What's that? Football has started?

Well, dang. Guess draft prep is over, then.

That's the best part, isn't it? Assembling your team? I mean, the Fantasy season is pretty much downhill from there.

You Fantasy Baseball owners know what I'm talking about. You've about reached the end of that hill. Shoot, some of you bottomed out weeks ago and have only been able to daydream about next year.

Allow me to help you with that.

In the interest of both filling the draft void and adding some structure to your fantasies (lower-case), I give you my projected first two rounds for 2017. These are absolutely final and won't see the slightest adjustment between now and April.

Just kidding. Brian Dozier could hit five home runs tomorrow and turn the whole thing upside-down.

Round 1

1. Mike Trout
LAA • OF • #27
2016 season
BA0.319
HR27
SB25
OPS.996
FPPG3.99
View Profile

His diverse skill set makes Mike Trout almost incapable of an off year. When he steals fewer bases, as in 2015, he hits more home runs as if to make up for it. When he hits fewer home runs, like this year, he steals more bases. Even when he's not the top hitter, he's so close that you don't really care.

2. Mookie Betts
LAD • OF • #50
2016 season
BA0.311
HR30
SB23
OPS.895
FPPG4.16
View Profile

Mookie Betts has become near Trout-level in terms of across-the-board skills, though he's of course less proven as a power hitter. His low average distance on his home runs may raise some doubts, even playing his half his games at Fenway Park, but like Trout, he can afford some slack in one area.

3. Jose Altuve
HOU • 2B • #27
2016 season
BA0.340
HR24
SB27
OPS.950
FPPG4.06
View Profile

Jose Altuve is clearly in the running to go first overall based on this year's performance, but have you noticed how his base-stealing has slowed with his surge in power? Looking for faults in a diamond here, but the most volatile categories, steals and batting average, are the ones that will carry him.

4. Josh Donaldson
MIL • 3B • #3
2016 season
BA0.284
HR34
R112
OPS.952
FPPG3.99
View Profile

Josh Donaldson is the only first-rounder on the wrong side of 30, which itself presents some risk, but he has performed at an MVP level four years in a row and has been a fixture in the best-player-in-baseball talk since setting foot in Toronto. If only he could steal bases, like the three ahead of him.

5. Paul Goldschmidt
STL • 1B • #46
2016 season
BA0.302
HR20
SB25
OPS.912
FPPG3.68
View Profile

Paul Goldschmidt can steal bases, and believe it or not, it has become his defining characteristic in a down year power-wise. He's sort of Betts' worst case played out, and hey, he's still a top-15 hitter in both points and categories. At 28, he hasn't had his last 30-homer season.

6. Nolan Arenado
STL • 3B • #28
2016 season
BA0.293
HR37
RBI121
OPS.934
FPPG3.95
View Profile

You could make a case for Nolan Arenado over Goldschmidt, especially if stolen bases aren't required in your league (e.g., any points format). After all, you'll have fewer choices at third base than at first base in Rounds 2 and 3.

7. Kris Bryant
COL • 3B/OF • #23
2016 season
BA0.297
HR37
R113
OPS.956
FPPG3.88
View Profile

Kris Bryant has been more or less as good as Arenado this year but strikes out 50 percent more often, which makes him a bigger liability. Of course, Arenado is the bigger outlier than Bryant as far as that goes, so I don't honestly worry about regression for the likely NL MVP. The dual eligibility is nice.

8. Manny Machado
SD • 3B/SS • #13
2016 season
BA0.305
HR35
SB0
OPS.918
FPPG3.62
View Profile

Speaking of dual eligibility, Manny Machado can be drafted as a shortstop next year, which ... er, would have meant more coming into this year. Still, shortstop and third base figure to be weaker than first and second base, and his production is only half a step behind Arenado and Bryant.

9. Anthony Rizzo
NYY • 1B • #48
2016 season
BA0.289
HR29
RBI98
OPS.928
FPPG3.64
View Profile

He's easy to overlook amid the Bryant hype, but Anthony Rizzo has been a first round-caliber player longer. His supporting cast will keep his runs and RBI high, ensuring that the home run category isn't the only one where he stands out.

10. Bryce Harper
PHI • OF • #3
2016 season
BA0.247
HR24
SB21
OPS.835
FPPG3.43
View Profile

Bryce Harper has looked much better since resting his balky shoulder for a week in mid-August, and of course, he was everything we drafted him to be in April. His strikeout-to-walk ratio shows he hasn't forgotten how to hit and maybe just needs an offseason to get healthy. We haven't seen the last of him as a top-five player.

11. Corey Seager
TEX • SS • #5
2016 season
BA0.319
HR25
RBI69
OPS.911
FPPG3.26
View Profile

A suspiciously low RBI total has muted Corey Seager's Fantasy appeal, making him perhaps better appreciated in real life, but at 22, he's looking like a perennial MVP candidate at a historically weak position. The slam-dunk first-rounders end with Pick 10, so why not trust in some RBI correction and continued growth?

12. Clayton Kershaw
LAD • SP • #22
2016 season
ERA1.89
WHIP.75
IP124
K150
FPPG25.29
View Profile

How Clayton Kershaw closes out this season will say a lot about the state of his back, which is the only reason he's not in the discussion for first overall. Then, there's the question of offseason surgery. By the time you actually draft, Kershaw may have risen or fallen 5-10 spots.

Round 2

13. Carlos Correa
MIN • SS • #4
2016 season
BA0.272
HR19
SB12
OPS.817
FPPG3.13
View Profile

A disappointment only by our unreasonable expectations, Carlos Correa is still ahead of where Manny Machado was at the same age -- and with a comparable ceiling. He won't ruin you at this spot even if he stagnates, and improvement is more likely anyway.

14. Charlie Blackmon
COL • OF • #19
2016 season
BA0.316
HR26
SB16
OPS.918
FPPG3.79
View Profile

Rotisserie owners may have preferred the 40-steal version, but Charlie Blackmon has become a better overall player this year -- and with home/away splits that suggest the unlikely scenario of a trade wouldn't ruin him. Just don't judge him for his counting stats; a pair of injuries pulled those down.

15. Miguel Cabrera
DET • 1B • #24
2016 season
BA0.309
HR32
RBI89
OPS.930
FPPG3.35
View Profile

Though he has actually reversed his downward trend as a power hitter, putting together his most productive season since his MVP-winning 2013 campaign, the league-wide offensive resurgence still pushes Miguel Cabrera to the second round. The fact he'll be 34 next year doesn't help.

16. Max Scherzer
TEX • SP • #31
2016 season
ERA2.78
WHIP.92
IP203 2/3
K251
FPPG20.88
View Profile

The best pitcher not named Kershaw is also the next most likely to put together a 300-strikeout season. Max Scherzer has excellent control, a terrific supporting cast and no durability issues to speak of, so the only question is whether or not you're open to taking a pitcher this early.

17. Joey Votto
TOR • 1B • #37
2016 season
BA0.318
HR24
OBP.434
OPS.965
FPPG3.53
View Profile

Joey Votto was batting .213 at the start of June. Let that sink in for a minute. His 2015 unfolded in a similarly unconventional manner, which can make him frustrating to own, especially if you count on big home run and RBI production from your first baseman, but the end results make Votto unquestionably elite.

18. Edwin Encarnacion
CHW • 1B • #23
2016 season
BA0.265
HR39
RBI115
OPS.898
FPPG3.63
View Profile

He'll be 34 next year and quite possibly with a new team, so already that's two reasons to rank Edwin Encarnacion behind four other players at his position. He's always drafted in the middle of the second round, though, and then performs like he was drafted in the middle of the first. Can't let him fall too far.

19. Madison Bumgarner
ARI • SP • #40
2016 season
ERA2.61
WHIP1.04
IP199 2/3
K226
FPPG18.80
View Profile

One of most perennially underrated Fantasy pitchers (which is weird given his postseason exploits) is gradually moving up the list if only by virtue of others sliding down it. Unless you think another deep postseason run would do Madison Bumgarner in, which would be nothing more than a wild guess, he's worry-free.

20. Daniel Murphy
1B/2B
2016 season
BA.347
HR25
K56
OPS.990
FPPG3.83

Probably the most difficult of these players to rank. Between his transformation late in 2015, his consistency throughout 2016, his well-documented mechanical changes and his longstanding contact skills, I'm mostly buying Daniel Murphy's production. But you can't look past the track records of the hitters ahead of him, especially with second base being such a deep position.

21. Brian Dozier
2B
2016 season
BA.280
HR40
SB14
OPS.929
FPPG3.88

If we were ranking players based on their second-half numbers, Brian Dozier would be the top overall pick, but he's so sold out for power, his fly-ball and pull rates ranking among the highest in the league, that he gives himself a thin margin for error. He's less combustible here and not an outrageous bargain given the depth at second base.

22. George Springer
TOR • OF • #4
2016 season
BA0.253
HR26
SB9
OPS.809
FPPG3.21
View Profile

George Springer isn't a surefire second-rounder, but if you're going to reach at a position, outfield is the one. Some weird ground ball-to-fly ball issues have sold him short power-wise, so I kind of like the pairing with Altuve, a risky power source, in Rotisserie leagues.

23. Matt Carpenter
STL • 1B/2B/3B • #13
2016 season
BA0.276
HR19
BB72
OPS.910
FPPG3.37
View Profile

Up there with Murphy in terms of difficulty to rank, Matt Carpenter is better in points leagues than categories, but if an oblique injury hadn't sapped his power here in the second half, it'd be closer than you think. Plus, he's the only bridge between the super studs and also-rans at third base, making him a player to reach for.

24. Chris Sale
ATL • SP • #51
2016 season
ERA3.04
WHIP1.02
IP201 2/3
K205
FPPG19.63
View Profile

His growing willingness to pitch to contact may have lowered his overall ceiling, but Chris Sale is still a good strikeout pitcher -- and one better equipped to handle an ace workload. He feels like a safer Round 2 pick than a year ago, if a less exciting one.

Notable omissions

Buster Posey
SF • C • #28
2016 season
BA0.287
HR12
K58
OPS.801
FPPG3.02
View Profile

Hedidn't disappoint with a second-round pick this year, but Buster Posey isn't the standout he once was at catcher with Jonathan Lucroy and Wilson Ramos closing the gap. Those three will still go early, but now that it's three instead of one, not as early.

A.J. Pollock
SF • OF • #16
2015 season
BA0.315
HR20
SB39
OPS.865
FPPG3.64
View Profile

Kind of a speedier but less Coors-enhanced version of Blackmon when he's healthy, A.J. Pollock needed a September for the ages to climb back into the second round after losing most of 2016 to a fractured elbow. That dream may have already ended because of a strained groin.

Corey Kluber
BOS • SP • #28
2016 season
ERA3.05
WHIP1.04
IP197 2/3
K208
FPPG18.97
View Profile

The next pitcher in line doesn't have the spotless track record of the first four, but Corey Kluber is a safer projection for the innings and strikeouts required of a Fantasy ace than Noah Syndergaard or even Jake Arrieta.

Xander Bogaerts
SD • SS • #2
2016 season
BA0.299
HR19
SB13
OPS.802
FPPG3.37
View Profile

You do know Xander Bogaerts is hitting .251 with a .698 OPS over his last 77 games, right? And seeing as his year-long BABIP is still .340, I'm thinking it's more a regression to the mean than a slump.