Fantasy MLB: Blue Jays come at a Premium Price

I know it’s a little early for fantasy baseball. Most leagues likely won’t be opening up for another 4-6 weeks. This hasn’t stopped the experts from doing mock drafts and putting out early rankings. The days of getting Blue Jays players at a discounted price seem to be over. Each draft is different from the next. So there is still a chance to get some Jays at a decent price. So far it looks like the good ones are going to cost a lot to draft.

Yahoo fantasy experts did a mock draft and the results are close to what I would expect. The main take away for me is that both Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are drafted in the 1st round. Most teams don’t have 1 player in going in the 1st round. The Blue Jays have 2. That is a steep price to pay. Me being a homer I might just fork over a 1st round pick for one of them but it is still too early to tell. The key for Edwin Encarnacion is that he will qualify at 1B. That adds a little extra value over an OF slot that Bautista will hold. But, power is power and this is not the late 90s. Power hitters will come at a premium price that can and will be paid by most fantasy GMs.

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Similarly Tristan H. Cockcroft posted his rankings for the coming season. You can find the list of 250 players here.

He also has Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion going in the first round. A little different slot but late 1st round is most likely going to vary each time you draft a team.

What I was really digging for when I clicked on the mock draft and rankings was where Josh Donaldson would be slotted. That is where I was really looking to find value. A good hitting 3B will cost you. It seems my value pick is not going to be nearly as juicy as I had hoped. Yahoo experts drafted him in the 2nd round. While Tristan has him ranked 34th overall and top 3 in the position. The experts are really projecting Donaldson to pick up his numbers playing outside of the Coliseum.

Another player to note is Jose Reyes. In the Yahoo mock draft Jose was drafted near the end of the 4th round. This slot is almost right in line with where Tristan has him ranked. While you do have to cook in some DL time for Jose Reyes every year. This isn’t actually a bad price to pay for his services as your starting SS.

There are of course going to be sleepers and value picks available on the Blue Jays roster. This is just my quick look at where the top dogs are being slotted so far. Rankings and projections are ever changing.

Fantasy baseball draft season is my favorite time of the year. It’s just around the corner and I can almost taste it.