Looking for advice on success in a Head to Head league. WHIR

[krunchyfrogg]

First of all, I usually play in Head to Head, and I usually don't do very well.

This year, things will be different (with your help please!).

This year, I'm playing in a 10 team H2H league with daily lineup changes. I'm used to weekly lineups with 12 teams.

I have the 5th overall pick, which I view as an advantage because most times I'll be able to get players at advantageous spots in their respective tiers without missing out on too many "runs".

Assuming the standard top 4 are picked, who should I go for with the 5th pick as my base?

TIA, and WHIR

[NUTZ]

i think it goes something like this:
5 Howard, Ryan 1B PHI
6 Teixeira, Mark 1B NYY
7 Sabathia, CC SP NYY
8 Sizemore, Grady CF CLE
9 Santana, Johan SP NYM
10 Lincecum, Tim SP SF
11 Cabrera, Miguel 1B DET
12 Hamilton, Josh CF TEX
13 Rollins, Jimmy SS PHI
14 Utley, Chase 2B PHI
15 Braun, Ryan J. LF

good-luck
Help!
viewtopic.php?t=372981

[saemick]

I'd go:
1 Sizemore, Grady CF CLE
2 Braun, Ryan J. LF
3 Cabrera, Miguel 1B,3B DET
4 Howard, Ryan 1B PHI
5 Teixeira, Mark 1B NYY
6 Hamilton, Josh CF TEX
7 Lincecum, Tim SP SF
8 Rollins, Jimmy SS PHI
9 Santana, Johan SP NYM
10 Sabathia, CC SP NYY
11 Kinsler, Ian 2B TEX
12 Utley, Chase 2B PHI

good-luck

Please help:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=372949

[MadDog36]

Sizemore, Utley, Reyes (if he falls), Pujols (if he falls), Hanley (if he falls), Tex or MCab are solid picks there! I wouldn't dare snatch a pitcher up in the first round.

[krunchyfrogg]

Thanks all. Y'all have been great with one of my inquiries.

Does anybody have any strategic advice? Is it the same as drafting for a roto- style league, or should I punt some categories since it's a head-2-head league?

[Eagle Baseball]

Thanks all. Y'all have been great with one of my inquiries.

Does anybody have any strategic advice? Is it the same as drafting for a roto- style league, or should I punt some categories since it's a head-2-head league?

don't go into a draft thinking you will punt a category. It may end up that you are weak in an area but don't start out thinking you will do it. I think the first thing you need to decide in H2H is how you are going to work your SP's. With daily lineup changes unless there is a rule against streaming or churning SP's a few in your league will do it. You need to decide if you want to do it or not. That decision will determine a major part of your draft strategy.

[schmidty]

Does anybody have any strategic advice? Is it the same as drafting for a roto- style league, or should I punt some categories since it's a head-2-head league?

I wouldn't try anything fancy with your first time in H2H. Go with your normal player analysis and try to put together a well-rounded team. The playoff setup might have an impact on some decisions. For example, in my one 10-team H2H league, 6 teams make the playoffs. So being strong at the end of the season is what it's all about. So I make slight changes in my draft strategy. I knock down "faders" ... guys who have a pattern of finishing poorly. And I'll be a little more willing to take a chance on someone who might miss the 1st month or so of the season (ARod, Weiters, Clemens in the past).

I think the biggest thing is week-to-week strategy. You'll find yourself switching things up depending on your opponent. For example, if an opponent is loaded with speed I might bench a speed specialist to concentrate on winning the other cats. It works the other way - if I'm up big in the power cats but SBs are close, I may sneak a speedy bench player into my lineup at one point in the week. Same for pitching. H2H is fluky, since 2-start SPs can really tilt the balance for winning W's and K's to one side, regardless of the quality of the pitching staffs. So some weeks I may be selective in my starts, load up low ERA/WHIP relief guys in my RP and P spots, and go for the 3-2 victory (winning ERA, WHIP, and SVs). It works the other way too - if I'm getting crushed in ERA and WHIP, I'll try to sneak in some extra starts (using a free roster spot). Your opponent may try to match the streaming - but they do so at the risk of blowing the lead in ERA/WHIP. You may also find yourself benching players on Sunday to preserve leads in the rate categories (avg, era, whip).

If there's no limit on roster moves or innings, some people will do a non-stop SP streaming strategy. I don't like leagues where a lot of people do this. For me, the fun of fbb is acting like a gm manager of a real team - you pick the best guys, manage their injuries, and try to get production. Streaming just feels too artificial too me. But it can work, especially if you commit to it for the whole season (starting with the draft). Ignore SP in the draft, building up hitting and strong closers. Try to get as many closers as your can start every day (for example, using the P spots in addition to the RP spots). Doesn't matter if they're crappy closers ... as long as they get saves and keep their jobs. Then every day you pick all your SPs from the WW - trying to play the matchups, and go with guys with the best chance of wins and k's. So you get at least 14 starts in a week (easily more if you use your P and RP spots). So it's almost a guaranteed win in 2 categories ... and if you were good with the closers, you should have a great shot at winning saves too. And your hitters have an advantage since you didn't waste high picks on pitchers. Your opponent could try to counter with streaming of their own - but since they didn't draft with that intent, they'll have to sacrifice valuable players to open up the roster spots. I've seen smart managers who are committed to this regularly rack up 6-4 and 7-3 wins practically every week.

Then again, I don't find this style of play fun. And it may likely anger league-mates who feel the same. And I really don't recommend doing this the 1st time playing H2H.

[krunchyfrogg]

Thanks for all the great advice.

My only preliminary pre-draft strategy this time is to target a good rotation. I typically wait a round or two too long and miss out on the good pitching.

This is not my first time playing H2H. I usually play H2H, I just usually don't do very well. This is the first time I'll be playing with daily lineup changes though.

[krunchyfrogg]

I'll be running the league on ESPN.com.

I'd like to prevent streaming, but still allow players to make a decent number of moves. We've been forced to autodraft, so many teams are going to want to make quite a few adds/drops at the beginning of the year.

On ESPN.com, you can't limite the number of moves per week, but you can make a limit on the season. It's a 12 team league and I'm considering 60, since that's 2 or 3 per week. Does that sound fair?

[RowdyRed]

I am commish of a 12 team H2H daily lineup changes league where we keep 12 players every year. We do 50 move limits to prevent streaming. That's not bad...Only one has reached it, and that really was not because of streaming. I considered bumping it to 75 this year, but no one else in my league liked the idea. They wanted to keep it at 50. So we did....

I would draft MCab or Sizemore with the fifth pick. I would look at ARod in the second round. He'll be back by the playoffs and likely will be having a monster time. I love ARod in H2H right now because so many people are picking him in Round 3 or 4...and he is a Round 2 value in a H2H league. The focus should be on winning in September. You can do enough to win between now and the playoffs to get into the playoffs.

Don't throw out a category before the draft. That's a waste. Target hitting, and your pitching will be fine. You can get Felix, Josh Johnson, Kazmir, Bedard, all in the 6th round or significantly later. Those are all guys I happen to like this year, but there is a whole big list of guys available after the sixth round that will be very good pitchers. You don't need a Webb or Peavy or Halladay or Lincecum to compete in pitching.

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