The Minor League Free Agent Draft (or MLFAD) is an annual Effectively Wild competition where the objective is to choose the minor league free agents who will get the most playing time in the upcoming season.
The MLFAD has evolved into very competitive event, with hosts sometimes secretly conducting large amounts of research and data collection in the days before the draft.[1] It is also one of the key factors in the elevation of Willians Astudillo to the status of unofficial podcast mascot, as he was a pick in the 2018 edition of the draft.
Overview[]
As suggested by the name, eligible players for this draft are minor league free agents: Those who have more than 6 years of minor league service time and are not on a 40-man roster.[2] The pool of players is obtained from Matt Eddy's annual list of minor league free agents on Baseball America. It's mostly players you've never heard of, although there are often surprisingly prominent players you have heard of, and some players who were big-leaguers eight years ago that you had forgotten about.
Each player earns a point for each major league plate appearance (for position players) or batter faced (for pitchers) during the following season. Player performance is not considered. All that matters is playing time, although better performance is certainly correlated with playing time.
Since the draft takes place at the end of the calendar year, several weeks after the list of minor league free agents is generated, many players are eligible for the draft despite no longer being free agents because they have signed with a team in the interim. The sweet spot is to find a strong player on a terrible team.
Starting in 2021, a "control group" of randomly-selected players is added to the mix. The control group (usually) does terribly, which at least demonstrates that there is some skill to this exercise.
Rules lawyering[]
- Position players do not earn points for pitching appearances, and pitchers do not earn points for plate appearances.[3] (Citations: 2014 Steven Tolleson and 2022 Christian Bethancourt did not earn points for their position player pitching appearances. 2015 pitcher Clayton Richard did not earn points for his plate appearances.)
- Only regular season games count. (Citations: 2023 Franmil Reyes did not earn points for his postseason plate appearances.)
Summary[]
| Year | Sam | Ben | Jeff | Meg | Guest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 353 | 93 | |||
| 2015 | 560 | 629 | |||
| 2016 | 303 | 898 | |||
| 2017 | 707 | 375 | |||
| 2018 | 1,240 | 591 | 203 | ||
| 2019 | 586 | 548 | 1,640 | ||
| 2020 | 488 | 94 | 177 | ||
| 2021 | 1,311 | 569 | |||
| 2022 | 422 | 56 | 1,459 | ||
| 2023 | 352 | 504 | 320 | ||
| TOTAL | 4,237 | 5,313 | 1,843 | 1,306 | 1,779 |
| AVG* | 605 | 531 | 922 | 327 | 890 |
| RECORD | 4/7 | 3/10 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/2 |
*The 2020 results are excluded from the average due to shortened season. Point totals for the 2019 draft have not been adjusted for the draft going 11 rounds instead of the traditional 10.
2014 Season[]
- Episode: 326
- Date: November 11, 2013
- Competitors (in draft order): Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller
- Results episode: 607
| Round | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yamacio Navarro | 0 | Shawn Camp | 15 |
| 2 | Fernando Martinez | 0 | Matt LaPorta | 0 |
| 3 | Reid Brignac | 91 | Aaron Laffey | 0 |
| 4 | Travis Blackley | 0 | Ben Francisco | 0 |
| 5 | Alex Liddi | 0 | Ross Wolf | 0 |
| 6 | Jonathan Albaladejo | 0 | Jonathan Sanchez | 0 |
| 7 | Cory Wade | 0 | Ezequiel Carrera | 76 |
| 8 | Quintin Berry | 2 | Tommy Layne | 76 |
| 9 | Bill Bray | 0 | Steven Tolleson | 189 |
| 10 | Mark Rogers | 0 | Ed Easley | 0 |
| TOTAL | 93 | 353 |
WINNER: Sam Miller
- The draft episode erroneously said that pitchers earned points for outs recorded rather than batters faced.
- Players who had signed by draft day were ineligible for the 2014 draft. This rule was removed for subsequent years.
2015 Season[]
- Episode: 607
- Date: February 03, 2015
- Competitors (in draft order): Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller
- Results episode: 738
| Round | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Axford | 250 | Radhames Liz | 106 |
| 2 | Joe Savery | 0 | Chris Volstad | 7 |
| 3 | Deibinson Romero | 0 | Rafael Betancourt | 175 |
| 4 | Jonathan Herrera | 132 | Nick Noonan | 24 |
| 5 | Clayton Richard | 181 | Caleb Gindl | 0 |
| 6 | Jonathan Galvez | 0 | Pat Venditte | 119 |
| 7 | Cord Phelps | 0 | Rene Garcia | 0 |
| 8 | Scott Sizemore | 0 | Brandon Allen | 0 |
| 9 | Mike Baxter | 66 | David Aardsma | 129 |
| 10 | Buck Britton | 0 | Sebastian Valle | 0 |
| TOTAL | 629 | 560 |
- WINNER: Ben Lindbergh
2016 Season[]
- Episode: 809
- Date: February 02, 2016
- Competitors (in draft order): Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller
| Round | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emilio Bonifacio | 43 | Dayan Viciedo | 0 |
| 2 | Hak-Ju Lee | 0 | Pete Kozma | 0 |
| 3 | Rafael Ortega | 202 | Jim Henderson | 155 |
| 4 | Andury Acevedo | 0 | Casey Kotchman | 0 |
| 5 | Jio Mier | 0 | Jarrett Grube | 0 |
| 6 | Buddy Baumann | 40 | Jeff Beliveau | 0 |
| 7 | Cesar Vargas | 154 | Clay Rapada | 0 |
| 8 | Trey Haley | 0 | Dayan Diaz | 36 |
| 9 | Blake Wood | 330 | Anthony Recker | 112 |
| 10 | Ji-man Choi | 129 | Jean Machi | 0 |
| TOTAL | 898 | 303 |
- WINNER: Ben Lindbergh
2017 Season[]
- Episode: 994
- Date: December 21, 2016
- Competitors (in draft order): Sam Miller, Ben Lindbergh
| Round | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Turner | 170 | Lisalverto Bonilla | 172 |
| 2 | Craig Stammen | 329 | Ryan LaMarre | 8 |
| 3 | Maikel Cleto | 0 | Orlando Calixte | 55 |
| 4 | Brett Oberholtzer | 0 | Michael Choice | 0 |
| 5 | Tim Fereowicz | 14 | Michael McKenry | 0 |
| 6 | Jaff Decker | 62 | J.B. Shuck | 0 |
| 7 | Lane Adams | 122 | Ben Rowen | 0 |
| 8 | T.J. House | 10 | Cesar Ramos | 0 |
| 9 | Cory Burns | 0 | Cesar Valdez | 140 |
| 10 | Hernan Iribarren | 0 | Kraig Sitton | 0 |
| TOTAL | 707 | 375 |
- WINNER: Sam Miller
2018 Season[]
- Episode: 1166
- Date: January 22, 2018
- Competitors (in draft order): Sam Miller, Jeff Sullivan, Ben Lindbergh
- Results episode: 1291
| Round | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF | Jeff's Picks | PA/TBF | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Ortega | 143 | Dario Alvarez | 0 | Scott Barlow | 65 |
| 2 | Ryan Carpenter | 107 | Anthony Gose | 0 | Mark Montgomery | 0 |
| 3 | Chris Carter | 0 | Kris Medlen | 25 | Michael Kelly | 0 |
| 4 | Colten Brewer | 49 | Dustin Ackley | 0 | Ronny Rodriguez | 206 |
| 5 | Richard Rodriguez | 279 | Perci Garner | 0 | Jumbo Diaz | 0 |
| 6 | Wade LeBlanc | 662 | Casey Lawrence | 106 | Willians Astudillo | 97 |
| 7 | Cristhian Adames | 0 | Mike Kickham | 0 | Kevin Comer | 0 |
| 8 | Dylan Unsworth | 0 | Brooks Pounders | 72 | John Andreoli | 67 |
| 9 | Erik Johnson | 0 | Forrest Snow | 0 | Christian Lopes | 0 |
| 10 | Evan Grills | 0 | Matt Purke | 0 | Curt Casali | 156 |
| TOTAL | 1240 | 203 | 591 |
- WINNER: Sam Miller
2019 Season[]
- Episode: 1315
- Date: December 28, 2018
- Competitors (in draft order): Sam Miller, Jeff Sullivan, Ben Lindbergh
- Notes: The draft went 11 rounds instead of 10 this year.
- Results episode: 1474
| Round | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF | Jeff's Picks | PA/TBF | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Moore | 292 | R.J. Alaniz | 71 | Terrance Gore | 58 |
| 2 | Kyle Ryan | 263 | Harold Ramirez | 446 | Kiernan Lovegrove | 0 |
| 3 | Zach McAllister | 0 | Luke Bard | 199 | Deven Marrero | 5 |
| 4 | Ryan Court | 25 | Brandon Brennan | 196 | Kelby Tomlinson | 0 |
| 5 | Hunter Cervenka | 0 | Erik Johnson | 0 | Jake Petricka | 36 |
| 6 | Vidal Nuno | 0 | Asher Wojciechowski | 361 | Kyle Zimmer | 102 |
| 7 | John Lamb | 0 | Rookie Davis | 51 | Jon Berti | 287 |
| 8 | Dilson Herrera | 0 | Ariel Hernandez | 0 | Rymer Liriano | 0 |
| 9 | Deolis Guerra | 6 | Jairo Diaz | 245 | Mason Williams | 34 |
| 10 | Clint Coulter | 0 | Allen Craig | 0 | Ryan Lamarre | 26 |
| 11 | Ryan Merritt | 0 | Josh Lucas | 69 | Santiago Casilla | 0 |
| TOTAL | 586 | 1638 | 548 |
- WINNER: Jeff Sullivan
- Note that the values in the table above are based on Baseball Reference. They differ slightly from the values in the official competitions scoresheet.
2020 Season[]
- Episode: 1474
- Date: December 24, 2019
- Competitors (in draft order): Meg Rowley, Sam Miller, Ben Lindbergh
- Results episode: 1637
| Round | Meg's Picks | PA/TBF | Sam's Picks | PA/TBF | Ben's Picks | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Wisdom | 2 | Kyle Finnigan | 107 | Jose Mujica | 23 |
| 2 | Shao-Ching Chiang | 0 | Matt Harvey | 65 | Alexander Guillen | 0 |
| 3 | Jimmy Yacabonis | 13 | Socrates Brito | 0 | Brady Lail | 71 |
| 4 | Erik Kratz | 39 | Caleb Thielbar | 82 | Max Moroff | 0 |
| 5 | Aaron Northcraft | 0 | Phillip Evans | 45 | Gosuke Katoh | 0 |
| 6 | Pedro Payano | 0 | Daniel Coulombe | 13 | Jamie Schultz | 0 |
| 7 | Matt Szczur | 0 | Ryan Cordell | 8 | Kohl Stewart | 0 |
| 8 | Greg Holland | 112 | Jose Marmolejos | 115 | Eric Stamets | 0 |
| 9 | Sicnarf Loopstock | 0 | Tyler Heineman | 53 | Mickey Jannis | 0 |
| 10 | Ryan Lavarnway | 11 | Ryan Merritt | 0 | Rosell Herrera | 0 |
| TOTAL | 177 | 488 | 94 |
- WINNER: Sam Miller
2021 Season[]
- Episode: 1637
- Date: January 1, 2021
- Competitors (in draft order): Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley
- Results episode: 1798
| Round | Ben | PA/TBF | Meg | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Foltynewicz | 586 | Jason Vosler | 82 |
| 2 | Sam McWilliams | 0 | Sam Clay | 214 |
| 3 | Pedro Strop | 10 | Joe Gatto | 0 |
| 4 | Dwight Smith | 0 | Tyler Heineman | 0 |
| 5 | Luis Avilan | 0 | Michael Ynoa | 0 |
| 6 | Nabil Crismatt | 351 | Anthony Gose | 24 |
| 7 | Alexander Guillen | 0 | Connor Joe | 211 |
| 8 | Scott Schebler | 34 | Michael Hermosillo | 38 |
| 9 | Rafael Ortega | 330 | Gerson Bautista | 0 |
| 10 | Tzu-Wei Lin | 0 | Yunior Marte | 0 |
| TOTAL | 1311 | 569 |
- WINNER: Ben Lindbergh
2022 Season[]
- Episode: 1798
- Date: January 14, 2022
- Competitors (in draft order): Ben Clemens, Meg Rowley, Ben Lindbergh
- Results episode: 1918, follow-up in 1919
| Round | Ben C | PA/TBF | Meg | PA/TBF | Ben L | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Iglesias | 467 | Brett Sullivan | 0 | Joshua Fuentes | 0 |
| 2 | Maikel Franco | 388 | Nick Plummer | 31 | Mark Leiter Jr. | 282 |
| 3 | Shed Long | 0 | Christin Stewart | 0 | Matt Shoemaker | 0 |
| 4 | Ty Blach | 193 | Jhonny Pereda | 0 | Magneuris Sierra | 96 |
| 5 | Anthony Bemboom | 59 | Dalton Kelly | 0 | Johneshwy Fargas | 0 |
| 6 | Kyle Macgowin | 0 | Jake Newberry | 0 | Jake Bauers | 0 |
| 7 | Zack Erwin | 0 | Ryan Castellani | 11 | Yolmer Sánchez | 44 |
| 8 | Jon Duplantier | 0 | Dillon Thomas | 14 | Alex Blandino | 0 |
| 9 | Christian Bethancourt | 333 | Hobie Harris | 0 | Tyler White | 0 |
| 10 | Richard Ureña | 0 | Jeison Guzmán | 0 | Braden Bishop | 0 |
| TOTAL | 1440 | 56 | 422 |
- WINNER: Ben Clemens
2023 Season[]
- Episode: 1948
- Date: December 29, 2022
- Competitors (in draft order): Meg Rowley, Ben Lindbergh, Ben Clemens
- Results episode: 2068
| Rd | Meg | PA/TBF | Ben L | PA/TBF | Ben C | PA/TBF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake Perkins | 168 | Guillermo Zuniga | 0 | Justin Garza | 91 |
| 2 | Casey Sadler | 0 | Angel Perdomo | 117 | Franmil Reyes | 65 |
| 3 | Cole Tucker | 10 | Victor Reyes | 0 | Jake Marisnick | 83 |
| 4 | Hobie Harris | 91 | Oscar Mercado | 0 | James Norwood | 0 |
| 5 | Brent Honeywell Jr. | 235 | Jakson Reetz | 0 | Christin Stewart | 0 |
| 6 | Cody Poteet | 0 | Travis Blankenhorn | 37 | Stephen Piscotty | 0 |
| 7 | Daniel Zamora | 0 | Pablo Reyes | 198 | Derek Hill | 50 |
| 8 | Garrett Williams | 0 | Jonathan Villar | 0 | Caleb Baragar | 0 |
| 9 | Jacob Nottingham | 0 | Jose De Leon | 0 | Daniel Ponce de Leon | 0 |
| 10 | Trenton Brooks | 0 | Joe Rizzo | 0 | Zack Muckenhirn | 31 |
| TOTAL | 504 | 352 | 320 | |||
- WINNER: Meg Rowley
Footnotes[]
- ↑ In Episode 607, Sam says, "I thought it was easy because I spent six minutes preparing. Ben thought it was hard because he spent four hours preparing."
- ↑ There are some less common ways to become a minor league free agent. Here's an explainer.
- ↑ A two-way player has never been drafted, but presumably they will receive credit in both categories.