@Win1forthegifter: I’m pretty predictable since I’m almost always going to go with the Point Share results (http://razzball.com/2011-razzball-point-shares-12-team-mlb/)

Josh Hamilton ($29) over Matt Kemp ($27)
Dan Uggla ($21) over Brandon Phillips ($19) – push comes to shove, i’d probably take phillips only b/c I haven’t owned him and have owned uggla on a zillion teams the last 2 years
Jacoby Ellsbury ($20) over B.J. Upton ($19)
Max Scherzer ($12) over Brett Anderson ($5)
Shaun Marcum ($12) over Gio Gonzalez ($1) – although $1 seems way too cheap for Gio…guess there’s something in his stats that the projection systems don’t like
Geovanny Soto ($8) over Matt Weiters ($4)
Chris Perez ($9) over Drew Storen ($8) – the spring training troubles probably knock Storen down to $5 or $6

@larrylegend: Two Boston legends commenting on the post! I think F-Her is a fine mid-to-late 2nd round pick (Point Share Rank – 21) . I think Kershaw in the 3rd round is a reach. Like him better in the 4th (Point Share Rank – 56). McCutchen in 3rd round is solid value (Point Share Rank – 26). I think you’re reaching way too hard for Beltre in the 4th round (Point Share Rank – 104). He’s too unpredictable. I’d rather have Heyward at that pick. I have Vlad at #103. He definitely was a bargain last year. I think everyone’s waiting for the other zapato to drop…

@maddogrusso: It seems pretty good but why pick 3 OFs in the first 4 rounds and then 4 straight SPs? Seems like you could distribute the picks a little better.

Josh Hamilton or Matt Kemp
Dan Uggla or Brandon Phillips
B.J. Upton or Jacoby Ellsbury
Brett Anderson or Max Scherzer
Gio Gonzalez or Shaun Marcum
Matt Weiters or Geovanny Soto
Chris Perez or Drew Storen

C- Brian McCann
1B- Miguel Cabrera
2B- Dan Uggla
3B- Brandon Phillips
SS- Jose Reyes
OF- Curtis Granderson
OF- Austin Jackson
OF- Dexter Fowler
Util- Manny Ramirez

SP- Yovanni Gallardo
SP- Fransisco Liriano
P- Max Scherzer
P- Clay Buchholz
P- Gio Gonzalez
P- Daniel Hudson
RP- John Axford
RP- Chris Perez

1: Votto
2: Kemp
3: McCutchen
4: Heyward
5: Verlander
6: Gallardo
7: Liriano
8: Haren
9: Mcgehee
10: Anderson
11: Weiters
12: Beckham
13: Storen
14: C. Perez
15: J. Sanchez

@MrHappyTime: hard to say right now. i’d say maybe a 50/50 split between Farnsworth and McGee. Still betting on Feliz to close in Texas.

@Public Enemy #1: Thanks. Other than discounting SBs, I don’t do anything special when drafting H2H vs. Roto.

@Daniel: Seems like a fair offer. It’s worth taking. Marcum has some risk given his past injuries and the spring training issues but it’s worth the risk.

@ModestYahoo: The strategy doesn’t change if Losses are counted. I try to draft an average # of closers for the league – so 3 in a 10 team, 2 in a 15 team…but we’ll sometimes splurge on an extra closer if the price is right.

@ilikeike: So it’s 4 OFs but has a CI and MI? That wouldn’t change much. I would just spread out your OF picks if it’s a draft so you’re trying to pick only 1 OF per 6 rounds.

@chata: thanks. yeah, i think i read that in the morning – hence the suzuki hitting lower in the lineup was fresh in my head.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/20/SPIT1IF3AR.DTL&feed=rss.athletics

Does it make sense to draft a stronger infield than outfield in a daily H2H league that employs FOUR outfielders because it is much easier to often pick up and drop a couple of outfielders than it is to fill in specific infield positions?

Is the strategy any different for a league that counts L’s as well as W’s in terms of quantity vs. quality? Can I really build a staff without an ace? Also around how many closers do you try to draft in a daily head 2 head league? Thanks

I am being offered Marcum and Ian Desmond for Alexei Ramirez in a 12 team 5×6 league. The guy really likes Alexei. Should I accept this? Due to an error during the draft (yahoo) I ended up wasting an early pick and ended up with a pretty weak staff.

Should I do it? Or is Marcum too risky given the injury.

FYI – I had 2nd pick and obviously went Hanley which is why I ended up without a top tier 1b or 3b. I had to reach for Dunn in the 3rd.

Also did some math against a few other teams based n ESPN’s projections and I was the highest projected in HRs at 279.

@charlie batch: Nope. Yahoo sponsors three leagues that we’re a part of: Roto Arcade Pro-Am H2H (14 team H2H), ‘hero sandwich’ (12 teams roto), and Friends & Family (14 or 15 teams roto). The Friends & Family draft is tomorrow night…

@Wilsonian: I think the team looks pretty good. The OF is a little light on power but it could surprise. Solid balance of speed and average. Like the starts a lot. You’ll obviously need to be fishing for closers though….

@LMack: In a shallow league, drafting becomes less important since free agency provides so many reinforcements. There’s no secret to drafting other than pick the best available players with some balance for position scarcity (don’t draft 3 OFs in the first 5 rounds as it hampers flexibility in later rounds). Shallow leagues generally reward waiver wire aggressiveness but your starters will be so strong that it’s tough to pull the trigger. If you’ve got a bench/reserves, be ruthless in dropping guys that seemed nice on draft day for players who have playing time and upside. Ideally, you have a mix of upside and steady performance on your roster – betting too heavily on upside is taking an unnecessary risk in my opinion.

Not sure if that helps but not sure what else to suggest…

What’s the best way to win shallow leagues?
I completed a 10 team league draft last night with 10 hitter and 8 pitcher slots. The owners in the league are decent, so all the rosters look like they could be competitive.

How do I break away from the pack? Do I aggressively try and consolidate depth into elite talent? Do I gamble on a lot of high upside players? How do I get an edge? Other than reading Razzball everyday, of course (emoticon)

C – Wieters
1B – Dunn
2B – Zobrist
SS – Hanley
3B – Young
1B/3B – Pedro
2B/SS – Espinosa
OF – McCutchen
OF – Rasmus
OF – Markakis
OF – Raburn
OF – Torres
UTIL – Ibanez
BN – Brandon Allen

P – Kershaw
P – Gallardo
P – D. Hudson
P – Vazquez
P – Zambrano
P – Axford
P – Lyon
P – Rodney
P – Madson
BN – Cecil
BN – Niese

Yeah, unfortunately all my WHIP mitigators went before I was ready to take them!

Also helping overcome WHIP issues, is the fact that my hitting is loaded

Thanks!

I still wanted to have a conversation about point shares with you some time, but not sure it’s worth clogging up this space. Kind of a theory sort of thing.

@Neidecker: You’re welcome!

@Shippity: If you’re not going to win this year, then yes.

@Nuke LaLoosh: I hear Marlon Byrd might hit 3rd for the Cubs which will definitely boost his RBIs. Seth Smith has potential but will fight for ABs. I think Yunel is being written off too quickly and, with Dwayne Murphy as his batting coach, might be able to hit 15 HRs.

@OaktownSteve: i hadn’t heard about the injury last year – i just know he didn’t help my AL-only team very much. my concern on him this year is that he’s going to move down in the lineup which would affect his R/RBI.

@royce!: the team looks good. i don’t like figgins at all for this format as i’m not convinced he’ll rebound on OBP. i’d just start Nishioka and look for a 2B upgrade in free agency.