenis Cespedes, RHP Jacob deGrom, RHP Noah Syndergaard, RHP Zack Wheeler, LHP Steven Matz, RHP Jeurys Familia, C Travis d’Arnaud, INF Wilmer Flores, RHP Matt Harvey, OF Juan Lagares, RHP Seth Lugo, SS Amed Rosario, 1B Dominic Smith, SS Luis Guillorme

Notable exemptions: RHP Justin Dunn, LHP David Peterson, INF Mark Vientos

Notes: This one was the hardest no matter what because of the reaction from a very angry #MetsTwitter. Harvey gets one last shot in my book. Too many other candidates underperforming this year (Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini, Desmond Lindsay, Robert Gsellman)

New York Yankees:

Protected: OF Aaron Judge, C Gary Sanchez, OF Brett Gardner, RHP Luis Severino, RHP Dellin Betances, SS Didi Gregorius, 2B Starlin Castro, SS Gleyber Torres, OF Clint Frazier, RHP Chance Adams, LHP Justus Sheffield, 1B/OF Tyler Austin, INF Jorge Mateo, RHP James Kaprielian, 1B Greg Bird

Notable exemptions: OF Blake Rutherford, RHP Clarke Schmidt

Notes: Doing this makes you realize how ludicrously talented the Yankees’ organization is. Luis Cessa, Jordan Montgomery, Aaron Hicks and high-priced guys like Aroldis Chapman and Jacoby Ellsbury on the outside looking in.

Oakland Athletics:

Protected: RHP Sonny Gray, RHP Khris Davis, 3B Ryon Healy, SS Franklin Barreto, LHP Sean Manaea, RHP Jharel Cotton, SS Marcus Semien, RHP Kendall Graveman, RHP Grant Holmes, 3B Matt Chapman, OF Matt Olson, RHP Daniel Gossett, SS Lazaro Armenteros, RHP Frankie Montas, INF Yairo Munoz

Notable exemptions: LHP A.J. Puk, OF Austin Beck, SS Kevin Merrell, RHP Daulton Jefferies, RHP Logan Shore

Notes: Tons of young talent here, making things hard. Jed Lowrie, Bruce Maxwell, Ryan Dull and Chad Pinder just missed it.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Protected: OF Odubel Herrera, 3B Maikel Franco, OF Aaron Altherr, 2B Cesar Hernandez, RHP Vincent Velasquez, RHP Aaron Nola, RHP Jerad Eickhoff, SS J.P. Crawford, C Jorge Alfaro, OF Nick Williams, RHP Franklyn Kilome, RHP Sixto Sanchez, 2B Scott Kingery, OF Dylan Cozens, 1B Rhys Hoskins

Notable exemptions: OF Mickey Moniak, OF Adam Haseley, RHP Kevin Gowdy

Notes: A prospect-heavy protection list for Philadelphia, which isn’t surprising. Even the struggling major-leaguers get a long leash here.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

Protected: 2B Josh Harrison, 1B Josh Bell, OF Andrew McCutchen, OF Starling Marte, OF Gregory Polanco, RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Jameson Taillon, LHP Felipe Rivero, RHP Ivan Nova, OF Austin Meadows, RHP Mitch Keller, 2B Kevin Newman, RHP Tyler Glasnow, LHP Steven Brault, OF Adam Frazier

Notable exemptions: RHP Shane Baz, RHP Steven Jennings, 1B Will Craig

Notes: Pittsburgh has a nice mix of major-league talent and prospects, so 15 was just about the right number for them. McCutchen and Cole are trade bait, of course.

San Diego Padres:

Protected: 1B Wil Myers, INF Yangervis Solarte, LHP Brad Hand, OF Manuel Margot, OF Hunter Renfroe, OF Cory Spangenberg, RHP Anderson Espinoza, LHP Adrian Morejon, RHP Jacob Nix, SS Fernando Tatis Jr., OF Jorge Ona, LHP Logan Allen, INF Luis Urias, 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Carlos Asuaje

Notable exemptions: LHP MacKenzie Gore, C Luis Campusano-Bracero, RHP Cal Quantrill, LHP Eric Lauer

Notes: Would be some tough choices for a rebuilding club, mixing major-league guys with trade value and prospects. In the end, an interesting balance of both. Carlos Asuaje, Ryan Schimpf, and Travis Jankowski on the outside looking in.

San Francisco Giants:

Protected: C Buster Posey, LHP Madison Bumgarner, 2B Joe Panik, 1B Brandon Belt, SS Brandon Crawford, LHP Matt Moore, LHP Ty Blach, RHP Hunter Strickland, OF Austin Slater, RHP Jeff Samardzija, RHP Tyler Beede, SS Christian Arroyo, 1B Chris Shaw, RHP Joan Gregorio, LHP Andrew Suarez

Notable exemptions: OF Heliot Ramos, OF Bryan Reynolds, OF Heath Quinn

Notes: The Giants’ struggles this year have shocked everyone, but they still do have a lot of controllable talent on the roster that will either benefit them on the field or in trades. Samardzija and Strickland were especially tough calls. We’re counting Johnny Cueto as a free agent, though he could opt in and remain with the Giants.

Seattle Mariners:

Protected: 3B Kyle Seager, SS Jean Segura, RHP Edwin Diaz, OF/DH Nelson Cruz, OF Mitch Haniger, OF Ben Gamel, LHP James Paxton, LHP Drew Smyly, C Mike Zunino, LHP Ariel Miranda, 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach, OF Tyler O’Neill, RHP Nick Neidert, RHP Andrew Moore, RHP Max Povse

Notable exemptions: OF Kyle Lewis, 1B Evan White, RHP Sam Carlson

Notes: Some obvious picks for Seattle, some not so obvious. It’s extremely unlikely anyone would take on the contracts of Robinson Cano or Felix Hernandez, so they’re unprotected. Cruz was a tough call, but ultimately made the cut for an injury-destroyed team that could contend in 2018. Same with Smyly.

St. Louis Cardinals:

Protected: RHP Carlos Martinez, 1B Matt Carpenter, OF Stephen Piscotty, C Yadier Molina, RHP Mike Leake, 2B Kolten Wong, OF Dexter Fowler, SS Aledmys Diaz, 2B Jedd Gyorko, RHP Alex Reyes, C Carson Kelly, RHP Luke Weaver, RHP Jack Flaherty, OF Magneuris Sierra, RHP Sandy Alcantara

Notable exemptions: SS Delvin Perez

Notes: Leake’s big deal was tough to keep around, but leaving Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha unprotected created a bigger need for proven major-league pitching alongside Martinez. Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham, Marco Gonzalez and Harrison Bader were some tough cuts; Trevor Rosenthal’s free agency after 2018 made him vulnerable.

Tampa Bay Rays:

Protected: RHP Chris Archer, 3B Evan Longoria, OF Kevin Kiermaier, OF/DH Corey Dickerson, RHP Alex Colome, RHP Jake Odorizzi, LHP Blake Snell, SS Willy Adames, RHP Brent Honeywell, RHP Jose De Leon, OF/1B Jake Bauers, 1B Casey Gillaspie, OF Mallex Smith, INF Matt Duffy, RHP Jacob Faria

Notable exemptions: LHP/1B Brendan McKay, RHP Drew Rasmussen, 3B Josh Lowe, RHP Michael Mercado

Notes: Tampa is top-heavy on prospects and has a nice mix of current veterans under control for a while as well. Duffy (controlled through 2020) and Smith (through 2021) were big pieces of recent pitching trades, leading to them being protected over Wilson Ramos, Steven Souza, Matt Andriese or Brad Miller. Some really tough cuts at the end.

Texas Rangers:

Protected: OF Nomar Mazara, 2B Rougned Odor, 1B Joey Gallo, LHP Cole Hamels, LHP Martin Perez, SS Elvis Andrus, 3B Adrian Beltre, RHP Matt Bush, RHP Keone Kela, OF Delino DeShields, OF Leody Taveras, 1B Ronald Guzman, RHP Ariel Jurado, LHP Brett Martin, LHP Yohander Méndez

Notable exemptions: LHP Cole Ragans, OF Bubba Thompson, SS Christopher Seise

Notes: Hamels is too good to risk letting go, big deal and all. Andrus will probably opt out after 2018, so he’s protected too. Not a lot of prospect meat here, but Jurickson Profar and Shin-soo Choo still didn’t make the cut.

Toronto Blue Jays:

Protected: OF Kevin Pillar, 3B Josh Donaldson, RHP Marcus Stroman, RHP Roberto Osuna, RHP Joe Biagini, 2B Devon Travis, RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Ryan Tepera, 1B Justin Smoak, OF Dalton Pompey, 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., RHP Sean Reid-Foley, OF Anthony Alford, SS Richard Urena, RHP Conner Greene

Notable exemptions: INF Bo Bichette, RHP T.J. Zeuch, SS Logan Warmoth, RHP Nate Pearson, C Hagen Danner

Notes: Toronto has a few contracts they’d be fine ridding themselves of, leaving Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin unprotected. Controllable studs and high-level prospects are key for them moving forward.

Washington Nationals:

Protected: OF Bryce Harper, SS Trea Turner, 2B Daniel Murphy, 3B Anthony Rendon, 1B Ryan Zimmerman, RHP Max Scherzer, RHP Stephen Strasburg, OF Adam Eaton, LHP Gio Gonzalez, OF Michael A. Taylor, RHP Joe Ross, RHP Tanner Roark, OF Victor Robles, RHP Erick Fedde, OF Juan Soto

Notable exemptions: SS Carter Kieboom, 3B Sheldon Neuse

Notes: Protecting Gonzalez (we’re assuming his option vests at 180 innings) is unorthodox for sure, but we’re figuring the Nats will want as much major-league talent as possible in what is likely Bryce Harper’s final year in D.C. Scherzer and Strasburg have big contracts, but are worth protecting due to performance. It’s all-in for the Nats.

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