RCL Update: The Corey Hawkins Loophole

Is it just me or is this off-season crawling along?  There are still three weeks until Opening Day but we’re getting there, slowly but surely.  This week I want to go over a few last strategy tidbits before I get into some in depth draft numbers the next couple weeks.  I have one last note on the draft as well as a loophole you should know about and take advantage of.  These are the last couple of things I couldn’t cram into my other posts but I think are too important to just let go.  I’ll also be sharing the newest week’s worth of draft data with you.  We had a splurge of drafts Thursday night and with one close call Friday we got 15 leagues drafted.  The Razzball Writers League got drafted up Thursday evening and we’ll be posting a Q&A style recap of that draft in the next week or so.  Keep an eye out for that if you’re interested but in the meantime, let’s cover the last few tips you need before tackling your own drafts in the weeks to come.

My last bit of draft day advice is mostly geared towards drafts the final week or those that have drafted but want a leg up the first week.  It all goes back to maximizing ABs and I’m not sure it’s something many people look out for.  When you’re drafting far out from Opening Day stashing guys that might stumble into saves thanks to an injury or a prospect that might surprise and break camp with a club is great.  However, when there’s 1-2 days until real baseball, there’s no value to be gained in stashing those guys.  Instead, you should be looking to maximize those ABs early and often.  This year there are three games on Opening Day.  Do yourself a favor and take a look at those six teams and make a mental list of who may or may not be drafted from those three games and who might make a good target with one of you final picks of the draft.  Chris Owings and Mallex Smith are possible Opening Day starters with a 290ish ADP that could pay early returns.  Denard Span (or is it Ben Revere?) and Joe Panik are nice options in Arizona for Opening Day as well.  These picks are all droppable immediately after games start Sunday opening up those spots for your rolling bench we talked about last week.  It may not seem like much, but those 1 or 2 extra runs on Opening Day could mean all the difference come October.

That does it for draft notes from me.  We went over how to handle pitchers, to draft power when it doubt on a hitter, and use draft day to either stash some potential value or set yourself up to maximize ABs ASAP.

Next up, I want to chat a little about loopholes.  No, we’re not going to talk about the loophole that gets you out of the thousands of dollars in state taxes you owe.  Instead, we will be talking about the much less exciting 24 hour free agent waiver wire loophole that ESPN has. The ESPN rule is that if a player is on a roster for 24 hours then when they are released they are placed on waivers. However if they are on a roster for 23 hours 59 minutes and then released they become free agents and are able to immediately he added again. This loophole comes in especially handy when stashing prospects or potential saves candidates. It is also most helpful when a  day with an early start time follows a day with night start times. When that happens you can drop your stashed player, add someone for the day games and then pick your stashed player right back up after lineup lock.  I often use this tactic to stash a Rockies hitter a day or so before they get back to Coors and everyone is on high alert.  I also attempted to use this in order to stash Carlos Correa a couple seasons back when I felt it was close to time of his call-up.  I say attempted because using this loophole comes with an obvious risk.  That risk is prospect poachers.  After you’ve done this a couple days in a row your leaguemates will catch on and be waiting, lurking in the shadows to strike.  It’s a risk/reward call but one that I feel like everyone should know about.

DRAFT TRENDS

I love feedback from the Razz community and last week I was asked to take a look at some speed demon ADPs.  So, here we have the top 10 stolen base leaders from last year and their ADPs this season.  I also included anyone projected to finish in the top 10 in steals by Grey or Steamer and their ADPs.  That is why Raul Mondesi makes the cut.  Enjoy and deity of choice speed.

WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ NFBC ADP

We’ve got RCL ADP!  Here’s a list from our 14 league sample of some players whose ADPs I was curious about and some general notes.

Trout, Altuve, Goldy and Trea Turner make up the elite options this year.  I really hope Trea doesn’t crack under the pressure.

The next group of Marte and Villar seem pretty safe, but I’m passing on Villar here.

The trio of Dee Gordon, Jean Segura, and Billy Hamilton are fairly polarizing.  Will Dee be the pre-steroid version of himself?  Will Billy Hamilton be the Billy Hamilton version of himself?  What if jean Segura only hits 5 HRs in Seattle?

Jose Peraza is my boo.  I love him at 130.

I’ll pass on Nunez.

The final group is SAGNOF deluxe, led by the king himself, Rajai Davis.  When you realize all you’ve drafted is plodding HR hitters and steals are a thing, it’s time to get to work on this section.  If all else fails, Raul Mondesi will be waiting for you on the waiver wire.

As always, here is the link to the RCL ADP sheet for your own perusal: RCL ADP SHEET

Now, go join a league and contribute to that wonderful ADP data:

TO JOIN A LEAGUE

Click the LINK in the ‘League Link’ column (see below grid) and enter the PASSWORD at ESPN. Emails are there for some leagues, but you shouldn’t need to email anyone.  You can join as many leagues as you like.

TO START A LEAGUE

Please create a league in ESPN based on the league rules reference above. Step by step: Hit Create. Then Create ESPN Custom (middle option), Name League, Change to 12 Teams, Restriction Type: None, Open to All Users, Access: change to Private, create Password, leave as Roto and Snake, Make Draft Date and Time, Create. From Default settings all you have to do is change to TWO DL SLOTS and 180 Starts by pitchers. So, you go to ROSTERS and Click “Edit Roster Settings.” There, change to 2 DL Slots and 180 Starts (the counter will change to 20.0 per slot). Then SUBMIT Roster Settings. Finally, Create Your League! (Important Note: Make sure league is viewable to public but requiring a password to avoid non-Razzballers joining.) When that’s finished, click here. You will be permissioned shortly so you can add your league info to the Google Doc (the below grid cannot be edited from this page). On that Google Doc, you will need to enter your name, league link, password and please UPDATE the number of openings as your league fills up. That’s it. Oh, and don’t use your bank account password. (Here’s a video Jay made to help some noobs.  Is noobs spelled with zeroes or oh’s?  Hmm, that might make me a noob at spelling noob.)  You can start as many leagues as you like.  If you start less than ten leagues, again someone could mock you.

Want to be my Twitter pal?  That’s kinda creepy, but you can follow me here: @MattTruss