2011 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
2011 MOCK DRAFT RESULTS (Monday, March 21, 2011)
01. Eric, 4th & Home
Being at the end of snaking draft with 45 seconds per pick is not a fun experience. Taking Pujols with the first pick is a no brainer. Pujols is awesome, but Pujols in a contract year… Dang! I got bit by the auto draft bug three times (McCann, Rollins, & Beltre), but none of those picks were bad for where they fell (#51, #70, & #90 respectively). I’m pretty happy with how my outfield turned out. Holliday is a stud, Heyward & Jackson have great upside, and Ellsbury should have a huge bounce back now that he’s totally healthy. After Grabbing Lincecum in the 3rd round, I waited a little longer than usual to grab more starting pitching. Fellow Giant, Matt Cain, will make a nice #2 and I found a lot of value in the later rounds. I’m lacking a bit in the strikeout department, but otherwise I’ve got a solid rotation. I missed out on the closer run and paid the price. An injured Andrew Bailey and Ryan Franklin will leave me hurting in saves category. Overall, It wasn’t a bad draft. Rotowire and Baseball HQ project me finishing in 2nd place and Mastersball has me in 3rd place.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Albert Pujols | STL | R1 P1 |
1B | Gaby Sanchez | FLA | R23 P1 |
2B | Neil Walker | PIT | R14 P10 |
3B | Adrian Beltre | TEX | R8 P10 |
SS | Jimmy Rollins | PHI | R6 P10 |
SS | Marco Scutaro | BOS | R20 P10 |
C | Brian McCann | ATL | R5 P1 |
OF | Matt Holliday | STL | R2 P10 |
OF | Jason Heyward | ATL | R4 P10 |
OF | Jacoby Ellsbury | BOS | R7 P1 |
OF | Austin Jackson | DET | R10 P10 |
OF | Nick Swisher | NYY | R12 P10 |
OF | Carlos Quentin | CHW | R16 P10 |
OF | Jason Bay | NYM | R18 P10 |
SP | Tim Lincecum | SF | R3 P1 |
SP | Matt Cain | SF | R9 P1 |
SP | Brett Anderson | OAK | R11 P1 |
SP | Tim Hudson | ATL | R15 P1 |
SP | Jaime Garcia | STL | R17 P1 |
SP | Jhoulys Chacin | COL | R19 P1 |
SP | C.J. Wilson | TEX | R22 P10 |
RP | Andrew Bailey | OAK | R13 P1 |
RP | Ryan Franklin | STL | R21 P1 |
02. Jason Toy, H2H Hombre
Brian says: Coming in first in the “Oh man, that’s the guy I wanted to take” category was H2H Hombre AKA Jason Toy. Undoubtedly the best infield in my opinion with a ton of power having Fielder, Uggla, Zimmerman, Hanley and V. Martinez all on his squad. The outfield is average or slightly below with Rios, D. Young and Wells as the top 3, probably shouldn’t have spent all 5 of his first picks in the infield. Starting pitchers you have to hope for some upside with the only true #1 being Zack Greinke who is on the shelf a couple starts, but again solid on the relief pitchers. Overall, good squad with an infield that will fill up the stat line.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Prince Fielder | MIL | R3 P2 |
1B | Freddie Freeman | ATL | R20 P9 |
2B | Dan Uggla | ATL | R5 P2 |
2B | Omar Infante | FLA | R21 P2 |
3B | Ryan Zimmerman | WAS | R2 P9 |
3B | Pedro Alvarez | PIT | R9 P2 |
SS | Hanley Ramirez | FLA | R1 P2 |
SS | Ryan Theriot | STL | R22 P9 |
C | Victor Martinez | DET | R4 P9 |
OF | Alexis Rios | CHW | R7 P2 |
OF | Delmon Young | MIN | R11 P2 |
OF | Vernon Wells | ANA | R12 P9 |
OF | Juan Pierre | CHW | R13 P2 |
OF | Jose Tabata | PIT | R16 P9 |
SP | Zack Greinke | MIL | R6 P9 |
SP | Chad Billingsley | LA | R8 P9 |
SP | Trevor Cahill | OAK | R10 P9 |
SP | Brett Myers | HOU | R18 P9 |
SP | Javier Vazquez | FLA | R19 P2 |
SP | Brian Matusz | BAL | R23 P2 |
RP | J.J. Putz | ARI | R14 P9 |
RP | Chris Perez | CLE | R15 P2 |
RP | Drew Storen | WAS | R17 P2 |
03. Brian
So I started the draft with Evan Longoria, Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz and Justin Upton, I was feeling pretty good at that point. I have to admit, the 45 second time limit had me rushing at times though. I decided at this point to go against the grain and load up on pitchers which looked like a value to me so I followed those four with Ubaldo Jimenez, Tommy Hanson, Jay Bruce and Paul Konerko. That’s where I started to go off the tracks wavering between best available and filling holes (Not a good idea). Rounds 9-12 were a blur of Martin Prado, Heath Bell, Geovany Soto and Matt Garza. Have to admit, I pulled the trigger early on Soto to fill a hole and then slapped myself when I saw Wieters go off the board 3 picks later. Couple of auto picks later I was rattled, but I think some late bargains like Chipper Jones in the 16th round and Carlos Zambrano in the 20th helped me stave off the worst draft label.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Paul Konerko | CHW | R8 P8 |
1B | Adam LaRoche | WAS | R19 P3 |
2B | Martin Prado | ATL | R9 P3 |
3B | Evan Longoria | TB | R1 P3 |
3B | Chipper Jones | ATL | R16 P8 |
SS | Rafael Furcal | LA | R15 P3 |
SS | Miguel Tejada | SF | R21 P3 |
C | Geovany Soto | CHC | R11 P3 |
OF | Nelson Cruz | TEX | R3 P3 |
OF | Justin Upton | ARI | R4 P8 |
OF | Jay Bruce | CIN | R7 P3 |
OF | Alfonso Soriano | CHC | R14 P8 |
OF | Magglio Ordonez | DET | R18 P8 |
DH | David Ortiz | BOS | R17 P3 |
SP | Felix Hernandez | SEA | R2 P8 |
SP | Ubaldo Jimenez | COL | R5 P3 |
SP | Tommy Hanson | ATL | R6 P8 |
SP | Matt Garza | CHC | R12 P8 |
SP | Ryan Dempster | CHC | R13 P3 |
SP | Carlos Zambrano | CHC | R20 P8 |
SP | Jorge De La Rosa | COL | R23 P3 |
RP | Heath Bell | SD | R10 P8 |
RP | Matt Capps | MIN | R22 P8 |
04. Ryan Hallam – Fantasy Alarm
Mike says: If Beckham and Sandoval bounce back, Ryan might have the best infield in this draft. I love the Kemp and Rasmus picks for his outfield and Snider and Seth Smith could be huge if they live up to their potential. Verlander and Latos 1-2 is solid. Morrow might be a WHIP killer, but the K/9 king is the real deal. I am seeing the old Jurrjens in camp, so a 21st round pick could be a steal for the past Top 15 pitcher. To round out the team, 3 solid Closers who “could” all be Top 5. Overall, a pretty balanced team.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Miguel Cabrera | DET | R1 P4 |
2B | Gordon Beckham | CHW | R13 P4 |
2B | Howie Kendrick | ANA | R15 P4 |
3B | Pablo Sandoval | SF | R10 P7 |
3B | Ian Stewart | COL | R14 P7 |
3B | Chris Johnson | HOU | R23 P4 |
SS | Jose Reyes | NYM | R3 P4 |
C | Buster Posey | SF | R4 P7 |
OF | Matt Kemp | LA | R2 P7 |
OF | Colby Rasmus | STL | R8 P7 |
OF | Curtis Granderson | NYY | R9 P4 |
OF | Andres Torres | SF | R17 P4 |
OF | Travis Snider | TOR | R20 P7 |
OF | Seth Smith | COL | R22 P7 |
SP | CC Sabathia | NYY | R5 P4 |
SP | Justin Verlander | DET | R6 P7 |
SP | Mat Latos | SD | R7 P4 |
SP | Brandon Morrow | TOR | R12 P7 |
SP | Philip Hughes | NYY | R18 P7 |
SP | Jair Jurrjens | ATL | R21 P4 |
RP | Brian Wilson | SF | R11 P4 |
RP | Jonathan Broxton | LA | R16 P7 |
RP | Joe Nathan | MIN | R19 P4 |
05. Mike, 4th and Home
Ugh, the auto-pick monster got me a few times. No, I did not want Utley or Ichiro. For this mock, let’s assume Utley is even 90% healthy and Ichiro is just 30 years old. Cool? Great. I think Tulow was a no-brainer at Pick 5 especially if you subscribe to VORP. IMO the drop-off at SS warrants it. Tulow will give me great stats across the board and then paired with Big Teix at 1B I laid a great foundation. I felt Mauer dropped, so getting the top C in the 3rd round was a steal. Cough cough…Utley pick. Cough cough…Ichiro pick. I followed up with back-to-back pitchers who will notch me about 400 K. At pick 76 I felt Kendry(s) Morales was a bargain considering it’s his bone and not a muscle or joint. 4th round value in round 8. Bank it. Might’ve reached a bit on Stubbs, but I needed upside with power and his low average would be compensated for by the guys before him. Closers started flying off the board so I nabbed the top one at pick 96 who will get me more K than most SP. Thank you.
The rest of the draft I tried to focus on value. Starting pitching can be had very late, so don’t reach too much when you can fill out your staff much later. Aviles, to me, was a steal as was Reynolds in the 13th! He’ll kill my average, but my power top to bottom is for real. A 21st round flier on Adam Lind? Why not. (To my surprise, Rotowire, Mastersball, and The Hardball Times think I have the best team. Baseball HQ thinks I’ll finish 4th and it’s far enough away to leave me 4th in overall projections. See here.)
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Mark Teixeira | NYY | R2 P6 |
1B | Kendry Morales | ANA | R8 P6 |
2B | Chase Utley | PHI | R4 P6 |
2B | Mike Aviles | KC | R19 P5 |
3B | Mark Reynolds | BAL | R13 P5 |
SS | Troy Tulowitzki | COL | R1 P5 |
C | Joe Mauer | MIN | R3 P5 |
OF | Ichiro Suzuki | SEA | R5 P5 |
OF | Drew Stubbs | CIN | R9 P5 |
OF | Adam Jones | BAL | R15 P5 |
OF | Carlos Lee | HOU | R16 P6 |
OF | Coco Crisp | OAK | R22 P6 |
DH | Luke Scott | BAL | R18 P6 |
DH | Adam Lind | TOR | R21 P5 |
SP | David Price | TB | R6 P6 |
SP | Dan Haren | ANA | R7 P5 |
SP | Clay Buchholz | BOS | R11 P5 |
SP | Colby Lewis | TEX | R12 P6 |
SP | Ted Lilly | LA | R14 P6 |
SP | Edinson Volquez | CIN | R17 P5 |
SP | Ricky Nolasco | FLA | R20 P6 |
RP | Carlos Marmol | CHC | R10 P6 |
RP | Brandon Lyon | HOU | R23 P5 |
06. Jonathan C. Mitchell, MLBdirt.com
Killboy says: Offensively, Jon filled up his roster pretty well with a good mix of power and speed. He started out with back-to-back outfielders which wasn’t a bad idea considering we have 5 outfield spots to fill. But, instead of taking a risk with Josh Hamilton in the 2nd, I probably would have gone with Teixeira. Since he waited to take a first baseman, he was forced to take Billy Butler in the 9th. He did follow up nicely with taking Aubrey Huff in the 14th. During the draft he mentioned how he thought grabbing Bautista in round 5 was a stretch. I think he would have had a bigger problem if he wouldn’t have taken a corner infielder by the end of round 5. He has the least amount of starting pitchers because he drafted four closers. His starting pitching isn’t very deep but I do love Liriano and Lester.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Billy Butler | KC | R9 P6 |
1B | Aubrey Huff | SF | R14 P5 |
2B | Ian Kinsler | TEX | R4 P5 |
2B | Rickie Weeks | MIL | R6 P5 |
2B | Ben Zobrist | TB | R12 P5 |
SS | Stephen Drew | ARI | R10 P5 |
SS | Starlin Castro | CHC | R16 P5 |
C | Matt Wieters | BAL | R11 P6 |
OF | Carlos Gonzalez | COL | R1 P6 |
OF | Josh Hamilton | TEX | R2 P5 |
OF | Jose Bautista | TOR | R5 P6 |
OF | B.J. Upton | TB | R8 P5 |
OF | Angel Pagan | NYM | R18 P5 |
OF | Dexter Fowler | COL | R21 P6 |
SP | Jon Lester | BOS | R3 P6 |
SP | Francisco Liriano | MIN | R7 P6 |
SP | Wandy Rodriguez | HOU | R13 P6 |
SP | James Shields | TB | R22 P5 |
SP | Anibal Sanchez | FLA | R23 P6 |
RP | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | R15 P6 |
RP | Jose Valverde | DET | R17 P6 |
RP | Joel Hanrahan | PIT | R19 P6 |
RP | Francisco Cordero | CIN | R20 P5 |
07. Killboy, 4th and Home
The early rounds in my draft went pretty well. My plan was to draft Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez in rounds one and two. Ryan Howard fell to me in round three so that was an absolute no-brainer. I was targeting Andrew McCutchen and Andre Ethier so I was happy with those picks. I wanted Jose Bautista in the fifth but he was taken ahead of me so that made my Ethier selection even easier. Derek Jeter was an auto-draft but really not a bad value in round seven. I drafted Michael Bourn in round 16 because I was a little short in the speed department. I was criticized for drafting Jered Weaver in the sixth but he was the next starter in my rankings and seven more starters flew off the board before my next pick. I am happy with the rest of my staff as they should provide me with plenty of wins and strikeouts. Jonathan Sanchez in round 18 and Josh Beckett in round 20 were great value picks. Overall I think my team is very strong and balanced.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Adrian Gonzalez | BOS | R2 P4 |
1B | Ryan Howard | PHI | R3 P7 |
1B | Carlos Pena | CHC | R17 P7 |
2B | Robinson Cano | NYY | R1 P7 |
2B | Juan Uribe | LA | R23 P7 |
3B | Michael Young | TEX | R9 P7 |
SS | Derek Jeter | NYY | R7 P7 |
C | Miguel Montero | ARI | R22 P4 |
OF | Andrew McCutchen | PIT | R4 P4 |
OF | Andre Ethier | LA | R5 P7 |
OF | Corey Hart | MIL | R12 P4 |
OF | Shane Victorino | PHI | R13 P7 |
OF | Michael Bourn | HOU | R16 P4 |
OF | Logan Morrison | FLA | R19 P7 |
SP | Jered Weaver | ANA | R6 P4 |
SP | Roy Oswalt | PHI | R8 P4 |
SP | Max Scherzer | DET | R10 P4 |
SP | Jeremy Hellickson | TB | R15 P7 |
SP | Jonathan Sanchez | SF | R18 P4 |
SP | Josh Beckett | BOS | R20 P4 |
RP | Neftali Feliz | TEX | R11 P7 |
RP | Jonathan Papelbon | BOS | R14 P4 |
RP | Francisco Rodriguez | NYM | R21 P7 |
08. Chris, 4th and Home
Very happy to see Votto fall to me at pick #8. I think he’s ahead of Miggy actually and you can expect similar MVP-type numbers this year in the potent Reds offense. Loved picking up Kevin Youkilis in round 4; it should only take him a few games to obtain 3b eligibility, and, if he stays healthy, he’s a lock for 95/25/100/.295. In leagues that use OPS, he’s even more valuable. I thought Chris Carpenter in round 8 was a steal, cant believe he fell that far, and Danks in round 15 was an even bigger surprise. Didnt see Jonathan Sanchez still on the board in round 18 when I picked Jordan Zimmermann (though I do like Zimm), and Ibanez in round 19 was just a throwaway pick, but Dustin Ackley and Danny Espinosa two of the last three picks were worthy fliers, given the remaining names to choose from.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Joey Votto | CIN | R1 P8 |
1B | Kevin Youkilis | BOS | R4 P3 |
2B | Brandon Phillips | CIN | R5 P8 |
2B | Kelly Johnson | ARI | R9 P8 |
2B | Dustin Ackley | SEA | R21 P8 |
2B | Danny Espinosa | WAS | R23 P8 |
3B | Alex Rodriguez | NYY | R2 P3 |
SS | Ian Desmond | WAS | R17 P8 |
C | Michael Napoli | TEX | R13 P8 |
OF | Shin-Soo Choo | CLE | R3 P8 |
OF | Jayson Werth | WAS | R7 P8 |
OF | Nick Markakis | BAL | R12 P3 |
OF | Raul Ibanez | PHI | R19 P8 |
OF | Rajai Davis | TOR | R22 P3 |
SP | Yovani Gallardo | MIL | R6 P3 |
SP | Chris Carpenter | STL | R8 P3 |
SP | Shaun Marcum | MIL | R11 P8 |
SP | Ricky Romero | TOR | R14 P3 |
SP | John Danks | CHW | R15 P8 |
SP | Madison Bumgarner | SF | R16 P3 |
SP | Jordan Zimmermann | WAS | R18 P3 |
RP | Joakim Soria | KC | R10 P3 |
RP | Brad Lidge | PHI | R20 P3 |
09. Jesse, 4th and Home
I might have been victimized by Auto-Pick more than anyone – 7 times from my latest count. Somehow when my name was announced it was already down to 10 seconds left. But enough excuses here’s my take. Picking 9th in a snake draft is tricky – you have a long time between picks and you sometimes risk reaching to get guys you want. I had immediate buyers remorse on my first pick of Braun when Wright went 2 picks later because there is a good drop off in 3B, but still Braun is the top OF so I didn’t do too bad. On the quick turn I saw that Halladay was far and away the most valuable guy available so I pounced. I quickly realized I needed to shore up the infield and was happy to have Pedroia fall to me in the 3rd. Again on the quick turn I saw my strategy shift a bit when I saw Lee was at the top of my board and knew my team strength would be pitching and speed. I’m not happy that Morneau is my starting 1B so I definitely think I let that position slip too far and might have taken Dunn over Pedroia. Again on the turn I stayed consistent and nabbed yet another SP1 in Johnson to complete my 3-headed monster of a staff.
From there, like Mike, I focused on value picks, constantly checking my board vs. ADP looking for guys who have slipped through the cracks. And since I had such a head start on my pitching staff I was gobbling up position players while most were in SP mode. Guys like Sizemore, McGehee, Gardner, Span I got 17-23 picks above their ADP. And since there was no way I could catch up in the power categories I went for speed (R & SB) at my MI/Utility spots with the likes of Figgins and Brian Roberts at pick #169 (ADP 111!) Late in the draft I was still able to round out my pitching staff with steals like John Lackey at pick #212 (ADP 172) and an insurance closer in my last pick in Nunez a steal at pick #229 (ADP 201).
Based on my own rankings I feel I have the best team (shouldn’t everyone?), but based on the competition and the technical difficulties I was up against, I’ll take my 4th place.
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Justin Morneau | MIN | R5 P9 |
1B | Derrek Lee | BAL | R12 P2 |
2B | Dustin Pedroia | BOS | R3 P9 |
2B | Chone Figgins | SEA | R14 P2 |
2B | Brian Roberts | BAL | R17 P9 |
3B | Casey McGehee | MIL | R11 P9 |
SS | Alexei Ramirez | CHW | R9 P9 |
C | Carlos Santana | CLE | R7 P9 |
OF | Ryan Braun | MIL | R1 P9 |
OF | Michael Stanton | FLA | R8 P2 |
OF | Brett Gardner | NYY | R13 P9 |
OF | Grady Sizemore | CLE | R15 P9 |
OF | Bobby Abreu | ANA | R16 P2 |
OF | Denard Span | MIN | R21 P9 |
SP | Roy Halladay | PHI | R2 P2 |
SP | Cliff Lee | PHI | R4 P2 |
SP | Josh Johnson | FLA | R6 P2 |
SP | Hiroki Kuroda | LA | R18 P2 |
SP | Gavin Floyd | CHW | R20 P2 |
SP | John Lackey | BOS | R22 P2 |
RP | Mariano Rivera | NYY | R10 P2 |
RP | Huston Street | COL | R19 P9 |
RP | Leo Nunez | FLA | R23 P9 |
10. Nate Marcum, 4th and Home Fan
Player | Team | Acquired | |
1B | Adam Dunn | CHW | R4 P1 |
2B | Aaron Hill | TOR | R9 P10 |
2B | Tsuyoshi Nishioka | MIN | R23 P10 |
3B | David Wright | NYM | R1 P10 |
3B | Aramis Ramirez | CHC | R12 P1 |
SS | Elvis Andrus | TEX | R7 P10 |
C | Jorge Posada | NYY | R19 P10 |
OF | Carl Crawford | BOS | R2 P1 |
OF | Hunter Pence | HOU | R6 P1 |
OF | Chris Young | ARI | R8 P1 |
OF | Torii Hunter | ANA | R13 P10 |
OF | Ryan Raburn | DET | R17 P10 |
OF | Manny Ramirez | TB | R18 P1 |
DH | Vladimir Guerrero | BAL | R10 P1 |
SP | Clayton Kershaw | LA | R3 P10 |
SP | Cole Hamels | PHI | R5 P10 |
SP | Dan Hudson | ARI | R11 P10 |
SP | Gio Gonzalez | OAK | R14 P1 |
SP | Mike Minor | ATL | R20 P1 |
SP | Edwin Jackson | CHW | R22 P1 |
RP | John Axford | MIL | R15 P10 |
RP | Matt Thornton | CHW | R16 P1 |
RP | Jon Rauch | TOR | R21 P10 |
Check out the projected standings at Mock Draft Central in all four projection systems (here).
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Great work guys! Too bad this wasn’t a real league I would have loved to see how everyone’s strategy worked out. Maybe at the end of the year I will put a post that takes our drafted teams and compiles the stats to see whose draft team would have won (with no moves). To my defense I was drafting in a H2H format haha.
Hey, we all were drafting in a H2H format too…
Yeah, end-of-year compilation would be a great idea! Keep us informed. Thanks again.
Damnnn, didnt think my team was that bad when I was drafting, but most projections have me in bottom half. Eh, I still like it, minus Ibanez. I probably got penalized for the two rookie picks, desmond, zimmermann, and lidge.
Chris, I guess you’re just not an “expert.” Hahaha…
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My team stinks!
So just out of curiosity are we going to try and do a 2012 mock draft once the season gets closer? I’m going to be throwing my rankings out starting tomorrow. So if you all are down again just let me know and I will be there!
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