Daily Dr. Roto—January 15, 2020
Opening Rounds of FSGA Fantasy Baseball Experts Draft
Rounds 1-2 | Rounds 3-4 | Rounds 5-6 | Rounds 7-8 | Rounds 9-10 | Rounds 11-17 | Rounds 18-23
On Tuesday night, I began my quest to win the 2020 FSGA Fantasy Baseball League. I had the fifth pick (out of 14 teams) and am competing against some of the top fantasy baseball experts in the industry. Although we are drafting in January, this draft unofficially “kicks off” the fantasy baseball season.
The first eleven rounds were completed last night in Las Vegas. The remaining 14 rounds will be completed over the coming weeks via a slow draft. You can follow the draft along here.
Round 1
- 1.1 Mike Trout, LAA (OF)
- 1.2 Ronald Acuna, ATL (OF)
- 1.3 Christian Yelich, MIL (OF)
- 1.4 Mookie Betts, BOS (OF)
- 1.5 Cody Bellinger, LAD (1B/OF)
- 1.6 Trevor Story, COL (SS)
- 1.7 Juan Soto, WAS (OF)
- 1.8 Gerrit Cole, NYY (SP)
- 1.9 Francisco Lindor, CLE (SS)
- 1.10 Alex Bregman, HOU (3B)
- 1.11 Trea Turner, WAS (SS)
- 1.12 Jacob deGrom, NYM (SP)
- 1.13 Max Scherzer, WAS (SP)
- 1.14 Walker Buehler LAD (SP)
My pick: I chose to take Cody Bellinger for multiple reasons. Firstly, I love the fact that he is eligible to play at two different positions. With a short bench (only six players), having positional flexibility might come in handy at some point this season. Secondly, I love his power and speed combination. How many first baseman will hit 40-plus home runs and steal 15-plus bases? Probably no one other than Bellinger. Finally, I love the fact that he plays on a high-scoring offensive team like the Dodgers. My newest fantasy baseball drafting philosophy is: When in doubt, take players on good teams. I know that I did that with Bellinger.
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Round 2
- 2.1 Justin Verlander, HOU (SP)
- 2.2. Mike Clevinger, CLE (SP)
- 2.3 Jose Ramirez, CLE (3B)
- 2.4 Stephen Strasburg, WAS (SP)
- 2.5 Freddie Freeman, ATL (1B)
- 2.6 Fernando Tatis Jr. SD (SS)
- 2.7 Nolan Arenado, COL (3B)
- 2.8 Jack Flaherty, STL (SP)
- 2.9 Anthony Rendon, LAA (3B)
- 2.10 Rafael Devers, BOS (3B)
- 2.11 Aaron Judge, NYY (OF)
- 2.12 J.D. Martinez, BOS (OF)
- 2.13 Jose Altuve, HOU (2B)
- 2.14 Luis Castillo, CIN (SP)
My pick: Truth be told, I was very up in the air about this selection. Anthony Rendon was on my mind, but he was sniped the pick before me. I then was left with Red Sox 3B Rafael Devers or Indians SP Shane Bieber. I ended up choosing Devers for a few reasons. Firstly, I love the fact that he is only 23 years old, and it seems like he hasn’t even hit his hitting prime. Last season, he produced a solid statistical line: .311/32/115/129/8. While I don’t expect him to hit .311 again or even score 129 runs, if he can hit .290 and score 100 runs, I would still be very happy. He is a huge source of power and I love the fact that he can also steal a few bases. This will come in handy later in the draft as I try to cobble together enough stolen bases to compete.
As for Bieber, I am a big fan, but once again I go back to my rule from Round 1—try to pick players on good teams. As much as I like Bieber, I am worried that he might only win 10-12 games with the Indians. Moreover, I felt strongly that I could get a SP1 that I would be happy with in the third round.
Stay tuned to FullTime Fantasy over the next few weeks to read the rest of my thoughts on this draft!
