A few years ago, I joined this illustrious band of dynasty gurus dreaming of sharing prospect names and insight. I like to believe I’ve done well in that regard, though one of the biggest struggles I have is wanting to ‘be first’ when highlighting breakouts. I don’t actually want to be the first per se, but I certainly don’t want to be the 15th analyst to dive in on Aaron Bracho (like I said, this all started a few years ago).  

Fast forward (and still rewind a bit) to last fall. To help solve this ‘first’ problem I did what any dynasty baseball degenerate with a digital writing platform would do, I created a new league. This new league, the School of Hard Knocks is deep enough that the players being acquired are unique to write (or podcast) about. We wrapped up our first year successfully and are currently undergoing our 2025 FYPD. Drew Klein and I plan to break down that beastly FYPD on our pod, Join the Ranks, later this week. Before that I wanted to give everyone a baseline on the School of Hard Knocks (SoHK). Admittedly, I should have done this a year ago. Though as the immortal rock band Sound Mound once sang, “It’s never too late for now”. 

There is a single guiding rule in SoHK: If you have played in the majors, you are not eligible to be claimed, drafted, or traded. Like every other league, the active MLB roster is what scores points and defines the standings. But SoHK is intended to prove a prospector’s chops by creating that active roster solely via minor league transactions.  

SoHK has 25 teams, each with 40 minor league spots. Yep, that’s 1000 total rostered prospects. Every prospect can only be on our minor league roster until they’re promoted in real life. Though once that player graduates to the Major Leagues for real, he is on our fantasy roster FOR-EV-ER. Or until we reach the 500-player maximum that Fantrax limits (I’m oddly excited to see which team is the first to reach this Fantrax max). There are several other roster nuances, though there is no need to share them currently but I may touch on them as this article series progresses.  

But what is a deep league without knowledgeable managers? Nothing in my opinion, although deep leagues do tend to be siren songs for those who like getting dirty in prospecting. So not only is SoHK deep, but the league also boasts a broad range of internet-famous managers. Here from TDG’s staff, we have Drew my podcast partner in crime and the Labude brothers (Daniel and Brian aka the Orca and Polar Bear). The league also boasts a TDG alum currently publishing awesome work at ProspectsLive, Ryan Epperson. From ScouttheStatline.com we have Matt Morris, Doc Holliday, Ross ‘the Boss’ Jensen and Brian Shanks. From the Upside Prospect Patreon, we have Mr. Upside himself, Lucas Staggs, their college ball guru, Jeremy, and the Clown Prince of Fantasy baseball, Mr. Bob Kelly. On top of all of these well-known brains, SoHK’s manager lineup includes multiple avid TDG discord members and some of my home-league compadres that I coerce into as many crazy league concoctions as I can.  

Those guys are all smart and worth a follow on X or Bluesky or both if you’re not already. Going forward, I plan on using their prospect-centric brains to help you find talent before some of your league mates. If those managers pick up an intriguing player in SoHK, I will breakdown the transaction along with my thoughts on the player’s fantasy potential. Sometimes my breakdowns may be here on the TDG website, othertimes on the pod. All this is to say that SoHK is here as much for your growth and entertainment as it is for mine. And with that, I’ll wrap up this introduction to the School of Hard Knocks. The syllabus, so to speak.  

Thanks for reading!