BW’s “More than Most” at Every Position

We all have guys we like more than others. That’s just the nature of the beast. Whether it’s guys coming off down years we expect to rebound or ones we’ve done extensive research on to forecast a much better than expected season, we all have our favorites. Sometimes, we even have them for even less legitimate reasons.

As we get knee deep into draft season, I thought I’d share with you some of the guys I like more than most at each position:

C- Yasmani Grandal (NFBC avg. 145, No. 8 C)

Scoring just 49 runs while hitting 27 home runs seems crazy fluky, but I like what Grandal brings to the table overall. He does a little bit of everything — though the average might hurt — and brings the kind of pop we don’t usually see associated with the catcher’s spot. He’s still young enough (28) to be reasonably on an upswing, and he was markedly better in the second half last year (.245/.356/.521) than before the break (.212/.323/.434). He had nothing much in the way of platoon splits last year as well. Right now I like him better than Salvador Perez, who is going about 14-15 picks earlier in drafts. Further down the list, I’m intrigued by Devin Mesoraco (No. 21 catcher, No. 298 overall) after seeing a video of him testing out his bum hip doing some pretty wild plyometric drills. He could be a huge value.

1B- Brandon Belt (NFBC avg. 171, No. 14 1B)

At least as far as real-life baseball is concerned, I think Belt is the player everyone believes Eric Hosmer is. Both are bound to give you 18-20 home runs per year — Hosmer cleared that threshold for the first time this season, Belt hasn’t yet — but both lack that little bit of offensive oomph that one expects from a first baseman. It’s not that either is a bad player at all, but Hosmer’s slash line of .266/.328/.433 is merely….decent. Belt, on the other hand, hit .275/.394/.474 (37 points higher in wRC+, for what it’s worth) but was outpaced by Hosmer in most counting stats. Maybe I’m in on the minority, but that’s not enough for me to draft Hosmer 65 spots ahead of Belt. I know we aren’t playing real-life here — though if you’re in an OBP league, Belt is a monster — but I’m just not sure I can count on Hosmer driving in 100 runs again coming off a .320-something OBP with guys like Alcides Escobar getting on base in front of him.

2B- Joe Panik (NFBC avg. 316, No. 24 2B)

Panik has huge bounce-back potential after suffering through a BABIP-fueled (.245) slog last year. He hit just .239/.315/.379, but also battled concussion issues that he’s since fully recovered from. Steamer has him pegged for a .277/.344/.401 batting line with nine homers, four steals and nearly 60 runs with 50-plus RBIs. Not bad for a guy going after Josh Harrison (No. 21 2B, 277 overall) who is coming off a similar down season or Jedd Gyorko, who as of right now is not listed as a starter on the team’s MLB.com depth chart.

3B- Nick Castellanos (NFBC avg. 205, No. 19 3B)

I feel like he gets dinged for playing in just 110 games last year, especially since he got into 148 and 154 games in the two previous seasons. Things came together for Castellanos as a hitter, as he batted .285/.331/.496 with 18 home runs in 447 PA. Push that out to 600 PA — something he missed by just a handful of trips to the plate in 2015 — and that’s a pace for 24 home runs, 72 runs and 78 RBIs. That’s just assuming he can’t/won’t improve, which certainly isn’t out of the question for a guy who turned 25 this month. I’m also OK with Mike Moustakas, who is going at right about the same spot in drafts. These guys are going just 40 picks ahead of Yoan Moncada, who I was told probably won’t get a ton of time with the White Sox this season.

SS- Marcus Semien (NFBC avg. 209, No. 15 SS)

With a large part of the A’s order gutted over the offseason, there’s a fair chance Semien will move up in the order and have more RBI opportunities hitting behind guys like Matt Joyce. We all know about Semien’s glove woes, but he’s also the purveyor of one of the quietest 27-homer, 75-RBI, 10-steal seasons in recent memory. Sure, he hit just .238, but I’ll take a chance on him hitting closer to the .257 mark he posted in 2015 while bringing that OBP over .300 for the first time in his career. He’s only 26, and he’s going almost 100 picks behind Eduardo Nunez and nearly 50 picks behind Tim Anderson. At those prices, I’m cool with Semien at short.

OF- Max Kepler (NFBC avg. 237, No. 56 OF)

Obviously you wouldn’t expect me to write one of these without slipping in a Twin, but this is one of the youngsters I’m most enthused about. Kepler has a really solid approach to hitting with a smooth left-handed swing, good pop and a fairly good eye at the plate. He’s been all over the map against lefties in his pro career, but should be able to settle in at least as a guy who won’t need to be platooned moving forward. Kepler’s ultimate ceiling is 40 doubles and 25 homers, and he’ll swipe a few bags as well. Don’t be fooled by the .235 average; he faded hard to wind down the season and is a much, much better hitter than that. Right now, he’s going behind Hunter Renfroe (bad park, 36 career MLB PA) and ahead of Leonys Martin (zero seasons with an OPS over .700). He’s a really, really good value there.

SP- Tyler Anderson (NFBC avg. 352, No. 100 SP)

I’m digging really, really deep for my pitching sleeper here because I just love what he’s brought to the table. In 114.1 innings last year, Anderson fanned 7.8 batters per nine, walked just 2.2 and posted a groundball rate of 50.9 percent. That’s a solid trifecta, and I love it even more when considering he’s got the not-so-friendly confines of Coors Field to deal with. Anderson was not affected by the park last season, posting a much better ERA in Denver (3.00) than elsewhere (4.77). There’s a fair chance he busts, but at the price that’ll be paid for him, you can afford it. He’s going behind, gulp, Yordano Ventura (really, folks?) and ahead of Lucas Giolito and Jose De Leon. There’s no downside here.

RP- Zach Britton (NFBC avg. 58, No. 3 RP)

What, a top-three closer? How is that “more than most?” Well, there’s a fairly solid divide between the top three closers and the rest of the class. Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen are going a round earlier than Britton, and I have to be honest — I like him the most of the three. I love strikeouts just as much as anyone else, but I can’t stop oohing and aahing over the 80 percent groundball rate of Britton last year — the highest we’ve ever seen since the statistic was made available. It’d be one thing if he was Brandon Kintzler, fanning 5.0 batters per nine while doing this, but he’s not. Britton has fanned more than a batter per inning — and not by a small amount — in each of the last two seasons and he walks almost no one. How does anyone ever score a run on this guy? Oh right, with a 0.54 ERA last year, nobody really did. Britton is my No. 1 closer.

Non-CL RP- Nate Jones (NFBC avg. 267, No. 32 RP)

Jones is already way, way better than David Robertson and just needs an opportunity. If it comes with the White Sox, you should still be able to get 30 saves out of him in a full season. If it comes elsewhere — let’s just say, super hypothetically the Washington Nationals — he could vault to the head of the class. In rates and holds leagues he’s going to have serious value.