RADIO
On Thursday, February 15th, we brought together an illustrious group of industry experts to take part in the RotoBaller Friends and Family mock draft. We'll be playing this out as a best ball league.
Our participants represented sites like:
- Creative Sports (Lawr Michaels)
- Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain)
- GuruElite (Ray Flowers)
- Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender)
- CBS (Heath Cummings)
- RotoExperts (Scott Engel)
- RotoWire (Vlad Sedler, Tim Heaney)
- Fantrax (Andy Singleton)
- and, naturally, RotoBaller (Nick Mariano, Kyle Bishop, Pierre Camus)
After the dust settled, we asked these fantasy baseball experts some tough questions about how it all shook out. The full draft board is available at RealTime Fantasy Sports: rtsports.com/rotoballer
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The Big Board
It may have been a reach, but I'm glad I got _____ on my team.
"Christian Yelich. He's going to be a top-seven OF and return second round value." -Vlad Sedler
"Greg Bird. He's got a fantastic hitting tool and he'll be batting third in one of the most insane lineups in the game." -Howard Bender
"Xander Bogaerts. He's entering his age-25 season and I believe that his thumb injury played a huge role in his lower power and average. I see him flirting with .300, hitting 15-plus homers and swiping 15 bags." -Nick Mariano
"Michael Conforto as my 17th pick because once he returns he will prove to be an outstanding value at that level." -Scott Engel
"Khris Davis...it caused controversy." -Lawr Michaels
"Aaron Nola. He's so dreamy..." -Kyle Bishop
If I could hit the "Undo" button, I would not have taken ______
"Zack Cozart -- I would have been just as happy with Marcus Semien a couple rounds later and still have reservations as to how his power is affected by the move to LA." -Howard Bender
"Ronald Acuna - I could have used a better lock-down third OF, but the draft still played out well in the outfield so it ended up being fine." -Ray Flowers
"Mike Zunino - most catchers just aren't worth taking before round 12. I might have taken Salvador Perez in the 10th, but of course he was taken two picks before my turn." -Pierre Camus
"Michael Fulmer, because Ohtani went the very next pick. (crazy to think that it's become a 'where were you when Ohtani was drafted' kinda feel." -Andy Singleton
Not that I'm jealous, but I really like ____'s team because _____
"Alex Chamberlain. He grabbed several guys I like a lot - Pham, Osuna, Jose Martinez - and nailed the early rounds." -Kyle Bishop
"Howard Bender has a good early balance of power and pitching." -Scott Engel
"I like how Kyle and Ray filled out their teams. Kyle had a great first four rounds, and his mid-round run (from rounds 10-15, roughly) is delightful. Most of Ray's first 11 picks are excellent in aggregate." -Alex Chamberlain
"Tim Heaney....he swiped six of the guys I was planning on taking. RotoWire on RotoWire crime, indeed!" -Vlad Sedler
I greatly respect _____ as a colleague, but I'm not sure what he was thinking when he _____
"Lawr, took Alex Colome ahead of guys like Roberto Osuna and Aroldis Chapman. Colome's swinging-strike rate fell from 15.1% to 11.6% last season, prompting a drop in strikeout rate from 31.4% to 20.6%. His SIERA rose from 2.56 in '16 to 4.05 last year. I'm not seeing it." -Nick Mariano
"Pierre Camus, took Jose Berrios in the 7th. It's the first egregiously early pick, in my opinion. Glancing at the grid, I see probably 10 other starters I would've taken sooner." -Alex Chamberlain
"Ray Flowers - he took Willson Contreras in the sixth round. If this were a dynasty league, that would be reasonable, but I don't know if Contreras is an elite hitter just yet." -Pierre Camus
"Scott Engel -- drafted AJ Pollock in the third round. We continue to overrate the need for speed at the front end of a draft, but if you do, then at least overdraft someone with a better health track record." -Howard Bender
I was shocked that _____ lasted so long!
"Ryan Zimmerman ... Where I got him, there's little risk in hoping he has another season of 25-plus homers with run production befitting the Nationals' stacked lineup." -Tim Heaney
"Jake Lamb. Humidor or not, Lamb falling outside the top 250 (!!!) is crazytown. I had 3B well covered and thought he was already off the board anyway, so this is clearly everyone's fault but mine." -Kyle Bishop
"Evan Longoria - not that I expect from huge turnaround in SF, but he's stable in so many ways." -Ray Flowers
"Eric Hosmer" -Nick Mariano
"Kyle Hendricks" -Lawr Michaels
The late-round pick that will have the biggest impact is _____
"Jose Martinez and Derek Fisher." -Vlad Sedler
"Sean Manaea, Alex Reyes, and Joe Musgrove are all guys I'm betting the farm on." -Andy Singleton
"Aside from Lamb, probably Willie Calhoun. I might even prefer Calhoun to Lamb. Super-boring honorable mentions: Todd Frazier, Kendrys Morales, Evan Longoria. Wild cards: Tyler Glasnow, Nick Senzel, Derek Fisher." -Alex Chamberlain
"Maikel Franco. I believe a rebound is coming. His power is undeniable, and the issues he had last year don't fit with the stellar plate discipline he's had most of his professional career." -Tim Heaney
"Ryan McMahon - he's being given the chance to become the regular first baseman. He's the type of player you take at that point in the draft, with tremendous upside." -Pierre Camus
"Yoshihisa Hirano -- Will easily lead the DBacks in saves this year and could potentially finish top 5 in all of MLB." -Howard Bender
"Fernando Rodney's gonna somehow save 40 games again." -Kyle Bishop
"David Dahl. Hey, one can dream, can't he?" -Ray Flowers
In best-ball format, _____ is going to be a league-winner for me
"Nick Senzel." -Howard Bender
"Alex Reyes." -Vlad Sedler
"Chad Green 100%" -Kyle Bishop
"Brad Hand. The Saves will add up, and the elite ratios will matter." -Andy Singleton
"Nick Castellanos. Qualifies at two spots, plays daily, and could improve on last year's numbers" -Ray Flowers
"Dinelson Lamet - he may have the occasional wild start, but when he's on, he can be electric and rack up strikeouts. I was happy with where I got him even if this were a standard roto league, but in BB format, it's even better." -Pierre Camus
"Ian Desmond. 1B/OF eligibility for roster versatility, 20-20 potential, Coors Field for (hopefully) a full season to make up for his groundball tendencies. He could become my MVP." -Tim Heaney
