NEW GUY NEEDS HELP!

[coolwaterx]

I'm new to fantasy baseball and am playing in a 7 team rotisserie league with these statistical categories:

Starting Positions: C, 1B, 1B, 2B, 2B, 3B, 3B, SS, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util, Util, SP, SP, RP, P, DL, 8 bench

How should I draft my team according to these rules? Thank you.

Statistical Categories (Batters): Batter Games
Runs
Hits
Doubles
Triples
Home Runs
Runs Batted In
Stolen Bases
Walks
Strikeouts
Total Bases
Batting Average
On-base Percentage
Slugging Percentage

Statistical Categories (Pitchers): Games Started
Wins
Losses
Complete Games
Shutouts
Saves
Strikeouts
Earned Run Average

My top 7 are:
1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Randy Johnson
3. Vlad Guerrero
4. Alfonso Soriano
5. Barry Bonds
6. Curt Schilling
7. Albert Pujols

[Ike]

First, let me comment on your league in general. It is *very* unusual for a fantasy league in several ways: very few teams, unusual mix of positions, unusual scoring categories. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you (I just ran the draft for an unusual league in Yahoo myself), but I must say I don't recommend starting off your rotisserie career in such a league.

Folks will disagree on where to start, but I'd say a shallow draft is good for a beginner, but still at least 10 teams, perhaps a minimum of 12 or 14 in a mixed league. And go with a standard 5x5 (hitter AVG, R, RBI, HR, SB; pitcher W, S, K, ERA, WHIP), or something at least close to that. Also a league close to the most common position options... something like C, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, Util, 5 OF, 9 P.

Btw, when you ask information about strategy in a league, a couple of things you should mention, in addition to what you did, are if it is a mixed league (not AL or NL only), which one can determine from your list of top choices though, and what type of scoring it's using (I suspect traditional roto scoring; it can't be head to head because an odd number of teams, but it could be a points league).

That said, 1) there are a lot of basics about fantasy baseball that apply to any league. Read up here, on other sites with fantasy baseball forums, and on other fantasy sites (like Rototimes, etc.). Also, it might help to have at least one hardcopy source. There are lots of different magazines available. From the limited number I have looked at and/or bought, I'd say the best if you get just one is the Sporting News Fantasy Baseball annual. Cover price is $7. There are also some excellent online guides you can download for a price if you can use the download effectively (have a printer, etc.).

2) modifying the basic and standard advice for fantasy baseball for your unusual league is a bit tough, and opinions would certainly vary. Most experienced roto players say to emphasize hitters over pitchers, since there are lots more middle-level pitchers available than hitters. Your draft is so shallow (i.e., so few total players to be drafted, becaue of the small number of owners/managers) that this advice might be mitigated against, but I still wouldn't have any pitcher in my top 7 list except probably Randy.

Well, I hope that is some sort of start for you. Others might help out with additional specific advice, but I think this post is quite long enough for now.

Ike

[La§ Aguila§]

wow thats long ike

[Amnorix]

What an annoying draft to wrap your brains around....

anyway -- here are the rules of thumb for YOUR draft (not most), and why:

1. Take hitting, hitting, hitting and avoid pitching until later. Why: You have 14 hitting categories and 8 pitching categories. Thus, good hitters are able to help you in more areas than good pitchers.

2. I would seriously downgrade relief pitching from your approach to this draft. Why: There are eight pitching categories, and closers will only truly help with ONE, saves, plus adding a bit to the strikeouts and ERA. Hell, you don't even have WHIP as a cat.

3. Take sluggers and downgrade, or avoid, speed guys. WHY: Okay, you're sort of giving up on steals and 3Bs. But, 3Bs are rather unpredictable anyway (I know -- I've been in leagues with trips as a cat.). Mainly, however, it's because of the 14 hitting categories, greater weight has been put on big boppers.

4. In YOUR league BONDS IS GOD!!! Draft him or trade for him if at all possible.

Good luck!