clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

The earliest of early mock drafts: Round Five

Ray takes a look at round five of the #earlymock14 fantasy baseball draft with the guys from Fantasy Assembly.

By Ray Guilfoyle
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

We just completed the 25 round draft in the #earlymock14 fantasy baseball draft, but today I offer my thoughts on round five. You can find my thoughts on the earlier rounds here:

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Here is a quick look at round 5 of the #earlymock14 fantasy baseball draft with the guys from Fantasy Assembly:

Pick

Player

Owner

5.1

Adrian Gonzalez 1B LAD

asfarfaketeams

5.2

Stephen Strasburg SP WSH

BrianC@FakeTeams

5.3

Buster Posey C SF

Jeff Q RotoWords

5.4

Hunter Pence OF SF

FakeTeams

5.5

Jose Fernandez SP MIA

Paul@FantasyAssembly

5.6

Chris Sale SP CHW

Kevin@theassembly

5.7

Madison Bumgarner SP SF

Alex K Fake Teams

5.8

Albert Pujols 1B LAA

Daniel Kelley

5.9

Cliff Lee SP PHI

tommyl@theassembly

5.1

Mark Trumbo 1B LAA

peter@theassembly

5.11

Craig Kimbrel RP ATL

JimF FantasyAssembly

5.12

Matt Carpenter 2B STL

DanS.@RotoBanter

Craig Kimbrel, ATL

My first thoughts about the fifth round is that Craig Kimbrel is a great closer, but I am not one to take a closer in the fifth round. Ever. He is the best in the business, but taking a quick look at round six, here is a short list of players still on the board after the Kimbrel pick:

Justin Verlander

Zack Greinke

David Price

Cole Hamels

Matt Cain

Josh Donaldson

Ryan Zimmerman

There is a long list of players I would take before a closer. Any closer.

Madison Bumgarner, SFG

I want to know what Alex knows about MadBum that we all don't. I wouldn't put it past Alex that he is keeping a secret about MadBum and he will be the 2014 National League Cy Young award winner. I just wouldn't take him before any of the starters listed above.

Commence bashing my Hunter Pence pick in the fifth round.

Hunter Pence, SFG

Two Giants taken in the fifth round. What the? I have to tell you, I NEVER draft Pence, but his 20-20 season in 2013 caught my eye, and now I might own him every where in 2014. More than likely the stolen bases drop to the mid-teens next season, but he is tremendously consistent, putting up 20-75-70 seasons in each of the last six seasons, and 20-80-80 seasons from 2010 - 2013.

Jose Fernandez, MIA

I like the Fernandez pick here, and for some, it might be too early to take him, but I think he is the real deal. He had a great rookie season, and I think he wins the National League Rookie of the Year award next week, although Yasiel Puig may have something the say about that. Will NL hitters make adjustments to Fernandez in 2014, or will Fernandez continue to dominate? That is the question for fantasy owners in 2014, and Paul thinks he will dominate. I tend to agree.

So, through five rounds of the earlymock14 draft, here is my roster:

Rd.1 Andrew McCutchen

Rd. 2 David Wright

Rd. 3 Ian Desmond

Rd. 4 Alex Rios

Rd. 5 Hunter Pence

Looking at my roster through the first five rounds, I have five hitters who have, or can, put up a 20 home run, 20 stolen base season in 2014. They all hit for a high average, score at least 70 runs and drive in at least 70 runs. A quick calculation gives me roughly, 100 HRs, 350 runs, 350 RBI and 100 stolen bases after five rounds. I have yet to take a starting pitcher.

More from Fake Teams: