So draft day has come and you have the 5th spot in the draft. Superlatives! You’re now guaranteed one of the top players in this year’s draft in a typical non-keeper league. You can’t believe you just nailed down 1/2 of your SS situation because you just got Troy Tulowitzki. Now as the draft drifts along, you start nailing down your other needs and soon realize you need that second SS. Unfortunately, its the 18th round and in a panic you are deciding between Rafael Furcal, Jamey Carroll and Ryan Theriot. Which one do you take? The panicked answer is ‘any of them that is available’. But what does the prepared drafter do? Well, the prepared drafter doesn’t stick themselves in this situation, of course (Here’s where you say ‘Hey, that was a trick question!’, to which I will say ‘Please don’t shout at me, it’s rude’). By this I mean – unlike in regular leagues where you play one at each position – having one good player at it is only half the battle. You’re still going to need a gameplan for the later rounds so you’re not stuck with Clint Barmes. The best way to do this it to set bars for what you’re willing to accept from your secondary IF player (you’ll also need to evaluate which positions are thin vs not before the draft even starts, but that is for another post). No matter what the year, there are always two or three underrated players going into the draft due to an off year, an injury, or both. For example, last year, J.J. Hardy & Asdrubal Cabrera were players that weren’t even drafted in some standard 5×5 leagues who ended up finishing in the top 10 for SS in 2011. Meanwhile, Hanley Ramirez was a consensus first round pick and people were drafting Derek Jeter like its 1999 (don’t kick it old school too hard; you might aggravate your sciatic nerve).
The key to keep in mind is value. While you’re going to feel the urge to follow everyone else in running to fill that SS2 position, realize there might be better values out there that people are considering. As a hint towards my SS post, take a look at where Alcides Escobar is being drafted in standard yahoo leagues: his average draft pick is 260.6. An SS who stole 26 bags last year is being drafted like he’s Jason Bartlett…wait, he IS Jason Bartlett but with a few key differing characteristics: youth, a chance to get better, and a good lineup to hit in. While people are scrambling and overdrafting mediocrity (I’m looking at YOU, Yunel Escobar), you have time to pad out your other positions. Don’t chase, plan ahead. Know what you’re willing to spend and ignore the people queuing up to draft Jimmy Rollins 3 rounds before he should be off the board. When the dust settles, they just saddled themselves with an expensive, brittle antique while you were making sure your other positions didn’t suffer from neglect.