Here’s a look at Pat Fitzmaurice’s cheat sheet for 2023 fantasy baseball drafts.

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• Hitters to Avoid | Target
• Pitchers to Avoid | Target
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Fitz’s Draft Day Cheat Sheet (2023)

My Favorite Targets by Position

Catcher: William Contreras, Tyler Stephenson, Christian Vazquez, Gabriel Moreno, Francisco Mejia

First Base: Freddie Freeman, Jose Abreu, Anthony Rizzo, Rowdy Tellez, Seth Brown

Second Base: Jose Altuve, Gleyber Torres, Jonathan India, Jean Segura, Nolan Gorman

Third Base: Jose Ramirez, Matt Chapman, Justin Turner, Ha-Seong Kim, Josh Jung

Shortstop: Bo Bichette, Wander Franco, Tim Anderson, Willy Adames, Amed Rosario,

Outfield: Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Mike Trout, George Springer, Adolis Garcia, Brian Reynolds, Nick Castellanos, Alex Verdugo, Brandon Nimmo, Andrew Benintendi

Utility: Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez, J.D. Martinez

Starting Pitcher: Sandy Alcantara, Brandon Woodruff, Shane McClanahan, Max Scherzer, Max Fried, Luis Castillo, Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez, Joe Musgrove, Triston McKenzie, Chris Sale, Freddy Peralta, Hunter Brown, Drew Rasmussen, Luis Garcia, Trevor Rogers, Tanner Houck, Jose Urquidy, Eric Lauer, Grayson Rodriguez

Reliever: Ryan Pressly, Raisel Iglesias, David Bednar, Paul Sewald, Pete Fairbanks, James Karinchak

Targets By Round (12 Team League)

1st: Jose Ramirez, Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts

2nd: Bo Bichette, Mike Trout, Rafael Devers, Austin Riley

3rd: Sandy Alcantrara, Nolan Arenado, Jose Altuve, Shane McClanahan

4th: Brandon Woodruff, Matt Olson, Carlos Rodon, Shane Bieber

5th: Julio Urias, Max Fried, Adolis Garcia, George Springer

6th: Luis Castillo, Cristian Javier, Alex Bregman, Teoscar Hernandez

7th: Framber Valdez, Joe Musgrove, Jose Abreu, Brian Reynolds

8th: Wander Franco, Triston McKenzie, Tim Anderson, Gunnar Henderson

9th: Willy Adames, Nathaniel Lowe, Logan Gilbert, Alejandro Kirk

10th: Gleyber Torres, George Kirby, Blake Snell, Seiya Suzuki

11th-15th: Nick Castellanos, William Contreras, Amed Rosario, David Bednar, Brandon Lowe, Matt Chapman, Chris Sale, Pablo Lopez, Brandon Nimmo, Charlie Morton, Rowdy Tellez, Whit Merrifield, Vaughn Grissom, Drew Rasmussen, Tyler Stephenson, Paul Sewald, Jonathan India, Grayson Rodriguez

16th-20th: Riley Greene, Pete Fairbanks, J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, Jose Urquidy, Gavin Lux, Yandy Diaz, Seth Brown

21st-25th: Jean Segura, Trevor Rogers, Yasmani Grandal, Ha-Seong Kim

Post-300 ADP: Nolan Gorman, Alex Kirilloff, Eric Lauer

Players To Avoid Near ADP

• Jacob deGrom (25)
• Kyle Schwarber (41)
• Adley Rutschman (62)
• Eloy Jimenez (69)
• Logan Webb (99)
• M.J. Melendez (108)
• Chris Bassitt (124)
• Andrew Vaughn (141)
• Cody Bellinger (177)
• Lance McCullers (193)

Strategy/Advice

• The corner positions are thin on top talent, so it’s a good idea to take either a first baseman or a third baseman with one of your first three draft picks. Ideally, you’ll grab a first baseman and a third baseman by the end of Round 5 in a 12-team mixed-league draft.
• There is an abundance of talent at shortstop. Although it means passing up some sexy names at the top of the SS rankings, it’s wise to leverage the depth of this position by getting your top shortstop after the sixth round. Oneil Cruz, Wander Franco, Tim Anderson, Willy Adames, Carlos Correa and Amed Rosario all have average draft positions in the seventh round or beyond and are all good values. Franco and Anderson might be two of the best values in this year’s drafts, and they have eighth-round ADPs.
• Hitters are generally more predictable than pitchers, which is why I prefer to invest more heavily in hitters. It seems imprudent to invest heavily in unpredictable assets, and pitching is a volatile asset. This isn’t to say that you should avoid top pitchers entirely. But it’s possible to spend less capital on starting pitchers than your rivals and still be highly competitive in the pitching categories. If you spend less capital on hitting than your rivals, you’re unlikely to be competitive in the offensive categories.
• In two-catcher leagues, don’t feel compelled to spend up at catcher because of positional scarcity. A typical J.T. Realmuto season with 20 home runs, 15 stolen bases and a .270 batting average is undeniably valuable from the catcher position. But you can get those types of numbers from seventh- or eighth-round outfielders, whereas Realmuto has a third-round ADP. There are still stars on the board in the third round. Don’t sacrifice high-level production in the early rounds to get a positional advantage at catcher. And please don’t make the mistake of sinking draft or auction capital into two high-end catchers.
• Go easy on rookies. It’s fine to roster one or two of them. Don’t be the prospect hound who rosters six or seven rookies. The hit rate on rookies simply isn’t high enough to justify that sort of investment.
• If you’re in an auction, spend your money at a sensible pace. Ideally, you won’t ever have far more money or far less money than everyone else in the room. If you have too much money, you probably haven’t acquired your fair share of talent. If you have too little money, you’re in danger of getting steamrolled in the endgame. Pay attention to the pace of your spending.

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