This draft took place at 5pm PST on March 27.

League Background

This is a 12-team mixed NFBC draft. The roster consists of 14 hitters, nine pitchers and seven bench players. You set your pitchers once a week; hitters are set twice a week; waivers occur once a week.

Below are the results:

Player	Round	Pick	Pos
Ronald Acuna Jr.	1	2	OF
Daulton Varsho	2	23	C
Will Smith	3	26	C
Zack Wheeler	4	47	P
Tim Anderson	5	50	SS
Zac Gallen	6	71	P
Yu Darvish	7	74	P
Nathaniel Lowe	8	95	1B
Tyler O’Neill	9	98	OF
Pete Fairbanks	10	119	P
Nico Hoerner	11	122	MI
Masataka Yoshida	12	143	OF
Ryan McMahon	13	146	3B
Riley Greene	14	167	OF
Ramon Laureano	15	170	OF
Jean Segura	16	191	2B
Alex Lange	17	194	P
Josh Naylor	18	215	CI
Jorge Polanco	19	218	UT
Jon Gray	20	239	P
Austin Meadows	21	242	OF
Marcus Stroman	22	263	P
Sean Manaea	23	266	P
Aaron Civale	24	287	P
Yandy Diaz	25	290	3B
Eric Lauer	26	311	P
Joe Jimenez	27	314	P
Mitch Keller	28	335	P
Nick Pivetta	29	338	P
Erik Swanson	30	359	P

Below is my analysis of some of the players I drafted. There will be a lot overlap between the analysis of my first draft.

Trea Turner was my number one player because he is a true five category player. Ronald Acuna has the most upside but Turner provides a .290ish batting average floor while Acuna’s floor is maybe .250’s.

With catching thin I thought it was necessary to get Daulton Varsho, my number one catcher for two years in a row. Other than batting average he should provide good production everywhere else. The biggest question mark is how much will he be platooned? His saving grace is he is a really good defender, which means he will play more than not. If Varsho was outfield-only he would be my 27^th outfielder. I rated Will Smith ahead of J.T. Realmuto because Smith provided more power. When doing my draft matrix I realized speed was easier to acquire than power. Between Varsho and Smith I think I’ll get 52 home runs and 15 stolen bases from my catchers.

Zach Wheeler was the best starting pitcher available.

Tim Anderson was choosen for his batting average.

Zac Gallen and Yu Darvish were the best pitchers available. I would have preferred a closer but there weren’t any good ones worth taking in the 7^th and 8^th rounds.

I liked Tyler O’Neil last year and I am believer again. He’s still only 27 years old and the raw ingredients are there. If he can stay healthy I see 25/15 with a lot of RBIs. The one downside is since he is playing center field his stolen bases may decrease but the fact the Cardinals have made Dylan Carlson their fourth outfielder means they believe O’Neil can handle the defensive requirements.

Nate Lowe and Josh Naylor should give me a combined .270 average with 45-50 home runs. There are seven pretty good first basemen and Lowe is number seven. C.J. Cron was a consideration but the back problems he had in Spring Training had me worried. I have no idea why there isn’t as much love for Naylor. I think his output will be similar to Andrew Vaughn but Vaughn goes 80 picks ahead of Naylor.

I know the Rays will mix and match the closer role but I’m betting Pete Fairbanks ends the season with 20-25 saves. He’s the best pitcher in the bullpen but that doesn’t mean anything for saves. This pick could be really bad for me.

Mastaka Yoshida should hit for a high batting average with enough power and accounting statistics to be useful. By missing out on Trea Turner I needed to find batting average guys to make up for my low batting average guys like O’Neil and Laureano.

Nico Hoerner maybe has an 80 hit tool. He recently signed a 3-year extension and should leadoff everyday. I’m expecting a high .270s batting average with 10/20 with maybe 90 runs scored. After 10 games he will get second base eligibility too.

When doing my draft matrix I saw there wasn’t much value left at third base (in the 13^th round and beyond) if you wanted home runs and a batting average above .240, which is why I targeted and choose Ryan McMahon. I’m projecting 23 home runs but his exit velocity in Spring Training suggests there may be more power this year.

Riley Greene is someone who could go 25/15; granted that may come with a .250 batting average but the upside is worth it here.

Ramon Laureano is probably the Athletics best hitter. If he struggles he’s going to continue to play because they don’t have anyone better. If he plays a full year I think 20/20 is possible. That may come with a .235 batting average but that is why I drafted guys like Benintendi and Hoerner.

Jean Segura is the fantasy baseball equivalent to rolled oats. He will probably hit .280 with 10/10 and enough counting statistics to matter. He is just a solid player all around.

Alex Lange probably remains the closer all year but is the team good? He has average stuff so the ratios won’t be that good but I am banking on he’s just good enough to hold down the job all year.

I owned Jon Gray last year and I think his numbers didn’t show how good he was. In other words, he was unlikely. He still plays in a good pitching park and has a very good infield defense behind him.

If Jorge Polanco gives me 500 at-bats then I got a tremendous bargain. He’s only 29 years old so the recovery process of the knee should be pretty quick. As of March 28 he is going through baseball activities without limitations. If he played a full year I projected .264 with 22 home runs with 80 RBI and 80 runs with 4 stolen bases.

Every year the Market forgets about productive players two years ago who had a down year one year ago. A couple of years ago that moniker went to Eduardo Escobar and Mitch Haniger. I believe Austin Meadows could fit into this category. After an injury plagued season Meadows had an ADP of 272 at NFBC. Meadows has a similar ADP of Austin Hays. I like Hays but the odds of Hays dramatically outperforming his ADP is small compared to Meadows.

The Giants asked Sean Manaea to go to Driveline in the offseason and his velocity in Spring was 2 mph faster. Will it stick? I have no idea but I’ll take any pitcher playing their home games in San Francisco. I get Mitch Keller every year thinking this is the year he breaks out. Is this the year he breaks out? Probably not, but the upside is too good pass. His first start is in Cincinnati so I probably will not learn very much. Joe Jimenz may be the Braves closer or at least in a time share. With the first week consisting of four days I wanted relievers so I could hopefully get some cheap strikeouts during the shortened week. Erik Swanson is a good reliver for the shortened week and could be valuable if Jordan Ramano gets hurt. Nick Pivetta was selected because in week two he starts against the Pirates. No one wanted Yandy Diaz and I don’t know why. He will have first and third eligibility and Roster Resource has him leading off. If he leads off all year he could have 85-90 runs considering his .370s OBP. The price is so cheap Diaz was worth taking even if he’s on my bench.