The Start of a Fantasy Baseball Infant

[Burnsy]

Okay so this is the first year I\'ve taken the leap into fantasy baseball. I don\'t really watch baseball (outside of the odd Jays game and the postseason if I feel like it) and so have very very little knowledge of the game.

The stats side of things has always intrigued me and so I\'ve bought the Baseball Guide and have joined up with 9 others who I am in a hockey league with and we\'re going to give this baseball deal a go. I am pretty much the only guy who has never been involved in some form of baseball league before.

If you want to see what effect buying the Guide has on a complete newbie then this it. Pretty much a testimony in the making should I get anything other then last place...haha!

So anyways here\'s the settings for the league, our draft in on Wednesday.

Positions

C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 2B/SS, 1B/3B, OF(5), DH, UTIL, Bench(5), DL

P(3), SP(3), RP(3)

Scoring Categories - Points League, Head 2 Head

Doubles - 2
Triples - 3
Home Runs - 5
Singles - 1
Walks - 1
Runs Scored - 1
RBI - 2
Stolen Bases - 2
Strikeouts - (-1)
Hit for the Cycle - 25

Innings Pitched - 3
Hits Allowed - (-1)
Walks Issued - (-1)
Earned Runs - (-2)
Strikeouts - 3
Wins - 10
No Hitter - 25
Perfect Game - 50

So it\'s a bit more complicate then I would have hoped for my first league, but I\'ll have to make do.

Looking at this scoring settings is there anything I should be keeping in mind specifically for this sort of setup?

I\'ll be drafting straight from the guide since I don\'t have any experience or much of a clue with this.

[GoldenSeals]

Quick look shows that closers are useless in your league, and speedsters are heavily weighted in your league.

Go for guys with the power/speed combination.
When picking starters, you want guys that have high K potential with +3/K.
Don\'t try and chase wins, but you should have an idea what teams win a lot of games. +10/Win is a wacked out stat!

[Burnsy]

Power/Speed combination...

That means guys with high HR/StolenBases?

And what would be the top ... I dunno ... 8 teams I should be looking at snagging pitchers from in terms of good teams?

I really appreciate this you guys, I REALLY am clueless here.

[GoldenSeals]

Yes Power Speed Combo - Top tier will be 30/30 guys, second tier 20/20 guys.

Top teams in the MLB - Yanks, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Rays if you think last year wasn\'t a fluke.

[Burnsy]

So how late should I be looking to pick up closers? Or just completely forget about them?

[GoldenSeals]

In your format, I\'d punt the category seeing saves aren\'t worth anything, and would target middle relievers who tend to get the vulture wins.

[Burnsy]

I have no idea what that means...hah

[GoldenSeals]

Sorry, when I say punt I mean I automatically forfeit in that category by not drafting Papelbon or Rivera unless they\'re available to me in the very late rounds. This tends not to be the case.

I much rather go after middle relievers with my last 4-5 rounds who have the chance to get the \"cheap win, aka vulture win\". They come in pitch 1 inning of a tie game, and then their offence breaks it open. They\'re awarded the win, and you have yourself 10+ points.

Guys like Scot Shields, Jesse Carlson, Arredondo, etc all got some cheap wins.

[Burnsy]

Ahh alright gotcha. I got the punting part but the vulture reference threw me off.


Thanks!

[Burnsy]

Well my draft is in 3 hours, I\'ll post my roster here once I have drafted and we can see how badly I did!

[Burnsy]

Looks like the draft got bumped back. Doh!

[cer]

Doulos! I recognize you from the hockey side of Dobber. I\'m in the same boat as you -- new to fantasy baseball, but joining a league this year. Nice to see I\'m not the only one who\'s gonna be asking stupid questions. :laugh:

[Burnsy]

Well good luck to you as well STONE! Hopefully we both do ok in the end.

[Burnsy]

Well just finished the draft and here is my roster as well as the order I drafted them in.

Did this entirely off of Dobber Guide and stuff posted here, I have no clue with baseball.

Any thoughts?


C- Matt Wieters
1B - Paul Konerko
2B - Ian Kinsler
3B - Aubrey Huff
SS - Jose Reyes
2B/SS - Jhonny Peralta
1B/3B - Edwin Encarnacion
OF - Grady Sizemore
OF - BJ Upton
OF - Nate Mclouth
OF - Carlos Quentin
OF - Mike Cameron
DH - Jose Guillen
UTIL - Rick Ankiel
BENCH - Lastings Milledge

P - Edinson Volquez
P - Adam Wainwright
P - Aaron Hharang
SP - Dice-K
SP - Chad Billingsley
SP - Scott Kazmir
RP - Scot Shields
RP - JJ Putz
RP - Jose Arrendondo
BENCH - Brett Myers
BENCH - Oliver Perez
BENCH - Jesse Carlson
BENCH - Jair Jurrjens

Draft Order

I had the 9th overall pick in the 10 team league....


1 - Reyes
2 - Sizemore
3 - Kinsler
4 - Upton
5 - McLouth
6 - Dice-K
7 - Billingsley
8 - Quentin
9 - Kazmir
10 - Volquez
11 - Huff
12 - Wainwright
13 - Konerko
14 - Cameron
15 - Harang
16 - Peralta
17 - Ankiel
18 - Encarnacion
19 - Myers
20 - Milledge (Mouse click error!)
21 - Wieters
22 - Perez
23 - Guillen
24 - Shields
25 - Putz
26 - Arredondo
27 - Carlson
28 - Jurrjens

[Burnsy]

Should I go out an snag other RP like Wellemeyer, Gallagher, Happ, Blackburn?

Keeping in mind the current scoring setup.