After officially becoming a father to a teenager last week, I flew to Las Vegas to draft in the NFBC’s Main Event. It’s a high stakes ($1800 buy in) league with an overall top prize ($200K), so no punting categories. It’s a 15-team format that goes 30 rounds, so the deep is draft with no trading allowed afterward to avoid any colluding. While ignoring pitching can absolutely work in some formats, pitchers are always drafted extremely aggressively in Main Events.
I had my draft planned out knowing ahead of time I landed the eighth pick, figuring I’d pass on José Ramírez or Paul Skenes to select Elly De La Cruz (whose ADP was 9.80). Ramírez helps in BA and steals and fills the toughest position, but I’ve faded him for years and wasn’t going to change now while live in Vegas, especially with a possible shoulder concern. De La Cruz plays the easiest position to roster, but he has 30/70 upside, a positive BA projection and is nearly 10 years younger than Ramírez. De La Cruz posted a .621 OPS with just three homers over the final two months (52 games) last season, and it was later revealed he was playing through a partially torn quad over that timeframe.
Naturally, De La Cruz went seventh in my league, setting the minimum for Vegas live mains. I didn’t expect to be tilted immediately in round one, but like Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Go here for the full draft results.
(1.8) Paul Skenes – I planned on going pitching heavy early anyway, so Skenes was a fine consolation prize after De La Cruz was stolen. Ramírez typically doesn’t fall past seven or eight, but he dropped to 11th here. Skenes owns a 1.96 ERA over 320.2 career MLB innings and should record more wins while pitching deeper into games and with more run support in 2026. Skenes has seemingly separated himself from Garrett Crochet this spring, as his 8.1 K-BB% could be nothing or a sign of a health issue.
(2.8) Chris Sale – Mason Miller and Edwin Díaz were both off the board by this pick as expected, as were SB options in Jackson Chourio and Jazz Chisholm Jr. I planned on two SPs through three rounds and at least got some revenge after learning I returned the swoop favor to pick No. 7.
(3.8) Wyatt Langford – I have Cole Ragans winning the Cy Young this season and value him similarly to Sale, but I was a coward and went with a bat here instead to interrupt my “yellow brick road.” Passing on Yordan Alvarez and Brent Rooker was difficult, but I wanted some bags. Pete Crow-Armstrong was another option in which I passed.
(4.8) Logan Webb – Passing on Austin Riley here could be my biggest regret of this draft, although Webb fell to one of his lowest draft spots during all mains. Kyle Bradish is another early SP target for me whom I considered here. I’m good with starting pitchers for a while.
(5.8) Ryan Helsley – Saves are treated as a premium in Main Events, including Daniel Palencia going in the early fourth round here. The plan all along was to grab two closers in rounds five and six, hoping Jeff Hoffman falls next.
(6.8) Raisel Iglesias – Hoffman went as expected as did Pete Fairbanks. Iglesias obviously carries risk given the Robert Suarez factor, and I wasn’t willing to pay a 15th round price for insurance.
(7.8) Cody Bellinger – While my De La Cruz talk and early Langford pick make it seem differently, I’m truthfully more of a boring old veteran drafter in fantasy baseball, at least when it comes to hitters. It’s basically the opposite of my fantasy football style.
(8.8) George Springer – Springer’s regression is baked too much into his ADP, and THE BAT X projects him to be fantasy’s No. 35 hitter this season, ahead of Chisholm, James Wood and Bryce Harper.
(9.8) Teoscar Hernandez – I have Hernandez in seven of my 10 NFBC leagues so far. It’s an abnormal strategy not drafting a single infielder entering round 10, but outfield thins out in this format, and I was able to add three top 60 hitters (according to ATC’s aggregate projections) after drafting pitchers in five of the first six rounds.
(10.8) Alex Bregman – Third base is the toughest position to fill, and I was worried after reluctantly passing on Riley. This is my only share of Bregman this season, and I liked it less after Matt Chapman fell two rounds past his ADP.
(11.8) Brenton Doyle – I felt a little light on speed so targeted Doyle here.
(12.8) Jack Flaherty – With Bryson Stott getting swooped, it was time to grab a fourth starting pitcher. Edward Cabrera, Kris Bubic and Aaron Nola would’ve been options had they fallen, but Flaherty is in the same tier for me.
(13.8) Willson Contreras – I’m happy to have Boston’s new cleanup hitter as my first baseman.
(14.8) Mike Burrows – I went Burrows, but Trey Yesavage became a consideration here. Yesavage had a wildly fluctuating ADP throughout the live mains. He went in the middle of the 15th round at pick No. 222 in my draft but outside 300 in two others, including as low as No. 391. Yesavage remains the favorite to win Rookie of the Year this season, for what it’s worth.
(15.8) Chandler Simpson – Securing six outfielders by round 15 wasn’t the plan, but Simpson fell nearly 30 spots, and he has 80-100 steal upside. I’m feeling good about speed and batting average now, especially after waiting on offense.
(16.8) Alec Bohm – Filling third didn’t prove to be a problem after passing on Ramirez and Riley. Bohm is another boring veteran, but he could pay off big if he truly hits cleanup. I would have drafted Austin Wells here had he gone at ADP.
(17.8) Marcus Semien – Buying low after leaving baseball’s second toughest park for hitters.
(18.8) Colston Montgomery – He’s a clear batting average risk, but Montgomery filled a need at shortstop. He hit 21 homers over just 255 at bats as a 23-year-old rookie last season and is slated to bat second in 2026.
(19.8) Carlos Correa – Correa will miss games, but he was a sneaky way to help fill my middle infield rounds 17-19. Correa is slated to bat fourth behind Alvarez this season. Connelly Early going one pick before me looks great after news of him making Boston’s rotation.
(20.8) Kyle Harrison – Harrison is a former prospect who’s added velo and a new pitch. His ugly ERA in spring is accompanied by elite peripherals. Only Seattle boosts strikeouts more than Milwaukee, which also boasts a terrific pitching system. Harrison stood out among pitchers here, although Parker Messick could easily prove to be the better pick.
(21.8) Carlos Narvaez – It hurt passing on sleepers Jack McCarthy and Tyler O’Neill, but I needed a catcher far more than another outfielder.
(22.8) Reynaldo Lopez – I might regret going Lopez over Max Scherzer for SP depth this round.
(23.8) Victor Caratini – A few drafters still needed a second catcher on the upcoming side of the draft, so I grabbed my second one here. Caratini is slated to play DH in Minnesota this season and is one of the reasons I waited on catcher.
(24.8) Landen Roupp – He owned a 2.63 ERA in San Francisco last season, so Roupp will be worth using during home starts at minimum.
(25.8) Nolan Arenado – Another boring old third baseman.
(26.8) Jonathan India – Depth is nice in this format, and it’s worth mentioning there are no IL slots. However, I should’ve gone with Kumar Rocker in hindsight.
(27.8) Zebby Matthews – I mostly ignore projections when it comes to pitching, but let’s note ATC, THE BAT X and OOPSY all have Matthews posting at least a 17.5 K-BB% this season. That would be the 17th best mark by a qualified starter last year. Matthews will be called up soon enough.
(28.8) Bryce Eldridge – I expected Eldridge to get demoted when I made this pick, but he maintains 25+ homer upside this year.
(29.8) Adrian Houser – Another option to start solely in San Francisco.
(30.8) Payton Tolle – Three stashes may be tough, but Tolle was typically drafted a few rounds earlier Saturday.
I’m light on power, but every team has a weakness in this deep of a league. Wish me luck!
Here’s my final roster:
C: Carlos Narvaez & Victor Caratini
1B: Willson Contreras
2B: Marcus Semien
SS: Colston Montgomery
3B: Alex Bregman
OF: Wyatt Langford, Cody Bellinger, George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Brenton Doyle
CI: Alec Bohm
MI: Carlos Correa
Util: Chandler Simpson
SP: Paul Skenes, Chris Sale, Logan Webb, Jack Flaherty, Mike Burrows, Kyle Harrison, Reynaldo Lopez
RP: Ryan Helsley & Raisel Iglesias
Bench: Landen Roupp, Nolan Arenado, Jonathan India, Zebby Matthews, Bryce Eldridge, Adrian Houser, Payton Tolle