Fantasy Baseball

[rinswun 6]

Ok, i am pretty much a fantasy baseball fish (those that know me would probably say fantasy hockey fish too ) and i'm looking for help. Last year i entered a one year yahoo roto league and ended up luckboxing to 2nd on the back of just picking up the guys with the best stats throughout the year off waivers to replace the guys on my autodrafted team. I have a decent, but not great, knowledge of players but ZERO idea of who should be drafted when and what positions are harder to fill than others. This is why i am making this thread.This year i've been invited to join a yearly, yahoo roto league where everyone remains active and i am guessing the strategy of just 'pick up the guy with the best stats' might be a bit tougher to utilise. No doubt there are some knowledgable fantasy minds here so my questions are: what is the best strategy to adopt at a draft? What guys and positions need to be filled earliest? If i am forced to prerank, how do i go about deciding on who goes where? Suggestions on sleepers?Stats that count:BATTING: R, 1B, 2B, 3B, RBI, HR, SB, BB, AVEPITCHING: W, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIPThanks

[MDXS 0]

Ok, i am pretty much a fantasy baseball fish (those that know me would probably say fantasy hockey fish too ) and i'm looking for help. Last year i entered a one year yahoo roto league and ended up luckboxing to 2nd on the back of just picking up the guys with the best stats throughout the year off waivers to replace the guys on my autodrafted team. I have a decent, but not great, knowledge of players but ZERO idea of who should be drafted when and what positions are harder to fill than others. This is why i am making this thread.This year i've been invited to join a yearly, yahoo roto league where everyone remains active and i am guessing the strategy of just 'pick up the guy with the best stats' might be a bit tougher to utilise. No doubt there are some knowledgable fantasy minds here so my questions are: what is the best strategy to adopt at a draft? What guys and positions need to be filled earliest? If i am forced to prerank, how do i go about deciding on who goes where? Suggestions on sleepers?Stats that count:BATTING: R, 1B, 2B, 3B, RBI, HR, SB, BB, AVEPITCHING: W, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIPThanks

Well, two things that I would keep in mind are:1.) What positions have a shortage of talent? And the related question of: Who outperforms their position by the greatest margins. There are a lot of first basemen that can hit 30 home runs, but not many second basemen. Chase Utley therefore, is a monster.2.) What kind of players do the stats favor. Looking at what you've got here, it's clear that you want a lot of top of the order fast guys. Runs, singles, doubles, BB, and Avg are the purview of a leadoff hitter. Triples and stolen bases are for the fast guys. Often these two groups overlap. Combine points 1 and 2 and you should do all you can do get guys like Ichiro, Granderson, and Jose Reyes on your team. They playpremium defensive positions at very high levels and their strengths match up with what you need to win. Jesus, Granderson especially...he'll help you in every offensive stat if he has any kind of year like last year.Two more things to keep in mind: - If you're trying to decide between pitchers of equal skill, go for the one a.) on a strong offensive team (will score runs, which lead to wins) or b.) has a strong bullpen (won't blow the wins that they do get)- Your league has holds. Since the categories are weighted equally, top middle relievers are worth (almost) as much as closers. Therefore, there's plenty of relief pitching to go around....pick up solid players at CF, RF, 2B, SS, and C first. Finally, Brian McCann's going to have a huge year for a catcher...do what you can to pick him up. You don't want to get stuck with a Molina.EDIT: (Because I can't seem to stop myself) Beware Sabbathia and Carmona. They pitched a lot of innings and stand a strong risk of breaking down. Also, Jorge Posada had a huge year last year, but he's not going to do it again. Don't draft him too early.

[eYank 0]

are Roto leagues where you play whoevers team gets the most points, or what is a rotiserie league, ive been out of the loop on fantasy baseball for a few years

[Moneyball16 0]

are Roto leagues where you play whoevers team gets the most points, or what is a rotiserie league, ive been out of the loop on fantasy baseball for a few years

If its a 5x5 league it means there are 10 categories and say if there are ten teams if you lead the league in wins you would get 10 points for that category. If you got second in HRs you would get 9 points in that category and say you got last in saves you would get 1 point in that category.

[rinswun 6]

Well, two things that I would keep in mind are:1.) What positions have a shortage of talent? And the related question of: Who outperforms their position by the greatest margins. There are a lot of first basemen that can hit 30 home runs, but not many second basemen. Chase Utley therefore, is a monster.2.) What kind of players do the stats favor. Looking at what you've got here, it's clear that you want a lot of top of the order fast guys. Runs, singles, doubles, BB, and Avg are the purview of a leadoff hitter. Triples and stolen bases are for the fast guys. Often these two groups overlap. Combine points 1 and 2 and you should do all you can do get guys like Ichiro, Granderson, and Jose Reyes on your team. They playpremium defensive positions at very high levels and their strengths match up with what you need to win. Jesus, Granderson especially...he'll help you in every offensive stat if he has any kind of year like last year.Two more things to keep in mind: - If you're trying to decide between pitchers of equal skill, go for the one a.) on a strong offensive team (will score runs, which lead to wins) or b.) has a strong bullpen (won't blow the wins that they do get)- Your league has holds. Since the categories are weighted equally, top middle relievers are worth (almost) as much as closers. Therefore, there's plenty of relief pitching to go around....pick up solid players at CF, RF, 2B, SS, and C first. Finally, Brian McCann's going to have a huge year for a catcher...do what you can to pick him up. You don't want to get stuck with a Molina.EDIT: (Because I can't seem to stop myself) Beware Sabbathia and Carmona. They pitched a lot of innings and stand a strong risk of breaking down. Also, Jorge Posada had a huge year last year, but he's not going to do it again. Don't draft him too early.

This is outstanding, exactly the kinda thing i was looking for. thanks!

[MapleLeafs 142]

This year i've been invited to join a yearly, yahoo roto league where everyone remains active and i am guessing the strategy of just 'pick up the guy with the best stats' might be a bit tougher to utilise. No doubt there are some knowledgable fantasy minds here so my questions are: what is the best strategy to adopt at a draft? What guys and positions need to be filled earliest? If i am forced to prerank, how do i go about deciding on who goes where? Suggestions on sleepers?

The league is head to head, not roto, ya donk. :DThe strat will change a little bit, but not much. Also, keep in mind there is a 50 move limit for the season, which puts a premium on drafting. It's basically put in to prevent guys from grabbing 4 starting pitchers per day.

[CaneBrain 95]

Well, two things that I would keep in mind are:1.) What positions have a shortage of talent? And the related question of: Who outperforms their position by the greatest margins. There are a lot of first basemen that can hit 30 home runs, but not many second basemen. Chase Utley therefore, is a monster.2.) What kind of players do the stats favor. Looking at what you've got here, it's clear that you want a lot of top of the order fast guys. Runs, singles, doubles, BB, and Avg are the purview of a leadoff hitter. Triples and stolen bases are for the fast guys. Often these two groups overlap. Combine points 1 and 2 and you should do all you can do get guys like Ichiro, Granderson, and Jose Reyes on your team. They playpremium defensive positions at very high levels and their strengths match up with what you need to win. Jesus, Granderson especially...he'll help you in every offensive stat if he has any kind of year like last year.Two more things to keep in mind: - If you're trying to decide between pitchers of equal skill, go for the one a.) on a strong offensive team (will score runs, which lead to wins) or b.) has a strong bullpen (won't blow the wins that they do get)- Your league has holds. Since the categories are weighted equally, top middle relievers are worth (almost) as much as closers. Therefore, there's plenty of relief pitching to go around....pick up solid players at CF, RF, 2B, SS, and C first. Finally, Brian McCann's going to have a huge year for a catcher...do what you can to pick him up. You don't want to get stuck with a Molina.EDIT: (Because I can't seem to stop myself) Beware Sabbathia and Carmona. They pitched a lot of innings and stand a strong risk of breaking down. Also, Jorge Posada had a huge year last year, but he's not going to do it again. Don't draft him too early.

this is very good advice. also---MAKE SURE you know if your league has an Innings pitched limit for pitchers. If it does not your league sucks and you will have to carefully balance pitching tons of guys to get wins and Ks against putting out too many bad pitchers and screwing up your ERA and WHIP.

[rinswun 6]

The league is head to head, not roto, ya donk. :DThe strat will change a little bit, but not much. Also, keep in mind there is a 50 move limit for the season, which puts a premium on drafting. It's basically put in to prevent guys from grabbing 4 starting pitchers per day.

i thought it was roto at the time of this post, and i was not aware it was a 50 move limit! given that i will probably miss the draft, i am going to have to prerank which will be tough. i am gonna try and get in a couple of practise drafts leading up to this one i think.

[checkymcfold 0]

what mxds said :)the point about holds and saves, and thus that middle relievers are going to have more value since their holds are the same as saves in terms of points, and that they'll probably be drafted later, is a great one.in all honesty, i'd probably totally punt saves with those stats, stock up on 1st and 2nd place hitters, and might even punt on HRs also. it's conceivable that if people in your league approach the draft normally, you could give up on saves, hrs, and rbis, and win nearly every other category as they stock up on the normal power hitting types.

[Buckeye Hughes 0]

Draft ManifestoYou're welcome.

[eYank 0]

Draft ManifestoYou're welcome.

yeah this is pretty good

[FHgrad99 0]

When I draft I try to take a top-notch hitter and an ace pitcher in the first two rounds. Then I alternate between hitters and pitchers for the first 5 or 6 rounds. Keep an eye on the closers, if one goes, a bunch might follow. If you see one get taken, you might want to jump in and get one pretty soon. By the end of the draft, I like having 3 closers on my roster because that usually helps you win the saves catagory.It also helps to prioritize as the draft goes along. If you are trying to decide on which position to take, take the position with less depth available because there might be less of a chance of that player being there when it's your turn again. Catcher is one of those positions that there isn't a ton of depth at. I would try to take a catcher fairly early but not in the first few rounds because there are better hitters available in other positions. Just don't wait too long to draft a catcher though.Another thing I do is to try to get some depth at each position, depending on how many rounds the draft is. That way, if one of your players has a day off an somebody on your bench has a game that day, you can plug him in and not have those stats go to waste.

[mrdannyg 274]

i thought it was roto at the time of this post, and i was not aware it was a 50 move limit! given that i will probably miss the draft, i am going to have to prerank which will be tough. i am gonna try and get in a couple of practise drafts leading up to this one i think.

tell me your password and when the draft is! If it's morning (EST), i'll be happy to step in.The original long advice post was excellent, though the specific players were oddly picked.Here's a few more important tidbits:Injuries - watch out. Some guys are out until August, but it doesn't affect their rankings immediately. Double-check you don't pick someone up.Roiders - new for this year. There's a few guys in the top several hundred players still unsigned. Barry Bonds and Preston Wilson for instance. Don't draft a guy without a team. Alternately, watch out when they do get signed...they'll be bargains.As mentioned before - Innings Pitched and Games Played limits. If they have them, and what they are. Standard is to have about 162 games per position and 1200 innings pitched. Any variation can suggest significant strategy changes.Flexible players. Try to grab someone like Yuniel Escobar near the end of the draft. There's a few guys who qualify at multiple positions - usually pairing someone like Escobar (2b/ss/3b) or Lugo (2b/ss) with someone with 1b/OF eligibility (Chris Duncan, Jack Cust, etc) will save a bench spot that you can use for a pitcher or prospect.Prospects - Look around. Some will be significantly overvalued, like Joba Chamberlain. But spring is almost over and starting spots are looking set. Guys with bad springs like Joey Votto are not useful, but others, like Josh Hamilton, Lastings Milledge and several starting pitchers have locked up starting spots, have huge upside, and will be avialable very late in the draft. Grab several. Someone like Billy Butler could flop, or be this year's Ryan Braun, and the difference between a 1st and a 4th place team. Don't fill the late rounds with average players who'd need a fantastic season to contribute. Most rosters are deep - take advantage.Stats. MXDS pointed it out, so i'll stress it. Your league pays very little value to power. You should be heavily concentrating on top-of-the-order type guys, or ones with well-rounded stats. Look for leadoff and #3 type hitters with well-rounded stats. Granderson and Reyes come to mind. Pujols is usually 2nd overall, and maybe a top-3 pick. In this league, he's not in the top 5.Same with pitchers. Closers like Todd Jones and Joe Borowski have almost no value in this league. Hold guys like Pat Neshek, Scot Shields, Jonathan Broxton and Hideki Okajima gain tons of value, and are in the top 20 overall relievers (well, maybe just Broxton and Okajima). Also, saves and holds are the most replaceable stats. Don't spend too much time on them at draft, because things change a ton, and there are often lots available throughout the season.Also, keep an eye on BJ Ryan and George Sherill. Both looking good in the spring and should be full-time closers.

[timwakefield 68]

OMG MR DANNY G!!! Nice to see you again

[speedz99 145]

Here's a few more important tidbits:

Yeah, like I'll be taking my fantasy sports advice from a pussy-whipped Canadian. COME ON!

[renaedawn 1]

blah blah blah

Hi Gorgeous.

[mrdannyg 274]

haha, hi guys, i missed you too. as you may or may not have noticed, i'm not really on here anymore. personal reasons, blah blah blah. i've decided talking in an extremely personal and private manner online is no longer something i'll partake in. i will thank all involved to refrain from discussing said personal things, though i cannot deny fun was had.oh, and i guess this is as good a place as any to announce...i'm engaged! yes it is to the woman who i mentioned here before disappearing forever. again, i'll thank everyone for leaving me out of any related discussion - nothing personal, just a decision to keep my private life...private.but yeah, i'm extremely happy and excited. best wishes to tim and the sickies - hope you're all doing well.and yeah, i still plan on poking my head around the sports forums occasionally

[kers2 0]

haha, hi guys, i missed you too. as you may or may not have noticed, i'm not really on here anymore. personal reasons, blah blah blah. i've decided talking in an extremely personal and private manner online is no longer something i'll partake in. i will thank all involved to refrain from discussing said personal things, though i cannot deny fun was had.oh, and i guess this is as good a place as any to announce...i'm engaged! yes it is to the woman who i mentioned here before disappearing forever. again, i'll thank everyone for leaving me out of any related discussion - nothing personal, just a decision to keep my private life...private.but yeah, i'm extremely happy and excited. best wishes to tim and the sickies - hope you're all doing well.and yeah, i still plan on poking my head around the sports forums occasionally

Congrats, KissesGood fantasy advice by all. If you stick to that you'll do good hockey guy

[timwakefield 68]

haha, hi guys, i missed you too.

Can we assume you're working for the man?Congrats on being engaged!!!

[mrdannyg 274]

Can we assume you're working for the man?Congrats on being engaged!!!

thanks guys. yeah, i work for a bank. not a bad job, and i'm obviously fantastic at it. hoping to move elsewhere in the bank, but moving up and staying out of toronto is tough. currently trying to double my pay getting a job with a friend's company.