Fantasy Baseball Offseason Draft Prep: Rotisserie mock draft to wrap up winter meetings

You may hear nothing much happened during the winter meetings in mid-December, but only from people with short-term memories. Where were they last offseason, when basically every team other than the Marlins sat out until February?

Yes, some things happened during the winter meetings, and some things happened even before then, which means plenty has happened since our first 2019 mock back in October. This draft gave us our first opportunity to assess ...

• Paul Goldschmidt as a Cardinal
  
• James Paxton as Yankee
  
• Patrick Corbin as a National
  
• Edwin Diaz as a Met
  
• Robinson Cano as a Met  
  
• Andrew McCutchen as a Phillie
  
• Josh Donaldson as a Brave
  
• Brian McCann as a Brave
  
• Billy Hamilton as a Royal
  

... and so on.

It was also our first 2019 Rotisserie mock, meaning the traditional 5x5 format that rewards batting average, home runs, RBI, runs and stolen bases for hitters and wins, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts and saves for pitchers.

So who took part in this nonsense?

1. Tim McLeod, Prospect361.com
   
2. Heath Cummings, CBS Sports (@heathcummingssr)
   
3. Zach Steinhorn, Baseball Prospectus (@zachsteinhorn)
   
4. Adam Aizer, CBS Sports (@AdamAizer)
   
5. Donkey Teeth, Razzball (@donkeyteeth87)
   
6. Chris Towers, CBS Sports (@CTowersCBS)
   
7. Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
   
8. Clay Link, RotoWire (@claywlink)
   
9. Matt Williams, Pitchers List and FF Statistics (@MattWi77iams)
   
10. B_Don, Razzball (@DitkaSausagePod)
    
11. Phil Ponebshek, Patton & Company
    
12. Jeff Tobin, CBS Sports
    

A few observations right off the top:

• Jose Ramirez didn't go in the top three, dropping behind Francisco Lindor (and the person responsible, Zach Steinhorn of Baseball Prospectus, said he also would have taken Nolan Arenado ahead of Ramirez). As mock draft offenses go, it's pretty mild — we're talking a difference of one spot — but it figures to be pretty rare, given how much Ramirez, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts stood out from everyone else in 2018. You could argue Ramirez actually had bad BABIP luck, too.
  
• There are those who believe in Ronald Acuna, and then there's Donkey Teeth of Razzball (yes, I'm referring to an actual person). He took Acuna fifth overall, passing up on stalwarts like Arenado, Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper and J.D. Martinez, among others. It's not the first time I've seen such reckless pursuit of upside, but to me it's unnecessary given the caliber of player available in the same range. Certainly Acuna has that kind of upside, but it's mathematically unlikely his production from August and September will last over a full season. Your first round pick isn't going to win you the league, but he may lose it for you.
  
• The pitcher run came earlier than you're probably used to seeing in a Rotisserie league, with five going off the board in Round 2. With the way pitching usage has evolved, true aces are a dying breed, so the remaining ones stand out more than ever at the position. Problem is the standout hitters thin out just as quickly, and there are many more of those spots to fill in this format.
  
• Madison Bumgarner went in Round 4, ahead of Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer, Noah Syndergaard and Patrick Corbin, to name a few, and while he certainly has the name value, the guy hasn't been much of a bat-misser over the past two years. He seems to be in premature decline (possibly because of an excessive postseason workload, but who am I to say?), so it was about 40 picks too early for me.
  
• My Adalberto Mondesi pick at 42nd overall got a big reaction, both from those who also wanted him and those who can't wrap their heads around the idea of him as a fourth-round pick. And sure, he's far from proven as a hitter with a limited ceiling because of his poor plate discipline, but the chance to get an elite base-stealer with power at an infield spot makes him impossible to pass over at that point. The fit is just too rare and too valuable to get hung up on something like downside. (Believe me: I at first didn't like the idea of ranking him so high either, but where else are you going to get your steals, man?)
  
• Yusei Kikuchi, the latest Japanese ace who will try his hand in the big leagues, went in Round 10 even though we still don't know where he'll be signing this offseason. He had a monster 2017 but came back down to earth a little in 2018, averaging less than a strikeout per inning as he normally has. Kenta Maeda would be a favorable comparison, and Maeda himself didn't go until Round 17.
  
• It's always interesting drafting closers at this stage of the offseason, with so much movement yet to happen. The ones assured of the role were basically gone by the end of Round 13, forcing owners to reach for possibilities like Jose Alvarado and Adam Ottavino. Naturally, we'll know more when we're drafting in March, but with more teams going to a true committee approach late in games, there will be a shortage of assured saves sources, which means you probably won't be filling that need late in drafts. Relievers as dominant as Corey Knebel, Jeremy Jeffress and, yes, Ottavino will still be worth drafting, though, in the hopes of a split role. 
  
• The Yandy Diaz and Garrett Hampson picks both raised an eyebrow for me. Diaz never got much attention in Fantasy with all the opportunities the Indians gave him, but he hits the ball hard. There seems to be a great deal of optimism in some analytic circles that the Rays are the sort of organization that could unlock his upside. Hampson, meanwhile, could provide a high number of stolen bases if he takes over at second base for the departing DJ LeMahieu. Hard to say at this point in the offseason whether or not he will.
  

Now for the complete results ...