Need some advice

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this baseball draft i'm joining friday night.

Who would be the best players to pick? Should I go for pitchers first or offense.

I'm paying 100 bucks to get in this draft and i've never been in one before so any advice would be helpful.

I'm guessing Matt Kemp or Clayton Kershaw would be good number 1 draft picks.

what posistions are the best to pick early?

[Wade8813]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this baseball draft i'm joining friday night.

Who would be the best players to pick? Should I go for pitchers first or offense.

I'm paying 100 bucks to get in this draft and i've never been in one before so any advice would be helpful.

I'm guessing Matt Kemp or Clayton Kershaw would be good number 1 draft picks.

what posistions are the best to pick early?

Haha, you probably should have started researching this a while ago. ESPECIALLY if you're paying money for it

What format are you playing in? I'll give you advice for "normal" leagues, but if you're in something drastically different it may not apply (normal being 10-12 team mixed league with 5x5 scoring). This year, pitchers usually aren't getting taken until at least the 2nd round. It's not because pitchers aren't good, but because a lot of pitchers did really well.

Kemp is popular, but usually isn't being taken #1 (although he might be a fine choice). Miguel Cabrera is usually #1, although I don't know if his recent (fairly minor) injury changes that. Shortstop is the most important position to fill, but Tulo doesn't get picked first usually.

One thing to keep in mind is that Utility slots mean that top hitters in positions that are otherwise unimportant are suddenly more valuable. If you're in a 10 team league and you see that there are eleven 3rd basemen you're okay with, you might think you should wait until a really late round to take one, but if Bautista gets drafted as an OFer and one or two of them get taken as UT players, suddenly you'll have to take one sooner.

You can usually get a decent closer pretty late in the draft, plus they're often pretty inconsistent, so it's usually a good idea to wait on them.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Thx Wade, I will keep that info in mind. I'm a co-owner so i'm hoping my partner knows what he's doing. All I know is we have like 2 mins to make a pick. And we have 9 people playing and thier a bunch of blackjack dealers so I probaly got into something over my head with this one.

[Wade8813]

2 minutes to pick is pretty standard. But it definitely means you have to be ready to go. I wouldn't worry about them being blackjack dealers, but yeah, you're definitely over your head (although like you said, maybe your co-owner can compensate. Although if you two don't have a good means of communicating set up, that might not help as much as you'd hope).

You have very limited time, but try to create a rough list of your top 9 players at each position (with a few extra at positions with the best hitters).

Look at the popular websites to get a vague idea of where players are being taken (ESPN, Yahoo, CBS). A lot of the stuff they say isn't that good, but their list of approximately when players are being taken can give you a good starting point.

Also, maybe if your teammate is good at the normal drafting, you could contribute in a slightly unorthodox way, if you're 100% on top of recent injuries or something.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

This was my team and my co-manager was there but I pretty much made the decisions.

C. Joe Mauer.....I'm hoping he has a good year.
1B. Prince Fielder
2B. Rickie Weeks
SS. Dee Gordan.......I'm gonna start sitting him for Jeter if I get blown out in stolenbases
3B. Mark Reynolds.....I usually start Danny Murphy but I might trade an outfielder for a top tier thirdbasemen if I can get right deal.
OF. Matt Kemp
OF. Josh Hamilton
OF. Hunter Pence
DH. Andre Ethier
UT. Yoenis Cesepedes......This has been a tough decision whether to play Cepedes Pence or Ethier.
UT. Derek Jeter
UT. Danny Murphy....He can play 1B,2B and 3B.

SP. Roy Halladay
SP. Cole Hamels
SP. Matt Cain
SP. Madison Bumgarner
SP. Anibel Sanchez
SP. Chris Sale
RP. Mariano Rivera
RP. John Axford

I thought those alltime drafts were fun but this draft has been really fun. It's a 6x6 league and so far in my first week I went 9-2-1 and so far this week i'm 10-1-1.

This could be begginers luck for me but I really like this team and I dont think any of the other teams can compare to this one. I think my pitching staff is by far the best. I'm somewhat happy about my Dee Gordan pick because I didnt even pick up a thirdbasemen or shortstop until the final rounds which enabled me to pick better starting pitching. Cespedes has bee a nice surprise too.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I dropped Mark Reynolds and picked up Gio Gonzalez who pitched a great game for me last night. Aramis Rameris was dropped so now I may drop Chris Sale and pick him up.

Currently im in first place with a 20-3-1 record and this week i'm 8-0. Not that anyone cares but i'm proud of my team after my first two weeks.

Hopefully Matt Cain does well tonight vs Cliff Lee. He's my only starter tonight whereas he has 3 going. Lee, Garza and Zimmerman.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I am now 28-7-1 and this week im 7-3 vs this weeks player after day 1. Bumgarner pitched well and both Mariano and Axford got saves for me tonight. I am now benching Dee Gordan for Derek Jeter. I will be dropping Rickie Weeks and picking up Jose Altulve and hopefully I can pick up Chase Utley from the dl. currently i'm 7 and a half games up.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Was curious if you could choose two secondbaseman which two would you take. This is for my fantasy team.

1. Michael Young...plays multiple positions
2. Howie Kendrick
3. Rickie Weeks....I would think he'll heat up.
4. Neil Walker...having a good year
5. Jose Altulve..../allstar
6. Danny Murphy...muliple positions
7. Chase Utley..currently on my team
8. Ben Zobrist...currently on my team....plays outfield too.

These guys are all available in my league right now. I was hoping anyone who is more experianced in fantasy baseball would have some advice.

[Ben Grimm]

Was curious if you could choose two secondbaseman which two would you take. This is for my fantasy team.

1. Michael Young...plays multiple positions
2. Howie Kendrick
3. Rickie Weeks....I would think he'll heat up.
4. Neil Walker...having a good year
5. Jose Altulve..../allstar
6. Danny Murphy...muliple positions
7. Chase Utley..currently on my team
8. Ben Zobrist...currently on my team....plays outfield too.

These guys are all available in my league right now. I was hoping anyone who is more experianced in fantasy baseball would have some advice.

I liked Altuve alot from the start of the season. For an end run, though he's probably not there anymore - I'd say Utley just for his potential.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I liked Altuve alot from the start of the season. For an end run, though he's probably not there anymore - I'd say Utley just for his potential.

I kept Ben Zobrist and he's been ok, Altulve or Walker woulda been better pickups. Somebody just picked up Walker after his 5 rbi game but Altulve is still out there. I like Zobrist because he always gets a walk and has more homerun potential. Helps my ops out.

[Ben Grimm]

I kept Ben Zobrist and he's been ok, Altulve or Walker woulda been better pickups. Somebody just picked up Walker after his 5 rbi game but Altulve is still out there. I like Zobrist because he always gets a walk and has more homerun potential. Helps my ops out.

If it's not a keeper league, go for broke IMO. Zobrist has moments where he's a stud and then you don't see him for 2+weeks. But he's very stable for the most part compared to what you find this time of year.

Don't want to come off snide, but either you're in a 6-team league or an 8-team league with many morons. There's absolutely no other way to explain getting Hamilton, Fielder, Kemp, Halladay, Hamels, Mauer thru 6 rounds.

If your leauge is that dumb to let you take it - best of luck, you'll do very well.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

If it's not a keeper league, go for broke IMO. Zobrist has moments where he's a stud and then you don't see him for 2+weeks. But he's very stable for the most part compared to what you find this time of year.

Don't want to come off snide, but either you're in a 6-team league or an 8-team league with many morons. There's absolutely no other way to explain getting Hamilton, Fielder, Kemp, Halladay, Hamels, Mauer thru 6 rounds.

If your leauge is that dumb to let you take it - best of luck, you'll do very well.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing on how dumb some of the picks they made. This is my first year and even my partner was trying to do some really goofy pickups, thank god I talked him out of it. Yeah we're in first place as of now. But I made a really dumb move today by picking up Wei Yin Chen vs the Royals. They killed him today.

It's a 8 man league

[Sports]

When starting pitchers, play pitchers that are pitching twice in one week and not necessarily the best pitchers in the league.

MotionSportsLab.com - Web-based swing analysis.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

When starting pitchers, play pitchers that are pitching twice in one week and not necessarily the best pitchers in the league.

MotionSportsLab.com - Web-based swing analysis.

Yeah lately I've been trying to do that but every pitcher I pick up seems to get killed. I really have problems trying to choose which pitchers to pickup. I really thought this Wei Lin Chin would do well but he put me on the ropes with my era and whip now. Least he gave me some stikeouts but now I gotta hope one or two of his guys gets hit hard.

[Ben Grimm]

Wanna see sick? One of my leagues is a 12-team NL only. We have waiver pick-ups and drops every Sunday and Thursday night. This is what was claimed when I woke up this morning...

8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - Steve Clevenger C CHC - Claimed off Waivers
8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - Tony Cruz C STL - Claimed off Waivers
8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - Raul Valdes RP PHI - Claimed off Waivers
8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - Jose Mijares RP SF - Claimed off Waivers
8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - Brandon Barnes CF HOU - Claimed off Waivers
8/10/12 2:28 AM ET - DJ LeMahieu 2B COL - Claimed off Waivers

How's that for some exciting talent?!?!