So any advice...

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:42 am

Sunday I will be taking part in not only my first high stakes baseball draft (9pm online) but my first baseball draft of any kind!

Not only that it's only my 2nd year of even following the sport.

I moved to the states from the UK in 2009.

I have been a football fan since I was a kid and consider myself a good fantasy player...I have studied harder for this draft than any exam I ever took

I saw a good link yesterday which definately changed my mind on how many closers i need to draft/start... anyone esle want to share any pearls of wisdom?

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:45 am

Learn player pool inside and out is #1

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:47 am

Baseline: Spend at least 5 minutes researching/analyzing 10 hitters and 8 pitchers per team. That's a 40+ hour week.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:48 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

Baseline: Spend at least 5 minutes researching/analyzing 10 hitters and 8 pitchers per team. That's a 40+ hour week. I've spent the last month doing just that. My real work is piling up!

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:51 am

Originally posted by mattjb:

quote:Originally posted by Gekko:

Baseline: Spend at least 5 minutes researching/analyzing 10 hitters and 8 pitchers per team. That's a 40+ hour week. I've spent the last month doing just that. My real work is piling up!

[/QUOTE]If you've done that, i'd move on to crafting a feasible draft plan

Legend7 · Post by **Legend7** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:54 am

Normally you need two as a minimum... a 3rd or fourth would be nice but do not pass on everyday talent/players to acquire them. Try not to get involved with "Runs" for closers because usually you end up over stretching for someone who might lose their job quickly. Round 10 or 11 is good spot for a high quality closer. Then just target someone you think that is a an "iffy" a couple rounds later and after if another presents himself to you grab a third but again not at the expense of getting everyday talent. Another strategy is to literally punt the category...you can get away with this in a regular league but can not on the the national contest level.

whipsaw · Post by **whipsaw** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:57 am

Originally posted by mattjb:

quote:Originally posted by Gekko:

Baseline: Spend at least 5 minutes researching/analyzing 10 hitters and 8 pitchers per team. That's a 40+ hour week. I've spent the last month doing just that. My real work is piling up!

[/QUOTE]welcome to fantasy baseball!

a couple other things i would consider:

take a look at the nfbc adp reports which are available from your league page, and map out at least the first few rounds of the draft to see what kind of core group of players you expect to be available and that you might draft. that helps provide the foundation for the rest of your draft and what positions/players you need to fill in later. not that the adp report is gospel, but it can give you a feel for what might be available. what spot are you drafting from?

read childs' work on 12 team (i assume this is a double play that you're drafting) hitting/pitching targets - http://www.wcofs.com/site/baseballmafia ... argets2011 - to get a feel for what kind of numbers you need to compile with your draft

create some sort of spreadsheet that will allow you to track your progress during the draft, seeing how you are doing relative to the targets in each of the 10 categories, allowing you to adjust your targeted players in the middle rounds to compensate for deficiencies.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:59 am

Still waiting on the draft slot to be finalized but I expect to be drafting 7, 8 or 9... i like some breathing room between picks.

GoodnGodless · Post by **GoodnGodless** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:54 pm

For what it's worth, I never did the main but have 5 years of Satellite draft experience - its the same format.

As noted by an earlier post, use the NFBC ADP as a guide for value you can expect in each of your rounds.

In this league you need 2 closers one of which should be a top 5 closer.

Always have a plan. Create a plan that makes sense to you but be flexible and ready to adapt - especially if value - as defined by the early ADP picks if not your own list - falls to you.

Draft hitters before pitchers.

Keep doing your homework every week to scout the FAB pool for players to pick up - especially pitchers.

Don't be affray to overspend fab $$$ on one player early in the season if you are sure they will get playing time.

Full disclosure. This coming from a player who never finished hire than 5th. But I always had a plan.

TOXIC ASSETS · Post by **TOXIC ASSETS** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:00 am

Draft pitchers before hitters.

Dirt Dogs · Post by **Dirt Dogs** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:29 pm

Never ever under any circumstances draft a Yankee!

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:32 pm

ha thanks guys.

I will share my future 50k winning lineup on monday.

rockitsauce · Post by **rockitsauce** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:45 pm

Originally posted by GoodnGodless:

Don't be affray to overspend fab $$$ on one player early in the season if you are sure they will get playing time.

What the hell is affray? C'mon Richard Dawkins you're better than that

I disagree w/ throwing caution to the wind and overspending FAAB $ early, good ex: of this is Max Scherzer a few yrs ago. He cost well over $500 (1/2 NFBC budget) for most and certainly wasn't worth half that. Don't believe the hype....esp on this MB

Certainly there are times when you go for broke, but I think you still want a player w/ some type of proven track record. Last yr I know a guy who spent abit over $200 for Wandy, after his disgruntled owner dropped him in July. As we know now, that was quite a bargain.

My main point is that $1000 in FAAB can be depleted FAST if you're not careful. As w/ real life, it's always nice to have a little put away for a rainy day

GnG, u know I'm just messin w/ ya ...overall that is some good, no B.S. advice

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:09 pm

would love some feedback on my first ever baseball draft...

Picking from 7.

C: M Wieters / N Hundley

1B: A Gonzalez

2B: M Prado

3B: E Encarnacion

SS: S Castro

MI: K Youkilis

CI: A Escobar

OF: BJ Upton / H Pence / S Victorino / D Fowler / P Bourjos

UT: A Lind

Reserves: A Avila / T Wiggington / M Brantley / B Hawpe

SP: F Hernandez / M Cain / T Lilly / J Hellickson / J Chacin / G Floyd / D Holland

RP: N Feliz / D Storen

Reserves: B league / R Porcello / J Masterson

[ March 28, 2011, 06:42 AM: Message edited by: mattjb ]

Sebadiah23 · Post by **Sebadiah23** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:26 pm

Originally posted by mattjb:

would love some feedback on my first ever baseball draft...

Picking from 7.

C: M Wieters / N Hundley

1B: A Gonzalez

2B: M Prado

3B: E Encarnacion

SS: S Castro

MI: K Youkilis

CI: A Escobar

OF: BJ Upton / H Pence / S Victorino / D Fowler / P Bourjos

UT: A Lind

Reserves: A Avila / T Wiggington / M Brantley / B Hawpe

SP: F Hernandez / M Cain / T Lilly / J Hellickson / J Chacin / G Floyd / D Holland

RP: N Feliz / D Storen / B league

Reserves: B league / R Porcello / J Masterson Matt, the only reason I believe that this was your first draft ever is that you listed MI and CI incorrectly. This is a pretty kickass team. I'd say badass, but I've been overusing it lately. I have to come up with something new. Anyway...

You're certainly not relying on the typical amount of power from your outfield quintet, but there's also power upside from Upton, Bourjos, and even Fowler. Otherwise, you'll get plenty of bombs from Adrian, EE, Lind, and Youk, and a little more than usual from your catchers. Will this all add up to enough? Time will tell.

SB-wise, you're pretty rocking, BJ, Fowler, Bourjos, Alcides, Victorino, and some residual from Pence and Castro. Full check-mark there.

BA "could" be a problem, but that so unpredictable and you have at least 6 guys you can count on for a nice average. Ultimately, you'll need 1-2 guys to outperform the public perception of their BA abilities, in the group of BJ, Bourjos, EE, and Lind, and you'll be fine there.

Pitching-wise, its very, very hard to complain with what you ended up with. Personally, I'm often reluctant to rely on too many veteran pitchers to simply do what they did last year, as pitching is simply very volatile. But you ended up with an excellence mix of dependable (Felix, Cain, Lilly, i guess Floyd) mixed in with some upside with Hellickson, Chacin, and Holland. The blend of low-risk and high-risk that you achieved is about what someone should want in my opinion. Your closers are even above average.

Maybe its minorly because we like many of the same players apparently, but you're in the running to win your league man.

Best of luck to you.

-Craig

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:45 am

Thanks.

I got the first 2 picks i wanted. Didn't like the options at 3rd base so i wanted to get Youkilis who will become 3rd base eligible to allow me to wait. Planned to take an outfielder with my 3rd pick but 3 i had highlighted for the 3rd round went just before my pick so avoided the run and went for Felix.

Got the depth I wanted at catcher by getting my two late targets of Hundley & Avila. Need Storen to win that closers job full time.

Really happy though as I got a ton of the players I went into the draft targeting.

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:21 am

Matt, I'm guessing this was a 12-team draft?

Either way, an impressive job for your first ever baseball draft. I'd say you did better than most veterans. Keep up the good work and lotsa luck this year. Your next lesson's about to begin......FAAB.

Have fun, this is a great game.

TwinkiesFan · Post by **TwinkiesFan** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:35 am

Matt like the team a lot. We kinda have lot of the same players. this is my 1st year in the NFBC. Would also like to hear how you think i did.

C - M. Weiters, N. Hundley

1b- J. Morneau

2b- B. Phillips

ss-H. Ramirez

3b- I. Stewart

OF-M. Kemp, N. Cruz, B. Garner, N. Markakis, P. Bourjas

CI- B. Belt/ J. Loney

MI- H. Kendrick

U- D. Ortiz

SP- D. Haren, F. Liriano, S. Marcum, J. Danks, M. Garza, J. Cueto, T. Wood, K. McCellen, B. Duensing

RP- B. Wilson, J. Nathan, B. League

bench S. Smith, S. Romo(backed up Wilson), M. Moustakas- hope hes up in June and will replace my weakest position player

[ March 28, 2011, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: TwinkiesFan ]

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:59 am

Originally posted by Glenneration X:

Matt, I'm guessing this was a 12-team draft?

Either way, an impressive job for your first ever baseball draft. I'd say you did better than most veterans. Keep up the good work and lotsa luck this year. Your next lesson's about to begin......FAAB.

Have fun, this is a great game. 12 team yes.

Thanks, the FAAB will keep me busy while i'm pretending to work.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:26 am

Originally posted by TwinkiesFan:

Matt like the team a lot. We kinda have lot of the same players. this is my 1st year in the NFBC. Would also like to hear how you think i did.

C - M. Weiters, N. Hundley

1b- J. Morneau

2b- B. Phillips

ss-H. Ramirez

3b- I. Stewart

OF-M. Kemp, N. Cruz, B. Garner, N. Markakis, P. Bourjas

CI- B. Belt/ J. Loney

MI- H. Kendrick

U- D. Ortiz

SP- D. Haren, F. Liriano, S. Marcum, J. Danks, M. Garza, J. Cueto, T. Wood, K. McCellen, B. Duensing

RP- B. Wilson, J. Nathan, B. League

bench S. Smith, S. Romo(backed up Wilson), M. Moustakas- hope hes up in June and will replace my weakest position player I'm not crazy on Phillips but i like the team. I really wanted Kendrick.

TwinkiesFan · Post by **TwinkiesFan** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:40 am

Thanks Matt, My draft didn't go at all like I thought. Catchers and Starting pitching was going crazy early. If I had known I would have gotten Kendrick in the 15th I wouldn't have taken Phillips in the 4th. Oh well. Well if I don't win the 50k, I hope you do. Best of luck.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:21 am

Please forgive the shameless self bump but after a really shitty personal weekend with my kids being sick and hurting my back badly, this rookie from england sits top of his online league

GoodnGodless · Post by **GoodnGodless** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:16 pm

Sit on top of this.http://nfbcboards.stats.com//icons/icon10.gif