It’s March and the spring training games are finally underway. Fantasy baseball managers all over the world are getting ready for those ever-crucial drafts in order to stock their fantasy rosters with the talent that they hope will end up with a championship.
They say that practice makes perfect — and you can certainly practice your drafting skills in our Mock Draft Lobby — but that saying begs the question: What would a “perfect” draft even look like?
We asked this question to the hosts of our ESPN Fantasy Focus Baseball podcast and they’ve weighed in with their ideal picks from each of the 10 standard draft positions in the first round in each of our primary fantasy baseball formats. They’ve also offer up the perfect complements to these first-round selections to be grabbed in Round 2.
Draft slot No. 1
Tristan H. Cockcroft (points-based leagues): Round 1 Shohei Ohtani, Round 2 Kyle Tucker
I’ve made the “Ohtani should be first overall” case previously, and there’s still zero question in my mind he’s the consensus No. 1 pick for the points format. That he gives you both hitting and pitching flexibility opens up the Rounds 2-3 possibilities, which is where Tucker, Manny Machado or perhaps one of the ace/top-eight SP might slip. One could even make the case for taking breakthrough candidate Wander Franco here.
Eric Karabell (roto/category-based leagues): Round 1 Trea Turner, Round 2 Yordan Alvarez
Sure, you can make the case for taking Juan Soto first, but then you would be chasing stolen bases a bit later on in the proceedings. Getting Turner first is safe. Alvarez, meanwhile, simply mashes, and he is outfield-eligible.
Source: www.espn.com