Targeting players with 20/20 potential like Jason Heyward is a sound drafting strategy

As readers have seen the first annual FantasyPros Mock Draft and read the recaps of each of the 25 rounds, the only thing left to do is analyze the 12-team rosters. As each owner had their own strategy, and each felt that their team was the best, the Draft Analyzer feature of our  Draft Wizard tool showed that there were some clubs that stood out above the rest. While this analysis was comprehensive, remember there were also minor league players in the correspondent draft who will be ‘NA’ players on Yahoo rosters, creating a bevy of roster-filling moves after the culmination of the draft. Below you can find a round-by-round recap of the 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
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 12 & 13 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 14 & 15 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 16 & 17 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 18 & 19 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 20 & 21 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 22 & 23 Recap
• FantasyPros Mock Draft: Rounds 24 & 25 Recap

Here’s what our Draft Wizard tool provided for analysis of the draft after it was completed.

Best Team

Gavin Tramps’ team picked first and, according to the Draft Wizard, picked best, as his drafted team had the fifth-best hitting and best overall pitching. Highlighted by Mike Trout on offense and Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Corey Kluber in his rotation, Gavin is the early favorite in the league, combining high upside batters with power pitchers. All is not perfect with Gavin’s team, though, as he has the suspended Aroldis Chapman and injured Carter Capps headlining his bullpen, with some relief coming from a late-round pick of Andrew Miller. Although it may seem like a risk to enter a season with the bullpen as a weakness, remember that nine of the 21 pitchers with 30 or more saves in 2015 were likely found on the early-season, or even-midseason, waiver wire, stressing the importance of high impact starting pitching and hitters.

What Gavin was able to do was to optimize his opportunities to double down at positions. After seeing that there was a run on elite starting pitching in the fourth round, Gavin doubled down with both Corey Kluber and Stephen Strasburg, adding them with Max Scherzer to guarantee that he had three aces. When he saw that the opportunities were small at reliever, Gavin doubled down with both Andrew Miller and Carter Capps in the 18th and 19th rounds, providing some depth on top of Chapman. Finally, as all of the owners were working their way through rookies and N/A players, Gavin added A.J. Reed and Hyun-Soo Kim, providing solid power with his last two picks of the draft. Having two picks back-to-back can scare some people because there is a long time between selections, but, as Gavin showed, it can also give the opportunity to capitalize on trends.

Best Hitting Team

As the previous section highlighted Gavin’s top pitching, Matt Terrelle’s top hitting cannot be understated as well. In fact, Matt’s top rated hitting was 11 points better per Draft Wizard than second-place Matthew Davis. Headlined by AL MVP Josh Donaldson, Matt has five starters that clubbed more than 20 home runs in 2015 and has four other players that stole 20 or more bases. Adding a slugging second baseman like Brian Dozier puts Matt in an advantageous place at a traditionally weak offensive position, as does the slugging prowess of Salvador Perez at catcher.

Although other owners like myself looked for 20/20 type players, Matt was able to do so at an impressive level, adding the likes of Charlie Blackmon, Jason Heyward, Jacoby Ellsbury, Steven Souza, and the aforementioned Dozier. Adding young sluggers like Miguel Sano and Yasmany Tomas are nice lottery tickets for Matt as well, with both possessing the potential for 30+ home run power.

Lowest-Ranked Team

No one likes to talk about the downfalls of a fantasy draft, but owners with future drafts need to look at the way this one played out to see how to fix their strategies. Kerry’s team ranked last according to the Draft Wizard, an unfortunate combination of low-upside players and those set for regression. From the top of the draft there were issues, as Todd Frazier was one of Kerry’s first picks. Frazier had a rough second half in 2015, posting a sub-.700 OPS in each month from July on, and his .830 OPS at Great American Ballpark, his old home, is nearly 100 points better than his road OPS. Kerry also drafted Ben Revere a bit too high in the seventh round, particularly when he drafted a player with the same high-speed, low-power profile, Odubel Herrera, in the late rounds.

With regard to pitchers, Kerry grabbed aces in the way of both Clayton Kershaw and Dallas Keuchel, but does not have much else in the rotation and has little depth. Although closers are quite volatile, Ken Giles and Glen Perkins are Kerry’s options. Perkins was ousted by Kevin Jepsen as the Twins closer for the latter part of the 2015 season after Perkins was injured, and Giles has struggled in the spring with his new team in Houston, posting a 13.50 ERA in two innings and losing twice. Adding Jeremy Hellickson and Chase Utley late in the draft did not help Kerry’s cause.

Draft Wizard: Mock in minutes vs. the most accurate experts

We hope that you enjoyed the series. Be sure to follow along through the season to learn of moves made in the league and how the year goes for these owners.

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him@thezman2010.