THE SETUP
13 team mixed league.
5x5 roto scoring
The league included 29 rounds with 14 hitters and nine pitchers starting (six bench spots). Pitchers can be any combination of starters and relievers. Hitters include the following: 2C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT
THE PARTICIPANTS
Here's the draft order
1 - Scout Fantasy, Mark Bloom (Dr. Roto)
2 – RotoWire, Jeff Erickson & Derek Van Riper
3 - USA Today Sports, Steve Gardner, Howard Kamen partner, Defending Champs
4 - Fantistics Fantasy Sports, Anthony Perri
5 - Baseball HQ, Ray Murphy
6 – FNTSY, Nando Di Fino, Michael Cardano partner
7 - Godfather Of Fantasy Sports (CDM), Charlie Wiegert, Vlad Sedler partner
8 - Stats/NFBC, Greg Ambrosius, Tom Kessenich partner
9 - Colton & The Wolfman, Glenn Colton, Rick Wolf, Stacie Stern, partners
10 - SiriusXM Fantasy Radio, Ray Flowers
11 - Fantasy Alarm, Jeff Mans, Ted Schuster partner
12 – Mastersball, Todd Zola, Lawr Michaels partner
13 - Ronshandler.com, Ron Shandler
THE DRAFT
We finished 22 rounds of the draft on the air (SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio).
Rounds 23 on were conducted during a slow draft where each team was given a 4-hour clock to make a selection. Keep checking back to see how the team was filled out.
Here is the team I put together (round taken in in parenthesis).
C: Miguel Montero (16), Derek Norris (18)
1B: Miguel Cabrera (1), Joey Votto (3), Pedro Alvarez (29)
2B: Dustin Pedroia (11), Howie Kendrick (23)
3B: Kyle Seager (4)
SS: Asdrubal Cabrera (20), Javier Baez (22)
OF: Starling Marte (2), Ben Revere (8), Shin-Soo Choo (9), Gregory Polanco (10), Mark Trumbo (13), Gerardo Parra (17)
PITCHERS: Johnny Cueto (5), Sonny Gray (6), Danny Salazar (7), Hector Rondon (12), Dellin Betances (14), Andrew Cashner (15), Jake McGee (19), Aaron Nola (21), Trevor Bauer (24), Drew Hutchison (25), Fernando Rodney (26), Erasmo Ramirez (27), Jason Motte (28)
I kept wanting to grab a catcher. They kept going off the board right before it was my turn to select. My duo is uninspiring but productive. Of catcher eligible players in 2015 Montero and Norris were two of nine catchers to hit 14 homers with 53 RBI.
I could have taken Andrew McCutchen who went with the next pick to Mans and Schuster. Still, I think that Marte is going to basically be the equal of McC this season and thought I could get Marte in the second round, which I did. Cabrera is still a star, will drive in bushels of runs, and his batting average will be elite. Votto may not be an elite run producer, but with his approach at the dish a season to match last year is completely doable. Adding Miggy/Votto early allowed me to take average drains later such as Trumbo, ACab and my catchers.
Seager drew some raised eyes in the 4th round. Maybe it was early. Since I knew I would go with starting pitchers the next couple of rounds, I wanted stability with my first four batters so I plucked him. Seager certainly offers the stability I sought, producing year after year. Plus, if I held off on Seager my third baseman would have stunk.
Pedroia will be a top-10 second baseman. Think he still has the talent to be a top-5 second sacker. Stability in batting average too. Adding Kendrick as a depth option, to cover Baez who might start the year in the minors, could turn out to be a schrewd move.
Shortstop is a mess. I was going to take Andrus or Reyes in Round 9. Neither made it to me so I chose to wait. ACab is solid, stable and fine in the 20th round. Not a winner, but fine. Baez? Totally uncertain at this point but if there’s an injury or he is traded, which seems possible… that guy has oodles of talent.
My outfield… I like. Marte will be a star. Revere is limited to being a three category guy, but he too should hit .300 and his steals will be big. People on Twitter downed me for Choo. He doesn’t run any more and isn’t sexy, but did you notice he hit 22 homers, scored 94 times and had a .375 OBP last season? Only three others in the outfield could match that (Bryce Harper, Mike Trout & Jose Bautista). Three. Polanco needs to learn how to handle lefties. If he can do that the upside is 15/30 with 90 runs scored. Trumbo also qualifies at first base, and I’ve previously written about him. Parra is with the Rockies. That’s 81 games in Colorado. A .300 season with a run to 15/15 is possible in that environment as soon as the Rockies deal an outfielder to open up a starting spot for him.
The room went heavier than a normal “experts” draft at the starting pitcher spot, a trend that started last season. By the time I took my first arm, sixteen SPs were off the board (remember this is a 13-team league). I would like to have waited a bit more on arms, but with inventory dwindling I jumped into the mix. I stayed with starting pitching in rounds six and seven because the inventory of hitters seemed deeper than pitchers. As I always say, you have to play your draft.
I love my top-3 starting pitchers. All three men had a WHP under 1.14 last season with at least 169 strikeouts. It’s a great trio. Cashner has a huge arm, gets grounders, keeps ball on the ground and saw his strikeout rate go up last season. Nola is a young arm with a change to be an SP4 this season. Worth the risk as my fifth starter.
Rondon is my only “closer” at the moment, but Rodney certainly could be the guy for the Padres. Betances and McGee, if judged merely on skills, are both top-15 relievers (likely top-10). The Rays might deal Brad Boxberger and open up the 9th to McGee. Even if they don’t, I’ll find closers when they pop up.
Here is a link to the draft board if you want to see how the experts put their teams together.
Don’t forget to pick up your copy of the 2016 MLB Draft Guide which includes more than 600 Players Ranked, auction values, rookie reports, hitting and pitching targets as well 
as all the info you need if you’re ready to start playing DFS.