Responsibility in Drafting

[DOUGHBOYS]

There are two things our parents try to instill in us from being a young whippersnapper to leaving their home.
Integrity and responsibility.
Each of us have different levels of both. Integrity shows everyday in our personal lives and is visible to others in the way that we interact with other folks. Responsibility is more of a personal thing. Sure, it can spill over into other lives, but responsibility is usually something within us.

That responsibility shows in our drafts. We would love to draft every player we 'want'. These players become 'our' players.
We can call them 'targets', or 'must owns', or whatever. I simply refer to them as 'my players'.
My players are usually not at the top of drafts. I have drafted six times this year and started with four different players.Some refer to this first round player as a building block. Blah, blah, blah.
When the season begins, he is not a building block, he becomes the player we count on the most.
Earlier this week, a drafter said that his strategy for the whole draft was thrown off by another drafter taking 'his' first rounder.
If true, this drafter truly is not ready for the NFBC. NFBC players can plan for any event. They think on the fly. The times they are put on tilt are momentary. Backup plans come immediately to most NFBC players.

'My players' come later in a draft. This is where responsibility hits the fan.
Let's say that Kyle Seager is one of 'my players'.
Already on my roster are Goldschmidt, Wright, Desmond, Cliff Lee, Kinsler, Sal Perez, Victorino,and Rosenthal. In my draft position, I know that it is most likely, now or never for Seager.
It is also the time that responsibility comes into view in a fantasy way.
In looking at this roster, I know that Seager may be the last thing this roster needs.
A starting pitcher begs to be taken here. A responsible drafter knows this.
Still, I think the world of Seager and just know that next year, he will be drafted in the first five rounds of drafts, not in the eighth or ninth where he is going now.

For a $150 draft, we make decisions that we wouldn't make in a Main Draft. The two are different animals.
In $150 drafts, there are no 'do-overs' that FAAB affords us in the Main. If drafting Seager, we know that our pitching staff, most likely, will not contend for Overall honors. We'd have to hit every pitcher dead on for that to happen.
At the same time, we know that this is 'just' $150 draft. A time to experiment with things untried.
But, it is that inner responsibility that mostly makes our decision for us. Most of us will do the 'right thing' and draft a pitcher, leading us to grit our teeth when seeing Seager drafted a pick later.

Responsibility leads us to draft who we need in drafts, not who we want. We are grateful in drafts that want and need collide in picking a player that fills both bills. But, most of the time, it does not work that way.
Positions of players are the great equalizer. The responsibility to fill each of those positions with the best possible player.
There is no real right or wrong answer to the Seager conundrum. The gambler, dressed in black, sitting on our right shoulder says to take Seager. Responsibility, dressed in white, on our left shoulder says to take a pitcher.
Who we take, may be as much a measure of our personality and the way we were raised. We don't 'win' either way.
If taking Seager, we feed an instant gratification, but knowing that we probably have taken a wrong fork in the road.
If taking a pitcher, we feel cheated that we didn't get 'our player'.Bbut feel better about that selection the next round when we are freer to take the next 'our player'.
Responsibility is usually cursed at a draft. At the same time, it saves us from our worst enemy in drafts...Ourselves.

[Edwards Kings]

Great write-up. Made me think of one of my favorite movies "Cabin in the Sky". Eddie "Rochester" Anderson sings a song about "that old devil consequences". Sounds about like the same thought!