The Mock Draft Army began about 10 years ago when Howard Bender decided to run his own mock drafts in lieu of all the mocks on sites like Yahoo and ESPN which are riddled with auto-drafting. He was joined by some of the industry’s well known experts such as Steve Gardner, Todd Zola and Ron Shandler. The Army started out as a small regiment and grew into a full size platoon.  Last summer I ran the Army for Fantasy Alarm in preparation for football season and it was a blast.  The preparation that resulted for #FANation has led to multiple championships for our participants. 

Mock drafts are a key tool in your preparation for the fantasy baseball season.  The reason the Army is THE best mock tool out there is because there are a few things that make our mocks unique.

  1. In order to participate you must commit to the entire mock and not go on auto. 
  2. There are no robot drafters picking off some ADP list
  3. You have access to members of the Fantasy Alarm staff who will be participating with you.  In real time you can ask questions about players and draft strategies in the chat room. 
  4. You can ask to be placed in particular draft slot in order to prepare for your draft.
  5. There will be various formats available, H2H, Roto, ten and 12 team, etc.

The mock drafts take place on RTSports.com.  If you are not registered on the site, please do so if you’d like to get in on the action. The schedule for the following week will be available on Friday or Saturday and all you have to do is go to the home page and sign up. If you’d like an email reminder from RTSports that the schedule is ready send me your email via DM on Twitter (@gasdoc_spit), or MockDraftArmyAndy@gmail.com  Remember this is a commitment.  All we ask is that you show up to the draft on time or give me a heads up so that we can get someone to replace you.  There will be a standby list if the mock fills up so even if you see it’s full, go ahead and sign up as there are times when someone has to bow out.  If demand is great, we may be able to open up a second draft room.

The Army will begin its march on February 10th.  Look for the sign up page on RTSports.com around Friday Feb 7th.  I will also be tweeting out the link when it’s available.  Mocks will be Monday through Thursday and begin at 8:00 or 9:00pm ET.  For those on the west coast we will try to get one in at 10 ET each week, most likely Thursdays.

There is nothing comparable to preparing for your live draft. You may be able to find live mocks on other sites, but how many of them have the participants last the entire draft?  The Army takes it seriously, as those who have been with us before know that it’s the best draft prep available.  The lessons learned from the Mock Draft Army will help you win! 

At the end of the MDA’s run this Spring, I will see if there is interest in an MDA participant league so you can play against me and possibly some of the other Fantasy Alarm staff.  Some of you know me from the MDA for football, but baseball is my thing as I’ve been playing for almost 30 years.  My major interest is in auctions, and the strategies and how to properly price players for your auction.  I also do drafts and finished 61st of 315 and second in my league in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational industry league last year.  I’ll be participating in that and the inaugural RazzSlam league this season.  In season, my major interest is in how to properly manage your roster according to the league’s rules as daily moves and weekly moves are different animals.  Always available to answer questions about any of these topics on twitter @gasdoc_spit 

So Army, let’s get ready for a great season of prep work.  The mocks, along with our amazing Jim Bowden’s Living Draft Guide, will help you guide your way beginning March 26th and ending with a September 27th championship!!  Let’s Go!!!!