Minors draft help

[alleyoops]

We'll have our NL-only 5x5 draft of minors guys on 3/18. Players who are still in camp on that date are eligible for our auction, so if any of the very top prospects are still in camp, they'll probably be rostered prior to the minors draft. Only players who have not had a major league AB or IP can be chosen. Also, guys who were taken in earlier years minors drafts can be kept, until they get to the majors (as can those chosen this year). Minors salaries are $3 round 1, $1 round 2. I have the 2nd pick in each round (12 teams).

Bryce Harper will almost certainly be the first guy taken. I'm currently thinking of taking Julio Teheran or Brandon Belt. Any thoughts on these guys? Others who should be considered? Possibilities for round 2?

[Captain Hook]

Really need to know what YOU want from your minor leaguers.....
- are you contending this year and want some help later in the year?
- are you either so strong this year or so weak this year you want stronger building blocks for the future?
- how much trading of prospects is done in your league?

Right now it looks like while he won't make the team in March, Brandon Belt will certainly be playing in spring training games BUT he is NOT on the 40 man roster and has no major league AB. He would certainly be your first target (almost regardless of answers above).

Teheran is generally regarded as the best NL pitching prospect but I don't see much of a contribution this year.

Have you looked at the minor league prospect lists here?

[alleyoops]

Thanks, Perry.

I'm in "in between" mode this year. I have a good keeper list (top 4 out of 12), but one guy has a much better one. I'm thinking I can contend, and if he has some bad luck, and I have some good luck, maybe win.

Minors guys are traded pretty actively - mainly from contenders to dumping teams. On the other hand, most contending teams will not be willing to trade a very strong prospect who has been called up and is doing well (for example, McCutchen was not traded, Bruce was not traded, Heyward was not traded, Strasburg was traded for a bundle of talent), as these guys can be worth a TON in future years (no salary increase 1st year after they come up if not activated, $5 per year thereafter, no limit on how many years you can keep them).

My leaning would be more long term. That is, I'd rather take a shot at a guy who will hopefully some day be a stud, than a guy who is more likely to help this year but will never be worth more than $15. Of course, ideally I'd get both.

I am not a Platinum member, so do not have access to the minors rankings here.

[Todd Zola]

Prospecting is not my forte, but my impression is if Belt were playing in a more hitter friendly park, the hype machine would be nearly out if control. Plus, part of Belt's game is steals and it remains to be seen if that will carry over to the Majors.

I have the top pick in the XFL, a mixed/ultra type league an have been jostling between Belt and Pineda of Seattle.

Depending on how fast a minor league's contact escalates, I usually prefer the hitter since he is more likely to produce in his first 2 or 3 seasons than a pitcher.

if the escalation is slow, or if it is a dynasty format, I flip to the pitcher, which is why if the XFL reserve draft were today, I would take Pineda.

[Captain Hook]

We'll have our NL-only 5x5 draft of minors guys on 3/18. Players who are still in camp on that date are eligible for our auction, so if any of the very top prospects are still in camp, they'll probably be rostered prior to the minors draft. Only players who have not had a major league AB or IP can be chosen. Also, guys who were taken in earlier years minors drafts can be kept, until they get to the majors (as can those chosen this year). Minors salaries are $3 round 1, $1 round 2. I have the 2nd pick in each round (12 teams).

Bryce Harper will almost certainly be the first guy taken. I'm currently thinking of taking Julio Teheran or Brandon Belt. Any thoughts on these guys? Others who should be considered? Possibilities for round 2?

1) What are the exact definitions of your league regarding who can be taken as a minor leaguer?
I ask because Bryce Harper is already on Washington's forty man roster, so in some leagues he would already be eligible in the regular draft/auction and in other leagues not be legal as a minor league player.


2) Really sad you are not a Platinum member - Lawr's list plus my lists are pretty important for people in keeper leagues with minor league drafts or in dynasty leagues, well worth the money according to some of the people I play against in those types of leagues.

One of the key differentiations is that if you look for example at the Top 100 put out by Baseball America, it will include a dozen or more guys already in the major leagues, Hellickson, Drabek, Carlos Carrasco, et al. So that list of one hundred players after taking out the players in the other league and those already rostered in both your keeper and minor leaguer rosters might give you just a handful of names. Neither Lawr or I include those players - his list is 250 players from both leagues while I cut both my AL and NL lists off at 109 players (and I could have gone to 150 pretty easily).

[alleyoops]

Our rules are:

1) The player cannot have had 1 AB or IP in the majors prior to the minor league draft date (3/18/11).
2) The player cannot be on a roster in our league already (from previous years minors drafts, or taken in this year's auction, which happens before the minors draft on 3/18/11). Note that any player who is still in major league camp on 3/18/11 IS eligible for our auction, so Belt (for example) could very well be in that situation where he is still in camp and is bought by someone in the auction.

So, I won't know for sure which players are available until the end of our auction, and the minors draft starts immediately after the auction. I will know which minors guys were retained from last year on 3/12/11, when we submit our keepers.

On the membership, it's basically a cost/benefit decision for me. I have access to another site's projections (Rotolab user), and there is a lot of good, free info out there (not the least of which are the forums here and the free articles here).