10 things to thing about when drafting.
I was a little undecided on whether or not to drop this on the eve of the draft. It doesn't seem wise to give away our strategy beforehand. But since 3/4 of the league doesn't read team news and the ones that do, pretty much have their own stubborn ways and aren't going to change. What the heck. So for the one person who will read this and use it against us. Congrats. This is your prize for reading all my boring team news.
Straddling
We have a rule in this league. If you don't sign a draft pick(Rounds 1-3), you get a pick in that same range next season. This is meant for broke teams(see 2037 Robins). But it can also be used in a different way that I feel is very under utilized. Every season we hear people gleam with joy or complain with misery about the quality of the draft pool. No two drafts are the same. Some are really good, some not so good.
So if it's a bad draft year... just don't sign your pick. Every season I reassess my 1-3 picks. If they want too much money or I feel I got a player less then average for that spot, I'll throw them back in the pool and wait it out till next season. It can be a frustrating process. On draft day I'm like a kid in a candy store.... gimme, gimme, gimme. To have to place that new shiny toy back on the shelf and leave the toy shop is easier said then done. But if you have the will power, it can be a very useful tool in getting the most out of the draft.
Don't Sign Players Right Away
This has a two fold positive effect and one negative. Immediately following the draft, you want to get a deal done and have that player suit up ASAP. Prospects need to be playing somewhere in order to develop as quickly as possible. So that is the counterpoint to what I'm about to say. I'm not going to argue that one bit.
But the players you need to sign are mostly the 1-3rd round picks. The ones that can be thrown back. How many times have you picked a player and they immediately lumped? If you wait till closer to the signing deadline, you may catch these lumps and it may change your evaluation of the players worth.
The other benefit may be debatable. I'm not sure if this is actually true or not in terms of OOTP. Sometimes I get lost in thinking this is real and use common sense over game limitations. But it makes sense that your negotiating power would increase as the deadline looms. Especially with college aged players. Like if you sign a free agent in FA sim 1, you're likely to have to overpay. Sign him in spring training, and he's a lot less. My theory is similar to that model, just not as drastic in the range. But as they say...20 bucks is 20 bucks.
Only Draft Core Players
I try, with all my might, to only draft C, 2B, SS, CF, and SP. The reason for this is that these players can play other positions... easily.. but the 1B, 3B, LF, RF, DH, and RP are often pigeon holed into what they are. The last thing I want is to be stuck 9 really good DH prospects. You can't play them all and they have little/no trade value. But if you have 9 CF prospects, they are likely talented enough to play other positions and are always in demand in the BBA.
Of course I always slip up. It's hard to draft a 4/6/3/2/6 shortstop when there is a 6/7/8/6/8 bat still out there. But that's ok. It's like slipping up on a diet. If you do it every once and a while it's ok. Just don't turn into a fat slob.
Beat the Traffic on RP
I know I just said don't draft RP. But there is a unique opportunity. to load up on really good ones. From my experience, OOTP GM's loathe the value of RP. The top guys will go late in round one, but most of the good RP won't start coming off the board till the 4th/5th round. Once they start to go, it's usually rapid fire. This is almost regardless of the depth of the draft. It's just an odd trend that I've picked up on. If you can save your late 3/early 4th round pick for a RP, you will get a good value for your money. If, of course, you value RP.
Ignore Player Positions
Amatuer players are often listed at wonky positions<insert Corey Jackson joke here>. Like I said, I tend to stay away from DH/CIF/COF types. So the easy thing for me to do would be filter by position. It's easy, but I would miss out on a lot. I've seen feeder league players with 9/9/9 outfield skills who have only played 1B throughout high school. So technically they are listed as 1B in the draft. And even if you "filter by", which lists every player with any experience at said position, they won't show up.
I tend to use catcher ability and range as my starting points. If a player isn't 7 or better, they aren't really what I'm looking for. So I set that as my filter and it blocks out the Steve Balboni Jr's of the BBA draft. Obviously you need to dig deeper then just range. But it's a good starting point for drafting core players and at least making sure you have a general scope of available players.
Avoid Broken Players
I have a term I use a lot when scouting players. It's called a "broken player". So the concept here is... a player has many different ratings that make up who he is. But you can't add up all of these ratings to rank players. It just doesn't work like that. Certain ratings paired with other ratings make the first rating better then it actually is because you are increasing the likelihood of it happening. Wait what? I think I lost some of you. Here's an example...
If a pitcher has a 4 stamina, he may work and he may not as a starter. While not scientifically proven, I suspect that pitchers with lower stuff and higher control are more likely to work then the opposite. Why? Because stamina directly effects innings pitched. So in order to stretch out the inning to pitch ratio we need to have a pitcher who A. doesn't walk a lot of hitters, and B. doesn't strikeout a lot. This will induce more one pitch outs and keep the pitcher fresh longer.
Broken players are not limited to that one scenario. An 11/4/11/11 infielder looks like a dream come true... till he makes 45 errors a season. Everybody loves a player with 8 EYE and 11 POW. But that is somewhat broken too. His 80-90 BB will take away his opportunities to hit HR. Essentially handicapping him to the same HR total as someone with 9 or 10 POW.
Of course one of the bigger things to consider when looking for broken players is your home park factors. A right handed homerun hitter in California is just a bad idea from the get go.
SP/RP Conversions
This is something I've picked up from others around the league. Once the picks start turning lackluster, you need to dig a little bit and get creative. There may e a pitcher out there who is 5/6/8 with pitch ratings of 8/7/6/8/6/5/8. On the surface he looks like garbage, but if you RP convert him, he could be a diamond in the rough. This is a super competetive league. Take every advantage that is given.
Signability/Affordability
This is something that really needs to be payed attention to. We get what? 20 draft picks a season? Make them count, don't waste anything. If a player won't sign with you, move on. This is super important in rounds 4-10. At least in the early rounds you have the protection of waiting until next year. And in the later rounds the players likely aren't important. But if you cough up multiple 4th-10th round picks year after year, you are really stunting your farm system.
Keep Inventory
If you strive to be a position flexible franchise, this never really becomes too big of an issue. You can draft pretty much whatever position you want and slot other players over to a different position. Sometimes though, you box yourself in a corner and need to consider this when drafting. Currently in Brooklyn I have a ton of outfield prospects. You can debate whether they are good or not amongst yourselves. I just have a lot of outfielders that I feel deserve playing time. Playing time is the single most important thing in developing players.
So let's say you just signed this super talented international catcher who is 17 and raw. You plan on laying him in Rookie ball this year. You also have a 17 year old who can do nothing by DH but can rake. Now you have the first pick in the draft and there is this catcher... he's 10/8/10/9/8 with good defense. But he is really under developed. It will be really hard to make both players work. They both need to be in rookie ball, they both need to catch and they both need at bats. There is almost no way to make that work. You'd be costing yourself value.
This is why Brooklyn prioritizes flexibility. It minimizes these situations and maximizes the type of player you can acquire, while still maintaining playing time.
Finding Purpose in Late Rounds
Some years the draft just blows. There isn't much to do about that. Once you get to the late rounds, you know the players you are selecting have no shot at making it. Instead of just throwing the pick away, try to make a use for the pick. Maybe a catcher with great ability, a strong captain type to keep the clubhouse atmosphere strong. Then there is the old stand of a young left handed pitcher. Just try to have a plan and a purpose, cause it's not likely you'll strike gold here.
