One of the best discourses every single year leading up to the start of the season is debating where players should be drafted.

With that, there’s always the question, “Well, why draft X here when you can get Y here?” Typically, it’s because X is the better player with a longer track record.

But that’s not always the case.

If there’s one thing I say over and over – and will continue to say until my time as a fantasy writer is done – is that fantasy is all about finding value.

And that’s what we are going to do today.

Typically, you’ll take the X player instead of waiting for the Y, but in every draft, you’re going to have some perceived weakness on your team, which is where finding value in the draft can help.

For this exercise, I’m using The Bat projections to find a player at each position that you can wait on to get a similar projected value for a player at the same position who is going earlier in the draft, based on FantasyPros ADP.

Let’s get to it.

• Fitz’s Positional Primers
• Hitters to Avoid | Target
• Pitchers to Avoid | Target
• Latest Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

Finding ADP Values (2023 Fantasy Baseball)

Catchers

Alejandro Kirk (C – TOR): ADP 108.6
Tyler Stephenson (C – CIN): ADP 167

You know that I’m taking this seriously when I suggest passing up on a Blue Jay. I do love Kirk, and I believe in the batted-ball ability. But with Danny Jansen getting his looks and Brandon Belt in town to be the primary DH, we may see some playing time cut down.

Stephenson, meanwhile, is the primary catcher in Cinci and showed fantastic flashes until being dinged up by injuries in 2022.

First Base

Jose Miranda (1B, 3B – MIN): ADP 154.4
Josh Naylor (1B, OF – CLE): ADP 218

Miranda is one of my favorite players to draft this year, given his strong second half in 2022. What’s more, the dual eligibility helps his cause, too.

But the more I look at it – and the more I draft – I’m finding myself taking Naylor more and more. He’ll be primarily an outfielder this year, but for 2023, we have the eligibility.

Second Base

Gleyber Torres (2B – NYY): ADP 114
Jorge Polanco (2B – MIN): ADP 151.8

Like Miranda, the 2B I’ve been ending up with the most is Torres. We aren’t going to get his 2019 season, but he’s still going to be pretty damn good.

But at a discount, Polanco is just kind of sitting there after natural regression from his overperformance in 2021. Finding a balance between 2021 and 2022 is key for Polanco, and it’s what I’m expecting to see this year.

Third Base

Eugenio Suarez (3B – SEA): ADP 147.6
Ryan McMahon (3B – COL): ADP 212

Suarez was a forgotten man after his 2021 struggles, but he saw a big career resurgence in Seattle, shockingly after leaving Great American Smallpark. He’s going to give you big power again this year, but won’t others?

That’s the idea behind me taking McMahon, as he’s a guy whose Statcast numbers are outstanding, and I’m banking on them turning into better fantasy results this season than last year.

Shortstop

Wander Franco (SS – TB): ADP 87.2
Nico Hoerner (SS – CHC): ADP 186

This one may come back to bite me, as I still believe in the long-term outlook for Franco. Yes, I think he’ll ultimately be a better real-life player than fantasy player, but it’s too early to crown that.

Meanwhile, Hoerner is just a sneaky floor player who you can get 100 picks later after the drop-off at shortstop happens.

Outfield

Lars Nootbaar (OF – STL): ADP 192
Bryan De La Cruz (OF – MIA): ADP 282.4

This is a fun one because it features two sleepers that everyone loves. I was shocked to see how high Nootbaar’s ADP is now, and it’s kind of in the range that it eliminates any sleeper appeal.

De La Cruz, though, is holding strong at 282 and can offer the same value as Nootbaar based on projections nearly 100 picks later.

Starting Pitcher

Carlos Rodon (SP – NYY): ADP 41.4
Cristian Javier (SP – HOU): ADP 66.2

One of my easier fades this year is Rodon, as I don’t like to draft pitchers on a big contract – especially when they head to a bad ballpark.

Javier, meanwhile, is one of my favorite pitchers to target, and I think there’s a front-end SP2 upside with him. This gap isn’t huge, but it’s two rounds in a standard 12-team league.

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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.