Now that 2013 has officially kicked off and fantasy football came to a conclusion, MLB addicts can finally come out from hiding and start preparing for fantasy baseball drafts.
Perhaps even more thrilling than the season itself is evaluating every player and assembling a comprehensive cheat sheet and draft strategy to win your league. Unless that’s just me.
The best way to train for draft day is through participating in mock drafts. By engaging in as much practice as possible, you’ll know what to expect for the real thing, and no difficult situation will catch you off guard.
Clearing out the calendars gives us all an excuse to draft away without feeling as nerdy for beginning months before baseball season. To get the ball rolling, let’s simulate the first two rounds of a 12-team mock draft.
This exercise assumes that the league operates under standard 5X5 rotisserie league scoring. Those in head-to-head leagues should not blindly abide by this listing.
Also, this is not a pure set of rankings. Staying true to a genuine mock draft, I considered each imaginary squad’s first-rounder before selecting its second payer. So after slotting a pitcher at No. 12, I avoided choosing another ace for No. 13 since a team should not take two pitchers out of the gate.
Now let the mocking begin.
Note: All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs