draft strategies that work

[Arlo]

The best advice I could give is to figure out what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.

Definitely good advice.

[Pete O]

would it be a bad idea for me to select best available players for say 3 or 4 rounds, even if they are all OF and 1B? Is round 5 too late to start looking into position scarcity?

[Cornbread Maxwell]

would it be a bad idea for me to select best available players for say 3 or 4 rounds, even if they are all OF and 1B? Is round 5 too late to start looking into position scarcity?

Thats my strategy this yr.

Position scarcity doesnt mean as much as it has in the past.

[Erboes]

would it be a bad idea for me to select best available players for say 3 or 4 rounds, even if they are all OF and 1B? Is round 5 too late to start looking into position scarcity?

I usually wait until the 8th round before I start thinking about it in mixed drafts, except for a top notch closer whom I usually take earlier. Usually, you can end up with a team that looks like Guerrero, Abreu and Green in the OF, Sweeney at first, Tejada or Jeter at SS, a starter such as Mussina or Zito and a closer like Wagner. You then can fill out the rest of your roster with such relatively inexpensive players such as Wilson at catcher, Hinske at 3rd, Hairston at 2nd and, depending on what type of utility spots you have in your league, players such as Nixon and Nick Johnson. Your pitching is a lot more iffy, but you can find great value later or in the FA market. You should also grab one more good closer and probably another lower end one.

I think this draft strategy will offer the best value as long as everyone else is going the position scarcity route. Most people do this nowadays, so this should be a viable option for you.

[shortsavage]

Rolling the fantasy dice is one of my favorite aspects of the game. Last year I took Josh Beckett, Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns in the first 15 rounds of my yearly league. Kearns helped me race of of the gates, Griffey made my bench look exciting (albeit that counts for nothing ) and Beckett solidified my success as the season concluded.

A deeper look into my dice rolling, I limited myself to how many times I could role the dice or take "high risk picks" (at least for the round I selected them or the price they could have been aquired at).

Annotate or format your draft cheat sheet with notes on players with strong histories of injuries or inconsistancy, then make sure not to take more than a handful of players from that bucket.

Completely ignoring guys who have injury histories sounds foolish to me. Even the most spotty player can be milked to fuel a championship team.

Even though this is a large scale/small scale comparison I believe that it may be just: isn't punting a player type just as deflating as punting a roto category?

If you make the best of what is out there you will win your league. I'll be working on a formula to back the statement above up .

[jbird669]

The best advice I could give is to figure out what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.

Definitely good advice.

Very good advice. I like to avoid "runs" on positions. Unless it's A-Rod, I never spend more than $30 for a player.

Try to fill the scarce positions as soon as possible. Try to grab Pitchers with ERA and WHIP.

And finally, the most important strategy of all:
Bring a case of beer for the owners to guzzle down. Being Commish, I don't drink since I need to be sober to keep track of everyone's roster

[eli81k]

Keep your head and avoid getting caught up in runs on a position. Every draft, regardless of the talent of owners, all of a sudden two or three people at one position get picked in close proximity and people start to freak out and snatch up every player at that position fearing there soon won't be anyone left of quality, and since everyone is picking that position, they can just start where they left off next round. Most likely closers are those responsible. Stick to whaterver rankings (mental, overall list, VBD) you came into the draft with and take all the superior picks that fall to you as a result of other people reaching for a ceratin position before those players should be drafted. No one is going to have a stud player at every position, and everyone is going to wind up with some middle of the road guys in their starting line-up. Better to take an average player in the 12th round than in the 8th.

Doh! I responded after only viewing the first page, sorry for piggybacking you JBird

[THE TERMINATOR]

I must also add that in all my years of playing this I've yet to see anyone win who had a medicre outfield. If you are going to start the season with an OF of Cameron, Mondesi, and Stewart you are going to lose unless you have an infield of A-Rod, Soriano, Pujols, Rolen, and Piazza, which is very doubtful of you getting. People forget that there are only so many players who'll get you above average production in the OF, and assuming you can get by with average numbers or below from there you'll almost always end up not winning, at least in my experience.

Not only that is very doubtful. That's Imposable. A-Rod and Pujols are very likely going to be the first 2 players picked in almost every draft this year and if on draft day if you find yourself with both of them. chances are you are playing with the most stupid people on the face of the earth.

[issyg67]

Never heard of an auction, Terminator?

[shortsavage]

Auction or no auction, I believe that Erboes' point was that it takes a nearly-impossible (and perhaps imposable ) team to compensate for an outfield without a star.

TERMINATOR if you meant to oppose his statement, you actually fueled his arguement. Because you may have just wanted to reiterate what Erboes said (although your attack on his competition does not hint so), I will refrain from any GOVERNATOR comparisons .