Ok, so this draft didn’t actually happen, but the concept of seeing the best possible outcome is a useful technique across all areas of life. For instance, prior to football games, my team used to watch highlight videos of when we perfectly carried out our assignments. After all, it is difficult to attain for something if you have a cloudy picture of what you are actually seeking after. Today, I’ll give you my version of what I believe to be the absolutely ideal draft. You almost certainly won’t be able to repeat it, but if you can get close, you will be the heavy favorite to win your league.

I’ve had countless tweets and e-mails asking me to discuss the Marmol Strategy in greater detail. I laid out the philosophy in this piece, but today, I’ll show it to you in practice. It makes sense that this would be the avenue I take toward the perfect draft, considering I’ve seen this strategy conquer leagues so convincingly that they changed the rules just to prevent its implementation.

In order to build this team, I went through the average draft position and hand selected the best potential picks. As you might imagine, I had several players drop to me that you can no way rely on, but that is what would happen in the perfect draft. Likewise, my name was drawn to select first, as grabbing Mike Trout provides any team a significant advantage over the rest of the field. The options at picks #24 and #25 aren’t too shabby either. The team is for a standard 12 team, 5×5 roto (or head to head) league. Roster settings are as follows:

• 1 C
• 1 1B
• 1 2B
• 1 SS
• 1 3B
• 1 MI
• 1 CI
• 5 OF
• 1 UTL
• 2 SP
• 2 RP
• 4 P
• 5 Bench

Other Draft Strategies

Mid-Picks (Punting SB and SV)
Double-Aces (Punting SB and BA)

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An Unbelievable Lineup

• 3rd Round – Gary Sanchez (C – NYY)
  
• 2nd Round – Freddie Freeman (3B – ATL)
  
• 7th Round – Daniel Murphy (2B – WAS)
  
• 6th Round – Elvis Andrus (SS – TEX)
  
• 14th Round – Adrian Beltre (CI – TEX)
  
• 13th Round – Matt Olson (1B – OAK)
  
• 9th Round – Rougned Odor (MI – TEX)
  
• 1st Round – Mike Trout (OF – LAA)
  
• 4th Round – Justin Upton (OF – LAA)
  
• 5th Round – Tommy Pham (OF – STL)
  
• 8th Round – Domingo Santana (OF – MIL)
  
• 17th Round – Bradley Zimmer (OF – CLE)
  
• 23rd Round – Ryan McMahon (UTL -COL)
  

A primary reason for the Marmol Strategy’s consistent success is that by waiting until the 10th round to select your first pitcher, you are able to secure the best lineup in the league. If this is a head-to-head league, I have no qualms about drafting an injured star like Murphy or a rookie slugger like McMahon who may start the season in the minors. So long as you can squeeze into the playoffs, that is all the matter, and by adding both of them, I’m giving myself the best possible shot once the playoffs begin.

Getting Trout was a gift as were both Olson and Beltre falling to the 13th and 14th, which if you can believe it, actually happens in over 20% of drafts. Much of this roster (and my favorite targets of the year) are values because of the public’s false biases against them. Let me show you:

“Andrus is just a slap hitter with some speed.”
In reality, he was the number one shortstop in fantasy baseball because of his five-category success.

“Pham’s 2017 breakout was probably just a fluke.”
Well, actually, his batted ball stats and skill set suggest he might post even better numbers in 2018.

“Beltre finally hit the wall last season and his career is essentially over.”
Last year was his most efficient year in 5 seasons, but he didn’t have the counting stats because he was injured.

“Odor was terrible last season, there is no reason to spend a top 100 pick on him.”
If by terrible you mean he was a middle infielder with 30 HR and 15 RBI then you are right. He merely struggled from BABIP luck.

There is value to be found all over the place when you are able to recognize the top narratives. Every player in the lineup has them. Except for Trout, of course. He is a perfect baseball player and everyone knows it.

Cheap but Powerful Pen

• 15th Round – Brandon Morrow (RP – LAD)
  
• 16th Round – Andrew Miller (RP – NYY)
  
• 20th Round – Brad Peacock (RP – HOU)
  
• 21st Round – Chad Green (RP – NYY)
  
• 22nd Round – Cam Bedrosian (RP – LAA)
  
• 24th Round – Keone Kela (RP – TEX)
  
• 25th Round – Dominic Leone (RP – STL)
  

While everyone else is loading up with 3rd, 7th and 12th round closers who might produce an extra 20 total saves, 50 strikeouts and minimal team ratio improvement, I’m able to overcome those deficits and much more by waiting significantly longer and merely using my bench spots on less-known lockdown closers plus the top set-up men in the game. The thing is, they won’t ever sit on my bench. Most leagues allow you to use six or seven (if you have Peacock’s dual eligibility) relievers every day, that way your lineup isn’t filled with starters without the possibility of contributing anything. As I’ve explained in the Marmol Strategy piece, this bullpen is the equivalent of a fantasy league average bullpen plus Noah Syndergaard and Stephen Strasburg. I get all this production at the low cost of seven late round picks. No, that isn’t hyperbole or some joke, it is just a cheat code.

The Saftey Rotation

• 10th Round – David Price (SP – BOS)
  
• 11th Round – Rich Hill (SP – LAD)
• 12th Round – Lance McCullers (SP – HOU)
  
• 18th Round – Mike Clevinger (SP – CLE)
  
• 19th Round – Dinelson Lamet (SP – SDP)
  
• 26th Round – Tyler Glasnow (SP – PIT)
  

Generally, when I do the Marmol Strategy, I only draft four or even just three starting pitchers if the league settings allow me to get away with it. I’m not trying to compete in wins or strikeouts, but adding the final three high-upside sleepers that I did at the close of drafts may enable me to even do well in those categories. Clevinger is about as safe as you will ever find in the 18th round. I’d take him in the 8th if there were any competition for his services. He was every bit as dominant as Carlos Carrasco last season, but pitched fewer innings so few noticed. This year, he should get 160+ innings for the Indians. Behind him, Lamet and Glasnow both possess tantalizing stuff. I don’t intend to use their innings until they prove themselves. Worst case scenario is that they struggle with their command again and I cut them without losing anything. The best case scenario, of course, is that I’ve got two breakout aces on my hands. In front of them are three pitchers I want in every draft. I’ve been taking Price, Hill and McCullers a bit earlier than this to ensure no one beats me to the punch. What they offer are tremendous ratios and plenty of Ks if they are healthy with a downside of simply pitching too few innings. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t exactly hurt our team in this strategy, so I’ll take my chances and hopefully get the production of two aces for the cost of three mid-round picks.

The Results