RADIO
It's officially fantasy baseball draft season, so we're starting where it makes the most sense to start - Round One!
We're here talking about who should be taken with the #1 overall pick, and I am making the case for my favorite pick - Jose Ramirez.
Let's get going!
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Roto Stud
We are mostly talking about standard 5x5 leagues when we're talking about fantasy baseball, and Ramirez has excelled in each of those five standard categories every year in recent history:
| Year | PA | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG |
| 2017 | 645 | 107 | 29 | 83 | 17 | .318 |
| 2018 | 698 | 110 | 39 | 105 | 34 | .270 |
| 2019 | 542 | 68 | 23 | 83 | 24 | .255 |
| 2021 | 636 | 111 | 36 | 103 | 27 | .266 |
| 2022 | 685 | 90 | 29 | 126 | 20 | .280 |
We often put the 20-homer, 20-steal contributors on a pedestal for fantasy baseball. Sometimes that can get you in trouble, but there is no denying how valuable it is to have a player that beats the league average in both of those categories at the same time. Ramirez has done just that every year, and he does it while giving you at least a good batting average.
It also may be surprising to you to hear that Ramirez is still just 30 years old. That sounds crazy given how long he's been around, but that's what happens when a guy makes his Major League debut at age 20.
That along with his reliability already make him a candidate to be the #1 overall pick, but wait - there's more!
Positional Depth
Players with Positive Projected 5x5 Value by Position
| Position | Players |
| C | 3 |
| 1B | 17 |
| 2B | 10 |
| SS | 16 |
| 3B | 10 |
| OF | 36 |
As usual, catcher is the thinnest position in terms of fantasy production. This will just always be true because Major League teams don't care all that much about offensive production at catcher, and that's all we care about in the fantasy game.
After that, we see that second base and third base are the most shallow positions. That makes it pretty important to fill these positions early in the draft. There is nobody at the second base position you would consider taking with a top 10 pick, so if you are drafting based on position scarcity, Ramirez likely gets the biggest boost.
The Case For J-Ram
Five-category production? Check.
A long history of consistent fantasy success? Check.
A crazy high upside? Check.
Fills an important position? Check.
Still in the prime of his career? Check.
There are just no bad things to say about Ramirez as a first-round pick, even for the harshest of critics. He's my #1 this year, and he should be yours as well.
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