Chris Davis Drafted in Mock Draft Round 8

Sep 5, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Round 7 of the early fantasy baseball mock draft can be found here.  Once again, the round was dominated by outfielders and starting pitchers.  As the draft gets a little deeper, the big time talent is still there, but some of the players are coming off of injuries.

Kole Calhoun was one of biggest bargains while Jose Fernandez and Chris Davis have the highest ceilings.  On the other end of the spectrum is Ryan Zimmerman who was not my favorite pick in the mock draft as his best fantasy days are behind him.

The numbers listed to the left of each name represent the round and the overall pick they were drafted.

8.85 RP Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals

Greg Holland is always my favorite elite closer simply because he has the lowest ADP.  Craig Kimbrel went at 4.49, Aroldis Chapman was drafted at 6.61, and Kenley Jansen was scooped up at 6.66.  Holland is easily the best value of the bunch.

8.86 1B/3B Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles

Everyone was waiting to see where Chris Davis fell to and by pick #86, it was hard to argue that Chris Davis was not a bargain.  I was eyeing him with my next pick.  I feel like Chris Davis is pretty likely in line to rebound in some capacity as you can read here.

8.88 SP Alex Cobb of the Tampa Bay Rays

Alex Cobb seems to be receiving a decent amount of hype this off-season as a top 20 pitcher and could go higher, but I really think this is his proper ADP.  He has two straight seasons of a sub 3.00 ERA, but he is a level below the true aces.

8.89 1B/3B Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals

Ryan Zimmerman had four of five seasons from 2009 to 2013 where his home run total run was 25 or more, but his fantasy star his dimmed since then.  Zimmerman was injury stricken in 2008, 2011, and 2014, and he has never played more than 147 games since 2010.  In a disastrous 2014 season, Ryan Zimmerman only managed 5 homers and 26 runs in 61 games.  I just do not think we will see the same player again in fantasy and defensive terms as he shifted to first base.

8.90 2B Kolten Wong of the St. Louis Cardinals

Wong hit 12 homers and stole 20 bases as a rookie in 113 games.  In 2015, I do not think that Kolten Wong will score that many runs, RBI’s, or hit for a high average.  He is a certainly a decent option, but I would absolutely pay a little more to get Brian Dozier who is already proven.

8.91 OF Kole Calhoun of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

I think Calhoun should be a top 50 player this season.  He is 27 years old and should only get better in 2015.  He has 20 home run power and he should have plenty of run and RBI opportunities hitting around Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.  I think Kole Calhoun also has an .800+ OPS this season.

8.92 SP Garrett Richards of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

There is no doubt that Richards would have been selected a couple rounds higher if his knee was ready for the start of the 2015 season.  I am hoping he can make 28 starts next year because he was a great pitcher to watch in his breakout year.  In 2014, Garrett Richards posted a 2.61 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 1.04 WHIP, and an 8.75 K/9.  He put up top 10 numbers last year and has killer stuff with a fastball that averaged over 96 MPH this past season.

8.93 OF Brett Gardner of the New York Yankees

I was all aboard the Brett Gardner train in 2014 as a rebound candidate because I thought he would eventually hit 15+ home runs.  My bold prediction finally came true and my fantasy team reaped the rewards.  However, I think Gardner is due for some regression in the power department as I outlined in this post.

8.94 SP Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s

Sonny Gray is a very talented 25 year-old righty who dominated in limited appearances in 2013 and then had a very impressive 2014 with a 3.08 ERA.  Unfortunately, Gray followed the pattern of his Oakland teammates and performed much worse in the second half with a 3.47 ERA.  He was downright lousy in August with a 4.29 ERA and 2.15 K/BB, but I think we can move past the slow finish and expect another quality season from Sonny Gray.

8.95 SS Jhonny Peralta of the St. Louis Cardinals

Peralta hit 21 homers, which is rare for shortstops, but I do not want to draft him because it bothers me the way his name is spelled.  On a more serious note, he is probably due for a bit of regression even though he has hit double digit homers every year in the past decade.  At age 32, Peralta still managed an above fly ball distance of 286.33 feet and has a career LD% of 21%.  He is probably still an underrated fantasy commodity and I would pull the trigger, especially outside of the top 100 picks.

8.96 OF Shin-Soo Choo of the Texas Rangers

Like almost all of his teammates, Choo was a big time disappointment in 2014.  In 2013 with the Reds, Choo posted a .423 OBP that only trailed Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, and Mike Trout.  He was a five category contributor with a 20-20 season and may have been a top 25 fantasy player.  Shin-Soo Choo bombed in the first year of his big contract with the Rangers, but he could certainly rebound next season.