411 Mock Draft is Complete

We’re done! Here are the complete 23-round mock draft results along with comments from the various participants on their best and worst picks, general strategy and/or any other random thoughts. I’ll add more comments as I get them so stay tuned. We’d love to hear your feedback.

-Zach

1 – JB – Albert Pujols

2 – Sheehan – Troy Tulowitzki

3 – Chaprales – Hanley Ramirez

4 – Feldman – Miguel Cabrera

5 – Kay – Ryan Braun

6 – Steinhorn – Evan Longoria

7 – Stryshak- Carlos Gonzalez

8 – Nando – Joey Votto

9 – Siano – Robinson Cano

10 – Schwartz – Carl Crawford

11 – Costa – Adrian Gonzalez

12 – Collette – David Wright

13 – Collette – Chase Utley

14 – Costa – Ryan Zimmerman

15- Schwartz – Alex Rodriguez

16 – Siano – Mark Teixeira

17 – Nando – Josh Hamilton

18 – Stryshak – Jose Reyes

19 – Steinhorn – Matt Holliday

20 – Kay – Prince Fielder

21 – Feldman – Kevin Youkilis

22 – Chaprales – Ryan Howard

23 – Sheehan – Joe Mauer

24 – JB – Justin Upton

25 – JB – Andrew McCutchen

26 – Sheehan – Matt Kemp

27 – Chaprales – Dustin Pedroia

28 – Feldman – Nelson Cruz

29 – Kay – Shin-Soo Choo

30 – Steinhorn – Roy Halladay

31 – Stryshak – Dan Uggla

32 – Nando – Felix Hernandez

33 – Siano – Brian McCann

34 – Schwartz – Ian Kinsler

35 – Costa – Brandon Phillips

36 – Collette – Cliff Lee

37 – Collette – Jose Bautista

38 – Costa – Tim Lincecum

39 – Schwartz – Victor Martinez

40 – Siano – Jacoby Ellsbury

41 – Nando – Zack Greinke

42 – Stryshak – Adam Dunn

43 – Steinhorn – Jayson Werth

44 – Kay – Adrian Beltre

45 – Feldman – Jason Heyward

46 – Chaprales – Ichiro Suzuki

47 – Sheehan – Clayton Kershaw

48 – JB – Buster Posey

49 – JB – Rickie Weeks

50 – Sheehan – B.J. Upton

51 – Chaprales – Jon Lester

52 – Feldman – Elvis Andrus

53 – Kay – Mike Stanton

54 – Steinhorn – Jimmy Rollins

55 – Stryshak – Hunter Pence

56 – Nando – Alex Rios

57 – Siano – Jay Bruce

58 – Schwartz – Derek Jeter

59 – Costa – Chris Young

60 – Collette – Andre Ethier

61 – Collette – CC Sabathia

62 – Costa – Colby Rasmus

63 – Schwartz – Carlos Marmol

64 – Siano – Mariano Rivera

65 – Nando – Curtis Granderson

66 – Stryshak – Carlos Santana

67 – Steinhorn – Kendry Morales

68 – Kay – Drew Stubbs

69 – Feldman – Adam Wainwright

70 – Chaprales – Justin Morneau

71 – Sheehan – Josh Johnson

72 – JB – Neftali Feliz

73 – JB – Joakim Soria

74 – Sheehan – Justin Verlander

75 – Chaprales – Shane Victorino

76 – Feldman – Heath Bell

77 – Kay – Alexei Ramirez

78 – Steinhorn – Brian Wilson

79 – Stryshak – Cole Hamels

80 – Nando – Francisco Liriano

81 – Siano – Grady Sizemore

82 – Schwartz – Torii Hunter

83 – Costa – Andrew Bailey

84 – Collette – Billy Butler

85 – Collette – Martin Prado

86 – Costa – Stephen Drew

87 – Schwartz – Yovani Gallardo

88 – Siano – Jonathan Papelbon

89 – Nando – Jason Bay

90 – Stryshak – Tommy Hanson

91 – Steinhorn – Michael Bourn

92 – Kay – Ubaldo Jimenez

93 – Feldman – Adam Lind

94 – Chaprales – Pedro Alvarez

95 – Sheehan – Nick Markakis

96 – JB – Jered Weaver

97 – JB – Mark Reynolds

98 – Sheehan – Kelly Johnson

99 – Chaprales – Delmon Young

100 – Feldman – Pablo Sandoval

101 – Kay – Mat Latos

102 – Steinhorn – Dan Haren

103 – Stryshak – Aramis Ramirez

104 – Nando – Chone Figgins

105 – Siano – David Price

106 – Schwartz – Roy Oswalt

107 – Costa – Shaun Marcum

108 – Collette – Corey Hart

109 – Collette – Paul Konerko

110 – Costa – Jose Valverde

111 – Schwartz – Ben Zobrist

112 – Siano – Max Scherzer

113 – Nando – Michael Young

114 – Stryshak – Matt Cain

115 – Steinhorn – Aaron Hill

116 – Kay – Jonathan Broxton

117 – Feldman – John Axford

118 – Chaprales – Chris Carpenter

119 – Sheehan – Travis Snider

120 – JB – Brett Gardner

121 – JB – Jose Tabata

122 – Sheehan – David Ortiz

123 – Chaprales – Jonathan Sanchez

124 – Feldman – Brandon Morrow

125 – Kay – Chad Billingsley

126 – Steinhorn – Geovany Soto

127 – Stryshak – Huston Street

128 – Nando – Adam Jones

129 – Siano – Ian Stewart

130 – Schwartz – Mike Napoli

131 – Costa – Matt Wieters

132 – Collette – Rafael Furcal

133 – Collette – Francisco Rodriguez

134 – Costa – Daniel Hudson

135 – Schwartz – Chris Perez

136 – Siano – Ian Desmond

137 – Nando – Josh Beckett

138 – Stryshak – J.J. Putz

139 – Steinhorn – Brad Lidge

140 – Kay – Brian Roberts

141 – Feldman – Juan Pierre

142 – Chaprales – Francisco Cordero

143 – Sheehan – Gordon Beckham

144 – JB – Carlos Pena

145 – JB – Tim Hudson

146 – Sheehan – Drew Storen

147 – Chaprales – Matt Thornton

148 – Feldman – Gio Gonzalez

149 – Kay – Joel Hanrahan

150 – Steinhorn – Wandy Rodriguez

151 – Stryshak – Angel Pagan

152 – Nando – Carlos Beltran

153 – Siano – Matt Garza

154 – Schwartz – Ricky Nolasco

155 – Costa – Nick Swisher

156 – Collette – Colby Lewis

157 – Collette – Miguel Montero

158 – Costa – Casey McGehee

159 – Schwartz – Carlos Quentin

160 – Siano – Jorge De La Rosa

161 – Nando – Derrek Lee

162 – Stryshak – Ted Lilly

163 – Steinhorn – Carlos Lee

164 – Kay – Brett Anderson

165 – Feldman – Jhoulys Chacin

166 – Chaprales – Ryan Dempster

167 – Sheehan – Jorge Posada

168 – JB – Kurt Suzuki

169 – JB – Craig Kimbrel

170 – Sheehan – Aroldis Chapman

171 – Chaprales – Clay Buchholz

172 – Feldman – Trevor Cahill

173 – Kay – Leo Nunez

174 – Steinhorn – Joe Nathan

175 – Stryshak – Jeremy Hellickson

176 – Nando – Ian Kennedy

177 – Siano – Vernon Wells

178 – Schwartz – Howard Kendrick

179 – Costa – Madison Bumgarner

180 – Collette – Frank Francisco

181 – Collette – Bobby Abreu

182 – Costa – Austin Jackson

183 – Schwartz – Gaby Sanchez

184 – Siano – Rajai Davis

185 – Nando – Jake McGee

186 – Stryshak – Denard Span

187 – Steinhorn – Adam LaRoche

188 – Kay – Ike Davis

189 – Feldman – Ryan Raburn

190 – Chaprales – Domonic
Brown

191 – Sheehan – James Loney

192 – JB – John Danks

193 – JB – David Aardsma

194 – Sheehan – Hong-Chih Kuo

195 – Chaprales – Manny Ramirez

196 – Feldman – Chris Sale

197 – Kay – Neil Walker

198 – Steinhorn – Starlin Castro

199 – Stryshak – Jonny Venters

200 – Nando – Alfonso Soriano

201 – Siano – Fernando Rodney

202 – Schwartz – Hiroki Kuroda

203 – Costa – C.J. Wilson

204 – Collette – Carlos Ruiz

205 – Collette – Jake Peavy

206 – Costa – Omar Infante

207 – Schwartz – Edwin Encarnacion

208 – Siano – Asdrubal Cabrera

209 – Nando – Ricky Romero

210 – Stryshak – Sean Rodriguez

211 – Steinhorn – Phil Hughes

212 – Kay – Dexter Fowler

213 – Feldman – Lance Berkman

214 – Chaprales – Russell Martin

215 – Sheehan – Chase Headley

216 – JB – Alcides Escobar

217 – JB – Chris Coghlan

218 – Sheehan – Ervin Santana

219 – Chaprales – Daniel Bard

220 – Feldman – Tsuyoshi Nishioka

221 – Kay – Edinson Volquez

222 – Steinhorn – Brandon Lyon

223 – Stryshak – Michael Cuddyer

224 – Nando – J.J. Hardy

225 – Siano – Matt LaPorta

226 – Schwartz – Aubrey Huff

227 – Costa – Luke Scott

228 – Collette – Seth Smith

229 – Collette – James Shields

230 – Costa – Anibal Sanchez

231 – Schwartz – Ryan Franklin

232 – Siano – Rafael Soriano

233 – Nando – Magglio Ordonez

234 – Stryshak – Raul Ibanez

235 – Steinhorn – Jason Kubel

236 – Kay – Mike Minor

237 – Feldman – Jordan Zimmermann

238 – Chaprales – Javier Vazquez

239 – Sheehan – J.D. Drew

240 – JB – Jaime Garcia

241 – JB – Jair Jurrjens

242 – Sheehan – Rick Porcello

243 – Chaprales – John Lackey

244 – Feldman – J.P. Arencibia

245 – Kay – Chris Iannetta

246 – Steinhorn – Johnny Cueto

247 – Stryshak – Brian Matusz

248 – Nando – Koji Uehara

249 – Siano – A.J. Burnett

250 – Schwartz – Gavin Floyd

251 – Costa – Mitch Moreland

252 – Collette – Matt Joyce

253 – Collette – Brandon League

254 – Costa – Tim Stauffer

255 – Schwartz – Kevin Gregg

256 – Siano – Nate McLouth

257 – Nando – Miguel Tejada

258 – Stryshak – Vladimir Guerrero

259 – Steinhorn – Cameron Maybin

260 – Kay – Andres Torres

261 – Feldman – Kila Ka’aihue

262 – Chaprales – Jesus Montero

263 – Sheehan – Joel Peralta

264 – JB – Mike Aviles

265 – JB – Justin Smoak

266 – Sheehan – Brett Wallace

267 – Chaprales – Freddie Freeman

268 – Feldman – Yadier Molina

269 – Kay – Jarrod Saltalamacchia

270 – Steinhorn – John Buck

271 – Stryshak – Josh Thole

272 – Nando – Nick Hundley

273 – Siano – A.J. Pierzynski

274 – Schwartz – Covelli Crisp

275 – Costa – John Jaso

276 – Collette – Jason Hammel

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COMMENTS

Siano says:

My strategy was the usual, ignore SP for as long as I could and get some position scarcity and my CL locked up. Took care of catcher and 2B early with Cano/McCann and love the Rivera/Papelbon combo. Very happy with Price/Scherzer up top and didn’t have to take them until 9/10. One place I could be hurting is 3B but tough to be perfect. Favorite picks were Ellsbury in the 4th, Rajai Davis in the 16th and Garza in the 14th. Hated taking Vernon Wells but at least it was the 15th.

Schwartz says:

My typical strategy in a 12-team mixed daily league is to go heavy on bats, get two top-tier closers early, and fill in starting pitchers later. Unfortunately, I drafted this with a 15-team weekly league in mind and ended up overpaying for starting pitchers, which hurt my outfield (in particular) and bullpen. I’m glad it was only a mock draft!

Best pick: Edwin Encarnacion (19.10). Yes, everyone may think I’m kidding about him at this point, but I’m expecting a .270 season with a worst-case scenario of 25 homers, making him a bargain in the 19th round.

Worst pick: Yovani Gallardo (8.3). It’s fair value for him, but an unneeded departure from my usual strategy.

Zach says:

Usually I wouldn’t even think about taking a starting pitcher in the third round, but when you’re in a draft with 11 other guys who seem to be strictly adhering to the 411 “wait on pitching” philosophy, going against the grain isn’t always a bad idea. Among starters, Halladay is in a class by himself and I do not at all regret taking him at pick #30. In my opinion, he was simply the most valuable player left on the board.

Best pick: Joe Nathan at pick #174: I understand there’s some injury risk here but it sounds like Nathan has a good chance of being ready for the start of the season. Even if he misses the first couple weeks, this is a small price to pay for potential top-tier closer production.

Worst pick: I hate Jayson Werth this year, and I’m still trying to figure out why I took him at pick #43. At the time, I was zeroing in on the outfield position and was faced with a Werth/Ichiro/Heyward dilemna and felt Werth was the best combination of experience and power/speed. In retrospect, I probably should have just reached for the outfielder I really do like…Hunter Pence.

Overall, my team is OK but not one I’d be thrilled about. The pitching is strong and I think I’ve covered the categories pretty well, but I have too many specialists and not enough across-the-board contributors. This could lead to problems in the event of injuries.

Nando says:

I loved getting JJ Hardy in the 19th round. I think he’s one of those guys who could really break out this year. He’s definitely on par with someone like Stephen Drew, who went 86th (Hardy went 224th). He’s a sneaky late round pick.

Obviously, my worst pick might turn out to be Beckett in the 12th round. But he could also turn out to be my best pick. I don’t know which Beckett is going to show up. I’m like 51% sure that it’ll be Good Beckett, and 49% that it’ll be Bad Beckett, but I’d rather have him on my bench tanking than have him on another team beating me.

I kind of (and this is up for debate) screwed up in not knowing how long the draft was going to be and how many rounds I had left to fill out my starters, so I had to drop Soriano and Magglio–picks I loved–for Varitek and Arroyo–who were just the first two available names I could think up. My mind is stuck in Boston, c. 2003. But I drafted like I always draft. Pick the best guys, fill most of my spots, then wait until the day before the season starts and drop my two worst players for a couple guys like Varitek and Arroyo.

I’m also pissed that I lost out on Sean Rodriguez. He’s my super-sleeper this year. It’s like that King you hold on to in “War” until the very end. Unfortunately, Stryshak got him right after I picked Ricky Romero. My bad. I’m not going to cry over it, but it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who is on to Rodriguez, so I’ll remember that in my upcoming non-mock drafts. This is, after all, part of the reason we do the mocks.

Stryshak says:

Best Pick: No doubt: Brian Matusz. Getting a rookie 10-game winner (in the AL East!) that late in the draft was the kind of unexpectedly happy accident that makes drafts so much fun. Matusz killed it down the stretch last year, going 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA and 43 Ks in his last eight starts despite the O’s offense scoring exactly four runs in six of those victorious efforts. A full year of Buck Showalter at the helm and a retooled offense finally offering some backup, I wouldn’t rule out 15 Ws.

Worst Pick: I wouldn’t call it the worst because that word doesn’t belong in the same sentence as Carlos Gonzalez, but immediately
after I took him with the seventh overall selection I began second-guessing myself and wondering if David Wright would have been the better choice.
Ultimately I think they’ll wind up posting similar stats in the 5x5s, but I felt just a bit more secure in going with the younger player who owns a considerable home park advantage.

General Strategy/Comments: Although it contradicts nearly every piece of “expert” draft advice you’re ever likely to hear, I’ve done well for myself in leagues past by focusing on starting pitching early and often. If everyone else is zigging, I have no problem pulling a prolonged zag. If my stable of aces stay healthy, I should have a profound edge in four of the 10 categories and I won’t have to make decisions like, “Am I really going to spot start Carlos Silva today?” I was preared to put my pitching-centric plan into action once again but early on it became pretty clearly that this collection of owners had a pitching phobia as severe as I’ve ever seen, so I decided, on the fly, to play along – and I’m glad I did. I took my first starter in the seventh round where I happily snatched up Cole Hamels, who I expect to capitalize on his big second half last year with a career year in ’11. It just goes to show that you can’t ever be too locked into one particular strategy on draft day. Sure, execute your plan as best you can, but also try to get a sense for what commodities are being over/undervalued and think about how to use that information to your advantage.

Sheehan says: