Draft Strategy Question

[BRIANSIELSKI]

I've seen some drafts where an owner drafts the top players (like both Pujohls, D. lee, J. Bay, and Clemens in 2005 ... or Ruth, Geherig, Mantle in ATG) ... and then drop them like flies during FA/Waivers.

What are they trying to accomplish?

Thanks in advance!

Doc

[Mean Dean]

It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. No one other than a chump will trade you a superstar for multiple average-to-good players, and you can't necessarily count on superstars going undrafted or getting released. So if you want to ensure your team has superstars, the best way to do it is simply to draft them all.

However, the person doing this probably doesn't expect to actually [i:71744896aa]get[/i:71744896aa] all of them. If he does, then he's not going to be able to afford to fill in a team around them; thus, he will have to drop some of them. But again, then what he's doing is looking for two or three guys to buy with his $12M who fit his needs. That's pretty easy. What's tough is spending that $12M on Pujols, without drafting him to begin with.

[Jerlins]

I'll chime in myself here, since I might fall into that category. There are times I'll draft a high $ player, knowing his popularity, hoping not to get him, by placing him in the middle of the draft, but one of the next two players that fall directly below him, accomplishing 3 things. One, it basically guarantees me getting a high impact hitter, without wasting a high draft pick on him, two, can give me possible trade bait, especially if I have another player at the same position, and three, hopefully gives me a higher waivers pick. Also, I'll sometimes draft two high $ players at a scarce position hoping to snag one. For example:

If I decide I want a high impact 1st baseman, maybe I'll put D. Lee somewhere in the middle of my draft list. I either get Lee, or if perchance I don't get him, there is a decent possibility of getting Pujols, Helton, Ortiz and so on if someone places him higher. If no one drafts Lee, well, I get a high impact player without wasting a high pick on him, allowing me to focus on what I consider my base players necessary to field my team. Or, if I want a solid SS that has a 3 game max injury rating, I might place in my draft Jeter, Tejeda, and Young all on my list, and may well end up with two of them.

There are also times where one's best laid plans go for naught and you need to adjust. If for example, you draft a neutral park, but your 3 divisional opponents are all in PNC and RFK type stadiums, and loaded with LH SP's, a player like Pujols might no longer be the best fit for the division, since he can't hit lefties with authority, coupled with the fact his power numbers would suffer greatly when on the road in the division.

Hope this helps explain a little.

[durantjerry]

Don't overlook the possibiity that some less experienced players don't really know what the **** they are doing.

[BRIANSIELSKI]

I see what you're saying ... but it just seemed weird especially in that ATG league, since there are TONS of great players. Drafting Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, and Cobb was a bit overkill.

He then dropped them all.

Seems like he knew what he was doing ...

but not to me. :(

Doc

[frog17]

Sometimes, I have gotten star players in the draft, but they were not the ones I was shooting for, so I end rearranging my roster to fit my strategy. Or sometimes having to rework a strategy entirely. That could explain some of it since I have heard similar things from other managers.