Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Hey all, just completed my first live draft in a public league and I wanted to pick your brains on a question of etiquette. Since there is no price on players, should I max out my team to 28 players by picking up the best available after the draft? Or should I still leave it at 25? Don't want to be seen as a bad sportsman/jerk, but I also don't want to miss out on fielding the best team available. Thanks in advance for your input.

-Gary

Go to 28 players - build your best team, no one expects anything else. But look for trade offers you can make that might trade two or three of your players for 1 or 2 on another team. I suspect anyone who likes the action of live drafts also likes to trade. And I think everyone will agree offering a trade that helps both teams is seen as very good behavior.

You are in my league, in my division in fact, and have I got a deal for you!

The breakdown of your 28 players should be 11 pitchers and 17 hitters, or 12 / 16, but if you have 12 pitchers, at least 6 of them should be starters. Don't carry any more than 6 relievers, as they will just take away innings from your better relievers. You can pick up some extra "match-up" starters that will be very effective only at certain parks. For example, a guy like Ubaldo Jimenez is much more effective in a HR park because he has 0 BPHRs, whereas a guy with like Yusmeiro Petit (5/8 BPHRs) needs to be in Petco or Fenway to be effective.

Having all of those extra hitters also gives you a chance to have some great platoons and defensive replacments.

Thanks very much for the help and advice guys! I'm already hooked on live drafts.