Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

Theories, Concepts and Analytical Discussion (draft strategies, valuation, inflation, scarcity, etc.)
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Bic44

Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

#1 Post by Bic44 »

Hello everyone! I just signed up to this forum after listening to Todd Zola and Derek VanRiper on the Rotowire podcast. This is my first jump into fantasy baseball(I've done football for the last 5 or so years). I have been a baseball fan my entire life, but I'm quickly realizing that doesn't necessarily translate into fantasy success. There is so much more to it than football...at least from what I can tell. And much more of a grind, which I prefer to what seems a bit more like luck in football. Anyway....onto my question(s).

So, I decided I was going to try and get into a league of some sort this year, after failing to get enough friends to join me last season. I listened to a bunch of podcasts and was able to get into a podcast league (nastycast - the fantasy amateurs). I was under the incorrect assumption that it was a typical snake draft. Well, I looked at the settings last week and realized, after almost a month of mostly avoiding auction draft-centric podcasts, that it was an auction draft :shock: So now I'm scrambling - the draft is Monday, and as ill-prepared as I was for a normal draft, I'm even more ill-prepared for an auction. I just don't know where to start, especially since about 5 or 6 of the participants are experts :( :o .

Here's the details as I know them- 5x5 Roto, traditional except Wins are replaced by Quality Starts and BA is replaced by OBP. Thankfully, the scoring is probably how I'd look at a real life team, so that won't hurt my chances. Also, 15 team mixed league. My main question is - where do I start? I know I don't have time to go through every team's depth chart ( I'm also broke after excessive home heating oil use this winter, so no buying fancy starter kits online :cry: ). I'm thinking of going position by position, writing down maybe 5-10 names for each(depending on position), and writing down a max dollar amount I'd be comfortable with. But maybe there are serious flaws with that I'm not seeing. There's definitely players and teams I know more about (AL teams, Blue Jays). I'm hoping I can use that to my advantage without looking like too much of a homer.

So that's basically it. Thanks for reading my long winded question :lol: I look forward to any and all thoughts or suggestions

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Todd Zola
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Re: Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

#2 Post by Todd Zola »

You're going to need prices for 210 players, trust me, 10 per position isn't remotely enough. We have what you need for 39.95, or maybe sign up for the free rotowire trial and get a cheat sheet for your league that way.
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Bic44

Re: Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

#3 Post by Bic44 »

Thanks for the quick response - I can afford a free trial! :lol:
That sounds like roughly 20 per position, which might be doable to at least read a blurb on each one. Thanks for the advice

Bic44

Re: Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

#4 Post by Bic44 »

Just as a follow up, I got the free trial today. It is very good. Useful, easy to use, and a good layout. I feel like I'm actually starting to get a plan together. It's definitely worth it, so next year when I go for a few different leagues, I may just buy it :D

mjlewis
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Joined: March 16th, 2010, 2:30 pm

Re: Help for a first time fantasy baseball player

#5 Post by mjlewis »

The Fangraphs auction pricing tool is also free and worth trying out, though it doesn't really do anything fancy like tracking during the auction.

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