Couch Managers 2017 Industry Mock Draft Recap, Rounds 13-18

Here we are, the third of four posts about the Couch Managers 2017 Industry Mock Draft. Previously, I posted recaps of rounds 1-6 and rounds 7-12. This post is for rounds 13-18. The final post will be for rounds 19-23. Complicated stuff, I know. But try to keep up.

In case you have yet to see my previous posts, here is a quick recap of the league rules for this mock:

This mock was for a 15-team, 5×5 roto, with 23 roster spots made up of 9 pitchers (9), 1 spot for each position (8), a second catcher (1), 2 more outfielders (2), one corner infielder (1), one middle infielder (1), and one utility position (1).

As I have done with the other posts, I’ll post the results below by round and will offer a few of my thoughts for each round…

Round 13 thoughts: Once I missed out on the top couple tiers of first basemen, I kind of punted on the position and knew I would be taking a Tommy Joseph-like player later in the draft. That being said, I was fine with getting Joseph in the 13th round of a deep league like this one. In Grey’s Top 20 First Basemen for 2017 Fantasy Baseball post, he listed Joseph as 18th with a 64/30/79/.253/1 in 488 ABs projection. I would be happy with getting that kind of production in the 13th round of a 15-team league. Kendrys Morales came off the board a few picks later, and I wouldn’t be upset to grab him this late, either. But I like Joseph’s upside a bit more. My favorite pick of this round is probably Jimi@CM‘s Adam Wainwright. Great round to take a chance on him bouncing back this season.

Round 14 thoughts: I love rotoman‘s Sonny Gray pick here. I think Gray has a bounceback year, and I currently have him ranked at 160. I like getting Gray here more than I liked the Adam Wainwright pick in the 13th round. Both picks are risky, given their performances last year, but these are good rounds to take those risks. One gamble I don’t love is Yasiel Puig. He has no business getting taken here, before a bunch of other quality outfielders with higher ceilings and higher floors.

Round 15 thoughts: Greg Bird is a guy who I am going to watch really closely this spring, and not just because I hate the Yankees. Grey has Bird projected for 59/24/69/.257/2 in 412 ABs. If all goes well and he plays every day, though, I could see even bigger numbers for Bird if he can pull enough balls in Yankee Stadium. I took Joc Pederson because I always take Joc Pederson because I hate myself but I love HR and OBP. I love him sitting against lefties and not stealing bases anymore like he did in the minors, too. If he can continue to work on that batting average, though…

Round 16 thoughts: As you can see, it is time to start digging deep to find players in this draft. If you hit Chris Herrmann while digging, though, you have gone too far. Start digging up. Even if you want to take a chance on Herrmann this season, there is no need to take him this early. He’ll be around. I like the Moncada pick here just for upside. We don’t know if he is going to start the year in the bigs or not, but he has the potential to be special. He should get his shot to play this year for the White Sox.

Round 17 thoughts: I grabbed Josh Reddick here as I tried to piece together my outfield. 243 is about where I have Reddick in my rankings right now, and I’m hoping for something like 65/20/70/.270/5 from him. I like the Sandy Leon pick here. Who knows what Sandy Leon will be in 2017, but this is as good a spot as any to grab him in a 2-catcher league. I’m interested to see how Matt Duffy looks in a full season in Tampa Bay. If he can return to 2015 form and add a little pop, this isn’t a bad spot to get him.

Round 18 thoughts: We have a Jason Heyward sighting, everyone. He can’t possibly be as bad as he was last season, right? Right? Oddly enough, I have Heyward at 257 in my rankings right now, exactly where he went in this draft. The 18th round seems like a good round to take a chance on him turning things around, right? Right? Come on, guys. I could us a little support here. If not for me, do it for Doug Anderson. I’d like the Josh Bell pick more if he hit for more power. He’s still a developing youngster, but he hasn’t displayed power at any level yet. I need more power from my first baseman, or at least more than possibly single digit home runs.

We’re 3/4 of the way through this thing now, and the rounds of obvious picks seem like distant memories. We are now in risk-taking and projection mode. With five rounds to go, I still need three starting pitchers, a catcher, and another reliever. Looking at my team compared to the rest of the league so far, I don’t hate it. Were this a real league that we had to play out, I would have to try and find some relief help early in the season, but relief help is always something you can find at some point. I was the last team to take an outfielder, taking Adam Jones as my OF1 in the 6th round. As some of you have pointed out, that is not ideal. But I think I rounded out my outfield nicely with some decent upside picks.

What do you guys think? Which teams and picks do you like and dislike the most?

If you want to talk fantasy football or have players you want Mike to feature, hit him up on Twitter at @mikeMaher or post a comment below!