- Draft Prep Tiers: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP
- Heath's Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts
- Scott's Top 100 prospects | Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts | Dynasty Top 100
Now's when the MLB cold stove really begins to encroach on us Fantasy Baseballers.
Look at the calendar. Pitchers and catchers report in a week. Spring training games start the week after that. We're seven weeks away from opening day. It's time to draft, y'all.
Or at least to mock draft so that our results have some time to circulate before the real thing. Mock drafts take time. We have only so much time to expend on them every week, and we have only so many weeks before the season begins. There's a schedule to keep.
And the schedule says it's time for our first look at the league-specific formats, beginning with the AL.
The problem? A players can only contribute in the league he's actually in, and in the case of a free agent, we don't know which league that will be. So we have to hedge, drafting each free agent like there's only a 50 percent chance he'll actually contribute in this format. Obviously, when he signs, that percentage changes to either 100 or 0, and his draft stock changes with it. But while in limbo, we can't offer a great approximation of where he'll actually go.
It's not a foreign concept. Normally at this time of year, there are one or two stragglers who force us to hedge in this way. But with the historic inactivity of this offseason, a full seven high-end Fantasy performers remain unsigned, along with several mid-level performers. Here's where the best went in this draft and where they might go if they do in fact land in the AL:
- J.D. Martinez: Fourth round, 36th overall. As a surefire AL guy, he might be a first-rounder.
- Yu Darvish: Fifth round, 47th overall. He'd be this format's sixth overall pitcher, if only we knew, and possibly a second-round pick.
- Eric Hosmer: Sixth round, 54th overall. Given the scarcity at first base on this side of the player pool, you might see him go as early as Round 3.
- Mike Moustakas: 11th round, 106th overall. The depth at third base allowed him to fall even more, but as a for-sure AL guy, he'd be a defensible pick ahead of Miguel Sano, who went in Round 5.
- Jake Arrieta: 12th round, 118 overall. Given the desperation at starting pitcher, the fact Arrieta is more often linked to NL teams no doubt contributed to him sliding this far. David Price probably went too early in Round 2, but in theory, I'd want Arrieta more.
- Eduardo Nunez: 13th round, 125th overall. Maybe if it was a categories league, Nunez's batting average and stolen bases would be more worth the gamble. With an AL club, he might have gone before Kyle Seager in Round 6.
- Greg Holland: Round 18, 171st overall. Another who's more closely linked to NL clubs, Holland's role is as up in the air as his league. If he's a closer for an AL team, he's gone in the first eight rounds.
So keep that in mind as you peruse the results. Also keep in mind the participants:
- R.J. White, CBS Sports
- Chris Towers, CBS Sports
- Scott White, CBS Sports
- Phil Ponebshek, Patton & Company
- George Maselli, CBS Sports
- Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports
- Jeff Tobin, CBS Sports
- Heath Cummings, CBS Sports
- Igor Mello, CBS Sports
- Adam Aizer, CBS Sports
And the scoring format:
Hitter Stats | Pitcher Stats | ||
Single | 1 pt | Win | 7 pts |
Double | 2 pts | Loss | -5 pts |
Triple | 3 pts | Save | 7 pts |
Home run | 4 pts | Quality start | 3 pts |
RBI | 1 pt | Inning | 3 pts |
Run | 1 pt | Strikeout | 0.5 pts |
Walk | 1 pt | Walk | -1 pt |
Strikeout | -0.5 pt | Earned run | -1 pt |
Hit by pitch | 1 pt | Hit | -1 pt |
Stolen base | 2 pts | Hit batter | -1 pt |
Caught stealing | -1 pt |
Let's get to it.
