Hyped Mookie Betts in Mock Draft Round 10

Sep 23, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Mookie Betts (50) safely slides into home plate past Tampa Bay Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan (24) during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Round 9 of the early fantasy baseball mock draft can be found here.  The tenth is the final round of this mock draft that I will outline all of the picks in detail.  After round 10, rounds 11-15 and rounds 16-20 will be lumped in two posts with a few descriptions on my picks and other very notable picks.

Even though we are outside of the top 100 picks, I still really like a lot of these picks.  Chris Carter played like a first rounder in the second half of the season, Yasmany Tomas has gigantic upside, and Jacob DeGrom, Jake Arrieta, and Gio Gonzalez are all excellent pitchers.  I am not a huge Pablo Sandoval fan in fantasy, but he is not a terrible pick at the end of the tenth round.

The numbers listed to the left of each name represent the round and the overall pick they were drafted.

10.109 SP Drew Smyly of the Tampa Bay Rays

In 2013, Smyly was a top shelf reliever for the Detroit Tigers before being converted to a starter for 2014.  Drew Smyly shows a ton of promise in the future as he is only 25 and his 3.69 SIERA was above average in 25 starts this past year.  While Drew Smyly could pay off, I would haven taken the three other starters drafted in the tenth round instead.

10.110 OF Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies

As of now, Blackmon should be starting in the Colorado outfield along with Carlos Gonzalez and Corey Dickerson.  However, Drew Stubbs is lurking and his fly ball distance of 309 feet was the second best in the Majors behind Paul Goldschmidt.  Both Blackmon and Stubbs heavily benefit from playing in Coors with huge splits.  Charlie Blackmon’s playing time and dependence on Coors Field scares me as you can read here.

10.112 OF Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox

Mookie Betts is conducting arguably the biggest hype train for 2015.  He is considered by many experts to have a very high floor and could be an immediate five-category contributor.  However, there is no guarantee that Mookie Betts is the Opening Day leadoff hitter.  Almost everyone is driving this hype train, but I am not sure I am ready to get on aboard yet.

10.113 3B Yasmany Tomas of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Yasmany Tomas is a bit of a mystery because we only have his limited Cuban stats and the fact that the Diamondbacks were willing to pay nearly $70 million for the services of Tomas for six years.  Personally, I have to believe they see a great bat in Yasmany Tomas, and I have to gamble myself based on the recent success of Cuban players and what I wrote in this excerpt.

10.114 SP Jacob DeGrom of the New York Mets

DeGrom was the bomb in 2014 winning the NL Rookie of the Year.  In 140.1 innings, DeGrom really did everything.  His 2.67 FIP is beyond excellent and he struck out 144 batters in 22 starts.  Jacob DeGrom is better than most of us thought and he is still a very good here with the 114^th pick.

10.115 SP Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs

Jake Arrieta is another pitching steal of the tenth round after he posted nasty totals in 2014.  His 2.26 FIP and 20.5% K-BB% are strong indicators of the fact that Arrieta is for real.  When you consider the fact that he had a 9.59 K/9 in 2014, Jake Arrieta could be an elite pitcher once again, but it seems like his rise to excellence was under appreciated.  I would take advantage of the bargain.

10.116 1B Matt Adams of the St. Louis Cardinals

This was not my favorite pick of the round.  In his first full season as the first baseman for the Cardinals, Matt Adams only scored 55 runs and drove in 68 teammates to go along with 15 homers.  I have to think his counting stats go up or he will be a disappointment for a second straight season.

10.117 SP Gio Gonzalez of the Washington Nationals

It seems like Gio Gonzalez is starting to be the forgotten member of the great Washington Nationals.  You should not forget about such a dynamic arm and someone who is likely to pitch better than he did in 2014.  All the signs of a bounce back are there for Gio Gonzalez in this article.

10.118 OF Melky Cabrera of the Chicago White Sox

Melky Cabrera is not the flashiest option and questions of steroids will always loom over him, but he is a top 100 draft pick.  While I think Melky plays even better in 2015 as you can see here, a repeat of 2014 is more than enough to make him a good bargain.

10.119 RP Trevor Rosenthal of the St. Louis Cardinals

It seems like Trevor Rosenthal continues to be given the almost default #5 closer ranking after the top four ninth inning men.  Rosenthal throws gas and pitches on a team that should have plenty of save opportunities.  His 2.99 FIP and 3.40 SIERA makes me believe that Trevor Rosenthal will be a little safer in 2015.

10.120 3B Pablo Sandoval of the Boston Red Sox

Pablo Sandoval is not exactly my favorite fantasy baseball player.  His power is over exaggerated because of his size, his incredible World Series performances, and that people may still think that Pablo Sandoval could produce like five years ago, but the fact is that he is an average fantasy option.