When asked to share a Friends and Family cheat sheet, I was honestly hesitant. For starters, I don’t have many friends, and the few I have don’t trust or care enough about my opinion to seek council.

Also, I compete against my dad, cousin, and uncle in my home league. Why would I want to help them beat me? Now that I’m revealing my strategies and targets, chances are my cousin will use this to snipe all my targets – I’m still bitter over him grabbing Austin Meadows and Ramon Laureano right before I could last year – while simultaneously using our Draft Assistant to optimize his picks.

But yeah, here’s a helpful Friends and Family guide that I’m guessing my friends won’t read and hoping my family doesn’t see.

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My Favorite Targets by Position

• Catcher: Wilson Ramos, Christian Vazquez, Carson Kelly, Francisco Mejia, Danny Jansen
• First Base: Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu, Carlos Santana, Edwin Encarnacion, Luke Voit, C.J. Cron
• Second Base: Ozzie Albies, Mike Moustakas, Kolten Wong, Starlin Castro
• Third Base: Matt Chapman, Josh Donaldson, Justin Turner, J.D. Davis
• Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Jorge Polanco, Amed Rosario, Dansby Swanson
• Outfield: J.D. Martinez, Tommy Pham, Eddie Rosario, Marcell Ozuna, Nick Castellanos, Michael Brantley, Oscar Mercado, Max Kepler, Adam Eaton, Shin-Soo Choo
• Designated Hitter: Nelson Cruz
• Starting Pitcher: Zack Wheeler, Lance Lynn, Max Fried, Kyle Hendricks, Kenta Maeda, Matt Boyd, Andrew Heaney, Luke Weaver, Mitch Keller, Jose Urquidy
• Relief Pitcher: Edwin Diaz, Ken Giles, Hector Neris, Nick Anderson

My Favorite Targets by Round

• 1st (Getting either of Mike Trout, Ronald Acuna Jr., or Christian Yelich with a top-three pick would be swell. If picking sixth or later … Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, Trea Turner)
• 2nd (Freddie Freeman, J.D. Martinez, Jose Ramirez)
• 3rd (Starling Marte, Jose Altuve, Xander Bogaerts)
• 4th (Charlie Blackmon, Ozzie Albies, George Springer, Patrick Corbin)
• 5th (Charlie Morton, Anthony Rizzo, Manny Machado, Lucas Giolito)
• 6th-7th (Nelson Cruz, Yu Darvish, Zack Greinke, Tommy Pham, Jose Abreu)
• 8th-9th (Josh Donaldson, Eddie Rosario, Matt Chapman, Marcell Ozuna, Nick Castellanos, Marcus Semien, Sonny Gray … Nelson Cruz if he’s somehow still available here if you didn’t blink and take him where he belongs earlier)
• 10th-12th (Zack Wheeler, Lance Lynn, Max Fried, Edwin Diaz, Ken Giles, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Max Kepler, Kyle Hendricks)
• 13th-15th (Amed Rosario, Jorge Polanco, Franmil Reyes, Matt Boyd, David Price, Kenta Maeda, Hector Neris, Nick Anderson, Edwin Encarnacion, Lourdes Gurriel)
• 16th-18th (Luke Voit, Andrew Heaney, J.D. Davis, Luke Weaver, Justin Upton, Adam Eaton, Mike Foltynewicz)
• 19th-23rd (Shin-Soo Choo, Ryan Braun, Mitch Keller, Jose Urquidy, Dansby Swanson, C.J. Cron, Michael Kopech, Josh James)
• ADP 300+ (Nathan Eovaldi, Trent Grisham, Domingo Santana, Justin Smoak, Ian Happ, Mike Tauchman, Jesus Aguilar, Jordan Lyles, Jordan Montgomery, Franchy Cordero)

Players I’m Avoiding Near ADP

• Fernando Tatis Jr. (21)
• Jack Flaherty (23)
• Pete Alonso (26) — (He said as a Mets fan staring at a bobblehead of Alonso riding a polar bear)
• Gleyber Torres (28)
• Josh Hader (48)
• Kirby Yates (65)
• Aroldis Chapman (69)
• Gary Sanchez (74)
• Trevor Bauer (77)
• Jose Berrios (78)
• Joey Gallo (81)
• Hyun-Jin Ryu (119)
• Gavin Lux (152)
• Archie Bradley (159)
• Lance McCullers (181)

Strategy/Advice

• Know your league. Seems simple, but my rankings (or anyone else’s) won’t help you if you’re playing in a points league with a quirky scoring system.
• If playing in a returning league, look at last year’s standings to establish statistical targets for at each category.
• Also study the draft results to get a sense of your competition’s tendencies. For example, the league with family members I mentioned in the intro always skews heavy to pitching in the beginning. I’ll keep that in mind before going too hard on hitting in the early rounds.
• Prioritize safety early, and chase upside later. Building around high-floor pieces a la Nolan Arenado and J.D. Martinez makes it far easier to fill out your roster with low-risk, high-reward gambles.
• I know it’s healthier to maintain an optimistic outlook on life, but it usually pays to be pessimistic about injuries. Too many will pop up throughout the long season to knowingly start it short-handed. Don’t take the plunge of Aaron Judge or Chris Sale unless receiving a monumental discount.
• While speed is scarce, that also means everyone needs fewer steals to compete. Those who can’t secure a five-category standout early should chip away with some mid-tier stolen base sources (i.e. Amed Rosario, Elvis Andrus, Oscar Mercado) rather than overpaying for Mallex Smith.
• Matthew Berry coined the “Don’t pay for saves” mantra back in the day. Since the game has changed dramatically over the years, I’d tweak that advice to “Don’t overpay for saves.” Let someone else be the first to grab Josh Hader and Kirby Yates, but target one or two upper-tier closers with (somewhat) secure jobs in the Rounds 10-15 range.
• Old geezers can be your best friend. You don’t want too many veterans — Father Time comes for most players sooner than later — but steady contributors are often available far beyond their worth solely because of their age.
• Prospect hunting is better served in the later rounds when the stakes are lower if a rookie flops or stays in the minors. I’m more likely to throw a late dart at Nick Madrigal or Nate Pearson than spend precious draft capital on Luis Robert, Gavin Lux, or Jo Adell.
• Try an auction! They’re tougher and longer, but they involve an entirely new layer of strategy. It’s also a lot more fun when everyone has a fighter’s chance of acquiring anyone.
• A good rule for any endeavor in life: Don’t be a jerk. Don’t veto trades just to block anyone else from getting better. Don’t try to fleece the league’s newbie, especially in a casual league. Don’t start petty arguments on your league’s message board. Don’t forget that this is supposed to be fun.

My Draft Season Prep Articles

Consensus Rankings Analysis: Late February
2020 Fantasy Baseball Primer: Second Base
2020 Fantasy Baseball Primer: Outfield
12-Team Mock Draft (Middle Pick) –Better known as the one where I avoided my caution against injury optimism and drafted Mike Clevinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and Luis Severino.
12-Team Late Pick (Late Pick)
How to Handle Shiny New Toys
What You Can Learn From Last Year’s Team
Sleepers for Home Runs
Sleepers for Runs

My 2020 Draft Rankings

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