First Year Playing

[Rabid58]

Hey this is my first year playing in a Fantasy baseball league. I am in a league with some friends. It's a 10 person league and i know i have the 7th pick. It's h2h scoring also. I'm just not sure what strategy to use while drafting. Do i want to take the best avalible pick at the beginning then start going by position later on? Where could i get some cheat sheets and play projections? I just want to know some of the basics of how you guys draft and tips ya got!
Thanks

[Rabid58]

no one has any advice?

[AKhomebrewer]

The Cafe here is chock full of links, rankings, projections and all manner of stats. J35J's spread sheet and Rookies and Cream's MDP are a couple of good current ones on the 'leftovers' forum. Feel free to browse and pick up as much as you can, but don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed if this is really new to you.

In terms of draft strategy, I'll typically look for best player/value through the first few rounds, then work from a tiered positional list after that. You need to be able to quickly adjust your draft based on what the first few rounds give you under this plan of attack.

A 10-team league (assuming MLB-universe) is pretty small, so there's going to be a lot of talent left on the cutting-room floor. Because of this, don't be overly concerned with the dreaded "positional scarcity". Use tiered position lists, if that's how you're leaning, but don't pass up a steal to chase positions.

Finally, stay on top of the waiver wire during the season and be prepared to adjust your roster if you plan to win. I've never been in a league that was won on draft day.

If this season goes well and you feel you have an aptitude for the game, look for a larger league next season. The real fun is taking on a deep field.

Good luck.

[Rabid58]

Ok i get the main idea better now. I got rookies and cream's prerankings and his tier sheet. So i should look for the best value no matter what position in the first few rounds. Then after that look into the Tier positions and try to fit people in but if theres a huge difference in the ranking of another player take the higher one? I think thats what you ment? And i asked J35J for a spread sheet. I will do a couple of mock drafts after i look it all over. Any other sheets i should grab? I was thinking of making my own list of a few sleepers that maybe good but i'm not sure where to find them. Thanks for the advice!

[courduroy]

You need to look at your leagues scoring but H2H leagues tend to be very hitter friendly, power hitter especially. Best player available is always a strong strategy at least early in any draft but check your scoring, you may want to shy away from SP in the 1st and 2nd.

Break it down a little further for you. In a lot of H2H leagues the best hitters probably total twice as many points over a season than the elite pitchers. People will say that those elite pitchers are outscoring the 2nd 3rd tier pitchers by a larger margin then the hitters, which may be true. But in H2H your goal is weekly score which means a hitter who averages 25+ points a week should be more valuable then a pitcher who averages 15.

I am not saying never take an elite pitcher but in H2H a little more weight should be given to the hitter especially early in a draft.

[Rabid58]

Ok well this is what i found on specifics:
Roster Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL
Batters Stat Categories: Runs (R), Hits (H), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Walks (BB), Total Bases (TB), Batting Average (AVG)
Pitchers Stat Categories: Wins (W), Losses (L), Saves (SV), Walks (BB), Strikeouts (K), Holds (HLD), Earned Run Average (ERA), (Walks + Hits)/ Innings Pitched (WHIP)

don't know if that will help any of you help me. but i'm about to do a mock draft right now. Thanks for all the advice

finished first mock draft and got pretty good results... i think:
C: Miguel Montero
1B: Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Jorge Cantu, Adam LaRoche
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: Chone Figgins, Jorge Cantu
SS: Jose Reyes, Orlando Cabera
OF: Matt Holliday, Jacoby Ellsburry, Adam Jones, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Gonzalez
SP: Johan Santana, Javier Vazquez, John Lackey, Carlos Zambrano, Stephen Strasburg, Rich Harden
RP: David Aardsma, Frank Francisco