While the 2024 MLB season is officially underway with the completion of the Seoul Series, fantasy baseball drafts are still taking place. The recognized MLB Opening Day is March 28, so this coming weekend should be a busy one for those cramming in their drafts at the last minute. And what better way to tune up for the big day? How about a fantasy baseball mock draft? 

We’ve got two mock drafts and their results listed here in the Fantasy Alarm MLB Draft Guide (Mock Draft #1, Mock Draft #2) and I’ve done a full run of articles for fantasy baseball ADP. Not to mention, we’ve done a full run of updates in the MLB Injury Report as well. If you’ve been following along, you should have no problem with the curveballs you’ll be thrown during your draft. But just to help out, we’ve got one more mock draft to break down.

 

 

The commentary from the Peanut Gallery might be a little light, but I did this draft from the wheel (the 12th pick of a 12-team draft) and so we’ll go through strategies of drafting from the end – thought process behind picks, when to reach for players, starting position runs, etc. We hope you’ve enjoyed the series and to those subscribers who had the opportunity to join in these drafts, we thank you and hope they have served you well.

2024 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Results: 12-Team League

Mock Draft Participants (in draft order):

  1. Colby Conway
  2. Dan Malin
  3. Tim Commerford (All-Pro Subscriber)
  4. Jonathan Goad (All-Pro Subscriber)
  5. Mark Pitts
  6. Robert Voytko (All-Pro Subscriber)
  7. Matt Breitenbecher (All-Pro Subscriber)
  8. Ivar Anderson
  9. Jon Impemba
  10. Justin Hollis (All-Pro Subscriber)
  11. Joe Gallina
  12. Howard Bender

Click Here to View the Full Board & Mock Draft Results

General Thoughts

This draft took place on March 14, so there were some injuries and news items I just want to address real quickly while you peruse the draft board.

The Shohei Ohtani Gambling Scandal

This is going to be a very tenuous situation over the next several weeks. We don’t have all the facts yet and conjecture isn’t going to help the situation for fantasy owners. The bottom-line question is “Do you think Ohtani will be suspended?” I wish I could offer an answer with any sort of accuracy. My gut feeling is that, if Ohtani is connected/involved, there is too much at stake for him and the Dodgers that I believe his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, will be handsomely compensated for taking the fall. Something similar to the Ray Lewis Super Bowl double-homicide situation for those who remember what went down 20-odd years ago. That’s if everyone sticks to the story and there is no paper trail that leads back to Ohtani himself in more ways than the claim of theft or just a friend helping another friend to pay a debt. I’m all about minimizing risk with your first pick, but I think I would still take Ohtani where Impemba took him.

The Gerrit Cole Injury

Unlike the Ohtani situation, I am completely out on drafting Cole. Even here in the 10th round where Malin took him, I would probably pass. There is no upside to drafting him, especially when the earliest he could return is June and who knows how effective he will be or how long he’ll pitch before the next flare up. Hard pass for me.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Debut in the Seoul Series

It was terrible. We know that. But was it bad enough to drop him in rankings or fade him in drafts? Absolutely not. Go back and look at Kodai Senga’s monthly splits from last year. He was roughed up early and then put together a dominant season. Yamamoto is a better pitcher, plain and simple. I am still drafting with full confidence.

Fast-Rising Rookies

Take a look at the fantasy baseball ADP and you’ll now see Wyatt Langford inside the top-100. If you want him, you’re going to have to reach for him and it will be before the ninth round where you see him on this draft board. Same thing with Jackson Merrill. Be very careful, though because the higher you draft them the less return-value you are going to see. More so for Langford, but both are being drafted at their ceiling and while you’d like to hope they will be on the same track Corbin Carroll was last season, you shouldn’t expect it.

Stolen Base ADP is Getting Crazy

Every draft board I look at, I immediately want to see where Nico Hoerner, CJ Abrams and Esteury Ruiz have been taken. Hoerner gives you speed, average/OBP and runs scored, Abrams gives you speed and a splash of power and Ruiz is just speed. Normally, these guys wouldn’t be pushed so far up in drafts, but we are seeing them rise further and further because teams that fail to draft speed in the first two rounds immediately start to reach. Justin took Abrams in the fourth when he didn’t have the pressing need for steals, but that forced Gallina into taking Hoerner in the fifth. Ruiz went in the ninth round of this mock, but I’ve seen him go as high as the sixth round to people who have drafted players like Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez and Spencer Strider in the first round or two. If you’re one of those people this weekend, watch for the speedsters and which people drafting around you might be reaching as well.

 

 

Howard Bender’s Mock Draft Results & Analysis (Pick 12)

Whether it’s the first or the last pick, drafting from the wheel can be a difficult thing for some people. I actually embrace it. I like to see what the board is giving me and I spend the entire round making the proper in-draft adjustments so that when it comes to me for back-to-back picks, I know exactly what’s up. 

Two things to remember when drafting at this spot:

  1. Don’t be afraid to reach for a player you want if you don’t believe he will come back to you in the 22 picks between your selections. If it’s the late-fifth/early-sixth and you want Langford. You’re going to have to reach for him there. 
  2. Start positional runs. If the draft is pushing down closers, there’s nothing wrong with double-tapping the position, get your guys and watch everyone else follow suit. You don’t have to do it with Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz, but I’ve done it with Andres Munoz and Evan Phillips. It’s the same with catchers, especially if you’re in a two-catcher league. In this draft here, I did it with starting pitchers in the third and fourth rounds. Only six starters were off the board by the time we got to me in the third round and that’s light for starting pitching in drafts. By grabbing Pablo Lope and Luis Castillo, not only do I grab a pair of aces, but we then see nine starters come off the board, leaving me some great offensive pieces coming back.

As for the rest of my draft, I think it was a textbook draft for building a strong, balanced team. I have great speed in Trea Turner, Jazz Chisholm and Bryson Stott. I even get a splash of speed from Josh Lowe. My power is string with Matt Olson, Will Smith, Jake Burger and Christopher Morel to name a few and I’ve got great pitching with strong relievers. I even added Luis Arraez for batting average help. Strong upside picks late too. This is a team I would LOVE to go to war with for a fantasy season. 

From All-Pro Subscriber Jonathan Goad (Pick 4):

I started off at the 4th spot with a plan to snag a top hitter early on, followed by a strong pitcher in the second round. Rounds 3, 4, and 5 were all about locking in my starting pitching staff. Rather than sticking strictly to positional needs, I went for value, especially eyeing players with high potential who might have been underrated.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. It's got me thinking I might want to invest even more in top-tier pitchers to beef up our pitching side this year. But there was one moment that definitely stung a bit: I had my sights set on Hoskins in round 15, but Tim swooped in and grabbed him just before my pick, so I had to switch gears to Eloy. Pivoted to Eloy due to Contract Year and he knows that he has to stay healthy and play well to get his bag.

Now, onto the quick highlights:

Best Pick: Corbin Burnes (Round 2, Pick 9) - Burnes is a solid ace pitcher who brings strikeouts and consistency to the table. He leads a Pitching staff, for my team, that will blow all other teams away.

Best Value: Carlos Correa (Round 21, Pick 4) - Getting Correa in the 21st round was a steal, adding depth to our infield and potentially outperforming his draft position if he stays healthy.

Other Standout Picks:

Logan Webb (Round 4, Pick 9): Webb's past performance and potential make him a great addition to our pitching rotation.

Alec Bohm (Round 10, Pick 9): Bohm's power and versatility at third base give our lineup a nice boost.

Jorge Soler (Round 12, Pick 9): Soler's hitting prowess adds a new dimension to our offense, and getting him in the 12th round was a steal.

Biggest Reach: Yamamoto (Round 3, Pick 4) - While it might have been a bit early, I liked Yamamoto's potential to strengthen our pitching rotation and his ceiling is Sky High!