Like we said in our mock draft article last week, it’s never too early to getting your draft cheat sheet ready for fantasy baseball, and 2017 figures to be another fun (and frustrating) season. The “frustrating” part is why we like to start honing our strategy early and figuring out who we’d react to drawing different picks in different formats.
Every season, Howard Bender, one of Fantasy Alarm‘s top fantasy writers, organizes his “Mock Draft Army”. A series of weekly mock drafts featuring analysts from all over the industry — participating in a variety of formats — follows.
MORE: Fantasy Alarm 2017 Draft Guide
This time around, I was slotted in the 12th position of a 12-team, standard setup. Effectively drafting on “the turn” can often require some savvy strategy, as you are most likely going to miss out on the handful of elite fantasy producers that feature incredibly high floors. With that in mind, I went with a DFS-style approach, stacking up bats from one of the league’s deepest lineups that plays half of its games at the top run producing park in the majors — Coors Field.
Check out the full, 25-round draft results.
2017 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
1.12 – Charlie Blackmon (OF, COL)
Why not go right to the top of that potent Rockies’ offense and grab an All-Star-caliber table setter? Blackmon is a viable top-10 selection with the potential to go 30-30 and lead the league in runs scored. I will be drafting the Rockies’ leadoff man in as many leagues as possible.
2.1 (13th) – Trea Turner (2B / SS / OF, WAS)
Turner took the show by storm in 2016, slashing .342/.370/.567 with 13 homers, 14 doubles, eight triples and 33 steals over just 73 games. I do believe his home-run rate will regress a good bit, but the speed and swing are for real, as is his team’s lineup. Around 50 stolen bases and 100 runs are very real possibilities for Turner.
3.12 (36th) – Carlos Gonzalez (OF, COL)
Gone are the days of Gonzalez being a fantasy first-rounder, but the veteran outfielder can still mash. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Cargo has posted an .859 OPS with 65 homers and 67 doubles while playing 153 and 150 games, respectively. Do not sleep on Gonzalez just because his stolen bases have disappeared.
4.1 (37th) – Ian Desmond (OF / 1B, COL)
A new addition for the Rockies, Desmond brings a proven track record of production to Coors Field. Last season in Texas while playing solely in the outfield for the first time, Desmond put up his fourth 20-20 season in the past five years. He is expected to make the transition to first base in Colorado, making him a fourth- or fifth-round target for me.
5.12 (60th) – Chris Archer (SP, TB)
After building a strong offensive nucleus, it was time to fortify the pitching staff. Archer lost 19 games while finishing with a 4.02 ERA and 1.24 WHIP last season. Obviously those numbers do not indicate a fantasy ace. However, following a rocky first half, he returned to the form that led to a fifth-place showing in AL Cy Young balloting for 2015. Across 14 post-break starts last year, Archer posted a 3.25 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 10.1 K/9 over 91.1 innings.
6.1 (61st) – Carlos Martinez (SP, STL)
Martinez lived up to the hype and broke out in 2015 at age 23. He followed that up with another strong campaign this past year, increasing his innings from 179.2 to 195.1 while maintaining an ERA just slightly above 3.00. Martinez has supplanted Adam Wainwright as the Cardinals’ ace and is close to reaching that status in the fantasy world.
7.12 (84th) – Kyle Schwarber (OF, CHC)
Schwarber made his MLB debut in June of 2015 and proceeded to post an .842 OPS with 16 roundtrippers across 273 plate appearances during his rookie campaign. Headed into his first full season, most could not wait to snatch him up in the early rounds of fantasy drafts last year. However, he suffered a serious injury in the season’s second game and did not return until the World Series, in which he impressively went 7-for-17 with a double and three walks after a nearly seven-month absence. Schwarber will carry catcher eligibility in some leagues, which will only add to his appeal. Though even as just an outfielder, he has huge upside.
8.1 (85th) – Edwin Diaz (RP, SEA)
I typically begin looking for my first closer in rounds 8-10, and was able to land my pick to lead the AL in saves for 2017 at 85th overall. Diaz was sensational following his call-up to the bigs in early-June last year, posting a 2.79 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 88-to-15 K/BB ratio across 51.2 innings of relief. The rocket-armed righty took over the closer role in Seattle at the beginning of August and nailed down 18-of-21 save opportunities by season’s end. Approaching his 23rd birthday, the future looks quite bright for Diaz.
For picks 9-25, as well as the full draft, click here.
