It’s time for some Best Ball drafts! Well, and subsequently, Best Ball draft recaps! A bunch of the #FAmily took part in this draft, including Howard Bender, Jon Impemba, Ray Kuhn and others! In case you missed it, Bender and I live-streamed this draft, breaking down picks and just talking fantasy baseball for over two hours. Go back and check it out here!

 

Contest overview: The Fantasy Alarm 10s - Top 3 will consist of multiple leagues each comprised of 12 teams/managers. This is an optimal scoring format, where an owner's best scoring lineup will automatically be used every week. Owners will not have to choose who to start or bench on their rosters. Here is the scoring system:

Do you want in on the fun and partake in future BB10s? We’d love to have you! How can you get involved? Great question! 

You can sign up via:

  1. Follow me on Twitter @colbyrconway and let me know you want in, via Tweet or DM.
  2. If you’re in the FA Discord, let me know in one of the MLB Channels that you want in!

Draft Board:

 

 

My Team:

My draft had a good start, and I wanted to try taking multiple top arms a bit earlier in the draft. There’s a lot of arms I like towards the middle rounds, so I tend to wait on pitching a bit, but I wanted to test a build with two of my first three picks being starters. There is definitely some risk with this team, as there were some pricy investments on guys coming off down years and/or returning from a significant injury, a la Christian Yelich, Gleyber Torres, and Chris Sale. Also, third base thins out incredibly quick, so have a plan going into your draft.

Overall, I like the look of this team, but one cannot deny the risk that this team carries. However, it’s a Best Ball draft, so you have to go for gold! Here are some quick thoughts about my team:

My three favorite picks:

 
  • Kolten Wong (14.166): I’d like to thank everyone in the draft for letting me get Wong in the 14th. All Wong did last year was hit 14 home runs, steal 12 bases, hit .272 and enjoy nice increases in barrel rate, launch angle and average exit velocity. His .305 BABIP is right in line with his career mark, and I like the Milwaukee offense a good bit this year. With a little luck, I just stole a 15/15 guy who will hit .265+ in the 14th round. Thank you!
 
  • Marcell Ozuna (19.219): Thanks to the universal DH, Atlanta won’t have to throw Ozuna out in the outfield, which is good for the Braves and fantasy managers alike. Ozuna was a monster as a DH back in 2020, and some regression to the mean should led itself to a .260+ batting average and 25+ home run floor.
 
  • Tyrone Taylor (30.358): Taylor’s .247 batting average last year may not be inspiring, but he hit 12 home runs, stole six bases and his 7.6 percent barrel rate with a 16-degree launch angle inspires confidence for 2022. As long as Milwaukee commits to giving him regular at-bats, or at least letting him try to beat last year’s struggles against righties (.220 AVG), he’s a sneaky late-round flier for double-digit home runs and stolen bases.
 

Three favorite picks from other teams:

 
  • Logan Gilbert (14.162): The pain from this pick was evident on the livestream. I love Gilbert to build upon an impressive 2021 campaign, which saw him post a 25.4 percent strikeout rate and just a 5.6 percent walk rate over 119.1 innings. His 3.73 FIP looks far better than his 4.68 ERA, and a really bad month of August inflated his numbers.
 
  • Jack Flaherty (7.82): Flaherty missed a good chunk of 2021, logging just 78.1 innings on the bump. He can be a fantasy ace when healthy, and I’m buying into that for 2022. Don’t forget that he posted a strikeout rate north of 28 percent in each season from 2018-2020.
 
  • George Springer (6.69): Springer played in just 78 games last year, but he hit .264 with 22 home runs and 50 RBI. His four stolen bases would have also put him on pace for his highest mark since 2015 or 2016. Springer is going to hit atop a loaded Toronto offense, which is good for those counting stats.
 

Three picks that made me scratch my head:

 
  • Marcus Semien (2.24): After a year full of career bests, it’s not a regular occurrence for a player to have another career year. Even with adding Corey Seager, the Texas offense is nowhere near that of Toronto’s, and Texas’ stadium plays more pitcher-friendly. You’re paying for last year’s production, and if you’re like me and believe that Semien won’t repeat his 2021 season, you won’t be taking him when he routinely gets selected.
 
  • Liam Hendriks (4.37): I like Hendriks, but seeing him go before Josh Hader (4.42) was interesting. Hey, if it’s your guy, you get your guy! Hendriks was phenomenal last season, converting 38-of-44 save opportunities with a 42.3 percent strikeout rate and minuscule 2.6 percent walk rate. He offers big-time strikeout numbers and is the clear-cut ninth-inning man for what should be a solid Chicago squad.
  • Josh Jung (25.299): Jung is dealing with a torn labrum and it’s said that while he should make a full recovery, it could be until closer to the end of summer until he can return in a DH capacity.

Final Thoughts

The risk with this team is quite prevalent, even with attacking high-floor players in the very early rounds. We’re banking on a lot of “ifs” or bounceback seasons, but the value with some of those players was too much to pass up. After my top two arms, there are a lot of question marks and depth amongst starters could be a major qualm as the year goes on. Despite investing in two top starters early, after taking Chris Sale in the sixth round, waiting until the 14th to make Sonny Gray my SP4 was too large of a gap.

We would love to have you in future BB10s! Check out the MLB Channels in the Discord or hit me up on Twitter (@colbyrconway)! You can also sign up directly at the following links:

We’ll see you there!