Anti-List: The Not-At-All Too Early 2030 Mock Draft

That’s what I love about high school prospects…I get older and they stay the same age.

It’s that time of the year again! The 2019 fantasy season is almost over and it’s time to start looking toward the future. Speaking of which, what is the point of just looking forward to next year? Seems a little shortsighted if you ask me, maybe even a little irresponsible. With that in mind, let’s look 11 years down the road.

We got together 10 of our top predictors on staff to draft the best 30 fantasy players of the year for 2030. So we’ve got adults, teenagers, and even some preteens in the picks below along with some spot-on analysis that will only get stronger over the next decade.

Round (Pick)	Manager	Pick	2030 Age	Who?
1 (1)	Daniel Port	Wander Franco	29	Consensus No. 1 Pick
1 (2)	Travis Sherer	Juan Soto	31	Nationals All-Star OF
1 (3)	Austin Bristow II	Ronald Acuna, Jr.	32	Braves All-Star OF
1 (4)	Myles Nelson	Alfred “Big Al” Delia	22	Little League All-Star
1 (5)	Mark MeElroy	Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.	31	Blue Jays Phenom 3B
1 (6)	Alex I	Fernando Tatis, Jr.	31	Padres Phenom SS
1 (7)	Colin Weatherwax	Kristian Robinson	30	Diamondbacks Toolsy OF Prospect
1 (8)	Scott Chu	Victor Jose Martinez	25	Victor Martinez’s Son
1 (9)	Donny Moskovits	Marco Luciano	28	Giants Big Bat OF Prospect
1 (10)	Dave Cherman	Jasson Dominguez	27	“The (Other) Martian” — Matt Damon Is the Original

The first round was pretty reasonable. I think everybody would have picked Wander Franco with the first pick. He’s basically the only guy who will be younger than 30 in 2030 who you can reasonably say will be a top player in that time (barring injury). From there we go with Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna, Baby Vlad, little Tatis…and of course, Big Al — all players with top experience at the highest level. We got our first teenage legacy who isn’t currently in the majors — or in high school. And of course, there is Jasson Dominguez, who I thought would go a little higher.

I picked Soto second because he’ll still only be 31 in 11 years from now, and I feel like out of the list of major leaguers selected in the first round, his skills will last the longest. He already has the best eye in this entire draft and he doesn’t rely at all on speed.

Round (Pick)	Manager	Pick	2030 Age	Who?
2 (11)	Dave Cherman	“Mateo”	??	??
2 (12)	Donny Moskovits	Luis Patino	30	Padres SP Prospect Not Named Gore
2 (13)	Scott Chu	Mike Trout	39	The Best Player to Ever Play Baseball
2 (14)	Colin Weatherwax	Jo Adell	31	Angels Toolsy OF Prospect
2 (15)	Alex I	Yordan Alvarez	33	Astros All Bat, No Cattle 1B
2 (16)	Mark McElroy	Maddy Freking	24	1st Woman Major Leaguer
2 (17)	Myles Nelson	Bartolo Colon	57	Yeah, He’s Still Pitching…Somewhere
2 (18)	Austin Bristow II	Cody Bellinger	35	Dodgers Freak 1B, CF…Everything Else
2 (19)	Travis Sherer	Bobby Witt, Jr.	30	Royals Safe SS Prospect
2 (20)	Daniel Port	Andrew Vaughn	32	White Sox Safe 1B Prospect

Dave Cherman shocked the world when he posted an Instagram link for his second pick, followed by “This kid…his last name says Mateo…somebody tell me how monstrously large he is.” Enough said (link below). Apparently we are going by body mass, which after picking Dominguez in the first and Cecil Fielder’s kid in the third round, is obviously a thing for Cherman. To each his own…although he was probably pretty angry when Bartolo Colon was snatched up a few picks later.

I like the way Round 2 shaped up, starting with Mateo on the “young” end…I mean, we have no idea how old this kid is, just that he can bench press a camper. On the other end Scott Chu is betting that Old Man Trout doesn’t age like mortals, which is a solid bet considering he doesn’t do anything else like mortals. Mark McElroy saw the future and tapped into a new market: women.

Donny Moskovits also zigged where everyone else zagged, picking a pitcher. I was a little shocked, however, to see that Luis Patino was the first pitcher taken, especially since there is another San Diego prospect just as young and considered by some to be the best pitching prospect in baseball: MacKenzie Gore.

I went with Bobby Witt, Jr. who just seems like he’s going to be good at something in 11 years…hopefully, it’s on the diamond.

Round (Pick)	Manager	Pick	2030 Age	Who?
3 (21)	Daniel Port	George Valera	29	Indians Valerian Steel Bat OF Prospect
3 (22)	Travis Sherer	Grayson Rodriguez	30	Orioles Phenom SP
3 (23)	Austin Bristow II	Houston Astros 2024 1st Round Pick		Let’s Hope They Know How to Maintain a Potential Dynasty Better than Theo Epstein
3 (24)	Myles Nelson	Dustin May	32	Lion-O
3 (25)	Mark McElroy	Druw Jones	26	Son of Andruw Jones, Sent to Rule
3 (26)	Alex I	Dylan Carlson	31	Cardinals Flavor of the Week OF Prospect
3 (27)	Colin Weatherwax	Ian Anderson	32	Braves Safe Pick SP Prospect
3 (28)	Scott Chu	Deivis Ordonez	23	The Best Dancing Baseball Player…Ever
3 (29)	Donny Moskovits	Pete Alonso	35	Mets Big Bat 1B
3 (30)	Dave Cherman	Haven Fielder	24	Yes, His Son

We probably could have done a fourth round, but I think judging by the third round we ended it at the right time. Chu went with the best dancer, McElroy went with Andruw Jones‘ 15-year-old kid, and Cherman once again bet on body mass equating to…I don’t know.

Austin Bristow decided to diversify after taking Cody Bellinger and Acuna, who will both be in their low-to-mid thirties, and he went as outside the box as possible by drafting a player to be named later. Did I mention the player wouldn’t be named by him? He will be named by the Astros, but not until 2024.

I went with Grayson Rodriguez because of his profile and early success in the minors. He’s got the body type and velocity to have a long career if everything goes well.

How did other managers think they did?

Dave Cherman — For my first pick, I took what felt like one of the most sensible picks of the first round- Jasson Dominguez. The Yankees recently signed the 16-year-old, giving him the largest International signing bonus in history. They call him the Martian because of his otherworldly talent and he’s going to terrorize the league for years. While our first round was filled with some big names of 2019, almost all of them will be at least 30 in 2030, and in 2019, JD Martinez was the only 30-year-old to be a first-round pick. Dominguez will be 27 in the thick of his Mike Trout prime. My second pick was Mateo. That says it all. For my third pick, I took another future fantasy superstar in Haven Fielder, a 3rd generation major leaguer. His dad Prince had a ton of talent but couldn’t stay healthy. Haven will be the Prince that was Promised.

Myles Nelson — “My friends call me Big Al, and I hit dingers.” That’s all I really needed to know about Alfred “Big Al” Delia in order to make him my obvious choice at #4 overall. He’s going to be 24 years old in 2030, and just like he did in the Little League World Series, he’s going to be hitting dingers at the major league level. By 2030, Delia will be a household name with multiple All-Star appearances and Home Run Derby titles under his belt, and I’ll be happy to have him on my fantasy team. Continuing the theme of players who hit dingers, who else to pick in round 2 other than Bartolo “Big Sexy” Colon? Sure, he’s only got 1 career home run… so far. Colon is clearly getting better with age, and with baseball embracing two-way players like Shohei Ohtani and Babe Ruth, I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing Colon follow suit. He may not be playing right now, but that’s more of a gap year thing I’m pretty sure, and he’ll be back in the majors soon. I like having a balanced team, so with a slugger in round one and a two-way star in round two I figured it was time to get the ace of my pitching staff. To be honest, I was actually really having a tough time deciding between Forrest Whitley and Gingergaard, as I trust both the Astros organization and the Dodgers organization to develop pitching properly, but I decided to put my trust in the guy who’s already showing how he can succeed in the major leagues, not in the guy who’s taken a step back in the minors this year.

Mark McElroy — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was an easy pick number five overall. Even at 31 years old, Guerrero should hit .285+ with 40+ home runs. I was surprised he fell despite hist place as one of the biggest future stars in baseball. It might be encouraging for next year’s drafts if he has fallen out of favor. Maybe his stat line this year hasn’t lived up to the tremendous hype, but he has performed well and we have seen flashes of his immense talent (HR derby, two Player of the Week awards). If he falls in next year’s drafts, all the better for those who still believe. Maddy Freking was a pick not so much for the individual player, but for any female player breaking into the Majors. As the nineteenth female player to play in the Little League World Series, Freking may or may not be the player to break the gender barrier, but someone will. With luck, it will be before 2030. I wanted to make sure that I took a chance on a young player in my 2030 draft. Druw Jones is the son of former player, Andruw Jones. It is easy to get excited about the children of retired stars because it is easy to envision success. Jones will graduate from high school in 2022 and has already committed to play at Vanderbilt. He has had success as a teenager and will benefit from college competition. If everything goes to plan he should be ready for a regular role in the majors by 2030.