The debate about upcoming fantasy baseball drafts has nothing to do with the top pick.
That’s already decided.
The conversation during the next two months should center on who should be picked second.
Mike Trout is the best option in fantasy baseball. He’s a no-brainer as a No. 1 pick because he can do pretty anything desired in terms of fantasy baseball. He can hit for average, drive in runs, smack the long ball and steal bases.
You’d be a first-class idiot to skip Trout in the opening draft spot.
But if you’re picking second, there are several legitimate options. FantasyPros, which totals multiple opinions from experts, has Mookie Betts in the second slot (in the top spot, no expert ranked Trout lower than No. 1. Betts’s lowest ranking was 11th).
Betts was a machine last season and finished with the most fantasy points among outfielders, albeit with far more at-bats than Trout, who finished in a close second.
The other contenders for that second spot, at least according to Fantasypros, are Jose Altuve, Kris Bryant, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw and Manny Machado.
If you’re lucky enough to have a top-tier pick, there’s solid depth of proven players at the top of the draft board. It’s a much better situation than what’s currently available in fantasy football, which has been a disaster at times at the top of the draft board.
So who should be the No. 2 draft pick?
I’m going to cross off Kershaw — not because I don’t value his ability — but because I hate spending a top pick on a pitcher. Pitchers can be rotated on a regular basis, and Kershaw is coming off a major injury. He’s dominant, but is he worth one start a week for your fantasy roster, while these other players are everyday options?
Some will pull the trigger, but I’ll wait on pitchers for a bit.
For me, it comes down to Betts or Arenado. Arenado has shown to be a reliable option in back-to-back seasons in Colorado. He puts up tremendous numbers in a position that doesn’t have the best options past the top-three.
Arenado is a machine in the homers, RBIs and runs categories of fantasy baseball. He’s my No. 1 choice among third basemen, which includes Bryant and Josh Donaldson, who also are two players who should get drafted in the top-10.
But in terms of going second, I just can’t pass up Betts, the consensus No. 2 pick.
While Arenado has the edge in homers, Betts is far more advanced in stolen bases and holds serve in runs and RBIs. He also refuses to strikeout, which is an attribute not many hitters can brag about in today’s Major League Baseball.
In 672 at-bats in 2016, he struck out 80 times.
The only item that scares me a bit is Betts’s lack of longevity. He’s a stud, but only has two years of season-long Major League experience. Those concerns, though, aren’t enough to put him past the No. 2 slot in my fantasy baseball draft.
