2026 Draft Weekend recap!

Thanks to everyone for a great Draft Weekend!!!  So much fun to catch up with league members past, present, and maybe even future that were in attendance over the weekend.   Happy to report that no one got hurt, no damage was done by various flying projectiles being tossed around the Draft Room, and that everyone made it home safely (and likely exhausted!)

We did make a slight adjustment to the rules this year, ever so slightly lowering the minimum innings needed by the end of the draft to 1225 and the positional at-bats to 525.  

The hallways were very busy Saturday as lots of trade talk led to lots of early trades, upending the draft order before we even had dinner.  

Will Willnus, the Official Bingo Ball Roller of 2026, changed the entire trajectory of the first round when he selected #47.  That gave PJ, with his ONE bingo ball, the first overall pick!  Rumor has it that Will suggested that number to PJ while we were all claiming our numbers, League officials are still looking into possible tampering and family dissension that may have resulted from that :-)   PJ then shipped that pick to Pat, sending the coveted Nick Kurtz to Kansas City.   It was a hefty cost though, as PJ moved down one spot to claim Roman Anthony this year AND added KC's first rounder next year.   This risky strategy will be a storyline all year as the Butchers better have a year good enough to justify that lucrative trade package.  

I have added links to the main draft, waiver draft, trades, schedules, AND Scott's hilarious presentation on our league mascots in the section named 2025 League Files.  Will also put a link to the main draft right here  fl2025 draft result by round.pdf

This has to be my favorite draft pick entry of all time :-)   
Those Hancocks just have to make it all about themselves
with their elaborate and unnecessarily large signatures!

Chuck came up with a very fun theme for divisions this year:  nicknames of one of the all-time great film practitioners of the pugilistic science. Apollo Creed!

I am convinced that we could never properly conduct the Division Roll-offs without Steve "The Human Abacus" Willnus and his amazing ability to keep track of the numbers and ranges that place a team in a certain division.   Changing divisions every year is truly a great Friendship League innovation, don't know of any other league that does it.  

League Dinner at Joe Kool's!

Tension is high in the Draft Room!

All the thrills and pageantry of
the Division Roll-offs!

Presentation of the Trophy and Plaque
 to the league champion Toronto Thunder

The joy of victory (and of drinking a mixture of
three different world-class beers in one
somewhat clean and sanitary trophy!

I did send everyone the preliminary LZP file, please use that to make any default lineups and rotations and send them on to me.   Can't overstate how much it helps to have those defined in the league file so you don't have to start from scratch every game.  Send those on as soon as you can.  We can always add them later but nice to have them ready for the actual start of the games.   

We will have a PLAYBALL file out soon, and the games can begin then.  Looking forward to another fun and exciting season!  Good luck everyone!

Pittsburgh Protected List

 

Protected:

Jo Adell

Addison Barger

Andrew Benintendi

Jose Berrios

Tanner Bibee

Shane Bieber

Hunter Brown

Byron Buxton

Rafael Devers

Jackson Holliday

Kenley Jansen

Brandon Lowe

Andres Munoz

Vinnie Pasquantino

Trevor Story

Edwin Uceta

Luke Weaver

Yu Darvish

Joey Loperfido

Cut

Cole Sands

Brady Singer

Leody Taveras

Korey Lee

Bowden Francis

Cade Povich

Taylor Saucedo

Jonah Heim

Kyle Tucker

Paul Dejong

Kyle Farmer

Mark Canha

Michigan's protected list

 KEEPERS:

Brayan Bello
Kyle Bradish
Nathan Eovaldi
Hunter Gaddis
Tim Hill
Wyatt Langford
Trevor Larnach
Pablo Lopez
Austin Martin
Ryan Mountcastle
Ryan O'Hearn
Logan O'Hoppe
Jeremy Pena
Wenceel Perez
J.P. Sears
Framber Valdez
Matt Vierling


YU DARVISH:

Zack Gelof


MAMMOTH TURDS:

Beau Brieske
Andy Ibanez
Nathaniel Lowe
M.J. Melendez
Luke Raley
Connor Wong 
 Scott Alexander
Pedro Avila
Richard Lovelady
Kenta Maeda
Jose Miranda
Kirby Yates

 

 

2026 ROSTER

Wilyer Abreu

Yordan Alvarez

J.P. Crawford

Jhoan Duran

Logarn Gilbert

Trent Grisham

Steven Kwan

Brooks Lee

Seth Lugo

Michael Massey

Bryce Miller

Bo Naylor

Ryan Pepiot

Luis Robert

Nolan Schanuel

Louie Varland

Matt Wallner

Waiver List

Keegan Akin

Brant Hurter

Danny Jansen

Kevin Kelly

Zack Kelly

Abraham Toro

Will Wagner

Erick Fedde NC

Tyler Freeman NC

Nicky Lopez NC

Shelby Miller NC

Kevin Pillar NC

YuDarvish

Mason Miller

Loggers 2026 Protection List

 

Stored in the Wood Shed:

Jarren Duran "Duran"

Mitch "Ryder & The Detroit Wheels" Garver

Isaac "I Love A Parade" Paredes

"Way Cool" Junior Caminero

Gunnar "Florence" Henderson

Kerry "Karen" Carpenter

Ceddanne "of Green Gables" Rafaela

Evan "Escense" Carter 

"Lean In" Lenyn "Sammy" Sosa

Tyler Soderstrom "boli"

Luis "Marty" Castillo

Griffin Jax "Car Wash"

Joe "Nolan" Ryan

Carlos "Rodan - CAW!" Rodon

Jacob "SpiderMan" Webb

Tyler "Horton Hears a Who" Holton

Daniel Lynch "Mob"

DARVISH/NL Protected:

"Where's" Oswaldo Cabrera

Man up and vanished, like a fart in the wind (cut with draftable card):

Adolis "Adonis" Garcia (well hello for final time, Mrs. Cabrera)

Gio "Ursula The Sea Witch" Urshela

"Jesse" Tyler Ferguson

Osvaldo "We" Bido "Adieu"

Justyn-Henry Malloy (never trust a dude with two first names, especially one that can't spell Justin correctly)

Ben "Rorschach Test" Rortvedt

Cut, but non-draftable card:

Yimi "Yummy" Garcia

The Loggers would like to bid adieu to a true Adonis, former first round pick Adolis Garcia.  Manning the cleanup spot for Maine for four years, Garcia was a true professional, and we hope he finds a home in the waiver draft with a team that Maine meets 11 times, so we can give him a proper send-off when he comes to Augusta this summer.  We also say Bah-Bye to Gio Urshella.  At one point, Urshella was an on-base machine who could give you stellar defense at third base.  He hung on as the Loggers 16th or 17th protected list player the past few years, but age has gotten the best of him - good luck in your new job as a retired 36-year old, or Door Dash delivery man, Gio.  

The Loggers look like a possible contender in 2026, but have some work to do in the draft.  As always, we leave you with a nod to our heritage, the 1907 Maine Loggers.....

Boston Bobcats Protection List

hitters:

C. Mead

M. Andujar

R. Gonzalez

B.  Bichette

K. Manzardo

H. Bader

B. Rice

J. Jung

L. Butler

A. Gimenez

S. Perez

pitchers:

M. Wacha

J. Flaherty

T. Mahle

C. Schmidt

C. Ragans

R. Detmers

darvish:

A.Civale

cuts:

B. Hanifee

Y. Cano

M. Yoshida

T. France

L. Thomas

M. Stroman

Las Vegas Protected List

Jose Ramirez's salsa will be available at the stadium this year

Keeping:

Wells
Semien
Sweeney
Mateo
Ramirez
Clement
Ward
Brown
Deluca
McCormick
Refsnyder

Rasmussen (from Darvish)
Woods-Richard
Rodriguez
Olson
Cleavinger
Slaten

Not Keeping:

Brennan (NC)
McCann (NC)
Singleton (NC)

Contreras (NC)
Crawford (NC)
Garcia (NC)
Heaney (NC)
Pivetta (NC)
Pressley (NC)
Sandlin (NC)
Tonkin (NC)
Voth (NC)

Darvish: Casas

The Fremont organization bids a fond farewell to Ryan Pressley. A sixth round pick in the 2016 draft, Pressley was a stalwart in the 'Monts pen for 9 seasons, leaving as the team's all time leader in appearances (238, 90 more than second place) and #2 in saves (38).

Pressley is staying with the team as a club ambassador and will be found on game days manning the Jose Ramirez salsa stand where he will be well versed in the nuance between the mild and medium varieties.

Toronto Protected List

 

Keepers

Tyler Anderson

Randy Arozarena

Shane Baz

Jacob DeGrom

Yandy Diaz

Lucas Erceg

Hogan Harris

Ryan Jeffers

Aaron Judge

Shea Langeliers

Nathan Lukes

Zach McKinstry

Jorge Polanco

Cade Smith

Jordan Westburg

Bobby Witt

Bryan Woo

Cut

JJ Bleday

Tim Herrin

Tanner Houck

Sam Long

Emmanuel Rivera

Taylor Scott

Amed Rosario

No Card

Matt Boyd

Clay Holmes

Spencer Horwitz

Max Kepler

David Robertson

Yu Darvish

Garyson Rodriguez

Kansas City Protected List

 The Butchers will protect the following players....

Josh Smith

Alex Bregman

Anthony Volpe

Cal Raleigh

Riley Greene

George Springer

Colton Cowser

Josh Lowe

Giancarlo Stanton

Zack Littell

Michael Lorenzen

Bailey Ober

Gavin Williams

Ryan Yarbrough

John Schreiber

Tyler Alexander

Ben Lively

These players are "chopped"...

Dylan Moore

Andrew Vaughn

Collin Snider

Tommy Kahnle

Hunter Strickland

Justin Turner (NC)

Carson Kelly (NC)

Ryan Bliss (NC)

Albert Suarez (NC)

Jason Foley (NC)

Eli Morgan (NC)

Wander Franco (NC, dropped from Yu Darvish)

Yu Darvish:  Heston Kjerstad

Lake Erie protection list

 

1 Y. Diaz C, 2 M. Dubon inf/of, 3 V. Caratini C/1B, 4 J. Caballero inf/of, 5 J. Altuve, 6 J. Aranda 1B, 7 T. Walls inf, 8 K. Isbel CF, 9 L. Regifo inf/of 10 D. Colombo RP, 11 P. Fairbanks RP, 12 R. Blanco SP, 13 B. Bernardino RP, 14 B. King RP, 15 C. Bassitt SP, 16 J. Kochanowicz SP, 17 J. Springs SP.

Yu Darvish: G. Cole

Walking the plank: 

C. Santana 1B, A. Santander RF, C. Martin RP, J. Utena S/R, J. LeClerc RP, C. Criswell S/R, J. Estes S/R, D. Tate RP

Pawtucket Protected List

 

Keepers

Urias 1B/2B/3B

Keith 1B/2B/3B

Seager SS 

Chisholm 2B/3B 

Rooker LF/RF 

Mullins CF 

Rogers C

Castro UTL

Schuemann UTL

Kikuchi SP

Bubic SP

Eflin SP

Kremer  SP/RP

Cantillo P SP/RP

Vest RP

Mize SP

K.  Montero SP/RP

Cuts 

Sheets NC

Vazquez C 

Julien INF

Drury NC

Hamilton 2B/3B

Morel 2B/LF

Spence RP

Alcala RP

Cortes NC

Bradford NC

Zerpa RP

Yu Darvis Player

Robles OF

Montreal, really bad at remembering roster cut limits: Re-Re-Revised FINAL Cut List. (I promise)

 

The Montral Grizzlies are excited to announce the FINAL pre-draft roster. 

Pitchers: 1.) Tarik Skubal (LHP), 2.) Garrett Crochet (LHP), 3.) George Kirby (RHP), 4.) Jack Leiter (RHP), 5.) Taj Bradley (RHP), 6.) Brayan Abreu, (RHP), 7.) Josh Hader (LHP).

Batters: 8.) Jacob Wilson (SS), 9.) Zach Neto (SS), 10.) Julio Rodriguez (OF), 11.) Spencer Torkelson (1B), 12.) Gleyber Torres (2B), 13.) Alejandro Kirk (C) 14.) Maikel Garcia (3B/2B, 15.) Jake Meyers (OF) 16.) Davis Schneider (2B/LF).REVISED: 17.) Ezequiel Duran (UTL). 

Revised: Yu Darvish: Ben Joyce. (RHP)

Key: NC=No Card+Roster Cuts Cards. 

1.) Dairon Blanco, (OF) - NC, 2.) Vaughn Grissom, (2B), - NC, 3.) Richie Palacios, INF/OF, 4.) Alex Verdugo (OF), NC, 5.) Michael Kopech (RP), - NC, 6.) Corbin Burnes -(SP) - NC.

7.) Freddy Fermin (C), 8.) David Fry (UTL), 9.) Cristian Javier (SP), 10.) Emmanuel Clase (RP), 11.) Greg Weissert (RP) 

Mount Pleasant Protection List

Hitters: 

Correa, Carlos - 3B

Dingler, Dillon - C

Guerrero Jr, Vlad - 1B

Lewis, Royce - 3B

Naylor, Josh - DH/Stealing Expert

O'Neill, Tyler - LF

Rocchio, Brayan - 2B

Rutschman, Adley - C

Schneemann, Daniel - SS

Trout, Mike - RF

Varsho, Daulton - LF

Pitchers :

Allen, Logan - SP

Bautista, Felix - RP

Cannon, Jonathan - SP

Estevez, Carlos - RP

Gausman, Kevin - SP

Soriano, Jose - SP

Yu Darvish - Luis Gil, SP

Cuts:

Meadows, Parker - CF

Noel, Jhonkensy - RF

Rojas, Josh - 2B

Arrighetti, Spencer - SP

Festa, David - SP

Green, Chad - RP

Thornton, Trent - RP

No Cards 

McClanahan, Shane - SP (Dropped from Darvish)

Fletcher, Dominic - OF

McKenzie, Triston - SP

Shuster, Jared - RP

Winskowski, Josh - RP