Fantasy baseball mock draft: Sound the Fantasy Alarm

On Monday, Ryan Hallam and Jeff Mans brought me aboard for the Fantasy Alarm Mock Draft spectacular, an intimidating collection of fantasy baseball experts in a 5x5 party. Many thanks for the invite and a raucous affair during the Auburn-Oregon clash.

Roster:

C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, OF, UTIL, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, 3 BENCH

Here's how it shook out. (Kudos to Mock Draft Central.)

My team:

• Evan Longoria, by far the top mixed third sacker, fell to me at No. 10. Thanks, guys.
• Pleased with the high-K arms I acquired (aside from Ryan Franklin, who was a saves-only pick, admittedly). Josh Johnson's late-season tirings are in the back of my mind, but with him as a No. 2 SP, those concerns are lightened. I considered CC Sabathia instead of Dan Haren and think Sabathia might become a value by the time for-real drafts come around, considering many are viewing his K/9 as a loss of ability and not a change in his style.
  

  No. 10? Really?

• Continued my closer stall strategy. Many of my targets went before John Axford, but as I note here, I was happy with it.
• This team's biggest flaw: lack of reliable batting average, and besides Jimmy Rollins and B.J. Upton, I could've used one more swipes artist or balanced out the steals throughout my roster. (Trade talks during the fake season!) That's why we mock. Of course, BA is the most volatile 5x5 category, so I'm OK with having nothing but upside there. Do I have a choice in that matter with this squad? Not really.
• I usually avoid such things, but I smiled at the reactions to my Brandon Morrow pick. If you get him, so should you.

General:

• Reminder: Outfield is deep. Thanks, Curtis Granderson and Jason Bay, along with many of my other targets that were sniped. While the lack of CI and MI options in this format made it easier to find infield options later on, the 7's, 8's and 9's have ample upside candidates in the middle and late rounds. I have my risers. Do you?
• For most of the mocks I have done, there has been a big gap in selections once the top seven or so second basemen have been taken. We've mentioned the keystone depth here before, but be aware of when the middle-tier options start to fall if you miss out on someone like Dan Uggla.

KFFL Baseball

• Grab the answers to Burning Fantasy Baseball Questions.
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