2024 Presidents Pre-Season Rankings
Presidents Pre-Season Predictions
Disclaimer- Regular season ranking at the mercy of attendance issue and pitching availability caused by players playing on other teams whether it be high school or AAU. Playoff predictions assume all teams are locked and loaded in commitment and pitching.
1. Angels- Losing only one graduate last year the heavy veteran team should roll with five 15’s and six 14’s. Coach Wondo will have to find ways to get his older son innings on the mound without the JV Coach knowing and the Bakst twins have max pitching availability. I am hearing good things about the large 14 yr old class in their development. They only have two new players and any team with CJ Morrow on it is going to be a fave of mine, been waiting for three years for his arrival.
2. Astros- No one takes more heat from me than Coach Fratto (and as Marcus Smart is famous for saying, “rightfully so”). Despite a loaded roster, including several top performing Freshman HS players, he has already laid out several reasons why they may not live up to expectations, of which none of them were about his coaching abilities. They are stacked with a strong big bodied team (in Astro tradition) so I still expect they will overcome those obstacles on most days to be a top performing team.
3. Mariners- Two years removed from their championship season I see the M’s in the middle of the pack with an upside. They have a strong 15 yr old class, not spectacular, but solidly consistent and capable. Coach Rizzo brings a good vibe and positivity to the field that will help with the development of younger classes, and I ranked his draft performance near the top this past March.
4. Athletics – Coach Weiden looking to break through this year in his third managerial season. Losing his top 15 yr old isn’t going to help, as Sam Barton hit the transfer portal to move completely out of the league, the sport and the town. She will be missed. To help offset that they have 4-yr player Will Dyment ( love the 4 yr players) who has shown a lot at the JV level this year. They also have a promising underclass. When everyone shows up they are going to surprise.
5. Royals- The defending AL Champs were devastated with graduation losses which featured 2 current varsity and one JV player. Coach de Llano is a 4 year manager so he was put in a good position to rebuild with a prime draft position and a lot of picks. Think Patriots upcoming draft, he had the same type pressure to get it right. Growth in size and ability from some returning players and hopefully getting some regular pitching innings from lefty Avery Koehler will keep them respectable. And look out in the next two years they could be a wagon.
National League
1. Pirates – The defending RBRL champs are still loaded but because of a couple of big losses of players due to return, they will actually have to show up and play the games. Led by Brandon Lamontagne who probably could literally put the team on his back, he may scare some fences this year. A very strong 14 -year old class and three 13 year olds are already wearing a ring from last year. I am hearing that Ike Robinson has not filled out his retirement paperwork so that could stir the pot as the season progresses. Coach Prior is only calling Dan Robinson once a day now, down from the multiple texting throughout the day in the off season. The Pirates have a legit chance of the first repeat champ since 2016 and three consecutive NL championships.
2. Cubs- Another strong team with a few high-end talented players. The Cubs are the only current franchise not to have been to the World Series (expansion team from 2018), The challenge for Coach Lepore will be getting his players to the game from three different high school programs. If they all show up come playoff time sky is the limit.
3. Phillies- I always say the League is good when the Phillies are good. That hasn’t been the case since the 2020 Covid championship season. The 15 and 14 year old classes are as strong as any team depth wise and have some stronger plus players. Over the years the Phillies have been known to win championships on draft day. Coach Gualtieri does a lot of scouting in his job as umpire so will see if that Phillie magic comes back this year.
4. Padres- Coach Foley in his third year tells me he has another son coming up next year so that will be a six-year commitment. Unlike the legendary Pirate coach Joe Picano, who also coached 6 years, Dan is very low maintenance to the Prez and actually complies with our “guidelines” so I am very pleased with that news. The Padres only have two 15’s but they have extra year 14’s and 13’s so they are more veteran than they appear on paper. Drafting has always been an art more than a science for Coach, no one can overthink it more than Dan so we will see how that works out this year.
5. Rockies- Coach Pizzotti had the most picks to make so in theory the Rocks would be set-up to be struggling in the short term. However, he also has the Greatorex twins who are killing it at JV right now, Kam at the plate and Ethan on the mound. I see them as having a tough regular season until HS ends and he has more availability from the older players. They also drafted the top arm out of RLL, which may not allow for that much use (AAU) during the regular season but expect that come playoff time there is more availability there. On the plus side for the incoming players I rated their draft as easily #1 with a few difference makers.
Post Season:
AL – Angels over Astros
NL- Pirates over Phillies
World Series- Angels in three games
