CBS Local Sports Fantasy Baseball Draft
In our Fantasy Baseball Preview, Tony Meale breaks down the top players at each position for your fantasy baseball draft. Here are the top 12 for each of the positions:
1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | C | RP | Sleepers/Busts
But how does his advice actually play out? Tony, an avid fantasy baseball player, was kind enough to share with CBS Local the results of his recent draft. See who was actually drafted and when.
Because there are only 10 teams in the league, most owners opted to wait on pitching and focus on offense in the early rounds. The exception was Team 5, which took Clayton Kershaw with the fifth overall pick and Chris Sale in the fourth round. Team 5 also took some offensive chances, drafting Yasiel Puig in the third round and Jean Segura in the fifth. Those moves could pay off big-time or leave him reeling all summer.
Team 1, meanwhile, loves having elite closers, but he was kicking himself afterward for drafting Craig Kimbrel and Greg Holland with two of his first five picks.
With only 10 teams – and therefore a larger free-agent pool – Team 3 felt at liberty to focus on upside and positional scarcity early on. After taking Andrew McCutchen third overall, Team 3 selected the oft-injured Troy Tulowitzki in the second round and opted for low-power, high-speed outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the third. He did, however, use his next four picks on Shin Soo-Choo, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Ryan Zimmerman to ensure respectable power numbers. Having Brian McCann helps, too.
Overall, it was a fairly straightforward draft without too many what-were-you-thinking selections. Here are the round-by-round results:
Round 1:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (1) | Miguel Cabrera, DET | 3B | Team 1 |
2 (2) | Mike Trout, LAA | OF | Team 2 |
3 (3) | Andrew McCutchen, PIT | OF | Team 3 |
4 (4) | Paul Goldschmidt, ARI | 1B | Team 4 |
5 (5) | Clayton Kershaw, LOS | OF | Team 5 |
6 (6) | Carlos Gonzalez, COL | OF | Team 6 |
7 (7) | Ryan Braun, MIL | OF | Team 7 |
8 (8) | Chris Davis, BAL | 1B | Team 8 |
9 (9) | Edwin Encarnacion, TOR | 3B | Team 9 |
10 (10) | Robinson Cano, SEA | 2B | Team 10 |
Round 2:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (11) | Bryce Harper, WAS | 2B | Team 10 |
2 (12) | Prince Fielder, TEX | 1B | Team 9 |
3 (13) | Hanley Ramirez, LOS | SS | Team 8 |
4 (14) | Yu Darvish, TEX | SP | Team 7 |
5 (15) | Adrian Beltre, TEX | 3B | Team 6 |
6 (16) | Joey Votto, CIN | 1B | Team 5 |
7 (17) | Adam Jones, BAL | OF | Team 4 |
8 (18) | Troy Tulowitzki, COL | SS | Team 3 |
9 (19) | Adam Wainwright, STL | SP | Team 2 |
10 (20) | Jason Kipnis, CLE | 2B | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at first base.
Round 3:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (21) | Carlos Gomez, MIL | OF | Team 1 |
2 (22) | Dustin Pedroia, BOS | 2B | Team 2 |
3 (23) | Jacoby Ellsbury, NYY | OF | Team 3 |
4 (24) | David Wright, NYM | 3B | Team 4 |
5 (25) | Yasiel Puig, LOS | OF | Team 5 |
6 (26) | Stephen Strasburg, WAS | SP | Team 6 |
7 (27) | Evan Longoria, TAM | 3B | Team 7 |
8 (28) | Max Scherzer, DET | SP | Team 8 |
9 (29) | Jose Bautista, TOR | OF | Team 9 |
10 (30) | Felix Hernandez, SEA | SP | Team 10 |
Round 4:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (31) | Giancarlo Stanton, FLA | OF | Team 10 |
2 (32) | Cliff Lee, PHI | SP | Team 9 |
3 (33) | Jose Fernandez, FLA | SP | Team 8 |
4 (34) | Freddie Freeman, ATL | 1B | Team 7 |
5 (35) | Justin Upton, ATL | OF | Team 6 |
6 (36) | Chris Sale, CWS | SP | Team 5 |
7 (37) | Madison Bumgarner, SFO | SP | Team 4 |
8 (38) | Shin-Soo Choo, TEX | OF | Team 3 |
9 (39) | Buster Posey, SFO | C/1B | Team 2 |
10 (40) | Craig Kimbrel, ATL | RP | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at second base.
Round 5:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (41) | Greg Holland, K.C | RP | Team 1 |
2 (42) | Jay Bruce, CIN | OF | Team 2 |
3 (43) | Adrian Gonzalez, LOS | 1B | Team 3 |
4 (44) | Ian Desmond, WAS | SS | Team 4 |
5 (45) | Jean Segura, MIL | SS | Team 5 |
6 (46) | Jose Reyes, TOR | SS | Team 6 |
7 (47) | Justin Verlander, DET | SP | Team 7 |
8 (48) | Alex Rios, TOR | OF | Team 8 |
9 (49) | Matt Holiday, STL | OF | Team 9 |
10 (50) | Aroldis Chapman, CIN | RP | Team 10 |
Round 6:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (51) | Allen Craig, STL | 1B/OF | Team 10 |
2 (52) | Anibal Sanchez, DET | SP | Team 9 |
3 (53) | Matt Carpenter, STL | 2B/3B | Team 8 |
4 (54) | David Price, TAM | SP | Team 7 |
5 (55) | Zack Greinke, LOS | SP | Team 6 |
6 (56) | Kenley Jansen, LOS | RP | Team 5 |
7 (57) | Albert Pujols, LAA | 1B | Team 4 |
8 (58) | David Ortiz, BOS | 1B | Team 3 |
9 (59) | Mark Trumbo, ARI | 1B/OF | Team 2 |
10 (60) | Joe Mauer, MIN | C/1B | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at shortstop.
Round 7:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (61) | Billy Hamilton, CIN | OF | Team 1 |
2 (62) | Homer Bailey, CIN | SP | Team 2 |
3 (63) | Ryan Zimmerman, WAS | 3B | Team 3 |
4 (64) | Starling Marte, PIT | OF | Team 4 |
5 (65) | Ian Kinsler, TEX | 2B | Team 5 |
6 (66) | Hunter Pence, SFO | OF | Team 6 |
7 (67) | Jason Heyward, ATL | OF | Team 7 |
8 (68) | Pedro Alvarez, PIT | 3B | Team 8 |
9 (69) | Trevor Rosenthal, STL | RP | Team 9 |
10 (70) | Yoenis Cespedes, OAK | OF | Team 10 |
Round 8:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (71) | Jordan Zimmerman, WAS | SP | Team 10 |
2 (72) | Carlos Santana, CLE | C/1B | Team 9 |
3 (73) | Joe Nathan, DET | RP | Team 8 |
4 (74) | Koji Uehara, BOS | RP | Team 7 |
5 (75) | Eric Hosmer, K.C | 1B | Team 6 |
6 (76) | Yadier Molina, STL | C | Team 5 |
7 (77) | Gerrit Cole, PIT | SP | Team 4 |
8 (78) | Gio Gonzalez, WAS | SP | Team 3 |
9 (79) | Elvis Andrus, TEX | SS | Team 2 |
10 (80) | Jose Abreu, CWS | 1B | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at third base.
Round 9:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (81) | Cole Hamels, PHI | SP | Team 1 |
2 (82) | Michael Wacha, STL | SP/RP | Team 2 |
3 (83) | Matt Cain, SFO | SP | Team 3 |
4 (84) | Wil Myers, TAM | OF | Team 4 |
5 (85) | Matt Kemp, LOS | OF | Team 5 |
6 (86) | Ben Zobrist, TAM | 2B/SS/OF | Team 6 |
7 (87) | Alex Cobb, TAM | SP | Team 7 |
8 (88) | Wilin Rosario, COL | C | Team 8 |
9 (89) | Jose Altuve, HOU | 2B | Team 9 |
10 (90) | Mat Latos, CIN | SP | Team 10 |
Round 10:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (91) | Josh Donaldson, OAK | 3B | Team 10 |
2 (92) | Julio Teheran, ATL | SP | Team 9 |
3 (93) | Mike Minor, ATL | SP | Team 8 |
4 (94) | Michael Cuddyer, COL | 1B/OF | Team 7 |
5 (95) | Alex Gordon, K.C | OF | Team 6 |
6 (96) | Billy Butler, K.C | 1B | Team 5 |
7 (97) | Josh Hamilton, LAA | OF | Team 4 |
8 (98) | Brandon Phillips, CIN | 2B | Team 3 |
9 (99) | Pablo Sandoval, SFO | 3B | Team 2 |
10 (100) | James Shields, K.C | SP | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft in the outfield.
Round 11:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (101) | Danny Salazar, CLE | SP | Team 1 |
2 (102) | Jason Grilli, PIT | RP | Team 2 |
3 (103) | Brian McCann, NYY | C | Team 3 |
4 (104) | Shane Victorino, BOS | OF | Team 4 |
5 (105) | David Robertson, NYY | RP | Team 5 |
6 (106) | Carlos Beltran, NYY | OF | Team 6 |
7 (107) | Jim Johnson, OAK | RP | Team 7 |
8 (108) | Jayson Werth, WAS | OF | Team 8 |
9 (109) | Everth Cabrera, SDG | SS | Team 9 |
10 (110) | Masahiro Tanaka, NYY | SP | Team 10 |
Round 12:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (111) | Curtis Granderson, NYM | OF | Team 10 |
2 (112) | Alfonso Soriano, NYY | OF | Team 9 |
3 (113) | Sergio Romo, SFO | RP | Team 8 |
4 (114) | Alexei Ramirez, CWS | SS | Team 7 |
5 (115) | Shelby Miller, STL | SP | Team 6 |
6 (116) | Hisashi Iwakuma, SEA | SP | Team 5 |
7 (117) | Jonathan Papelbon, PHI | RP | Team 4 |
8 (118) | Matt Moore, TAM | SP | Team 3 |
9 (119) | Desmond Jennings, TAM | OF | Team 2 |
10 (120) | Brandon Belt, SFO | 1B | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at starting pitcher.
Round 13:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (121) | Hyun-jin Ryu, LOS | SP | Team 1 |
2 (122) | Glen Perkins, MIN | RP | Team 2 |
3 (123) | Andrew Cashner, SDG | SP/RP | Team 3 |
4 (124) | Rafael Soriano, WAS | RP | Team 4 |
5 (125) | Adison Reed, ARI | RP | Team 5 |
6 (126) | Lance Lynn, STL | SP | Team 6 |
7 (127) | Ernesto Frieri, LAA | RP | Team 7 |
8 (128) | Doug Fister, WAS | SP | Team 8 |
9 (129) | Casey Janssen, TOR | RP | Team 9 |
10 (130) | Grant Balfour, TAM | RP | Team 10 |
Round 14:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (131) | Jonathan Lucroy, MIL | C/1B | Team 10 |
2 (132) | Jedd Gyorko, SDG | 2B/3B | Team 9 |
3 (133) | Francisco Liriano, PIT | SP | Team 8 |
4 (134) | Edward Mujica, BOS | RP | Team 7 |
5 (135) | Jeff Samardzija, CUB | SP | Team 6 |
6 (136) | Jered Weaver, LAA | SP | Team 5 |
7 (137) | Aaron Hill, ARI | 2B | Team 4 |
8 (138) | Huston Street, SDG | RP | Team 3 |
9 (139) | Hiroki Kuroda, NYY | SP | Team 2 |
10 (140) | Domonic Brown, PHI | OF | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at catcher.
Round 15:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (141) | Coco Crisp, OAK | OF | Team 1 |
2 (142) | Fernando Rodney, SEA | RP | Team 2 |
3 (143) | Steve Cishek, FLA | RP | Team 3 |
4 (144) | Jon Lester, BOS | SP | Team 4 |
5 (145) | Austin Jackson, DET | OF | Team 5 |
6 (146) | Tony Cingrani, CIN | SP/RP | Team 6 |
7 (147) | Jim Henderson, MIL | RP | Team 7 |
8 (148) | Bobby Parnell, NYM | RP | Team 8 |
9 (149) | Nelson Cruz, BAL | OF | Team 9 |
10 (150) | Johnny Cueto, CIN | SP | Team 10 |
Round 16:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (151) | J.J. Hardy, BAL | SS | Team 10 |
2 (152) | Sonny Gray, OAK | SP | Team 9 |
3 (153) | Manny Machado, BAL | 3B | Team 8 |
4 (154) | Martin Prado, ARI | 2B/3B/OF | Team 7 |
5 (155) | Matt Wieters, BAL | C | Team 6 |
6 (156) | Brandon Moss, OAK | 1B/OF | Team 5 |
7 (157) | John Axford, CLE | RP | Team 4 |
8 (158) | Tommy Hunter, BAL | RP | Team 3 |
9 (159) | Matt Adams, STL | 1B | Team 2 |
10 (160) | Starlin Castro, CUB | SS | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft at relief pitcher.
Round 17:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (161) | Nate Jones, CWS | RP | Team 1 |
2 (162) | Brett Gardner, NYY | RP | Team 2 |
3 (163) | Joakim Soria, TEX | RP | Team 3 |
4 (164) | Salvador Perez, K.C | C | Team 4 |
5 (165) | Aramis Ramirez, MIL | 3B | Team 5 |
6 (166) | Adam Dunn, CWS | 1B | Team 6 |
7 (167) | Ben Revere, PHI | OF | Team 7 |
8 (168) | Leonys Martin, TEX | OF | Team 8 |
9 (169) | Jose Veras, CUB | RP | Team 9 |
10 (170) | Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE | SS | Team 10 |
Round 18:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (171) | Evan Gattis, ATL | C/OF | Team 10 |
2 (172) | Justin Masterson, CLE | SP | Team 9 |
3 (173) | Clay Buchholz, BOS | SP | Team 8 |
4 (174) | Daniel Murphy, NYM | 1B/2B | Team 7 |
5 (175) | Kevin Gregg, CUB | RP | Team 6 |
6 (176) | Chris Archer, TAM | SP | Team 5 |
7 (177) | Carl Crawford, LOS | OF | Team 4 |
8 (178) | Tim Lincecum, SFO | SP | Team 3 |
9 (179) | Norichika Aoki, K.C | OF | Team 2 |
10 (180) | Brett Lawrie, TOR | 2B/3B | Team 1 |
Find out who to draft and who to avoid.
Round 19:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (181) | Anthony Rizzo, CUB | 1B | Team 1 |
2 (182) | CC Sabathia, NYY | SP | Team 2 |
3 (183) | Neftali Feliz, TEX | RP | Team 3 |
4 (184) | Josh Reddick, OAK | OF | Team 4 |
5 (185) | LaTroy Hawkins, NYM | RP | Team 5 |
6 (186) | Chris Perez, LOS | C | Team 6 |
7 (187) | Wilson Ramos, WAS | C | Team 7 |
8 (188) | Rex Brothers, COL | RP | Team 8 |
9 (189) | Mike Napoli, BOS | 1B | Team 9 |
10 (190) | Kyle Seager, SEA | EB | Team 10 |
Round 20:
Pick (Overall) | Player | Position | Team |
1 (191) | Matt Garza, MIL | SP | Team 10 |
2 (192) | Xander Bogaerts, BOS | 3B/SS | Team 9 |
3 (193) | Corey Kluber, CLE | SP | Team 8 |
4 (194) | Miguel Montero, ARI | C | Team 7 |
5 (195) | Joaquin Benoit, SDG | RP | Team 6 |
6 (196) | Adam Eaton, CWS | OF | Team 5 |
7 (197) | Mark Teixeira, NYY | 1B | Team 4 |
8 (198) | Torii Hunter, DET | OF | Team 3 |
9 (199) | Christian Yelich, FLA | OF | Team 2 |
10 (200) | Nolan Arenado, COL | SP | Team 1 |
Review the top fantasy players at each position.
Check out “30 Players 30 Days," profiling one young player from each Major League Baseball team.
Tony Meale is the author of The Chosen Ones: The Team That Beat LeBron. He lives in Chicago and won't be mad if you follow him on Twitter @TonyMeale.