Todd-o-logue #4: No Draft Prep, No Championship
No Draft Prep, No Championship. The title says it all. Maybe I'm talking beneath some of you and certainly not above. Draft preparation is absolutely critical to your fantasy team. It single handily can end your fantasy season before it has even begun. OK, maybe I'm over exaggerating a tad, but I need to get you attention! Allot of managers this season will forget to properly prepare for a draft. You don't want to go into the draft room basing all your hopes and dreams on the decisions you will make from the draft room rankings? Are you loony, doped up on some wacky juice? Also, you don't want to depend on those out-of-date magazines with below average content. On the contrary, you don't have to kill yourself with months of research either to have a champion draft. This Todd-o-logue would go far to long if I covered all the draft preparation techniques, so I'll covered a few I think are indispensable and if I feel like it share more with you at another time, TBA.
1. Mentally Prepare - This is probably the most overlooked factor in draft preparation because its not on a piece of paper or in the news. I will always try to get to my computer at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the draft. At this point you have to relax, clear your mind of everything but baseball. You don't want anything on your mind during the draft that might delay your pick or distract you from making the right pick. Heck, if your the type that needs to do the "Something About Mary" thing to clear your mind and relax, then unload the gun. The clearer your head is, the more focused you can be on each pick.
The maximum amount of thought and consideration normally happens when it really matters, like when you have 60 seconds. Your pick should be made before you get to your turn based on a list you have prepared. If you don't believe me, in your next draft spot the guy who makes the bad picks because their mind was saturated with distracting thoughts and they were unable to focus on the task at hand. Those are the guys who run out of time and either get a computer pick or someone they really didn't want. That same type of guy will comment "I really didn't want this guy! My computer locked up on me!" No, your brain locked up on you.
Maybe he was thinking of paying bills, or in Ryan's case all the bad picks he's made directly before then or how I won his is home football league? Either way, the bad pick was made and your draft is damaged from that point.
You don't want to be THAT guy. You know, the guy who is probably very good at fantasy baseball but has to spend half the season repairing his team because he couldn't focus and concentrate on his fantasy baseball draft.
2. Have a ADP (Average Draft Position) and a Cheatsheet - Doesn't that sound so simple and so wise? Cheatsheets, ADPs they are like cereal and milk. C'mon Primetime, give me a Internet high-five at the speed of light for that one. If I took a survey today, I would find that most people probably just take a set of cheatsheets into the draft and depend on the preset draft ranking as a tandom. That's like having two sets of cheatsheets, how does that help except to give conflicting information.
I'm sure you will do alright with just cheatsheets as it's not a death sentence for your draft. However, if you combine it with a ADP and formulate the two into a rhythm Kids Incorperated style you will have a fantastic draft with steals throughout it. Everything has a rhythm to it. Think about it your car engine, air condition, fan, heart beat, and even a finely tuned draft. Just remember that the steal doesn't have to be one admired by the others in the draft. Let the season play out and determine what a steal is and not what the guys who you stole the pick from think!
To grab hold of the rhythm, your job from the beginning is to pick the right player at the right time nearly every pick. Sounds easy right? It's a tad easier said then done. As a matter of fact, it's rarely done for more than a few picks in a row, so its a big challenge. By using your handy dandy 100% trust worthy cheatsheet from your favor expert or yourself as a guide, start assessing where the players are ranked on the cheatsheet and then the ADP. For example, your cheatsheet might rank Matt Kemp 22, but his ADP is 40. That is a average variance, so its not much of a risk or surprise. Even better, Cliff Lee is ranked very low on allot of cheatsheets, say 35, but his ADP is at 70. Right there could be a steal if Cliff Lee performs at a high level like he did last year and you get him with the 68th pick.
The point is get your players at the time where it costs you the less, but gives you the most value. The only way to do that is to pit your cheatsheet against the ADP. Get a subscription to Mock Draft Central and know your ADP like you know your wife's dress size! Ahh, bra size?
The difference between winning and losing in fantasy baseball isn't based on just math, statistics, and timely pick ups, it starts with a solid foundation of research, focus and absolute preparation.
1. Mentally Prepare - This is probably the most overlooked factor in draft preparation because its not on a piece of paper or in the news. I will always try to get to my computer at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the draft. At this point you have to relax, clear your mind of everything but baseball. You don't want anything on your mind during the draft that might delay your pick or distract you from making the right pick. Heck, if your the type that needs to do the "Something About Mary" thing to clear your mind and relax, then unload the gun. The clearer your head is, the more focused you can be on each pick.
The maximum amount of thought and consideration normally happens when it really matters, like when you have 60 seconds. Your pick should be made before you get to your turn based on a list you have prepared. If you don't believe me, in your next draft spot the guy who makes the bad picks because their mind was saturated with distracting thoughts and they were unable to focus on the task at hand. Those are the guys who run out of time and either get a computer pick or someone they really didn't want. That same type of guy will comment "I really didn't want this guy! My computer locked up on me!" No, your brain locked up on you.
Maybe he was thinking of paying bills, or in Ryan's case all the bad picks he's made directly before then or how I won his is home football league? Either way, the bad pick was made and your draft is damaged from that point.
You don't want to be THAT guy. You know, the guy who is probably very good at fantasy baseball but has to spend half the season repairing his team because he couldn't focus and concentrate on his fantasy baseball draft.
2. Have a ADP (Average Draft Position) and a Cheatsheet - Doesn't that sound so simple and so wise? Cheatsheets, ADPs they are like cereal and milk. C'mon Primetime, give me a Internet high-five at the speed of light for that one. If I took a survey today, I would find that most people probably just take a set of cheatsheets into the draft and depend on the preset draft ranking as a tandom. That's like having two sets of cheatsheets, how does that help except to give conflicting information.
I'm sure you will do alright with just cheatsheets as it's not a death sentence for your draft. However, if you combine it with a ADP and formulate the two into a rhythm Kids Incorperated style you will have a fantastic draft with steals throughout it. Everything has a rhythm to it. Think about it your car engine, air condition, fan, heart beat, and even a finely tuned draft. Just remember that the steal doesn't have to be one admired by the others in the draft. Let the season play out and determine what a steal is and not what the guys who you stole the pick from think!
To grab hold of the rhythm, your job from the beginning is to pick the right player at the right time nearly every pick. Sounds easy right? It's a tad easier said then done. As a matter of fact, it's rarely done for more than a few picks in a row, so its a big challenge. By using your handy dandy 100% trust worthy cheatsheet from your favor expert or yourself as a guide, start assessing where the players are ranked on the cheatsheet and then the ADP. For example, your cheatsheet might rank Matt Kemp 22, but his ADP is 40. That is a average variance, so its not much of a risk or surprise. Even better, Cliff Lee is ranked very low on allot of cheatsheets, say 35, but his ADP is at 70. Right there could be a steal if Cliff Lee performs at a high level like he did last year and you get him with the 68th pick.
The point is get your players at the time where it costs you the less, but gives you the most value. The only way to do that is to pit your cheatsheet against the ADP. Get a subscription to Mock Draft Central and know your ADP like you know your wife's dress size! Ahh, bra size?
The difference between winning and losing in fantasy baseball isn't based on just math, statistics, and timely pick ups, it starts with a solid foundation of research, focus and absolute preparation.
posted by The True GURU at
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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