The Fantasy Draft- the most important event of your fantasy season.  I have written ten tips that are based on my own personal experiences.  The tips are designed so you can be prepared for a good fantasy draft.  These tips are geared towards everyone, not necessarily just new people.  Some of these tips may seem like no-brainers, but they are essential to every fantasy draft.  You probably have your own way of doing things (which is good), but it can never hurt to get different opinions and ideas.  So I hope you all find this helpful, good luck!

1)  Set aside sufficient time for your draft, so you can stay for the whole thing.  Having a list of pre-ranked players isn’t enough as your draft priorities are constantly changing.  Being at the draft also gives you a huge number of advantages that I will discuss later.

2)  Get comfortable.  Fantasy baseball drafts are usually long and you should be there for each and every pick.  You’re most likely going to have to be in front of the computer the whole time.  Make this easier on yourself by brining a snack, drink, and a comfortable chair.

3)  There are usually time limits for each pick.  Use all of the time you need to make your pick.  Just because other managers rush their picks it doesn’t mean you have to.  You want to be certain you are getting the best player for your team.  Rushing never helps.

4)  Computer crashes and other unexpected things happen, so be sure to have some form of a backup.  This could mean pre-ranking your players, stopping the draft, or having a friend pick for you.  Whatever it is, make sure you do it.  There is nothing worse than losing a pick or having a computer make a dumb pick for you.

5)  Come to your draft with a handwritten, ranked list of players (rank them yourself).  By having a physical list of players in front of you, you won’t panic, forget about a player, or make mistakes when drafting.  If you ever become unsure about a pick, just look at your trusty list to see who you think is better.  You can also take note of position eligibility, sleeper picks, overvalued players, etc.

6)  When making your ranked list of players, make sure you note where talent drop-offs are.  By adding drop-offs to your list, you know where the talent starts to get thinner at every position.  This can be very helpful when making a pick.  For example, if you are debating between Jeff Kent and Jose Guillen, and the next best available second baseman is Mark Bellhorn, you should go with Kent.  These players will post similar numbers, but the talent drop-off at second base should be enough of an incentive to go with Kent.  This has proven to be incredibly helpful to me in my fantasy drafts.

7)  Never talk smack during the draft.  A lot of people will make picks in the draft that seem stupid to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to tell them about it.  You don’t want to show disrespect as that puts you at an immediate disadvantage for the whole season.  If you are constantly criticizing others, some people might be inclined not to trade with you.  If you don’t show respect to others, they won’t show respect back.  Some people wont get upset if you talk smack, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

8)  Be wary of trends during your draft, as they can easily sucker you into picking an inferior player.  We have all seen trends during drafts- a round or two when everyone will pick a catcher or closer.  It is fine to go with the crowd and pick that type of player, unless you are getting an inferior player.  If a top closer is still available, grab him if you want.  Just don’t settle for a lesser closer (those guys will still be there later).  You should keep your cool, analyze who is left, and if that guy isn’t up to par, pick a different kind of player.

9)  You can use sleepers to cause a scramble.  If you drafted some good first basemen, maybe your value for Justin Morneau has decreased.  If you don’t need him as much, you can try to make someone else pick him early.  There are two ways of doing this, the wrong way and the right way.  Do not say/type something like “Justin Morneau is available!  He is an awesome sleeper pick!  You guys better jump on him fast!”  That will only get other people angry with you (remember, respect).  The right way of going about this is to bring up Morneau in conversation.  You can say you were considering Morneau, but went with Dunn instead.  Now all of a sudden, Morneau’s name is out there.  This almost always causes someone to jump the gun and spend a higher draft pick than they normally would have (if you don’t believe me, ask some people after the draft).

10)  Don’t offer trades during the draft.  This isn’t a huge issue, but when I see people offering trades during the draft, one thing immediately comes to mind- these people are unhappy with their teams.  Offering trades can also distract you away from the draft itself- something that can never help you.  Always show confidence with your picks.  You will never second guess yourself and some managers might think twice about making a certain pick if you project “I know what I am doing” confidence.

I hope everyone finds these tips to be helpful.  Any comments are appreciated; just send me a private message.  And always remember to have fun at your draft!

THIS ARTICLE WAS SUBMITTED BY BLASTER FOR THE 2004 MEMBER ARTICLE SUBMISSION CONTEST

Blaster Draft Strategy

Never Draft Starting Pitchers earlier than the third round

I have seen many drafts over the past couple years where managers are drafting pitchers in the first and second rounds only to have that stud they were relying on go down with an injury and be lost for a good portion of the season. Here are a few examples of starting pitchers that on average were chosen in the first two rounds of drafts: Mark Prior, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Two years ago Schilling and Johnson were chosen early and both had dismal seasons due to injuries. Last year Mark Prior had a very disappointing season due to his injuries. Now I know it is the debating season so I am sure there are people who will say hitters get hurt just as often, but they are easier to compensate for than losing a stud SP.

Finding a consistent offensive player is a lot harder to find on the waiver wire than a Starting Pitcher for a Spot start. Think about this? An offensive player can still play hurt most of the time yet if a pitcher hurts his arm he pretty much has no value to you at all. Pitchers rely on one thing and that is there arm. Hitters on the other hand will play with sprains or pulls and still be productive for you. So why take the chance? Get those big sticks early. Stack your offense and wait until the 3rd round or later to grab a quality starter, trust me there will be plenty to choose from. Here is just few quality starting pitchers along with last years stats whom will most likely be available in later rounds of your draft.

                                 IP       W       S     K       ERA     WHIP

Roy Oswalt                  237     20       0    206     3.49      1.24

Livan Hernandez           255     11       0    186     3.60      1.24

Carl Pavano                 222     18       0    139     3.00      1.17

Freddie Garcia              210     13       0    184     3.81      1.22

There are quite a few other starters but this is just a sample. Now add 1 or two solid middle relief pitchers like:

Tom Gordon                 89.2     9        4    96       2.21       .88

Ryan Madson                77       9        1    55       2.34      1.13

Finish off with a 2 to 3 Proven Closers and you will have a nice staff.

Note: Proven closers will go at any time in the draft, I’ve seen Gagne go in the first round a few times so pay attention to the other managers picks and don’t get short changed.

As for my thoughts, well I like to take chances.  In many drafts I have waited until the 5^th round to pick my first pitcher and usually it is a proven closer. This system has worked for me as last year I had 2 first place finishes and 2 second place finishes; not too bad for a guy who’s only been playing fantasy baseball for two seasons.

The LIMA Plan (Low Investment Mound Aces)

The LIMA plan was popularized by Ron Shandler who employed this method to win several Experts Leagues. It works best in a 4x4 environment but can be employed in a 5x5 as well, though it is more difficult to win with. The basic premise of this system is to build a dominant offense and amass a pitching staff of undervalued pitchers with the right set of skills ratios.

· In an auction league you start by setting a maximum pitching budget of $60. In a straight draft this means not selecting any pitching until late in the draft.

· This leaves you with either $200 to spend on hitting, or the ability to stack your offense in the first ten rounds of the draft.

· You need some saves so spend $30 of your $60 pitching budget on saves. The remaining pitchers need to fit the following criteria:

o 2.0 K:BB or better
o 6.0 K/9 IP or better
o 1.0 HR/9 or better.
o Past ERA is irrelevant
o Draft the minimum number of IP allowed.

The theory behind this approach is that pitching is very inconsistent and hard to predict. By ignoring the past performance numbers and drafting based on inherent skills you will find pitchers poised to breakout. You will get them very cheap, and if you drafted properly, you should have a dominant offense. This approach is more difficult to pull off in 5x5 leagues because you will most likely do poorly in 2 categories, Wins and Ks. This approach is also difficult if your league has a very high minimum IP requirement.