Please Use The 1-Round Auto Pick In Draft Champions
Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:36 pm
As we prepare for the upcoming Draft Champions Leagues, let's get the ball rolling in the right direction with some easy tips. We all know that each owner is allowed 8 hours per pick, but there's really no reason for anyone to take hours upon hours to make a pick. If everyone is courteous of others, these leagues can be done in 21 days or less.
Let's make it a goal of each league to complete at least 2 rounds per day. That really shouldn't be so tough if everyone cooperates and stays on top of things. Each pick is emailed to every owner, so you definitely can stay on top of the selections and know when you are coming up. As your pick approaches, do this:
** Set the players at the top of your want list in your Que to the right. All you have to do there is highlight the player and click on the "Add Player To Que" button. That will set your most wanted players where you want them.
** Arrange those players in the Que the way you want them with your most desired player to the top.
** Then if you are 2 or 3 picks away, feel confident in selecting the box that says "1 Round Auto". What will happen there is that the computer will select the top player in your Que at the time of your pick and keep the draft moving. You can go to sleep at night comfortably knowing that you got the player you wanted and you didn't hold up the draft. It won't make a second pick for you, so if you are back on the clock when you wake up you'll have plenty of time to make your next pick. But 1 Round Auto works well and it keeps drafts moving while giving owners their most desired players. Just make sure you have enough players in your Que or it will take the top player from the default list.
** Set your Draft Prep early in the off-season. We won't have all of the flashy tools ready at the start of the NFBC drafting season to make setting your Draft Prep easily like we have in football now, but it will be arriving soon. Either way, take the time when you can to set your player default list in Draft Prep because you can import your rankings from your last online draft into future online drafts. It's a great way to have your rankings in every NFBC online draft this off-season. Again, we'll have tools to make this process easier soon, but even working on the top players now is worth the effort.
** Enjoy the Chat Room. These "slow drafts" are like social media offerings where you get to talk about MLB players, draft strategies, families, work, whatever you want with 14 like-minded owners for 21-25 days. Enjoy it. If you can do it, set a few hours aside at night and enjoy several picks in a row while talking baseball with the other owners. These drafts are meant to work around your busy schedules, but during the winter it doesn't hurt to take a few hours out of your night to make a few picks and talk baseball with others. Usually there is one guy in each league who takes charge and gathers folks together and those leagues are more fun and move along more quickly.
** Be Courteous. This goes both ways as some owners are too lax in making their picks and thus make the experience unenjoyable, while others are too pushy and make the draft unpleasant. Every owner should realize that 14 other owners are waiting for your picks and yet all 14 owners should realize that someone may have something personal or work related that is preventing him/her from jumping online right away. Still, that's where 1 Round Auto comes into play or a text to a fellow owner to help with that pick. If needed, you can email me or Tom and we'll even jump into your account if needed and make a selection. It's not hard to keep leagues moving if needed.
** Please realize that all NFBC Draft Champions Leagues start at 1 pm ET, so have your first picks ready to go. Anyone with a Top 3 pick can easily set up his Que and 1 Round Auto Pick for the start of that draft and have his pick ready to go. Draft spots are emailed to everyone the morning of the draft and drafts start the day after they fill if they fill before midnight ET. Plan accordingly.
** Enjoy. Again, these are great contests to enjoy baseball with 14 other like-minded baseball die-hards and nothing prepares you for the MLB player pool more than these 15-team, 50-round drafts. Enjoy them. And if 8-hour slow drafts aren't for you, we'll create some with 4 hours between picks, 6 hours between picks and even offer DC Express Leagues earlier this year where all 50 rounds are done in one night, one minute per pick. We'll even create regional drafts if the demand is there. We have plenty of time to do these right this year.
Here are a few more items of note:
1. If you want to draft a minor-leaguer or international player who isn't in the player pool, just click on a PLACEHOLDER link and make that your selection. Then type in the player you drafted in the League Chat Room and at the end of the draft email me your Placeholder picks. For example, let's say that first baseman Jose Daniel Abreu isn't in the player pool to start these drafts and you want him. Click on Placeholder 1B and make that as your pick. Then type in the Chat Room "I am picking 1B Jose Daniel Abreu as my Placeholder." We'll replace your Placeholder with Abreu once the draft is complete.
2. All players are available to be drafted. We know that there are some international players now who haven't signed yet with an MLB team, like Masahiro Tanaka, but again you can draft him by selecting Placeholder P and then typing in his name in the Chat Room. Tanaka will be added to the player pool once he is signed by an MLB team, but we'll have several minor-leaguers who won't be in the player default system right away. You guys usually draft deeper than we have the list, so plan accordingly and use the Placeholders.
But use the tools we have for you this year. 1 Round Auto is worth trying out and feeling comfortable about it. The Draft Prep tool is going to be extremely handy for owners who do multiple online leagues with us. Use them and then use your skills to draft the best teams in a reasonable time. Thanks all and good luck.
Let's make it a goal of each league to complete at least 2 rounds per day. That really shouldn't be so tough if everyone cooperates and stays on top of things. Each pick is emailed to every owner, so you definitely can stay on top of the selections and know when you are coming up. As your pick approaches, do this:
** Set the players at the top of your want list in your Que to the right. All you have to do there is highlight the player and click on the "Add Player To Que" button. That will set your most wanted players where you want them.
** Arrange those players in the Que the way you want them with your most desired player to the top.
** Then if you are 2 or 3 picks away, feel confident in selecting the box that says "1 Round Auto". What will happen there is that the computer will select the top player in your Que at the time of your pick and keep the draft moving. You can go to sleep at night comfortably knowing that you got the player you wanted and you didn't hold up the draft. It won't make a second pick for you, so if you are back on the clock when you wake up you'll have plenty of time to make your next pick. But 1 Round Auto works well and it keeps drafts moving while giving owners their most desired players. Just make sure you have enough players in your Que or it will take the top player from the default list.
** Set your Draft Prep early in the off-season. We won't have all of the flashy tools ready at the start of the NFBC drafting season to make setting your Draft Prep easily like we have in football now, but it will be arriving soon. Either way, take the time when you can to set your player default list in Draft Prep because you can import your rankings from your last online draft into future online drafts. It's a great way to have your rankings in every NFBC online draft this off-season. Again, we'll have tools to make this process easier soon, but even working on the top players now is worth the effort.
** Enjoy the Chat Room. These "slow drafts" are like social media offerings where you get to talk about MLB players, draft strategies, families, work, whatever you want with 14 like-minded owners for 21-25 days. Enjoy it. If you can do it, set a few hours aside at night and enjoy several picks in a row while talking baseball with the other owners. These drafts are meant to work around your busy schedules, but during the winter it doesn't hurt to take a few hours out of your night to make a few picks and talk baseball with others. Usually there is one guy in each league who takes charge and gathers folks together and those leagues are more fun and move along more quickly.
** Be Courteous. This goes both ways as some owners are too lax in making their picks and thus make the experience unenjoyable, while others are too pushy and make the draft unpleasant. Every owner should realize that 14 other owners are waiting for your picks and yet all 14 owners should realize that someone may have something personal or work related that is preventing him/her from jumping online right away. Still, that's where 1 Round Auto comes into play or a text to a fellow owner to help with that pick. If needed, you can email me or Tom and we'll even jump into your account if needed and make a selection. It's not hard to keep leagues moving if needed.
** Please realize that all NFBC Draft Champions Leagues start at 1 pm ET, so have your first picks ready to go. Anyone with a Top 3 pick can easily set up his Que and 1 Round Auto Pick for the start of that draft and have his pick ready to go. Draft spots are emailed to everyone the morning of the draft and drafts start the day after they fill if they fill before midnight ET. Plan accordingly.
** Enjoy. Again, these are great contests to enjoy baseball with 14 other like-minded baseball die-hards and nothing prepares you for the MLB player pool more than these 15-team, 50-round drafts. Enjoy them. And if 8-hour slow drafts aren't for you, we'll create some with 4 hours between picks, 6 hours between picks and even offer DC Express Leagues earlier this year where all 50 rounds are done in one night, one minute per pick. We'll even create regional drafts if the demand is there. We have plenty of time to do these right this year.
Here are a few more items of note:
1. If you want to draft a minor-leaguer or international player who isn't in the player pool, just click on a PLACEHOLDER link and make that your selection. Then type in the player you drafted in the League Chat Room and at the end of the draft email me your Placeholder picks. For example, let's say that first baseman Jose Daniel Abreu isn't in the player pool to start these drafts and you want him. Click on Placeholder 1B and make that as your pick. Then type in the Chat Room "I am picking 1B Jose Daniel Abreu as my Placeholder." We'll replace your Placeholder with Abreu once the draft is complete.
2. All players are available to be drafted. We know that there are some international players now who haven't signed yet with an MLB team, like Masahiro Tanaka, but again you can draft him by selecting Placeholder P and then typing in his name in the Chat Room. Tanaka will be added to the player pool once he is signed by an MLB team, but we'll have several minor-leaguers who won't be in the player default system right away. You guys usually draft deeper than we have the list, so plan accordingly and use the Placeholders.
But use the tools we have for you this year. 1 Round Auto is worth trying out and feeling comfortable about it. The Draft Prep tool is going to be extremely handy for owners who do multiple online leagues with us. Use them and then use your skills to draft the best teams in a reasonable time. Thanks all and good luck.
