The pros and cons of fantasy mock drafts
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We're still a few weeks away from Opening Day but the fantasy baseball season really starts the first day you're able to participate in a mock draft.
Whether you're mock drafting against other human-controlled teams, artificial intelligence-controlled teams, or a mix of both, there are pros and cons involved with drafting teams that don't actually matter. Here are some of the most common selling points -- and criticisms -- of mock drafts.
Pro: You can get a quick feel for where players are going
Familiarizing yourself with the draft pool may not seem like a big deal, but the ability to make snap decisions between two potential targets when there's 10 seconds on the clock may be the difference between a savvy selection and a panic-move reach. The easiest way to to fix it? Build up some impulse of which players you're targetting
Con: ADPs aren't adjusted after major trades and injuries
Esten McLaren did a deep dive on Average Draft Position highlighting some of the drawbacks in putting your blind trust into aggregate ADPs. The most obvious issues are ADPs collected by mock drafts don't reset after major moves -- like an injury.
Colorado Rockies 1B/OF Ian Desmond was trending toward a top-60 ADP prior to breaking his hand in Spring Training. Since his current ADP will include mock drafts from both pre- and post-injury, his ADP, per Fantasy Pros, is still only 69.5. There's a good chance your fellow mock-drafters will draft Desmond based on his not-quite-honest ADP, skewing the results of the entire mock thereafter.
Pro: You can practice drafting from different starting slots
You may not know your starting pick until just before the draft. Your starting position has a massive bearing on who your first several picks will be and determines the entirety of your draft strategy.
The difference between having the first-, sixth-, or 12th-overall pick in a snake draft will dramatically impact your overall strategy. It's worth trying out a mock draft at each starting position, or at least in each general slot: early, middle and end of round one.
Con: The "strategy" of auto-drafters usually stinks
It's rare to find 10 or 12 dedicated, human drafters willing to see a mock through to the end. This is where computer-controlled "auto-drafters" take over.
Auto-drafters tend to adhere to the site's (often flawed) ADP and average price. This means they usually take the best player on the board who fills a positional need. In auction mocks, you'll see non-human owners immediately raise the bid to within one or two dollars of the player's average price -- until they've depleted most of the budget.
In two-catcher mock drafts, a computer-controlled team will often draft its second catcher before drafting its first bench player of another position, regardless of overall value. Nobody actually drafts like this. The more the AI influences your mock, the less value it has as a predictive exercise.
Pro: You can try out high-risk strategies
Mocks are the perfect time to think outside the box and deploy some diverse strategies. Whether it means drafting pitchers with your first five picks and seeing whether you can piece together passable hitters with mid-round picks or spending up for four big-ticket superstars in an auction and filling out the rest of your roster with one dollar fliers.
Not all strategies are advisable, but you'll never know for sure if you don't try them out.
Con: Human drafters can be jerks too
It's not just auto-drafters who can hurt the mock draft experience; some human drafters just want to see the world burn. There are better ways to use an hour-plus of your time if you find yourself in a draft lobby with a troll.
As soon as someone reaches egregiously high with an early draft pick, you'll know the owner has no intention of making the mock an educational experience for all involved. It's one thing to be biased because of personal preferences; it's another to throw off the value of a mock draft by selecting Los Angeles Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig first overall.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)