The Roster Challenge is off and running for this season! Thanks to all who took the time to join us.
We have to start by apologizing for the lateness of this post. We had a vacation booked and MLB did not bother to check with us first before setting the camp start dates. The nerve.
Seems as though the interest in the challenge may be waning a little bit, and that’s okay. Perhaps it has run its course, but we still enjoy trying to predict the opening day roster and are glad there are others who feel the same way.
This year we received 10 ballots containing 32 total names picked. That is a somewhat shockingly high number, considering we are not rebuilding and the MLB roster is pretty much set.
On those ballots, the following 20 names were included on each of them:
Bass
Bassitt
Berrios
Bichette
Biggio
Chapman
Cimber
Espinal
Garcia
Gausman
Guerrero
Jansen
Kiermaier
Kikuchi
Kirk
Manoah
Mayza
Merrifeld
Romano
Varsho
A solid core to be sure, but we thought this number might have been even higher, say 22-23. Riveting stuff!
The following teams picked an identical ballot, so the tiebreaker will come into play: Team Ant Farm (16-15), Team Gregor (no tiebreaker) and Team I Like Nuts (16-16)
There was a different identical ballot picked by two other teams, which in retrospect was a ballsy move because they included the name Robbie Grossman, who has since signed a deal with the Rangers. So, ya, A Serious Team and Team @1BJW are not looking so smart now. We both just thought there was no way your Toronto Blue Jays would roll into the season without a decent 4th OF who could be a replacement-level type guy for a couple of weeks, but it looks like the team just may do that. There will be opportunities later in camp or in season to address this issue, but Grossman seemed like a great fit.
The below names can only be found on a single ballot, which qualifies them as the long shots. Keep an eye on Zulueta, Pearson and Bernard because, if they do crack the roster, glory will surely follow.
Shout out to friend of the site The Blue Jay Hunter for also taking a chance and not picking George Springer. History could show this is a good bet.
An honourable mention goes to Team Last Row 500’s for not buying that new guy Belt is going to make the squad. Not sure if this was an oversight, or if perhaps he has some intel on the DH’s troublesome knee(s) that he is keeping close to the vest.
Click this link to see all the details including tiebreakers. Good luck to all!
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