RADIO
On February 13, 2019, we assembled a group of industry experts to take part in the second annual RotoBaller Friends and Family Expert Mock Draft.
Our participants represented multiple sites, including:
- CBS Sports (Heath Cummings)
- The Athletic (Nando Di Fino)
- Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender)
- Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain)
- RotoWire (Tim Heaney)
- Mastersball/ESPN (Todd Zola)
- GuruElite (Ray Flowers, Vlad Sedler)
- and naturally, RotoBaller (Scott Engel, Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Real Talk Raph)
After the dust settled, we asked these fantasy baseball experts some tough questions about how it all shook out. Check out the full draft board at RealTime Fantasy Sports: rtsports.com/rotoballer
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The Big Board
My strategy for this mock was to _____
"Find a couple of aces early while building a base of high-average hitters with another plus tool (power and/or speed). However, I also wanted to venture outside my comfort zone, so I made my first two picks ones I might not normally select." -Alex Chamberlain
"Take the best fallen-value hitter and an ace starting pitcher at the 2/3 turn as my base and build a well-balanced squad. Grabbing three closers was a no-brainer, particularly in this landscape of closer committees." -Vlad Sedler
"Load up on HR and SB but address BA more urgently than usual while being flexible with pitching. I wanted one ace, though." -Tim Heaney
"Have a deep queue and order that queue in the order I wanted players. This is a smart group, and I knew I was going to get sniped often, so being prepared and having a plan mapped out was key." -Nando Di Fino
"Crush the souls of my opponents by disregarding ADP (standard practice), and drafting "my guys" where I felt it was fair and right based on personal projections." -Real Talk Raph
Call it a reach, but I'm glad I got _____ on my team.
"Yoan Moncada. Because he is going to hammer homers and steal 30 bases, while putting up a very good average, and nobody seems to be as in love with him as I am." -Nando Di Fino
"Kyle Hendricks, he solidifies my ratios with top-25 numbers on top of Verlander after stacking offense so that I can aggressively target K’s without caring as much about absorbing those prone to the longball." -Nick Mariano
"Archie Bradley... I believe he's got the stuff to close, and should be able to reach at least 20 saves." -Ray Flowers
"Gregory Polanco because he's being sorely undervalued now that his recovery timetable has improved. Think he still has 30-30 potential if his skills click." -Tim Heaney
"Nelson Cruz because he's the GOAT." -Alex Chamberlain
"Buxton in the 14th. I'd wait a couple rounds, but with the way the team was shaping up, I'm fine with it." -Ray Flowers
"Luke Voit. I kept thinking a decent first baseman would fall to me the next round but I quickly realized what a wasteland that position is shaping up to be in 2019 and I panicked. I should have just taken another pitcher at that point and settled for my 20th round pick of Yuli Gurriel at first base." -Pierre Camus
"Jon Lester. Because I really don't like him, but the value was too good to pass up, and I usually won't do that. I could've skipped him, gotten a bench bat, and taken Skaggs or Bundy instead later." -Nando Di Fino
"Kevin Pillar. I could’ve taken someone with more upside with so many OF available to round out that group with." -Nick Mariano
"Joey Votto. I didn't want him but he was auto-picked as my fat fingers couldn't search fast enough after my queue was exhausted leading up to the pick." -Todd Zola
I was shocked that _____ lasted so long!
"In a room full of sharks, I'm surprised Jesse Winker fell as far as he did." -Alex Chamberlain
"Brandon Nimmo - he's slated to lead off for the Mets this year, can contribute to four standard categories and may exceed 100 runs scored this season." -Vlad Sedler
"Peter Alonso ... the Mets' newfound urgency to win makes me think he'll be with the club from mid-April on." -Tim Heaney
"Jake Arrieta. Sure, he's in decline, but still deserves the benefit of the doubt in a relatively shallow league." -Todd Zola
"Anibal Sanchez, he’s a machine if healthy and could be a top-30 SP in the NL East with the Nats backing him." -Nick Mariano
"Jay Bruce because he's just a year removed from a 6-year run 30-100-85 average." -Ray Flowers
"Luke Weaver, considering last year's hype train!" -Real Talk Raph
The late-round pick that will have the biggest impact is _____
"I think my own Max Kepler will put it all together in 2019, but as for others, Luke Weaver in the final round makes for exceptional value." -Alex Chamberlain
"It’s either Chamberlain’s Ramon Laureano pick or his Trevor Cahill one. Great upside there!" -Nick Mariano
"Tyler White. He's going to be one of those batting average/power combos and he can actually play a bunch of positions, so he should be able to keep his bat in the lineup through his defensive flexibility." -Nando Di Fino
"Eric Thames in the 28th round. Nando got a guy who is one injury from a 30-HR season." -Ray Flowers
"Jake Arrieta, now that we know that he hid an injury in 2018, or my Pedro Strop, whose elite skills could keep Brandon Morrow away from closing all year." -Tim Heaney
"Keon Broxton is bound to go 30/30 in New York this year, am I right?" -Pierre Camus
