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Thread: Keys to Winning

  1. #1
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    Keys to Winning

    1) Waiver wire

    A) Being the first one to pick up top players that somehow went undrafted. This is very important, as the pre-rank system that alot of people use is easy to overlook good players ranked high if you don't think about them, or do go through the lists.

    B) Grabbing rookies, players on hot streaks or a break out season, or a player who is just now getting some PT. There are several players each year that will give you out of this world fantasy points, when they are merely a no-body at that point in their career. Ride them out, gather as many points as you can.

    C) Some idiot drops a great player without realizing how good they are or how much trade value they had. Pick him up immediately, and laugh at their regret when they are putting up great numbers for your team that is now climbing the standings or hopefully even running away with 1st place.

    2) Drafting

    A) I've never done a live draft, but I try each year and something always goes wrong. A live draft is a little easier but its important not to over draft or give up in the end and not pay much attention

    B) Pre-ranking is a hard thing to do because you have no idea what other people are drafting. Pre rank as many players as you possibly can. If not, you'll end up getting players by default towards the end that make little to no sense, and you have a few players on your team that are basically worthless. I've found that relying heavily on pitching or hitting is a great philosphy.

    3) Trading

    A) Trading is 3rd because its so hard to trade. If you're lucky enough to have a league that is active then its alot more fun. I do trades most of the time out of boredom, but its not always the smart thing to do. Unless if you can bank on someones stupidity then trading doesn't do a whole lot, and luck comes into play. Injuries, cold streaks, etc. can ruin a trade that favored you in the long run.

    B) Trade a surplus for a weakness. This always helps out your team, but don't over pay too much for a weakness. There is usually a team out there that your strengths & weaknesses match reversed and it fits out well.

    C) Big name players. Rookie fantasy players have a tendency to trade for big name players. If you have a popular player, might as well get more than what he is worth. It's sometimes easy to trade for great fantasy players that are almost unknown to the general public.

    What do you guys do to win? (If you wish to reveal your fantasy 'secrets')


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  3. #2
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    Forgot to mention, other peoples input.

    Its hard to make decisions on your own sometimes, and someone elses influence can really help you out. Make sure its a third party though (never listen to the team you're trading with). Redszone is perfect. Alot of smart & experienced third party fantasy players.

  4. #3
    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    Identify shallow positions (C, 2B, Closer) and pluck a top performer early. But don't go overboard on second-tier talent at those positions. If you don't get Utley, don't waste a 5th round pick on Brian Roberts.

    Identify deep positions (1B, 3B) and target them lower in the draft. This is mostly based on how your first two rounds go. If you can get Ryan Howard with the 12th pick, do it. But don't spend a 2nd round pick on Derrick Lee when you can get Todd Helton or Richie Sexson in the 7th round.

    Get one top-tier outfielder. Yes, outfield is the deepest position, but everybody needs 3, so it makes sense to get at least one of the top 5 OFs. Otherwise, you're stuck scrounging the waiver wire and crossing your fingers.

    Look for guys coming off a down year. Morgan Ensberg and Pat Burrell (is an .890 OPS really a "down year"?) are prime examples.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

  5. #4
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool View Post
    Identify shallow positions (C, 2B, Closer) and pluck a top performer early. But don't go overboard on second-tier talent at those positions. If you don't get Utley, don't waste a 5th round pick on Brian Roberts.

    Identify deep positions (1B, 3B) and target them lower in the draft. This is mostly based on how your first two rounds go. If you can get Ryan Howard with the 12th pick, do it. But don't spend a 2nd round pick on Derrick Lee when you can get Todd Helton or Richie Sexson in the 7th round.

    Get one top-tier outfielder. Yes, outfield is the deepest position, but everybody needs 3, so it makes sense to get at least one of the top 5 OFs. Otherwise, you're stuck scrounging the waiver wire and crossing your fingers.

    Look for guys coming off a down year. Morgan Ensberg and Pat Burrell (is an .890 OPS really a "down year"?) are prime examples.

    First point- agree. I say if you don't get Mauer/McCann/Martinez at catcher, or Utley at 2B, you wait til the 9th or 10th round to even consider someone. At catcher look to grab Ramon Hernandez or Russell Martin down there, at 2B you can have your pick of Barfield/Hudson/Phillips/Iguchi/Kinsler, all of which who are close to the same.

    Second point- it depends, I think there are about 8 1B that are all top-tier players (Pujols, Ortiz, Howard, Texeira, Berkman, Lee, Morneau, Konerko). I think you need to have one of these guys if you are going to win your league. Some of them (Lee, Konerko) can be had all the way down in the 4th round, so don't overdraft- but don't miss the boat either. 3B you can definitely wait on, there are a plethora of them this year. A nice bargain 1B to go after much later is Adrian Gonzalez.

    Third point- disagree. Outfield, ironically, I would say is one of the SHALLOWEST positions. You definitely do need a top tier OFer, but I would also say your 2nd OF needs to be at least middle tier (ie Del.Young, Rios, Dunn, etc.) By the time you get to the third spot, they are all virutally waiver-wire level players that are easily replaceable, and therefore not very valuable (ie Griffey, Kearns, Teahen, Willingham, etc.)

    Unless you get a top 5 closer relatively early (Nathan, Papelbon, Rivera, Wagner or Hoffman)- WAIT! Every other closer has virtually no job security, and this is always the best postion to exploit on the waiver wire. Let the other fools go after the Wickmans, the Borowskis, and the Saitos of the world in the mid rounds, the savvy gm will pick up the Wheelers, the Sorias, the Owens and the Sorianos off the wire, and adhere to other needs earlier in the draft.
    Go BLUE!!!

  6. #5
    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    Quote Originally Posted by Benihana View Post
    Second point- it depends, I think there are about 8 1B that are all top-tier players (Pujols, Ortiz, Howard, Texeira, Berkman, Lee, Morneau, Konerko). I think you need to have one of these guys if you are going to win your league. Some of them (Lee, Konerko) can be had all the way down in the 4th round, so don't overdraft- but don't miss the boat either. 3B you can definitely wait on, there are a plethora of them this year. A nice bargain 1B to go after much later is Adrian Gonzalez.
    You've got to shoot for a top-10 player at every position. But in our points-based league, Carlos Lee, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Beltran, and Garrett Atkins all outscored Ryan Howard and Lance Berkman. Pujols and Ortiz were by far the upper echelon of players, but beyond them, the difference between the 3-10 1Bs was negligible. 3B actually had a lot fewer good players than you would think. Garrett Atkins was the best 3B by a good margin.

    Third point- disagree. Outfield, ironically, I would say is one of the SHALLOWEST positions. You definitely do need a top tier OFer, but I would also say your 2nd OF needs to be at least middle tier (ie Del.Young, Rios, Dunn, etc.) By the time you get to the third spot, they are all virutally waiver-wire level players that are easily replaceable, and therefore not very valuable (ie Griffey, Kearns, Teahen, Willingham, etc.)
    Deepest in terms of raw numbers. Rios is a good example. He was a waiver pick last season. I picked up Jermaine Dye off waivers in a competitive 12-team league after the draft last season. Nick Swisher and Michael Cuddyer were waiver picks, too.

    You can find mid-tier talent later in the draft, plus it's easier to find a good OF on waivers.

    Unless you get a top 5 closer relatively early (Nathan, Papelbon, Rivera, Wagner or Hoffman)- WAIT! Every other closer has virtually no job security, and this is always the best postion to exploit on the waiver wire. Let the other fools go after the Wickmans, the Borowskis, and the Saitos of the world in the mid rounds, the savvy gm will pick up the Wheelers, the Sorias, the Owens and the Sorianos off the wire, and adhere to other needs earlier in the draft.
    This goes back to having at least one top-10 player at every position. Nathan, Rodriguez, Ryan, Rivera, Wagner, Papelbon, and Putz are all worth getting early. You need at least one good closer so you're not scrounging for guys like Soria or Owens as your top option.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

  7. #6
    I can do the Hully Gully IowaRed's Avatar
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    This is painfully obvious but now is the time to really be watching the WW. Some managers with less patience and/or knowledge may drop very valuable players because they are off to slow starts. I'm talking about proven guys who get dropped and replaced by the current hot hitter, but who will very likely have fine numbers by the end of the season
    More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

  8. #7
    KungFu Fighter AtomicDumpling's Avatar
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    I always use my first 9 picks for offensive players. I think pitching is much easier to scrounge late in drafts or on the waiver wire during the season. It is much less common for a stud hitter to come out of nowhere than it is to find several solid pitchers (especially closers) as free agent pickups.

    I also like to draft stud closers in the mid-rounds and then trade them for hitters, then pick up guys like Soria, Reyes, and Owens as closers for free.

  9. #8
    Potential Lunch Winner Dom Heffner's Avatar
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    Re: Keys to Winning

    the Saitos of the world
    The dude is lights out. He is better than Wickman, Todd Jones, and Borowski by a long shot.

    Look at those K's per 9 and K/BB ratio. He ain't messin' around for an old man.


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