The FSWA Draft And H2H Wrinkles

Last night, I participated in a FSWA* sponsored league with Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski and others from the industry. It’s 14-team H2H with standard deep rosters including two catchers, five outfielders, and just four bench spots. With a $260 budget, the depth offers a modest challenge. We also have a transaction limit of 50 for the season or three per week. As the Daily Grind guy, that’s a blow to my standard approach.

*Fantasy Sports Writers Association – Rumor has it that I’m trying to win an award from them this year.

In my experience, H2H leagues place a much great onus on pitching. Most of my leagues are roto, and I often ignore pitchers deep into the draft with few ill effects. In H2H leagues, you ignore pitching at your own peril. The ability to produce both volume and consistent quality is the key to winning on a week-to-week basis. The transaction limit only made it more important to draft solid pitching.

On the hitting side of the ledger, the deep rosters place the burden of management on starting as many players as possible. With 14 teams, it’s often tempting to punt a catcher, middle infield, or outfield position. Usually I’d really skimp out on one of those and then use a waiver platoon like Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose. Again, the transaction limit forced me to aim for everyday production, which led to a few interesting roster decisions.

The Team – deGromulent

My very first selection was Bryant with the fourth overall pic. I’ve been among his greatest skeptics, but this seemed like a good format to test the waters. Since he’s likely to gain outfield eligibility now, he’ll be a nice depth piece. I could have used those $16 in a smarter way, such as a $12 Jay Bruce and a modest upgrade to the back end of the roster.

Early on, my strategy was to sit back and target players who weren’t going for at least $5 above value. I think of this tactic as pseudo-price enforcement. I want to win the players involved, but my first goal is to make sure they’re costly to acquire. I landed the core of my roster in this manner – Tulo, Posey, Santana, Cobb, and Cueto.

The early draft exuberance (including a $21 Mookie Betts and $13 Joc Pederson) evaporated in the mid-rounds. I got caught trying to price enforce Holliday, but I don’t mind a $2 overpay. Sandoval, Napoli, Pearce, deGrom, and Rondon were all nice value buys. I did pony up for my guy Carrasco, mostly because I haven’t had the opportunity to do so in other leagues (he keeps going for over $20).

After spending too much on the top talent, my rivals and I were too patient in the middle rounds. That resulted in an influx of late draft cash. I spent big on Pollock, Ramirez, Headley, Miller, Giles, and Hendricks simply because I had the money to do so. In retrospect, I would have preferred to forgo a couple of those players in exchange for a guy like Bruce.

Execution

This wasn’t my sharpest draft, but I’m relatively happy given the depth of the league. I had no intention of spending so much money on catchers. In particular, I meant to let Posey go, but I thought he’d reach $29. I don’t mind owning him, but I would have preferred a $13 Jake Arrieta and $11 Russell Martin.

The pitching staff is thinner than I’d like with just seven starters, but it should be competitive most weeks. Everybody provides good ratios. I didn’t really want four relievers, but I couldn’t pass on Marshall’s potential handful of saves at the end of the draft. I’m up to about 66 percent certain that Miller will close for the Yankees, and we all know the story with Giles.

I also modestly botched the position player side of things. Crisp and Napoli are banged up and will probably rest frequently even when healthy. Pearce is also a risk for some platoon work. Obviously, Bryant will start the season in the minors. While it seems like the club should only wait 10 games, there’s always the chance they push it out a bit longer. Then there’s Tulo – my only middle infielder who cost more than $1.

I often punt stolen bases in H2H drafts. If you don’t own one of the few burners, it’s hard to count on consistent production. I rostered hardly any speed threats, but there’s still a decent chance I’ll win the category one-third of the time. I much prefer to focus on power, run production, and average over stolen bases.

Parting Shots

Overall, this is a decent example for deep, H2H leagues with a taut transaction limit. Build a strong but cost effective rotation, and load up on starting position players. Don’t be afraid to dip into the well for over-the-hill regulars like Brandon Phillips. Depending on the depth of the league, you may be forced to make some concessions. I certainly did.

As a final programming note, this is probably my final draft review post of the season. I do still have six more drafts, so if you want to chat about my drafts, seek me out on Twitter (@BaseballATeam).