Finding An Angle

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

Finding An Angle

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:38 am

We listen to podcasts. We look at articles. We try to glean any information that will make us better drafters.
Personally, I don't listen to many podcasts. Most tend to stray away from the subject. They waste time talking about opinions of other things rather than fantasy baseball. They think of this as 'entertainment'. Mostly, I have the same reaction as seeing a Catcher go out to the mound to talk to a Pitcher.
So, I stay with articles that are on point. Especially those with an NFBC slant.

We don't gather this info to copy podcasters or writers. That is for Yahoo Kids. What we listen for is that one piece of info that may move Kyle Tucker a hair ahead of Julio Rodriguez instead of Julio Rodriguez being a hair ahead of Kyle Tucker.
(Now you'll have to excuse me because the Rodriguez/Tucker mention is going to send me off on a different jaunt.)

Have you noticed a strange phenomenom?
Most drafts kinda start like this....

Turner
Acuna
Ramirez
Judge
Rodriguez
Tucker

All these players are five-category players. Sugar for our sweet tooth.
After these fellas are drafted, we get the lesser (in ADP terms) five category players...

Ohtani
Betts
Witt Jr.
Soto
Bichette
and four category guys, Vladdy and Alvarez

So, we've gone 12 spots into the draft and everybody, save Vladdy, Alvarez and Ohtani, are the same type of fantasy player.
How do the drafters on the end get their edge?
Most of them corner the top heavy corners market or get a head start on pitching.
The next players drafted are...

Machado
Freeman
Riley
Alonso
Devers
Goldy
Burnes
Cole

With a sprinkle of Tatis Jr. and Trout who are being penalized for suspension and/or injury.
So, the front of the draft is being penalized for getting a great player by not being able to draft a top-flight (in our minds) corner.
After the corners mentioned, the top corners are Matt Olson, a fourth round pick and Alex Bregman who normally falls to the bottom of the fifth or top of the sixth round.

It's kinda cool. Especially for picking KDS. Do we feel more comfortable starting our draft with a bona fide five category player missing on a wonderful corner or do we want to corner a market not available to those that draft at the top of the draft.
Of course, if ultra concerned about this, we could draft Jose Ramirez or play Bobby Witt Jr. at his 3B spot. That would be a consideration if loving those those two players, for those that don't, they are left to decide which corners down the line in a draft fit into their plans.

After that beginning comes the pitching. Lots of it. Check your draft Boards.
From pick 25 to pick 60, it is at the least half-yellow.
The best of the Closers, Aces, and near-Aces are taken.
The rhythm has held through the whole of the drafting season.
Will it hold through the Main Events and larger drafts?
It's hard to forecast.
Traditionally, pitching moves up into the first round. As many as five of them. I don't think five pitchers happens this year in most drafts.
First, because we don't have a dominant pitcher.
Sure, there is Burnes and Cole and Diaz and Clase, but are they really THAT much ahead of the pitching field to miss out on a five category player or a top corner?
I don't think so.
Brandon Woodruff is much closer to Corbin Burnes than Eugenio Suarez is to Manny Machado.

We are a Peyton Place when it comes to drafting.
We are all looking for that angle.
That one piece of information that could lead us to an Overall Championship.
Do we draft from the start, the middle, or the end.
That is the first question.
And that one alone, is so tough.
We won't find that answer from any podcast or article (Guess I'll talk about them in a future post!)
Nope, it'll have to come mostly from our heart....well that and where we can find some sort of angle... :lol:
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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