2016 MLB Draft Guide: 12-Team Mixed League Mock Draft

As most of you already know, nothing gets my blood pumping better than a good ol’ mock draft. For those new to Fantasy Alarm, I am the founder and general of the Mock Draft Army, a group that hosts multiple mock drafts each week and puts readers like you into the draft room with a variety of industry experts. Not only do you have an opportunity to see how they draft and which players they prefer, but you also get the opportunity to pick their brains via the draft room chat. The Army has been around for close to five years and its rank-and-file continues to grow.

Ray Flowers is a member of the Army. So is Jeff Mans, Ben Diamond, Jon Impemba and a slew of other writers you have read in these pages. So, of course, when it comes time to putting together a mock draft for the 2016 MLB Draft Guide, they know on whose door to come knocking. I put together a tremendous group of industry experts here and hope that you can glean some helpful information to help you prepare for your own big day.

The Participants (in order of the draft)

Drafting as early as we did, we tried to keep it simple and go with a basic 5x5 mixed-league rotisserie format, 23 rounds (no bench) and the standard positions which are:

2 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS, 1 MI, 1 CI, 5 OF and 9 pitchers

Here’s a copy of the draft board and if you have eyes like mine, here’s a link to it online where you should be able to enlarge it as well: http://www.rtsports.com/baseball/draft-board.php?LID=511419&UID=fantasybaseball

I have some thoughts to share on the entire draft and a couple of the participants took some time to throw their two cents in as well, so keep scrolling past the board.

General Thoughts:

If you consistently read these pages or listen to many of us on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, the one phrase you’ll read/hear most often is that starting pitching is ridiculously deep. You hear it every year. I’ve said it. Ray Flowers has said it. While doing this draft, Lawr Michael said it. And yet, no matter how many times the phrase is uttered, starting pitchers seem to come off the board more rapidly with each season that passes. Three went in the first three rounds and then in Rounds 4 and 5, 11 of the 24 picks were starters. Neither Ray nor Lawr caved, but I did, taking Gerrit Cole (my 2016 NL Cy Young pick) with the eighth pick of the fifth round (56^th overall). I took him because starters were flying off the board and since he’s a favorite of mine, I wanted to make sure I staked my claim. But if you know the pitching pool well, you can go old school and stay strong like Ray and Lawr and still put together a solid fantasy rotation.

Again, many of those who know me, know that I love my closers. Always have and always will. I don’t want to say that last year turned me around on them, but seeing the injuries that hit guys like Greg Holland, Glen Perkins and Koji Uehara, coupled with the struggles of the likes of Steve Cishek, Cody Allen and Addison Reed, I wanted to enter this year with the notion that I don’t need to invest too high a pick for one as I’ve usually done in the past.  I waited until Craig Kimbrel went to Tim Heaney in the seventh before I followed in the eighth with Aroldis Chapman (what can I say? I love closers and I love the Yankees). But then I saw something I never thought I’d see. Citing the depth at starting pitching, Ray double-tapped the closers in the eighth and ninth rounds, setting off a run that saw six more off the board before his next pick. Closer ADP should be real interesting to track this offseason.

An interesting trend to follow – 20 of the first 60 picks (33.3%) were outfielders which is slightly down from last year’s ADP numbers. And not only is that number down (again, by just a handful of players) but the 20^th outfielder off the board didn’t come off until the last pick of the fifth round. Even with the five-outfielder format, there’s a definite rush to fill in the infield early.

Depending on what direction you want to take, if you are looking for a top first baseman – top five or six – then you’re going to have to make a very early move. Four came off in the first round, one in the second and then another two in the third. Once Chris Davis, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez came off the board by the end of the fifth round, the drop-off in power to the next first baseman taken – Eric Hosmer – is pretty significant.

While everyone says there’s always speed to be had in the later rounds, a number of power guys could be found late as well. Round 13 saw Curtis Granderson  come off the board, Round 14 had Mark Trumbo and others like Matt Holliday (15^th), Jay Bruce (15^th), Evan Gattis (18^th and Wil Myers (19^th) were all available late. Sure, they’re all flawed hitters in some way, but there were 64 players who popped 20 or more home runs last year and suddenly, we’re not looking at the power drought we had just two years ago. Keep that in mind when you’re making those first 8-to-10 picks in your draft. If you can find a pair of 20-home run outfielders after Round 14, maybe you want to solidify some infield needs first.

We could really go on and on, picking apart this draft like we’re dissecting a frog in biology class. But what would be better for you is to start mock drafting on your own. The Mock Draft Army deploys in late January and we’ll be doing more drafts than ever in the months leading up to the 2016 season. Follow me on Twitter (@rotobuzzguy) or email me directly at howard@fantasyalarm.com and we’ll get you on the draft list. From there, you’ll be able to do as many mocks as you need to make sure you get it right this year.