Fantasy Baseball 2020 Mock Draft: Strategy and Cheat Sheet for Opening Rounds

There will be baseball.

We may not know when or where just yet, but at some point, players will return to the diamond and fans will race to the nearest screens for fantasy drafting purposes.

Even without a starting date in mind, we know enough about the top of the fantasy ranks to build our strategy for the opening rounds. We'll share it while providing a glimpse at our first five picks in a mock draft using Fantasy Pros' draft simulator, plus we've compiled a cheat sheet of our top 25 players and five biggest sleepers, breakouts and busts for the 2020 campaign.

Fantasy Baseball 2020 Cheat Sheet

Top 25 Rankings

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

2. Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

3. Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves

4. Francisco Lindor, SS, Cleveland Indians

5. Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

6. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees

7. Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

8. Jacob deGrom, SP, New York Mets

9. Alex Bregman, SS/3B, Houston Astros

10. Juan Soto, OF, Washington Nationals

11. Trevor Story, SS, Colorado Rockies

12. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado Rockies

13. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves

14. Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals

15. Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox

16. Anthony Rendon, 3B, Los Angeles Angels

17. Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Indians

18. Bryce Harper, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

19. Max Scherzer, SP, Washington Nationals

20. J.D. Martinez, OF, Boston Red Sox

21. Walker Buehler, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

22. Stephen Strasburg, SP, Washington Nationals

23. Javier Baez, SS, Chicago Cubs

24. Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, San Diego Padres

25. Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros

Sleepers

Mark Canha, OF, Oakland A's

Starlin Castro, 2B/3B, Washington Nationals

Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies

Josh James, RP, Houston Astros

Kenta Maeda, SP/RP, Minnesota Twins

Breakouts

Cavan Biggio, 2B, Toronto Blue Jays

Zac Gallen, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Keston Hiura, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Miguel Sano, 3B, Minnesota Twins

Luke Voit, 1B, New York Yankees

Busts

Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets

Kenley Jansen, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Ketel Marte, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks

Adalberto Mondesi, SS, Kansas City Royals

Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Los Angeles Angels

Mock Draft Results, Early-Round Strategy

Round 1, Pick 7: Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees

Round 2, Pick 18: Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Indians

Round 3, Pick 31: Shane Bieber, SP, Cleveland Indians

Round 4, Pick 42: Keston Hiura, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

Round 5, Pick 55: Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs

Target Starting Pitching, Steals Early

It's tough to craft a catch-all strategy, since every draft room is different. But in general terms, I see a shortage of elite starting pitchers and multitalented steals sources, so I'm seeking out both as early as possible.

The first six picks in this 12-team mock went like this: Ronald Acuna Jr., Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and Trevor Story. While that left Francisco Lindor on the board—and gave me plenty to think about—it also meant my No. 1 starting pitcher, Gerrit Cole, was still around. He was my choice, and hopefully he'll bring some of his 326 strikeouts from last season.

I'm not opposed to going pitcher-pitcher at the start of a draft, but Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Walker Buehler were all gone before I was back on the clock. Jose Ramirez was there, though, with his unique combination of power and speed. If he parties like it's 2018 again, he might be a league-winner (39 homers, 34 steals, 215 combined runs and RBI).

Only two pitchers went between picks 18 and 31 (Stephen Strasburg and Jack Flaherty), so grabbing another top-shelf arm was a no-brainer. Shane Bieber had a 3.28 ERA and 259 strikeouts in 214.1 innings last season. If he repeats those numbers, I might already have the league's best rotation.

With two top starters and a good (maybe great) steals source, I could pivot to a best-player-available strategy going forward. That first meant grabbing one of my top breakout pick in Keston Hiura, who might be an across-the-board fantasy standout. He only played 84 games in the majors last season and still totaled 19 homers and nine steals while hitting .303. Sign me up.

I debated taking Anthony Rizzo with the 42nd pick, so he was an obvious choice when he made it back to me at No. 55. He's almost a lock for 30 homers, 100 RBI and 90-plus runs every season. He hits for a good average, and he has great on-base skills. He might not hurt you in steals either (41 over the past five seasons). At this price point, it's hard to ignore the production.

Not every draft board will break this way. If yours sees early runs on starting pitchers and speedsters, you must decide on the fly whether you'll pay the increased rate or seek out bargains elsewhere. But if the fantasy gods shine in your favor, then you might have a chance to put your two biggest worry areas to rest early.