---------------------- MVP Baseball 2004 Fantasy Draft Guide Created: 10/03/04 Version 1.0 ---------------------- ------------------------------------------- -Table Of Contents- I. Version History II. Introduction III. Fantasy Draft Quick Reference List IV. Fantasy Draft Order & Analysis V. Sample Drafts & Testimonials ------------------------------------------- I. Version History Version 1.1 (10/4/04) -Added the results of two of my own drafts. Version 1.0 (10/3/04) -Everything here is new. -------------------------------------------- II. Introduction With the 2004 MLB season coming to a close, I suspect many people are going to use MVP Baseball 2004 to get their baseball fix. Some may use Sharkports or other similar devices to import updated rosters, but not all of us have such a device and will thus want to look for something else to do with the season and not have to use rosters that just don't feel right. This is where having a Fantasy Draft is very useful as you can assemble your own cast of characters and see where you can go against completely different teams. It can be rather fun if you put together that team that just seems to click, plus the fact that you are dealing with a league that can be much more competitive. There are two main parts to this guide. One is just a quick list that is suitable for printing off that can tell you what type of players you should be picking. The second is the real meat of this FAQ - it is the analysis based on that list that tells you exactly what you should be looking for as you make each pick. Everyone has a different style of playing, but this system will get you a well-balanced team. Plus, it will guide you in how to think if you'd like to make some adjustments. Please note, this FAQ does not tell you exactly who to pick or even exactly what positions you'll be picking, but rather gives you things to think about in building your team. I'm willing to take your own strategies. If you want to offer one, e-mail me (Mrslamt@aol.com) and put "Fantasy Draft Strategy FAQ" someone where in the subject. If you don't do that, its probably going to get deleted. -------------------------------------------- III. Fantasy Draft Quick Reference List This is a quick list designed to give a basic outline of how you should structure your draft. Browse over it and print it out, but I recommend you hit the next part of the FAQ that tells exactly what you should do with this data. Symbols: PP: Position player (Infielders and outfielders) SP: Starting pitcher RP: Relief Pitcher MLB Draft: 1. SP/PP 2. PP/SP 3. PP/SP 4. SP/PP 5. RP (closer) 6. PP 7. SP 8. PP 9. PP 10. SP 11. PP 12. PP 13. SP/RP 14. PP 15. RP/SP 16. RP 17. PP 18. PP 19. RP 20. SP 21. PP 22. RP 23. RP/PP 24. PP 25. PP AAA Draft: Coming Soon??? -------------------------------------------- IV. Fantasy Draft Order & Analysis Same symbols are used in this section as above. 1. SP/PP Notes: This is really a matter of personal preference. The top players go in this round to it all depends on whether you want one of the best hitters or one of the bester pitchers in the league. There are plenty of good players of each mold available in the next round, but if you want someone like Pedro Martinez or Vladimir Guerrero, this is your only chance. Most of the hitters you'd take here are excellent from both sides of the plate, so keep that in mind. 2. PP/SP Notes: Another matter of personal preference. Which ever type of player you took in the first round, take the opposite in this. There are still tons of good players on both sides of the tracks that you don't need to load up on pitching or hitting here. 3. PP/SP Notes: Its still a personal choice here, but much less of one. I generally take the same kind of player I took in the second round here. So if you took a pitcher first round and then a position player second, you'd probably be best to pick up another position player here. And even if you got a position layer in the first round, you still might want to use this to get another one. If you do go this route of getting a position player, you might want to make sure you have an all-star outfielder and an all-star infielder. Most people would probably take a n outfielder in the first round since they tend to be the best hitters, so if that is the case, make sure you are using this round to get an infielder. Their overall ratings aren't as high, but its all relative to the position they play. 4. SP/PP Notes: This is really the last place in which there will be the choice of what kind of player you want to draft. At the end of this round you should have two pitcher and two hitters, so which ever type you only have one of at this point should be what you fill. It should be noted here about pitchers that there will always be several pitchers rated the same for you to pick. I always find the highest available overall rating and then choose my pitcher from those guys. When building your pitching staff, you'll want to look for varied pitch selection, but make sure your top guys have pitches that you like to use. I like to use a lot of sliders, so I tend to pick guys that have some form of it, but I am also sure that I have at least one pitcher with a good changeup. 5. RP Notes: This is going to be your closer as the best relief pitchers are generally used for this purpose. You won't pick another reliever for a long time so this is pretty much your only chance to do this. You could gamble and switch this with the next round and hence pick your closer in the 6th, but I think having a strong closer is essential for success. 6. PP Notes: Most likely you are probably going to use your first two hitters as your number 3 and 4 batters, unless you end up picking a speed demon like Ichiro in the earlier rounds. You want to think of filling your batting order from 1-5 however. So keep what you need in each hitter in mind: Leadoff man: Great contact from both sides of the plate and great speed 2-Slot: This should be another good hitter with some decent running ability (60+) 5-Slot: This will probably end up being the most powerful guy on your team except maybe your 3rd and 4th guys. make sure he has massive power (~80 at least) on at least one side of the plate. 7. SP Notes: This will be your 3rd starter so its good to have a strong pitcher here. If you don't have any left-handers yet, you might want to start thinking about getting one. Its not absolutely necessary to have a left-hander by now, but it might be a good idea. Also, if you lack a young pitcher then you should be thinking about getting some youth on your staff. Likewise, if you have two young hurlers already, you might want to get a veteran. 8. and 9. PP's Notes: Two picks ago I told you to think about your lineup from one to five. This is where you'll round that part of your lineup most likely. If you don't already have a leadoff man, that might take priority here as you really are going to want to have someone speedy. For those picking for an American league team, its alright to take someone with a hot bad and poor fielding in these players. You can get a gold-glove quality player in a later round to play in the field and use your slugger as your DH. 10. SP Notes: This is your forth man in the rotation. It is absolutely imperative that you have a left handed pitcher by now. You can exist with 5 righties, but having that left-hander may give you a distinct advantage against some teams. Same thing about youth and experience applies here as well. 11. and 12. PP's Notes: Your next two picks will probably focus on getting your 6th and 7th batters. Essentially, these guys are going to be similar to your 2nd and 3rd hitters, but in reverse. Your 6th hitter should be a good hitter from at least one side of the plate. Make sure he compliments the guy in the 5-slot. If your 5th hitter is strong from the right but a little weaker from the left, you might want to think about getting a 6th hitter who is a little stronger on the left side of the plate. Your 7th hitter should be another good hitter, one who is good on both sides of the plate. You'll want to use him to get RBI's when the middle of your order is on base. 13. SP/RP Notes: This is probably where you want to get your 5th starter, but some may be eager to get a very good reliever in this spot. Your starter should be a young pitcher who you will build up over the years into your rotation. Don't worry about having a low stamina, just make sure he has good stuff. Should you choose the reliever, scroll down to Round 15 and see what you should be getting there. 14. PP Notes: We are filling out our order here so just keep two things in mind. One, if you don't have a catcher yet, this is where you might want to get him. Its quite possible you got a catcher earlier, but it can be a position that gets overlooked as catchers generally aren't great hitters. If you don't have one yet, he's probably going to be your 7th or 8th batter (depending on your league), so don't worry about his hitting too much. Just make sure you get the best defensive catcher toward the top of the list. If you do have a catcher, you might want to start thinking about getting that defensive fielder I spoke of earlier, especially if you are an AL team and have a DH who can't really field well. 15. RP/SP Notes; Most of you will be picking a reliever here, but I put the SP here for those who switched this with the 13th Round. Go read that section if you are selecting your 5th starter here. Now for a relief pitcher, you are going to be looking for your set-up man here. Make sure this guy has some good stuff as he is going to serve as the bridge between your starter and your closer and you don't want a good game for your starter blown before your closer gets a chance to finish it up. 16. RP Notes: This is probably going to be your main lower to middle inning reliever. This is going to be the guy you want in should your starter not get your team in a strong position to win and you want someone you hold down your opponent's bats as you start a rally with your own. This guy should have at least 3 pitches as most of the guys at this level do. Just don't take any of those guys with two pitches for this slot. You are going to need a variety of pitches for this guy as he may be the one who wins a lot of your close games. 17 and 18. PP's Notes: Its time to fill out your main position player roster here. If your a National League team, you'll be looking for strong backups. If you're an American League team, you are still going to be looking for a 9th hitter. Find a really fast guy as he will ultimately serve as a lead-off guy for the top of your order. Even if you are an NL team, speed might be something you want here as you may need a pinch runner as well. One more thing to do is to balance your lineup. If you have a guy who is really strong from one side of the plate and weak on the other (i.e. Trot Nixon, who is excellent from the right, but mediocre on the left), you may want to find a guy who counteracts that as a later inning replacement or perhaps even a starter in some games. Regardless, one of these guys should be of the caliber that if someone gets hurt or you need another starter, they can step up in this role. After these two rounds, you'll have the core of your team pretty much set. 19. RP Notes: If you lack a left handed reliever, this is probably where you are going to want to pick one up. You should probably carry two lefties on your bullpen at least, so its crucial to have one by now. Think of this guy as the left-handed specialist, the kind of guy who you might just bring in to face one or two left-handed hitters and then put in one of your strong relievers. 20. SP Notes: Technically, this guy is going to be a spot starter, but we'll be using him mostly to be a reliever. You'll want to find a guy with good stamina here though as you may need him to pitch in those games where your starter absolutely blows it and is out in the first few innings. Youth is also good here as in a couple of seasons, this guy could probably make it into your starting 5. 21. PP Notes: This is pretty much an extension of the last two rounds you picked up position players. You want a good backup player here, probably one who can play a little defense and can hit pretty well. You'll probably be using this guy as a sub only, but he still needs to be pretty good. Make sure you have a good balance in your backups as well. If you don't have a backup infielder yet, make sure you pick one up here. Overall for your backups you'll probably want two outfielders, an infielder, a catcher, and another utility player (this will depend on whether you have a DH or not). 22. RP Notes: You are just filling out your bullpen here, so just find the best availible guy who is to your liking. You may want to look for a young reliever here as they tend to run pretty cheap. 23. RP/PP Notes: This is a matter of how big of a pitching staff you want. If you are drafting for an NL team, you may not need to have another reliever and instead have a backup to serve as a pinch hitter or runner. The choice is yours, but I think most people are going to go for a reliever. 24. and 25. PP's Notes: Its time to fill out your whole roster. Not much to say here, just check out what I said about Round 21 in getting balance for your backups. You are probably going to want to just pick the fastest guy you can find in Round 24 and just use him as a pinch runner. My guess is most people will probably use Round 25 to get a catcher, so just find one that compliments your other one nicely. Perhaps if your starting catcher is a little weak on the left side of the plate, you'll look for someone who is stronger on the left to bring in on later innings and to give your starter a day of rest here and there. That's it - your team is set to go capture glory. There is no AAA strategy here yet, but there may be one eventually. For now, if you want to pick your AAA team, you can follow this basic outline. There will never be an AA strategy as at that point, you are just picking the best available players. -------------------------------------------- V. Sample Drafts & Testimonials If you have run a draft using this guide, I encourage you to e-mail me the results of your draft as well as any comments you have about it. I will then post your results in this section. Whether you have positive or negative feedback, I want to hear how well this works for people. If you'd like to have your results posted here, e-mail me (see my address below). Please write the players you drafted in the order you selected them, the number pick you were given, and optionally, write some comments about how it all went. Should you finish a season using this team, you can later send me the results and I will post them along with your draft info. As I receive these, they will go here. Expect a few of my own to be posted as examples. First, my own examples more or less using my strategy. Fantasy Draft #1, Pick #20 1. SP T. Hudson 2. SS N. Garciaparra 3. CF J. Edmonds 4. SP K. Millwood 5. RP B. Koch 6. 1B D. Lee 7. SP S. Estes 8. RF T. Salmon 9. CF R. Baldelli 10. SP O. Perez (PIT) 11. 3B M. DeRosa 12. LF R. Johnson 13. RP L. Hawkins 14. 2B C. Figgins 15. SP J. Benoit 16. RP J. Colome 17. C V. Martinez 18. 1B D. Segui 19. RP A. Embree 20. SP N. Neugebauer 21. RF R. Ludwick 22. RP M. Crudale 23. RP P. Feliciano 24. C M. DuFelice 25. SS H. Mateo -Team Ranking- Pitching - 12th Batting - 11th Fielding - 11th Base Running - 4th Fantasy Draft #2, Pick #5 1. LF A. Pujols 2. SP C. Schilling 3. SP B. Webb 4. 3B M. Ensberg 5. RP F. Rodriguez 6. LF S. Stewart 7. SP K. Ishii 8. 1B D. Mientkiewicz 9. C P. Lo Duca 10. SP A. Eaton 11. CF R. Baldelli 12. SS D. Eckstein 13. RP J. Isringhausen 14. 2B B. Roberts 15. SP D. Oliver 16. RP D. Baez 17. RF C. Monroe 18. 1B C. Baerga 19. RP R. King 20. SP J. Cruz 21. RF R. Sierra 22. RP S. Downs 23. RP J. Brower 24. C B Estalella 25. RF R. Cedeno -Team Ranking- Pitching - 2nd Batting - 16th Fielding - 9th Base Running - 6th -------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 Heihachi Mushroom Do not use this FAQ without permission. If you would like to post this FAQ elsewhere, e-mail me. E-Mail: Mrslamt@aol.com Violators will be hurt. Badly. I promise.