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The 2018 MLB season is approaching ever faster and draft season is already here! RotoBaller recently gathered 12 of our baseball writers to conduct a 23-round mock draft in order to evaluate current ADP values. We will break down those draft results in detail throughout the week.
This article will take a look at rounds 5-9 of our early mock draft. The mock draft was for a traditional 5X5 league, but rules did call for a two-catcher format, much to the chagrin of our staff. These were the owners, in draft order: Chris Zolli, Harris Yudin, Troy Klauder, Kevin Luchansky, Pierre Camus, Max Petrie, Nick Mariano, Max Brill, Connor McEleney, Kyle Bishop, Mario Hernandez, and Andrew Le.
To start with Harris' breakdown of Round 1, click here and then follow up with Chris' recap of rounds 2-4. You can also see the full draft results here, which took place on RT Sports.
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RotoBaller Mock Results
Round 5
The round started with a slew of power bats flying off the board. Edwin Encarnacion, Yoenis Cespedes, Jonathan Schoop, and Robinson Cano are known commodities that should provide a high floor for their owners. Things got interesting when Nick Mariano took a chance on Miguel Cabrera at the 55th overall pick, far exceeding his current NFBC ADP of 90. If 2017 proves to be a fluke and vintage Miggy returns, this could actually be a steal, but it's a big question mark for an aging slugger so early in the draft. His OPS has dropped in two straight seasons, down to a lowly .728 last year.
Alex Bregman was taken later here than in most drafts, but it's where he should be. Bregman's ADP will benefit from recency bias, as anyone who watched the World Series will remember his two homers and five RBI. He didn't exactly have a breakout regular season, however, as he failed to deliver either 20 HR or SB and hit a good-not-great .284. He's an exciting young player for sure, but our writers were wise not to overpay for potential.
Yu Darvish is still without a home, but no matter where he winds up he should be an elite SP. He had kept a strikeout rate about 30% for three straight seasons and finished at a 30.2% K% with the Dodgers. If he lands in the NL, it can only help.
Round 6
The first real reach of this draft goes to Mario Hernandez with his selection of Jake Lamb with the second pick of the sixth round. He hit 30 bombs and drove in 105 runs, proving 2016's power surge was no fluke, but that comes with a .249 average and 152 strikeouts, which hurts him a bit in points leagues. Lamb is a solid 3B for sure, but the increasing prevalence of power bats available in the middle rounds somewhat minimizes Lamb's value.
What up, Pham? Kyle Bishop was the one to pull the trigger on Tommy Pham, one pick after Lamb. It's hard to call him a reach because the thought of getting a .300 hitter with 25-25 potential is hard to pass up. We have to remember that this season looks like a complete outlier on Pham's otherwise lackluster resume and he'll start this year on the wrong side of 30. This pick will turn out to be either brilliant or terrible.
At the tail end of the round, Chris Zolli saved me from myself in the next round by acquiring Byron Buxton. The enigmatic prospect also has tantalizing talent, but hasn't proven he can produce on a regular basis. This is about as boom-bust as you can get, but if you want to take a chance on Buxton, you can't wait much later than this.
Round 7
It's quite a juxtaposition to see Billy Hamilton last until the seventh round in our draft, whereas he was taken in the third round in this month's FSTA draft. His ADP will be all over the place depending on how conservative your leaguemates are on draft day. This group decided he wasn't worth burning an early pick on, until Max Petrie decided to corner the market by adding BHam to his earlier picks of Paul Goldschmidt and Justin Upton, before sealing the deal with Whit Merrifield a round later.
At the time of this draft, Lorenzo Cain was not yet a Brewer. His selection by Andrew Le could prove to be a bargain relative to an ADP that's sure to climb. The Brewers ranked second in stolen base attempts last season, down a tick from 2016 when they easily led the league in that area. With Wil Myers getting selected earlier in the round, it appears that speed will become a rare commodity around the 90th pick or so.
Witnessing Aaron Nola selected before Jose Quintana might be a surprise, but Kyle was just not going to be denied his home team pick. He's sure to provide a strong K rate... for the 10 games he's healthy.
Round 8
The question of how long Shohei Ohtani would last was finally answered with the 86th pick. His selection immediately drew some disdain from other owners who had him queued up in the eighth round as well. The starting pitching at this level of the draft is less than desirable, as some players with good numbers from a year ago also come with major warts, or in the case of Rich Hill, blisters. Zack Godley was a waiver wire savior last season, but must prove that he can keep it up.
Matt Carpenter's 2017 was a huge disappointment, but it's obvious injuries were to blame for his sudden decline. He should bring great value and multi-position eligibility to round out any infield. Mike Moustakas, on the other hand, is still a question mark due to his sketchy track record and unknown landing spot for this season.
Round 9
And then the closers started to come off the board. Aroldis Chapman is the first pick of the ninth round and Roberto Osuna was the 10th pick of the round. We also saw some of the injury-plagued hitters of last year find a home. Adam Eaton and David Dahl sandwiched the 100th overall pick, with Eaton taken by yours truly. He's a player that inherits the leadoff spot and starting CF job for a legitimate contender; he can contribute across all categories and should bring great value compared to a player like Gregory Polanco who went a round earlier.
The ninth round ended with a Pirate I'm much more bullish on - Josh Bell. In any normal year, Bell would have garnered real consideration for NL Rookie of the Year, but any hope of that award was squashed the moment Cody Bellinger was called up to the majors. He became the 10th first baseman to be drafted by our RotoBaller staff, which indicates how much risk there is in being the last to draft the position in a league of 12 or more teams.
