One of the best discourses every single year leading up to the start of the season is debating where players should be drafted.
With that, there’s always the question, “Well, why draft X here when you can get Y here?” Typically, it’s because X is the better player with a longer track record.
But that’s not always the case.
If there’s one thing I say over and over – and will continue to say until my time as a fantasy writer is done – is that fantasy is all about finding value.
And that’s what we are going to do today.
Typically, you’ll take the X player instead of waiting for the Y, but in every draft, you’re going to have some perceived weakness on your team, which is where finding value in the draft can help.
For this exercise, I’m using The Bat projections to find a player at each position that you can wait on to get a similar projected value for a player at the same position who is going earlier in the draft, based on FantasyPros ADP.
Let’s get to it.
- Fitz’s Positional Primers
- Hitters to Avoid | Target
- Pitchers to Avoid | Target
- Latest Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
Finding ADP Values (2023 Fantasy Baseball)
Starting Pitcher
Carlos Rodon (SP – NYY): ADP 41.4
Cristian Javier (SP – HOU): ADP 66.2
| ADP | IP | K | BB | ERA | |
| Rodon | 41.4 | 171 | 214 | 53 | 3.24 |
| Javier | 66.2 | 171 | 210 | 71 | 3.74 |
One of my easier fades this year is Rodon, as I don’t like to draft pitchers on a big contract – especially when they head to a bad ballpark.
Javier, meanwhile, is one of my favorite pitchers to target, and I think there’s a front-end SP2 upside with him. This gap isn’t huge, but it’s two rounds in a standard 12-team league.
Beyond our fantasy baseball content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – which optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball draft season.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
