New to fantasy baseball

[ScrubMD]

This year is the first time I've done fantasy baseball and I'm not really sure what the hell I'm doing. After the draft I realized I drafted more towards the players I would want on a real team more so than who will be better this year in a fantasy format. So I have a few questions if anyone would want to take a shot at them.

 

1. What's a good ratio of SP/RP? Is it better to do like a real draft and pick the overall better pitcher, or is there a certain ration that is good to have?

 

2. Similar question. Because of the drafting method I mentioned, I picked up David Price towards the end. I guess a lot of this question is based on actual knowledge of the Rays situation, but do you think it would be better to hold onto a potential steal like Price, or to pick up someone like Kevin Gregg to take his place?

 

3. Let's say I have a lot of good strikeout SP, would it be better to have an awesome set up man (holds are not counted) or an average closer?

[Roast]

This year is the first time I've done fantasy baseball and I'm not really sure what the hell I'm doing. After the draft I realized I drafted more towards the players I would want on a real team more so than who will be better this year in a fantasy format. So I have a few questions if anyone would want to take a shot at them.

 

1. What's a good ratio of SP/RP? Is it better to do like a real draft and pick the overall better pitcher, or is there a certain ration that is good to have?

 

2. Similar question. Because of the drafting method I mentioned, I picked up David Price towards the end. I guess a lot of this question is based on actual knowledge of the Rays situation, but do you think it would be better to hold onto a potential steal like Price, or to pick up someone like Kevin Gregg to take his place?

 

3. Let's say I have a lot of good strikeout SP, would it be better to have an awesome set up man (holds are not counted) or an average closer?

well, it would help in large part to actually see your team when answering these questions, but here's what I've got:

 

1. For me, I always like to grab at least one stud starting pitcher early in the rounds (rarely the first round, personally). This year I grabbed Johan Santana with my second pick. After that, starting pitchers can be kind of fickle. For example any given week Carlos Zambrano has a decent probability of giving you a worse start than, say, Jason Marquis. Obviously, with the better pitcher you are more likely to get a good start, so you do want to try to fill your team with the best pitchers possible while at the same time paying mind to your stats. That is, if you draft someone like Matt Cain who will give you good ERA, Whip, and K numbers, you're still going to lose out on wins because he plays on the freaking Giants.

 

Long story short, it's a balance. Better pitchers always give you the best shot at getting points. That said, if you draft someone like a Johan Santana who gives you a ton of K's and a low ERA you are better able to afford a ted lilly type who won't give you as good of an ERA but is more likely to get wins than say a Matt Cain type, even though he may not be as good of a pitcher, simply because of the team he's on. As for relief pitchers, I rarely keep more relievers than i have spots for them. This allows me the maximum amount of starts from my starters (who log more innings, thus more opportunities for strikeouts - plus they are more likely to get wins). Relievers are really good for keeping your ERA and WHIP down while adding some extra K's, but i don't load my staff with them.

 

2. This one completely depends on your team. David Price could be a goldmine, but if you don't have the extra bench spots to hold him until he comes up then maybe Gregg would be a better option - especially if your closer situation is poor.

 

3. Again, depends on the team. If you already have a good closer or two, then take the really good middle reliever (say, marmol) who will add you a bunch of K's and low ERA numbers. But if you need a closer, i'd probably take that.

[OleMissCub]

3. Let's say I have a lot of good strikeout SP, would it be better to have an awesome set up man (holds are not counted) or an average closer?

 

Definitely go with the average closer.

 

As far as draft strategies go, I try and draft more stud pitchers than batters in the earlier rounds. I generally only have one or two batters on my bench. I try and load up with pitchers because an extra SP will help you far more often than a bench player will since the bench player rarely contributes but the SP can always contribute (assuming he doesn't suck).

[ScrubMD]

Thanks for the tips. This fantasy stuff is just going to take some getting used to. I never would have imagined a scenario where someone like Brian Wilson would be more valuable than David Price.

[OleMissCub]

Thanks for the tips. This fantasy stuff is just going to take some getting used to. I never would have imagined a scenario where someone like Brian Wilson would be more valuable than David Price.

 

Yes, you see that alot in fantasy where a guy might be very valuable in the "real world" but not in fantasy.

 

Oh another thing to keep in my mind is how UNvaluable outfielders are. I didn't draft any outfielders until like the 10th round or so. It is my opinion that unless you come across some uber-stud outfielder like Carlos Beltran was a few years ago, then you would be wise not to take an OF high. The reasoning being that outfielders are dime a dozen in that the difference between an elite outfielder and a regular outfielder is slight.

 

For example, look at last year's stats. There were 23 outfielders with 25 or more HR (the most being Dunn with 40) and 25 outfielders with 85+ RBI. First base is similar as well in that there are plenty of guys who can get you 25 HR, 85 RBI, and score 85 runs. Thus, unless a truly elite player at one of those positions falls in your lap in the first round or so, it is wiser (at least in my opinion) to take a stud SP or middle infielder high in the draft.

[ScrubMD]

Thanks for the tips. This fantasy stuff is just going to take some getting used to. I never would have imagined a scenario where someone like Brian Wilson would be more valuable than David Price.

 

Yes, you see that alot in fantasy where a guy might be very valuable in the "real world" but not in fantasy.

 

Oh another thing to keep in my mind is how UNvaluable outfielders are. I didn't draft any outfielders until like the 10th round or so. It is my opinion that unless you come across some uber-stud outfielder like Carlos Beltran was a few years ago, then you would be wise not to take an OF high. The reasoning being that outfielders are dime a dozen in that the difference between an elite outfielder and a regular outfielder is slight.

 

For example, look at last year's stats. There were 23 outfielders with 25 or more HR (the most being Dunn with 40) and 25 outfielders with 85+ RBI. First base is similar as well in that there are plenty of guys who can get you 25 HR, 85 RBI, and score 85 runs. Thus, unless a truly elite player at one of those positions falls in your lap in the first round or so, it is wiser (at least in my opinion) to take a stud SP or middle infielder high in the draft.

 

Yeah, that's one thing I did a good job with because that's something I'd do if I was building a real team. I was pretty happy with my early picks of Utley, McCann, and Stephen Drew.

 

But another thing that didn't even really cross my mind during the draft was steals. I think Utley is my top steal guy. But hopefully with the way I drafted, my HR, RBI, R/K, ERA, WHIP will make up for losing the steals and saves every time.

[Roast]

Thanks for the tips. This fantasy stuff is just going to take some getting used to. I never would have imagined a scenario where someone like Brian Wilson would be more valuable than David Price.

 

Yes, you see that alot in fantasy where a guy might be very valuable in the "real world" but not in fantasy.

 

Oh another thing to keep in my mind is how UNvaluable outfielders are. I didn't draft any outfielders until like the 10th round or so. It is my opinion that unless you come across some uber-stud outfielder like Carlos Beltran was a few years ago, then you would be wise not to take an OF high. The reasoning being that outfielders are dime a dozen in that the difference between an elite outfielder and a regular outfielder is slight.

 

For example, look at last year's stats. There were 23 outfielders with 25 or more HR (the most being Dunn with 40) and 25 outfielders with 85+ RBI. First base is similar as well in that there are plenty of guys who can get you 25 HR, 85 RBI, and score 85 runs. Thus, unless a truly elite player at one of those positions falls in your lap in the first round or so, it is wiser (at least in my opinion) to take a stud SP or middle infielder high in the draft.

 

Yeah, that's one thing I did a good job with because that's something I'd do if I was building a real team. I was pretty happy with my early picks of Utley, McCann, and Stephen Drew.

 

But another thing that didn't even really cross my mind during the draft was steals. I think Utley is my top steal guy. But hopefully with the way I drafted, my HR, RBI, R/K, ERA, WHIP will make up for losing the steals and saves every time.

 

I'm always terrible with steals. This year I did a little better - especially with my second draft - but I tend to always forget about steals.

[NCCubFan]

As far as draft strategies go, I try and draft more stud pitchers than batters in the earlier rounds. I generally only have one or two batters on my bench. I try and load up with pitchers because an extra SP will help you far more often than a bench player will since the bench player rarely contributes but the SP can always contribute (assuming he doesn't suck).

Any daily change league I'm in I usually have only one hitter on my bench and devote the rest of my bench positions to starting pitchers. I try to find a player with multi-position eligibility for the bench spot, even if he isn't the best hitter available.