Help also needed!

[WSR]

I am in the Brewers fantasy league and I would like it you guys could help me prerank my players. Please help I am new with fantasy stuff! :)

[HamelsToe]

Can you post the list of your desired players?

[sportznut]

I am in the Brewers fantasy league and I would like it you guys could help me prerank my players. Please help I am new with fantasy stuff! :)
Well preranking takes a ton of time to do, but one good thing to consider is not necessarily a guy's last season, but his average year over the last 3.

Of course there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, especially for young guys or someone with a change of teams.

Playing in certain ballparks (Coors for example) and lineups (Anaheim, St. Louis, NY, Boston, Texas are top hitting clubs) could also raise or lower someone's value.

If you go to CBS Sportsline, ESPN fantasy section, or Yahoo (or all of them) there are a lot of great tools for the newbies.

I hope you're patient though. If you really want to be good right off the bat and don't know what you're doing, you'll need to do some research.

Just remember that the draft is only one part of the season.

Getting those sleepers are nice, and very helpful, but you'll most likely miss on as many as you're right on.

Making waiver wire pickups after the draft and trading can help out immensely.

Since fantasy baseball is a long season, if you're on top of your game even with a poor draft you have plenty of time to try to fix it.

As far as sleepers go look for rookies, guys thrown into the starting lineups, or someone who was hurt the last year or even longer. These guys can be found later in your draft, but you'll be lucky to be right half the time.

[WSR]

What players would you guys recommend drafting and what round? I'll consider that sportznut thanks

[MadNova]

Are you in my league?


In that case, rank all the Pirate, Blue Jay, and National players at the top. ;)

[sportznut]

One other thing you can do is do a google search for "mock fantasy baseball drafts," or something along those lines.

Although clearly not the bible, it should give you some insight as to where guys that you're targeting are being drafted.

And pay close attention to the depth at each position when determining a strategy for your draft.

Everyone has different strategies, but you want to do your best not to have any scrubs that you're required to start.

The scoring system for the league you're in can be a factor in who you choose also.

If K's are a stat kept for the hitters, you might not want to go get Adam Dunn.

[WSR]

Thanks for the info sports. Who would you draft in the first couple rounds.

[HamelsToe]

Thanks for the info sports. Who would you draft in the first couple rounds.
Pujols
A-Rod
Abreu
Vlad
Johan
Beltran (though I would not, most people will)

[WSR]

Pujols
A-Rod
Abreu
Vlad
Johan
Beltran (though I would not, most people will)

Do you prerank by position or round

[sportznut]

Do you prerank by position or round
What type of scoring system do you have and what site is running your league?

In Yahoo you can prerank the overall guys or by position.

I do live drafts and don't spend much time preranking if at all.

But last year in football my computer froze and I took 6 RBs in a row while I was trying to get back on.

I had the RBs queued up in the live draft board.

So yes you should do some preranking.

If you're not going to be live, then you have your work cut out for you b/c it will take awhile.

[WSR]

What type of scoring system do you have and what site is running your league?

In Yahoo you can prerank the overall guys or by position.

I do live drafts and don't spend much time preranking if at all.

But last year in football my computer froze and I took 6 RBs in a row while I was trying to get back on.

I had the RBs queued up in the live draft board.

So yes you should do some preranking.

If you're not going to be live, then you have your work cut out for you b/c it will take awhile.

I wouldn't be able to meet the draft. Really sucks, I will check out the scoring.

[WSR]

R, H, HR, RBI, SB, K, TB, AVG, OBP, SLG, IP, W, L, CG, SHO, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP

here they are.

[sportznut]

I wouldn't be able to meet the draft. Really sucks, I will check out the scoring.
I suggest that you prerank the guys you really want above where they are ranked at the default level.

Not necessarily at the top of your list, but higher than you think they might go.

This should give you a better chance to land some of these "sleeper" types while the guys who didn't spend the time to do this get the default guy. Keep in mind some of the guys that are ranked by default could be hurt for the season or the beginning of the year. Some might even be retired.

Obviously you don't want to get stuck with these guys on your team if their injuries are serious.

[WSR]

Thanks for the help sportz. I will totally consider it.

[sportznut]

Thanks for the help sportz. I will totally consider it.
n/p anytime.

I'm very competitive so you won't see me naming a lot of names (except obvious ones), but I will help you out anyway I can.

Now if you want to know what I think about a specific guy you could always PM me.

Just remember that I'm wrong about as often as I'm right when it comes to sleepers. It's a crapshoot. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. Guys get hurt and underachieve all the time. Guys come out of nowhere and are picked up off the wire all the time.

You just need to be quick to act on those guys and you'll be fine.

[Boik14 is the shiz]

Are you in my league?


In that case, rank all the Pirate, Blue Jay, and National players at the top. ;)If you gave him all those teams players he would probably kick your ass depending on the league size. With 12 or more teams in the league and depending on the categories used, this wouldnt be a bad team at all; though its a little weak at SS/util/closer (Mesa).

C Craig Wilson
1b Brad Wilkerson (32/hr/10+sb/80 or so RBI)
2b Vidro
SS Jack Wilson
3b Koskie/Hillenbrand
OF Jason Bay
OF Alex Rios (sb's!)/Termell Sledge/Ryan Church
OF Vernon Wells
Util Koskie or Killenbrand...whichever he didnt use at 3b

SP Halladay
SP Oliver Perez
SP Kip Wells
SP Josh Fogg
SP Livan Hernanzez (CG games monster!)
SP Ted Lilly
CL Chad Cordero
CL Jose Mesa

[Boik14 is the shiz]

R, H, HR, RBI, SB, K, TB, AVG, OBP, SLG, IP, W, L, CG, SHO, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP

here they are.You should probably order the yahoo predraft kit for like 10 bones or find a good fantasy baseball mag. cause it would give you a lot more info than anyone is going to care to type out, though I'll give you whatever i can think of for now as well as some suggestions. Also and use the following free sites to help keep tabs on injuries/projections etc:

rotoworld.com
kffl.com
fanball.com

Yahoo, among other fantasy sites use these. I would also suggest looking up last years stats extensively. Take note of players like Vinny Castilla who crush balls at Coors but suck on the road.
Try not to set your sights or heart on any one player because drafts never go as planned. Always prerank in order of best player and not by position. If you get 3 good 1b, thats what trades are for. Most of all, think with your head not your heart in fantasy sports. Detatch yourself from your favorite players cause if you dont land them you wont want to overpay for them. And dont believe for a second that theyre going to solve all your stats.

Post draft...analyze based on last years stats/this years projections/3 years averages where you're weak. If you need a few SB's search the waiver wire for a guy liek Dave Roberts before you go trading for someone.

I can tell you right now that with SLG, OBP, BA, HR, R, and RBI as stats Barry Bonds should be your 1st pick. I hate him but I drafted him and ended up owning those stats with Bonds last year as he will single handedly own slg/obp every week. No one else is even close there; not Pooholes, Arod, no one because of Bonds high walk ratio and the fact he gets more extra base hits than singles. He'll be ready for the season so I wouldnt worry much. Also since he hardly K's he wont hurt you there. Another guy who would help in those same stats later on (figure around round 9-10) is Larry Walker. He's an injury risk so be careful, but he will probably hit 2nd in that awesome lineup which will mean extra runs scored and extra pitches to hit. Another low K hitter with a very high reward upside.

For holds, you'll want to consider Antonio Osuna and Scott Linebrick (Spelling?) from S.D. as well as Tom Gordon from NYY and Ray King from St Louis. These guys are the best in Holds which I can promise you everyone will forget about with so many stats. Draft a couple with your last few picks. Its an easy stat to steal.

Be careful with Closers and Holds. If you get a couple early in the week and your opponent is weak in these stats sometimes its best to pull them out of your lineup entirely cause 1 bad inning can sometimes make your ERA and WHIP balloon. Adding an extra Sv or Hold that isnt necessary at the expense of other stats would be dumb.

For Complete games take Livan Hernandez. Whoever gets him is going to win that stat more often than not cause hes usually good for 7-10 a year, usually much better than anyone else. He wont hurt you in any other stat except Losses and he'll be an asset in K/IP so clearly the good outweighs the bad. Oswalt, sheets, schilling, Sabathia, and Mark Buerhle are also good options in that stat though Sheets, schilling and oswalt will be gone by round four or five guaranteed...if they arent gone than make them disappear cause its tremendous value.

Keep an eye on hot starting FA's once the season starts; picking good FA's and good late round players who will contribute are a big part of any good fantasy team. Sometimes its better to go with a guy who will only help in 1-2 stats your weak in than a hot rookie whos unproven. Dont believe the hype. Rookies and young players take time to adjust so if you draft a David Wright or a Dallas McPhereson at 3b or a rookie/young player at any position, be patient. Maybe bench them if theyre really hurting you but dont go dumping them until youre sure they suck.

Make use of your DL spots. If you see someone dump a star whos going to be out a month or two and your injury free it pays to stash them on your DL. Theres always a fool who does this. Drop your worst player, pick up dumped star X, and find a player who you can use. When your previously dumped worst player clears waivers grab him back if you want. Alot of time you can use injured stars as a trade asset and you may not need to wait for them to recover to get a player who can really help you.

2b is a tricky position and steals are a tricky stat. Consider someone Chone Figgins from Anaheim who will become 2b eligible and steal a ton of bases and score a lot of runs instead of over reaching for Soriano or Marcus Giles early on unless the value is there.

Finally, After Bonds you'll want to consider going with Infielder's early. OF's by nature will be more plentiful later on because each team has 3 and most leagues dont designate between RF/CF/LF. Conversely theres only 1 1b on every team so theres less to go around. For that reason SS/2b tend to go especially early. Dont reach for players, but be aware of what position is flying off the board.

[Boik14 is the shiz]

Ok so I'm doing you all a massive favor. Ive got my 1st 2 fantasy pools coming up in a week or so, so Ive been researching some stuff. i came through with some sleepers/guys that fly under the radar at every spot. Most of these guys will be there in the late rounds and will fill a need for you. They'll be especially useful players in leagues 12 teams or deeper where it gets to be thin at many positions later in the draft.

C
1 - Miguel Olivo
2 - Joe Mauer (star upside but he wont lat like the others on this list)
3 - Brandon Inge (usually C eligible!)
4 - Yader Molina (Cards - Bengie's bro can hit supposedly but is a rookie)
5 - J.D. Closser (Plays in Coors and can hit. Nuff said)
6 - Jason Kendall (Good BA, OBP, R, SB totals for a C)

1B
1 - Shea Hillenbrand (Usally 1b/3b eligible. Move to AL helps and playing in skydome helps even more)
2 - Andy LaRoche (Braves 1b will sit vs LHP probably but still may slug 25hrs/85rbi w/a nice BA)
3 - Nick Johnson (In his prime @<hidden> and due to stay healthy 1 of these years and he'll hit 300-20-80 when he does)
4 - Mike Sweeney (A well known player coming off an injury but could be a mid round steal)

2B
1 - Chase Utley (should see good AB's @<hidden> 2b and LF and contribute good power stats for a 2b)
2 - Michael Cuddeyer (Twins - will probably play 3rd but since his natural spot is 2b he should be eligible here at some point if not right away)
3 - Chone Figgins (Angels - Got SB's? Triples? Now you do.) Will start at 2b so hang onto him if hes not eligible there right away.
4 - Mark Bellhorn (Hits in stacked Boston lineup. Good R, RBI, RS totals for a 2b)

SS
1 - Jose Reyes (I admit some hommerism here but he is an elite prospect and looks to be healthy. Could challenge for Sb crown, good RS/BA/triples)
2 - Bobby Crosby (Will either improve on 22/70 or sophmore slump but worth a look)
3 - Cesar Isturis (LAD - If Sb's are at a premium in your league and SS options are dwindling he wont hurt your BA or OBP)
4 - JJ Hardy (Milwakee - young player with HR and SB potential. Decent option in deep leagues)

3B
1 - David Wright (25/85/300/figure at least 15+SB not out of the question, Great upside)
2 - Dallas McPherson (Angels - starter @<hidden> 3b...great power, 46hr in AAA last year)
3 - Mark Teahan (More of a keeper pick as hes was key to the Beltran deal for KC. Could develop very good power but wont hurt in BA/OBP for now)
4 - Andy Marte (ATL - Huge huge upside)
5 - Casey Blake (Cleve - flies under the radar every year. 3b/1b eligible usually and good power stats)

OF
1 - Nick Swisher (Oak - Careful with rookies but he seems to be the real deal. Should come through with good power stats for a rookie)
2 - Jason Bay (Pitt - 25-30hrs not out of the ?, good player all around)
3 - Kevin Mench
4 - Laynce Nix (Both he and Mench will be 20hr guys for Texas)
5 - David Dejesus - (KC - baby beltran, expect him to develop the same way. The power stats will come soon)
6 - Alex Rios - (Toronto - Should give more power this year. Will certainly give SB/BA/R)
7 - Jason Lane (starter for Houston with good pop)
8 - Jay Gibbons (Balt - should revert to 27/100 type stats @<hidden> age 27 in his prime)
9 - Mondesi (The braves always fix broken players)
10 - Jeremy Reed (seattle Cf is a solid prospect)
11, 12, 13, 14- Austin Kearns, Luis Matos, Wily Mo Pena, Victor Diaz...these guys either need to be healthy or get traded out of platoon/backup situations
15 - coco crisp (Cleve, good all around player. 300/20/70/25sb not out of the ?)
16 - Grady Sizemore (Cleve - huge upside across the board except SB)

SP
Kazmir, francis, gavin floyd, cole hamels, Dan Meyer, Joe Blanton, Brandon League, edwin jackson - all great keeper potential and keep an eye on them for this year. League, floyd and hamels will prob. start the year in the minors though.

Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Webb, Horacio Ramirez, Adam eaton, Cliff Lee, Kip Wells, Wade Miller, Vicente Padilla, Jeremy Bonderman - Only Bonderman has ace upside of the group but the rest are solid contributors who can round out your staff later on in the draft.

Be cognizant of position battles usually at closer (Cubs, jays, etc) and also in the Reds OF where 4 talented players reside (Griffey, Dunn both should start but also Wily Mo Pena who hit 290 w/22hr and Austin Kearns whos a bigtime prospect competing for the RF job)

Also try and get a listing from whatever site you use and find out what players are eligible at other positions. Versitility is very important. A guy like Craig Wilson who plays all but 10 or so games in the OF but becomes C eligible because he played 10 games there can win your league cause he gives star quality production as a C compared to marginal production if he was solely an OF.

Make use of drop/add. If you see your down a run or an RBi late in the week try and find a player likely to start whos hitting in a boombox like Coors or vs texas, KC etc. Play the matchups when you do this. Because of the Dh and overall favortism towards offense in the AL, games are typically more high scoring. Dont pass up Coors though. Sometimes its a good idea if theres no limit on roster moves throughout the year and the league has a lot of good FA's to keep a spot to rotate players. If you see a pitcher vs KC who is an average pitcher it may be a good gamble for a CG or high K or an extra W since KCs lineup is fairly weak.

[Boik14 is the shiz]

By the way, when you guys win $ leagues I expect a cut of the winnings for my services :D