Draft strategy.....am I doing this all wrong?

[4Pack]

Yahoo...H2H...12 teams....

Do any managers (besides myself) steadfastly refuse to take a pitcher in the first 3-4 rounds of the draft? I don''t recall ever drafting a pitcher higher than the 5th round and I still manage to have a very solid pitching staff to go along with some serious bats in the lineup. I just cannot force myself to grab RJ or Santana or Schmidt (or any of the top 10 SP's) when the likes of Abreau, Tejada, Teixeria, Cabrera, Bonds, Helton etc. etc. are still on the board.

Am I missing out on a huge benefit by not taking one of the big arms in baseball with a 1st or 2nd round pick? My year end results tell me no...but I am always striving to acquire the prefect team! LOL!

[nikku88]

I like to draft O first, but I trust my rankings and if I have the best player available and it's a pitcher, then I will take him. The key to the draft is being flexible and adjusting to what others do.

[4Pack]

I agree that you have to be flexible since drafts rarely go how we would like them. Maybe I have just been fortunate over the years...but I have never been in a situation where I have been forced to grab SP's early even when a manager decides to grab pitchers with 4 of his first 5 picks.

[nikku88]

If I have a choice I will take a hitter over a pitcher, and I won't ever reach for a pitcher, but if he is the best value then I will take him.

[AcidRock23]

I think that you must have some notion/ theory/ formula about hitter/ pitcher equivalency and, if Santana/ RJ/ anybody depending on the round are there when it's your pick, you have to take them.

I just drafted yesterday and the SP are a bit shaky(Harden, Bondermann, Oliver Perez do you see a trend? ) but I have Borowski, FRod and 3 top MR (we use holds in our goofy format but, for some reason, perhaps 'postional drafting', looking to fill roster spots w/ 'backups' ) the other managers just ignored my move into that field so I got Gordon/ Rincon AND Otsuka although the guy after me said 'Rincon' 2 picks after I had him and was SURE he'd grab Otsuka too.

I've done two drafts so far and, in both of them, I was able to get SP/ RP I wanted that were left on the board b/c everybody else has apparently read the 'Offense before defense' stuff and have gotten some nice deals on guys who appear likely to put up #s pretty late in the drafts I've been in. We'll see I suppose. I think though that it's a mistake to stick to a theory if there's a guy up who is the best player. Theories are good but you have to have some flexibility since you never really know what's going to fall in your lap. Then, you have to follow up w/ adjustments to make sure that you don't get left out w/ a weak spot.

[AcidRock23]

That being said, I did take Santana 7th in a 10 team 5x5 H2H draft I did picking 7/10 and was able to get Beltré on the way back. If you take a pitcher, make sure to f/u w/ a big hitter and don't suffer from delusions of grandeur 'Gosh, I have RJ, if I get Sheets, I won't ever have to worry about K' and get distracted. I kept punting 1B and OF but ended up w/ Konerko and Edmonds/ BGiles/ Dave Roberts w/ Wilkerson as well so the lineup will be a bit flexible (and, likely hurting for avg) but should be competitive.