Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategies

[soundmind]

I have played Fantasy Football since 1997, and feel like I have a pretty good grip on it. Having played the actual sport for over a decade, and having an unhealthy interest in the sport my whole life, I've never really worried about the draft, waivers, trades....it all makes sense to me.

However, in an attempt to fall back in love with baseball, I agreed to join a fantasy baseball league, and I'm just curious what some strategies are for the draft?

I realize like any sport, there's positional value, but having basically stopped watching since the strike, I'm fearful I'm going to end up picking 3+ players based solely on name recognition (which isn't good, cause they're probably old!)....

Any help and/or wisdom is welcomed and appreciated.

[duncan_idaho]

As a new fantasy baseball player, I'd advise you NOT to be a streamer. It's a b.s. tactic, and most of the leagues I play in now take measures to prevent teams from doing it.

If you do plan to stream, however, check to make sure your league doesn't have a limit of the maximum number of moves you can make. There was a guy new to our league last year who burned through 30 of his 75 moves in the first month before he realized there was a limit... it was quite hilarious.

Anyway, I think it's a dubious tactic, at best. And you can counteract it by loading up on RPs. If you have enough saves coming in to dominate that category and do a nice job of adding stud setup men (Scott Linebrink in the past is a good example) who generally have low ERAs and WHIPS, you can dominate Saves, ERA and WHIP just as much as a streamer will dominate Ws and Ks.

The nice thing is that good setup men are almost always available following the draft, and they pop up during the season, too.

In H2H, i usually go heavy on hitters early and make sure I come out of the draft with at least 4 closers (and maybe a guy or two who could take over as a closer). For starting pitchers, if SP isn't a required position, I will completely ignore them. It basically means you sacrifice Ks and Ws every week, but if you do a good job with your relief corps, you are going to win pitching 3-2 most weeks, and you should have a strong lineup because you're drafting hitters throughout the early rounds (when other teams are starting to add top-notch starters).

['Hamas' Jenkins]

That's why I like the league I play in.

H2H

The mass stats for pitching are Ws, Ls, Saves
Other pitching stats are K/9, Whip, and ERA

So if you stream, you're most likely going to get your shit pushed in in K/9 and losses, and because you are using lower quality pitchers, one or two bad starts will cause a spike in WHIP and/or ERA.

Plus, there is a 25 IP minimum.

Streaming is the fantasy equivalent of cheezing in Madden.

[Denver Dave]

Originally Posted by soundmind

So in my last draft, which may have been the best yet (position 10/12), I ended up with Lidge and Soria before taking a SP. I reached some on both I guess, but you'd just about have to dominate with that right??? Seems like you're much better off to draft at the bottom in baseball....

I don't think there's anything wrong with drafting a closer that's likely to keep the job for the entire season.

Some managers like to draft an abundance of bottom barrell closers in the teens. It's a great strategy, but the downside to that is you could use a pick on a guy in round 20 who keeps the closer job for two weeks (Mark Lowe-SEA), while your competition plucks Tommy Hanson who goes on to win the NL ROY.

My point in my original post was you don't have to get 4-5 closers in your initial draft. As the season progresses, it's easy to accumulate closers if you stay on top of baseball news.

It's good to get as many closers as you can, but having the best position players and starting pitchers wins championships. Don't let good starting pitchers/position players drop just to pick up a closer.

Originally Posted by soundmind

My "aces" ended up being Liriano and Dempster....again, not knowing a ton that felt WEAK - however I felt pretty bada$$ with Howard/Utley as my 1st and 2nd...

Is it wise to spread your guys out on different teams, or does that matter a lot less in fantasy baseball? Just noticed that I keep drafting a lot of Phillies.

Howard and Utley are safe picks. Put them on as many teams as you can. I think it's good to have a diverse portfolio, but mainly on guys that are riskier (i.e. A.J. Burnett, Rich Harden). Try to limit how many teams you rely on them.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

That's why I like the league I play in.

H2H

The mass stats for pitching are Ws, Ls, Saves
Other pitching stats are K/9, Whip, and ERA

So if you stream, you're most likely going to get your shit pushed in in K/9 and losses, and because you are using lower quality pitchers, one or two bad starts will cause a spike in WHIP and/or ERA.

Plus, there is a 25 IP minimum.

Streaming is the fantasy equivalent of cheezing in Madden.

Meh.

I've played Fantasy Baseball for over a decade...I prefer Roto but streaming isn't cheezing, it's strategy.

I've been in west coast leagues where I couldn't stay up until 2 or 3 AM every morning so I'd stream two days in advance...

I only play in leagues that are competitive...so yeah, maybe it's cheezing in a public yahoo league...but a pay league...if you sign up for H2H and there is no limit for transactions, you're throwing your money away if you don't stream.

As for the guy earlier who said something about dominating ERA/WHIP/Saves...the point of streaming is to load up on enough closers to ensure that you'll win the Saves category 90% of the time...

Anyways...I'd strongly suggest any casual or first time player to play in Roto leagues...H2H is a lot of work...

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Hootie

people will be staying up until midnight every night snagging the best SP on the waiver wire...

That sounds like a terrible existence.

[The Bad Guy]

Any reerun can pick up guys every day based on matchups. That's not strategy, that's the epitome of being a ****ing cheeseball.

That's why you join a league with move limits.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Meh.

I've played Fantasy Baseball for over a decade...I prefer Roto but streaming isn't cheezing, it's strategy.

I've been in west coast leagues where I couldn't stay up until 2 or 3 AM every morning so I'd stream two days in advance...

I only play in leagues that are competitive...so yeah, maybe it's cheezing in a public yahoo league...but a pay league...if you sign up for H2H and there is no limit for transactions, you're throwing your money away if you don't stream.

As for the guy earlier who said something about dominating ERA/WHIP/Saves...the point of streaming is to load up on enough closers to ensure that you'll win the Saves category 90% of the time...

Anyways...I'd strongly suggest any casual or first time player to play in Roto leagues...H2H is a lot of work...

The point of setting up leagues against streaming and setting max transactions is so that people with no lives and an inability to find pitching talent don't have an advantage from Zerging the waiver wire.

[soundmind]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

The point of setting up leagues against streaming and setting max transactions is so that people with no lives and an inability to find pitching talent don't have an advantage from Zerging the waiver wire.

What's a reasonable limit for transactions to limit streaming? Either weekly or season, or both....?

[Sanka]

I had my first draft tonight, this is a 10 man league

C: Ryan Doumit
1B: Carlos Pena. Garrett Atkins, Prince Fielder, Hank Blalock
2B: Ian Kinsler, Howie Kendrick
3B: Garrett Atkins, Hank Blalock, Adrian Beltre
SS: Ryan Theriot
OF: Alfonso Soriano, Nick Markakis, Torii Hunter, Jayson Werth, Coco Crisp
SP: Jake Peavy, Scott Kazmir, Derek Lowe, Gavin Floyd, Chris Volstad
Closers: Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood, Bobby Jenks, Mike Gonzalez

[ChiefsCountry]

I play the pitching route, I sort of scheme but I then again I don't. I dont sit there and stalk pitchers on the wavier wire but I load up on pitching. Its amazing the reeruns that you can steal a home run hitter in a trade for starting pitching from and you can replace that with wavier wire/rookie/hot hand guys. I normally keep to the miniuim on batters, for the most part I look for guys who are durable and play every day. Fantasy baseball is a lot of fun but it takes a ton of work. Good luck its a great way to stay involved with the game, you will be watching SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight alot more closely.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by soundmind

Is there a reason you steer away from the speed guys? One of my mock drafts, I got complimented at the end for snagging speed - granted they were all late picks....Logic is trying to tell me that the guys who carry the biggest sticks are potentially contributing in more categories....?

Hmm... I disagree with Hootie. SBs can be a huge game-winner because I think too many fantasy players are obsessed with HRs and RBIs or obsessed with players who bring a lot of speed but are crappy everywhere else. My advice would be to steer clear from guys like Taveras--you do NOT want to sacrifice HRs, RBIs, and OPS just to move up one or two spots in the SBs category. My approach has always been to overrank players who are productive in HRs and SBs. I prefer guys who can hit 30 HRs and 30 SBs over guys who can hit 45 HRs with 0 SBs. I would have players like Ramirez and Reyes especially, and then someone like Sizemore on the top of your list. I would also consider reaching for guys like Rollins or Carl Crawford, two guys who will light up your SB categories and while they will not dazzle in any other category, they won't kill you either. The key is not to avoid the SB category altogether, it's to avoid guys like Taveras and to avoid loading your roster with too many guys like Rollins or Crawford--you only need one or two of the Rollins/Crawford mold. In later rounds, if you think two players are fairly equal, always let SBs be a tie-breaker--you'll be surprised at how building a roster full of 15 SB guys can really make you dangerous. I would also really overrate a guy like Bobby Abreu. Here's why I don't like sacrificing one category--every league will have one lucky son of a bitch who will end up with a 10-HR guy who for some reason is hitting 40 HRs for you that season. You don't want to put all your eggs into the HR or RBI basket because even if you stack your team with thoroughbreds, you might still get beat by someone who got lucky.

The key to winning fantasy baseball from an offensive standpoint is not to win any category. It's to be good enough that you're 7 out of 10 on almost every dimension and that no dimension makes you fall less than 5. Too many people are focuses on being 10 of 10 on only a few key categories and that's the wrong approach.

My second word of advice? Never give up. Never. I promise you that about half or your league will stop paying attention by midseason--almost every year I place in the top 3 because I am a vulture in midseason when there are a ton more quality players on the waiver wire because nobody else paid any attention.

Pay close attention to saves. And don't be afraid to reach. This is a category that is extremely difficult to upgrade after the draft, so make absolutely sure that you have 2 stud closers on your roster. If you don't have 2 studs, you need to carry 3 good ones on your roster. Again, no reason to sacrifice one category. And in almost every draft I've been in, there's a huge run on closers in one of the rounds. Don't miss out on the wave, or else you'll be picking from the scrap pile.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

The point of setting up leagues against streaming and setting max transactions is so that people with no lives and an inability to find pitching talent don't have an advantage from Zerging the waiver wire.

Well either way, drafting starting pitching is completely overrated.

Every year 5-15 guys no one have ever heard of end up having the best seasons...I.E. Edinson Volquez.

If I'm drafting H2H, I'm spending my first 5-7 picks on offense, my next 3-5 on closers are guys who have fallen too far, and then I cherry pick the end of the draft for guys like Rich Harden who could be the #1 pitcher in the game but everyone stays away from because of injury history...or established guys that had a rough prior season...or guys that make the switch from the AL to NL...

I'd make some suggestions but I haven't prepared for my drafts yet...

Either way, you'll never see Grady Sizemore on my team...I think he has bust written all over him this year.

and Albert Pujols should be the #1 pick, not Hanley Ramirez.

That dude can say whatever he wants about SB's in H2H, it's definitely the one offensive category worth sacrificing.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by soundmind

What's a reasonable limit for transactions to limit streaming? Either weekly or season, or both....?

50-60 per season.

The best thing is just to have an active commish who will lock douchebags who pull off that horseshit strategy.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Sanka

I had my first draft tonight, this is a 10 man league

C: Ryan Doumit
1B: Carlos Pena. Garrett Atkins, Prince Fielder, Hank Blalock
2B: Ian Kinsler, Howie Kendrick
3B: Garrett Atkins, Hank Blalock, Adrian Beltre
SS: Ryan Theriot
OF: Alfonso Soriano, Nick Markakis, Torii Hunter, Jayson Werth, Coco Crisp
SP: Jake Peavy, Scott Kazmir, Derek Lowe, Gavin Floyd, Chris Volstad
Closers: Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood, Bobby Jenks, Mike Gonzalez

Your team is awful.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Your team is awful.

It's like he didn't get a pick until the 3rd round...and then only got a pick every other round after that.