Fantasy baseball: Lessons from a Mock Draft Decathlon

As I discussed in my article on how to mock draft like a pro, it’s certainly possible to do more than just “pass time” while mock drafting. You can also learn something along the way. For example, what might I discover by partaking in multiple drafts, each time selecting from a different starting spot?

There’s a practical purpose to this exercise, as it is becoming increasingly popular to allow draft participants to choose their draft spot. Alternatively, some leagues reveal draft positions only very close to the draft date, rendering it difficult to partake in many practice drafts from your assigned spot. Having experience drafting from everywhere can help you out, regardless of what pick you’ve got.

Now, while it’s advantageous to simply draft from every position, even more can be gleaned by turning the draft room into a laboratory and designing a specific experiment. Of course, the best strategy is to always keep an open mind and take what the room gives you. However, almost everyone has a preferred approach. That said, regardless of which spot you’re assigned, leaving your draft with the best-case scenario result requires that you choose the optimal first pick when given the opportunity.