Advice for 9X9 H2H league

[Hank17]

I was asked to join a fantasy baseball league, and the draft is tomorrow, I just looked at the settings and lets just say I have no idea where to begin.
Yahoo 10 team H2H
Hitting stats: H, R, RBI, HR, K, BB, AVG, Slug, SB
Pitching stats: W, CG, SV, ERA, WHIP, K, BB, K/9, BB/9,
Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UTIL, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P (5 BN, 1 DL)

Now I have played fantasy baseball before (but I'm no where near an expert), but I have never played with so many categories. My main question is should I deviate from the normal strategy. I feel that in this format SBs become devalued, while overall strong hitters become more valuable. While pitching I'm not sure because K/9 and BB favor RP while K and BB/9 should favor SP. I was also considering just drafting pitcher heavy in beginning and trying to grab High avg good SB guys in the later rounds and punting the power categories (HR, RBI, Slug) while winning H, SB, AVG and remaining competitive in R, K, BB and hopefully winning most of the pitching categories. Do you feel this strategy will work in a league formatted like this? Any advice would be appreciated as I'm sort of lost in what players I should focusing on in this non-generic league.

[RHobbs]

I've played in a 12 team Yahoo 9x9 league for several years now. I found that you still need to stick to the basics of drafting the best available player starting with hitters and trying to select an ace or two to anchor your pitching staff. You can't really afford to punt a category week after week. You do need to keep yourself as competitive as possible in most of the categories. For example, you may not draft a player like Jose Reyes who will give you a ton of steals. But you can draft a few position players who will give you a combined number of steals to keep you competitive. You wont be playing the team with Reyes every week. Only once every 8 weeks. Last year I used Sizemore and Rios in my OF to give me power and steals. Sizemore was a monster, Rios fell below expectations. It happens.
A pitcher like Roy Halladay is great for your league - he'll give you plenty of strikeouts and he'll help you with the complete game category several times a month. (He had 9 last year!) You need some big bats as well. I usually start the draft with power hitters in the first 2 or 3 rounds, then I select an ace for my pitching staff around the 4th round. There will always be guys who will load up on the arms early and forego hitting. This rarely works as they cant keep up on the hitting cats.
It's a long season. I find I've had my best success drafting the best available player and a well rounded team. I don't need the best at each position, but a combination of good upper level players will keep you competitive in any given week. That, along with paying close attention to the waiver wire for the "hot hand" and emerging young player. This has given me my best success over the years. Good luck!

[Hank17]

Thank you for the advice, have you found that RP are more important in this type of format because they not only get you wins but can keep BB low and help get a high K/9.

[Grounded Polo]

What is the innings minimum here? It looks like drafting Papelbon and Nathan could give you 6 of 9 pitching categories and CG will be a tie every week so loading up on closers could yield 6-2-1 victories every week.

[Hank17]

20 IP is the minimum per week.

[RHobbs]

I find that a few quality RP's can be valuable in terms of K, WHIP, ERA and sometimes a few xtra W's. You still need an Ace and a few quality SP's. I will usually go with 5 or 6 SP's and fill in the rest with RP's. As the season progresses, I'll fill my bench with pitching and just keep one or two hitters on my bench. Keep watching the waiver wire to see who's tracking well during the season and don't be afraid to make a move to pick them up. Just don't be in a rush to drop a #1 starter. I usually drop a RP to pick up a quality starter or two during the season.
Good luck!