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Let me just say this to start: The Mock Draft Army is absolutely killing it.

We’re 12 drafts in leading up to the 2015 fantasy baseball season and these mocks have all been outstanding from start to finish. Intelligent drafting and good chatter have been prevalent and, while I can throw out a little humblebrag and pat myself on the back for initiating the rally cry, there would be no Army if not for all of you who have participated. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, your time, your dedication and your contributions in each draft are very much appreciated. I am thankful that all of you have jumped on board and are making this such a huge success.

That being said, let me also reiterate that if you haven’t joined up, you’re totally missing out and I secretly hope that your lack of participation causes you to lose your league this year. I mean…what the heck are you waiting for?  This is a prime opportunity for you to gain an early edge on your competition. If you’re not taking advantage now, you’re making a huge mistake. Email me and we can rectify that.

Now let’s talk about this week’s drafts. With a number of drafts in which I was all about “best player available” regardless of position to help set the ADP baselines, it was time to implement some different strategies and see how they panned out. I took part in three – two 12-team mixed leagues and one 15-teamer – mocks this week and here’s what I took away from the experiences.

Mock Draft Army #9 – 12-team, standard 5x5 mixed

Click here for a look at the completed draft board (courtesy of Real Time Fantasy Sports)

This was my position scarcity draft. Every year you hear people talk about how thin some of the positions are and how you need to act fast to fill those spots because the drop-off in talent is so significant. Some believe it, some don’t. I, personally, do not, but I was going to put it to the test in this one and draft as if I did believe.

Had I been drafting in the back end, I would have opened with an Anthony Rendon or even a Troy Tulowitzki, but since I was drafting third, I went with Andrew McCutchen. With five outfielders needed and the rate at which the top 30 come off the board, this was as “thin” a position as I was going to fill. However, with my next few picks I went with Buster Posey, Ian Desmond, Jason Kipnis and Nolan Arenado and covered the notoriously troublesome spots. The group looks solid. Fairly well-balanced with a reasonable split of power and speed alongside a decent batting average.

I went elite closer next. The top starters were gone and if I was going to continue to wait on pitching, I would need at least one no-brainer closer to aid in strikeouts and help stabilize my ratios. Those who think this was a bad move are going to have tons of fun chasing saves on the waiver wire this season.

Now the question was how I was going to build my team. Lots of power was already off the board and the sluggers who were available were all a little flawed. It would be easier for me to dominate in speed and runs scored. I went with Billy Hamilton, Elvis Andrus and Ben Revere with three of my next six picks. That was probably a little overkill, but better to have the surplus and deal later because the stolen base category is always moveable throughout the year. In between, I grabbed a reliable arm in James Shields, a second high-end closer and then Mark Trumbo to see about adding some pop to my lineup. He batting average will be a drain, but I have enough guys with strong average to help counter. He’s just home runs and RBI. I did the same later with Victor Martinez and Pedro Alvarez. Potentially solid power but with some serious concerns.

I picked up some decent starters along the way, adding Chris Archer, Carlos Carrasco, James Paxton and Mat Latos to the team. I don’t have any elite starters and I could be struggling for strikeouts at some point soon. But rather than try and grab some other mediocre arm, I opted for a third closer in Brad Boxberger. Nothing wrong with adding some surplus and have the ability to trade later on with anyone looking for some stability at the closer position.

Overall, the team isn’t bad. It’s got some potential issues, but having a surplus at saves and steals could prove to be helpful down the road. But does that mean that the position scarcity issue is best taken care of early? Probably not. Rather than have the “guaranteed” power of sluggers like Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan Braun, I am going to have to hope a lot that my risky picks pan out.

In addition to that, filling the thin positions didn’t seem necessary as middle infield options such as Neil Walker, Erick Aybar, Jhonny Peralta and J.J. Hardy were all available after the 14th round. I could have bulked up my outfield and starting pitching a lot more and still had a decent supporting cast.

The overall concept may work better in a larger league, but even then, I’m still not sold. More teams means the outfield drains quicker and I may not have been able to build up my surplus of speed as well.

Mock Draft Army #10 – 15-team standard, mixed 5x5 roto

Click here for a look at the completed draft board (courtesy of Real Time Fantasy Sports)

With a test run on traditional position scarcity done, I opted to play things a little differently in this draft but with some position scarcity in mind. After the number of drafts I’ve done, the three things that I have noticed to be the most consistent are: 1. The outfield drains considerably fast. 2. Those who say to wait on starting pitching are suddenly making a move a little quicker this year and the top dozen pitchers are gone by the end of the fourth round, and 3. Third base looks considerably ugly after the top seven are gone.

In the spirit of positional scarcity, I decided that these three positions were going to be addressed in the first six or seven rounds. I grabbed Adam Jones and Yasiel Puig with my first two picks and then Jason Heyward in the sixth. I took care of third quickly with a selection of Evan Longoria and then I hit two top starters in Zack Greinke and Hisashi Iwakuma and an elite closer in Holland again. It’s a solid base with good power, a bit of speed if Puig gets the green light more and a great foundation for a solid pitching staff.

I supplemented that crew with a solid No. 1 catcher in Salvador Perez, a little more speed with Gregory Polanco and after missing out on grabbing a first basemen with some pop, I went with a second closer before finally taking Eric Hosmer out of desperation. From there it was the middle infield and as I learned from the previous mock, I was able to wait and build with solid guys like Asdrubal Cabrera, Hardy and Aybar. No world-beaters but still a solid group.

I also tended to the rotation and went with solid but not spectacular options in Archer and Kyle Lohse while also adding some potential upside in Danny Salazar and even Aaron Sanchez. The rotation looks a little better than the last one with Greinke and Iwakuma as the anchors and I think I should be solid in strikeouts as well.

The biggest problem for me in this draft is that hole at first base. You don’t have to add a Goldschmidt, a Jose Abreu or an Anthony Rizzo, but if you decide to pass on them, you need to act quicker. You need an Adam LaRoche or an Adrian Gonzalez at the least to feel comfortable. I just don’t like waiting on the position.

Overall, the team feels pretty good. I’d feel great about it if I could figure out what I can count on from Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. If I can get 40-50 home runs between the two, then I’m on easy street. Also, I may need to supplement some speed from the waiver wire later on as Polanco and Adam Eaton may not be enough.

Mock Draft Army #12 -- 15-team standard, mixed 5x5 roto

Click here for a look at the completed draft board (courtesy of Real Time Fantasy Sports)

Remember that first mock of the season where I took pitchers in each of my first six rounds just to see what kind of offense I could build? Well, it was time to see if I could do the same now two weeks down the road. I wasn’t going to be as rigid, but I wanted to make pitching the priority, so with the fourth pick of the draft I grabbed Clayton Kershaw and then added Chris Sale and David Price with my next two picks.

Since it’s been my regular M.O. to invest in the elite closers, I opted to switch it up here and wait a little longer for my relievers. With three elite starters, the pressing need for elite closers becomes a little less important. Sure, I could subject myself to the risk of chasing saves on the waiver wire, but I would just go with the flow of the draft and take them when appropriate.

So with that, I ended up falling back into the last mock’s strategy a little as I filled third base (Carlos Santana), second base (Kipnis again) and then went with three-straight outfielders. Obviously it’s the difference between a 12 and a 15-team league, but I do like this crew a whole lot more than the last one. I had ridiculous starting pitching and a nice mix of power and speed.

I also made the concerted effort to learn from the previous draft and grabbed LaRoche as my first baseman while also adding more speed at short with Andrus. Another pick-up of V-Mart, this time in the 11th round, helped give me a little more power potential and then I went back to the hill with selections of Zack Wheeler and a pair of closers in Huston Street and Fernando Rodney. This, of course, has altered my stance on waiting for pitching as the combination here with my four starters and two closers beats the snot out of my past rotations. OK, maybe not too much of an alteration, but I’m starting to see the other side of the argument a little more.

The rest of my team balanced out rather nicely, though I do need a little help with my last two picks in the outfield. Both Steve Pearce and Carl Crawford need to at least duplicate their 2014 numbers or I’m going to need to fish on the waiver wire to get that boost. Speed, I should be good with as I added Eaton once again, and my starting pitching finished strong.

I’m probably a little light on power here, but with the pitching I have coming into this season, I should be able to land myself an elite bat by dealing one of my top starters. This is probably one of the better teams I’ve drafted so far.

So Howard….you’ve got drafts 9, 10 and 12. What happened to 11? Well, with the demand being so great to participate in the Thursday night mock, I opened another draft at the same time as #10 but did not participate. I’ll provide you with the draft results here, but I’m not going to write it up today. In the future, now that we’ve got some sound ADP totals, I’ll start taking an outsider’s perspective and reviewing the draft in its entirety, but for now I’ll just add the data and provide you with the latest ADP numbers from the Mock Draft Army.

In addition to that, you’ll notice that I’ve also added in the ADP from two weeks ago and a trend column to see which players are starting to rise and which ones are starting to fall. We’ll continue to use these trend reports to see just how much value we’re potentially getting out of some of these players.

Until next week…