A lot of mocking been going on around these parts recently. Some of it justified. Some of it #AlternativeFacts. Who am I kidding? It’s all justified…for all sides. What’s the lesson here boys and girls? Don’t be a freaking moron, which is exactly what you’ll be if you don’t start participating in mock drafts for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. All the projection models ain’t worth diddly poo if you can’t put it into the proper context. This past Wednesday, Grey asked/summoned one of Razzball’s finest, malamoney, and myself to participate in a CBSsports.com mock draft with industry celebrities such as Scott White, Heath Cummings, Chris Towers, and Adam Aizer. Shout out to the CBSsports.com crew for allowing me to participate in the mock draft. Scott White just posted his recap of the draft here. It was a 21-round draft with 1 catcher, 3 outfielders, 1 utility, 5 starting pitchers, and 2 relief pitcher spots. The settings were for a 12-team, H2H, 5×5 category league. The draft order was as follows:
- R. J. White (CBS Sports)
- Lance Brozdowski (BigThreeSports.com)
- Mike Kuchera (The Fantasy Man)
- Chris Towers (CBS Sports)
- Michael Mormile (CBS Sports)
- Heath Cummings (CBS Sports)
- Phil Ponebshek (Patton & Co)
- Adam Aizer (CBS Sports)
- Son (Razzball)
- malamoney (Razzball)
- Scott White (CBS Sports)
- Lawr Michaels (Mastersball)
Going into the draft, my thoughts were that third base was deep and first base was shallow. I knew I was going to wait on catcher and pitching. In this format, pitching gets downgraded because of the duration of the game. Anything can happen in one start, in one week. The goal is to win each week. Other than that, I was going to see how the draft unfolded and go from there.
ROUND 1
- Mike Trout (RJ White)
- Kris Bryant (Lance Brozdowski)
- Jose Altuve (Mike Kuchera)
- Mookie Betts (Chris Towers)
- Nolan Arenado (Michael Mormile)
- Josh Donaldson (Heath Cummings)
- Clayton Kershaw (Phil Ponebshek)
- Paul Goldschmidt (Adam Aizer)
- Anthony Rizzo (Son)
- Manny Machado (malamoney)
- Bryce Harper (Scott White)
- Madison Bumgarner (Lawr Michaels)
I was getting excited when Paul Goldschmidt kept falling, but alas, Adam Aizer picked him at #8. As I mentioned above, I felt that first base was pretty shallow so I felt good with picking Rizzo at #9.
ROUND 2
- Chris Sale (Lawr Michaels)
- Charlie Blackmon (Scott White)
- Miguel Cabrera (malamoney)
- Trea Turner (Son)
- Max Scherzer (Adam Aizer)
- Joey Votto (Phil Ponebshek)
- Corey Seager (Heath Cummings)
- Carlos Correa (Michael Mormile)
- Edwin Encarnacion (Chris Towers)
- Corey Kluber (Mike Kuchera)
- George Springer (Lance Brozdowski)
- Daniel Murphy (RJ White)
I’m not the biggest fan of Trea Turner, as I do have some concerns with his low walk rate, strike out rate, and the fact that he hasn’t played a full season in the bigs yet. With that said, I love power/speed guys and Turner could provide double-digit pop with 40+ steals. He’s going to bat high in a very good Nationals offense and his multi-position eligibility at 2b, OF, and soon-to-be SS was a plus, which gave me some options on how to attack the rest of the draft. I thought about taking Seager and Correa here, but I felt I could get a good shortstop in rounds 3 or 4. I also looked at Daniel Murphy, as I’m pretty bullish on him, but #16 was too early for him.
ROUND 3
- Freddie Freeman (RJ White)
- Noah Syndergaard (Lance Brozdowski)
- Ryan Braun (Mike Kuchera)
- A.J. Pollock (Chris Towers)
- Jake Arrieta (Michael Mormile)
- Starling Marte (Heath Cummings)
- Giancarlo Stanton (Phil Ponebshek)
- Nelson Cruz (Adam Aizer)
- J.D. Martinez (Son)
- Yu Darvish (malamoney)
- Robinson Cano (Scott White)
- Yoenis Cespedes (Lawr Michaels)
I thought about taking my boo, Francisco Lindor here, but I couldn’t get away from J.D. Martinez. Yes, he will strike out a lot, but he has 40 home run potential and will probably post a .270-.280 average.
ROUND 4
- Johnny Cueto (Lawr Michaels)
- Jonathan Villar (Scott White)
- Francisco Lindor (malamoney)
- Xander Bogaerts (Son)
- Jon Lester (Adam Aizer)
- Justin Verlander (Phil Ponebshek)
- Brian Dozier (Heath Cummings)
- David Price (Michael Mormile)
- Matt Carpenter (Chris Towers)
- Buster Posey (Mike Kuchera)
- Rougned Odor (Lance Brozdowski)
- Trevor Story (RJ White)
~!#!@#!$SDAFDGVZR!$~!@#~!#$$!@#$!!!! F U malamoney!!!
Seriously, though, good pick. I do like Lindor a lot this season. After the Top 6 shortstops, the position really falls off a cliff, so I knew I was going to draft one this round. I like Bogaerts more than Story so I went that direction. I was pissed that I couldn’t get Lindor, but I was satisfied ending up with Xander. What do you know? I just wrote an article highlighting the two players.
ROUND 5
- Adrian Beltre (RJ White)
- Kyle Seager (Lance Brozdowski)
- Jean Segura (Mike Kuchera)
- Stephen Strasburg (Chris Towers)
- Carlos Gonzalez (Michael Mormile)
- Jonathan Lucroy (Heath Cummings)
- Gary Sanchez (Phil Ponebshek)
- Alex Bregman (Adam Aizer)
- Mark Trumbo (Son)
- Andrew McCutchen (malamoney)
- Will Myers (Scott White)
- Jason Kipnis (Lawr Michaels)
I thought long and hard about taking McCutchen here. Man, round 5? Dude was a first-rounder last year. I think malamoney gets great value here. Looking back, I probably should’ve gone that route as well. Good thing it was mock draft. I do like Trumbombs, though.
ROUND 6
- Chris Archer (Lawr Michaels)
- Carlos Carrasco (Scott White)
- Kyle Hendricks (malamoney)
- Gregory Polanco (Son)
- Ian Desmond (Adam Aizer)
- Chris Davis (Phil Ponebshek)
- Jacob deGrom (Heath Cummings)
- Dee Gordon (Michael Mormile)
- Aledmys Diaz (Chris Towers)
- Justin Turner (Mike Kuchera)
- Hanley Ramirez (Lance Brozdowski)
- Cole Hamels (RJ White)
I love Gregory Polanco. Loved him last year and I do think he breaks out this season. He’s a legit 20/20 candidate, with the upside for more. I was sad to see Justin Turner go in this round. I felt like I could wait at third base this year because Turner would be available super late. This is why mock drafts are valuable. You get a pulse for how other people value certain players.
ROUND 7
- Carlos Martinez (RJ White)
- Zack Greinke (Lance Brozdowski)
- Kenley Jansen (Mike Kuchera)
- Christian Yelich (Chris Towers)
- Rick Porcello (Michael Mormile)
- Jose Bautista (Heath Cummings)
- Adam Jones (Phil Ponebshek)
- Zach Britton (Adam Aizer)
- Danny Duffy (Son)
- Adam Eaton (malamoney)
- Aroldis Chapman (Scott White)
- Khris Davis (Lawr Michaels)
This is the round where closers started going off the board. I drafted my first pitcher this round in Danny Duffy. There’s risk for sure, but I love his upside. I’m not stressing having Duffy as my #1 because I believe it’s easier to find pitchers than it is batters. I’m sure that philosophy changes yearly, but for this year at least, that is the side I’m feeling.
ROUND 8
- Stephen Piscotty (Lawr Michaels)
- Todd Frazier (Scott White)
- Gerrit Cole (malamoney)
- Anthony Rendon (Son)
- Evan Gattis (Adam Aizer)
- Jose Quintana (Phil Ponebshek)
- Danny Salazar (Heath Cummings)
- Eric Hosmer (Michael Mormile)
- Edwin Diaz (Chris Towers)
- Wade Davis (Mike Kuchera)
- Masahiro Tanaka (Lance Brozdowski)
- Seung Hwan Oh (RJ White)
!@#!@SASDGASDGASGASG!#$!@$#!#$!#% F U malamoney!!!
I was going to select Gerrit Cole. It’s all good, though. I wasn’t that pissed. I just wanted to make things more dramatic and entertaining for you guys. I thought about Salazar here, but I decided to go with Rendon because I felt like there were a ton of pitchers that I could get later. In addition, since Turner was selected in round 6, I wanted to fill my third base spot with a player that I felt was the last one in that tier. If healthy, I like the possibility for 20/10 with a .275 average from Rendon. As you can probably tell, I’m pretty bullish on the the Nationals offense this year.
ROUND 9
- Billy Hamilton (RJ White)
- Craig Kimbrel (Lance Brozdowski)
- Rich Hill (Mike Kuchera)
- Lance McCullers (Chris Towers)
- DJ LeMahieu (Michael Mormile)
- Jose Abreu (Heath Cummings)
- Evan Longoria (Phil Ponebshek)
- Ian Kinsler (Adam Aizer)
- Carlos Santana (Son)
- David Dahl (malamoney)
- Kyle Schwarber (Scott White)
- Brad Miller (Lawr Michaels)
I thought about Schwarber here or taking a pitcher, but I just liked Santana too much. The dude can be so annoying because of his patience, but he fit nicely in my U spot. I don’t think he’s hitting 30+ home runs again, but mid-20s with a few stolen bases and a whole lot of at-bats and runs scored leading off for the Indians.
ROUND 10
- Maikel Franco (Lawr Michaels)
- Matt Kemp (Scott White)
- Justin Upton (malamoney)
- Matt Harvey (Son)
- Dallas Keuchel (Adam Aizer)
- Julio Teheran (Phil Ponebshek)
- Roberto Osuna (Heath Cummings)
- Aaron Sanchez (Michael Mormile)
- Kenta Maeda (Chris Towers)
- Tanner Roark (Mike Kuchera)
- James Paxton (Lance Brozdowski)
- Steven Matz (RJ White)
I owned Harvey last year and pretty much despise the dude. Fat, Batman-wannabee. With that said, I felt the price was too low here in the 10th. We all know his ceiling, so if he’s right physically and mentally, then cha-ching. If he bombs, no biggie as the cost of acquisition wasn’t too high. I was sad to see James Paxton go here, as I’m very high on him. I thought he would go much later and had him queued up. If I knew what I know now, there’s a good chance that I’d take Paxton instead of Harvey. I’m not sure, but it’s something I’m going to be thinking about now.
ROUND 11
- Willson Contreras (RJ White)
- Andrew Benintendi (Lance Brozdowski)
- Felix Hernandez (Mike Kuchera)
- Miguel Sano (Chris Towers)
- Jackie Bradley (Michael Mormile)
- Aaron Nola (Heath Cummings)
- Kelvin Herrera (Phil Ponebshek)
- Michael Fulmer (Adam Aizer)
- Cody Allen (Son)
- Jeurys Familia (malamoney)
- Mark Melancon (Scott White)
- Brandon Belt (Lawr Michaels)
I figured I needed to get at least one solid closer, as the pickings were starting to get thin. I was debating between Familia, Melancon, and Allen. Initially, I was going to go with Melancon, but I always feel like he can’t sustain the .250-ish BABIP, even though he’s done it for three straight seasons. Familia has nasty stuff, but the mid-3s BB/9 always terrifies me. I went with Allen because of the huge K rate and the good defense and pitching staff the Indians possess. He does walk guys like Familia, though. So, I probably should’ve looked this up during the draft, but the Indians were 29th last year and last in 2015 for save opportunities. With that new information, I’d go with Melancon. I’m glad this was a mock draft.
ROUND 12
- Robbie Ray (Lawr Michaels)
- Jose Ramirez (Scott White)
- Alex Reyes (malamoney)
- Sean Manaea (Son)
- Michael Brantley (Adam Aizer)
- Ken Giles (Phil Ponebshek)
- Carlos Rodon (Heath Cummings)
- Lorenzo Cain (Michael Mormile)
- Vince Velasquez (Chris Towers)
- Eduardo Nunez (Mike Kuchera)
- Addison Russell (Lance Brozdowski)
- Kevin Gausman (RJ White)
I probably should’ve gone Gausman here, but I thought he’d go later. I chose Manaea because I’ve always been high on his potential. He had control issues last year that led to a bunch of walks and home runs, but it was his rookie season. I expect some improvements for year 2, with the chance to increase his K-rate. Because I went offense early, all I’m looking for are high-upside pitchers.
ROUND 13
- Alex Colome (RJ White)
- David Robertson (Lance Brozdowski)
- Albert Pujols (Mike Kuchera)
- Julio Urias (Chris Towers)
- Salvador Perez (Michael Mormile)
- Odubel Herrera (Heath Cummings)
- Hunter Pence (Phil Ponebshek)
- J.A. Happ (Adam Aizer)
- Tony Watson (Son)
- Jonathan Schoop (malamoney)
- John Lackey (Scott White)
- J.T. Realmuto (Lawr Michaels)
Decided to lock down a second closer. With Melancon gone to SF, Watson is slated to be the man in Pittsburgh. Pickings were slim at the position, so I acted here.
ROUND 14
- A.J. Ramos (Lawr Michaels)
- Jose Peraza (Scott White)
- Jameson Taillon (malamoney)
- Matt Shoemaker (Son)
- Marcus Stroman (Adam Aizer)
- Troy Tulowitzki (Phil Ponebshek)
- Jon Gray (Heath Cummings)
- Dustin Pedroia (Michael Mormile)
- Yasmani Grandal (Chris Towers)
- Marco Estrada (Mike Kuchera)
- Matt Moore (Lance Brozdowski)
- Jay Bruce (RJ White)
I like my offense, so it’s all about pitching, pitching, pitching now. I really like the upside of Shoemaker, but it all comes down to health. I really like Taillon, but of course malamoney picked him. Viva la Razzball!!!
ROUND 15
- Jeff Samardzija (RJ White)
- Yasmany Tomas (Lance Brozdowski)
- Adam Duvall (Mike Kuchera)
- Garrett Richards (Chris Towers)
- Francisco Rodriguez (Michael Mormile)
- Blake Snell (Heath Cummings)
- Joe Ross (Phil Ponebshek)
- Dexter Fowler (Adam Aizer)
- Ivan Nova (Son)
- Ben Zobrist (malamoney)
- Sonny Gray (Scott White)
- Andrew Miller (Lawr Michaels)
Lot of young pitchers I like in this round: Richards, Snell, and Ross. I’m a believer in the Ray Searage magic and Nova was very good when he got to Pittsburgh. Sign me up.
ROUND 16
- Dellin Betances (Lawr Michaels)
- Russell Martin (Scott White)
- Dylan Bundy (malamoney)
- Nomar Mazara (Son)
- Dansby Swanson (Adam Aizer)
- Anthony DeSclafani (Phil Ponebshek)
- Kendrys Morales (Heath Cummings)
- Adrian Gonzalez (Michael Mormile)
- Byron Buxton (Chris Towers)
- Carlos Gomez (Mike Kuchera)
- Tom Murphy (Lance Brozdowski)
- Drew Pomeranz (RJ White)
I think I make a mistake here by going with Mazara. I love him and think he will be a stud but I probably should’ve went with a pitcher, as Taijuan Walker goes before my next pick. I’m pretty sure if I wanted Mazara he would’ve been there.
ROUND 17
- Yoan Moncada (RJ White)
- Kevin Kiermaier (Lance Brozdowski)
- Mike Napoli (Mike Kuchera)
- Taijuan Walker (Chris Towers)
- Jason Hammel (Michael Mormile)
- Jung Ho Kang (Heath Cummings)
- Lance Lynn (Phil Ponebshek)
- Alex Cobb (Adam Aizer)
- Brian McCann (Son)
- Hunter Renfroe (malamoney)
- Ian Kennedy (Scott White)
- Kole Calhoun (Lawr Michaels)
Seriously, I must’ve tilted these past two rounds. Did I get distracted by something? Why would I take a catcher here when I said I would wait? It’s gotta be the Mazara pick, coupled with Towers taking Walker that tilted me. Anyways, good thing it was a mock. This is another reason why mocking is important. To get all the kinks and mistakes out of the system before the real deal. Obviously, I should’ve just drafted whichever catcher was available in the last round. I’m such a donkey.
ROUND 18
- Brandon Crawford (Lawr Michaels)
- Joe Musgrove (Scott White)
- Tyler Glasnow (malamoney)
- Devon Travis (Son)
- Jake Lamb (Adam Aizer)
- Logan Forsythe (Phil Ponebshek)
- Jose De Leon (Heath Cummings)
- Sam Dyson (Michael Mormile)
- Raisel Iglesias (Chris Towers)
- Yasiel Puig (Mike Kuchera)
- Keon Broxton (Lance Brozdowski)
- Elvis Andrus (RJ White)
Freaking malamoney. Taking Glasnow.
All in good fun, as I had plenty of chances to get him if I didn’t get so tilted.
ROUND 19
- Shawn Kelley (RJ White)
- Jim Johnson (Lance Brozdowski)
- Drew Smyly (Mike Kuchera)
- Victor Martinez (Chris Towers)
- Gio Gonzalez (Michael Mormile)
- Michael Pineda (Heath Cummings)
- Kolten Wong (Phil Ponebshek)
- Eduardo Rodriguez (Adam Aizer)
- Javier Baez (Son)
- Wellington Castillo (malamoney)
- Jordan Zimmerman (Scott White)
- Stephen Vogt (Lawr Michaels)
I took Baez because I’m still tilted. Seriously, though, the power/speed is nice for Baez, as well as the multi-position eligibility. He makes for a high-upside utility player. The main issue is consistent at-bats.
ROUND 20
- Randal Grichuk (Lawr Michaels)
- Adam Wainwright (Scott White)
- Greg Holland (malamoney)
- Junior Guerra (Son)
- Addison Reed (Adam Aizer)
- Jason Heyward (Phil Ponebshek)
- Fernando Rodney (Heath Cummings)
- Ascrubal Cabrera (Michael Mormile)
- Tyson Ross (Chris Towers)
- Jacoby Ellsbury (Mike Kuchera)
- C.J. Cron (Lance Brozdowski)
- Jake Odorizzi (RJ White)
Yeah!!! I took a pitcher. I do like Guerra. He’s old and relatively new, but that splitter is no joke. He’s not going to replicate the sub-3 ERA from last season, but mid-3s with a 8 K/9 is within reach.
ROUND 21
- Lucas Giolito (RJ White)
- Collin McHugh (Lance Brozdowski)
- Domingo Santana (Mike Kuchera)
- Jorge Soler (Chris Towers)
- Bartolo Colon (Michael Mormile)
- Marcell Ozuna (Heath Cummings)
- Wilson Ramos (Phil Ponebshek)
- Carlos Beltran (Adam Aizer)
- Mike Foltynewicz (Son)
- Jharel Cotton (malamoney)
- Brandon Finnegan (Scott White)
- Nick Castellanos (Lawr Michaels)
I love the arsenal that Foltynewicz possesses. He just needs to put it all together.Walks have always been an issue for him, so if he can get a grasp of that, he has tons of potential to make an impact.
Here’s how each team shook out:
| Team | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | U | SP | RP |
| Adam Aizer | E Gattis | P Goldschmidt | I Kinsler | A Bregman
J Lamb |
D Swanson | I Desmond
M Brantley N Cruz C Beltran |
D Fowler | J Lester
M Fulmer D Keuchel JA Happ M Scherzer M Stroman E Rodriguez A Cobb |
Z Britton
A Reed |
| Chris Towers | Y Grandal | E Encarnacion | M Carpenter | M Sano | A Diaz | M Betts
C Yelich AJ Pollock J Soler |
B Buxton
V Martinez |
S Strasburg
K Maeda V Velasquez J Urias L McCullers T Ross T Walker G Richards |
E Diaz
R Iglesias |
| Heath Cummings | J Lucroy | J Abreu | B Dozier | J Donaldson
J Ho Kang |
C Seager | O Herrera
S Marte J Bautista M Ozuna |
K Morales | D Salazar
A Nola J deGrom C Rodon J Gray M Pineda B Snell J De Leon |
F Rodney
R Osuna |
| Lance Brozdowski | T Murphy | H Ramirez
C.J. Cron |
R Odor | K Seager | A Russell | A Benintendi
G Springer K Bryant K Kiermaier K Broxton |
Y Tomas | J Paxton
N Syndergaard M Moore Z Greinke M Tanaka C McHugh |
C Kimbrel
D Robertson J Johnson |
| Lawr Michaels | J.T. Realmuto
S. Vogt |
B Belt | J Kipnis | M Franco
N Castellanos |
B Miller
B Crawford |
S Piscotty
Y Cespedes K Davis R Grichuk |
K Calhoun | R Ray
C Archer C Sale J Cueto M Bumgarner |
A Miller
AJ Ramos D Betances |
| malamoney | W Castillo | M Cabrera | J Schoop
B Zobrist |
M Machado | F Lindor | A McCutchen
A Eaton D Dahl H Renfroe |
J Upton | A Reyes
J Taillon G Cole Y Darvish K Hendricks J Cotton T Glasnow |
D Bundy
J Familia G Holland |
| Michael Mormile | S Perez | E Hosmer
A Gonzalez |
D Gordon
D Pedroia |
N Arenado | C Correa
A Cabrera |
C Gonzalez
J Bradley L Cain |
D LeMahieu | R Porcello
D Price A Sanchez J Arrieta J Hammel G Gonzalez B Colon |
S Dyson
F Rodriguez |
| Mike Kuchera | B Posey | A Pujols
M Napoli |
J Altuve | J Turner | J Segura | R Braun
A Duvall C Gomez D Santana J Ellsbury Y Puig |
E Nunez | M Estrada
F Hernandez R Hill T Roark C Kluber D Smyly |
K Jansen
W Davis |
| Phil Ponebshek | G Sanchez
W Ramos |
J Votto | L Forythe
K Wong |
E Longoria | T Tulowitzki | H Pence
A Jones G Stanton J Heyward |
C Davis | J Ross
J Verlander J Teheran C Kershaw J Quintana L Lynn A DeSclafani |
K Giles
K Herrera |
| R.J. White | W Contreras | F Freeman | D Murphy | A Beltre | T Story | J Bruce
B Hamilton M Trout |
E Andrus
Y Moncada |
S Matz
C Martinez C Hamels J Samardzija K Gausman J Odorizzi D Pomeranz L Giolito |
S Hwan Oh
A Colome S Kelley |
| Scott White | R Martin | W Myers | R Cano | T Frazier
J Ramirez |
J Villar | K Schwarber
B Harper C Blackmon J Peraza |
M Kemp | C Carrasco
J Lackey S Gray J Musgrove I Kennedy J Zimmermann B Finnegan A Wainwright |
A Chapman
M Melancon |
| Son | B McCann | A Rizzo | T Turner
D Travis J Baez |
A Rendon | X Bogaerts | JD Martinez
M Trubmo G Polanco N Mazara |
C Santana | S Manaea
M Shoemaker J Guerra M Harvey I Nova M Foltynewicz D Duffy |
C Allen
T Watson |
Give me your thoughts on how this mock draft went. If you want to just call me a donkey, that’s cool too. I hope this was helpful and, as always, thanks for reading. You can reach me @Stan_Son on Twitter.
