Regardless of what that silly groundhog seemed to tell us, it's been an abnormally warm spring across the country. The warmer weather means it's time to turn our attention to spring training, with Opening Day a mere 40 days away.
As a staff, we gathered Monday evening to participate in a mock draft and take a pulse of this year's draft board. In the interest of time, this draft had 20 rounds, and the draft was for a standard rotisserie roster, with a few small exceptions -- only one catcher, four outfielders, and eight pitchers, using standard five-by-five categories for hitters (runs, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, and batting average) and pitchers (wins, strikeouts, saves, ERA, and WHIP).
Here are the writers who participated, along with their draft positions and Twitter handles.
Draft Slot | Writer | |
---|---|---|
1 | Eric McClung | @ericmcclung |
2 | Matt Kupferle | @MKupferle |
3 | Matt Musico | @mmusico8 |
4 | Derek Lynch | @thedereklynch |
5 | Chris Tredeau | @christredeau |
6 | Jim Sannes | @JimSannes |
7 | Jack Carpenter | @JackyLegs110 |
8 | John Stolnis | @FelskeFiles |
9 | Tom Whalen | @drillguitar |
10 | Tom Liscio | @TJL_247 |
11 | Ben Bruno | @BenBBruno |
12 | Joseph Nammour | @jnammour24 |
13 | Kenyatta Storin | @KenyattaStorin |
14 | Austan Kas | @AustanKas |
Some common themes become apparent with this savvy group of drafters -- closers and middle infielders were passed on early, and young prospects weren't overvalued. Even Trea Turner, who's been going pretty high in recent drafts, slid out of the first round.
As expected, third basemen flew off the board quickly -- 4 of the first 11 picks were from the hot corner, and the corner positions in general were a valued commodity as 10 of the first 25 selections were either first or third basemen.
Without further ado, let's take a round-by-round look at this thing.