I'm in a 12 team H2H 5v5 Yahoo league. The only difference between our league and a standard league is that we have 2 additional starting positions offensively: CI (central infielder) and MI (middle infielder)
Because of the added offensive positions (and because I didn't have much time to plan out my draft), I went with a pretty strange and unique draft strategy. I targeted elite pitching first, followed by batters who were solid in terms of avg, runs, and SB. My thought process was that with 2 added starting positions offensively (yet same # of offensive categories as pitching), it would be more difficult and take more effort (draft picks) to prioritize/dominate the hitting categories.
With that said, here is my team:
C - Wilson Ramos 1B - Paul Goldschmidt 2B - Dustin Pedroia 3B - Mike Moustakas SS - Zach Cozart CI - Mike Aviles MI - Jemile Weeks OF - Ryan Braun OF - Shane Victorino OF - Brett Gardner Util - Melky Cabrera BN - Carlos Lee
SP - Felix Hernandez SP - Cole Hamels SP - Yu Darvish SP - Matt Cain SP - Brandon Morrow SP - Cory Luebke SP - Henderson Alvarez RP - Jonathan Papelbon RP - John Axford RP - Chris Perez RP - Brett Myers
As you can see, my pitching staff is pretty solid. My hope/plan is that I can win at least 4 of the pitching categories most weeks.
Offensively, I feel like SB is close to a lock (Melky, Gardner, Pedroia, Braun, Weeks, Victorino, etc.) and I'm confident in my lineup's ability to score runs. Adding in a semi-unexpected win or 2 in the 5th pitching category or one of the remaining batting categories, that gives me 6-7 wins a week. Assuming I can make it to playoffs (6 out of 12 teams make it), I feel pretty confident in a 1 week matchup vs. most any team.
What do you guys think? I know it's a strange strategy, but do you guys think this has any chance of working? Or did I sacrifice too much in terms of batting to remain competitive over the course of the season? Feel free to criticize and tear the strategy to shreds haha.
Btw, I'm not criticizing or calling the repost police. It's a tough thing to search for, anyway. Just pointing out someplace to find other opinions. Most don't seem to like it, but it probably could work. I'm trying it in an ESPN public league. Just drafted today:
c: Perez (dl) 1b: Sanchez 2b: J Weeks 3b: Headley ss: Gordon mi: Altuve ci: D Murphy of: Ellsbury of: Gardner of: Maybin of: Crisp of: Stubbs util: A Jackson
We'll see how it goes. It's tougher than it looks -- I may have gone a little overboard on steals, to the detriment of runs and avg.
One thing I'll say is that I'd make a priority of nabbing Dee Gordon in a league like this, especially when there's a mi slot, as well. Draft him well above his adp.
It's also kinda fun watching everyone else scramble during the draft.
notorious623 wrote: C - Wilson Ramos 1B - Paul Goldschmidt 2B - Dustin Pedroia 3B - Mike Moustakas SS - Zach Cozart CI - Mike Aviles MI - Jemile Weeks OF - Ryan Braun OF - Shane Victorino OF - Brett Gardner Util - Melky Cabrera BN - Carlos Lee
SP - Felix Hernandez SP - Cole Hamels SP - Yu Darvish SP - Matt Cain SP - Brandon Morrow SP - Cory Luebke SP - Henderson Alvarez RP - Jonathan Papelbon RP - John Axford RP - Chris Perez RP - Brett Myers
What do you guys think?
Great pitching that should dominate nearly every week, but your offense is not going to perform as you expected. I dont see much speed at all, at least not nearly enough for this strategy to be successful. And with Moose, Ramos, Cozart, and Goldschmidt in your lineup you wont win average as often as you need to either.Braun and Pedroia are the only 2 you can count on to hit .300
If I were to use this strategy, for my OF/UT slots I would make it a priority to draft at least 3 of Ellsbury/Jennings/Bourn/Gardner/Ichiro. Also Id be sure to get Gordon or Aybar at SS (late round picks that will get you plenty of SB's + runs and wont hurt your avg.) Since youre basically punting power, Id focus on getting a 1B who is going to hit for solid avg, like billy butler.
@ Jackie - thanks for that link! Awesome stuff... it's cool to see that the strategy worked for that guy.
@ Bayside - how do you figure I don't have enough SBs on my team? I'm absolutely stacked in that category (approx. 190 total from last season)
I'm currently trying to trade for Dee Gordon (tried to snag him in the draft, but he got picked right before me). I have an offer out of Victorino for Gordon. Doubt the guy will accept, but we'll see.
Here's something I've been contemplating... Since I don't care about HR's or RBI's at all, what if I was to trade Ryan Braun for several players who excel in R's, SB's, and AVG? For example, would it be insane for me to trade Braun and Cozart for Dee Gordon, Ichiro, and Tim Lincecum (or Josh Johnson)? Would I be giving up too much?
It's not great value, but it could work for a team like this. But that's for Lincecum. I think Johnson is too much of a discount. (Based mostly on health, not his pitching.)
notorious623 wrote:@ Bayside - how do you figure I don't have enough SBs on my team? I'm absolutely stacked in that category (approx. 190 total from last season)
sorry, i wasnt clear. by speed i actually meant runs + sb's
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by notorious623 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:54 pm 
