The 2023 MLB season is just two weeks away which means, if you haven’t had your fantasy baseball draft yet, it is coming up fast. By now you should have gone through all of our content in Fantasy Alarm’s free fantasy baseball draft guide, studied our fantasy baseball player rankings, made adjustments on your own and checked in with the fantasy baseball cheat sheet which helps blend both the rankings and fantasy baseball ADP. You should also be practicing with your fantasy baseball draft strategy to ensure that you are making the right moves for yourself. We have already had one fantasy baseball mock draft which you have probably already seen, but anyone who understands the value of a true mock draft can tell you that more data for research is always best.

 

 

Rather than go with the exact same Fantasy Alarm staff, we’ve decided to utilize the Mock Draft Army so you can see not just what fantasy baseball pundits are doing, but also how your fellow subscribers are drafting as well. It gives us, in my opinion, a better cross-section of what could happen in your own home league drafts. Oftentimes, we see analysts routinely wait on certain positions, but we also know that your home league doesn’t draft the same way. In this particular mock draft, we had a few of the Fantasy Alarm analysts in there, but we also added Jarad Wilk from the New York Post and then six subscribers, including my friend Frenchie who, if you’re a Big Brother fan, loves himself a little fantasy baseball. Some have also offered some commentary which you will find further down.

Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

  • Participants: The Fantasy Alarm Staff & Friends
  • League Specs: 12-team, 5x5 rotisserie league with Batting Average instead of OBP

Click Here to View the Draft Board

My Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy and Team

I don’t mean to feed you the analyst’s standard of “let the draft come to me,” but that is essentially what my plan was for this draft, especially after drawing the second pick after drafting third in the last one. Well, sort of. I wanted to mix it up a little from the previous draft in that I wanted to pay more attention to stolen bases and didn’t want to wait on closers. As a result, I believe I like this second team better than my first, so that is being noted for upcoming drafts I have.

With Ronald Acuna and Francisco Lindor secured with the first two picks, I felt good about stolen bases early so I wanted to hit some power and saves with Matt Olson and Josh Hader, all the while looking ahead at more steals. After picking up Luis Robert, Jake McCarthy and a late-round grab of Garrett Mitchell, I’m more than comfortable with the category and guys like Kolten Wong and Thairo Estrada will also help augment my totals. Will I win the category? Maybe, but, at worst, I think this crew helps me reach top-five in the league.

As for saves, having Hader gives me an elite-level fantasy baseball closer, so I didn’t feel the need to go after another closer until late. I grabbed Carlos Estevez who should be the primary closer for the Angels and then also added Michael Fullmer, who we were told Tuesday, would be sharing the role with Brad Boxberger. I even took a shot on Will Smith who could get some work as the primary lefty in that Texas bullpen. Given how many saves are available on the fantasy baseball waiver wire throughout the year, I should be more than fine.

With regard to starting pitching, it came off the board a lot quicker in this mock draft than it did in the previous one. I actually feel pretty god about my rotation considering I didn’t grab my first starter until the sixth round. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen should be able to anchor the rotation with guys like George Kirby, Charlie Morton and Grayson Rodriguez helping out with strikeouts. Jack Flaherty and Sean Manaea are decent late-round reclamation projects. Both have a strong ceiling and I took minimal risk with them taking them in the 17th and 19th round, respectively.

Overall, I like this team. I’ve got a good blend of power and speed along with a nice mix of veterans and youth. I may have some batting average issues, but that’s tolerable at this point, especially with the league-average sitting at .243 last season. I have saves covered fairly well and while my starting pitching lacks the true No. 1 ace, it is still a strong group capable of keeping me in the hunt all year.

How did others feel about their drafts? Here’s some commentary for you:

From Colby Conway, Fantasy Alarm (Pick 10)

This is a build that I have wanted to try, and as the draft progressed, my affinity for the build vanished. There was an abundance of pitching value late, including many of my favorite sleepers, so four pitchers in the first six rounds was a bit pricey. The Brandon Woodruff snipe in Round 3 really hurt, shoutout James Grande for that one, and getting my favorite late round closer in Jimmy Herget in the 29th round was a beauty. The offense actually panned out alright, thanks to going with eight hitters from Rounds 7-16. Overall, the pitcher-heavy approach in the first six rounds is something I won't do again, especially with all of the value late. In fact, when we talk about the overall value, some of my favorite pitchers overall on this team are my Trevor Rogers, Justin Steele, and Eduardo Rodriguez selections in Rounds 22, 25, and 27 respectively.

From California_King (Pick 7)

Prior to this I've done about 7-8 drafts, mostly Roto 5x5 and a couple Best Ball which I'm not a fan of. But in nearly all of my drafts I was near an end so drafting basically in the middle was very different and challenging.  I went in thinking I'd go Kyle Tucker/Mike Trout or Juan Soto/Manny Machado but alas...things didn't work out.  This is the first draft where I took a pitcher before the 3rd round but with Trout and Machado gone, I had my first pivot and went Corbin Burnes.  I actually felt good for a second with Gerrit Cole then Sandy Alcantara going behind me.  When it came back, Fernando Tatis Jr. was sticking out like a sore thumb but I drafted Michael Harris II there to keep the multi-toolsy hitter philosophy. That continued with J.T. Realmuto and again with Tommy Edman later on.  Carlos Correa was a homer pick as he's my favorite player (yes, I've been a die-hard Astros fan for 40 years even living in Orange County).  I wanted Jeffrey Springs bad so I took him there as I'm a big proponent of having a top 4 starter set and I'll take my first 4 starters against anyone here - even Colby whose top 3 beat me but my top 4 I believe are best. 

Anyway...for me Bryce Harper was a chancy pick there but all reports are positive and with his incredible desire to play and win...I think he'll be back before June 20 so I can plug a Jared Walsh or Patrick Wisdom or Jake Fraley there till then.

My strategy this year has been to draft as much position flexibility, as much multi tool hitters, to get 4 top starters and to avoid anyone with any sniffling of injuries (obv outside Harper).  Guys who have proven themselves but were injured last year – Jonathan India, Anthony Rendon, DJ LeMahieu and Walsh.  Noah Syndergaard and Yasmani Grandal were not great picks - Howard actually picked Jonah Heim in the round I was grabbing him.  AJ Puk has closer stuff, at least should be used in high leverage situations this year there in Miami where I believe they want him to be the closer. I liked Alex Bohm to begin with but hearing Jim Bowden boast of him made me holdout for him at the hot corner.

 

 

Related  Fantasy Baseball Articles: