RADIO
It’s officially fantasy baseball season! While everyone shakes the snow off and rejoins their leagues from last year, the countdown until draft day begins.
Draft day is easily the most important day of any season, as even the best fantasy baseball players can’t afford to miss their draft. Last season I wrote an article giving draft day tips for the perfect fantasy baseball team, and I’ve updated the list for this season.
Following these draft day tips will help managers properly prepare for draft day and ensure success for the 2015 fantasy baseball season.
Mock Draft From Different Draft Slots
It is pretty hard to prepare for a draft when you do not know your draft order. Some leagues publish the order beforehand, but most leave it up to a random draw on draft day. With that in mind, the best way to overcome this, especially for those in multiple leagues, is to mock draft from different spots. The benefit of this is that you can get a good idea of who will be available in what rounds (and who won’t be) as well as where you might need to sacrifice an earlier pick to guarantee that guy you really want.
Use Your Queue Properly
The queue can be a great tool if you use it properly. I figured out a tip that gives a whole new way to use this tool. When looking at your board, figure out how many picks you are away from your next turn. Then, load the queue with the players you are considering taking with your next pick, noting your previous picks to see what you positions you might be short on. They don’t all have to be above the grey line signaling your draft number. What this avoids is freezing during your turn which often leads to momentary stress and more than likely, a bad pick. It provides you a fallback option at the very least.
Look For Multi-Position Players For Your UTIL/Bench
Once you have your starting hitters, almost all leagues have a few utility spots. I use these spots to try and add players who can be used in different positions. Last season I used examples of Xander Bogaerts and Nick Swisher. While Bogaerts is still an option, I am also looking at players like Brett Lawrie, Danny Santana and Javier Baez as great guys to fill this hole. They are not only great players for being flexible with your lineups, but they can also can help take over a starting spot if you make a trade or when somebody inevitably gets hurt.
Be Smart When Drafting Closers
Last season, I stated to avoid closers early in the draft. This year, I have a different approach. Looking at the top guys, Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and Greg Holland, they are always going to be drafted earlier than their ADP. However, that is because they are the few ninth inning guys who have a firm grip on their closing jobs. While it still isn’t smart to go overboard in taking closers early, it is a good idea for your team to have not only an elite closing option, but one that you won’t need to consider dropping if a closer committee materializes.
Don't Overvalue Your Sleepers
Simply put, if you’re worried that your sleepers might get taken early, they probably aren’t sleepers. They are just guys you overvalue. Look at Xander Bogaerts for example. He was a guy I was incredibly excited about heading into 2014, and I drafted him in the 12th round. His final rank of 413 shows that was not a good decision.
It’s great that you do research before the draft and maybe see somebody ranked lower than they should be, but odds are your love for that player is a personal reason. Nonetheless, sleepers are a great thing to have in the back of your head and target in drafts, but don’t go drafting them a whole 5 rounds early just because you can’t live without them. If you draft them too early, it defeats the point of them being a sleeper!
That’s the end of my draft strategy tips for now RotoBallers; I pray nobody reading this is in my own leagues. For everybody else, I hope you use this advice well and come out of your fantasy baseball drafts feeling good. Best of luck in your 2015 MLB fantasy baseball season!
