Where Did 2019 NFBC League Champions Draft From?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I know I posted this on another thread, but I want to combine the Main Event data with the high-stakes data to make this a more full look at what draft spots are champions drafted from. It's not always about the draft that makes a winning team, but it certainly helps to build a solid foundation on Draft Day before adding pieces throughout the 27-week regular season. Here's some of that data:

We had a record 38 Main Event leagues in 2019 and every draft spot except 3 produced at least ONE Main Event league champion. That's pretty amazing. The Nos. 10 and 12 spots produced the most league champions with four each, while the back end of the draft produced 19 league champions (picks 10-15). That's a bit unusual for our 15-team format. Here's a list of the Main Event league champions and where they drafted from:

2019 NFBC Main Event League Champions
Their Draft Spots:
No. 1 Pick - 2 League Champions
No. 2 Pick - 4 League Champions
No. 3 Pick - 0 League Champions
No. 4 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 5 Pick - 1 League Champion
No. 6 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 7 Pick - 2 League Champions
No. 8 Pick - 2 League Champions
No. 9 Pick - 2 League Champion
No. 10 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 11 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 12 Pick - 4 League Champions
No. 13 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 14 Pick - 3 League Champions
No. 15 Pick - 3 League Champions

Nos. 1-5: 10 League Champions
Nos. 6-10: 12 League Champions
Nos. 11-15: 16 League Champions

Pretty interesting.

[Greg Ambrosius]

After looking at all 38 Main Event league championship teams, there were 15 different players who were selected in the first round on these teams. Six different players were on three or more title teams with Jacob deGrom leading the way as he was a first round pick on five championship teams. Sixteen different players were also selected in the second round, which was a key round for title winners. Here were the first round picks in the 38 Main Event leagues:

First Round:
Jacob deGrom - 5 championship teams
Mookie Betts - 4 championship teams
Chris Sale - 4 championship teams
Trevor Story - 4 championship teams
Ronald Acuna - 3 championship teams
Trea Turner - 3 championship teams
Mike Trout - 2 championship teams
Nolan Arenado - 2 championship teams
Gerrit Cole - 2 championship teams
Justin Verlander - 2 championship teams
Jose Ramirez - 2 championship teams
Max Scherzer - 2 championship teams
JD Martinez - 1 championship team
Aaron Nola - 1 championship team
Christian Yelich - 1 championship team

Now let's look at the players from the Second Round who were on Main Event league championship teams:

Second Round:
Gerrit Cole - 5 championship teams (+2 in the first round = 7 championship teams)
Trevor Bauer - 5 championship teams
Jose Altuve - 3 championship teams
Javier Baez - 3 championship teams
Carlos Carraso - 3 championship teams
Freddie Freeman - 3 championship teams
Bryce Harper - 3 championship teams
Aaron Nola - 3 championship teams
Alex Bregman - 2 championship teams
Blake Snell - 2 championship teams

And now for the third round:

Third Round:
Anthony Rendon - 6 championship teams
Cody Bellinger - 4 championship teams
Kris Bryant - 3 championship teams
Jack Flaherty - 3 championship teams
Starling Marte - 3 championship teams
Juan Soto - 2 championship teams
Adalberto Mondesi - 2 championship teams
Rys Hoskins - 2 championship teams
Walker Buehler - 2 championship teams
Xander Bogaerts - 2 championship teams
Charlie Blackmon - 2 championship teams
Andrew Benintendi - 2 championship teams

There were a lot of players who emerged after the first three rounds to carry fantasy teams and even some great waiver wire pickups. But it's interesting to see who were the foundation pieces from the first three rounds and it's obvious who emerged from the second and third rounds, as well as from the first round. Enjoy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

From our NFBC High Stakes private leagues:

NFBC Platinum, KC Cha - 6th draft spot
NFBC Diamond, Derek Pierson - 8th spot
NFBC New York Ultimate, David Einhorn - 7th spot
NFBC Ultimate, John Lymberis - 12th spot
NFBC Super, Mike Cameron - 9th spot
NFBC Super, Matt Modica - 15th spot
NFBC Super, Gino Yu - 7th spot
NFBC Super, Steven Spatz - 12th spot
NFBC 12-Team Super, Andrew Edenbaum - 4th spot

So league champions from:
No. 4
No. 7
No. 7
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
No. 12
No. 12
No. 15

Very interesting.