The winning strategy for 2010 Drafts

[RAmst23]

Good post. This is exactly how I drafted last year, after learning from mistakes in previous years.

I will add one amendment:

DO NOT NEGLECT BATTING AVERAGE. As you do all you said above, pay super duper attention to batting average. Don't *just* go for the 40HR guy, grab the 30HR .310AVG guy instead.

If you're playing ROTO, then yes

If you're playing H2H..absolutely not...in fact, make a conscious effort to ignore batting average and you'll have an awesome lineup that should win a majority of offensive cats and maybe sweep on a fluke average week

Way to volatile of a category from week to week to put too much weight on in H2H

I agree. In H2H leagues you don't have to worry about BA.

I still wouldn't completely ignore BA in a H2H league, but I would place less importance on it. If you draft several low BA guys (ex. Reynolds, Uggla, Pena) one of these guys going on a streak won't do you any good. The impact is still there, so I wouldn't go crazy drafting low avg guys. It's annoying to start each week at -1 in average.

[Fenway Punk]

Very pleased to see that the OP has helped many a player and the responses have all been positive!!!

[Fenway Punk]

Please keep in mind that the original post was done in feb. so obviously some ADPs have changed.

[Fenway Punk]

Well, if you took this advice specifically the targeted pitchers, you drafted Cano and Car-Go, made sure Blanks wasn't drafted as a stater and laid of of Mauer in exchange for real power. I don't care what you want to tell me about Weiters, it's gonna happen with him. This is baseball, it doesn't happen overnight for everyone. But seriously, WTF with that guy. I took him as the No.3 OVERALL pick in my second year keeper draft. Ugh... I hate Journey....

picking up Jose Bautista was probably a good idea, in retrospect.... *ahem*

[kaiser]

This was very solid advice, overall, in my opinion. I'll be looking for "The Winning Strategy for 2011 Drafts" next season.

[Fenway Punk]

This was very solid advice, overall, in my opinion. I'll be looking for "The Winning Strategy for 2011 Drafts" next season.

And you shall have it.

As you guys probably have figured out by now, I've got no problem tooting my own horn. Using the approach that I came up with in the OP, I finished the 2010 season in first place in 4 out of 5 leagues. So what happened with the fifth, right? Well, that was the second year of a keeper league,(first year for me) where I took over for an abandonded team. I finished the year fourth, but I am set up for success with a strong core of young talent.
But back to those 4 first place teams. Using the recommended strategy illustrated in the OP~ I was able to put together this powerhouse -
C. Weiters, 1B Miggy 2B Cano 3B Longoria SS Andrus OF Car-Go OF Vlad OF C. Young UTIL Beltre UTIL R. Davis
SP- Wainwright SP- Lester P- Verlander P- Buchholz P- Latos RP- Feliz RP- Soriano BN- Bell, BN- Wagner, BN- Hanson
Yeah, yeah, i know. Hurraaaaaay me. Looking at the bats alone, you can see that there are now 4 first round guys in that line-up. I will be working hard from now until spring trainer to figure out how to do that again, but with different guys. Of course, the reality is that won't happen again, but I don't do well with reality.

PS. I swear I'm not full of bulldonkey. Check out my fantasy profile over at yahoo! under awesomex69. I live, breath, and sleep baseball. Fantasy baseball comes naturally as result, and I am proud to share the secrets to total league domination.

[rookies and cream]

This was very solid advice, overall, in my opinion. I'll be looking for "The Winning Strategy for 2011 Drafts" next season.

And you shall have it.

As you guys probably have figured out by now, I've got no problem tooting my own horn. Using the approach that I came up with in the OP, I finished the 2010 season in first place in 4 out of 5 leagues. So what happened with the fifth, right? Well, that was the second year of a keeper league,(first year for me) where I took over for an abandonded team. I finished the year fourth, but I am set up for success with a strong core of young talent.
But back to those 4 first place teams. Using the recommended strategy illustrated in the OP~ I was able to put together this powerhouse -
C. Weiters, 1B Miggy 2B Cano 3B Longoria SS Andrus OF Car-Go OF Vlad OF C. Young UTIL Beltre UTIL R. Davis
SP- Wainwright SP- Lester P- Verlander P- Buchholz P- Latos RP- Feliz RP- Soriano BN- Bell, BN- Wagner, BN- Hanson
Yeah, yeah, i know. Hurraaaaaay me. Looking at the bats alone, you can see that there are now 4 first round guys in that line-up. I will be working hard from now until spring trainer to figure out how to do that again, but with different guys. Of course, the reality is that won't happen again, but I don't do well with reality.

PS. I swear I'm not full of bulldonkey. Check out my fantasy profile over at yahoo! under awesomex69. I live, breath, and sleep baseball. Fantasy baseball comes naturally as result, and I am proud to share the secrets to total league domination.

Join a cafe league and put your skills to the test.

[JMB05]

This was very solid advice, overall, in my opinion. I'll be looking for "The Winning Strategy for 2011 Drafts" next season.

And you shall have it.

As you guys probably have figured out by now, I've got no problem tooting my own horn. Using the approach that I came up with in the OP, I finished the 2010 season in first place in 4 out of 5 leagues. So what happened with the fifth, right? Well, that was the second year of a keeper league,(first year for me) where I took over for an abandonded team. I finished the year fourth, but I am set up for success with a strong core of young talent.
But back to those 4 first place teams. Using the recommended strategy illustrated in the OP~ I was able to put together this powerhouse -
C. Weiters, 1B Miggy 2B Cano 3B Longoria SS Andrus OF Car-Go OF Vlad OF C. Young UTIL Beltre UTIL R. Davis
SP- Wainwright SP- Lester P- Verlander P- Buchholz P- Latos RP- Feliz RP- Soriano BN- Bell, BN- Wagner, BN- Hanson
Yeah, yeah, i know. Hurraaaaaay me. Looking at the bats alone, you can see that there are now 4 first round guys in that line-up. I will be working hard from now until spring trainer to figure out how to do that again, but with different guys. Of course, the reality is that won't happen again, but I don't do well with reality.

PS. I swear I'm not full of bulldonkey. Check out my fantasy profile over at yahoo! under awesomex69. I live, breath, and sleep baseball. Fantasy baseball comes naturally as result, and I am proud to share the secrets to total league domination.

I have no problem with your bats, you got lucky with Cargo, but looks good. My problem is your pitching staff. I too went bats early, but with the last pick in a 10-team league my 3rd round pick (pick 30) Wainwright, Lester, and Verlander were gone. It might be my league, but, not just you specifically, this board lives in an alternate reality from any draft that I participate in. All it takes is one team looking for pitching to start a run.

I still won my league, and a few grand, but I would give more praise to Rookies and Cream (and Yoda) for their awesome work in the offseason!

[DaSh 1s]

This was very solid advice, overall, in my opinion. I'll be looking for "The Winning Strategy for 2011 Drafts" next season.

And you shall have it.

As you guys probably have figured out by now, I've got no problem tooting my own horn. Using the approach that I came up with in the OP, I finished the 2010 season in first place in 4 out of 5 leagues. So what happened with the fifth, right? Well, that was the second year of a keeper league,(first year for me) where I took over for an abandonded team. I finished the year fourth, but I am set up for success with a strong core of young talent.
But back to those 4 first place teams. Using the recommended strategy illustrated in the OP~ I was able to put together this powerhouse -
C. Weiters, 1B Miggy 2B Cano 3B Longoria SS Andrus OF Car-Go OF Vlad OF C. Young UTIL Beltre UTIL R. Davis
SP- Wainwright SP- Lester P- Verlander P- Buchholz P- Latos RP- Feliz RP- Soriano BN- Bell, BN- Wagner, BN- Hanson
Yeah, yeah, i know. Hurraaaaaay me. Looking at the bats alone, you can see that there are now 4 first round guys in that line-up. I will be working hard from now until spring trainer to figure out how to do that again, but with different guys. Of course, the reality is that won't happen again, but I don't do well with reality.

PS. I swear I'm not full of bulldonkey. Check out my fantasy profile over at yahoo! under awesomex69. I live, breath, and sleep baseball. Fantasy baseball comes naturally as result, and I am proud to share the secrets to total league domination.

I have no problem with your bats, you got lucky with Cargo, but looks good. My problem is your pitching staff. I too went bats early, but with the last pick in a 10-team league my 3rd round pick (pick 30) Wainwright, Lester, and Verlander were gone. It might be my league, but, not just you specifically, this board lives in an alternate reality from any draft that I participate in. All it takes is one team looking for pitching to start a run.

I still won my league, and a few grand, but I would give more praise to Rookies and Cream (and Yoda) for their awesome work in the offseason!

Verlander, Wainwright, and Lester inside the top 30 was a reach going into the 2010 season. Especially Verlander.

[rookies and cream]

And you shall have it.

As you guys probably have figured out by now, I've got no problem tooting my own horn. Using the approach that I came up with in the OP, I finished the 2010 season in first place in 4 out of 5 leagues. So what happened with the fifth, right? Well, that was the second year of a keeper league,(first year for me) where I took over for an abandonded team. I finished the year fourth, but I am set up for success with a strong core of young talent.
But back to those 4 first place teams. Using the recommended strategy illustrated in the OP~ I was able to put together this powerhouse -
C. Weiters, 1B Miggy 2B Cano 3B Longoria SS Andrus OF Car-Go OF Vlad OF C. Young UTIL Beltre UTIL R. Davis
SP- Wainwright SP- Lester P- Verlander P- Buchholz P- Latos RP- Feliz RP- Soriano BN- Bell, BN- Wagner, BN- Hanson
Yeah, yeah, i know. Hurraaaaaay me. Looking at the bats alone, you can see that there are now 4 first round guys in that line-up. I will be working hard from now until spring trainer to figure out how to do that again, but with different guys. Of course, the reality is that won't happen again, but I don't do well with reality.

PS. I swear I'm not full of bulldonkey. Check out my fantasy profile over at yahoo! under awesomex69. I live, breath, and sleep baseball. Fantasy baseball comes naturally as result, and I am proud to share the secrets to total league domination.

I have no problem with your bats, you got lucky with Cargo, but looks good. My problem is your pitching staff. I too went bats early, but with the last pick in a 10-team league my 3rd round pick (pick 30) Wainwright, Lester, and Verlander were gone. It might be my league, but, not just you specifically, this board lives in an alternate reality from any draft that I participate in. All it takes is one team looking for pitching to start a run.

I still won my league, and a few grand, but I would give more praise to Rookies and Cream (and Yoda) for their awesome work in the offseason!

Verlander, Wainwright, and Lester inside the top 30 was a reach going into the 2010 season. Especially Verlander.

Agreed that all 3 were a reach inside the top 30. But were you aware that Verlander's MDP (46) was lower than both Wainwright (54) and Lester (58)?