As we get closer to the beginning of the season, fantasy baseball is well underway, and, of course, that means it is time to practice strategies. Many of the previous articles have stressed the importance of mock drafts and what information they can provide. Once a week, until the start of the season, the plan is to do a mock draft highlighting some strategies that are common to show how useful they can be or to show why some strategies are not as effective.
It is one thing to read about a strategy, but it is another to actually see it in action, and today’s draft strategy is one that breeds familiarity. Today, we look at a personal strategy that focuses on power early and drafting positions that are deep late. Seeing the final picks will let fantasy players see how it turned out.
The breakdown of this mock draft uses a 10-team 5x5 league and is considered the most basic of leagues. On average, ESPN has more 10-team 5x5 leagues than any other league, so it is considered the standard. In this draft example, the second overall team in the snake league draft means that the team picks second-to-last and then moves back up to second. Surprisingly, only two people auto-picked the entire team and why people auto draft a mock draft is uncertain.
2. Andrew McCutchen
19. Adrian Beltre
22. Hanley Ramirez
39. Corey Dickerson
42. George Springer
59. Alex Cobb
62. Julio Teheran
79. Brian Dozier
82. James Shields
99. Devin Mesoraco
102. Doug Fister
119. Koji Uehara
122. Matt Adams
139. Jimmy Rollins
142. Glen Perkins
159. Anibal Sanchez
162. Brandon Moss
179. Wil Myers
182. Denard Span
199. Jake Odorizzi
202. Luke Gregerson
212. Billy Butler
222. Lorenzo Cain
239. Steve Pearce
242. Khris Davis
Starting off, the first pick is all about power, and looking at the top five picks gave this team plenty of it. Dickerson as the fourth-round pick is a little high, but, as stated, the idea is go for pure offense and take as many of the power guys in the early rounds as possible.Had all passed on him in the fourth, he would have likely become the fifth-round pick. Dickerson is good, but calling him a top-40 pick may be putting a little more faith in a player that has been this good offensively only one time in his career.
Passing on the early pitching allows teams to focus on pitching, and that was the case here. Cobb and Teheran back-to-back is a good value for both of them and gives a strong start for the team's starting staff. Getting Shields two rounds later makes it so this team will have a good solid and reliable 1-2-3 combo up top and not sacrifice offense to get it. While their numbers will be good, there is one downside, and that is in wins. All three off these pitchers pitch on teams that will make it tough to get a win, but veteran owners will tell newer ones that chasing wins gets an owner no where.
If future fantasy team owners have read the previous articles, then they may recognize that it took 10 rounds before the catcher position was filled. Catchers actually have a surprising amount of depth to them, and passing up on the big names of Buster Posey and Jonathan Lucroy would not kill teams like it has in the past. Players also competing in this mock draft took notes, and two rounds later, Yadier Molina and Even Gattis were drafted. It does not hurt to take catchers late anymore.
One of the mistakes that may have been made is drafting a closer a little late. It will not kill owners to pass on the Big Three of Craig Kimbrel, Greg Holland, and Aroldis Chapman.
Waiting too long can bite owners as well. Koji Uehara is not a bad closer to have, and the 12th round feels right, but not grabbing one earlier in the draft feels like scratching the bottom of the barrel for saves. It is easy to find saves on the waiver wire, but owners will want that one pitcher that can guarantee saves for teams. Uehara is the last of that line.
Overall, this was a successful draft, and felt so good to get back out there and be drafting again. While the team did end up with players that normally would be avoided, such as Brandon Moss, even those players added value to the team. According to ESPN’s draft rankings, this example team would have finished third overall in a Rotisserie league, which is good, but means there are areas of improvement. Luckily, is not a Rotisserie league, so this team is fine.