As we enter one of the biggest fantasy baseball draft weekends of the year, the Rotoworld staff is giving you as much information as possible to help you crush your drafts.
The staff Mock Draft will air on YouTube tonight (Thursday night) at 8 P.M. ET, which you can check out here, and D.J. Short and Eric Samulski will be doing a Live Q&A on Thursday the 14th at 1 P.M ET., which you can visit here. We’ll also have all of our usual preseason and draft prep articles and content, so make sure you keep coming back to the site daily for that.
Lastly, we tasked our staff with answering some of the most important questions when it comes to draft prep. Below you’ll see all of their answers for everything from strategy questions, draft day values, and which spring training news stands out. Check out all their tips and tricks, and if any questions arise, make sure to head to the Live Q&A with D.J. and Eric to ask any follow-ups.
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What is your biggest takeaway from the early drafts you’ve done?
George Bissell: Nobody knows anything. Be confident in your projections and valuations. The biggest strategy takeaway this spring is that there’s so much risk aversion going on that fantasy managers are terrified to select players with injury concerns coming into the year, which is leading to massive discounts. Embrace the risk.
Shelly Verougstraete: Some drafters have been following older ADP a bit too closely. If you are an ADP drafter and don’t make your own overall player list then make sure you upload a recent ADP list to your draft software to reflect recent spring news, both good and bad.
Eric Samulski: Every year we see people deviate from ADP in big ways when it comes to young talent, and I think that’s happening even more this year with drafters really going up to get their guy, whether it’s Noelvi Marte (pre-suspension), Jack Chourio, Wyatt Langford or others. For me, that has allowed “boring” veterans who are actually still in their prime with room to improve to fall in drafts. I just think you need to have a plan of how you want to build your team, stick to your valuation of players, and don’t be overly influenced by the direction of others in your draft room.
Jorge Montanez: Given the amount of injuries we’re seeing in spring, especially on the pitching side, my biggest takeaway from early drafts has been the need to mitigate risk. That means limiting the amount of already injured players or prospects to stash. Navigating injuries is part of the game, but taking on players that you already need to account for missed time could only make things more difficult.
Dave Shovein: No one really knows anything. Don’t follow the group think and box yourself in with average draft position. Be confident in your evaluations and go up to get your guys.
Matthew Pouliot: I don’t know that it’s my biggest takeaway, but I’ve been surprised how early the non-Rutschman catchers are getting taken in one-catcher leagues. I just don’t see enough value in selecting William Contreras, Will Smith, and J.T. Realmuto in the first 10 rounds when I can get Logan O’Hoppe or Mitch Garver at the very end of the draft.
D.J. Short: Wait on starting pitching. The Gerrit Cole news only reinforces this idea. Spencer Strider is the clear No. 1 fantasy starter at this point, but I don’t see a ton of separation between the next 15-20 guys. Why reach early when hitters are the “safer” avenue?Wait on starting pitching. The Gerrit Cole news only reinforces this idea. Spencer Strider is the clear No. 1 fantasy starter at this point, but I don’t see a ton of separation between the next 15-20 guys. Why reach early when hitters are the “safer” avenue?
Which player(s)…
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