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).