Benjamin Franklin said it best: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” If you don’t prepare for a big meeting at work, you’re going to flop in front of your boss, which is obviously never good. If you don’t prepare for your midterms, you are going to be staring at a terrible grade when the teacher returns that piece of paper.

Now, to something that matters more than those two, well, somewhat. If you don’t prepare for your fantasy baseball draft(s), unless you’re the luckiest guy or gal in that given year, you can expect to be in the basement of your league. You will be the laughing stock, and in your league, the paradigm of being unprepared at a draft will be forever immortalized as “pulling a [insert your name here].” That cannot happen.

You will absolutely want to analyze Jim Bowden’s Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide right here at Fantasy Alarm. Of course, you will want to check the Free Agent Tracker as well, since Nate Miller is telling you everything you need to know about nearly every free agent! And I know that each of you is listening to Nate and I drop knowledge, hot takes and bold predictions on the Offseason Podcast each week!

However, starting very soon, there’s going to be another invaluable tool to add to your training regime. MOCK DRAFTS. Yes, and you certainly can go over to a site like ESPN or CBS Sports and do a mock draft over there, but you run the risk of individuals not taking seriously, or making a handful of picks then letting the computer take the wheel. (UGH. The dreaded autopick. Don’t be that person. No one likes that person.)

Personally, I take part in Howard Bender’s Mock Draft Army. Each draft is filled with a healthy mix of eager fantasy baseball players and experts in the industry. Depending on what draft you get in, you could be drafting with Jim Bowden and Brett Talley, or perhaps you’re in a room with me and Howard! If you have not been a part of the Mock Draft Army in recent years, get yourself in it this year and add this invaluable resource to your fantasy baseball preseason training regimen.

Perhaps the best thing about mock drafts, good ones that is, is the fact that it provides the opportunity to try different strategies to help each of us find out how we can formulate the best team for the upcoming fantasy gauntlet. Even if you already have your strategy locked in, there’s no reason not to try another strategy in a mock draft that does not count for anything.

The beauty of a mock draft is that you can attempt different strategies with no fear of losing something for the upcoming season. You won’t be playing with this exact team, so why not take a risk? Try taking pitchers early, and see how your team turns out. In the next one, take eight straight hitters and see what kind of pitching staff you can formulate. The opportunities are endless, but the outcome is the same. Each draft is a learning experience and provides the opportunity to take a stab at certain players or an entire strategy altogether. How does your team turn out with Trea Turner in the first round at the fifth pick? What about Clayton Kershaw right there? Take a turn both ways and see for yourself what you can put on paper.

Another instrumental benefit of mock drafts is seeing where the room is at. In other words, we see the groupthink on certain players. Say you do a couple drafts and see that Trea Turner is being selected ahead of Charlie Blackmon. Can you determine that Turner must be the better fantasy asset? Not necessarily, but with a large enough sample size, you can find out where the fantasy community lies on certain players. Even the most novice fantasy players can draft the first couple of rounds, because those are the players that everyone knows. Most people know Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, but will a casual baseball fan know guys like Josh Bell and Greg Bird?

Perhaps this is where mock drafts provide the most value. If you’re like me, you’re bullish on the likes of Ronald Acuna, Jameson Taillon and Delino DeShields, but the big question is; When can I get these guys? In mock drafts, go ahead and reach for these guys in a particular draft and see how your team turns out. In the next mock, avoid these players at all costs and see how far they will fall. When you get to your home league, depending on scoring and such, it will likely be a similar situation, which will allow you to get slightly better value than you would have if you failed to prepare. Taillon in the 14th round is much better than the 11th, while maximizing value on Acuna after Round 10 is more ideal than needing eighth round production from a guy who can’t have a drink in a bar until December of this year.

It’s imperative that you add mock drafts to your offseason preparation because it is absolutely vital to your success this season. Don’t just run the same strategy, go ahead and experiment. Remember, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

I’ll see you in the Mock Draft Army draft rooms.