Who Should I Draft?
Mike Trout or Juan Soto (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Mike Trout CF - LAA  | Juan Soto LF - WSH  | |
Expert |
80% Recommended by 8 of 10 experts |
20% Recommended by 2 of 10 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 4 | # 5 |
| Best Rank | # 1 | # 3 |
| Worst Rank | # 6 | # 9 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 4 | # 5 |
| Best Rank | # 3 | # 4 |
| Worst Rank | # 5 | # 6 |
| Projections | ||
| Runs | 110 | 113 |
| Home Runs | 42 | 38 |
| RBI | 108 | 112 |
| Stolen Bases | 10 | 13 |
| Batting Average | .291 | .309 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | - | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 4 | # 5 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 4 | # 7 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 2 | # 3 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 4 | # 5 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 4 | # 5 |
| Brendan Tuma BettingPros | # 1 | # 3 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 6 | # 9 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 3 | # 8 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 5 | # 3 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 6 | # 4 |
| Mike Trout CF - LAA | Juan Soto LF - WSH | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| At Bats | 199 | 154 |
| Runs | 41 | 39 |
| Hits | 56 | 54 |
| Singles | 28 | 27 |
| Doubles | 9 | 14 |
| Triples | 2 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 17 | 13 |
| RBI | 46 | 37 |
| Stolen Bases | 1 | 6 |
| Caught Stealing | 1 | 2 |
| Walks | 35 | 41 |
| Strikeouts | 56 | 28 |
| Batting Average | .281 | .351 |
| On Base Pct | .390 | .490 |
| Slugging Pct | .603 | .695 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | .993 | 1.185 |
| Mike Trout CF - LAA | Juan Soto LF - WSH | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| At Bats | 512 | 524 |
| Runs | 110 | 113 |
| Hits | 149 | 162 |
| Singles | 76 | 88 |
| Doubles | 27 | 34 |
| Triples | 4 | 2 |
| Home Runs | 42 | 38 |
| RBI | 108 | 112 |
| Stolen Bases | 10 | 13 |
| Caught Stealing | 3 | 4 |
| Walks | 110 | 110 |
| Strikeouts | 141 | 117 |
| Batting Average | .291 | .309 |
| On Base Pct | .416 | .429 |
| Slugging Pct | .592 | .588 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | 1.008 | 1.017 |
| Mike Trout CF - LAA | Juan Soto LF - WSH | |
| News | ||
| Juan Soto agreed to a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Nationals to avoid arbitration. Jon Mathisen Fri, Jan 15th | ||
| Notes | ||
| For one of the first times since he took the league by storm, Trout is not the consensus top pick this year. It's hardly his fault, though it's fair to point out some of the negatives with his 2020 season. He batted a career-low .281, and posted his worst walk- and strikeout-rates since 2015. He also stole only one base. But Trout's move down the overall baseball rankings is due more to his competition for the top spot, rather than his numbers. He was still among the league leaders in quality of contact and every expected statcast metric, and was on pace to hit 50 home runs over the course of a full season. Trout is entering his age-30 season, so although we've seen him rebound from poor stolen base years before, it now seems unlikely that he'll ever get back to much past low-double digits. That keeps him out of the top spot in rotisserie rankings, but his incredibly high floor makes him a top-five overall draft pick. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to describe what Soto has done in his career given his young age. Had he merely repeated his incredible 2019 numbers last season, fantasy managers would have been ecstatic. Instead, he upped his walk rate from an elite 16.4% to a truly remarkable 20.9%, cut his strikeout rate down to just 14.3%, and batted .351. Soto does not have the speed or baserunning chops to steal 30 bases in a season, which is the only thing keeping him from being considered worthy of drafting first overall. But given what he's accomplished through his age-21 season, it's truly scary to think of how high his ceiling may be. Draft him as a top-five pick and enjoy the ridiculous production. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| You won't find a safer first-round investment in all of fantasy baseball. However, entering Trout's age-29 season, it's now fair to consider several others worthy of the No. 1 overall pick come draft day. The biggest argument against Trout is a lack of stolen base upside. Trout swiped just one bag during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Still, the well-rounded power and on-base skills aren't going anywhere just yet. Brendan Tuma - BettingPros | There isn't a single negative thing to say about the second coming of Ted Williams. Soto get even better last year, his age-21 season, and wound up leading baseball in OBP. The fact that he was limited to 47 games wound up costing him NL MVP honors, as Soto was the best hitter in baseball on a per-game basis in 2020. The floor here is so high. Soto isn't a zero in stolen bases either. He swiped 12 in 2019 and six last summer. Brendan Tuma - BettingPros | |
