Round 1
Best Value: Jose Bautista. In this format, Bautista is a friggin beast. In this league, it would appear power bats who get on base a lot and minimize strikeouts are favored.. sound familiar? Yes Jose Bautista is the king of walking-not striking out and bat flipping. Bias be damned I was very happy to take bautista at 12
Worst Value: Non existent. I think everyone made good picks in this round. If I was forced to choose, I feel altuve probably should have gone in the second round, but as hard as it may be to believe, I think altuve is capable of even more then what he's shown the last 2 years.
Shout out: Carlos Correa. I had Correa ranked 6th in my pre draft rankings and he got picked 11th. He's very easily going to be the best SS in the league and SS is a complete joke beyond the first 5 or 6 players at the position. His counting stats might regress, but they might not. Im on the hype train, but there is some uncertainty here (sophomore slump) or I would have ranked him as the best value.
Round 2
Best Value: Miguel Cabrera much like bautista, I believe miggy has hidden value and we all know his upside. If he can even get back to hitting 30 bombs a year and staying healthy this will be a huge steal. So far miggy looks healthy in spring and we havent seen healthy miggy since 2014.
Worst Value: Dee Gordon. Much like altuve, I believe he probably should have been drafted later. I love Dee in roto leagues, but in this specific league I think his value is a bit hurt. Also, I don't think Dee is anywhere near altuve in terms of actual hitting skill so some regression may be in order. His speed is super legit, but his high avg is babip fueled and could come down. I think we saw the best Dee could be last year and he was the #5 second basemen in this league.
Shout out: Betts. I'm an absolutely HUGE fan of betts and believe he will eventually be a 300/400/500 guy with 30/30 potential. If that happens this year he's easily a first round draft pick, but the question is will it happen? I'm not sure. I just reaaaaaaallly like betts and have since he was in the minors.
Round 3
Best Value: Jake Arrieta. He was the #1 pitcher in fantasy baseball last year and he showed improvements in the second half of last year. How are we drafting madbum and david price above this guy (not saying it's a bad idea, just think arrieta is better). I don't think he's on the same level as kershaw, but I'd rank arrieta as the safest #2 pitcher in the league. Safer then sale and scherzer with less k potential.
Worst Value: Starling Marte. Thunder already hit the nail on the head. Marte strikes out a lot and doesn't walk much. In this league his production is hurt pretty bigtime. 1 thing going for him is he is still young with some power potential (I believe) and he is very consistent. I expect 20/20 with a 290 avg.
Shout out: Jacob DeGrom. This guy got picked after Matt Harvey, but I think he's going to be better then Harvey. The true ace of the mets is DeGrom.
Round 4
Best Value: Yoenis Cespedes. Surprised? I am too. Cespedes has always been a scary guy for me to pick because he is very slump prone and honestly I don't think he's ever going to fully tap into his potential as a hitter. To me Cespedes gets by purely on raw talent and has low baseball IQ. That being said, Cespedes was the #5 OFer last year in this league in front of guys like Pollock, JD Martinez and even Mccutchen. He doesn't strike out much and has he's built like a brick shit house. He may not be quite as good as he was last year, but I wouldnt bet against him.
Worst Value: Kyle Schwarber. The hype is strong with this one. But I'm not completely sold on him sticking in the majors this year. Marez will probably kill me for this, but the way I see it the cubs have a win now mentality and if schwarber's bat slumps at all he won't have a very long leash in the outfield as a - defender. As good as this guy is and the potential for him is incredibly high, I do think he could use some minor league reps at catcher and his swing has some holes.
Shout out: Miguel Sano. Ok so Schwarber was picked behind Sano, they're both weak defenders in the outfield, they're both HIGH upside hitters with some risk, but the difference for me is Sano is 100% sticking in the majors because he plays in the AL on a shitty team and I do think Sano has more power potential. If all goes well, Sano could be a BETTER version of Chris Davis THIS season. Im not a pro scout by any means but this guy is an absolute beast. 50+ homers in his future.
Round 5
Best Value: Brian Dozier. This guy is consistently underrated and I don't really understand why. He just keeps doin his thing and he will continue to do his thing this year. He ks quite a lot, but his on base skills and power will offset that big time. The #1 2b in this league last year AHEAD of Altuve, Dee Gordon and Cano.
Worst Value: Craig Kimbrel. For 1 I think this round was a bit early for closers, but if anyone should be picked this high it shoulda been Kenley. Nothin wrong with Kimbrel in terms of skill and he will probably contribute, but I just don't see how you could draft him ahead of Kenley or even a few other closers. Think it's obvious his career is on the downswing.
Shout out: Noah Syndergaard. At one point my favorite jays prospect behind Travis D'arnaud. Thank god we got Dickey for BOTH of them eh? All kidding aside, I think Syndergaard was the last LIKELY SP1 drafted and he's probably got room to improve. Im not 100% sold he has a higher ceiling then guys drafted ahead of him, and even King Felix probably could be better then him, but Syndergaard is probably the safest bet of all the young high upside players drafted in these first 5 rounds. For some reason his arm seems indestructible. THOR!
Round 6
Best Value: Jason Heyward. I think he found himself in STL. He may not ever show the kind of power he had earlier in his career, but I think he will be better this year then he was last year on a better team. The cubs are going to completely dominate the world and Heyward is in the 2 hole in that lineup. I wouldnt be surprised if he scores 110 runs with 70 rbi.
Worst Value: Brian Mccann. For 1 I think catching this early other then schwarbs and posey might be a bit high. For 2 Russel Martin is better and got drafted in rnd 13. For 3 BOOO YANKEES. For 4 injury history. For 5 Age regression. For 6 holy crap I just really don't like this pick.
Shout Out: Rougned Odor. Did everyone know this guy is still just 22 years old? He's shown over the last couple seasons his potential to put up huge months, but he remains inconsistent. I unfortunately don't have odor on any of my 6 fantasy teams, but he could be really huge.
Round 7
Best Value: Micheal Brantley. Huge steal. This guy may not have 20 homers in him again (I believe he does) but he's rivaled only by Miguel Cabrera in terms of pure hitting skill. Dude barely strikes out, hits in the middle of a decent lineup and knows how to take a walk. The injury is mildly concerning, but Brantley is a beast. Could be the steal of the draft.
Worst Value: Masahiro Tanaka. Now this guys arm concerns me. He still has ELITE command of his pitches, and that splitter is still going to completely fool hitters, but the scouting reports are in and his fastball is slow and straight. I think Tanaka is homer prone and his arm looks like it's going to fall off any minute. Also boo yankees.
Shout out: Ryan Braun. Because maybe he's healthy. He wasn't terrible last year or the year before when he was unhealthy and playing through injuries, so I wouldnt be surprised if this turns into a pretty substantial steal. As much as I hate Braun, he's still got good contact skill, plate discipline and decent power.
Round 8
Best Value: Zach Britton. The strikeouts aren't quite there, but he has potentially the most dominant 2seamer in the game and he's friggin consistent. I think he was the best closer available at this point and probably better/safer then a few guys picked ahead of him. Not huge on picking closers early, but this isn't exactly early. Good time to get Britton.
Worst Value: Billy Hamilton. Im sorry but he's not a big league hitter. Im not sure if hamilton will be anything more then a bench bat in the future.
Shout out: Jeurys Familia. Very close to choosing him over Britton here, but I just prefer britton. Nothing personal
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