Hitting Tiers Via the Auction Calculator

With people already participating in 2020 drafts, I thought it was time to see where and if any positional tiers exist. I don’t believe in making up a tier where a dropoff doesn’t exist. I’m more looking for spots where for two or more rounds, a position should not even be in consideration to be drafted. Also, is there a point where the position just falls off and no one decent is left?

To set up the tiers, I used this 15-team Roto setup and our Depth Chart projections. I know everyone won’t agree with all the projections. I don’t, but they’ll provide a nice guideline for this discussion. It’s time to start with catchers.

Catcher

Tiers

• Tier 1. It’s four options and then wait.
• Tier 2. The rest of the options are evenly spaced until the end.

First Base

Tiers

• Tier 1: Three options are in the steep initial drop.
• Tier 2: Five guys make up this tier in the $19 to $20 range.
• Tier 3: Four more guys are clumped in the $14 to $15 range
• Tier 4: The spacing between is even in the $10 range but the options are suspect (see Joey Votto).

Second Base

Tiers

• Tier 1: Six options fill this grouping from $20 to $24. No one player makes the steep drop with Altuve’s stolen base drop costing him.
• Tier 2: Just four options between $14 and $16
• Tier 3: If an owner missing out on the few top options, they have several chances under $10. In a 15-team league, at least five teams rostering a second baseman from this range.

Short Stop

Tiers

• Tier 1: It’s a huge tier from $12 and up consisting of 21 players. There really is no gap. For a comparison, here are how many players the other infield positions have at $12 or more. Catcher: 8. First base: 13. Second base: 10. Third base: 18.
• Tier Oh Crap: It’s just a handful of guys under $10 and if a team couldn’t get one of the 21 shortstops before now, they messed up.

Third Base

Tiers

• Tier 1: If it wasn’t for shortstop, third base would be getting all the love. The options are evenly spread down to the $14 level. Like with shortstop, teams need to probably grab their third baseman and stay out of the bottom options.
• Tier 2. It’s just a slow even decline starting around the $10 point.

Outfield

Tier

• Just one which is pretty even throughout the entire player pool. No need to reach or worry about an outfielder being available.

Overall thoughts

• • Catcher is easiest to wait on. Every team is going to have to pick someone out of the bottom unless they double-tap the first few.
  • While I won’t reach for a shortstop or third baseman, I would like to fill both before the bottom of the draft where the options dry up. I may have to fill my middle and corner infield spots from these two positions.
  • I need to accept that I may have a crappy 1B. Half the teams will. I might need to dig a bit through the later options for a couple of upside plays.
  • I’ll need to accept picking off the bottom at second base. It’s another player pool I need to be familiar with.
  • And all the preceding takes could be complete rubbish by season’s start since the offseason has just started.

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