Fantasy Baseball Draft Tips

Alright, let's talk about some fantasy baseball tips this year. I will have my own couple of fantasy teams in several different leagues and I was trying to figure out where there are major drop-offs and key elements to keep in mind.

Top-tier in each positions:
1B: Pujols, Tex, Howard, Fielder
2B: Utley, Kinsler, Uggla, Pedroia
3B: A-rod, Wright, Longoria
C: Mauer
SS: Ramirez, Rollins, Reyes, Tulowitzki, (maybe Jeter)
OF: Braun, Crawford, Kemp, Holliday, Sizemore
SP: Lincecum, Sabathia, Felix, Holladay, Santana, Greinke, Haren
CP: Broxton, Papelbon, Nathan, Rivera, K-rod, Soria

There are a bulk of 1B to choose from and I'd say it's even more important to snatch the top-tier ones. So with that being said, who are the top-tier 1B? Pujols, Teixeira, Howard and Fielder. Then there is a slight drop off with the next several top 1B like Morneau, Gonzalez, V. Martinez, Berkman, or Youkilis. The top 4 1B are going to go within the first two rounds of the draft and about seven of the top ten homerun hitters will be a first basemen this year, which makes it essential to have one of the top 1B to solidify your line-up.

Mauer, the one catcher that you might want to get will go the first round but I don't know if he will make that big of an impact as a first rounder than the others--but he does fill up the one position that no other batters are amazing at.

The top 3B will be going soon (I know I did not keep Reynolds as a top-tier batter but his average is too low for my liking). It's important to get the strong corner-infielders early because homeruns effect statistics more than anything! By getting a homerun; runs, hits, rbi's and average/slug./ob% all increase (obviously, but by understanding that possibly 4 categories increase--homeruns become one of the main focus for a team).

The top SS will be picked within the top four rounds, so you might have some more cushion to pick a good SS on the 3rd or 4th round--like get Jeter down there. But I'd say having a strong 2B is even more important because the top 2B seem to be better bats than the top SS.

I draft OF towards the bottom of the draft because there are so many more sleeper picks when it comes to OF. You could get a solid OF even up to the 9th or 10th round!

Getting a one of the top-tier pitchers above is essential to get within the first four rounds as well because having a guaranteed 7 K, 7 IP, and > 3.5 ERA performer is a good fall back. While getting a top closer can wait until at least round 7.

So with all that being said--this is the order of position I'd go for in a draft:
1. IF (1b or 3b primarily but any IF is good enough)
2. IF (one more to solidify that power hitting or great all around player)
3. SP (grab one of those top pitchers because you will need one to rely on)
4. 2B or SS (preferably one with speed and contact)
5. SP (especially if any of those top ones are left!)
6. C, 3B (Mauer will be gone so snag McCann!)
7. CP (Grab Broxton if no one has yet!)
8. P (You might want to get another top closer or solid pitcher--but do not go for another position because the drop offs of each position have struck already)
9. OF (It's about time to get one of those now--you'll see that you still have some pretty good bats in the field, grab the top one... or look to see if you have much speed and get an OF that could provide some stolen bases or one that purely gets runs)
10. C (If you weren't able to grab McCann or Mauer--get Doumit, Sotom Posada, Posey or Martin now)

From 11 onwards, it depends on the strong pitchers and which outfielders are left to choose from. Either way--you'll probably have your personal sleeper picks to choose from or have players you're not confident in and will probably drop once the season starts. In the past, I've dropped my entire outfield and picked up early solid hitters like McLouth, Ludwick and Quentin (all in one season). So again, don't worry about the OF!

Hopefully this was helpful--feel free to ask me any questions and good luck!