We just held the draft for our 10 team, head to head points league. In a points league, scoring is quite different than the more traditional Rotissery 5x5 league, as explained here in a summary of an ESPN points mock. We use nearly the same points as they do, with 12 starts allowed per week. We also have a limit of 5 transactions per week, which limits the ability to stream pitchers.
My general strategy is to draft at least seven good pitchers, and focus on power and on base percentage in hitters. I typically delay / punt on saves, picking up a couple of late round, mid-quality closers. For this year, I also decided to delay on catcher and middle infield positions. Catcher is quite deep this year, especially in our 1 catcher league. And middle infield is pretty week overall - with a few exceptions (Cano, Tulo) the points difference between a good one (e.g. Brandon Phillips) and a late round one isn't all that large. I'd rather get the big boppers in the OF and corner infield. I live in the SF Bay Area and am a huge As fan, and a big Giants fan, so I like drafting a few of them, and avoid Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers.
Our league is half fun and half competitive. A few of the teams were on autodraft, which made things interesting. You knew that some players were unlikely to make it to you the next round cause the auto-drafters might get them. But a couple of the autodrafters had modified their list, in particular, it was clear that Mommy Monsters (henceforth M-M), last year's champion, had done a great job (IMO) arranging their list. Most of the players were drafting live. Displaced Braves Fan (BRVS), SF Marauders (SFM) and I seem to have similar tastes. I had the #1 pick, which means that I have a very long wait between picks, then get to pick two. This gives a long time to plan ahead, which I liked. But you also have to look pretty far ahead. If somebody you like is in the next 20 players, they are likely to be gone, so sometimes you have to reach to get them. In my summary I goupr by my pairs of picks.
Round 1: I briefly considered Cano, and happily picked Cabrera. Cano went #2 to M-M. The rest went largely as one might expect.
Rounds 2,3: I was targeting Price or King Felix, but was surprised that Stanton fell so far. He was rated #11 IIRC, which might be a bit high with such a weak team around him. I grabbed Price, thought a bit, and decided that Stanton was a steal at #21. EE, one of my 1B targets, went next to M-M.
Rounds 4,5: Billy Butler, one of my 1B targets, went to Falcons. I like Wonderbolts pick of Harper at #30. I didn't expect Cain or Hamels to fall this far, and they didn't. But Ben Zobrist did. He takes walks and scores well in our system, rating as a top SS and 2B, plus a decent OF. With this flexibility, he was worth breaking my "wait on MI" strategy. I considered CC and Yu, but settled on Zobrist and Gio Gonzalez. M-M took CC right after.
Rounds 6,7: Three OF I had targeted, Holliday, Cespedes, and Gordon were picked before me this round. I'm not a big fan of the next tier, guys like Bourn, Jennings. I considered Austin Jackson, then went with two more great pitchers, Bumgarner and Greinke. M-M took Jackson right after! It was pretty eerie how her autopick was reading my mind. :-)
Rounds 8,9: With EE off the board, I was considering Allen Craig, Goldschmidt and Freeman for 1B, and Medlin or Moore for SP. But Saf Runs, SFM and BRVS took three of them, so I took Moore and Freeman.
Rounds 10,11: Many of the top relievers were picked just ahead of me this round, e.g. Papelbon, Motte, Rodney. One of them would have been interesting. I though long and hard about Granderson. How long will he be on the DL and how good will he be when he returns? I considered Mo Rivera and Ian Kennedy. Finally, did a bit of a reach for two of my targets, Brett Anderson and Beltran.
Rounds 12,13: M-M grabbed Swisher just ahead of me, and way ahead of his ranking! I thought long and hard about Lincecum, who had dropped a lot from his "ranking". Eventually picked Anibel Sanchez and Konerko. M-M picked Adam LaRoche, another guy "on my list".
Rounds 14,15: Lincecum and Jarrod Parker were gone. Considered Romo and Holland as closers. Went with Morse and Hudson.
Rounds 16,17: Two hometown picks that made sense, Reddick and Balfour. I have a quality closer, and my major hitters are in place.
Rounds 18,19: Nerds picked Moustakis, and SFM took Vogelsong, two guys I considered. Time to fill in MI and C, with two late round picks I think will work out well: Simmons and M. Montero.
Rounds 20,21: Aoki and a second closer, Grilli. SFM picked Cuddyer, and Underdogs picked Morales, two guys I was considering here.
Rounds 22,23: Profar for MI made sense. Our league added a second Utility spot this year, and I wasn't sure how many boppers would last, so I reached for Brandon Moss. In retrospect, this is one pick I'd change, to pick Wilhelsen instead. Hopefully for me and the As Moss will continue his breakout from last year, but it's risky.
Rounds 24,25: Adam Dunn for Util made sense. Our league doesn't count batting average. Round 25 became the "hot prospect" round. I took Gyorko, M-M picked Eaton, and Obey the Pug took Wil Myers. At the end of the year we will see who guessed the best.
Rounds 26,27,28: Here we are mainly filling in depth and guessing on prospects. I like my picks of Shelby Miller, Rutledge, and Carpenter, but it's all a gamble down here.
Summary: Like my eight starters, plus Miller, and my batters. Wish I had one more reliever, but they come and go during the year. Should be able to pick one up, or else pick up a good setup man for a few points. I probably have one too many hitters on the bench, but right now it isn't clear who should go. It will depend on how they perform and who gets hurt. If Matt Carpenter sticks, between him and Zobrist I have a ton of positional flexibility. Especially if Carpenter gains 2B eligibility and Gyorko 3B. I have a few older players (Hudson, Konerko, Beltran, Dunn) who need monitoring for injuries and decline, but most of the team is young.
Should be a fun year!
Friday, March 22, 2013
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