FBCJ Worst Draft Picks
Mar 25, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Nationals 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
I am writing the best and worst picks of each round of our site’s Fantasy Baseball draft on Sunday night. I even included one of my own picks in this article as the worst draft pick of a round because he was demoted to AAA the next day.
The “best” pick of each round can be found in the previous article found here.
Also, the superlative pick of each round will likely matter more in the early. For example, I may have a worst pick of the 21st round, but even if I think that player is a flop, then it is not a big deal because he is roughly the 250th pick of a draft. A late worst pick is not an insult; it is more of a disagreement on how the owner and I view the player.
Here is the link to the overall draft results.
Round 1: Max Scherzer
Why would you draft Scherzer seventh overall when he would have assuredly been there in the second round? Even if Max Scherzer is your #2 overall SP, this was a reach.
Round 2: Hanley Ramirez
I have no probably with Hanley this year, but I do have a problem with drafting him 23rd overall. He went only seven picks after Troy Tulowitzki and four picks after Ian Desmond.
Round 3: Maybe George Springer
I really like the vast majority of the picks in the third round, but George Springer at pick #30 may have been a slight reach. However, I do not strongly dislike this pick because I have no problem reaching a little for a player that I really want.
Round 4: Billy Hamilton
Even if he leads the Majors in stolen bases, I still do not like this pick. He will be a negative in your slash line and have only a minimal impact in home runs and RBI’s. This is too rich for my blood to produce at a super elite rate in one only stat.
Round 5: Jason Kipnis
My distrust of Jason Kipnis can be found in this article. Even if Kipnis was hampered due to injury, there is a deep enough pool of talent at 2B to not pick Kipnis this highly.
Round 6: Gerrit Cole
Gerrit Cole has insane upside and could be a fantasy ace immediately, but I would have waited a little longer on Cole or drafted a safer starter. He absolutely has #1 stuff, but it seems like the Pirates want him to pitch efficiently and occasionally towards contact rather than the Yu Darvish approach. (That is that every pitch is amazing and Yu always goes for the K).
Round 7: Kris Bryant
This draft was the day before Bryant was assigned to AAA, but this was a pretty huge reach at the 79th pick. Kris Bryant is my favorite player right now and has a 70 future value, but he still has zero Major League at-bats. I am going to assume that Bryant is called up after nine games or so, but I still want some sort of MLB track record (even pre-2014 Jose Abreu would not have gone this high) before I invest a seventh rounder in a draft pick.
Round 8: Dustin Pedroia
While I am not exactly keen on Pedroia this season, Kolten Wong was still on the board, and I would have gambled with a player with 20-20 upside. This is not a huge “worst” pick, but more of a personal difference on Pedroia’s 2015 outlook.
Round 9: Matt Carpenter
Carpenter is a very good ballplayer who has excellent plate discipline and a propensity to score runs because he hits atop a strong lineup and gets on-base all the time. Carpenter is a solid fantasy option, but he is even better in real life, and I believe it inflates his fantasy value a little too much.
Round 10: Josh Harrison
I am just not buying a repeat of 2014 even if Josh Harrison has third base to himself, but I think 10-20 is a little optimistic for one of baseball’s breakouts last season. I would have rather gambled on Manny Machado with a much higher upside.
Round 11: A.J. Pollock
I think that Pollock’s “sleeper” value ballooned a little too much in this instance because I fail to see much value in the 11th round of a 12-team draft. I absolutely would have went with Brett Garnder or Jayson Werth (who were drafted in the next round) over Pollock.
Round 12: Ben Zobrist
I just do not get it. WAR is not a fantasy category. I think Zobrist will struggle to hit 10 homers or steal 10 bases this season, but he is overrated in fantasy because of his positional eligibility.
Round 13: Salvador Perez
Perez is an extraordinary hacker as you can read here. He has some of the worst plate discipline in MLB and he caught like every game for the Royals in 2014. I would have to imagine that Ned Yost gives him a bit of a break in 2015 before Perez falls apart.
Round 14: Danny Santana
One of the safest predictions you can make in 2015 is that Danny Santana’s BABIP will come down big time because there is almost no way that he repeats a BABIP north of .400 again. He very well may still repeat last year’s counting stats of 70/7/40/20 only because he will likely get way more than 430 PA’s.
Round 15: Neftali Feliz
Yuck. I have zero trust of Feliz this season. His 4.90 FIP and 1.91 K/BB are gigantic red flags for any player, but that is just dreadful for a closer. There are at least 25 other closers I prefer over Feliz.
Round 16: Martin Prado
Prado is the poor man’s Ben Zobrist, which means that he will also be a little overrated based on his versatility and real life baseball skills. He will not make your team any worse, but Martin Prado is far from a stat filler.
Round 17: Jedd Gyorko
At this point in the draft, it is hard to really call any pick really bad because we are roughly 200 players deep at this point. I personally do not believe in Jedd Gyorko’s resurgence in 2015, but 20 homers from the second baseman would not exactly be shocking either. I just preferred a lot of the others drafted in round 17.
Round 18: Joe Mauer
I really do not see much fantasy value for Joe Mauer due to the fact that he is only first base eligible. There are at least 25 other 1B eligible options that I prefer. He offers you a strong average and a lack of consistent health.
Round 19: Javier Baez
I gambled on the Russian roulette of the draft and lost almost instantly when Baez was demoted the next day to AAA. I should have played it safe with my favorite SS, J.J. Hardy, instead.
Round 20: Austin Jackson
The next four outfielders taken were Khris Davis, Marlon Bryd, Yasmany Tomas, and Avisail Garcia. I prefer all of those options over Austin Jackson. I prefer Davis and Byrd for their reliable power and Tomas and Garcia for their upside.
Round 21: Aaron Sanchez
Aaron Sanchez saw his ADP rise a little too much earlier this off-season when he was mostly relying on one pitch to overpower hitters in 2014. I think we see an ERA north of 4.00 this season as Toronto’s fifth starter.
Round 22: Matt Garza
Matt Garza is just boring to me. He should have an upper three ERA and decent WHIP, but I do not think we see the 2011 Garza again. His velocity is starting to tick downwards and his 6.94 K/9 is lousy.
Round 23: Jose Ramirez
I probably would have paid a couple rounds higher to grab Alcides Escobar because I think his SB floor is a good bit better than that of Jose Ramirez. If you are looking for a speedy SS, I want a player who I believe will steal 30+. Then again, Jose Ramirez could be the best value of the bunch.
Round 24: Juan Lagares
I honestly forgot about Juan Lagares. I think that says enough about my thoughts on him, but he is mostly in the lineup for his glove and not his fantasy output.
Round 25: Joe Smith
I know Huston Street has been familiar with the Disabled List in the past, but I would have preferred to draft another reliever who will offer more help in the ratio categories than Smith. I do want to make a note that Smith was quite good in 2014, but I would rather have targeted Pat Neshek or Tony Watson instead.
Round 26: Wilmer Flores
There are not really any bad picks at this point, but I feel like there was a better shortstop drafted later in the 26th round in Jed Lowrie. While Lowrie will get hurt by the time someone reaches this far in the article, he at least has some fantasy upside. Wilmer Flores is not going to offer much.
Round 27: Kendall Graveman
Graveman was a nice piece in a terrible trade for the A’s this off-season, but he has a limited fantasy profile by being such an extreme groundball pitcher. I would be almost happy if he could even exceed a 6.50 K/9.