Fantasy baseball mock draft 2023, 12-team: Aaron Judge over Trea Turner?

With fantasy baseball drafts in high gear, I decided to do a mock draft to see where some of the star MLB players fell in this 12-team snake-style draft.

In this simulated fantasy baseball draft (I used Rotoballer’s mock draft simulator), my team started in the fifth spot, meaning there would still be plenty of MVP candidates available when it came my turn.

Fantasy baseball mock draft Round 1

In this article, I’ll give you some reasoning why each round’s pick was made by me, as well as some picks that might have surprised me by the computer (who was representing the other 11 teams).

Round 1

Team 1 — Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees

Team 2 — Juan Soto, OF, Padres

Team 3 — Jose Ramirez, 3B/DH, Guardians

Team 4 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B/DH, Blue Jays

Team 5 — Kyle Tucker, OF, Astros

Team 6 — Trea Turner, SS, Phillies

Team 7 — Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners

Team 8 — Mookie Betts, OF, Dodgers

Team 9 — Yordan Alvarez, OF/DH, Astros

Team 10 — Manny Machado, 3B, Padres

Team 11 — Ronald Acuña Jr., OF/DH, Braves

Team 12 — Gerrit Cole, SP, Yankees

My pick: Kyle Tucker of the Astros

Call it a hunch or whatever you like, but I think Tucker has a chance at AL MVP honors this year. He can hit for power and steal bases, something I wanted to see out of my first pick. I also have a belief that you don’t take a pitcher in the first round, something that surprised me to see the computer do at pick 12 … and do with Gerrit Cole of the Yankees. Of the starting pitchers available, that certainly wasn’t the one I thought would go first.