Fantasy Baseball 2020 Draft Strategy: Advice and Cheat Sheet for 1st Round

Fantasy baseball will be delayed this year as Major League Baseball pushes back its season. But it will start back up at some point, and you'll want to be prepared when it does.

So below, you'll find my top-10 rankings for the fantasy baseball season and analysis for why I've ranked these players as first-round talents. 

1st-Round Rankings

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

2. Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

3. Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves

4. Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

5. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees

6. Francisco Lindor, SS, Cleveland

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

8. Jacob deGrom, SP, New York Mets

9. Juan Soto, OF, Washington Nationals

10. Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals

Analysis

Mike Trout will always be the safe pick. Yes, injuries have been a factor in his past three seasons. No, that hasn't hurt his fantasy output. In 134 games last year, Trout hit .291 with 45 homers, 110 RBI, 110 runs and 11 stolen bases. The steals were down, and that could remain the trend as Trout gets older, though it's easy to forget that he's only 28.

But he more than makes up for it in every other category. Maybe the injuries and his diminished steal numbers hurt his upside, but his floor is the highest in baseball. You can't go wrong sticking with Trout. 

Christian Yelich is an easy choice at No. 2. The numbers he put up in 2019 despite missing 32 games were absurd, hitting .329 with 44 homers, 97 RBI, 100 runs and 30 stolen bases. Trout gets the nod as the safer choice because he's been consistently good for longer, but a healthy Yelich boasts arguably the highest upside in baseball.

Then again, Ronald Acuna Jr. could make another leap. He's only 22 and just finished a season that saw him hit .280 with 41 homers, 101 RBI, 127 runs and 37 stolen bases. Not too shabby for his second year in the big leagues. To put that in perspective, Trout hit .326 with 30 homers, 83 RBI, 129 runs and 49 stolen bases as a 20-year-old. 

To date, that's one of Trout's most impressive seasons, and it's possible Acuna won't take another leap. But on pure upside, he makes sense as a top-three option. 

Like Acuna, Juan Soto is dripping with potential. Mookie Betts is a safer pick given his consistent production—imagine hitting 29 homers and 80 RBI in a "down year." Francisco Lindor offers more positional value at shortstop, where his power numbers can be hard to come by. Cody Bellinger's sheer power is hard to ignore, especially with another superstar like Betts now in the lineup.

But Soto is only 21 and just hit .282 with 34 homers, 110 RBI, 110 runs and 12 stolen bases. His steal numbers keep him out of the top tier of players, but like Acuna, he's not even in his prime yet and already raking. 

His teammate, Trea Turner, makes the top 10 for his speed and his positional value at shortstop. In an era that has moved away from base-stealing, Turner's four straight years with 30 or more steals becomes all the more valuable. Add in back-to-back seasons with 19 homers and at least 95 runs, and Turner is a safe bet to help your team in every category.

As for having two starting pitchers in the top 10, Cole is a safe pick because he routinely misses bats (an incredible 602 strikeouts the past two seasons) and is on a Yankees team that will win a lot of games this year. 

And deGrom is Mr. Consistent, with 230 or more strikeouts in three straight seasons and 200 or more K's in four out of the past five years. He probably won't hit Cole's overall strikeout numbers or wins, but he'll make up for it with ERA and WHIP.