In 1996, Larry Labadini spent $251 of his $260 auction budget on hitting in the early years of LABR. That meant that his pitching staff was completely filled by $1 hurlers. Labadini finished fourth that year, but his strategy has forever been known as the Labadini Plan. I have been dying to try this in an auction, but never actually went through with it. It’s obviously high risk and there are always too many pitchers I want to own that cost more than a buck. One day though, it must happen.

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As a reward for winning last year’s Tout Wars mixed online draft league, I was given the opportunity to join one of the three live auction leagues. Given that I hate snake drafts and auction day is one of the most enjoyable of the year, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. My next decision was to choose which league I preferred to join between the two mono leagues and the 15-team mixed. This was also pretty much a no-brainer. The AL-Only league is the famous and storied one featured in one of my favorite books, Fantasyland. It is home to many of the titans of the industry such as Ron Shandler, Larry Schechter, Jeff Erickson, Andy Behrens, Lawr Michaels, and of course, the man who writes for every website, including this one, Jason Collette. I soon learned that I would indeed be joining this league and yesterday was our auction high up in the McGraw Hill building in New York City.

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Yesterday, I went beyond the obligatory 10 bold predictions and shared my bold hitter league leaders in each of the five standard fantasy categories. So today, I take on the pitchers. Although still difficult to hit on any, the pitchers are a bit easier to get right than the hitters for two reasons. One, there are two ratio categories, rather than one, so playing time expectations are less important. And two, there’s a larger luck component involved in pitching which makes the elite guys less of a lock to lead the league in any specific category.

In 2012, I hit on one of my 10 picks. Last year, I was demoted back to the minors after putting up an 0-fer. Let’s hope that lit a fire under my butt and results in a breakout predictions year.

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Why stop at just 10 general bold predictions? For the third year, I am publishing my bold league leaders. These are even more difficult to be right on than the bold predictions. In 2012, I nailed exactly 0 of my 10 picks. Last year, I regained my prospect status, actually hitting on one with my predicted National League home run leader, Paul Goldschmidt. Remember, these are bold league leaders, so when running through names, I instantly disqualified a player if I didn’t personally believe the player would be considered bold to lead the league in said category.

Let’s see what I’ll be rooting for on the offensive side of the ball this season.

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This is my fourth year posting my bold predictions and it is always one of the most enjoyable posts to put together. In 2011, I published a whopping 20 bold predictions, but only hit on 4 of them. I say only, but in reality, my benchmark or target correctness was always 20% to begin with. In 2012, I increased my batting average to a more respectable .300, hitting on 3 of my 10 predictions. I was again right on with 3 of my 10 last year. After consolidating my skills, am I due for a breakout season with 5 correct predictions?

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Today marks the end of the 2014 Pod’s Pick series and we finish off with my favorite position, starting pitcher. This is where we find the most divergent opinions as an extra projected win or two or a slightly higher expected strikeout rate is enough to push a player up a whole bunch of spots in the rankings.

The starting pitcher edition of Pod’s Picks may help you find value or learn who to avoid at their current going rates. The bullish section will only include players from my top 78 (which assumes 6 1/2 starting pitchers active per team with 2 1/2 closers), while the bearish group will only include those whose RotoGraphs consensus is in the top 78.

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The outfield edition of Pod’s Picks may help you find value or learn who to avoid at their current going rates. The bullish section will only include players from my top 64 (which assume four outfielders starting at the Util slot, in addition to the 60 starters at OF), while the bearish group will only include those whose RotoGraphs consensus is in the top 64.

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Third base actually appears relatively decent this year with a group of youngsters on the rise, or those we’re still waiting for to break out (Moose Tacos, I’m talking to you), as well as the standard top tier vets.

The third base edition of Pod’s Picks may help you find value or learn who to avoid at their current going rates. The bullish section will only include players from my top 20, while the bearish group will only include those whose RotoGraphs consensus is in the top 20.

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Unlike at second base, you could find your speed among the shortstop crop. There are also a host of guys who offer intriguing blends of power and speed, as well as a nice mix of youngsters with upside and established veterans.

The shortstop edition of Pod’s Picks may help you find value or learn who to avoid at their current going rates. The bullish section will only include players from my top 20, while the bearish group will only include those whose RotoGraphs consensus is in the top 20.

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I think second base stinks this year. It gets boring real quick and there is a serious lack of speed. In the past, we use to rely on our middle infielders for significant stolen base production, but the second base crop for the most part can no longer be counted on.

The second base edition of Pod’s Picks may help you find value or learn who to avoid at their current going rates. The bullish section will only include players from my top 20, while the bearish group will only include those whose RotoGraphs consensus is in the top 20.

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