what wins at $200mil?

I was in the same draft as FUDU and listed several of the same players:

Teddy - #2 - 1 spot below FUDU
Morgan - #4 - 1 spot below FUDU
Brett - #6 - 2 spots below FUDU
Dick Allen - #11 - 2 spots below FUDU
Randy Johnson - #13 - 2 spots above FUDU
Ed Reulbach - #15 - 4 spots below FUDU
Dickey - #19 - 9 spots below FUDU

Of course, I did not get any of them (including Randy, the only one I ranked above FUDU). I hit on only 10 of my 25. This was only my third 200M draft - I suspect I am competing against a number of vets here - Nev, Morpheus, FUDU, Chuck1234, among others, are in this league.

I will keep studying the drafts. I do think the draft is a key strategy at this level as there are only a few hundred players that get used over and over - if you don't get them you have to be pretty creative to salvage a bad draft. These players are pretty savvy at the trading game too.

How often do 200M players draft players only for the purposes of trading them to others, not because they fit their ballpark or plan?

Howard is redundant for me (wanted Hodges) so I'll have to find a RH bat that cooks LHP.

Galarraga, if you also need it to be a 1b

How often do 200M players draft players only for the purposes of trading them to others, not because they fit their ballpark or plan?

That's actually a not an uncommon draft strategy at $200M -- try to get all the SS or CF, and start making deals. Not the way that I go, but it has certainly been used effectively by different managers.

I was in the same draft as FUDU and listed several of the same players:

Teddy - #2 - 1 spot below FUDU
Morgan - #4 - 1 spot below FUDU
Brett - #6 - 2 spots below FUDU
Dick Allen - #11 - 2 spots below FUDU
Randy Johnson - #13 - 2 spots above FUDU
Ed Reulbach - #15 - 4 spots below FUDU
Dickey - #19 - 9 spots below FUDU

Of course, I did not get any of them (including Randy, the only one I ranked above FUDU). I hit on only 10 of my 25. This was only my third 200M draft - I suspect I am competing against a number of vets here - Nev, Morpheus, FUDU, Chuck1234, among others, are in this league.

I will keep studying the drafts. I do think the draft is a key strategy at this level as there are only a few hundred players that get used over and over - if you don't get them you have to be pretty creative to salvage a bad draft. These players are pretty savvy at the trading game too.

How often do 200M players draft players only for the purposes of trading them to others, not because they fit their ballpark or plan?

I almost feel like I should apologize.

I almost feel like I should apologize.

Who do the 200M vets consider are the players that one must usually list as pick #1 on their draft card to get?

Ruth, Bonds, Williams, Hornsby, Mantle, Foxx?? Are there more?

Any vets willing to share their expertise here?

What is the minimum salary threshold do receive a useful replacement player?

Ex: Reggie Jackson. It seems to me that you should either draft his $10.13 card so you might get someone useful if you miss, OR his $3.79 card because you won't get a useful replacement at his higher middle cards anyway.

So, two more examples:

Eddie Mathews - would you expect a useful replacement for his $9.14 card?
Johnny Mize - would you expect a useful replacement for his $8.61 card?

Or should you always draft their cheapest card because it probably won't matter anyway?

So what would the cutoff be? $9.5...$9...$8.5?

I don't think you can name a dollar cutoff. A lot of that depends on the position. For some positions the pool is very deep and you can expect an acceptable replacement. Some positions are shallow and there is a big dropoff after the top tier. That is part of the art of drafting. I would go with the general rule if shallow put your choice high on draft card. If deep then gamble by going middle of draft card.

For 200 mil purposes I like to list the top 12-15 players with that position as primary. If I am drafting a card's most expensive version I should have reason to expect a consolation among this list. How comfortable I feel about the lower part of that list will often influence how high I place that player on my draft card.

Ex: Reggie Jackson. It seems to me that you should either draft his $10.13 card so you might get someone useful if you miss, OR his $3.79 card because you won't get a useful replacement at his higher middle cards anyway.

You are probably correct. Go all in or go budget on Reggie. My thought is if he is the only RFer you are drafting then better go with the expensive one so your consolation will be decent. If he is being drafted as plan B and you have say Aaron high on your card then go with the cheap Reggie.

First off, thank you Valen and Morpheus for your contributions in this thread. Very helpful and appreciated.

Position scarcity was the driving force behind my second draft card. I listed Hornsby, Mauer, Brett at the top of the card because those positions appear to drop off more quickly than other positions. It lead me to listing Mauer too high probably.

It seemed like the OF positis are the deepest, but my replacements, other than Waner, seem to leave a lot to be desired as well.

What I'm learning about 200mil is that the player set is actually small(er) than you would initially think. I've noticed the same left over FAs after the preseason activities end.

To me that shows that the vets with more mileage in this game have kind of taken the lumps to figure out most/many of left over cards just aren't that great, so I'm learning from their mistakes/experiences.

Also at this cap IMO you have to be willing to go with numerous platoons, and not just as a plan B, but as a pre-draft strategy, b/c frankly it is very rare to get all of the guys you want/need if you are no planning on platoons.

1 more thing to ensure more wins - get into jimmiejoe's division!

cant complain about draft at all - think I got all my top 9 and 18/25 - apparently don't know what to do with them

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1023652