General Fantasy Baseball Advice

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

My buddies and I are starting a league for the first time this year. We have had a solid fantasy football league going for the past 5 years and figured it was time to branch out into baseball. I am very unfamiliar with the differences between fantasy football and fantasy baseball so I could use all the advice I can get. Here are my questions:

 

1) What are the statistics I should value the most, and what statistics are the easiest to find in later rounds?

2) When drafting what kind of balance should I look for between pitchers and position players.

3) Are there some positions that HAVE to be filled early, or is this like a reduced QB fantasy football league where you can wait to draft a QB in later rounds.

4) While drafting should I consider the overall depth of the position, or always draft BPA?

5) Any other advice you may have for a fantasy baseball virgin

[Tracer Bullet]

that's awfully vague. Is it a 5x5 league (the standard 10 categories, 5 pitching, 5 hitting: W, saves, Ks, ERA, WHIP and AVG, R, HR, RBI, SB)? Is it roto or head to head? How many teams in the league?

 

Some fantasy baseball "experts" will say "don't pay for saves" (i.e., don't spend high draft picks on closers like Rivera, Nathan, etc). I tend to follow that strategy in most drafts. This year, there is a lot of depth at SP, so unless this is a really deep league (lots of teams or big rosters) you can probably get great value at SP in the late rounds. I think there are also a lot of cheap SBs out there, so you probably don't need to spend a high pick on a guy that doesn't excel at anything but SBs.

 

The shallow positions tend to be 2B, 3B and SS. Seems most people will take one of the top players at those positions (ARod, Longoria, Wright, HRam, Tulo, Utley) in the first or early second rounds, but not reach for the next tier at any of those positions. Some people will reach for a C but if there are 12 or fewer teams, your high picks are probably better spent in other areas and then taking one of the many passable Cs late in the draft.

 

If none of the managers has any experience, you're probably fine just picking a strategy of some sort and seeing how it works out. If it's like 90% of the leagues I've been in, half the teams will have stopped paying attention by June, especially if they're all first timers.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

It's a 6x6 league. For hitters avg, runs, sb, hr, rbi, and walks. For pitchers ERA, WHIP, K, W, Saves, and Holds. It's also a head to head league with 12 teams. Money is involved so I don't think participation will be a problem.