Adam Jones

Yes, Jones is officially qualified as a superstar by now but he is not somebody I would recommend drafting in the first round.  I am a huge Adam Jones fan as I have personally drafted him in almost every league for the past three or four years I just can’t warrant using your first pick on him.  As of right now Jones ADP is right around pick 10, placing him at the end of the first round.  

Outfield is a very deep position, and very few outfielders in my opinion are worthy of being selected in the first round.  Jones is being taken approximately three picks before Ryan Braun who throughout his career has consistently put up better stats than Jones. Besides Braun’s suspension shortened season only once in his career has he hit fewer than 30 homeruns or knocked in fewer than 100 RBI as opposed to Jones who has hit 30 homeruns twice and 100 RBI once which was last season.  If I had to choose between the two I would rather have Braun on my team than Jones, although I would not draft Braun in the first either. 

It makes much more sense to draft a position that is very shallow such as shortstop or third base.  I would rather draft Troy Tulowitzki or Hanley Ramirez and secure a very weak shortstop position or slightly reach on a third baseman such as Adrian Beltre or Edwin Encarnacion who put up stellar numbers for third baseman.

Chris Davis

Chris Davis was a tale of two halves last season.  Before the All Star break Davis was batting .315 and hit 37 homeruns then after the All Star break Davis only batted .245 with 16 homeruns.  Davis had such a good first half that he easily set career high in every batting category when the season was over but you can’t ignore how cold he was the second half.

I don’t think Davis is as good as he was the first half but neither is he as bad as he was the second half.  Davis is capable of hitting you 40 home runs, 100 RBI with a .275 batting average.  While these are undeniably great numbers they are numbers that are coming at a position that is extremely deep. Power can be found in all parts of the draft and you can easily replace Davis’s power with smart drafting in the later rounds of your draft.  There is lots of value throughout the entire draft at first base and I recommend abstaining from drafting Davis, and reap the benefits of first base being a very deep position.   

Any Pitcher Not Named Clayton Kershaw

I can’t think of a single reason to not draft Kershaw in the first round.  He’s the owner of 2.60 career ERA and has struck out over 200 batters in four consecutive seasons.  However pitching is hands down the deepest position in fantasy baseball this year and there is not a single starter outside of Kershaw who warrants a first round selection.  There are so many good starting pitchers this year that you can go the first four or five rounds without selecting a starter and still end with a staff full of aces.  If you draft a starter in the first round you will be kicking yourself in the butt all season long because of it.