Fantasy Baseball 2012: A Case Study on an Online Auction Draft

With so many new people trying their hand at online auction drafting, the fantasy draft room can be a scary place.

Quite frankly, owners new to this format have no idea what to expect. This season I decided to enter into a random Yahoo auction draft public league with standard five-by-five roto settings including a $260 salary cap.

While this may seem like a writer wanting to show off his alleged great draft, I really believe we can find valuable lessons about what you will face going up against a random assortment of competitors.

In this one draft, I was able to see just about every auction strategy you can think of in action.

Using this draft as a case study, I’ll argue how well each owner did, what overall strategies they used, and how the league projects to play out assuming everyone sticks with it and goes for the championship.

Keep in mind that the draft took place on Wednesday, March 14th, so any injuries that happened after that date will have to be ignored and chalked up to bad luck.

The League URL is:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/76978

Without further ado, on to the first team!

The Bombers: Lack of Money Management Part 1

The Bombers are the first of a couple of teams that ended up with some money management issues in the draft.  The owner struck quickly, nabbing three legitimate superstars: Miguel Cabrera, Troy Tulowitski and Jose Bautista for amounts typical of what those caliber players go for.

With the 29th pick he also got Clayton Kershaw for just under $40.  At this point in the draft, he had spent $188 of his $260 and filled just four roster spots.  Granted these are superb players, but the rest of his roster was bound to be weak with almost no money available. 

To compound matters, he then spent $28 on Jered Weaver, which is not a bad price, but it just further crippled his team financially. 

Of the 23 players on The Bombers roster, 13 are dollar players.

The Bombers bombed.

Best Pick: Chris Sale $1. The most upside of any of his dollar players.

Worst Pick: Jered Weaver $28.  He just didn’t have the cap to pull the trigger here.

Projected Finish: 8 out of 12

C	Soto	.250	18.7	64.3	63.0	0.3
1B	Cabrera	.321	32.7	122.3	113.3	3.0
2B	Espinosa	.237	21.3	73.7	72.3	15.0
3B	Bautista	.275	39.3	108.3	111.0	6.0
SS	Tulowitzski	.300	29.0	106.3	92.7	9.3
OF	Franceour	.269	16.7	75.7	68.0	13.3
OF	Young	.242	22.0	84.0	81.0	21.3
OF	Gordon	.275	20.7	75.0	101.7	13.7
Util	Aybar	.277	7.3	57.0	71.3	23.0
Util	Freese	.283	14.3	71.0	66.3	2.3
SP	Kershaw	17.0	2.69	0.0	232.0	1.12
SP	Weaver	15.3	3.27	0.0	190.3	1.14
RP	Sale	9.7	3.45	0.3	155.0	1.28
RP	Johnson	3.0	3.40	26.0	51.5	1.24
P	Materson	11.3	3.89	0.0	155.3	1.34
P	Worley	11.3	3.82	0.0	147.0	1.28
P	Stauffer	10.3	3.73	0.0	130.3	1.28
P	Capps	3.0	4.10	31.0	42.0	1.33
P	Dickey	10.7	3.86	0.0	122.7	1.30

Yankee7556: Lack of Money Management Part 2

The Yankees were the second team with money management issues.

After spending around $40 each for Joey Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson, and Justin Verlander, the owner really crippled the remaining budget overspending for Chase Utley at $21.

Once again, a roster of 13 dollar players will make it a tough go for this club as he projects to finish in the cellar for the season.

Best Pick: Brandon Belt $1. 

Worst Pick: Chase Utley $21

Projected Finish: 12 out of 12

C	Napoli	.277	30.7	86.7	83.7	4.0
1B	Votto	.307	31.0	110.7	112.0	8.3
2B	Utley	.270	18.0	74.7	79.7	13.3
3B	Wigginton	.249	11.3	43.7	40.7	3.0
SS	Peralta	.269	17.3	74.7	69.7	1.0
OF	C Gonzalez	.299	29.0	98.0	91.0	21.0
OF	Granderson	.257	32.0	89.3	101.7	19.0
OF	Hunter	.267	19.3	78.3	75.7	6.7
Util	Rasmus	.250	19.3	71.7	71.0	7.0
Util	Pena	.222	27.7	81.0	80.3	2.7
SP	Verlander	17.7	3.07	0.0	224.3	1.11
SP	Bailey	10.0	4.10	0.0	132.0	1.31
RP	Bell	2.7	3.13	37.0	60.0	1.24
RP	Feliz	10.0	3.82	0.7	139.3	1.25
P	Jurrjens	10.7	3.91	0.0	112.3	1.33
P	Vazquez	8.0	3.93	0.0	116.5	1.27
P	Rodriguez	10.7	3.69	0.0	169.3	1.30
P	Melancon	3.3	3.45	7.0	56.3	1.33

Team Clint: The Guy Who Loves the Has Beens

Team Clint is the first of our group of owners who attempted the “wait for value” strategy.  Overall, the team has a good mix of salary levels where in theory there shouldn’t be glaring holes in the starting lineup, and he has no single player absorbing more than $26 of the cap.

However, Clint made some bad picks.  In addition to being classified as a “wait for value” owner, Clint unfortunately falls into another category, the owner who selects tons of guys way past their prime. 

Overall it wasn’t a horrible draft for Team Clint, but with an aging team composed primarily of major injury risks, it could prove to be a tough year.

Best Pick: Buster Posey $15, overall a good value for one of the better catchers in the game.

Worst Pick: Alex Rodriguez $26, likely overspent based on the amount of production he’ll get in return.

Projected Finish: 9 out of 12

C	Posey	0.291	17.3	81.3	73.7	3.3
1B	Berkman	0.278	23.0	89.7	83.3	3.7
2B	Uggla	0.251	32.0	99.0	87.0	3.0
3B	Rodriguez	0.272	23.0	81.0	75.0	5.0
SS	Rollins	0.261	14.7	58.3	84.0	26.0
OF	Choo	0.282	18.0	82.3	83.7	19.3
OF	Beltran	0.285	18.3	73.3	80.3	6.0
OF	Suzuki	0.294	6.0	57.7	83.0	24.3
Util	Ackley	0.272	11.3	76.3	85.0	11.3
Util	Willingham	0.249	25.0	81.7	79.0	4.3
SP	Haren	14.7	3.41	0.0	184.7	1.14
SP	Darvish	14.0	3.65	0.0	186.0	1.26
RP	Street	3.0	2.95	32.3	54.3	1.14
RP	Papelbon	3.7	2.49	38.0	75.3	1.07
P	Rivera	3.3	2.54	36.3	55.0	1.03
P	J Johnson	12.0	3.03	0.0	159.3	1.16
P	Hudson	13.7	3.46	0.0	137.0	1.23
P	Billingsley	11.0	3.99	0.0	163.0	1.38

Hoosier Daddy: The Well Rounded Picker

Hoosier Daddy ended the draft with a very solid starting roster.  He waited to some degree for talent to fall to a reasonable price and acquired several good players for under market value.  The bottom five or so players on his bench are flyer type players which is about where you would like to be as none of them cost more than a couple of bucks.

The roster has a large amount of second-tier pitching which is the optimal spot to select pitchers based on return on investment.  Instead of one Kershaw or Verlander, he was able to get Cain and Bumgarner for instance.

The positional players have some element of injury risk, but based on the price they were well worth it in my opinion and the roster is slam full of consistent players.

The owner waited till later in the draft to acquire closers which in this case was an optimal strategy as a couple even went undrafted.

Overall an excellent auction draft.

Best Pick: Brandon Beach $8.

Worst Pick: Howie Kendrick $16.  Not a bad pick, just maybe a little high.

Projected Finish: 1 out of 12

C	Montero	0.274	16.7	75.7	70.7	1.0
1B	Teixeira	0.265	34.3	111.7	98.3	3.0
2B	Kendrick	0.285	14.3	74.0	73.7	13.0
3B	Zimmerman	0.289	22.7	85.0	84.3	3.7
SS	Ramirez	0.282	22	86	88	21
OF	McCutchen	0.278	21.0	88.0	96.3	26.7
OF	Bourn	0.275	2.7	54.3	90.7	55.0
OF	Upton	0.288	29.7	101.3	99.0	20.0
Util	Konerko	0.281	28.7	95.0	88.3	0.7
Util	Boesch	0.271	19.0	72.7	75.7	6.0
SP	Cain	14.0	3.29	0.0	173.7	1.19
SP	Bumgarner	13.7	3.26	0.0	178.7	1.23
RP	Bailey	3.0	3.08	34.3	56.3	1.17
RP	Francisco	2.7	3.29	23.3	58.0	1.26
P	Beachy	12.0	3.24	0.0	190.7	1.20
P	Gonzalez	12.0	3.58	0.0	190.7	1.33
P	Morrow	11.7	3.85	0.0	206.0	1.31
P	Santan	12.3	3.88	0.0	158.3	1.30
P	McCarthy	11.3	3.64	0.0	126.7	1.20
P	Guerra	2.3	3.58	22.0	50.7	1.30
P	Thornton	3.7	2.85	30.0	71.0	1.19

AtlBraves: The Guy Who Doesn't Even Know Ryan Howard Is Hurt

This team’s draft was another lesson in mismanagement and it seems to be a case of the unprepared owner.  As a general rule you should turn on MLB Network at least once before you pick a team.

After blowing through just under $200 on the first four players selected, he continued to overspend and was not able to build a usable starting roster ending up with $12 players.  To compound matters, he spent $10 on Ryan Howard then immediately dropped him after the draft.

Just not much good to say on this effort.

Best Pick: Yadier Molina $3.  One of the few value picks the owner made.

Worst Pick: Ryan Howard $10.  Especially if you’re going to drop him immediately.

Projected Finish: 11 out of 12

C	Molina	0.286	10.0	60.3	57.0	4.7
1B	Gonzalez	0.304	30.7	114.0	106.7	0.7
2B	Pedroria	0.298	18.7	91.0	106.7	20.0
3B	Headley	0.269	10.3	64.7	75.3	14.0
SS	Castro	0.304	9.7	72.7	92.0	21.0
OF	J Upton	0.288	29.7	101.3	99.0	20.0
OF	Soriano	0.245	21.0	62.3	55.0	3.3
OF	Crisp	0.268	8.3	56.7	71.7	40.7
Util	Howard	0.256	22.0	65.0	55.7	1.0
Util	N Walker	0.274	14.0	81.0	75.3	7.0
SP	Halladay	18.3	2.76	0.0	205.0	1.08
SP	Buehrle	12.0	4.05	0.0	112.3	1.34
RP	Perez	2.7	3.99	35.0	49.7	1.35
RP	Crow	7.0	3.79	1.0	122.3	1.43
P	Fister	13.0	3.80	0.0	130.0	1.21
P	Lilly	10.7	3.89	0.0	146.0	1.20
P	Volquez	8.0	4.09	0.0	137.3	1.45
P	Danks	11.7	3.89	0.0	151.3	1.30

GBag: The Owner Who Doesn't Pay Attention to How His Teams Shaping Up

The owner of GBag spread money around fairly well, but just left too many categories unfulfilled on his roster.  While he ended up with three top-tier starting pitchers and some good cornerstones of a lineup, collectively the team just doesn’t shape up to fulfill the bulk of the count stats. 

Despite looking fairly decent on paper, this is a value-minded owner who just didn’t get enough back in terms of offensive production.  The team projects to be very weak in both speed and power categories.

Best Pick: Neslon Cruz $22.

Worst Pick: No one stands out as horrible.  The team just lacks collectively.

Projected Finish: 10 out of 12

C	Santana	0.255	26.3	97.7	91.3	5.3
1B	Morse	0.281	27.7	91.3	79.0	2.0
2B	Murphy	0.298	9.7	60.3	68.7	5.7
3B	Beltre	0.289	27.0	95.3	81.0	3.3
SS	Andrus	0.280	5.0	61.0	87.3	37.0
OF	Cruz	0.274	28.3	81.7	74.0	11.7
OF	Trumbo	0.260	23.7	68.0	62.3	5.0
OF	Swisher	0.259	23.7	83.0	83.0	2.3
Util	G Sanchez	0.268	18.7	80.7	77.7	3.7
Util	De Aza	0.280	10.7	61.3	79.7	28.0
SP	Lincecum	14.7	3.09	0.0	220.0	1.22
SP	Lee	17.0	2.89	0.0	212.0	1.08
RP	Axford	3.0	2.67	38.0	74.7	1.18
RP	Wilson	3.3	3.09	37.3	66.3	1.28
P	Hamels	14.3	3.25	0.0	188.7	1.13
P	Garcia	13.3	3.47	0.0	154.0	1.30
P	Jansen	3.3	2.35	15.7	95.0	1.13
P	Chacin	12.3	3.85	0.0	164.3	1.37

Team Me (Not My Team): The Coupon Clipper

Team Me took a fairly well-rounded approach to the draft and ended up with a decent mix of players at good value.  While the team projects to finish in the middle of the standings, there is opportunity for several players to outperform projection and end up near the top. 

This type of owner is like the best player available snake draft owner.  He just looks for value and takes it when he sees it.  At the end of the day, it falls where it falls.

The team focused more on count pitching stats than ratios which can always lead to a black hole and a move or two to pick up power could be beneficial. 

This will be an interesting team to watch as the season progresses.

Best Pick: Brian McCann $13.  Based on what the other upper level catchers brought, this was a steal.

Worst Pick: Really no pick was made haphazardly. 

Projected Finish:  6 out of 12

C	McCann	0.273	22.3	81.7	73.3	3.7
1B	I Davis	0.271	21.3	82.0	73.7	1.0
2B	Zobrist	0.263	18.7	89.7	89.3	17.0
3B	Ramirez	0.282	23.7	90.7	75.0	1.0
SS	Cabrera	0.279	17.0	75.0	83.3	13.7
OF	Ellsbury	0.302	20.3	76.0	109.7	43.0
OF	Heyward	0.268	20.7	82.7	80.3	12.3
OF	Holliday	0.298	24.3	94.7	90.7	5.3
Util	Victorino	0.274	15.3	75.0	81.7	22.3
Util	Ethier	0.283	18.3	86.0	77.3	1.7
SP	Lester	15.7	3.50	0.0	203.7	1.26
SP	Gallardo	14.3	3.50	0.0	208.3	1.26
RP	Hanrahan	2.7	2.87	37.3	68.3	1.18
RP	Valverde	3.0	3.36	37.3	61.3	1.31
P	Jimenez	12.0	3.73	0.0	189.7	1.32
P	Santana	8.0	3.85	0.0	107.0	1.27
P	Farnsworth	3.0	3.09	30.0	53.3	1.17
P	Carpenter	14.3	3.59	0.0	158.7	1.23
P	Buchholz	12.0	3.98	0.0	118.3	1.36
P	Hellickson	12.0	4.09	0.0	135.0	1.25

Creeps: The Guy Who Just Doesn't Care

These owners are the Milton Bradley of fantasy baseball.  They just don't care enough to be there.

While it’s still up for debate whether we were dealing with an autopick monster or just an insane human being, this was without a doubt the emotional topic of the day. The owner ended up with an astonishing 17 dollar players on a 23 man roster.

The first three players acquired were Prince Fielder ($56), Robinson Cano ($78), and Ryan Braun ($59). 

That is correct, $78 for Robinson Cano.

Luckily for the owner, of the 17 dollar players, some of them were the better dollar picks of the draft.  Not that he would know this as he left the draft after spending $20 on David Wright.

Beware of the guy who doesn’t really care.  Unfortunately this can happen.  Luckily we made him mad enough that he left.

Best Pick: Mike Carp $1.

Worst Pick (of the Draft): Robinson Cano $78.

Projected: 7 out of 12

C	Arencibia	0.232	24.0	65.0	61.3	1.0
1B	Fielder	0.287	35.0	116.7	110.3	1.3
2B	Cano	0.302	25.7	109.3	95.0	4.7
3B	Wright	0.276	22.0	84.0	84.7	16.3
SS	Escobar	0.283	10.0	56.3	89.7	4.7
OF	Bourjos	0.265	13.0	65.3	68.0	27.0
OF	Pagan	0.281	8.0	57.3	67.0	26.7
OF	Braun	0.311	35.0	115.0	100.0	23.0
Util	Lind	0.262	26.0	84.3	74.7	1.0
Util	Carp	0.265	21.0	76.7	70.3	2.0
SP	Price	15.3	3.26	0.0	202.3	1.20
SP	Liriano	10.0	4.30	0.0	148.3	1.39
RP	Ventors	4.0	2.58	3.0	79.3	1.22
RP	Romo	3.0	2.22	0.7	72.7	0.96
P	Ogando	10.0	3.71	0.3	121.0	1.21
P	Baker	11.0	3.83	0.0	141.0	1.25
P	Cahill	12.0	3.93	0.0	140.3	1.37
P	E Jackson	12.0	3.81	0.0	157.3	1.35
P	Oswalt	9.0	3.81	0.0	104.7	1.23
P	Minor	8.7	3.79	0.0	131.3	1.31

Sherbaderrr: The Extreme Patience Owner

Sherbaderrr waited...and waited…and waited.  This was an example of an owner showing patience for value to the extreme as he had a roster of one player after 75 players were off the board.  This guy may have been an ex-sniper.

While he may have taken this strategy a bit too far, the end result is a lineup that projects to finish in the top three of the league assuming innings limits are managed properly.  The team ended up with a relatively weak offense based primarily around speed and an enormous pitching staff that included four top-tier closers. 

If the owner can find some offensive production on the waiver wire, he could be a contender for the title.

Best Pick: Brett Gardner $8

Worst Pick: Jose Reyes $33.  Not too much of a reach, but this was the closest to an example of overspending.

Projected Finish: 3 out of 12

C	Wieters	0.271	19.0	70.7	70.3	0.7
1B	Goldschmidt	0.257	26.0	77.3	74.0	8.3
2B	Cuddyer	0.276	19.3	77.3	72.0	6.3
3B	Reynolds	0.225	36.3	86.7	86.3	7.3
SS	Reyes	0.299	9.3	59.3	89.7	35.0
OF	Jennings	0.265	15.7	69.0	98.3	43.0
OF	Ad Jones	0.282	23.3	88.3	79.3	11.0
OF	Hart	0.273	25.7	84.0	79.7	8.0
Util	Werth	0.254	22.3	77.3	86.3	14.7
Util	Gardner	0.268	7.0	66.3	76.3	48.3
SP	Kennedy	13.7	3.50	0.0	182.7	1.20
SP	Hanson	12.3	3.33	0.0	165.0	1.22
RP	Kimbrel	4.0	2.20	37.3	106.7	1.12
RP	Putz	2.7	3.03	35.0	60.7	1.13
P	Soren	3.0	2.98	37.0	62.7	1.17
P	Garza	12.7	3.51	0.0	187.0	1.25
P	Romero	13.7	3.68	0.0	170.7	1.28
P	Madson	3.3	2.89	36.0	65.3	1.16
P	Hudson	13.7	3.46	0.0	137.0	1.23
P	Wainwright	12.7	3.40	0.0	159.0	1.17
P	Latos	14.0	3.58	0.0	191.0	1.22
P	Zimmerman	11.0	3.67	0.0	151.7	1.21

Morgan: Wait...But Not Quite so Long

Morgan is another owner who played the wait and see game, though not to the extreme of the previous owner…he had two players by pick No. 75. 

Maybe he's not a sniper, but I bet he agreed that the Red Sox should have left Pedro in the ALCS too.

There really isn’t a lot to tell about his draft.  The owner waited on value on bid when the value was there.  The one critique would probably be the amount spent on bench players was one of the highest in the league and the strategy did not worry about pitching depth, which could be an issue as the season progresses.

Best Pick: CJ Wilson: $14

Worst Pick: Josh Beckett $13.  But really how bad is that?

Projected Finish: 4 out of 12

C	Avila	0.267	17.7	70.7	72.3	3.0
1B	Butler	0.299	19.7	99.0	89.7	1.0
2B	Weeks	0.262	22.7	77.3	85.0	10.3
3B	Longoria	0.280	31.3	104.0	97.0	6.3
SS	Gordon	0.284	1.0	49.3	70.7	48.0
OF	Bruce	0.266	33.0	104.7	91.0	6.3
OF	Stubbs	0.248	18.7	76.7	74.3	34.7
OF	Morrison	0.272	21.7	86.7	83.3	2.7
Util	Ortiz	0.275	26.7	93.7	90.0	0.7
Util	Freeman	0.281	23.3	88.0	80.7	4.0
SP	Greinke	14.7	3.10	0.0	205.7	1.17
SP	Wilson	14.3	3.38	0.0	184.0	1.25
RP	Moore	12.0	3.35	0.0	182.7	1.23
RP	Bentancourt	3.3	2.85	28.0	66.3	1.12
P	Shields	14.3	3.56	0.0	194.0	1.19
P	Sanchez	13.0	3.58	0.0	181.0	1.31
P	Soria	3.3	2.99	36.0	61.7	1.21
P	Santos	3.3	2.93	32.7	76.3	1.25
P	Beckett	13.3	3.77	0.0	167.7	1.22

Walker Texas Rangers: My Team

I was relatively happy with the draft, but like anyone else there were some mistakes made along the way.  I tried to spread my money around my starters and just use dollar type fliers on reserves. 

The two biggest cases of overspending were probably Mike Stanton at $30 and Brandon Phillips at $19.  I didn’t think either was a horrible pick, but looking back I probably could have done a little more with that $49 of cap space.  This primarily shows up with my team being weak at one of the UTL positions.

Near the end of the draft, several closers were going unclaimed which caused me to tweak my strategy a bit to use some of my flyer spots to take additional closers leading to one important thing to remember…sometimes you have to change up on the fly in these drafts.

Best Pick: Michael Pineda $13

Worst Pick: Mike Stanton $30

Projected Finish: 2 out of 12

C	Mauer	0.312	10.3	72.7	73.3	1.7
1B	Sandoval	0.305	24.0	92.7	84.0	4.0
2B	Phillips	0.279	18.7	71.0	95.7	15.7
3B	Lawrie	0.277	23.3	87.0	85.7	21.3
SS	Ramirez	0.273	16.3	74.7	79.0	10.0
OF	Stanton	0.264	38.0	111.0	95.0	6.0
OF	Pence	0.289	23.3	101.3	85.3	7.0
OF	Markakis	0.290	15.3	86.3	90.3	8.7
Util	Hosmer	0.290	22.3	95.7	85.7	12.3
Util	Quentin	0.246	23.0	76.7	67.0	2.3
SP	Hernandez	14.7	2.96	0.0	213.7	1.19
SP	Sabathia	18.7	3.15	0.0	200.3	1.20
RP	League	3.0	3.11	36.7	50.0	1.21
RP	Motte	3.3	2.91	31.0	59.3	1.15
P	Luebke	11.0	3.30	0.0	167.3	1.18
P	Strasburg	12.0	2.67	0.0	177.3	1.03
P	Marmol	3.0	3.29	39.3	97.7	1.33
P	Pineda	13.7	3.62	0.0	183.0	1.19
P	Nathan	3.0	3.48	32.7	56.7	1.20

Detroit Ligers: The Hybrid

The Detroit Ligers used a very common and effective draft strategy I call a hybrid. 

The owner did a nice job of jumping going after just a couple of high priced, high performance players to be the foundation of the team and then waited on what he considered to be values to fill out the rest of the team.

Despite sticking to this solid plan, the owner completely punted saves and filled his pitching rotation with lots of high ratio starting pitchers.  Ignoring the entire pitching side of the game for most of the draft will make it difficult to compete in the ERA and WHIP categories, without question the team’s most glaring weakness.

If he can make some moves to improve these three categories, he could challenge for the league title.  If not, he’ll likely finish in the middle of the pack.

Best Pick: Shaun Marcum $4

Worst Pick: Kevin Youkilis $22

Projected Finish: 5 out of 12

C	Ramos	0.266	14.0	55.0	51.7	0.3
1B	Pujols	0.309	39.0	116.3	109.7	7.7
2B	Kinsler	0.270	25.0	74.3	108.7	24.3
3B	Youkalis	0.279	19.7	83.3	81.0	3.3
SS	Hardy	0.265	21.7	69.0	70.3	0.7
OF	Kemp	0.295	31.3	103.7	97.0	30.7
OF	Crawford	0.283	13.3	75.0	81.0	29.7
OF	Hamilton	0.304	25.3	91.3	82.0	6.3
Util	Young	0.300	14.0	92.7	81.3	5.0
Util	Me Cabrera	0.280	13.3	64.3	76.7	14.3
SP	Norris	10.0	3.98	0.0	182.0	1.36
SP	Holland	13.3	3.94	0.0	165.7	1.34
RP	Bard	10.3	3.61	2.0	154.0	1.26
RP	Chapman	5.3	3.45	0.3	119.7	1.30
P	Sherzer	13.0	3.86	0.0	180.3	1.30
P	W Rodriguez	10.7	3.69	0.0	169.3	1.30
P	Dempster	11.3	3.97	0.0	179.0	1.36
P	Lewis	12.7	4.04	0.0	168.7	1.23
P	Cueto	12.7	3.70	0.0	135.7	1.26
P	Marcum	12.3	3.81	0.0	155.0	1.23
P	Kuroda	14.0	3.87	0.0	134.5	1.25

Conclusion

The most important day of the fantasy season is completed for this league.

Half of the teams in the league have legitimate shots at winning the title if things go their way and half of the teams are more or less already eliminated.  If this doesn’t show the importance of draft day, I don’t know what does.

So take a few lessons away from our case study. 

Be Patient.

Find Players who will return more value than you pay for them.

Understand the types of owners you'll be competing against.

And make fun of the idiot in the draft room until he leaves.  It makes the rest of the draft so much more fun!

Projected standings:

Team	AVG	HR	RBI	R	SB	Hitting Total
Hoosier Daddy	8	6	10	12	11	47
Detroit Ligers	12	9	6	9	9	45
Walker Texas Rangers	11	7	12	11	2	43
Me	10	4	8	8	8	38
Bombers	3	11	9	10	5	38
Morgan	4	8	11	7	7	37
Creeps	7	10	7	6	6	36
Sherbaderr	2	5	1	4	12	24
ATLBraves 2012	9	1	2	2	10	24
Yankees7556	1	12	5	3	1	22
Clint	5	2	4	5	4	20
Gbag	6	3	3	1	3	16
Team	W	ERA	SV	SO	WHIP	Pitching Total
Sherbaderr	11	9	12	11	10	53
Hoosier Daddy	10	7	10	10	6	43
Walker Texas Rangers	4	11	11	5	11	42
Morgan	6	8	7	9	8	38
Clint	2	10	9	2	12	35
Me	9	5	8	8	4	34
Gbag	3	12	6	4	9	34
Creeps	8	6	2	7	7	30
Detroit Ligers	12	1	1	12	2	28
Bombers	7	4	5	6	5	27
ATLBraves 2012	5	2	3	3	1	14
Yankees7556	1	3	4	1	3	12
Team	Hitting Total	Pitching Total	Total Score
Hoosier Daddy	47	43	90
Walker Texas Rangers	43	42	85
Sherbaderr	24	53	77
Morgan	37	38	75
Detroit Ligers	45	28	73
Me	38	34	72
Creeps	36	30	66
Bombers	38	27	65
Clint	20	35	55
Gbag	16	34	50
ATLBraves 2012	24	14	38
Yankees7556	22	12	34