Live Draft Procedure

Hangtown · Post by **Hangtown** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:20 am

How is a player called out in the draft?

Obviously by name, do you also state the position you will place him at, or can you move him as you see fit throughout the draft? ie: someone with multiple position eligibility...

I'm also guessing positions are color coded for the main board for us to see easily?

OK, I'm a noob to this and I'm curious as to the best way to prepare a draft list so I'm not passed over for selecting someone already spoken for?

Edwards Kings · Post by **Edwards Kings** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:56 am

Originally posted by Hangtown:

How is a player called out in the draft?

Obviously by name, do you also state the position you will place him at, or can you move him as you see fit throughout the draft? ie: someone with multiple position eligibility...

I'm also guessing positions are color coded for the main board for us to see easily?

OK, I'm a noob to this and I'm curious as to the best way to prepare a draft list so I'm not passed over for selecting someone already spoken for? Greg or Tom will of course provide the official view, but you call out their name. You can also call out their primary position to help out the good (and sometimes good looking) people who are in charge of placing the names on the big board (they might just be helping out and not "experts" like the rest of us). At the end of the 30 rounds of the draft, you must have the right mix of players to fill out your 23 man starting roster (i.e. you must have at least two players who qualify at catcher, nine who qualify at pitcher, etc.).

Hangtown · Post by **Hangtown** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:31 pm

Thanks Wayne, That helps because my wife will be helping me at the draft and she doesn't know anything about baseball. In fact, she doesn't want to do it...

I'm just trying to put together a simple system that she can easily understand. Plus I'm used to computer drafts so I'm a little nervous too.

If by chance you screw up and don't have a valid roster, do you throw back a player and repick, or does it cost you faab dollars to fix?

GOD Loves You · Post by **GOD Loves You** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:45 pm

Dan, I am sure you will enjoy the live aspect better than a computer draft. And once you start, it will be a breeze for you. Isn't the hard part already accomplished? Convincing your wife to help

Hangtown · Post by **Hangtown** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:58 pm

LOL, well close Patrick.

It was harder to convince her to part with $1,250!!!

viper · Post by **viper** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:58 pm

As I recall, if you fail to have a valid roster after the draft, your last overall selection will be replaced by a hopeless player at the position you forgot. Then you will have to make a FAAB action in the FAAB round which is held a week before the season starts. More likely, someone at the draft will "politely" yell that you screwed up and the moderator will stop the draft and get things corrected. This usually happens when you assumed a player was qualified at a position but he wasn't - like Prince Fielder who is only a UTIL but you may thought he would qualify at CI.

[ February 23, 2006, 08:58 PM: Message edited by: viper ]

Hangtown · Post by **Hangtown** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:15 pm

Thanks Viper, that makes sense. I've been told by several that it goes at a decent enough pace that you won't fall behind or get too lost...

Thanks for all of your help!!

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:45 pm

Originally posted by viper:

like Prince Fielder who is only a UTIL but you may thought he would qualify at CI. Prince Fielder is a utility player? All this time, I thought he was a 1B...

Wow, I've got a lot of prep work to do--better hit my stack of magazines.

Edwards Kings · Post by **Edwards Kings** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:05 am

Hangtown,

Don't worry about the live draft. Your fellow drafters, if you have the same experience I have had, are a great group of ladies and gentlemen who are there to enjoy the second best (second only to winning) part of the fantasy baseball experience...the draft. Also, there are breaks (ususally after each 10 rounds if memory serves) that will allow you to consult your notes, check what positions are missing, and ask the qualified, good-looking, skilled, debonair, and knowledgeable KP representative on hand if you have any question about eligability of any of the players you rostered. (Yes, about this time I start sucking up to KP to try and get extra drink tickets!)

My only suggestion to try and stave off confusion is to do your research before hand and keep your draft notes simple. Try and rely on a master list or sheet that you have familiarized yourself with. If, at the end, you are leafing through endless pages of draft notes or magazines looking for a player to toss out, you will probably enjoy the process less and might get a few cat-calls from your fellow drafters. Again, these are all good people and most of the ribbing is very good natured, but they do respect those who are prepared.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:14 am

Good answers here so not much I can add. You don't have to bring up players by position but every little bit helps as far as helping our facilitators. And you must have a legal roster at the end of the draft. We will talk to our facilitators to do a check a few rounds before the end of every draft so everyone can double check their rosters and make sure they know what positions (if any) they have left to fill.

The one-minute time limit does help the draft move at a good pace but it won't go too fast that you'll fall behind. It'll be a lot of fun and a great afternoon. If you have any other questions just post them here. As you can see not only will Greg and I be here to help but we have a lot of great members who can provide plenty of input as well.

nydownunder · Post by **nydownunder** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:05 am

Originally posted by Hangtown:

Thanks Wayne, That helps because my wife will be helping me at the draft and she doesn't know anything about baseball. In fact, she doesn't want to do it...

Hooters now provides similar Fantasy Draft services. You get your pick of High School Drop Out, High School Grad, or Single mother of two. Part of the service includes getting you food and drinks during the drfat. They might not add any value to your draft, but they will certainly distract the other managers in your league.

GOD Loves You · Post by **GOD Loves You** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:00 am

Originally posted by :

I drafted last year with a partner. If you are drafting in Vegas or NY there will be many other leagues going on. All of those other draft boards are available to be viewed. You can get up, let your wife montior your stuff, and go look at the other draftboards. I did this last year for one specific purpose, BARRY BONDS. We were nearing the 5th round and Bonds was still available. I went around the room and noticed Bonds was taken in 6 or 7 other drafts in rounds 2-4. We took him in the 5th. It didn't work for us that time, but that is an example of one thing that you can do at a live draft. Depending on your draft position, you might have 20-30 minutes between picks. Isn't this kinda frowned upon? I know in football we were told to basically ignore the other boards and stick to our own league. Your decisions shouldn't be made by how another league is drafting! Please correct me if I am wrong Greg/Tom.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:26 am

We're not going to chain people at their chairs. If people want to see how other drafts they can do that but in my opinion I don't consider it an advantage nor would it be something I would want to do. The key in a draft in my opinion is how the people in your league are drafting so what's going on in League 3 or League 4 may be interesting but I don't think it reveals anything about what will occur or should occur in your league. But that's me.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:35 am

There's nothing in the rules to prevent that. All we ask is that people do not interrupt or disrput other drafts as they are in progress.

GOD Loves You · Post by **GOD Loves You** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:26 am

Really? I remember in Chicago for the NFFC we were instructed to "pay attention" to our own league and to not "look" at the other leagues draft boards. Maybe I was having a "flashback" but I am sure we were told that. I know this is the NFBC, but they are basically run the same.

Yea, I don't see how that would be much of an advantage considering in football some leagues had a QB run in the 5th rd and the league right beside didn't start there run until the 7th.

It's amazing looking at the outcomes of the many different leagues and being dumbfounded by players going EXTREMELY early and vice versa.

Edwards Kings · Post by **Edwards Kings** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:07 am

Trust me...you get a good general idea on what is going on in the other leagues without getting up and moving about...sometimes the noise from the other tables (while unavoidable) is a bit distracting.

I cannot count the number of times I am sitting three picks from my turn with the name of the player who has "slipped" down to where he will be a real bargain only to have someone at the table next to me shout in a voice that could raise the dead say "I PICK JOHN SLEEPER, BATBOY, TOLEDO MUDHENS". You guessed it...he never seems to make it to me after that even though the people ahead of me already had at least one batboy.....

:rolleyes:

viper · Post by **viper** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:45 am

I too seem to recall being told (or maybe just asked) not to go and look at other draft boards. It is hard to imagine someone not objecting if a person went up to a board and started copying down selections. Taking a long hard look at a board is really just as bad in my opinion. I realize that walking from your draft to the break area makes it pretty much impossible for many not to at least see some boards.

On the original topic, you do have time during the draft but having a co-manager may be the best $100 you will spend in the event. Personally, I would recommend against trying to run the draft from your laptop. I am a computer person but data entry takes too long. I set up shared duties with my son on who was doing what. We both stayed busy enough.

[ February 24, 2006, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: viper ]

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:49 am

Originally posted by viper:

I too seem to recall being told (or maybe just asked) not to go and look at other draft boards. i remember being told this as well.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:56 am

Maybe this was a Chicago thing? Kind of like the electric outlet enforcement, perhaps there were seemingly minor differences between the different draft locations.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:58 am

There shouldn't be differences in terms of the locations. We'll all be on the same page here regardless of city.

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:58 am

Originally posted by :

I drafted last year with a partner. If you are drafting in Vegas or NY there will be many other leagues going on. All of those other draft boards are available to be viewed. You can get up, let your wife montior your stuff, and go look at the other draftboards. I did this last year for one specific purpose, BARRY BONDS. We were nearing the 5th round and Bonds was still available. I went around the room and noticed Bonds was taken in 6 or 7 other drafts in rounds 2-4. We took him in the 5th. It didn't work for us that time, but that is an example of one thing that you can do at a live draft. Depending on your draft position, you might have 20-30 minutes between picks. And where did you finish last year in your league and overall?