Each year, the major fantasy baseball hosting sites (Yahoo!, ESPN and CBS Sports) beef up their draft rooms. In the last couple of years, these sites have spent a lot of time developing their online auction drafts. Now that auction drafts are so easy to conduct online, more and more fantasy GM's are giving them a chance.
There are many different strategies out there, but this article is focused on five key points that can give you the edge on draft day.
Charlie Saponara's tips:
Don't spend too big early, but get two offensive studs
One of the best parts about auction drafts is that any player is fair game for any fantasy GM. You want your favorite player? He can be yours for a price, but this is where many will go wrong. Spending $50 on a single player can end up hurting you later (well, maybe not Pujols, but all others shall bow down) on and spending $45-plus dollars each on your first two players is even worse. When everyone else is getting bargains, you'll be stuck budgeting money for later. Instead of trying to land Pujols and Hanley (both will likely be bid up higher than their projected dollar value), wait back and let the big numbers come down a bit. Grabbing the combo of say, David Wright for $35 and Chase Utley for $30 is a much better allocation of bidding money. In that scenario, you'll have spent $65 dollars on two premium players as opposed to $90-plus it might take to get Pujols and Hanley. You now have an extra $25 or so to go get your ace starter or a couple middle round sleepers (i.e. Carlos Gonzalez and Josh Hamilton each went for $16 in the Blog Wars expert league auction draft last season). This will also give you more players rostered for the money, meaning you wont be stuck with $4 and four rounds to go.
Spend most of your budget on hitters
The typical strategy is to spend 70 percent of your budget on hitters and 30 percent on pitchers ($180/$80). That may not seem like enough to spend on pitching, but the strategy has proven itself time and time again. Pitchers are the most volatile players in fantasy baseball (Did you draft Zack Greinke in 2010?) and more often than not the league champions' roster is filled with draft day values and waiver wire surprises. For instance, in the Blog Wars 15 team expert league last season, the wining team's drafted pitching staff was...
Yovanni Gallardo $22
Adam Wainwright $21
Jonathan Broxton $18
Ervin Santana $4
David Price $3
Clay Buchholz $2
Clayton Richard $1
Michael Wuertz $1
Matt Guerrier $1
Sergio Romo $1
Total on pitching: $74
What this team did do was grab some elite hitters...
Albert Pujols $48
David Wright $35
...and hit a home run in terms of value for a few players, in particular...
Josh Hamilton $16
Corey Hart $4
Of course, trades and free agent additions played a significant role as well.
Hitters, in general, are more consistent from year-to-year. Use your $30-ish bids on a couple of hitters and one, maybe two $20-ish bids on your top two pitching targets. The rest of the pitching staff, especially closers, should be filled with one, maybe two $10-$15 bids and then multiple single digit dollar bids.
Let the starters/closers market develop
Much like Mark pointed out when he broke down the snake draft, don't be the first one to take a pitcher, starter or closer. As I stated earlier, pitchers in general are extremely volatile from year-to-year and that is even more true when it comes to relievers. There's no need to dish out $30-$40 dollars on the first pitcher. The market is deep and the prices will drop before long. Let your fellow league mates drive up the price on David Price. You'll be better off spending $20-$25 on Tommy Hansen and $5-$10 on Madison Bumgarner later on. Last year, pitchers like Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Johnson were going for $20-$25, or $10-$20 less than the likes of Zack Greinke and CC Sabathia.
Spend the extra dollar for position scarcity
Two things I know to be true, 1) There are plenty of starting pitchers that will provide fantasy value at a low draft day price and 2) there are plenty of outfielders that will provide value at a low draft day price. If you fill up your outfield with Ryan Braun, Matt Holliday and Ichiro early, not only will it likely cost you around $80-$90 (about 30-35 percent of your budget), but it gives you less money to spend on the thinner fantasy positions. When other people are filling out their fourth outfield slot with Drew Stubbs and his 20/20 for $5-$10, you'll be starring Chase Headley straight in the eye because all the top and middle tier third baseman are long gone.
If you need to go an extra dollar on Ryan Zimmerman or Jose Reyes, do it. You can always find starting pitchers and outfielders at much lower cost later on in the draft.
Don't leave money on the tableYou get $260. Spend it! Have $8 left in the last round few rounds? Go get that last sleeper pick with it. Don't worry about dishing out $6 on Justin Smoak with three rounds to go. It may seem like a lot to pay at that point for a sleeper, but if he's the one player that you want at that point, spend it. Throw out a dollar flier on whoever is available in your last two rounds, but be sure to get that last big sleeper pick and don't leave an money on the table.
Andrew AKA MDS with his tips...
Dollars Make Me Holler
When entering an Auction Draft, my rankings/projections, a blank sheet of paper and a few beers are all the tools I need to succeed. Even if the draft application tracks my roster and remaining budget, I still like to see it on paper. Plus I can draw malicious pictures of the thieves who outbid me for Jay Bruce or Brandon Morrow. I do not bring Dollar Values to the war room. Every auction is a different animal and I cannot say, with a definitive answer, how much I’m willing to spend for any specific player until I'm in the heat of the moment. I’m not going to drive myself crazy, trying to wrap my brain around all the possible situations that can arise during an Auction Draft. The draft process will determine market prices and I'll weigh the risk versus reward while I'm in the middle of the action.
The Artist Formerly Known as MDS
Nominating players is truly an art form. The nomination process has a significant affect on the outcome of any draft. This, combined with the personal tastes of the other managers, is what makes every Auction Draft different from one another. These drafts have ebbs and flows. Generally, people are spending money left and right early in the draft. Eventually they'll scale back their spending and enter thrift mode. While teams are looking for bargains, you should nominate the players you want to acquire. The spending will escalate again when managers realize the depth of the talent pool in thinning. When they start going crazy, you should be nominating your Bust candidates. You should always be on the lookout for these situations and take advantage of them when you can.
There’s Room For Only One of Us in This Auction
I am definitely not afraid to display the badge and play the role of sheriff in an Auction Draft. I am not going to hide the fact that I hate you. I do not want you getting steals or deals. I am going to make you pay for that sleeper. I am going to make you pay for that breakout candidate. If I know you love a certain someone, I am going to make you pay the extra $2, maybe even $4. Every draft needs a sheriff and I will not be one of those managers who sits back and does nothing. If need be, watch Tombstone before your draft. Kurt Russell will show you how to run an auction.
Queuetie Pie
The final rounds of the auction move quickly. The bidding wars have become small skirmishes and managers are receiving whoever they nominate. You cannot be scrambling to find a name when it’s your turn to step up to the podium or you could get stuck with someone you did not want. Be sure to have your draft queue filled with sleepers or value grabs. Be prepared.
photo © 2010 Threat to Democracy | more info (via: Wylio)
