Paths to Glory: Building around Miguel Cabrera in Roto

Miguel Cabrera is the oldest player you'd consider drafting in Round 1, and with age comes risk. Scott White examines how your first six rounds might go if you begin your team with the Detroit slugger.

Editor's Note: The Paths to Glory series is intended to serve as a starting point for your team. As we all know, baseball drafts become unpredictable as spring training progresses, but the three options provided here should put you on the right path.

Miguel Cabrera is the only projected first-rounder older than 30, which speaks to how early and briefly players peak in the post-steroids era.

And some would tell you that Cabrera is beyond his peak, that his extended absence for a strained calf last year pretty much seals it. But it was the first ever DL stint of his career, and he still managed to win a batting title -- his fourth in five years. He was on a 30-homer pace at the time of his injury and ranked right up there with Paul Goldschmidt among first basemen.

Of course, he did play through injury for much of 2014, perhaps costing him a fifth batting title, so to say he's without risk wouldn't be a fair assessment of the situation. But if you're willing to take on a little -- and his history suggests it should only be a little -- you may wind up with the fourth-best hitter in 2016.

Clearly, Cabrera gives you a nice head start in batting average, so you can spend a couple rounds loading up on counting stats if you'd like. The Jose Bautista pick doubles down on the age risk, but if you fear Cabrera isn't the home run hitter he once was -- which I don't, but the numbers make the case -- the Blue Jays outfielder makes up for any shortages there. So does George Springer, while also providing some stolen bases and much-needed youth.

The categories balance well with that trio, but beginning your draft with a first baseman and two outfielders doesn't pay a second thought to position scarcity. You'll need to start filling some of those premium positions, and Round 4 just so happens to be the perfect time to take one of the emerging studs at shortstop, the most premium position of all. Francisco Lindor might actually be the preferred choice to Corey Seager as the safer bet for batting average and stolen bases -- probably your two biggest statistical needs at this point -- but Seager is the more likely one to fall.

You could continue to fill out your infield with a second baseman like Brian Dozier or Rougned Odor, but by Round 5, the aces are beginning to run out. And since you won't get one of the very best, pairing two lesser ones makes sense, especially since your hitter categories are so well balanced.

Presuming you selected Cabrera in the middle of Round 1, you're in a perfect position to grab the second-best pitcher in the draft, as scary as it may be. If making Cabrera your first-round pick seems risky, forgoing a second hitter in Round 2 is doubly so, but it may be the most logical choice if Bautista is already off the board. The other hitters you'd be most inclined to draft in that spot -- Joey Votto and Edwin Encarnacion -- both happen to play the same position as Cabrera.

But taking Max Scherzer in Round 2 does free you up to draft nothing but hitters in the four rounds thereafter. Adam Jones and Todd Frazier are both safe sources of power, with the latter also likely to contribute a modest number of stolen bases.

That's the main thing this team is lacking at this point, which make Carlos Gomez an ideal pick in Round 5. Of course, he's another risky pick coming off an injury-plagued 2015 in which is home runs and stolen base were more or less cut in half, and Yasiel Puig is kind of in the same boat. It's a shame the positions couldn't line up better in Round 2.

gives you that second hitter -- and at a position you actually need -- even though passing up Scherzer for him may feel like a reach.

If you're the type of owner who likes to fill the scarce positions early, this is the approach for you. By the end of it, you'll have both middle infield spots filled as well the best catcher in Fantasy, and you won't have had to completely neglect the outfield to do it. J.D. Martinez actually makes for the ideal third-round pick, joining with Cabrera and Posey to give a nice balance to the batting average and home run categories.

Unfortunately, this path does sacrifice in two areas: stolen bases and pitching. An a perfect world, Francisco Lindor would take care of the former -- he showed that kind of potential in the minors, but he's not even a sure bet for 20 based on the 12 he had in two-thirds of a season last year. Rougned Odor, like Martinez, offers more power than anything else.

If having Gerrit Cole as your starting pitcher makes you uncomfortable, you could pair him with a Jon Lester type in Round 6, as in the Bautista example, but there's something to be said for filling three premium positions early.