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March 19, 2025, 10:00 amLast Updated on February 10, 2026 8:49 pm by André Lemos | Published: March 19, 2025
As we have discussed during my five-pack of articles for the Sports Ethos MLB Draft Guide, I have developed a formula that is proven to win head-to-head championships almost 50% of the time–based on my career stats in 30-plus Yahoo leagues since 2013.
To recap, my first four picks are infielders because of the position scarcity at all four positions versus the overall depth at the outfield position. Rounds 5-7 are dedicated to filling my three outfield spots with second-tier studs–and I will take a deep dive into that layer of my strategy in this piece. You grab one of the last solid catchers in the eighth round and then lock up a pair of closers in the ninth and 10th rounds, and you are good to go for Sleeperville.
Fading (not punting) starting pitchers is the key to this formula, as I completely ignore the position until the 11th round. Moreover, depending on how the draft flows, I may even drift the SP position into the 12th or 13th rounds in order to fill the utility spots with my favorite offensive sleepers.
I don’t stack drafts like this because I want it to be linear–or easy. This is not an overly simple John Calipari 5×5, line-change rotation while underachieving as the head coach at Kentucky. No sir and no ma’am!
I draft this way because this is where the best value can be found at each position throughout the draft. Infield is the most valuable, then you get outfield goodies while they are still available, then you choose from a deep catcher position, then you can still get a couple rock-solid closers, and finally you can draft solid/sleeper starting pitchers all the way to the end of the draft.
We are currently existing in a MLB cycle where there is a bigger drop-off from the first tier to the second tier at the infield positions than there is at the outfield positions. It hasn’t always been like that and it won’t always be like this, but it is right now, and we must get with the times in order to win.
For example, you could rock with second-tier infielders like Mark Vientos, Jordan Westburg and Cody Bellinger, but you would be a lot better off rocking with second-tier outfielders like Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernandez and Lawrence Butler.
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