Steve Gardner

USA TODAY Sports

The first of the three Leagues of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR) is officially ready for opening day. The 15 team owners matched wits for 29 grueling rounds Monday night, with Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout the first player off the board.

The draft immediately took a slight detour at pick No. 2 when Rotowire's Jeff Erickson selected left-hander Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's certainly a defensible move -- especially considering Kershaw's amazing track record of dominance, and the fact that last year's winner, Todd Zola of Mastersball, took Kershaw with his first pick (fourth overall).

Erickson's decision opened up a few options some of the early drafters may not have originally considered. Here's how the first round played out:

2017 LABR Mixed draft

1. OF Mike Trout -- Alan Harrison, TheFantasyFix.com

2. SP Clayton Kershaw -- Jeff Erickson, Rotowire

3. OF Mookie Betts -- Jake Ciely, RotoExperts

4. 3B Nolan Arenado -- Ray Murphy, Baseball HQ

5. 2B Jose Altuve -- Stephania Bell, ESPN.com

6. 1B Paul Goldschmidt -- Steve Gardner, USA TODAY Sports

7. 3B/OF Kris Bryant -- Scott Pianowski, Yahoo Sports

8. SP Max Scherzer -- Fred Zinkie, MLB.com

9. OF Bryce Harper -- Dr. Roto, Scout Fantasy

10. 2B/OF Trea Turner -- Jason Collette/Paul Sporer, Fangraphs' Sleeper & the Bust podcast

11. 3B/SS Manny Machado -- Howard Bender, Fantasy Alarm

12. 3B Josh Donaldson -- Todd Zola, Mastersball

13. 1B Miguel Cabrera -- Bret Sayre, Baseball Prospectus

14. 1B Anthony Rizzo -- Mike Podhorzer, Fangraphs

15. SS Carlos Correa -- Rudy Gamble, Razzball

COMPLETE GRID:LABR Mixed draft

Drafting this early is always an exercise in tempting fate, but as many teams' pitchers and catchers reported to camp for their first workouts ... bad news was on the doorstep. St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Alex Reyes didn't take part because he experienced discomfort in his elbow and went for an MRI.

After drafting Reyes in the 11th round as his No. 3 starter, Erickson probably felt a twinge in his own elbow.

Of course, Zola lost Kershaw for two months last season and still won the league.

What about those starting pitchers? Most LABR owners seemed content to wait on them.

The evening's first closer, Kenley Jansen, was selected in the middle of Round 5 -- followed by Aroldis Chapman and Zach Britton back-to-back in Round 6.

There seemed to be a premium on speed with Fangraphs' podcasting tandem of Jason Collette and Paul Sporer taking Trea Turner 10th overall, Mike Podhorzer of Fangraphs nabbing Jonathan Villar with the second pick of Round 2 and Baseball Prospectus' Bret Sayre selecting Billy Hamilton with the third pick of Round 4 (48th overall).

Another item of interest, speedy Jose Peraza -- who is set to be the Cincinnati Reds starter at second base after Brandon Phillips was traded earlier this week -- went 101st overall to Fantasy Alarm's Howard Bender.

And what would a league of industry rivals be without a little smack talk? The first shot was fired by Jake Ciely of RotoExperts and the Fantasy Sports Network.

Yes, we will just leave that there ... and possibly revisit it in October.

Other podcasts

Flags Fly Forever podcast: LABR recap (Baseball Prospectus)

The Sleeper and the Bust podcast (Fangraphs)

More LABR Mixed coverage

LABR Mixed draft recap (Baseball Prospectus)

A self-indulgent draft write-up (Fantasy Alarm)

Collette Calls: Mixed LABR recap (Rotowire)

Rudy's 2017 LABR team (Razzball)

LABR Mixed draft recap: Introducing the Zunino plan (Baseball HQ - subscription only)