2020 Fantasy Baseball: Doc’s FSGA Draft Review (Rounds 3-4)

Dr. Roto breaks down the third and fourth round of the 2020 FSGA Fantasy Baseball draft, where he took a risk that could provide a huge advantage later in the draft!

January 20, 2020 Dr. Roto Season Long – All Sports, Season Long – MLB

Daily Dr. Roto—January 20, 2020

Rounds 3-4 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

Last week, 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 week in Las Vegas. The remaining rounds will be completed via a slow draft over the coming weeks. You can follow the draft along here!

Round 3

  • 3.1 Starling Marte PIT (OF)
  • 3.2 Shane Bieber CLE (SP)
  • 3.3 Whit Merrifield KC (OF)
  • 3.4 Kris Bryant CHC (3B)
  • 3.5 Blake Snell TB (SP)
  • 3.6 Bryce Harper PHI (OF)
  • 3.7 Ketel Marte AZ (2B)
  • 3.8 Javier Baez CHC (SS)
  • 3.9 Chris Sale BOS (SP)
  • 3.10 Jonathan Villar MIA (2B)
  • 3.11 Pete Alonso NYM (1B)
  • 3.12 Austin Meadows TB (OF)
  • 3.13 Xander Bogaerts BOS (SS)
  • 3.14 Gleyber Torres NYY (2B)

My pick: One thing that fantasy baseball owners should understand is that drafting a team is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together piece by piece. One move sets up another move, which sets up the next move. In this case, once I decided to select two hitters with my first two picks, I felt it was necessary to take a starting pitcher in third round. A mistake that many fantasy managers make is not treating pitching the same as hitting. This makes no sense considering they both count for half the statistics. Snell had a rough 2019 in the injury department, missing time with both a toe injury and then an elbow injury later in the season. Towards the end of the year, he seemed to regain his old stuff and looked dominant. All he needs to return to is return to his healthy CY Young form, which I am willing to bet on here in the third round.

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Round 4

  • 4.1 Manny Machado SD (3B)
  • 4.2. Ozzie Albies ATL (2B)
  • 4.3 Charlie Blackmon COL (OF)
  • 4.4 Aaron Nola PHI (SP)
  • 4.5 George Springer HOU (OF)
  • 4.6 Lucas Giolito CWS (SP)
  • 4.7 Anthony Rizzo CHC (1B)
  • 4.8 Chris Paddack SD (SP)
  • 4.9 Keston Hiura MIL (2B)
  • 4.10 Adalberto Mondesi KC (SS)
  • 4.11 Paul Goldschmidt STL (1B)
  • 4.12 Yordan Alvarez HOU (UTIL)
  • 4.13 Charlie Morton TB (SP)
  • 4.14 J.T. Realmuto, PHI (C)

My pick: As fantasy owners, we often try to minimize risk, especially early on in drafts. We feel that if we play it safe and take a player who we trust, we can take risks later in the draft. I might argue that this is the wrong way to look at it. The best risks to take might be the ones early in drafts since those players are more unpredictable and could provide the biggest range of outcomes. In the fourth round, I was prepared to take Brewers 2B Keston Hiura, but Jeff Erickson from RotoWire sniped me (this was the second time he did this in as many rounds). 

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The other player I liked here was Mondesi, despite the fact that he is probably one of the most polarizing players heading into the 2020 season. Some see him as a guy who can hit 20 long balls and steal 50 bases, while others predict he will hit .220 and potentially lose playing time at some point this season if he continues to struggle with the bat.

As Ricky Bobby once said, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” That is my mantra when I draft my fantasy teams, regardless of the sport. I play to win and am always willing to take a big risk if I think there could be a big payoff. If Mondesi hits .240 with 15 HRs and 40 SBs, I will be ecstatic and will have solved my stolen base issues with one player, making him well worth the risk.

Stay tuned for the next part of Dr. Roto’s 2020 FSGA Fantasy Baseball draft recap at FullTime Fantasy!