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ADP Analysis of the Mock Draft Army's First Draft -- Part 2

For those of you just joining our program, allow me to re-direct you to the article from Wednesday where we introduced you to the Mock Draft Army, a rotating group of fantasy baseball writers looking to provide you with legitimate mock drafts to help you in your draft prep. The Army had its first draft last Tuesday, a 28-round, standard 5x5 mixed league draft consisting of seven writers and five readers and we started to bring you some ADP analysis as a way to understand some of the rising and falling trends we've been witnessing over the last several weeks.

In that piece, we covered most of the first half of the draft – two four-round blocks to be exact. We compared those draft numbers with the ADP data from the NFBC mock drafts and found some pretty interesting things, but in truth, nothing so outlandish that you would consider your mind blown. Although, David Wiers' first three picks were definitely unconventional, so maybe I'm underestimating what constitutes a blown mind these days.

Today we're going to look at the latter part of the draft. While the first four rounds of any draft are crucial and then those middle four are key for building of your foundation, it is the back end of your draft that separates the proverbial men from the boys. The second part of your draft is where you start pulling in more of your sleeper picks and those role players upon whom you rely to out-produce their draft position and help guide you to your championship. Some people consider these picks to be low-risk and therefore take some odd chances, but in my opinion, I feel that you can, with the proper research, methodically pick up useful parts for your team and relish in the fact that your 21st round pick was deemed just as important as your 12th rounder.

So today we're looking at rounds 17-20 and 25-28. We're going to compare some ADP rankings and see who continues to slip through and whether or not there are players on the rise…in popularity, that is… for whom you're going to need to act faster on in order to obtain their services this season. You should be able to find plenty of useful information here that should help guide you towards a more productive back-end of your draft. If you need to see the full draft, just click here.

Rounds 17-20

PlayerPosTeamDraftedNFBC ADP|PERCENT| Diff
Carlos RuizCPHI193203.075.22|PERCENT|
Todd Frazier1B,3BCIN194162.64-16.16|PERCENT|
A.J. BurnettSPPIT195210.658.03|PERCENT|
Erick AybarSSLAA196150.45-23.24|PERCENT|
J.P. ArencibiaCTOR197224.5113.96|PERCENT|
Ernesto FrieriRPLAA198231.3316.83|PERCENT|
Dayan ViciedoOFCHW199204.832.93|PERCENT|
Brett AndersonSPOAK200165.01-17.50|PERCENT|
Drew StubbsOFCLE201254.0226.38|PERCENT|
Rafael BetancourtRPCOL202193.99-3.97|PERCENT|
A.J. PierzynskiCTEX203177.87-12.38|PERCENT|
Kenley JansenRPLAD204170.67-16.34|PERCENT|
Brett GardnerOFNYY205169.84-17.15|PERCENT|
Matt HarveySPNYM206151.30-26.55|PERCENT|
Jean SeguraSSMIL207250.5121.02|PERCENT|
Shaun MarcumSPNYM208276.9133.13|PERCENT|
Manny Machado3BBAL209183.37-12.26|PERCENT|
Huston StreetRPSD210168.64-19.70|PERCENT|
Carlos GomezOFMIL211122.64-41.88|PERCENT|
Addison ReedRPCHW212171.53-19.09|PERCENT|
Brandon LeagueRPLAD213213.090.04|PERCENT|
Tim HudsonSPATL214253.7818.59|PERCENT|
Lorenzo CainOFKC215219.081.90|PERCENT|
Michael CuddyerOFCOL216165.96-23.17|PERCENT|
Brandon Moss1BOAK217281.6329.78|PERCENT|
Jarrod SaltalamacchiaCBOS218246.6313.13|PERCENT|
Sean MarshallRPCIN219413.0588.61|PERCENT|
Justin Morneau1BMIN220189.19-14.00|PERCENT|
Nick MarkakisOFBAL221151.66-31.38|PERCENT|
Lance LynnSPSTL222195.85-11.78|PERCENT|
Mike MorseOFSEA223129.66-41.86|PERCENT|
Wade MileySPARI224221.48-1.13|PERCENT|
Mark Reynolds1BCLE225289.7828.79|PERCENT|
Trevor CahillSPARI226240.156.26|PERCENT|
Hisashi IwakumaSPSEA227285.1225.60|PERCENT|
Michael FiersSPMIL228244.467.22|PERCENT|
Adam EatonOFARI229225.82-1.39|PERCENT|
Justin RuggianoOFMIA230273.5718.94|PERCENT|
Kelly Johnson2BTB231309.3033.90|PERCENT|
Kyle LohseSPSTL232253.949.46|PERCENT|
Marco Scutaro2BSF233200.29-14.04|PERCENT|
Brian Roberts2BBAL234400.5271.16|PERCENT|
Wil MyersOFTB235223.31-4.97|PERCENT|
Kyuji FujikawaRPCHC236272.4015.42|PERCENT|
Dexter FowlerOFCOL237198.97-16.05|PERCENT|
Derek HollandSPTEX238261.249.76|PERCENT|
Michael Young3BPHI239228.06-4.58|PERCENT|
Clay BuchholzSPBOS240305.4527.27|PERCENT|

What? Too Soon?

Unless you're talking about a mixed league that counts holds as a category or an AL or NL-only format, I'm not a fan of taking middle relievers unless there's something in the news that indicates they will somehow be in the mix for saves or eventually move into the closer's role. The situations with respect to both L.A.-based teams comes to mind. But in the case that I'm looking at, this incredible reach of Sean Marshall in the 19th round, I just don't get it. Will Jonathan Broxton hold the job for the Reds all year? I can't say with any degree of certainty. But the fact remains that he is the closer and will be for the foreseeable future. Yes, Marshall can help stabilize your ratios, but with so much value still on the board and the fact that Marshall could have easily been plucked off the waiver wire during the season, this pick doesn't make much sense to me.

Second base is thin enough as it is, but with so many flying off the board, you had to expect a few reaches here and there as people tried to build up their depth. So when Kelly Johnson (+33.90|PERCENT|) and Brian Roberts (+71.16|PERCENT|) were picked much higher than their ADP ranks, there wasn't much surprise. Well, maybe not with Johnson. With Roberts, perhaps a little. I would much rather have someone like Gordon Beckham who still has time to turn his career around and actually showed a bit of growth last season. Roberts' fantasy life has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. I'd be surprised to see him even get 300 at-bats this year.

There are certain instances where a pick may look like a reach, statistically speaking, but in reality, it isn't. Jean Segura (+21.02|PERCENT|) has solid steals potential, Brandon Moss (+29.78|PERCENT|) could hit 25-plus home runs, Drew Stubbs (+26.38|PERCENT|) is a power/speed threat, and Hisashi Iwakuma (+25.60|PERCENT|) should post some nice ratios – all four statistical reaches, but I see no issue with grabbing them where they went, especially if you're concerned that you won't see them available by the time your next pick comes around.

Slipping Too Far?

It's inevitable. Guys slip through in drafts. It happens all the time. That's why it's important to be constantly paying attention and work off your own rankings and not the default ones used on your draft software. Carlos Gomez(-41.88|PERCENT|) stayed on the board for far too long, in my opinion here. If you checked out my article on RotobuzzGuy.com where I discussed my team and gave round by round picks and pans, you know that I was kicking myself for overlooking him. I grabbed Angel Pagan and Alejandro DeAza a few rounds earlier and, truth be told, I would have much preferred Gomez if we were playing this league out.

Matt Harvey (-26.55|PERCENT|) is another one that just seemed to slide on by. He's someone who I have been targeting a lot this season, but actually made the conscious decision to bypass him in this one. I needed to build up my hitting depth and with numerous pitchers whom I also liked, still sitting on the board, I figured I would wait. While he remains someone I covet, I think it worked out best for me here though.

The outfield still seems plenty deep overall. It's true that in the first few rounds, the top outfielders come off the board pretty quickly, but in looking at the data from these rounds…come on. Michael Morse (-41.86|PERCENT|), Brett Gardner (-17.15|PERCENT|) and Michael Cuddyer (-23.17|PERCENT|) all slid down the board in this one, and I'm sure that's not the only time. I'll have to look into this more during the next draft.

Rounds 25-28

PlayerPosTeamDraftedNFBC ADP|PERCENT| Diff
Michael BrantleyOFCLE289305.275.63|PERCENT|
Stephen DrewSSBOS290282.46-2.60|PERCENT|
Al AlburquerqueRPDET291475.1763.29|PERCENT|
Kevin Youkilis3BNYY292220.11-24.62|PERCENT|
Chris YoungOFOAK293298.411.85|PERCENT|
Bruce RondonRPDET294244.23-16.93|PERCENT|
Chad BillingsleySPLAD295383.6830.06|PERCENT|
Matt Carpenter1B, 3BSTL296310.654.95|PERCENT|
Ervin SantanaSPKC297397.2833.76|PERCENT|
Hiroyuki NakajimaSSOAK298331.7111.31|PERCENT|
Wade DavisSPKC299343.7114.95|PERCENT|
Andrew CashnerRPSD300342.1714.06|PERCENT|
Shelby MillerSPSTL301269.71-10.40|PERCENT|
Dan StrailySPOAK302344.7614.16|PERCENT|
Patrick CorbinSPARI303500.2865.11|PERCENT|
David MurphyOFTEX304255.81-15.85|PERCENT|
Domonic BrownOFPHI305400.8731.43|PERCENT|
Peter BourjosOFLAA306303.55-0.80|PERCENT|
Tommy HansonSPCLE307272.13-11.36|PERCENT|
Miguel GonzalezSPBAL308389.3526.41|PERCENT|
Tyler SkaggsSPARI309392.2426.94|PERCENT|
Mike Olt1BTEX310378.2722.02|PERCENT|
Cody RossOFARI311269.46-13.36|PERCENT|
Jorge De La RosaSPCOL312420.3934.74|PERCENT|
Drew SmylySPDET313346.9510.85|PERCENT|
Edinson VolquezSPSD314326.884.10|PERCENT|
Trevor BauerSPCLE315308.43-2.09|PERCENT|
Paul MaholmSPATL316309.38-2.09|PERCENT|
Nolan ReimoldOFBAL317347.029.47|PERCENT|
Lance Berkman1BTEX318283.81-10.75|PERCENT|
David RobertsonRPNYY319365.6714.63|PERCENT|
Erasmo RamirezSPSEA320388.7821.49|PERCENT|
Welington CastilloCCHC321342.246.62|PERCENT|
Billy HamiltonSSCIN322286.09-11.15|PERCENT|
Jason VargasSPLAA323309.84-4.07|PERCENT|
Antonio BastardoRPPHI324651.64101.12|PERCENT|
Cory LuebkeSPSD325377.0816.02|PERCENT|
Dylan BundySPBAL326340.794.54|PERCENT|
Robbie ErlinSPSD327ND
Justin MaxwellOFHOU328315.40-3.84|PERCENT|
Darin MastroianniOFMIN329342.274.03|PERCENT|
Ryan MadsonRPLAA330232.68-29.49|PERCENT|
Lonnie Chisenhall3BCLE331332.870.56|PERCENT|
Zack CozartSSCIN332269.22-18.91|PERCENT|
Brandon BeachySPATL333353.806.25|PERCENT|
Vance WorleySPMIN334361.488.23|PERCENT|
Jose VerasRPHOU335343.992.68|PERCENT|
Gregor BlancoOFSF336410.3822.14|PERCENT|

Now obviously, with these being the final four rounds of the draft, there's no such thing as a reach at this point. I mean, really, how much of a reach is it when you grab a guy in the last round? If you're comparing it to NFBC data, of course you'll see some differentials. Not only are they a 15-team league, but they go two more rounds than we did here.

What I like looking for here are names of forgotten veterans (Jose Veras, Lance Berkman), second and third year players who were once hyped but maybe lost some of their luster (Wade Davis,Zack Cozart), and of course, rookies who may not be on people's radar. Obviously a guy like Dylan Bundy is on everybody's radar, but how many people know who Robbie Erlin is?

There are plenty more drafts coming from the Mock Draft Army, so keep an eye out for them. You can follow me on Twitter (@rotobuzzguy) for upcoming dates, find me on Facebook (RotobuzzGuy.com) or you can email me at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com  if you're really dying to get in on the action. It should prove to be a valuable resource for draft prep, so don't miss out.