Fantasy Baseball 2023 Mock Draft: Strategy and Cheatsheet for Opening Rounds
Spring Training is in full swing, the World Baseball Classic keeps pumping out memorable contests and MLB opening day is just around the corner.
If you haven't dabbled in any mock fantasy baseball drafts yet, you're running out of time to utilize this helpful tool before your talent grabs actually matter.
Coming here was a good start, though, as we're mocking the first three rounds of a head-to-head draft and then exploring two strategies to help maximize the value of your top picks.
Three-Round, 10-Team Mock Draft
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Round One
1. Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
2. Ronald Acuña Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves
3. José Ramírez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians
4. Julío Rodriguez, OF, Seattle Mariners
5. Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia Phillies
6. Juan Soto, OF, San Diego Padres
7. Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Los Angeles Angels
8. Mookie Betts, 2B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
9. Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros
10. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees
Round Two
11. Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
12. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
13. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays
14. Yordan Álvarez, OF/DH, Houston Astros
15. Manny Machado, 3B, San Diego Padres
16. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
17. Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
18. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
19. Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
20. Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox
Round Three
21. Fernando Tatís Jr., SS, San Diego Padres
22. Bobby Witt Jr., SS/3B, Kansas City Royals
23. Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves
24. Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves
25. Max Scherzer, SP, New York Mets
26. J.T. Realmuto, C, Philadelphia Phillies
27. Sandy Alcántara, SP, Miami Marlins
28. Nolan Arenado, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
29. Marcus Semien, 2B/SS, Texas Rangers
30. Jacob deGrom, SP, Texas Rangers
Do Multiple Mocks
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There is no better way to prepare for the randomness of your actual draft than by participating in a mock draft.
There's also no better way to gauge that randomness than by participating in as many mocks as you can.
A lot of folks use mock drafts for experimentation. What happens if you start your draft with back-to-back outfielders? Or don't take a pitcher in the first five rounds? Or take some injury risks early to see what kind of reliable depth will be available later?
Those are all questions worth answering, but if your mock draft room is heavy on experimentation, then it could be tricky knowing whether you can trust the data or not. That's why doing multiple mocks will help since you can start to identify trends and patterns that could well come up again during your actual draft.
Have a Plan for the Early Rounds
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While any draft room—mock or official—will force you to do some real-time adjusting, you don't want to deviate from your strategy too early.
Remember, this is when you're building the foundation of your roster. Make sure you're comfortable with the kind of foundation you're putting in place.
This doesn't have to be as specific as targeting individual players, though if you have some strong preferences, it could be that. You have to decide what matters most to you as a fantasy manager. Do you care at all about position scarcity? Are there certain categories you want to fill first? Do you want a marquee pitcher or two leading your staff, or do you think there's enough pitching depth to wait on those and grab some elite hitters first?
Never forget, this is your team. You can mine all of the expert analysis and average draft position data you want, but you still make the final call. You have to be happy with the result, and if you aren't thrilled about how your first few picks went, chances are you won't be thrilled with the draft as a whole because of that.
