200 mil Salary CAP - TIPS-TECHNIQUES

To those that have some hesitation on playing this cap, I'll be recruiting the help of the board members and through an e-mail to all players, on coming here to add their expertise to successfully playing this cap. Event #4 already has live drafts created for event #4 - and the autodrafts will be starting this Saturday.

I've only played $200 Mil when the event comes around as part of Barnstormers, so I'm not really a veteran at this cap. The best tip I can offer is to be lucky (and talk nice about HAL in the forums).
If you find you only got 10 of the players on your original draft list, you got unlucky. There probably isn't anything you can do to finish above .500.
If you happen to be in a league where most teams have chosen a lefty park, you are lucky to be in Minute Maid because Hornsby, Wagner, Foxx and Gibson will be low on the other draft lists.

I assume all of the top 20 players will appear near the top on someone's draft list. Therefore, it is a waste putting Bonds and Babe Ruth as picks 24 and 25.
My strategy is to put the studs in the first 5 spots, good second tier players in rounds 6-15 and fill out the rest with role players, platoons etc.
Also, I should say that I've never gotten any of the first three players on my draft list. This year, my first selection will be Bob Aspromonte. If someone else gets him ahead of me, I know it's rigged.

IMHO, $200Mil cap leagues - especially in an AUTODRAFT format - are pretty much a luck of the draw.

if you do well in the autodraft, you have a chance. I just won my first $200 Mil+ league but it was a LIVE DRAFT.
....however, here are the keys to this as I see it.


TIPS:

1 - Go for the LIVE DRAFT

else...

2 - Be careful going for Ruth and / or Bonds with the # 1 pick unless you are happy with Luis Gonzalez. If you did well in rounds 1 thru 3 then play it safe. If you need to "PULL THE GOALIE" then go for it. The RUTH / BONDS teams generally do well.
3 - LHP's generally get their asses kicked because there are way too many Lefty Killers
....but you're going to want a min of 3 LH starters for those guys who pick lefty parks...and if you have a lefty park then only pitch them at home.
4 - OPS, OPS, OPS...and OPS
5 - pray

No expert as like most of us I only play the $200 in BS. Few things I've found that seem to work, no championships but made the playoffs 3/3.

PLATOON! I looked over my old teams and I had averaged 3 guys that started against both R and L.
If you miss on Ruth or Bonds don't worry, I only had Bonds once and never got Ruth. Checking the champs in my leagues and they didn't have Ruth either.
DEFENSE! Extra outs are brutal with the lineups in $200.
Have a strong stomach, your staff will have sickening whips, don't worry so does everyone else, the OBP on these hitters cards just wrecks whip. If you're pitchers are keeping BA against below .300 you're doing well.

Did I say platoon?

Good luck
Rosie

While luck has some role, luck is not the most important park of winning in $200M format. The challenge is that you can’t load up on star players and expect to win. Every team will have star players. Strategy separates the winning and losers. I expect that my teams will have a winning record most the time in $200M games. Getting through the playoffs and becoming a champ…I have not figured that part out! Here are some strategies to consider.

High dollar platoons work. The viable player pool is larger than in lower dollar games, as you can successfully play a $8M 9L in a platoon with a $7M 8R. You can successfully use those extreme cards that get complained about in the bulletin boards as being unusable.

Defense…is it really that important? You can’t DH all the great hit, poor filed players. Put some in the field. You can always pull them late for a great defender. Given the cap, your defensive subs might even be able to hit some too!
Some very productive players just don’t seem to be in favor. Play them. Where is that list of underused players…I have it here somewhere…

A strong bullpen can help. High $ hitters may turn Greg Maddux into a 6+ ERA pitcher. You need to limit the damage. The $200M cap gives plenty of options. Super relive Walter Johnson. Pair Billy Wagner and Dale Murray. Load up on specialty pitchers with extreme splits.

Ballparks can be your friend. Stud pitchers can beat stud hitters in the right ballpark. Ballparks can be your enemy. How do you recover when you draft a right handed hitting team for your lefty park? There are lots of different park basis. Play a combination like lefty singles with righty HRs. Build a strategy around ballparks that limits draft risk.

Draft strategy. How high is your first starting pitcher and reliver going to be listed? What happens if you put all your starting pitchers low in the draft? (I know, the obvious answer is you get scrubs…but I have found that you can do much better than that with some planning). Someone is going to get Ruth in the first round, and someone almost always picks Maddux in the first round. Very different draft lists, and both can succeed or fail. How are you going to recover from that Ruth to Gonzo fall that pacobay mentioned above? There are ways…your ballpark selection might help, rank a Ruth fallback player high, position flexibility, etc. There are a lot of options with draft strategy, but it is a trial and error process. And even the more successful draft strategies flame out from time-to-time.

Things that work in lower dollar games apply to the higher cap. Strong OBS. Good defense is better than poor defense (unless it isn’t…make sure those poor fielders can rake), low WHIP, etc.

Now that I have acted like I have a clue, I will be doomed to last place! Good luck all.

And don't forget if you do choose the Live Draft route as a few have suggested, you get to pick your ballpark AFTER you have drafted your team. And if you wait until the last minute to pick your ballpark, you may get a peek at what your division mates have picked. Believe it or not, the absolute best players use knowledge of what their division mates are doing to select high quality specialty players with 8L, 9L, 8R, 9R and when to use them.

This isn't a "set it and forget it" format. Sometimes people work a lot harder to get their W's - but the point is that someone IS going to get the W so this thread was setup to assist in that.

Do the live draft. It's the only way to compete at $200. Otherwise, it's all over once the autodraft runs and the first round of frenzy's over. It's easy--the drafting, not the strategy of picks--and fun.

Hank

Ditto. Live draft is the way to go.

Doug

Some quick thoughts:

It has become easier to recover from a bad draft as the player pool expands.

High end R1 relievers are more usable here. Also can use Babe Adams et al as an RP instead of Murray. Deeper pens mean the R4 are less valuable vs R1 here as opposed to at lower caps

The expensive 7L to 9L and 7R to 9R guys can be used here in platoons. Use Hodges or Allen in righty parks against lefty pitchers etc.

Injuries are less onerous since you have more expensive back ups.

Day to Day management of the team is important. Spot start the fifth or Sixth starters against particular teams in particular parks.

I agree with many of the points made to far about winning at 200M. It's not all luck. In fact, there are a lot of strategy and tactics that are unique to the 200M cap.

I'll try to put some suggestions together in a handy list, focused specifically on managing a live draft

1. Live draft is best. You have some control over your fate, and can adjust on the fly if some players you want disappear.
2. Have a group of different team types in mind as you go into the draft. You've already used 3 park types--so sketch out in your mind or on paper teams that would fit with the remaining types.
3. Adjust your choice of target park—from the 4 remaining types— as the draft develops.
4. Have a realistic plan for your #1 draft pick, based on your draft position. If you're drafting near the end of the first round, have two players in mind.
5. In general, think of drafting players in pairs, particularly if you're near either extreme of the snake. Maybe a RF and an SP will be your priorities for a particular round. So who do you want at those positions? Then adjust as you go.
6. Super-platoons are your friend.
7. Hitting talent is scarce at some positions--SS, 2B, C--and much deeper at others--so draft accordingly.
8. You'll need at least one good lefty reliever--and they're scarce.
9. Have a few sleepers on your list--players who you think are undervalued. Maybe you can wait to draft at particular position if you have a sleeper in mind. If that sleeper disappears, have a backup sleeper.
9. Oh, and don't forget to practice the Mock Live Draft a few times, so you have a feeling for the rhythm of the draft.