Mike Napoli finally signed with the Red Sox. It took him a month or so to iron out the details, and in that month his draft stock fell. Considering his track record of power, it’s tempting to label him a sleeper even after the tough year he showed in Texas last season, but the the circumstances of the deal can’t be considered ideal — even if a probable move to first base, where only Mauro Gomez is his competition, probably means more available playing time.

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It’s 2013. I just drafted Lucas Duda again.

I just can’t quit him I guess. No, I’m not a glutton for punishment. I can give you the caveats — it was pick #328 in a 14-team league with five outfielders — and we can talk about Lucas Duda specifically, but that might not be the point in the end.

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We gave you rounds one through five, then rounds six through ten, and now it’s time to start the double digits of the RotoGraphs Ridiculously Early Mock Draft up for real.

I use these rounds, in my typical draft, to get relievers and starting pitchers, with a position player that dropped too far mixed in here and there. It’s not useful to make a decree about what these round should mean — every draft is different — but I generally find that the positions with the most quantity (starting pitchers and outfielders) provide the best opportunity for top-half production for bottom-half prices in these rounds.

And, since every draft is different, you’ll see that in this particular iteration, I ended up with only one starter (allbeit one I loved) and picked mostly position players. Maybe it was an over-reaction — I picked Neil Walker because the bottom half at second base is just terrible, and Jesus Montero because I like his quantity if not his quality just yet, and I also didn’t want a bottom-three catcher, and I picked Shane Victorino because I wanted speed with some power in the outfield — but it was a reaction to the way the draft was going either way.

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They both weigh 170 pounds! Okay, one’s a lithe 6-foot-2, quick-twitch shortstop, and the other is a stocky 5-foot-7 second baseman, and actually we’ll get to many more differences as we go, but in the world of fantasy middle infielders, is there room for a comparison? Andrelton Simmons could be the late sleeper we all need at a tough position, just like Jose Altuve was last year.

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We showed you the first five rounds last week, now it’s time to delve into the second five. Typically, you’re moving on from surer things to high-upside youngsters. I’m working on finding a second-tier ace or two usually, since I don’t pick pitchers in the first two or three rounds. Whatever it is, it’s generally a section of the draft that has an interesting tension between wanting to keep drafting the best player available and needing to start filling out a working, balanced roster.

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In our Ridiculously Early Mock Draft — still ongoing — my first two picks ‘around the turn’ were Troy Tulowitzki and Adrian Beltre. But Evan Longoria went one pick later and I was ready to take the down on their luck pair. A year ago, that duo would have been deemed a coup, most likely — a right side of the infield filled with sixty home runs and twenty-plus stolen bases and a good batting average. This year, the picks were met with critique.

As the “Two Month Tulo” moniker from that comment suggests, most of the problem is health-related. Though the Tulo and Longo are 28 and 27 years old respectively, there’s a sense that perhaps the projections are too plate-appearance heavy for two guys that have succumbed to major injuries in multiple seasons over their young careers to date. Health does seem like a skill, but because of the way projections work, it’s a skill that should be factored into every projection you see.

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You’re drafting if you’re a hardcore head like me. I’m finishing up my third mock draft and have two more scheduled in the next two weeks. So we’re drafting.

RotoGraphs thought there wasn’t any time like the present, so we got going on our mock draft. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be referencing this mock — done for a standard twelve-team 5×5 roto league with one catcher — as well as some other industry mocks around the web, as we try to find early risers, fallers and sleepers. You can find these things later by using the “Mock Draft Analysis” category tag on the bottom right.

Because not everyone drafts on March 28th.

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The Red Sox signed Jonny Gomes, and — completely ignoring his lack of an ‘h’ and inability to hit right-handed pitchers — declared him the starter in left field for 2013. Sort of. There’s a left-handed young man in left field that might have something to say about that. His name is Ryan Kalish.

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Joel Hanrahan is headed out of town, and since it’s Boston as the destination, he’s likely to remain the closer. Andrew Bailey’s loss must be someone’s gain, however — there’s a vacuum behind The Hammer in Pittsburgh. Who will fill it?

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Jose Veras signed with the Astros. Dude’s 32 and has a career walk rate around five per nine. His career swinging-strike rate is below average. Why does he deserve a post again?

Opportunity. Opportunity and reliability.

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