Fantasy Baseball 10-Team Categories Mock Draft with Last Pick

Morgan takes part in his third mock draft of the season, selecting from the last slot in a 10-team setup.

My fantasy baseball mock draft series continues with a 10-team snake draft. I conducted this one through the FantasyPros mock draft simulator again.

After selecting in the middle of rounds in my first mock draft and then first overall in my second mock draft, I decided to handle a draft from the last draft position, so 10th in this mock draft. Much like having the first overall pick, it’s agonizing to wait so long between picks, and it sometimes forces you to reach on players you want.

The league setup was the exact same as my first two mock drafts: one starter at catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, corner infield, middle infield and utility, five outfielders and nine pitchers, with eight bench spots. 

The mock draft was set to 5x5 category scoring.

Let’s dive into the draft, with some pick analysis included throughout. 

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Round 1 - Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

It’s always a mystery who might fall to the last pick in the first round, but I was thrilled it was Freeman. He’s a pretty well-rounded player in a loaded offense and should once again finish as one of the top fantasy hitters in the game.

By the time I made the pick, there were really two guys that I wanted, so I was able to snag them at No. 10 and 11.

Round 2 - Juan Soto, OF, New York Yankees

Soto was the other player I really wanted, and I was fortunate he fell to me. Much like Freeman, Soto is a well-rounded hitter in a stacked lineup. Soto might be in for a career year in New York.

Round 3 - Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers

After passing on pitching early on, I needed one in one of my next two picks. Thankfully, Burnes slipped to me, because he was the last guy remaining on my list of top starting pitchers.

Round 4 - Gunnar Henderson, 3B and SS, Baltimore Orioles

Not seeing any other pitchers I really liked, I went after an infielder. I was between Henderson, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, but decided on Henderson because he has some position versatility that could greatly help me out later in the draft.

Round 5 - Devin Williams, RP, Milwaukee Brewers

I have neglected closers in my first couple mock drafts, so I decided to switch up my strategy this time around and draft Williams. I’m glad I did in hindsight, because by the next time I picked in round seven, a total of five closers had been taken.

Round 6 - Tyler Glasnow, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

I decided to grab another pitcher next and settled on Glasnow. There’s some risk involved there for sure, but it’s hard to not like him on that Los Angeles roster. He might lack some of the innings some of the other guys I considered will get, but the strikeouts, wins, earned run average and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) should be fantastic numbers.

Other starters I considered here were Aaron Nola, Framber Valdez and Freddy Peralta.

Round 7 - Logan Gilbert, SP, Seattle Mariners

I was hoping one of Nola, Valdez or Peralta would fall to me here, but there was a huge run on SP. I decided I better get another starter for myself and chose Gilbert. Even though I felt a bit forced into the pick, I’m happy with it looking at what Gilbert has accomplished over the past couple seasons.

Round 8 - Josh Lowe, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

I decided I better add to my outfielders here in round eight and landed on Lowe. There weren't a ton of other outfielders I felt super confident about here, with Christian Yelich really being the only one I considered. I chose Lowe as he’s stepping into his prime, while Yelich is falling out of his.

Round 9 - Will Smith, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

I decided on another Dodger in round nine, filling my catcher slot with Smith. In hindsight, it was another smart move, as William Contreras was taken before I picked again, and he was the last guy remaining of my favorite four fantasy catchers for this upcoming season. 

Round 10 - Alex Bregman, 3B, Houston Astros

I decided on Bregman in round 10. I like that value a lot for this point of the draft, and it helped me add a big bat to my infield.

 

Other Highlights

I got a second closer in round 11 with Paul Sewald. He and Williams should rack up a ton of saves for me this season. 

After that, I waited a while before drafting another reliever, because I simply didn’t want to reach on players. It got to a point where my starting lineup was pretty much set, so I took some shots on a few guys - Kyle Finnegan (round 24), Carlos Estevez (round 25) and Mason Miller (round 26) - who could possibly get saves this season. If two of these guys turned into their team’s primary closers, I could either drop or trade the other option.

There’s some who might have preferred to draft a third locked-in closer, but I think this is another solid option if you don’t want to reach on that guy.

Let’s stick with pitching. I rounded out my rotation with Sonny Gray (round 13), Dylan Cease (round 14), Braxton Garrett (round 19), Nathan Eovaldi (round 20) and Aaron Civale (round 22). 

Personally, I was hoping to get one more SP, but I decided to not reach on anyone and instead use my excess of hitters to either acquire a SP or simply drop a hitter to open a roster spot for a SP who was excelling.

I drafted the following hitters to cap my draft: Ketel Marte (round 12), Ian Happ (round 15), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (round 16), Alec Bohm (round 17), Thairo Estrada (round 18), Kerry Carpenter (round 21), Logan O'Hoppe (round 23), Austin Hays (round 27), Alex Verdugo (round 28), Andrew Benintendi (round 29) and Brendan Donovan (round 30).

For those of you that have read through my first couple mock drafts, you know I value hitters that have high averages and some position versatility.

I’m pleased with Smith and O'Hoppe at catcher. If O'Hoppe stars, he could be used in a trade for a SP, or to help at a weak hitting position.

Freeman, Encarnacion-Strand, Bohm and Donovan all have 1B eligibility, so that’s another position that I could trade from. 

Marte, Estrada and Donovan are my 2B options to start the season. This could be a weaker position of mine, but if Marte overachieves, I think it could take my team over the top.

At shortstop, I have Henderson and Estrada to start the season. If Henderson lost that eligibility, I might need to add another body there - unless Estrada were to be an everyday locked-in starter.

I loved what I had at 3B with Henderson, Bregman and Bohm. I’d probably dangle their names out there before the season started to see if I could get another SP.

With Soto, Lowe, Happ, Carpenter, Hays, Verdugo and Benintendi in the outfield, I’m covered in the outfield. Donovan also has OF eligibility to take advantage of. Outside of Soto, it lacks top-end fantasy stars, but there’s plenty of homers, hits, and runs in that group.

Final Thoughts

FantasyPros gave me a B rating on this mock draft, which was tied for the third-best score. The two top scores were nearly 10 points higher.

It suggested I draft Guerrero with my fourth-round pick and then address the SS spot later. I’m not sure I understand that with Freeman already on the team, and with how my shortstop position turned out.

It said I got steals where I drafted Happ, Estrada and O'Hoppe, but reached on Garrett, Eovaldi and Finnegan. FantasyPros liked my pitchers (ranked fourth out of 10) over my hitters (8/10).

Overall, I’d probably agree with the B grade. I didn’t like my final team as much as the last mock draft done with FantasyPros. That’s the fun in mock drafts though, and why we bring them to you at FantasySP.

Keep checking back as the MLB season approaches for more mock drafts!

#mock-draft