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I always find it interesting each year to see which draft spot our Main Event league winners drafted from. We allow owners to set their Preferred Draft Spots in the NFBC and thus they can tell us where they'd like to draft. Some folks stay as high as possible, others prefer the middle and some even move down to the bottom of the draft order. Everyone has a different strategy and a different plan for the early rounds.

This year our 28 NFBC Main Event winners came from 11 of the 15 draft spots. No. 3 was the most successful with 5 league champions, while Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 11 failed to yield a single league champ. The middle section produced the most league champions, but it was pretty balanced all around. Heck, with Mike Trout going around 300th overall and producing first round value, owners really could have won from any spot by just adding him in the 20th round!!

Anyway, here's a listing of our NFBC Main Event league champions and where they drafted from:

Draft Spots - Number of NFBC Main Event League Champions
No. 1 - 0 league titles
No. 2 - 2 league titles
No. 3 - 5 league titles
No. 4 - 0 league titles
No. 5 - 1 league title
No. 6 - 0 league titles
No. 7 - 3 league titles
No. 8 - 4 league titles
No. 9 - 1 league title
No. 10 - 4 league titles
No. 11 - 0 league titles
No. 12 - 1 league title
No. 13 - 2 league titles
No. 14 - 2 league titles
No. 15 - 3 league titles

Nos. 1-3 (6 league titles)
Nos. 4-6 (1 league title)
Nos. 7-9 (8 league titles)
Nos. 10-12 (5 league titles)
Nos. 13-15 (7 league titles)

Pretty balanced.

Of our Top 20 NFBC Main Event teams in the overall race, they drafted from the following draft spots:

No. 1 - 0
No. 2 - 3
No. 3 - 2
No. 4 - 0
No. 5 - 2
No. 6 - 0
No. 7 - 4
No. 8 - 3
No. 9 - 1
No. 10 - 0
No. 11 - 0
No. 12 - 1
No. 13 - 2
No. 14 - 1
No. 15 - 1

And where did the NFBC XII League champions draft from? The data is just as interesting here, but not the same as the Main Event. Here's a look at the NFBC XII League Champions and what draft spot they came from and the Top 20 teams in the overall standings:

NFBC XII League Champions
Draft Spot - Number of League Champions
No. 1 - 2 league titles
No. 2 - 3 league titles
No. 3 - 6 league titles
No. 4 - 0
No. 5 - 0
No. 6 - 0
No. 7 - 2 league titles
No. 8 - 2 league titles
No. 9 - 3 league titles
No. 10 - 1 league title
No. 11 - 0
No. 12 - 2 league titles

Nos. 1-3 - 11 league titles
Nos. 4-6 - 0 league titles
Nos. 7-9 - 7 league titles
Nos. 10-12 - 3 league titles

More than half of the 21 league titles in the NFBC XII were produced from the top 3 draft spots, which is pretty amazing since only 25% of league titles were won from that same area in the NFBC Main Event. Nos. 4-6 produced just one league title among the two Main Events, which is rather surprising (damn that Troy Tulowitzki and Jacoby Ellsbury ).

Here's where the Top 20 overall teams drafted from in the NFBC XII this year:

No. 1 - 2 teams
No. 2 - 2 teams
No. 3 - 6 teams
No. 4 - 2 teams
No. 5 - 0
No. 6 - 1 team
No. 7 - 1 team
No. 8 - 2 teams
No. 9 - 1 team
No. 10 - 1 team
No. 11 - 0
No. 12 - 2

Nos. 1-3 (10 teams)
Nos. 4-6 (3 teams)
Nos. 7-9 (4 teams)
Nos. 10-12 (3 teams)

The #3 pick seemed to be the pick to have this year. Out of curiosity, why has 3RR never been implemented for baseball? In the 12 team leagues, you get the #1,#24, #25 picks. I think thats a big advantage than the 12,13,36. Look at the guys who went around 12 this year, Upton, Fielder, both Gonzalez. They arent that much better than the guys who go around #24 and #25. Beltre, Hamilton, etc.

The #3 pick seemed to be the pick to have this year. Out of curiosity, why has 3RR never been implemented for baseball? In the 12 team leagues, you get the #1,#24, #25 picks. I think thats a big advantage than the 12,13,36. Look at the guys who went around 12 this year, Upton, Fielder, both Gonzalez. They arent that much better than the guys who go around #24 and #25. Beltre, Hamilton, etc.

joshguy wrote:The #3 pick seemed to be the pick to have this year. Out of curiosity, why has 3RR never been implemented for baseball? In the 12 team leagues, you get the #1,#24, #25 picks. I think thats a big advantage than the 12,13,36. Look at the guys who went around 12 this year, Upton, Fielder, both Gonzalez. They arent that much better than the guys who go around #24 and #25. Beltre, Hamilton, etc.

We use Third Round Reversal in football and basketball because one superstar can carry a team much more by himself than is even close in baseball. Football starts only 10 players per week and basketball starts only 12 players per week. A top superstar has proven to accumulate much better stats than second tier stars in those sports through the years, which is why we've gone to 3RR there. And history has shown that both of those contests have balanced winners from across the board.

Baseball hasn't proven to need 3RR for many reasons. One is that if you look above, 15 already has produced more winners that the No. 1 spot and that has consistently happened through the years. Probably the least successful position as far as producing league champs through our history has been the No. 1 spot. To give No. 1 the 1st, 30th and 45th pick won't help there. Also, there isn't any one dominant player who everyone gets and wins with in baseball. Not with 23 starting players each week. And finally, baseball has proven that there are more Mike Trout's in this sport that you can get late in the draft and produce like a top star than you'll ever find in basketball or football.

History has proven that baseball can have balance among all draft spots without 3RR. It won't be added to the NFBC at this point or anytime soon.