Think something should be done with the auto draft...UPDATE!

[JONCHUCKERY]

So we just had the auto draft in our league...an 80mil, no-DH league in which I'm playing in [b:f0894da0d4]Yankee Std[/b:f0894da0d4] (this is an important note for later). I list W Stargell #1 and J Rice #2 on my draft list...I lose both players. Now lets for the sake of discussion say I drafted 12th in the league and also say the team before is who had Stargell #1 and no other team had Stargell listed #1 or for that matter Rice #2...

So with the 12th and 24th (at worst) picks in the draft of the entire player pool for a team playing in Yankee Std...I get B Watson as my 1st pick and L Hisle as my 2nd...yep that's my compensation for losing those 2 guys!!!

Now I understand how the draft is run...no explanation is needed, please. Oh and in my top 10 I also lost out on Simmons, B Williams, Rose, North, and Guidry...I did manage to land Metzger (who I listed 3rd), Hunter, and Knowles.

The net result is how ridiculous the compensation procedure is on the auto draft. I would love for anyone here to post me a link of an 80mil team that had Watson and Hisle as its 2 main offensive cogs. Basically I just made a 24.95 donation to TSN/SOM because unless I'm lucky enough for every other team to land the worst card of every top player, not much can be done to overcome a scenario like this. How about before we concentrate resources on a 90's mystery card game we fix the auto-draft among other things...

If you lose Bonds, Walker, or Sosa in the 90's game who's going to be your replacement pick...Michael Tucker? Brian McRae?[/b]

[YountFan]

I hear you...
An easy fix (I think) would make it work more like waivers. Say you have Stargell #1 and Rice #2 and others have them both at #1.

Option 1:
In the 1st round you lose Stagell, which should move everyone up (i.e. Rice is now #1). You could still lose him, but then #3 is number one (your list still keeps sliding up).

I think you'd get more of your players, but would cause others that are probably just as bad.

Option 2:
You select a backup player for each position and HAL tries to use that if he can, otherwise the current defaulting applies

Better, but not perfect.

Option 3:
Stop drafting popular players. You have to assume that others want the same players and not try for all of them.

Option 4:
Only play in theme and live draft leagues.

[JONCHUCKERY]

Here's what's worse Yountfan is that Yas and Reggie Jackson are available free agents...Why not instead of automatically taking the next [b:c4266b8bae]lower salary[/b:c4266b8bae] undrafted player at that position, make it where an undrafted higher priced player is selected. I mean its not as if teams aren't drafted above the salry cap thru the same process.

The obvious problem with avoiding stars is that if you don't take them someone else will...trying to be cute at 3B and allowing someone to get Brett who if he lands his 1980 card will steamroll your team because in the words of Harry Callahan you wanted to be "stylish" isn't going to be a recipe for long term success either

[free4allfree2001]

I agree with Yount's option two. You essentially have two draft lists. If your Plan A at SS is already drafted you have an opportunity to get your plan B, if both are taken you are at the mercy of HAL.

I feel your pain JMC. I am in that league with you and I had Stargell #1 and Brett #2 and I did not get either of them which creates a huge hole in my drafting strategy.

You're a good owner and will overcome the adversity. :x

[YountFan]

[quote:a0da5ab8a8]instead of automatically taking the next lower salary undrafted player at that position, make it where an undrafted higher priced player is selected.[/quote:a0da5ab8a8]

That would be great and you'd have to get below the cap to start the season. Or if it is a problem let the top 5-7 pick go up and the rest down.

YF

[The Senators]

I was part of the above mentioned draft...I managed to land 17 players I had on my list (I was also the one who got Stargell and I had him listed 1st). I once tried to read how the draft even works but I think I either got a headache or fell alseep first. So I don't pretend to even know how it works. Maybe I just ask for alot of players nobody else wants but more often than not, I get at least a core to work with, along with alot of high priced players I can dump for money to start all over with. Alot comes down to luck too since you never know what season you will get and getting those who you wanted in the draft is no guarantee of a good season... It would be more fun to go live with these drafts but that would exclude those of us who don't possess the computer savvy to even compete in a live draft. If this was made simpler to do I think it would add alot to the draft.

[JONCHUCKERY]

This is an interesting list...Here are the players I drafted in my top 10 that I lost and who I ended up with as a replacement...

Stargell - B Watson
Rice - L Hisle
B Williams - K Henderson
North - T Uhlander
Guidry - P Jarvis
Simmons - G Tenace
Rose - J Briggs

Its really bad when you consider the free agent pool...Fisk, Yas, Clemente, R Jackson, Perez, Geronimo, and more...no wonder my stomach is queezy today!!!

[LMBombers]

The AD rules have been the same since day one (or at least since I started). If you were playing in a neutral park it really wouldn't matter. Can you really expect HAL to know what park you are in and give you replacement players to fit your stadium?

Trying to play in Yankee Stadium in the 70's is tricky as there are relatively few LH power hitters in the game. I am a Bob Watson fan for any type of park outside of a pure HR stadium. You have to have some RH hitters even in Yankee. Either a leadoff type or a guy with good BA and doubles like Watson are perfect. Check him out on a current Yankee Stadium team I have going now. Don't give up just yet.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/70s/team/team_other.html?user_id=75826

[voovits]

I'm a fan of the current way the auto draft works. It adds an additional layer of strategy to the game. It's one of my favorite aspects of this game.
Who you try to draft and where you put them on your card are critical. You know you're taking a risk when you put the popular players on your card.
It's all about combining the risk of the popular players along with the relative safety of the less popular players.

I have had my fair share of bad drafts, but I've had plenty of good ones. I have had what I thought were bad drafts lead to good teams and what I thought were good drafts lead to bad teams. No matter how many guys I miss, there is always someone out there who I could pick up in preseason that I am happy with using on my team.

On that note, I have been a fan of YountFans option 2 for a long time, and I think that would only enhance the strategy and the fun of the autodraft.

[coyote303]

It would help, too, if they would revalue the players so a $6 million dollar replacement player really is worth $6 million. The 70s card set is smaller than it would appear because some players just aren't worth their price and rarely get picked.