I do a lot of mocks and, invariably, someone among the group will say, “let’s play this out” — words that make most of us in the industry shudder.
Not because we don’t like to play, or don’t want to play in a league where perhaps some non-industry guys are drafting, like the #MockDraftArmy. That is hardly it: I personally don’t care who I play against, and I am pretty clear I might play and write well, but there are a lot of you out there who could beat me in any given league.
For me, one issue is that I have too many leagues as it is, playing in three sim leagues and five regular roto formats, plus DFS here and there. More teams than that, I have found, I just do a crappy job everywhere.
But, I also like mocks as an exercise. Certainly I favor players: we all do. So I like to see how far in reality I can push a Khris Davis, for example, both by grabbing early or, if not, seeing when the rest of the world might take him. But I also might want to try simply drafting pitchers the first four rounds, or no outfielders as part of a greater strategy, and see what falls out, trying to figure out why.
Mocks are, as I have noted repeatedly, the best practice there is when preparing for an actual draft or auction.
I recently participated in the truly fun Rotoballer Family and Friends Mock, coordinated by Pierre Camus, Kyle Bishop, and Nick Mariano, Rotoballers all. Among the remaining illustrious combatants were Tim Heaney, Howard Bender, Ray Flowers, Andy Singleton, Vlad Sedler, Alex Chamberlain, Scott Engel, and Heath Cummings.
Somehow amidst the throes of the early rounds, it was suggested we play the league out as “Best Ball” — that is, a points-based draft-and-follow league that allows the computer to try and optimize our rosters (each team has a five-man bench) meaning no maintenance.
That is fine with me, but that similarly that means a slightly different strategy: at least one not quite so “devil-may-care experimental.”
Fortunately, we were all made aware simultaneously, and that meant we were victimized in the same way, and that made it fair. Secondly, since it is a 12-team set-up, the player pool is, “phat” shall we say?
So, in general, I drafted pretty much like I would a “real” draft, bearing mind that I needed to have some bench depth and that it was good to go young, but not necessarily too young.
As in as tasty as the likes of Rhys Hoskins (5.10) and Ronald Acuna (12.8), might be, for example, should they struggle so would my team, so I was happy to let my mates gobble up the hope filled spoils.
With Jose Altuve logged as my first pick (and I got to pick #1), and J.D. Martinez sitting at two, I grabbed Khris Davis as a third pick. That proved to be controversial on Twitter, but my ultimate defense is over the past two years 12 players have hit 40 homers, and Davis is the only one to perform that task over both.
But, with the points emphasis, and the fact the Robbie Ray went with the first pick of the fourth round, I went pitcher heavy for the next four selections, taking Luis Severino, Kenley Jansen, Alex Colome, and Gerritt Cole in order thereafter.
Next were Marwin Gonzalez and Domingo Santana, with Marwin being particularly valuable as a replacement pretty much everywhere, and as the draft progressed, I found myself with Aaron Hicks, Kevin Kiermaier, Orlando Arcia, and Cory Spangenberg, all good for some pop and steals.
Towards the end a run of pitchers I added Jimmy Nelson, Dellin Betances, Daniel Mengden, and Brad Peacock in what feels like a well-balanced lineup.
Did I draft Davis too soon? Did I wait too long on closers? Should I have taken Mike Trout over Altuve as the #1?
In six months, we will all know the truth anyway.
