The best way to prepare for fantasy drafts is to participate in mock drafts. If you can find a good crew of drafters, you can learn far more about how teams are built and where your strengths and weaknesses lie than you could by studying a cheat sheet or reading an article.
However, with #MockDraftMonday behind us, our staff of fantasy experts and editors will attempt to share what we learned from our recent day full of practice drafts, in hopes that you'll learn from us and be better prepared to win your own league, starting with a great draft.
Eric Karabell
#MockDraftMonday was a blast! Makes me pleased that so many people want to practice drafting. And it's always humbling they want our opinions.
Noticing that people are a bit too reactive on spring stats and start ignoring great players. I'm not concerned about Wade Davis' velocity, for example. And I don't think Joey Rickard is worth drafting either.
Drafters get too concerned about projected standings. If you think Khris Davis will really hit 35 homers, I tell people draft him earlier. Our ranking doesn't matter when building your team if you project guys differently than we do.
Tristan H. Cockcroft
I tried the Modified Labadini again on the Podcast mock, getting Clayton Kershaw at the 4, and found it a lot more conducive to building a good offense than in this past Friday's mock in which I drew the first pick. Miguel Cabrera, Starling Marte and Justin Upton were my first three hitters, which was a base with which I was a lot more comfortable, supporting the idea that the strategy works best when Kershaw slides outside the top 3; it's why I most strongly suggest it in 10- or 12-teamers where you're taking Kershaw "at value."
(That said, I didn't stick to the strategy, taking Stephen Strasburg in Round 7, which I thought was absurdly good value.)
People still don't seem to appreciate starting pitching enough in points leagues. In the points-league mocks that I did, they all went a good 5-8 spots later than I'd have taken them.
I did an AL-only and NL-only, and felt that in these, as opposed to in the experts drafts (LABR and Tout Wars) as well as my home leagues, the format favors the prepared. The second half of these drafts were considerably easier to navigate than those, where you're not going to see many missteps, especially on the pitching side.
Dan Mullen
Drafting for the best value available, I might have gone too heavy in pitching early. I love having Jacob deGrom, Stephen Strasburg, Jon Lester and Adam Wainwright anchoring my staff -- but it was at the cost of power, which is harder to find late than a starting pitcher -- especially in a 10-team league.
I've been able to snag Anthony Rendon in many of our staff mocks. I love his potential to outperform his draft spot and multi-position eligibility (if he stays healthy, of course), but he went earlier yesterday than he has in most of these drafts, making me think others are catching on as we get closer to the season. I responded with Evan Longoria, who could be in for a big year himself, but I still really like Rendon.
You know who I didn't miss on? Byron Buxton. I took him in Round 16 - the 160th pick in our draft - and while that might seem a bit early, I really like the pick now that Buxton has a path to regular playing time. Picks just before or after him include Jay Bruce, Mark Teixeira, Logan Forsythe and Justin Turner - all of whom have risks and not one is drawing comparisons to Andre Dawson and Mike Trout this spring. If I had to circle three picks I really like on my team, it'd be Buxton. Ian Desmond in Round 15 (he quietly had an Ian Desmond-like second half to 2015 and will be SS/OF eligible and EVERYBODY hits in Texas) and Stephen Piscotty in Round 21.
Derek Carty
I got some surprised comments when I took Kershaw first overall in a 10-team mixed league, and I can definitely see the case for Mike Trout, but I just feel Kershaw is the most valuable fantasy asset in baseball in any format.
It is never too soon to take David Ortiz, but you don't have to reach for him because everyone is scared of a decline. Don't be.
There are so many closers and potential closers late in drafts this year that some of the favorites to close don't even get drafted in 10-team leagues. There's nothing wrong with locking down one elite closer if you really want to, but I prefer to do most of my saves shopping in the late rounds of a draft.
Andrew Feldman
I found myself consistently grabbing pitchers in the middle rounds, just because I felt there were strong options there which led to ...
A consistent lack of power on most of my teams. I put a bit of focus on getting the scarce steals, but that left me with a few holes in other categories.
I think that Logan Forsythe and Kevin Pillar are undervalued given their projected roles, and they weren't being selected high enough.
Apparently I really like Chris Sale. Picked him in almost every draft.
Leo Howell
Much like Feldman, I found that I lacked power when I didn't specifically focus on it. If you chase anything else (pitching, speed, well-rounded players), you can wind up way behind in homers. This can also mean lacking production in runs and RBIs ... which is bad news for your offensive categories.
Also like Feldman, I found myself walking away with one particular Chicago-based pitcher in nearly every mock. For me, that guy was Jon Lester. The Cubs' lefty is undervalued by nearly everyone, it seems.
Most people, myself included, don't really focus on the catcher position, even when asked to draft two of them. In some deeper leagues that require two catchers on each of 14 or 15 teams, maybe it's time to adjust values, but otherwise, the position is Buster Posey or bust for me.
Tim Kavanagh
With my first-rounder (No. 1 overall), I took Clayton Kershaw. I never end up with Kershaw, so I wanted to see how this would alter my strategy; it's fun to have that one ace locked down, then load up on bats for 12 rounds.
You can wait for moderate power at 1B this year. There's a ton of solid guys available in the middle rounds.
Draft summit hypothesis confirmed via many mocks: Either go really early or wait until really late for catcher (and to a lesser extent, your third middle infielder).