2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep: Dynasty startup mock draft, 12-team Rotisserie
Dynasty leagues offer Fantasy owners their best chance of simulating the GM experience -- of building upon a roster year after year and attaching themselves to players for the long haul.
But it has to start somewhere. And as is typically the case in Fantasy sports, that somewhere is the draft.
Twelve of the industry's brightest gathered to show us what such a draft might look like, with standard 5x5 Rotisserie scoring in mind, and they didn't hold back.
Phil Ponebshek, Patton & Company
Adam Aizer, CBS Sports
Danny Cross, Creativesports
Scott White, CBS Sports
Jeff Tobin, CBS Sports
Mike Kuchera, The Fantasy Man
Kevin Jebens, Baseball Prospectus
Chris Towers, CBS Sports
Lawr Michaels, Creativesports
Paul Martin, Lenny Melnick Fantasy Sports
Keith Farnsworth, Baseball Prospectus
Ralph Lifshitz, Razzball
Top prospects went uncomfortably early. Aging veterans went uncomfortably late.
Me, I mostly stuck to my dynasty rankings for the first nine rounds or so, which I think put me in a decent position to compete in the here and now. I don't feel like I got left out of the prospect pursuit either. Even waiting until Round 10 to draft my first, I still landed Brendan Rodgers, who's 10th in my top 100, and Kyle Tucker, who's 15th. No, I don't like either as much as Vladimir Guerrero, who went at the end of Round 3, but ... man, they're prospects. Who knows?
That's my biggest takeaway from this draft: It's one thing to get shut out of the elite prospects altogether, but reaching for your favorites is a sure way to forfeit value -- serious value. And if we're talking about two prospects in roughly the same tier, you're not smart enough to know which ones will hit and which ones will miss. Folks whose livelihood depends on it aren't, so how are you?
One thing to keep in mind: There are no dedicated minor-league spots in this league, so every minor-leaguer taken is a bench spot forfeited in the near-term. For a prospect on the verge of debuting, like Gleyber Torres, it's not a big deal, but how long is an owner willing to wait for 20-year-old Taylor Trammell, who's entering his second season of A-ball? If he's his only prospect, maybe as long as it takes, but if he's one of four, it's much harder to justify.
Just something to keep in mind.