FantasyPros Correspondent Draft (Fantasy Baseball)

Over the last two weeks or so, some of FantasyPros’ best and brightest MLB Correspondents took part in a fantasy baseball draft (it was a slow draft done over email – it’s February, guys, let’s not be animals). It was an exciting adventure, filled with reaches, bargains, and smack talk of the most refined variety.

The results of our 288-pick, mixed-league draft can be found here. But what fun are the results without some commentary? Because I’m pretty sure just publishing all our emails would be the worst thing ever, we’ve instead engaged in a little question and answer discussion. I’ve asked each participant a few questions about his team and some thoughts on the overall flow of the draft. Not to worry – I’ve turned that critical eye right on myself, too.

To make it easy to follow along, I’ve provided the Q&A for each correspondent in the order in which they drafted, and have provided their rosters below their names. We welcome any comments, tweets, or baked goods, if you can somehow make that happen. Enjoy!

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Matt Davis (@_mattywood_) – 1st Pick

C-Yasmani Grandal 1B-Hanley Ramirez 2B-D.J. LeMahieu SS-Addison Russell 3B-Kyle Seager MI-Ryan Schimpf CI-Pablo Sandoval OF-Mike Trout OF-George Springer OF-Gregory Polanco OF-Hunter Pence UT-Carlos Gomez P-Chris Sale P-Stephen Strasburg P-Zack Greinke P-Matt Harvey P-Kelvin Herrera P-Jeurys Familia P-James Paxton P-Drew Smyly P-Taijuan Walker B-Kevin Kiermaier B-Mike Foltynewicz B-Dylan Bundy

Q: Strasburg, Greinke, and Harvey are all coming off down/injured years, and people are perpetually worried about Chris Sale’s mechanics. Were you concerned at all about injury risk with your staff?

A: Chris Sale’s mechanics have never been a concern to me with his balance, torque and velocity being at an elite level, giving his mechanics a high grade. Sale has averaged over 250 strikeouts in his last two seasons while being able to stay on the mound, tossing 226 innings last season. Landing Sale in the third round didn’t bother me, as I wanted to ensure myself one of the elite strikeout pitchers before they were all gone. Being that I wouldn’t have another draft selection for 22 picks, the time to take Sale was now or never.

Injuries will always be a concern when it comes to Stephen Strasburg, however, I’m willing to take that risk. Strasburg had a career-best 30.6% strikeout rate, amounting to a massive 11.15 K/9. His 26.8% hard hit rate was also a career-best, and due to previous injuries, fantasy owners are seemingly shying away from Strasburg in 2017. If, and this is a big if, Strasburg stays healthy in 2017, he is a top 10 pitcher without a doubt. “If you’re not first, you’re last.” – Ricky Bobby.

2016 was and will be an aberration in Matt Harvey’s magnificent career. Sometimes players need to get knocked down and understand the importance of picking themselves back up. Harvey’s offseason has begun, working on his mechanics and balance. I’m going to bank on his 2017 being more like his first three seasons where he averaged a 27.0% strikeout rate and 2.78 FIP.

If you know anything about Zack Greinke, you know he is one weird dude. It has been well documented that Greinke has battled social anxiety throughout his major league career. Moving to a new state, being in a new clubhouse and having to deal with the pressure of the media asking about an enormous contract can wear anyone down. Especially someone that prefers to be comfortable in their own shell. Greinke is a darn good pitcher and the back of his baseball card can verify that. Landing a pitcher of his magnitude in the seventh round is a no-brainer for me. I’ll gladly take Zack Greinke as my fourth SP in any league and format.

Q: You loaded up on outfielders early with Trout, Springer, and Polanco in your first five picks, even though the league starts only four outfielders. How do you feel about your infield, and would you do the same thing over again if we re-did the draft?

A: I’m quite satisfied with my infield combination of Hanley Ramirez, D.J. LeMahieu, Addison Russell, Kyle Seager and Yasmani Grandal. This group provides stats across the board. Sure, I waited until the last two rounds (23.1, 24.12) to select my CI (Pablo Sandoval) and MI (Ryan Schimpf), however, both possess HR/RBI upside. If there are necessary adjustments, it will likely come from those two spots, but this is only a 12-team league, leaving plenty of potential via FAAB. Yes, I would do this again, as Trout, Springer and Polanco will stuff the stat sheets. Hunter Pence, Carlos Gomez and Kevin Kiermaier each contain a different set of tools that will come in handy, making my team flexible with plenty of depth.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick on my team is Matt Harvey. Landing him in the 10th round is just too sweet. Recency-bias is far too contagious, so I’ll gladly take “The Dark Knight” and his monstrous upside in 2017 with the 120th selection. I have two favorite picks overall and both came back-to-back in the third round. Chris Zolli landed A.J. Pollock (3.10) and Dan Harris selected Giancarlo Stanton (3.11). I’m very high on both and believe they could potentially finish the season as top-15 players in the overall rankings by the end of the season.

JP Gale (@GoJPG) – 2nd Pick

C-Wilson Ramos 1B-Wil Myers 2B-Robinson Cano SS-Francisco Lindor 3B-Adrian Beltre MI-Javier Baez CI-Maikel Franco OF-Mookie Betts OF-Adam Eaton OF-Christian Yelich OF-Jose Peraza UT-Nick Castellanos P-Kenley Jansen P-Danny Duffy P-Seung-Hwan Oh P-Kevin Gausman P-Andrew Miller P-Dellin Betances P-Matt Moore P-Jharel Cotton P-Ervin Santana B-Logan Forsythe B-Max Kepler B-Wei-Yin Chen

Q: Your relief staff is off the charts, but you went very light on starting pitching, drafting only six total, including the bench. Was that part of your plan going in and are you concerned about keeping up in the counting categories in pitching with so few reliable starters?

A: EVERY YEAR in mixed leagues I’m always enamored by the amount of pitching I like on the waiver wire at the end of drafts. Fantasy baseball is unlike all the other fantasy sports in that there is usually something intriguing on the waiver wire that you can use, ESPECIALLY in 12-team mixed leagues. 300 players (or so) are drafted, but there is still plenty of value on the waiver wire throughout the year. I believe I read an article recently that stated: “There are way more than 300 fantasy leverageable players in the majors. More like 600.” In fact, here’s that article! http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/rationality-will-ruin-you/.

I know that I’ll be very active when it comes to finding pitching on the wire throughout the season, so my goal during this draft was to eschew pitching as much as I could in favor of high upside bats.

When I did target pitchers, I wanted guys with a high-strikeout upside. My relievers are all solid and should help bring down the ERA and WHIP concerns with my staff. I don’t have any FOR SURE 200K guys, but here are some 2016 numbers for my top three starters:

Danny Duffy: 179.2 IP, 188 total Ks (17th overall in 2016), 25.7 K%, 9.42 K/9
Kevin Gausman: 179.2 IP, 174 total Ks (27th overall in 2016), 23.0 K%, 8.72 K/9
Matt Moore: 198.1 IP, 178 total Ks (24th overall in 2016), 21.2 K%, 8.08 K/9

Can ONE of these guys top 200 innings and jump into the top-10 overall with 200 Ks? It’s definitely possible. Ervin Santana and Wei-Yin Chen, my back-end starters, are projected to toss around 200 innings each with a 4.00 ERA. Pair those with my high-floor relievers and I think I have a competitive staff with plenty of innings to play with throughout the season.

Q: How did drafting near the turn (second overall) impact your strategy?

A: I thought it would force me to do some reaching for guys I wanted, but I kept finding value when my pick would come up and I didn’t necessarily have to reach. When I was selecting before a 20-pick swing, I always wanted to make sure I got a guy that might not make it back to me. That’s what informed the Eaton, Franco, Moore and Forsythe picks. I was referring to FantasyPros ADP data, NFBC ADP data and a few “industry expert” drafts during this mock, and I was consistently finding value when it came my turn to pick based on those reports.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: For myself, I liked getting Adam Eaton in the ninth round, Maikel Franco in the 11th, Matt Moore in the 17th, Nick Castellanos in the 18th and Logan Forsythe in the 19th. I think all of these players have a chance to be ADP risers throughout the month of March. I’ll go down with the ship on this prediction, but I think Logan Forsythe can hit 20 bombs and score 100 runs leading off for the Dodgers this year.

Other picks I like: I think Israel got a great pick with Kershaw at 9th overall (I debated taking him second, then I wouldn’t have taken another pitcher until well after the 10th round). Jamie snagged Randal Grichuk in the 21st right before me which prompted me to take Kepler with the next pick. I like Kepler, but I like Grichuk’s power a little more. I also like John’s picks of Byron Buxton in the 15th and Ivan Nova in the 21st. Both have some nice upside this year.

Jamie Mellor (@mindmagi) – 3rd Pick

C-Kyle Schwarber 1B-Todd Frazier 2B-Jose Altuve SS-Trevor Story 3B-Justin Turner MI-Jorge Polanco CI-C.J. Cron OF-Carlos Gonzalez OF-Khris Davis OF-Matt Kemp OF-Michael Brantley UT-Yulieski Gurriel P-Madison Bumgarner P-Carlos Martinez P-Dallas Keuchel P-David Robertson P-Jeff Samardzija P-Tony Watson P-Tyler Glasnow P-Lance Lynn P-Cam Bedrosian B-Randal Grichuk B-Jorge Soler B-Fernando Rodney

Q: You drafted Kyle Schwarber with the 51st overall pick, but he has an expert consensus ranking of 65. What was your thinking behind the pick and what are you expecting from the big guy?

A: My thought on Schwarber was the potential. With his likely duties to involve a lot of LF, he has a strong chance to be among the leaders in games played by people who are eligible at C, while accumulating less wear-and-tear from not having to actually play catcher 100+ games. This offers the potential of being less worn down for the critical end-of-the-season weeks that make up the playoffs in Head-to-Head formats. He has the power to be among the position’s leaders in HR and RBI while having a much higher projected batting average than the various power-but-terrible-BA guys who litter the catcher rankings past the top few. He also will be part of a strong offense which helps his floor.

I basically believe that as long as he is healthy, he will be among the top C-eligible fantasy assets and offers a large separation between himself and the #9-12 guys other league-mates will be forced to start in a 12-team format without requiring a top-36 pick that some other difference-makers at other positions require.  A KEY element before you draft him is to make SURE he will have catcher eligibility in your league (since his two games of the 2016 regular season were in the outfield).  At catcher, you should either take one of the top guys or wait until quite late in the draft.

One final note about the Schwarber pick. If you get him, his rare for catcher combination of power (HR + RBI) with batting average gives the potential for a cushion to take one or two premier power bats who have a weakness at batting average (Khris Davis, Frazier, Bautista, or late gambles on a Sano or Bruce) and/or major stolen-base guys who are limited in HR/RBI stats.

Q: Besides your top two starters, your rotation looks to be a little risky, counting on bounce-back candidates (Keuchel), guys coming off injury (Lynn) or unproven youngsters (Glasnow). How do you feel about your staff overall?

A: I agree that I have some risk attached to my SPs. Much of this was a byproduct of nine of my first 12 picks being on offense so 146 players had been taken with something like 42 of them being SP before my 13th pick. Added to the mix was the combination of there being a dwindling number of closers without serious questions and there not being a single closer on my roster by the time I picked in the 13th round which raised some concern about waiting any longer. That factor led to my using two of my next three picks to grab closers. After that, the dwindling number of rounds and having only three bench spots to cover 21 total starting-player slots made me eliminate any thought of going with a strategy of four or five more SP so I could rotate due to matchups. So I grabbed Lynn and Glasnow for the upside and grabbed Jorge Polanco for his eligibility at 2B/3B/SS/MI/CI. Yes, my starting pitching is definitely going to be something I watch with either excitement or dread at times this season.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick for my own team is tough due to the number of either upside guys or guys I was surprised to see there at certain times I took. Upside-wise, I feel like Kuechel could be a major SP bargain in the 9th round since he was 2015 AL Cy Young whose 2016 numbers likely were at least partially influenced by some arm issues he hopes are in his past. I believe that Lynn in the 18th round could pay major dividends if he is truly back. Guys I was thrilled (and even changed my intended plan in order to take) to have there at the round I took them were my outfield trio of Kemp, Brantley and Grichuk.

The rest of the league pick that stood out to me was McCullers in the 12th. King Felix and him were major considerations for me in the 11th round and may have been my biggest mistake of the draft when I let concerns over who I might have to start at 3B if I didn’t take Turner talk me into gambling McCullers might get back to me. I believe McCullers could have a huge year and can be had in double-digit rounds which makes him definitely worth highlighting to people before they go into their own drafts.

Roy Widrig (@rolewiii) – 4th Pick

C-Willson Contreras 1B-Paul Goldschmidt 2B-Brian Dozier SS-Jean Segura 3B-Jose Ramirez MI-Devon Travis CI-Victor Martinez OF-Ryan Braun OF-Odubel Herrera OF-Kole Calhoun OF-Hernan Perez UT-Sean Rodriguez P-Noah Syndergaard P-Masahiro Tanaka P-Aaron Sanchez P-Julio Teheran P-Alex Colome P-Sam Dyson P-Daniel Norris P-Vince Velasquez P-Mike Montgomery B-Jose Berrios B-Manuel Margot B-Matt Wieters

Q: Your first six offensive picks (Goldschmidt, Braun, Dozier, Segura, Ramirez, Herrera) all give you solid production in both home runs and steals. Was your strategy to go with mainly power-speed guys early on?

A: My strategy early on guaranteed balance. I won’t draft for speed early, as it tends to fade very quickly. So if I’m drafting speed, I need to balance it with power and on-base skills (Segura, Herrera). Right now Ramirez is my 3B, but Sean Rodriguez will probably get slotted in given the right matchup and such.

Q: After taking Braun in the third round, you didn’t select another outfielder until round 11 (Odubel Herrera). Did you plan to wait on outfield or is that just how the draft unfolded?

A: My only panic in the draft was how quickly the OF depth diminished, so for the entire draft, that’s where I needed the greatest value. Braun-Herrera-Calhoun isn’t top shelf, but they’re all balanced and don’t bring the team down in any particular category. Manny Margot and Hernan Perez might give some unexpected upside.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: For myself, I saw tons of mediocre pitchers taken before and quickly after Aaron Sanchez. He’s so much better, hidden away in Canada, and should have had legitimate attention in the Cy Young chase last year. For the draft overall, JP took Seung-Hwan Oh two picks after I took Alex Colome. I thought I could sneak Oh onto my roster seven picks later, but alas, no.

Dan Marcus (@DanMarcus3) – 5th Pick

C-J.T. Realmuto 1B-Freddie Freeman 2B-Dustin Pedroia SS-Brad Miller 3B-Kris Bryant MI-Brandon Crawford CI-Tommy Joseph OF-Starling Marte OF-Ian Desmond OF-Yoenis Cespedes OF-Miguel Sano UT-Ketel Marte P-Aroldis Chapman P-Jose Quintana P-Craig Kimbrel P-Ken Giles P-Tanner Roark P-Carlos Rodon P-Sonny Gray P-Jake Odorizzi P-Anthony DeSclafani B-Matt Shoemaker B-David Peralta B-Cesar Hernandez

Q: You didn’t draft a starting pitcher until the seventh round and didn’t take your second starter until the 12th round. Was that a conscious strategy, and how do you feel your pitching turned out?

A: Waiting on starting pitching wasn’t something I had planned on heading into the draft, but I really liked each of the hitters I picked in rounds 1-5. I grabbed Quintana in the sixth round, but with most of the pitchers going after him, I felt I could get similar value and wait a few rounds. That said, I would expect hitting to be the better part of my team but I think I have enough pitchers with good ratios (my closers should make up some of the strikeout deficiency) to be competitive in the pitching categories.

Q: Other than Starling Marte, you don’t have anyone projected for at least 20 stolen bases. Are steals a concern or do you think you did enough to be competitive?

A: Starling Marte gave me a solid start in stolen bases, and while I did not supplement him with another dominant base stealer, I feel that I did enough to be among the best in stolen bases. Ian Desmond, Brad Miller, and Dustin Pedroia will all chip in some steals and my late round picks of Cesar Hernandez and Ketel Marte could both reasonably be expected to steal 25 bases apiece.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: David Peralta was my favorite value of my draft. He was a hot name last year during draft season before an injury derailed him. He likely won’t be elite but a power-speed combo with a solid average is a nice get in the second-to-last round of the draft.

Elvis Andrus was a value in this draft. Young names like Dansby Swanson and Addison Russell have taken over the middle tiers of the position, which has left Andrus as a forgotten player. He is a safe bet for 20+ steals and scored 70 or more runs in all but one season of his career. That is a nice floor for production, especially where he was taken among shortstops in this draft.

Gavin Tramps (@_tramps) – 6th Pick

C-Welington Castillo 1B-Joey Votto 2B-Neil Walker SS-Elvis Andrus 3B-Nolan Arenado MI-Marcus Semien CI-Carlos Santana OF-Jose Bautista OF-Eric Thames OF-Ender Inciarte OF-Jacoby Ellsbury UT-Albert Pujols P-Corey Kluber P-Yu Darvish P-Justin Verlander P-Cole Hamels P-Kyle Hendricks P-Wade Davis P-Lance McCullers P-Cody Allen P-Michael Pineda B-Brandon Belt B-Shawn Kelley B-Chris Devenski

Q: You went super heavy on pitching, spending five of your first seven picks on starting pitching, and taking offense with just five of your first 13 picks. Is this part of your draft strategy generally or was it just about value? How do you feel about your offense?

A: My plan was always to start with two or three stud hitters and then load up with elite starters, before taking the biggest bats that were left (91st Jose Bautista, 115th Carlos Santana, 126th Albert Pujols). It is a strategy that has worked well in the past but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it in all situations. I was confident that most other teams would wait on pitching and there is an argument that the hitters in rounds three through six either come with too much risk or not enough quality to differentiate them from players available much later.

In a four-outfielder league, it was likely that there would be plenty of reliable producers (Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury) or high-upside, impact players (Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk) still available in the last couple of rounds.

I felt I could afford to wait on middle infield, and in fact I drafted Brandon Belt for my bench, before I filled any of my three MI slots. I could not justify an eighth round pick on a high-profile second baseman like Dustin Pedroia when a boring Neil Walker-type would be available 10 rounds later.

So to answer the second part of the question, yes I’m very happy with my offense and the Zeile Consensus Projections look favorably on it, ranking my team third in runs, home runs and RBI and fourth overall in the five hitting categories.

Q: You drafted Eric Thames with the 163rd overall pick, despite him having an expert consensus ranking of 236. Are you a buyer into his production in the KBO?

A: Eric Thames is probably the toughest player to rank this year and the experts are really divided with 118th as the best ranking and 312th as the worst. No-one expects a repeat of his 47 home run and 40 stolen bases debut season in the KBO but consecutive 40 home run seasons should not be dismissed. There is an opinion that KBO pitching is a similar standard to Triple-A, and 40 home run seasons in Triple-A are infrequent. As the Brewers’ first baseman, he has guaranteed playing time with the probable likelihood that he will be allowed to work through any early season rustiness. The Brewers attempted 237 steals last season, 20% more than the second-placed Reds, so Thames will be encouraged to run. I’m not expecting a 30 home run, 20 stolen base season but if it happens, I wanted it on my roster.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: I felt that I reached for a few players and looking at my team, no-one was drafted at a particular value. I am intrigued to see whether Welington Castillo’s power will be boosted by the move to Camden Yards. He was my penultimate pick and could lead all catchers in home runs to finish in the top-5 at the position.

Drafting with such esteemed company, it is difficult for sleepers to slip through. Eduardo Nunez, fresh off a 40 stolen base season, in the 15th round looks a great pick for Nick. I like JP’s Andrew Miller pick in the 14th round. I don’t think he will start the season as the Indians’ closer but there is a scenario where he finishes as the top-ranked RP. My favorite pick was probably Matt T’s Joc Pederson in the 17th round. He is only 24 years old and was a top-40 hitter with an .847 OPS. He already destroys right-handed pitching and there is a suggestion that the new face mask he wears against left-handers will help combat his platoon splits.

Matt Terelle (@supermt) – 7th Pick

C-Jonathan Lucroy 1B-Jose Abreu 2B-Jonathan Villar SS-Carlos Correa 3B-Manny Machado MI-Aledmys Diaz CI-Chris Davis OF-Nelson Cruz OF-Justin Upton OF-Dexter Fowler OF-Ben Zobrist UT-Joc Pederson P-Danny Salazar P-Rich Hill P-Marcus Stroman P-Jonathan Gray P-Julio Urias P-Drew Pomeranz P-Adam Wainwright P-Marco Estrada P-Luke Weaver B-Mike Moustakas B-Brett Gardner B-Curtis Granderson

Q: You didn’t draft a single relief pitcher, filling your staff with nine starters. Do you usually punt saves or was that just how your draft unfolded?

A: I usually tend to punt saves, at least during the draft, as I have a hard time spending a high pick on saves. I’ve found that every year there are several closers who either get hurt or lose their ninth-inning roles. This opens up save opportunities for other bullpen arms who are usually available on the waiver wire. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the closer situations around MLB and try to pick someone up once the season gets rolling.

Q: Speaking of starting pitching, you didn’t draft a starting pitcher until round nine and headlined your staff with two injury risks (Salazar and Hill). How do you think your staff turned out?

A: My starters didn’t quite turn out how I wanted. I had my eye on some starting pitchers in the earlier rounds, but they kept getting picked by owners ahead of me. I really wanted Corey Kluber in the third, but he went the pick right before mine. I didn’t want to panic and reach for guys too early, so I just kept holding off on the position until I found value that I liked. I’m not overly concerned by Salazar’s and Hill’s injury histories. Hill dealt with blisters last year, so at least there wasn’t anything structurally wrong with his arm. Salazar is still young and MRIs on his arm keep checking out, so I’ll just cross my fingers and hope he looks more like the Salazar of 2015.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick for my team was Jonathan Villar in the fourth round. While he may not hit 19 home runs again, his speed is real, giving me a 60-steal player to anchor my offense. His ADP currently has him coming off the board in the second round of many drafts, making him a nice value where I got him.

John Aubin (@johnaub44) – 8th Pick

C-Buster Posey 1B-Eric Hosmer 2B-Rougned Odor SS-Corey Seager 3B-Brandon Drury MI-Jose Reyes CI-Adrian Gonzalez OF-Bryce Harper OF-Stephen Piscotty OF-Nomar Mazara OF-Byron Buxton UT-Matt Holliday P-Jake Arrieta P-Zach Britton– P-Rick Porcello P-Kenta Maeda P-Felix Hernandez P-Francisco Rodriguez P-Raisel Iglesias P-Joe Ross P-Ivan Nova B-Jason Hammel B-Carlos Beltran B-Matt Duffy

Q: You were the first one to draft a relief pitcher, and you went with Britton over Chapman and Jansen. It’s splitting hairs, but why do you prefer Britton over the other two, who are higher in the expert consensus rankings?

A: It was a tough decision when trying to decide between the three closers. Britton had a career year in 2016. He led the league in saves and did not blow a single game. He also struck out more than one hitter every inning and induced ground balls on 80% of at-bats, which led the majors. Only 14.8% of his pitches were hit hard which was also major league leading. It will be hard to repeat the near perfect season. And I hate to draft on past performance, but Britton should be able to once again lead the majors in saves. The Orioles should have a good team and give him plenty of opportunities. I think Chapman may lose some save chances to Dellin Betances. And I am concerned about Kenley Jansen’s health. Those were some of the things that factored into my leaning towards Britton.

Q: Byron Buxton has been a huge disappointment in the Major Leagues so far in his career. What do you expect from him this year?

A: I drafted Byron Buxton with the hopes that he can fulfill his enormous potential. His September call-up last season was enough to give me hope that Buxton can reach the lofty predictions made on the former top prospect. After hitting just .193 with one homer in his first 63 games in the majors, Buxton finished the season strong by batting .287 with 10 home runs after he was called up. He needs to drastically improve on his low walk rate and terrible strikeout rate. If he can continue to grow and show that his September breakout was not a fluke he will bring power and speed. Buxton should start the season in center field and I expect that he will not hit for a high average and he battles with plate discipline, but could bring 20 HRs and 30 SBs to my lineup.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick in the draft is Corey Seager. I was happy to grab the NL Rookie of the Year in the second round. Seager is only 22 years old and should continue to grow and improve on his rookie season when he also finished third in the MVP voting. Seager finished fifth in the NL in runs scored, pounded a ton of extra-base hits and hit 26 HRs, which is the most ever by a Dodger shortstop. While he does not help much in the stolen base category, Seager is someone who should be viewed as an extremely safe four-category anchor.

My overall favorite pick is Manny Machado. I was hoping he would still be there at my pick at No. 8 in the first round but he got scooped at pick seven. Machado has both SS and 3B eligibility which creates great flexibility in lineups. While it would be nice if he stole a base once in awhile (0 last season), Machado did set career highs last year in HRs, RBI and batting average. There is no reason the 24-year-old cannot improve on last year and provide a 40 HR and 100 RBI season. Machado is an elite talent and fantasy owners should be targeting him in 2017.

Israel Katz (@IR7DJ2) – 9th Pick

C-Evan Gattis 1B-Edwin Encarnacion 2B-Dee Gordon SS-Xander Bogaerts 3B-Evan Longoria MI-Dansby Swanson CI-Kendrys Morales OF-David Dahl OF-Marcel Ozuna OF-Yasmany Tomas OF-Rajai Davis UT-Ryon Healy P-Clayton Kershaw P-Johnny Cueto P-Chris Archer P-Mark Melancon P-Roberto Osuna  P-A.J. Ramos P-Jerad Eickhoff P-Ian Kennedy P-Brandon Maurer B-Mike Napoli B-Orlando Arcia B-Zach Davies

Q: You didn’t draft your first outfielder until the eighth round (Dahl), and then didn’t draft your second outfielder until the 16th round (Marcel Ozuna). Was that your plan coming into the draft and do you think it worked out for your team?

A: The strategy for me was all dependent on who I picked in the first round. That first pick would determine which avenue I was going to take with my team. That means that I went into the draft with two separate strategies. Being that I drafted Kershaw at 1.9 and after the first tier of outfielders were off the bored, I was confident enough in the OF depth that I decided it was more important to build an infield first while waiting to pick outfielders that either have high upside or are one-category specialists, especially in a rotisserie league. I think it worked out well as my outfield is either one-category guys or high upside players, which was the goal after deciding to wait on drafting outfielders.

Q: Despite drafting Kershaw with your first pick, you nabbed four pitchers in your first seven rounds (Kershaw, Cueto, Archer, Melancon). With Kershaw being such a stud, do you think it made sense to keep loading up on pitching early and how do you feel your offense turned out?

A: It was a key part of my strategy going into the draft. I wanted to load up on either pitching or offense. After drafting Kershaw in the first round the strategy was to stock up on pitching and compete in all facets of it. Considering how hard it is to come by high-end pitching, I was willing to take the risk of drafting pitching early while depending on the depth of all the other positions. In my opinion, I think the offense turned out really well. I was able to obtain six players with proven power and RBI numbers, draft the rare stolen base guys with Gordon and Davis, while also complementing all categories with Bogaerts. Lastly, I love the high-upside, every-day players in Swanson and Healy.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick is solely based on what player I like the most so I would rather address what I thought was my best pick, Mike Napoli in the round of 23. Napoli is coming off career highs in home runs (34) and RBI (101). I understand his batting average will be suspect but getting a guy with potential 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI in the second to last round of any draft is a steal. In regards to another player’s draft, I really like Roy’s pick of Victor Martinez in the 18th round. Martinez is a career .301 hitter coming off a season where he hit 27 home runs with 80+ RBI, and a .351 OBP. I understand he’s limited in where he can play, but a hitter like Martinez can win you a championship on an 18th round value.

Chris Zolli (@thezman2010) – 10th Pick

C-Gary Sanchez 1B-Greg Bird 2B-Trea Turner SS-Didi Gregorius 3B-Josh Donaldson MI-Ian Kinsler CI-Matt Carpenter OF-A.J. Pollock OF-Andrew McCutchen OF-Lorenzo Cain OF-Andrew Benintendi UT-Jake Lamb P-David Price P-Aaron Nola P-Jamison Taillon P-Robbie Ray P-Luis Severino P-Greg Holland P-Garrett Richards P-Tyson Ross P-Carter Capps B-Glen Perkins B-Nate Jones B-Jose De Leon

Q: You filled out your team with some guys coming off injury-plagued/down years (Pollock, McCutchen, Richards, Ross) and a lot of young and unproven players (Sanchez, Benintendi, Taillon, Severino). Is that part of your draft strategy generally or is it just how your draft unfolded in this one?

A: Picking younger players is always a strategy of mine and, although I may have reached a bit on Benintendi. I see Sanchez as the top offensive catcher, like the upside of Taillon, and think that late-2015 and late-2016 Severino will be the pitcher that we see this season. As for the injured players, Ross and Richards are two of my favorite bounce-back pitchers, as Richards has looked like a solid SP3 at the worst when healthy and Ross was one of my favorite sleeper Cy Young candidates for 2016. Looking at Pollock and McCutchen, each filled my quota for 20/20 type players, getting them for 50 cents on the dollar.

Q: You didn’t draft your first baseman until the final round (Bird). Was he always your target or did you just miss on some of the bigger names?

A: Greg Bird could have been looped into the last question, but his nine home runs in September/October 2015 and .395 OBP in the minor leagues portend for a good 2017 season. While most took a stable option at 1B, waiting until the last round to select Bird seemed to be a solid move. That being said as well, Matt Carpenter does have 1B eligibility and will probably be my 1B for the majority of the season, moving Bird to the UTIL position.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: My favorite pick overall, if only because it made me Google him to look at what he has been doing for the last few years, was Eric Thames. While he fizzled out in the MLB, Thames’ massive numbers in the Korean Baseball Organization were enough for the Brewers to make him their starter at 1B. The pick of mine that I am the most proud of is Aaron Nola, as his 3.08 FIP, 23.2% soft hit ball percentage, 55.2% ground ball percentage, and 9.81 strikeouts per nine make him look like he could be a breakout star this season.

Dan Harris (@danharris80) – 11th Pick

C-Brian McCann 1B-Anthony Rizzo 2B-Daniel Murphy SS-Troy Tulowitzki 3B-Anthony Rendon MI-Jason Kipnis CI-Jung-Ho Kang OF-Giancarlo Stanton OF-Billy Hamilton OF-Adam Jones OF-Adam Duvall UT-Jason Heyward P-Max Scherzer P-Carlos Carrasco P-Michael Fulmer P-John Lackey P-Steven Matz P-J.A. Happ P-Sean Manaea P-Jim Johnson P-Neftali Feliz B-Yasiel Puig B-Alex Cobb B-Yangervis Solarte

Q: You drafted Billy Hamilton at pick 62, well earlier than his expert consensus ranking of 83. Do you think that a guy who is a one-trick pony is worth an early 6th round pick?

A: The benefit of a slow draft is that you have plenty of time to survey the landscape. There really wasn’t all that much speed left at that point (other than the late-round guys) and I knew Hamilton wouldn’t make it back to me. There’s a lot of debate over whether Hamilton’s second half last year (.293 batting average, .369 OBP) is the real him. Frankly, I don’t care. He has stolen 115 bases in 233 games over the past two seasons. If he can just stay healthy, he’s a lock for 80 thefts, and even if not, he’s good for 55. Drafting him there allowed me to essentially ignore steals for the remainder of the draft, and I’m definitely higher on him that his ECR in a rotisserie league.

Q: You were the first one to fill out your starting staff, drafting all of your starting pitchers by round 15. Was that your plan coming in, and how do you think it worked out?

A: Definitely was not part of the plan, and I think it was a combination of a few factors. First, I waited until the last few rounds to draft closers, because the draft is so early that there should be at least five to seven new guys available by the time the season starts. Second, drafting Scherzer and Carrasco allowed me to try to load up on offense in the middle rounds, and I spent eight of my first 10 picks on offense. Third, and really most importantly, it was just about value for me. Guys like Fulmer, Lackey, Matz, Happ, and Manaea aren’t super exciting (well, maybe Manaea), but I felt comfortable that they would all give me solid innings this season when healthy. I would not have felt all that great relying heavily on a lot of the starters who went after the 15th round.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: For my own pick, it was Adam Jones in the 9th round at pick 107. That’s 20 spots past his ECR, and I was ecstatic that he fell that far. Of course, Jones has started to decline, and he doesn’t run anymore, but he went 86-29-83-2 in what most people consider a really down year. I will gladly take that as my third outfielder. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Brian McCann in the last round at pick 277 (ECR of 165!). Always wait on catcher, friends.

For similar reasons to Jones, I loved Jamie’s snag of Matt Kemp in the 10th round (pick 118, with an ECR of 80). I debated Kemp over Jones, but ultimately felt a little more comfortable with the latter. Again, Kemp is a guy who gets overlooked because of his age and because he’s not the hitter he once was. But who cares? He’s still incredibly productive, and I thought Jamie got fantastic value.

Nicky Tapas (@nickytapas71) – 12th Pick

C-Salvador Perez 1B-Miguel Cabrera 2B-Jonathan Schoop SS-Eduardo Nunez 3B-Alex Bregman MI-Eugenio Suarez CI-Yoan Moncada OF-Charlie Blackmon OF-J.D. Martinez OF-Mark Trumbo OF-Jackie Bradley Jr. UT-Keon Broxton P-Jon Lester P-Jacob deGrom P-Gerrit Cole P-Edwin Diaz P-Alex Reyes P-Hector Neris P-Blake Snell P-Hisashi Iwakuma P-Robert Gsellman B-Josh Bell B-Domingo Santana B-Addison Reed

Q: How did drafting at the turn (12th spot) impact your strategy?

A: Because I was on the back turn with the first pick in the 12th Round (and last pick in the 11th Round), I was able to stick with an overall drafting strategy that I usually begin to implement in the middle rounds of my drafts. Specifically, I try to pick one consistent/safe player and then, with the next pick, a younger player with significant upside. As such, in Round 11, I went with a relatively safe pick in Jonathan Schoop followed by high upside Alex Reyes in the 12th (then Salvador Perez (13th) and Yoan Moncada (14th); and Eduardo Nunez (15th) and Hector Neris (16th)). While some of the upside picks may have been reaches relative to their ECR, I felt it was unlikely any of these players would have made it back to me 24 picks later given the talent of the fantasy owners who I was drafting against.

Q: You drafted Alex Bregman at pick 61, earlier than his expert consensus ranking (78) and before several more notable names at third base (Seager, Beltre, Frazier). Are you expecting a monster year from the kid?

A: I am expecting big things for Bregman in 2017 in that potent Astros lineup. There’s no question that Bregman was a reach for me in the 6th Round, but I didn’t want to run the risk of him not being there for me at the end of the 7th Round. I’m getting as many shares of Bregman as I can this season. He should have as good of a season as Adrian Beltre and Matt Carpenter with the legitimate potential for a much higher ceiling. As for Todd Frazier, I am not a big fan of his in 5×5 formats, particularly given his detrimental average and second half swoons which have cost me roto league championships in the past. With regard to Kyle Seager, expert consensus (and a close friend who is a fantasy expert and die hard Mariners fan) suggest he is in a higher tier than the aforementioned Bregman, Beltre, Carpenter and Frazier and I don’t disagree. If I had to draft over again, I would have taken Seager in this re-draft format, but given that all of my other leagues are dynasty formats, my mind was clearly focused there when I made the Bregman pick.

Q: What was your favorite pick of the draft, both your own and overall?

A: Drafting against a bunch of FantasyPros correspondents with access to the same ECR information makes it tough to get players who fall far from their general ADP. As a result, I found myself reaching more often than normal because of where I was in the draft (last pick). That said, I loved my Mark Trumbo pick at the end of the 7th Round (84th pick overall). His current ECR is 79th, so I did get him around where I should have, but I feel he will far exceed his pre-season ECR as he returns to Baltimore where he smashed a league-leading 47 home runs in 2016 in an Orioles lineup which remains the same heading into 2017. A third outfielder who can hit 47 homers with the 84th overall pick is more than fine by me.

I touched on him earlier, but Matt’s pick of Kyle Seager at the end of Round 6 (72nd overall) was an absolute steal given Seager’s current pre-season ECR of 48 and 30 HR, 100 RBI potential in that Mariners lineup. I feel it was the best value pick of the draft.

Dan Harris is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.