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Fantasy Baseball Draft Decisions
Posted by
rotorank
on
Saturday, September 02, 2006 (CST)
Balancing your roster during the draft by selecting the correct time to draft the best hitter or pitcher available.
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Introduction
I created the RotoRank system in order to provide myself with an accurate valuation of pitchers versus hitters. It is relatively easy for any baseball fan to rank players within their respective positions, but when you try to compare the value of a 3B to a SP, and a SP to a C, and a C to a RP, and so on, it is a much more difficult task.
Another alternative for creating a balanced roster on draft day is to force yourself to take certain positions at certain times in the draft. One of the best ways to force yourself to create a balanced team is to take advantage of the Ratio drafting methodology.
When trying to plan out your draft strategy using the Ratio drafting methodology, it is always a good idea to simulate a few mock drafts and determine when you’ll be drafting Infielders, Outfielders, Starters, and Relievers. Depending on which strategy you choose to follow, you can guess when you’ll expect to draft certain positions. I personally like to draft a balance team during a draft, so I’m going to detail two methods you can use to use when preparing your mock drafts. In my examples, I’m going to assume that I’m drafting a 25-man team in a 12 Team league (15 hitters and 10 pitchers).
2 Hitters to 1 Pitcher Ratio
One of the most popular plans for drafting a balanced team is using a 2:1 ratio during the early stages of a draft. This mix puts more emphasis on hitters during the early stages of the draft, which usually makes sense, since the player pool for pitching always seems to be a little deeper than hitters, especially once you get to the mid or late rounds of the draft. I have used this technique quite often, and it usually will produce a nicely balanced team that can compete for the league title right from the start of the season.
An example of a mock draft using positions only, will help you anticipate the kinds of position runs you may encounter, or where you can decide to take a chance on a sleeper or injury-prone player.
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Rounds
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Hitter 1
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Hitter 2
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Pitcher 1
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1-3
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1B, OF, or 3B
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SS, 2B, C, or OF
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SP
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4-6
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1B or OF
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3B, 2B, SS, C, or OF
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RP
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7-9
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OF
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3B, 2B, SS, C, or 1B
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SP
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10-12
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OF
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3B, 2B, SS, C, or 1B
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RP
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13-15
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OF
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3B, 2B, SS, C, or 1B
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SP
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16-18
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1B or OF
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3B, 2B, SS, or C
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RP or SP
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19-21
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3B, 2B, SS, C, 1B, or OF
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SP
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RP or SP
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22-24
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3B, 2B, SS, C, 1B, or OF
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SP
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RP or SP
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25
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3B, 2B, SS, C, 1B, or OF
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As you can see from the above chart, once a majority of your offense has been drafted, the ratio reverses itself and you need to select more pitchers to finish up your roster. In my opinion, you can begin taking chances on offensive players beginning round 13 or later. You can start taking chances on your pitchers in round 19 or later. If you prefer weighing hitters more heavily than pitchers during your fantasy baseball drafts, then the 2:1 ratio is definitely the way to go.
3 Hitters to 2 Pitchers Ratio
Through experience, I have often switched from the 2:1 ratio to a 3:2 ratio. When you are really comfortable with your draft list and knowledge of the other fantasy league owners, you can feel more comfortable switching draft strategies in mid-draft. If you want to have the ability to switch from a balanced drafting strategy to a dominate pitching or dominate hitting strategy, then you should use the 3:2 ratio to begin your draft.
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Rounds
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Hitter 1
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Hitter 2
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Hitter 3
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Pitcher 1
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Pitcher 2
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1-5
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1B or OF
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3B or OF
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SS, 2B, or C
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SP
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RP
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6-10
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1B or OF
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OF
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SS, 2B, or C
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SP
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RP
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11-15
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1B or OF
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3B or OF
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SS, 2B, or C
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SP
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SP or RP
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16-20
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OF
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3B or OF
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SS, 2B, or C
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SP
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SP or RP
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21-25
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OF
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SS, 2B, or C
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SS, 2B, or C
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SP
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SP or RP
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As you can see from the above chart, you have much more flexibility to use any of the popular drafting strategies. If you go pitching heavy, you’ll select your pitchers at the beginning of each grouping of rounds. If you decide to go hitting heavy, then you’ll be likely to draft hitters at the beginning of each grouping of rounds. And when drafting a balanced team, you’ll be likely to take one pitcher on the front or back end and one pitcher in the middle of each 5 round grouping.
By using the 3:2 ratio you can easily switch to any draft strategy during the early stages of a draft without many problems. Also, I think the 3:2 ratio is better for drafting a balanced team as well, since you can take better advantage of the position scarcity charts you create during your draft preparation.
Conclusion
The Ratio System can be utilized with any draft list you decide to use. Of course, the better your draft list, the better your picks will be when using the Ratio drafting methodology. Since there is no perfect drafting system, because each draft will take on a personality of its own, the more prepared your player analyses are before the draft, the more likely you will be able take advantage of any unexpected opportunities that develop during the course of the draft. As I have said from the beginning, the more time you put into planning and researching for your fantasy draft, the more fun you will have during the draft, and the more successful your fantasy baseball season will be!
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