ROTO STRATEGY help!

[Lt Columbo]

I totally suck at ROTO for some reason. I do fine in head to head. Anyone got any tips for me to do better?

[jdh]

The biggest thing with roto is that you need to be balanced well across 10 different categories to do well, while in head to head you can focus on just winning a majority of the categories. You have to especially make sure that you have enough closers and enough stolen bases to rank at least in the top half of the league. The most common mistake people make is think that they can forget saves and steals and then make up for it elsewhere. If you try to do that, you wind up putting yourself in such a hole that you have no room for error.

[Lt Columbo]

I have Castillo and Roberts, that should cover me on steals, and I have Biddle and Politte for saves

[bleach168]

Post your entire team.

[jdh]

Well, the saves would be your problem depending on how many teams are in the league. In a normal, 12 team mixed league, you absolutely need to have 3-4 closers and you also really need to have at least one elite top tier closer (Gagne, Smoltz, Foulke, Guardado, Benitez, Percival, Rivera, Sasaki). Politte and Biddle are both low end closers and both unproven, so your save situation is unacceptable for a roto league.

[Lt Columbo]

My team is C Lo Duca
1b Raul Ibanez
2nd Castillo
SS Nomar
3rd Joe Randa
OF Preston Wilson
of Dave Roberts
Of Adam Dunn
Util Tejada
bench Burrell
Wilkerson
Charles Johnson
Baldelli


SP Pedro
Sp Jason Schmidt
SP Corey Lidle
SP Sidney Ponson
SP Bret Myers
SP/RP Johan Santana
RP Politte
RP Biddle
DL Beckett

[jdh]

One suggestion, where you have both Nomar and Tejada would be to try to trade one of them. Because they play at such a shallow position, one of them would provide much more value for another team than being used in your utility spot, where Tejada is just wasted. I would try to trade Tejada for a solid 1B and a top closer, one of those I listed in my post above.

[DGroundhog]

I think you can get away with tanking steals and do just fine. I wouldn't advise tanking 2 categories, however. That will doom you to mediocrity.

Get as many .300 hitters as you can with some power. Forget speed, and the Ichiro's and Damon's unless they fall to a value pick. Getting an A-Rod, Soriano, Pujols, Unit/Schilling/Pedro, Bonds, is the best way to start your team. These guys pretty much dominate categories for you since they produce so much more at their positions. Prior could have been tabbed this year as a 3rd-4th round pick to anchor your SP staff. SP's that can get 250+ K's are rare, and valuable because of it. Look for filler SP's that can get 1K/IP, or may approach 200 K's. Avoid SP's with high ERA's and WHIP'S. Woody Williams is a an example of a guy who probably fell way too far in most drafts. Not too many K's, but his history with the Cards is excellent, and over a long enough period of time to mean it is no fluke.