Early Slow Draft Observations

shazballz · Post by **shazballz** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:03 am

We finished our first round last night in 150DC#5. No big surprises really. One thing I found interesting, 2 SP and 1 C went first round. How's the other drafts going? Anything of interest yet? With the lack of an ADP it makes it all the more fun. Good luck to all 2013 participants!

Draft page seems to be working rather well. The only thing I'm experiencing is the chat sometimes won't display my entire entry and the text colors change randomly. But overall...Job well done.

Bronx Yankees · Post by **Bronx Yankees** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:20 am

Up to Pick 15 in my Slow Draft. One pitcher and one catcher so far. Some very interesting picks but nothing too crazy. Think someone timed out overnight, which is a shame. Most folks seem attentive, so I'm hoping the pace will pick up a little. Not sure how kosher it is to summarize picks in any detail just yet, but I was very pleased to scoop up Kemp from the eight spot.

Although I try to give little weight to ADPs, it is kind of cool to be drafting without any being out there.

Mike

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:26 am

I'll have the IT guys look at the chat area again. I noticed that last night, too.

If you have anyone in your league timing out or going too long, contact me at [email protected]. Sometimes it just takes a phone call to alert someone that we started these. Many people signed up weeks ago and may not have seen the email letting them know that we are starting. We can call them and get them into the draft room. Thanks.

shazballz · Post by **shazballz** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:29 am

Kemp at 8. Very nice. I too am 8th. Fielder. Very reliable but no SB.

Bronx Yankees · Post by **Bronx Yankees** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:45 am

I like Fielder a lot this year, too. Guy plays 160+ games every year and fills up four categories very nicely. He'll be more familiar with AL pitching this year. Plus, with Torii Hunter hitting second, the top of the lineup should be stronger. Also, with V-Mart back, he should have more protection in the lineup. I had him ranked 8th on my list heading into the draft, but had Kemp 4th so I jumped on him when I got the chance. We finished Round 1 this morning. One more observation: eight OFs taken in the first 15.

Mike

Lunatic · Post by **Lunatic** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:36 am

9th pick in an e-mail slow draft; Albert Pujols

BK METS · Post by **BK METS** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 12:09 pm

No shockers in my DC.... unless Strasburg at 13 (my pick) might surprise a few. 2 Pitchers in the 1st round and a catcher. Almost done with the 2nd round... 5 - 3rd baseman so far in the 2nd, only 2 pitchers.

Lunatic · Post by **Lunatic** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 2:31 pm

BK METS wrote:No shockers in my DC.... unless Strasburg at 13 (my pick) might surprise a few. 2 Pitchers in the 1st round and a catcher. Almost done with the 2nd round... 5 - 3rd baseman so far in the 2nd, only 2 pitchers.

That same e-mail draft where I took Pujols at 9; Strasburg went at #4

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 3:01 pm

Greg,
People are still having issues with the draft software glitches as they were last year in trying to draft from I-pads, I-phones, BB's and the like. Chat issues including "echo" and delayed posts and the inability to post chat effectively from a mobile device. Player queue issues from remote access...I could on, but this is stuff that has already been posted by many since last year. I'm not even remotely tech savvy, and I know that it should work smoother than this. And again, I have to come off sounding like the bad guy.

It's very frustrating and aggravating to a lot us now, and I'm sure it will be even more so unless this stuff gets resolved by the time the majority of the people start drafting in the next couple of months. Your tech guys are doing you no justice, and if I were paying them, I'd be pissed at this point. Just my two cents.

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 3:06 pm

Oh, and one more thing, the screen quality in the draft room is inconsistent and blurry.

Lobbyist999 · Post by **Lobbyist999** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:02 am

2 SPs in the first round is becoming an NFBC trademark. Probably a recurring trend in the 5 leagues currently drafting. Should be interesting to find out, as soon as Greg is in a position to share early results.

paulkariya09 · Post by **paulkariya09** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:28 am

In the league 1 Strasburg was pick in the 13th.First pitcher before Verlander and Kershaw...In my opinion Strasburg its not 100% sure....

orangemen90 · Post by **orangemen90** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:13 pm

so the gamble is that Strasburg will have a statistically better year than Fielder...an help the 9 pitchers better than the 14 fielders... if i counted correctly...or strasburg is better that the pitcher combo poked after the 5th or 6th round....its a gamble and thats why we play the game...

fwicker · Post by **fwicker** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:42 am

I have to echo Furies' observations, cannot chat from iPhone, iPad support is poor, HTML chat is poor/inconsistent with truncated characters, flash chat can't always scroll backwards.

Great contest, great support from Greg and Tom, poor, poor IT support. As MtM says, they're letting you down.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:40 am

Baseball Furies wrote:Greg,
People are still having issues with the draft software glitches as they were last year in trying to draft from I-pads, I-phones, BB's and the like. Chat issues including "echo" and delayed posts and the inability to post chat effectively from a mobile device. Player queue issues from remote access...I could on, but this is stuff that has already been posted by many since last year. I'm not even remotely tech savvy, and I know that it should work smoother than this. And again, I have to come off sounding like the bad guy. It's very frustrating and aggravating to a lot us now, and I'm sure it will be even more so unless this stuff gets resolved by the time the majority of the people start drafting in the next couple of months. Your tech guys are doing you no justice, and if I were paying them, I'd be pissed at this point. Just my two cents.

Mike, when did we say we'd have drafting capability from iPhones or any mobile phones? That isn't something that you add easily. I have no problem with anyone posting what they'd like to see from IT enhancements and sending to me and we'll definitely see what we can get done. If you could go on and on then just shoot me an email at [email protected] with a list of items you want added and we'll address the possibilities. But mobile and drafting from a list of 1,200 players isn't an addition that's done easily.

Happenstance · Post by **Happenstance** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:12 am

I have no expectations being able to easily follow a draft from my iPhone. When needed, I've been able to log on and make a pick, so I'm happy here.

One thing that's been raised in the past and worth mentioning again is the "green dot" issue in flash mode - unless you refresh the browser, you don't really know who isn't there - the indicator light next to a team name stays green even after the owner leaves the room.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:26 am

Happenstance wrote:I have no expectations being able to easily follow a draft from my iPhone. When needed, I've been able to log on and make a pick, so I'm happy here.

One thing that's been raised in the past and worth mentioning again is the "green dot" issue in flash mode - unless you refresh the browser, you don't really know who isn't there - the indicator light next to a team name stays green even after the owner leaves the room.

Thanks. I'll have the guys look at this. I agree, this is an important point.

Surrender Dorothy · Post by **Surrender Dorothy** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 5:35 pm

Greg,

I think the issue is that mobile access has been a request for a few years now, and mobile web access in general has skyrocketed overall, yet we are still experiencing the same issues with the draft software. As a web-based software designer myself I know the difficulty/cost involved in creating mobile versions of web-based software.

However, I think there are a few possible short-term changes to the HTML version of the draft software that can be made to make the experience more positive.

The flash version won't work at all on IOS, since Flash is not supported. But the HTML version will work, so maybe you can use media query to detect the device, and, for IOS mobile devices, remove the link to the Flash draft from the draft entry page. This would prevent users from inadvertently trying to enter a non-support piece of functionality from a mobile IOS device.

Another quick change might be to either remove the auto refresh on the HTML version, either altogether or as a user option on the screen. This would solve the chat related issues. I myself use my iPad almost exclusively for drafting at home, and then I use my iPhone when I pick from work. And trying to use the chat is almost impossible because by the time i almost finish typing the damnable refreshes, wiping out my post.

The other main issue is the queuing on the HTML version. This exists regardless of the device used to access the draft. How about adding a simple "Move to Top" and "Move to Bottom" link? This would minimize the struggle. Long term, using a simple drag & drop jQuery control would modernize that piece of functionality.

In the long run, you should look at replacing the Flash-based draft version with a combination of HTML 5, CSS 3 and jQuery. You can maintain the interactivity you currently have with Flash, but it can be built to work across devices and platforms. I mentioned this last year, and it's even truer today, Flash is a dying/dead technology.

BK METS · Post by **BK METS** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:52 pm

I am not sure anyone else noticed the issue where, if you set your auto pick from your home computer, then check in later from a cell phone, your auto pick defaults off. So, you are thinking that you are on auto pick and dont return to the room. This has happened several times with several different owners. I believe it is mainly due to the fact that you are going from flash at home, to HTML from the cell.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:12 pm

Thanks Jeff. Yes, we are in the process of replacing Flash. You are correct that Flash is outgoing and we are redesigning our draft room with that in mind. As I stated earlier, to get the draft room out this early, we are using last year's functionality and creating a new draft room for the start of the live drafting season. I will forward your suggestions on this and mobile, but hopefully we're well on all of that right now.

morons · Post by **morons** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:33 am

Im a bit surprised at:
1)Guys like Tulowitzki and Longoria pretty much holding their 2010-2011 value as top 20 picks despite the injuries. Lower extremity soft tissue injuries can often be chronic/recurring problems. Especially Longoria, I think there are a lot of value 3B picks this year...I can understand Tulo more since SS weak.
2) Last year's trendy breakout guys like Hosmer, Lawrie, and DezJennings dropping...especially Hosmer whom I got in 7th round...He could be this year's Jason Heyward.
3) Fernando Rodney as a top 5 closer.

morons · Post by **morons** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:11 am

Somebody somewhere will take Strasburg 1st overall I predict

Dak · Post by **Dak** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:54 pm

I predict someone will take Crawford by the 10th rd

morons · Post by **morons** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:04 pm

A MORON would take Crawford at the end 10th round...as I did....I think he's a good risk/reward guy there...and a bargain perhaps as we went 8th round and 9th round in two other SD I'm involved in.

morons · Post by **morons** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:05 pm

I should say "he", as in Crawford, went earlier than 10th in 2 other drafts

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