Now that the Super Bowl is over and the football season is done it is officially fantasy baseball season, and what better way to start the fantasy baseball season than with a mock draft.  For this mock draft I used the mock draft tool that is provided by us on eDraft. 

This was a 12 team mock draft where I had the sixth overall pick and went a total of eight rounds to get a feel on what the top 100 picks will look like.  My general strategy is to select batters early on and wait on pitchers because it such a deep position in today’s MLB. 

Round 1
1)Mike Trout
2)Clayton Kershaw
3)Giancarlo Stanton
4)Paul Goldschmidt
5)Jose Abreu
6)Andrew McCutchen
7)Miguel Cabrera
8)Carlos Gomez
9)Jose Bautista
10)Adam Jones
11)Edwin Encarnacion
12)Felix Hernandez

Here my first pick was McCutchen which wasn’t an easy decision to make, seeing as Cabrera was still available but I felt like the versatility that McCutchen brings plus the recent health issues that Cabrera has dealt with made McCutchen the better choice.

Round 2
13)Robinson Cano
14)Jose Altuve
15)Anthony Rizzo
16)Troy Tulowitzki
17)Anthony Rendon
18)Chris Sale
19)Ian Desmond
20)Madison Bumgarner
21)Adrian Beltre
22)Josh Donaldson
23)Max Scherzer
24)Freddie Freeman

In round two I decided to go with Ian Desmond which some people may think is a tad bit early.  Desmond in terms of batting average had a down year last year due to an increased strikeout rate but he either set career highs or came close in every statistical category.  I also feel like if you have the chance to sure up what is the weakest overall position fantasy baseball you have to.

Round 3
25)Yasiel Puig
26)Jacoby Ellsbury
27)Michael Brantley
28)Stephen Strasburg
29)Justin Upton
30)David Price
31)Victor Martinez
32)Buster Posey
33)Corey Kluber
34)Ryan Braun
35)Hanley Ramirez
36)Corey Dickerson

I generally stay away from pitchers through at least the first five rounds but I felt like getting David Price who is only 28 years old and one of the most consistent pitchers in all of baseball was too good to pass on.

Round 4
37)Hunter Pence
38)Johnny Cueto
39)Matt Kemp
40)Bryce Harper
41)Adam Wainwright
42)Yu Darvish
43)Evan Longoria
44)Albert Pujols
45)Yoenis Cespedes
46)Jon Lester
47)George Springer
48)Zack Greinke

This may have been a round early for Longoria as I think the fifth round is a better spot but based on the talent that is going around this time Longoria provides the most value in a position that has started to decline in recent seasons. 

Round 5
49)Nelson Cruz
50)Kole Calhoun
51)Carlos Gonzalez
52)Jason Kipnis
53)Cole Hamels
54)Ian Kinsler
55)Matt Harvey
56)Craig Kimbrel
57)Todd Frazier
58)Prince Fielder
59)Aroldis Chapman
60)Jordan Zimmermann

Same theory applies to Kinsler as with Desmond in that I find it very important to sure up your middle infield as most other positions have some late round sleepers you can go to or are deeper than four to five guys.

Round 6
61)David Ortiz
62)Jose Reyes
63)Alex Cobb
64)Adrian Gonzalez
65)Brian Dozier
66)Chris Davis
67)Joey Votto
68)Billy Hamilton
69)Julio Teheran
70)Kyle Seager
71)Dee Gordon
72)Jonathan Lucroy

If Joey Votto can stay healthy I believe he has a great shot at rebounding this season and has the potential to be far more valuable than a sixth round draft pick.  Votto will have a surplus of RBI opportunities with Billy Hamilton batting leadoff and should be able to eclipse 100 RBI for the first time since 2011.

Round 7
73)Matt Holliday
74)Starling Marte
75)Greg Holland
76)Nolan Arenado
77)Alex Gordon
78)Sonny Gray
79)J.D. Martinez
80)Kenley Jansen
81)Jeff Samardzija
82)Devin Mesoraco
83)Carlos Santana
84)Charlie Blackmon

With the batting talent slowly starting to thin, and even out I felt as if Gray was the best available player.  Gray has the potential to be a true ace in just his third season and has a lot less risk than some of the players going around this time.

Round 8
85)Jayson Werth
86)Jason Heyward
87)David Wright
88)David Robertson
89)Gerrit Cole
90)Masahiro Tanaka
91)Christian Yelich
92)Hisashi Iwakuma
93)Starlin Castro
94)Jake Arrieta
95)Brandon Moss
96)Gio Gonzalez

With my final pick of this mock draft I selected Christian Yelich.  Needing a second outfielder and looking at the other talent available at the position this was a low risk high reward pick.  Yelich had a nice breakout season last year scoring 94 runs, stealing 24 bases and batting .284.  Yelich will only be 23 years old and should continue improving on his breakout season last year.