Mar 10, 2015; Goodyear, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant against the Cleveland Indians during a spring training baseball game at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In these last 10 rounds of the mock draft, fantasy owners begin to use these picks on low-risk, low-reward players or the complete opposite, high-risk, high-reward. Taking an oft-injured player in the 17th round will not harm your team. If he pans out, then great. If not, then cut him for someone else. The same could be said about a rookie. In the 50 picks listed, 24 of them were pitchers. Like I’ve been saying, pitching is very deep. There were some great pitchers with huge upside drafted in these rounds. There were a couple of players stolen from me, but that’s the best part of drafts – adjusting your strategy.
Round 16
16.151 SP Zack Wheeler, New York Mets
16.152 RP Fernando Rodney, Seattle Mariners
16.153 3B/OF Yosmany Tomas, Arizona Diamondbacks
Tomas was the second player to defect from Cuba this offseason. The Diamondbacks get a young player with huge upside. Many project him to be the next Jose Abreu, which is saying something because Abreu is entering his second season. While he has third base experience, the Diamondbacks have transitioned him to the outfield. There isn’t much else we know about Tomas, but his power potential makes him a must-draft player in the later rounds.
16.154 2B/3B Daniel Murphy, Mets
16.155 C Wilin Rosario, Colorado Rockies
Rosario is another catcher worth drafting this late. If you miss on the top five, Rosario is a good safety net.
16.156 SS/OF Danny Santana, Minnesota Twins
16.158 SP Mat Latos, Miami Marlins
16.159 OF Gregory Polanco, Pittsburgh Pirates
16.160 SP Michael Wacha, St. Louis Cardinals
Round 17
17.161 1B Matt Adams, Cardinals
17.162 2B Neil Walker, Pirates
17.163 RP Jonathan Papelbon, Philadelphia Phillies
17.165 RP Sean Doolittle, Oakland Athletics
Doolittle has an awesome beard. I’d draft him on that alone. He is a good pitcher coming out of the A’s bullpen.
17.166 SP Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays
17.167 SP Drew Smyly, Rays
In his two-and-a-half seasons with the Tigers, Smyly was average at best. He had a 3.53 ERA in 36 starts. When he was traded to the Rays, things looked to improve. In seven starts, he went 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA, 0.755 WHIP and 44 strikeouts. It’s very unlikely he’ll be as dominate as he was last season, but there is potential. The only thing that will hurt Smyly’s value is the possibility of the Rays skipping one or two of his starts. He’s still worth drafting this late, but be weary of his starts.
17.168 C Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles
17.169 1B Adam LaRoche, Chicago White Sox
17.170 SP Jose Quintana, White Sox
Round 18
18.171 RP Joe Nathan, Detroit Tigers
18.172 SP Yordano Ventura, Kansas City Royals
18.173 3B Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
I wrote a little bit about Bryant here, but I’m going to expand on that. If you are looking for power, aim to draft Bryant earlier than you would want to. He is a beast this spring. After missing a start with shoulder fatigue on Saturday, he entered in the third inning and hit two home runs in the game. Bryant has six home runs this spring. Owners will be clamoring for the Cubs to have him on the Opening Day lineup. Expect him to be a mid-season call-up at the worst, so using a mid-round pick to put your claim on him is not irrational
18.174 Joaquin Benoit, San Diego Padres
18.175 SP Matt Shoemaker, Los Angeles Angels
I talked about Shoemaker last month here.
18.176 OF Leonys Martin, Texas Rangers
18.178 SP Ian Kennedy, Padres
18.179 2B/SS Javier Baez, Cubs
18.180 1B/OF Brandon Moss, Cleveland Indians
Round 19
19.181 2B Chase Utley, Phillies
19.182 SP Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros
19.183 SP Marcus Stroman, Toronto Blue Jays
19.185 RP Hector Rondon, Cubs
As a No. 3 or even a No. 2 closer, Rondon has good value here. The improved lineup should help his saves total.
19.186 SP Collin McHugh, Astros
19.187 SP Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
19.188 OF Shin-Soo Choo, Rangers
My 2015 projections for Choo can be found here.
19.189 1B Eric Hosmer, Royals
Last season was a down year for Hosmer all around. His home runs were almost cut in half, he had no speed and barely got on base. While he did miss over a month with a hand injury, he wasn’t good enough for top 20 when he did play. Hosmer should be able to turn around in 2015. He’s young and, besides the hand injury, has been healthy throughout his career. He isn’t a source for double-digit steals anymore. Hosmer will need to improve his power and average in order to be a valuable asset to your fantasy team.
19.190 OF Curtis Granderson, Mets
Round 20
20.191 C Travis d’Arnaud, Mets
20.192 OF Wil Myers, Padres
20.193 OF Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers
20.194 RP Santiago Castillo, Giants
20.195 SP Jose Fernandez, Marlins
After a great rookie season in 2013, Fernandez looked to build on that in 2014. However, his season was cut short after eight starts and underwent Tommy John surgery. He is ready to pitch this season as he threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Monday. He should be ready to return in June or July, so using a late-round pick on him is justifiable. When healthy, he is one of the game’s most dominant pitchers. I wouldn’t want to waste a pick on a pitcher playing in half a season, but I could see why someone would want to.
20.196 SP Michael Pineda, New York Yankees
20.198 SP Francisco Liriano, Pirates
20.199 1B/OF Michael Cuddyer, Mets
20.200 1B Justin Morneau, Rockies