There was some serious sniping going on in draft room #13 of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational (full results here). The worst for me was when all three of my outfield targets—Ian Happ, Ian Desmond and Adam Eaton —were selected in the eighth round, within the five picks preceding my choice. Any of them would have gotten me into the turn (I was third overall) and cruising at expected altitude into the middle rounds.
Instead, I had to zig a little bit, going for the glory with Miguel Cabrera and grabbing an underappreciated source of low-ERA innings in Marcus Stroman next. Time will tell whether the late-ish outfield I put together afterward holds up over the course of the year.
But, as painful as it feels at the time, this is what we have to do when position tiers dry up: move on to another and find value at the abandoned position later. As such, the following is a quick cruise around the diamond for some middle- and late-round options who won’t make you sad looking back at your finished product, however behind you were at one point.
1B: Yonder Alonso (NFBC ADP: 291.6) — A popular late-round corner-infield option, the somewhat traveled former first-round pick rode a career-high 43.2% fly ball rate last year to by far his best power output, with 28 home runs and an .866 OPS over 142 games between Oakland and San Diego. The 19.4 HR/FB% is a little high, but the fly ball revolution is real. As much as I like his predecessor, Carlos Santana, Alonso is being drafted more than 100 picks later. Double first-base backup plan?
2B: Josh Harrison (267.3) — The breakout everyone expected after Harrison’s .315/13/77/52/18 line in 2014 never really materialized, largely because injuries limited the Pirates’ Swiss Army knife to 114, 131 and 128 games the past three years. Still just 30 years old, Harrison’s pop returned last year after two seasons of ridiculously low HR/FB% marks of 3.4 and 2.7. He’s set to vastly outpace his projected 60-ish runs atop the Pittsburgh lineup if he can play even 140 games, and third-base eligibility makes him a patch for 2B, 3B, MI and CI, all in one.
3B: Eugenio Suarez (192.4) — Suarez’s two-year average of 23/82/76/7 doesn’t particularly stand out among the game’s many third-base mashers. But a vast improvement on defense has kept the 26-year-old on the field for 159 and 156 games the past two seasons — and saved his job from top prospect Nick Senzel, who the Reds are currently auditioning as a shortstop. I think we’ve only seen the hard-hitting Venezuelan’s floor — he’s slated to bat fourth this year and is an option for the two-hole in front of Joey Votto if the Reds outfielders struggle.
SS: Brandon Crawford (334.8) — The defensive whiz is a staple in the middle of the Giants’ lineup and brings the potential for an elite RBI output for a late-round pick. The power probably topped out at 21 home runs in 2015 for the 31-year-old shortstop, but I’m glad to take Crawford’s underappreciated consistency — 15 home runs, 75-plus RBIs and handful of steals — this late.
OF: Shin-Soo Choo (262.4) — The prototypical boring veteran pick who just so happens to hit atop a pretty good Rangers lineup in a very good scoring park. Sure, he’s 35, but in the 18th round of a 15-team league, what’s not to like about 22 home runs, 78 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 96(!) runs? This isn’t a dream scenario — it’s what Choo produced last year in 149 games.
SP: Jordan Montgomery (246.5) — As a rookie last season, Montgomery quietly put together an impressive campaign, going 9-7 in 29 starts with a 3.88 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 8.34 K/9. Backed by the monster Yankee offense and the game’s best bullpen, the second-year man could be a sneaky source of wins and WHIP this late. By pick 247, you should have the main cogs of a rotation lined up — here’s a chance to add a #3/4-type starter for next to nothing.
RP: Blake Treinen (186.2) — When it comes to relievers, it’s worth considering a player’s contract status — most cheap closers are candidates to be traded in July, if they even keep their jobs that long. The A’s anointed the big right-hander closer of the future after acquiring him from the Nationals last summer, and Treinen came through with a 2.13 ERA (3.08 FIP) and 1.16 WHIP en route to 13 handshakes in Oakland. For those skipping closers early, Treinen offers a solid floor you can pair with the likes of question marks like Joakim Soria, Jeurys Familia, Kelvin Herrera, Shane Greene and Mark Melancon.
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