Jake Odorizzi continues to improve and is pitching for a big contract
As drafts move into the middle rounds, owners stop picking players that they trust and move on to those that they are optimistic will perform better. It is not the early rounds of the draft, where the players are mostly known commodities, but it is also not the latter rounds where owners have to, at least, fill their roster with players that are mostly veteran bodies; a lot of owners tend to pick risky younger players here. Although very few of the picks were too outlandish, many owners looked to more optimistic picks.
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Read below for picks and analysis for the eighth and ninth rounds of the 2016 FantasyPros MLB Mock Draft.
Draft Wizard: Mock in minutes vs. the most accurate experts 
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 1 Recap
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 2 & 3 Recap
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 4 & 5 Recap
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 6 & 7 Recap
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 8 & 9 Recap
- FantasyPros Mock Draft: Round 10 & 11 Recap
12.01 Rob Klein – James Shields (SP – SD)
The selection of Shields adds another power arm to Rob’s pitching staff. While many were down on the season that he had in his first with the Padres, he did make 34 starts and had 216 strikeouts which was the first time he reached 200 strikeouts in three seasons. He has made 33 or more starts in eight straight seasons. On the downside, his ERA and WHIP numbers both went up at 3.91 and 1.33 respectively. Shields durability, strikeout numbers and the fact that he pitches in the National League in a pitching friendly park allows him to be a nice addition on Rob’s team as his fourth starter.
C-McCann 1B- Cabrera 2B- SS- 3B-Machado OF- Cruz OF-Gonzalez OF-Puig UT- UT- UT- P- Hamels P-Lester P-Verlander P-Familia P-Britton P-Shields P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.02 John Aubin – Joc Pederson (OF – LAD)
Joc Pederson looked to be the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year going into June last season but regressed and hit just .178 after the All-Star break. Despite the poor second half, Pederson did finish the season with 26 home runs. The power is there and he has speed as he has shown in the minors but it was not utilized by the previous Dodgers’ coaching staff. New manager, Dave Roberts, likes to run and with Pederson’s ability to draw walks and a .346 OBP, he has the potential to steal 20 bases this season. John realizes this pick could go a couple of ways. Pederson could continue his poor second half hitting and end up in the minors or he could live up to his can’t miss prospect status and become a 20-20 player.
C- 1B-Gonzalez 2B-Odor SS-Boegarts 3B-Bryant OF-McCutchen OF-Yelich OF-Pederson UT- UT- UT- P- Fernandez P-Bumgarner P-Kimbrel P-Richards P-Matz P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.03 Matthew Davis – Hector Rondon (RP – CHC)
Hector Rondon is coming off a career year in 2015, posting 30 saves while gaining plenty of experience down the stretch and in the playoffs with the Cubs. Rondon was stingy in the earned run department with an insane 1.67 ERA. His 24.6% K% over the last two seasons is a good indication that his strikeout rate will hover around 25.0%d. At age 27, Hector Rondon has a great chance for positive progression and the Cubs should give him plenty of save opportunities.
C- 1B-Rizzo 2B- SS-Seager 3B-Longoria OF- Pollock OF-Upton OF-Gomez UT-Cespedes UT-Soler UT- P-Ross P-Salazar P-Martinez P-Rondon P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.04 Chris Zolli – Masahiro Tanaka (SP – NYY)
In a lot of ways Tanaka had a weaker 2015 than his rookie 2014 season, seeing his ERA go from 2.77 to 3.51 and his strikeouts per nine drop from 9.4 to 8.1 across his two seasons. Also, Tanaka has had a bit of a problem with home runs, allowing 25 in 2015, but his ability to keep runners off base minimizes his damage from home runs and is the reason that he is a suitable third SP for my team. He has averaged 1.5 walks per nine innings over his first 290 1/3 innings of his MLB career and cut his hits per nine to 7.4 in 2015. Although many would point to a .242 batting average on balls in play for his .217 batting average against, Tanaka also cut down his hard hit ball percentage by 4.2% in 2015. The biggest fact for Tanaka is that he is a year further past his elbow issues that cut down his 2014 season and he had surgery on a bone spur in his elbow to elevate pressure. On the worst case, Tanaka has 12-14 wins with a 3.50 ERA, 4.50 K:BB ratio, and 1.15 WHIP with much higher potential.
C-Schwarber 1B-Fielder 2B-Kipnis SS- 3B-Arenado OF- Marte OF-Martinez OF-Cain UT-Polanco UT-Gardner UT- P- Darvish P-McCullers P-Tanaka P- P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.05 David Marcillo – A.J. Ramos (RP – MIA)
There has been a little noise coming out of Miami that Carter Capps will be given a chance to earn the closer’s role in Spring Training, but it’s a safe bet that Ramos will continue in the role he excelled in last season. Taking over for Steve Cishek after an ineffective start to the season, Ramos put up 32 saves and 87 strikeouts in 70.1 innings. He has improved every season as a Marlin, and if he can keep that up, he’s great value in round 12.
C-Posey 1B-Votto 2B-Zobrist SS-Desmond 3B-Carpenter OF- Stanton OF-Calhoun OF- UT-Hosmer UT-Morales UT- P- Harvey P-Gray P-Ramos P- P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.06 Jamie Mellor – Khris Davis (OF – OAK)
Davis is a young slugger with 25-30 HR power. Jamie knows he does not come with a high batting average but feels his other hitters can absorb it. This selection was made prior to Davis’ trade to the A’s.
C- 1B-Freeman 2B-Wong SS-Correa 3B-Rendon OF- Betts OF-Braun OF-Eaton UT-Davis UT- UT- P- Price P-Hernandez P-Wainwright P-Davis P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.07 Matt Terelle – Jose Reyes (SS – COL)
Reyes, who was shipped to Colorado in the surprise Troy Tulowitzki deal last summer, did not hit well as a Rockie. Look for him to bounce back in his first full season in the thin air in Colorado. Although he does not run like he used to, he still swiped 24 bags last season and that number should rise with him playing a full year in the National League.
C- 1B- 2B-Dozier SS-Reyes 3B-Donaldson OF- Bautista OF-Blackmon OF-Heyward UT-Sano UT-Ellsbury UT- P- Grienke P-Liriano P-Wacha P-Rosenthal P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.08 Eric Townsend – Travis d’Arnaud (C – NYM)
Travis d’Arnaud has all of the talent of a top-5 catcher, but with the risk of a long injury history. However, that risk is worth it in the 12th round, as even in just 67 GP the young slugger hit 12 homers with a solid .268 average. He has a clean bill of health going into 2016, and with a full season of production, it is reasonable to expect 18+ home runs, to go with an average around .275, and 80+ RBI. At this point in the draft, that upside is well worth gambling on.
C-d’Arnaud 1B-Abreu 2B-Altuve SS-Tulowitzki 3B-Moustakas OF-Ramirez OF-Reddick OF- UT-Ortiz UT-Pujols UT- P- Cole P-deGrom P-Jansen P- P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.09 Kerry Kauffman – Elvis Andrus (SS – TEX)
Originally looking at Jose Reyes to fill the shortstop position and having seen him go two picks prior, Kerry looks to the next best option at this point. Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers provides a good combination of batting average, stolen base potential and RBI production from the position. While Andrus has not been upper echelon in any one category, he has never stolen less than 20 bases in his career, has topped 60 RBI in four of the past five seasons and should hit around .270. This is a solid 12th round pick for a team in need of a base stealer and a starting shortstop.
C-Gattis 1B-Encarnacion 2B- SS-Andrus 3B-Frazier OF-Kemp OF-Choo OF- UT- UT- UT- P-Kershaw P-Keuchel P-Giles P-Zimmermann P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.10 Daniel Marcus – Addison Russell (2B – CHC)
There is a lot of hype surrounding the Cubs this season, but one player who seems to not be getting that attention is Addison Russell. The downside is that he will be hitting towards the bottom of the lineup, possibly even 9th. However, he should hit double-digit home runs which will provide good counting stats, no matter where he hits in the lineup.
C-Lucroy 1B-Goldschmidt 2B-Russell SS- 3B-Franco OF- Springer OF-Jones OF-Hamilton UT-Dickerson UT- UT- P- Sale P-Carrasco P-Allen P-Robertson P- P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.11 Roy Widrig – D.J. LeMahieu (2B – COL)
Roy had to make an emergency move as his best-laid plans of getting Kolten Wong or Addison Russell went down the tubes, making the need to fill a second base hole a major priority. Normally there would not be such a need for a knee-jerk reaction here, but the second base depth falls into a harrowing abyss after Russell, LaMahieu and Wong. Of course, there’s always a bright side. An increase in walk percentage and BABIP gave LaMahieu a career year in 2015 in which he slashed .301/.358/.388. Even for someone playing at Coors Field, there is not much power here, but 23 stolen bases in 2015 doesn’t hurt much either.
C-Martin 1B-Davis 2B-LeMahieu SS-Crawford 3B-Seager OF-Harper OF-Pence OF- UT- UT- UT- P-Arrieta P-Syndergaard P-Archer P-Melancon P- Stroman P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
12.12 Gavin Tramps – Taijuan Walker (SP – SEA)
The 23-year-old right-hander is high-risk, high-reward pitcher. The former first-round pick threw 169 2/3 innings over 29 starts with a 4.56 ERA and 157 strikeouts. These are not mouth-watering statistics but cherry pick the seven starts from the end of May and it becomes Cy Young award winning caliber. A 6-1 win-loss record with a 1.68 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 9.50 SO/9. He exceeded 100 pitches on eight occasions last year including an 11 strikeout complete game. Spacious Safeco Park works in his favor with his flyball tendencies and it feels safe to assume that he will make further strides forward in his development in 2016.
C- 1B- 2B-Gordon SS-Lindor 3B-Beltre OF-Trout OF-Brantley OF- UT-Kinsler UT- UT- P-Scherzer P-Kluber P-Strasburg P-Cueto P- Chapman P-Walker P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.01 Gavin Tramps – Brandon Belt (1B/OF – SF)
This is what happens if you miss out on one of the top 10 first basemen. Brandon Belt is an excellent player and maybe one year he will produce a 25 HR, 90 RBI, 10 SB, .280 AVG season. He is disparagingly called Eric Hosmer-lite but last year, he hit a career-high 18 HR with 9 SB and a .834 OPS. These are three stats that the Royals’ first baseman could not beat despite an extra 111 plate appearances. Belt has still not produced the breakout season that has been predicted for many years so Gavin will optimistically keep his fingers crossed for 2016. The 28-year-old suffered a concussion in September and of course, symptoms have been known to linger. He will be monitored closely at Spring Training. The dual 1B/OF eligibility was a contributing factor for drafting him ahead of the remaining first base candidates.
C- 1B-Belt 2B-Gordon SS-Lindor 3B-Beltre OF-Trout OF-Brantley OF- UT-Kinsler UT- UT- P-Scherzer P-Kluber P-Strasburg P-Cueto P- Chapman P-Walker P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.02 Roy Widrig – Randal Grichuk (OF – STL)
This pick was a bit harder than expected, not as a knock on Grichuk’s ability, but the amount of sneaky value that is still sitting untapped in the player pool. Grichuk fills the third outfield spot for this team and does so with a projected 22 HR and 69 RBI from FANS. Keep in mind, he is only 24-years-old and should have plenty of solid years ahead of him.
C-Martin 1B-Davis 2B-LeMahieu SS-Crawford 3B-Seager OF-Harper OF-Pence OF-Grichuk UT- UT- UT- P-Arrieta P-Syndergaard P-Archer P-Melancon P- Stroman P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.03 Daniel Marcus – Jake Odorizzi (SP -TB)
Odorizzi took a step forward in a lot of ways last year but lost strikeouts as well. Dan still really likes his stuff and peripherals and expects that this could be the year he puts everything together to become a very strong fantasy asset.
C-Lucroy 1B-Goldschmidt 2B-Russell SS- 3B-Franco OF- Springer OF-Jones OF-Hamilton UT-Dickerson UT- UT- P- Sale P-Carrasco P-Allen P-Robertson P-Odorizzi P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.04 Kerry Kauffman – Collin McHugh (SP -HOU)
Although McHugh is a late bloomer, having his first solid Major League season at the age of 27 in 2014, it is a surprise to see him still on the board in the 13th round. McHugh had a breakout season last year, winning 19 games with 171 strikeouts in 203 2/3 innings pitched. Although his ERA was not stellar at 3.89, McHugh has a combined ERA of a solid 3.39 over the past two seasons. A season with 14 wins, a 3.60 ERA and 160 to 180 strikeouts it not out of the question for McHugh, which is excellent for a number four man in the rotation.
C-Gattis 1B-Encarnacion 2B- SS-Andrus 3B-Frazier OF-Kemp OF-Choo OF- UT- UT- UT- P-Kershaw P-Keuchel P-Giles P-Zimmermann P-McHugh P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.05 Eric Townsend – Billy Burns (OF – OAK)
Billy Burns has tremendous upside for a player taken in the 13th round. Burns didn’t start playing regularly until May last season, but still finished tied for 10th overall in stolen bases, paired with a great .294 average, all in just 125 GP. In a full season, Burns has a chance to improve on his 26 steals to around the 32-35 range, while maintaining his average and hitting double digits in homers. The Oakland lineup and ballpark are the main enemies for the youngster (he’s only 26), but he should overcome them and remain a “steal” this late in the draft.
C-d’Arnaud 1B-Abreu 2B-Altuve SS-Tulowitzki 3B-Moustakas OF-Ramirez OF-Reddick OF-Burns UT-Ortiz UT-Pujols UT- P- Cole P-deGrom P-Jansen P- P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.06 Matt Terelle – Salvador Perez (C – KC)
Perez is young (25) and plays a ton for a catcher which is nice because there’s less need for a backup at the position. In 2015, he was third in the league in games played behind only Buster Posey and Derek Norris. He hit a career-high 21 home runs last season, the third-highest total in the league for catchers. While he may not top that mark again this season, he has been remarkably consistent over his career. He has topped 70 RBI in three straight seasons and has hit double-digit home runs in four straight seasons.
C-Perez 1B- 2B-Dozier SS-Reyes 3B-Donaldson OF- Bautista OF-Blackmon OF-Heyward UT-Sano UT-Ellsbury UT- P- Grienke P-Liriano P-Wacha P-Rosenthal P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.07 Jamie Mellor – Jay Bruce (OF – CIN)
Jamie was devastated when Salvador Perez was taken one pick before him. After 2 hours of debating over 7 different players, he decided to go with the consistent power of Bruce. He comes with a downside at batting average but his runs, HR and RBI are hard to resist at this point in the draft. He is the safest bet for 25 HR and 80 RBI.
C- 1B-Freeman 2B-Wong SS-Correa 3B-Rendon OF- Betts OF-Braun OF-Eaton UT-Davis UT-Bruce UT- P- Price P-Hernandez P-Wainwright P-Davis P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.08 David Marcillo – Michael Pineda (SP – NYY)
Going with upside here in round 13, Pineda had an amazing 156/21 K/BB ratio in 160.2 innings during 2015. His 4.37 ERA was nothing special, but a 3.34 FIP shows that he may have been unlucky. Pineda is in for a great year and will end up being a steal in round 13.
C-Posey 1B-Votto 2B-Zobrist SS-Desmond 3B-Carpenter OF- Stanton OF-Calhoun OF- UT-Hosmer UT-Morales UT- P- Harvey P-Gray P-Ramos P-Pienda P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.09 Chris Zolli – Huston Street (RP – LAA)
Huston Street may not be the sexiest of players, but he is very efficient, posting 40 saves in each of the last two seasons and a 2.32 ERA over the last four seasons. He had a bit of a down year in terms of ERA and WHIP in 2015, posting a 3.18 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, but still has not allowed more than 7.5 hits per nine in any of the last four seasons. In fact, Street has had a sub-2.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP in two of the last three seasons and has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning for his career. The only poor seasons of Street’s career came while he was the closer for the Rockies from 2009-2011 and he has four seasons with 35 or more saves in his 11-year career. Getting a solid RP1 at the end of the 13th round is a coup and allows me to build my roster.
C-Schwarber 1B-Fielder 2B-Kipnis SS- 3B-Arenado OF- Marte OF-Martinez OF-Cain UT-Polanco UT-Gardner UT- P- Darvish P-McCullers P-Tanaka P-Street P- P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.10 Matthew Davis – Carlos Rodon (SP – CWS)
Carlos Rodon, the 3rd overall pick in 2014 made his major league debut in 2015 and was just as good as advertised. The 23-year-old struggled with command issues (BB% of 11.7%) but progressed rather quickly in that department. Rodon’s BB% was an awful 13.9% in the 1st half but the rookie was able to correct it in the 2nd half where it dipped to 9.7%. Rodon also posted a solid K% of 22.9% in 2015, which Matthew expects to the be the lowest K% for quite some time. With the 154th pick, Carlos Rodon becomes his fourth starting pitcher. Rodon’s current ADP in the NFBC is 145 and Matthew absolutely loves his ceiling.
C- 1B-Rizzo 2B- SS-Seager 3B-Longoria OF- Pollock OF-Upton OF-Gomez UT-Cespedes UT-Soler UT- P-Ross P-Salazar P-Martinez P-Rondon P-Rodon P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.11 John Aubin – Matt Duffy (2B, 3B – SF)
The pick of Matt Duffy may not come with a ton of upside but Duffy should provide consistency and give John a solid utility player for his roster. Duffy will give John the ability to put him at third base and move second-round pick Kris Bryant to the outfield. He also has second base eligibility which gives him some roster flexibility. Duffy is able to contribute in five categories and Bill James, the godfather of analytics, has him projected to hit .311 with 79-11-85-15 stats for 2016.
C- 1B-Gonzalez 2B-Odor SS-Boegarts 3B-Bryant OF-McCutchen OF-Yelich OF- Pederson UT-Duffy UT- UT- P- Fernandez P-Bumgarner P-Kimbrel P-Richards P-Matz P- P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
13.12 Rob Klein – Mark Teixeira (1B – NYY)
Timing is a big part of sports, today it was announced that Greg Bird would be lost for the season with a torn labrum. He is expected to be the heir apparent at first base for the Yankees as he stepped in with 11 home runs. For one more season, the Yankees will be calling on veteran Mark Teixeira to provide power and run production in the Yankees lineup for a full season. Whether he can stay healthy is another matter but when he is in the lineup he produces. Last season in 111 games he produced 31 home runs, 79 RBI and an OPS of .906 his highest since 2009. As a utility player on Rob’s team, he will not be counted on to do much but, if healthy he does have 35+ home run potential that was too much to pass up.
C-McCann 1B- Cabrera 2B- SS- 3B-Machado OF- Cruz OF-Gonzalez OF-Puig UT-Teixeira UT- UT- P- Hamels P-Lester P-Verlander P-Familia P-Britton P-Shields P- P- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE- BE-
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Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.
