With Opening Day less than two weeks away, we are in crunch time as far as fantasy drafts are concerned. With the biggest weekend of the draft season coming up, I have you covered as far as my ultimate draft cheat sheet to help you crush your competition.
Bookmark this. Put it in another window. Have it handy for Draft Day. It’ll help you know which players I like at each position, my favorite picks in each round, the players I’m fading, and my overall strategy.
Let’s get to it.
And check out our other Draft Cheat Sheets:
- Joe Pisapia’s Fantasy Baseball Draft Cheat Sheet
- Chris Clegg’s Fantasy Baseball Draft Cheat Sheet
- KC Bubba’s Fantasy Baseball Draft Cheat Sheet
Get expert advice during your draft with our fantasy baseball draft software
Targets by Position
Catcher: Keibert Ruiz (C – WSH), Tyler Stephenson (C,1B – CIN), Elias Diaz (C – COL), Alejandro Kirk (C – TOR), Max Stassi (C – LAA), Tucker Barnhart (C – DET)
First Base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B – TOR), Matt Olson (1B – ATL), Pete Alonso (1B – NYM), Joey Votto (1B – CIN), Alex Kirilloff (1B,LF,RF – MIN), Ty France (1B,2B,3B – SEA), Brandon Belt (1B – SF), Luke Voit (1B – SD)
Second Base: Trea Turner (2B,SS – LAD), Ozzie Albies (2B – ATL), Ketel Marte (2B,CF – ARI), Ty France, Brendan Rodgers (2B,SS – COL), Kolten Wong (2B – MIL), Jonathan Schoop (1B,2B – DET)
Third Base: Jose Ramirez (3B – CLE), Rafael Devers (3B – BOS), Kris Bryant (1B,3B,OF – COL), Alex Bregman (3B – HOU), Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B – PIT), Matt Chapman (3B – TOR), Evan Longoria (3B – SF)
Shortstop: Trea Turner, Bo Bichette (SS – TOR), Trevor Story (SS – BOS), Bobby Witt Jr. (SS – KC), Willy Adames (SS – MIL), Brendan Rodgers, Oneil Cruz (SS – PIT), Jeremy Pena (SS – HOU)
Outfield: Juan Soto (RF – WSH), Bryce Harper (RF – PHI), Luis Robert (CF – CWS), Yordan Alvarez (LF – HOU), Teoscar Hernandez (LF,RF – TOR), Byron Buxton (CF – MIN), George Springer (CF – TOR), Eloy Jimenez (LF – CWS), Ketel Marte, Kyle Schwarber (1B,LF – PHI), Seiya Suzuki (LF,RF – CHC), Jarred Kelenic (LF,CF – SEA), Akil Baddoo (LF,CF – DET), Alex Kirilloff, Jo Adell (LF,RF – LAA), Tommy Pham (LF,CF – CIN), Riley Greene (CF – DET), Brandon Marsh (CF – LAA)
Utility: Franmil Reyes (RF,DH – CLE), Nelson Cruz (DH – WSH)
Starting Pitcher: Lance Lynn (SP – CWS), Logan Webb (SP – SF), Max Fried (SP – ATL), Charlie Morton (SP – ATL), Trevor Rogers (SP – MIA), Justin Verlander (SP – HOU), Shane McClanahan (SP – TB), Tyler Mahle (SP – CIN), Sonny Gray (SP – MIN), Michael Kopech (SP,RP – CWS), Patrick Sandoval (SP – LAA), Jon Gray (SP – TEX), Alex Cobb (SP – SF), Yusei Kikuchi (SP – TOR), Reid Detmers (SP – LAA)
Closer: Liam Hendriks (RP – CWS), Blake Treinen (RP – LAD), Jordan Romano (RP – TOR), Dinelson Lamet (SP,RP – SD)
Targets By Round (12-team League)
1st: Top five hitters, Bryce Harper, Ronald Acuna Jr. (RF – ATL), Mookie Betts (RF,CF,2B – LAD)
2nd: Freddie Freeman (1B – LAD), Rafael Devers, Luis Robert, Ozzie Albies
3rd: Matt Olson, Yordan Alvarez, Teoscar Hernandez
4th: Trevor Story, Liam Hendriks, Pete Alonso, Wander Franco (SS – TB)
5th: Francisco Lindor (SS – NYM), Nick Castellanos (RF – PHI), Byron Buxton, Lance Lynn, George Springer, Eloy Jimenez
6th: Logan Webb, Kris Bryant, Randy Arozarena (LF,RF – TB), Max Fried
7th: Alex Bregman, Charlie Morton, Ketel Marte, Jorge Polanco (2B,SS – MIN), Carlos Correa (SS – MIN)
8th: Edwin Diaz (RP – NYM), Alek Manoah (SP – TOR)
9th: Trevor Rogers, Justin Verlander, Jesse Winker (LF – SEA), Bobby Witt Jr., Shane McClanahan
10th: Kyle Schwarber, Blake Snell (SP – SD), Franmil Reyes
11th-15th: Tyler Mahle, Pablo Lopez (SP – MIA), Joey Votto, Willy Adames, Blake Treinen, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (1B,LF – TOR), Seiya Suzuki, Matt Chapman, Jarred Kelenic, Nelson Cruz, Sonny Gray, Keibert Ruiz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Michael Kopech, Jorge Soler (RF,DH – MIA), Brendan Rodgers
16th-20th: Hyun-Jin Ryu (SP – TOR), Alex Kirilloff, Andrew Benintendi (LF – KC), Kolten Wong, Patrick Sandoval, Aaron Civale (SP – CLE), Triston McKenzie (SP – CLE), Tanner Houck (SP,RP – BOS), Jo Adell, Luke Voit, Oneil Cruz
21st-25th: Kyle Hendricks (SP – CHC), Nate Lowe (1B – TEX), Zack Greinke (SP – KC), Jon Gray, Julio Rodriguez (RF – SEA), Carlos Carrasco (SP – NYM), Jesus Sanchez (LF,RF – MIA), Yusei Kikuchi, Tommy Pham, Brandon Nimmo (LF,CF – NYM), Alejandro Kirk, Jess Luzardo, Riley Greene
Post-300 ADP: Nestor Cortes (SP,RP – NYY), Max Kepler (CF,RF – MIN), Dinelson Lamet, Evan Longoria, Hunter Dozier (1B,3B,OF – KC), Nick Senzel (2B,CF – CIN), Rowdy Tellez (1B – MIL), Reid Detmers, Brandon Marsh, Miles Mikolas (SP – STL), MacKenzie Gore (SP – SD), Mitch Keller (SP – PIT)
Players To Avoid Near ADP
- Jacob deGrom (SP – NYM) (21)
- Starling Marte (CF – NYM) (24)
- Salvador Perez (C – KC) (31)
- Tyler O’Neill (LF – STL) (61)
- Adalberto Mondesi (3B,SS – KC) (72)
- Chris Sale (SP – BOS) (85)
- Cody Bellinger (CF – LAD) (92)
- Anthony Rendon (3B – LAA) (103)
- DJ LeMahieu (1B,2B,3B – NYY) (117)
- Sean Manaea (SP – OAK) (135)
- Joey Gallo (LF,RF – NYY) (148)
- Luis Severino (RP – NYY) (154)
- Lance McCullers Jr. (SP – HOU) (184)
Strategy/Advice
- Be willing to adjust the plan that you have going into the draft. Find fallen values and adjust accordingly throughout. It won’t go 100 percent as you have planned and you can box yourself in.
- Get your players. Use ADP as a guide but not as the be-all, end-all.
- Know your league settings and adjust your rankings accordingly. OBP vs. average and saves vs. saves+holds change a lot of values.
- Don’t get too flashy. The shiny toys can be fun, but boring veterans often are the difference-maker for a fantasy team.
- Leave an outfield spot open. Trust me on this. The end of the draft has a ton of outfield options and you’ll be dying to roster them.
- Prioritize speed and steals but don’t be foolish. There’s no need for pocket closers or taking a speedy player who is a worse player than someone you’ll pass up. Any strategy can work if you pick the right players.
- Compare a few different sets of rankings. Use mine, Chris Clegg’s, Eric Cross’, Joe Pisapia’s, or others from other sites. See who overlaps and whose values you agree with most. Use those as your main resource for your draft.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.