AL ONLY ADVICE

[steve9781]

Hey Guys,

I've been so focused on my mix leagues, that I'm a little behind in my AL only league research. Just wondering if people who have focused on AL only can give me some tips/advice. I'll start by giving you my league parameters....

AL ONLY 5x5 8 teams start 1 of every infield position + Cnr/Mid 4 OF 1 UT 9 Pitchers
Bench 6 hitters 6 Pitchers + 3 of either. Innings requirement 1100 ( we are allowed to make changes to our weekly lineup on Sun & Wed night, this allowes me to draft less starters since I can put in RP when someone has only 1 start for the week ) Also a 5 game requirement for position eligiablity.

I have the #3 pick in the draft ( #1 is most likely taking Tex, so I should get either Miggy or Sizemore ) The talent level of the owners is pretty varied ( lot's of Yankee / Red Sox homers). I could probably do no research and still finish at least 3rd.

From my limited research I was planning on loading up with IF through the first 3 rounds, my dream start to my team is Miggy, Alexi ( who I'll move to SS after 5 games) then C.Davis, unless better talent falls. This is an exact oposite approach to what I'm doing in 10 team Mix, where I have been going heavy on OF earlier, with great success.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

[Todd Zola]

1. The AL is stocked with excellent OF this season. I would not restrict myself to 3 IF early
2. Davis and Ramirez are INCREDIBLY risky to build a base. They have LIMITED track record and you really want to set a solid foundation. As cool as it is to own the next big thing, it is cooler to win.

[steve9781]

You could be right on the Alexi/Davis thinking, but here is my thought process. SS in the AL is VERY poor, with Kinsler / Pedrioa going in the 1st round, I'd have to act quick to get Alexi who I think is much better than Jeter/Young/Peralta who are the top SS. By my count the position field looks like this.....

Total players at each position who will earn at least $20.00
C- 4 ( this includes Maure who I'm not touching)
1B - 4
2B - 5
SS - 1
3b - 4
OF - 25
for my league teams need to start 32 OF not including UT, so with 25 earning $20+ I really feel I can wait on OF and fill after I've secured my IF. I'm not saying I'm going to just pass up great OF or good value, just that if the value is close I'm better served grabbing the IF.

Tell me what you think.

[Todd Zola]

Basically, I'm not in favor of sacrificing value in the early rounds just to get a "scarce position." There are TONS of 2B guys that are draft worthy, they may not be great, but they will have value so I would not worry about being able to find help in the middle. The draft is 23 rounds, I don't want to give up value early when there will be help later. We just updated the tiers, there are plenty of $6-$10 and $11-$15 choices at SS.

[steve9781]

Todd,

Just took a look at the updated tiers, and I understand know what you mean in relation to OF. I would quibble with some of the placement of players in a few tiers, but overall I'll be using it at my draft! Thanks for the updated file!

[Tampa Bob]

Random thoughts:

Alexi is 2B/SS. Is Miggy 1B/3B as well? I can certainly see picking him 1st if he is. I think you're underestimating Peralta. Hopefully the others are too.

I don't know who the 4 catchers are that'll earn $20. I'd say Victor is the only one right now. Barely.

OF may be stocked but it won't take too long (longer in an 8 team league) to be down to Luke Scott and Marlon Byrd. I'm actually going to put an emphasis on getting some of the better options early this year. I'd be just as happy if my worst OF is better than Hideki Matsui.

When is the draft?

[schlesinj]

Watch out for the SP in the AL, looking at my keeper league there are not a whole lot of them available.

[steve9781]

You are so right about SP in an AL only league. The good thing about my league is that we have deep benches and can make line up changes Sun & Thurs. This allows me to supplement my SP with RP. Unless someone has 2 starts they go in then get sat for a MR pitcher, that way my SP/MR pitcher is pitching 9-12 IP each week, getting more K's and keeping down my WHIP & ERA and even vulturing a win every few weeks ). I used it with great success last year ( although I did hit pay dirt with E.Santana & J.Danks last year, getting them late) I'll be interested to see if others in the league were watching what I did.

[Guest]

Alexei is 2B only in leagues which require 20 games for eligibility.

[Todd Zola]

The weak SP in the AL is part of my justification for spending a little more on Papelbon, Nathan, Soria or Rivera, as their decimals are so over the top outstanding, they will have a more profound overall effect on your staff.

[cwk1963]

You are so right about SP in an AL only league. The good thing about my league is that we have deep benches and can make line up changes Sun & Thurs. This allows me to supplement my SP with RP. Unless someone has 2 starts they go in then get sat for a MR pitcher, that way my SP/MR pitcher is pitching 9-12 IP each week, getting more K's and keeping down my WHIP & ERA and even vulturing a win every few weeks ). I used it with great success last year ( although I did hit pay dirt with E.Santana & J.Danks last year, getting them late) I'll be interested to see if others in the league were watching what I did.

Unless it's a H2H league, this could hurt you if your MR has a couple bad outings since H2H stats don't carry over week to week. If your MR is projected for an ERA in the neighborhood of 3.00 and blows up one week, now you're looking at a 3.75 or higher for the season that may or may not carry your weak SP. Could work out to be Russian Roulette.

[steve9781]

You are so right about SP in an AL only league. The good thing about my league is that we have deep benches and can make line up changes Sun & Thurs. This allows me to supplement my SP with RP. Unless someone has 2 starts they go in then get sat for a MR pitcher, that way my SP/MR pitcher is pitching 9-12 IP each week, getting more K's and keeping down my WHIP & ERA and even vulturing a win every few weeks ). I used it with great success last year ( although I did hit pay dirt with E.Santana & J.Danks last year, getting them late) I'll be interested to see if others in the league were watching what I did.

Unless it's a H2H league, this could hurt you if your MR has a couple bad outings since H2H stats don't carry over week to week. If your MR is projected for an ERA in the neighborhood of 3.00 and blows up one week, now you're looking at a 3.75 or higher for the season that may or may not carry your weak SP. Could work out to be Russian Roulette.

I won both ERA & WHIP last year and finished 2nd in K's. Using this strategy my team pitched 1689 innings which was good for 3rd best in the league. I understand your point but my strategy did the exact opposite of what your saying, I accumulated more innings than teams that went the standard 7 SP 2 CL routes ( the 2 teams that had more innings went with 1 or no closers and there ERA's were 4.04 & 4.06 vs my 3.59 ). Also it's pretty rare that MR/RP get rocked that bad, if they are any good they are being brought in during close games, if they give up a run or two they are getting yanked by managers still trying to win the game. With starters managers tend to give them more rope to work out of jams or if the bullpen is depleated then to suck up innings.

[steve9781]

Cwk,

Here's a few numbers I'd like to throw out if you'd like to play along.....

Player A 9 & 11 with 200 innings 175 K's 3.45 ERA 1.39 WHIP

Player B 8 & 8 with 137 innings 123 K's 2.88 ERA 1.11 WHIP

Player A does get you more innings and K's and is more valuable, however Player A was drafted in round 5 Player B went undrafted. Does that change your opininon? It's not just the stats players get you but the value you can accumulate going in different directions, which for me is not paying a premeium for SP.

Just so you know.... Player A is Felix Hernandez Player B is R.Ramirez ( who went undrafted) & D.Wheeler who I picked in the last round

[msugray]

Cwk,

Here's a few numbers I'd like to throw out if you'd like to play along.....

Player A 9 & 11 with 200 innings 175 K's 3.45 ERA 1.39 WHIP

Player B 8 & 8 with 137 innings 123 K's 2.88 ERA 1.11 WHIP

Player A does get you more innings and K's and is more valuable, however Player A was drafted in round 5 Player B went undrafted. Does that change your opininon? It's not just the stats players get you but the value you can accumulate going in different directions, which for me is not paying a premeium for SP.

Just so you know.... Player A is Felix Hernandez Player B is R.Ramirez ( who went undrafted) & D.Wheeler who I picked in the last round

Unless I missed something in this example, I'm confused:
Player A is one pitcher; Player B is 2 pitchers. It takes 2 roster slots to get their totals.
Isn't the comparison Felix+Wheeler vs. Ramirez+Wheeler? If you're going to compare Player A to Player B, the second pitcher needs to be added to Felix for a direct comparison.

[steve9781]

[quote Unless I missed something in this example, I'm confused:
Player A is one pitcher; Player B is 2 pitchers. It takes 2 roster slots to get their totals.
Isn't the comparison Felix+Wheeler vs. Ramirez+Wheeler? If you're going to compare Player A to Player B, the second pitcher needs to be added to Felix for a direct comparison.[/quote]

Your not missing something, your forgetting about my league rules. They allow you make roster changes 2 times a week, So I might have a lesser SP pitch Wed and then throw Wheeler in for Thurs - Sun, where as the other owner was pitching Fekix on Wed and not making a change to his lineup. It's not that I don't draft starters it's that I wait longer than other owners in the league and carry more quality MR/RP on my bench. early in the draft when other people select SP I'm still stock piling hitters giving me more hitting value throughout my line up.

[cwk1963]

steve - I'm not disagreeing with you. I employ MR in my leagues most of the time. All I'm saying is in H2H leagues a bad outing by a MR only hurts you for that scoring period whereas in a roto league it hurts you for the season. The reason I use them is to help offset the ratios of a marginal SP. If they have a blow up week, though, not only have I not helped that marginal SP but also put myself in a deeper hole. Because a SP will pitch many more innings you have more of a chance of mitigating the effects of a bad outing than you do with the MR. I've been burned a few times - had that MR end with an ERA or WHIP a full point higher than was projected - but there have been many more times it helps.