One of the best ways to improve your fantasy baseball draft is to identify is to build a list that displays your projected player rankings alongside the average player rankings. Since a majority of fantasy baseball owners rely upon draft lists that are commonly available, you can predict how an average fantasy baseball owner will rank his players by taking the average of a few mock drafts and published draft lists.
Once you have computed the average draft ranking for a player, you should then create your fantasy draft list based on your opinions and preferences. Although your draft list may vary greatly from that of the average draft rankings, there will undoubtedly be many players that will be very closely ranked when both are compared side-by-side.
Let’s look at an example of how this information can benefit you during the draft. Assume you are in the 10th round of a draft, and you are looking to draft an outfielder for your team with your next two selections. You look at your draft sheet, and see that there 4 outfielders available for your next pick (assume Torii Hunter was selected in 6th round, where the average draft rankings had him targeted).
According to RotoRank, there are 3 players who project to post Round 10 Value in 2007 (Pat Burrell, Michael Cuddyer, and Jacque Jones). According to the Average Draft Rankings, there are also three players worthy of a 10th round selection (Pat Burrell Michael Cuddyer, and JD Drew).
Based on the comparative draft rankings, Burrell and Cuddyer are definite 10th selections, so either one would be a good selection. You think Jacque Jones could post 10th round numbers in 2007, since Chicago added Alfonso Soriano and Derrek Lee should be healthy, but everyone else has him rated as a 15th round pick, so you decide to wait on him and perhaps draft him in Round 15. Finally, you see JD Drew is a worthy 10th round pick in the minds of the public, and you believe his rankings have been kept conservative due to high injury risk, but the move to Boston has you excited about his upside.
Since your draft is being held in Boston, you know there is no way JD Drew will last until round 11, so you decide to take him and hope that Pat Burrell or Michael Cuddyer make it back to you in the next round. Your insurance policy is that Jacque Jones is taken in the 15th round on average, so if Burrell and Cuddyer are selected before your next pick, you can look to another position that may offer you better perceived value for your 11th round pick, then plan on grabbing Jacque Jones in round 14 or 15 to fulfill your needs in the outfield.
By making those kinds of decisions on draft day, you can maximize the potential value of your team and put yourself into a position to compete for a league title, if everyone stays healthy.
It takes a long time to build this kind of draft list, but it is well worth the investment. If you don’t have the time or patience to build this kind of draft list, you may want to spend $20 and subscribe to RotoRank and have instant access to the expert draft guide that will generate a custom draft list for each of your fantasy leagues.
