ESPN 5x5 Roto Draft

 ESPN Public League - 5x5 Roto

After filling out my NCAA BAsketball Brackets on ESPN, I decided to join an ESPN Public MLB Fantasy League.  Unlike my experiences on Yahoo, the ESPN Public Leagues don't appear to have the ability for one to  schedule a draft.  You choose to draft and, as soon as enough people join, you draft.

I wasn't even sure about what positions or how many players (they have middle infielder/ corner infielder and 5 OF.  No requied SP / RP just 9 pitchers).  It took about 15 minutes for 12 people to join this draft.  Once you select to join a league, it puts you in a league, you then can leave.  Many people came and went before we had 12 that stayed and formed the league.

Once again I ended up drafting 11 out of 12.  In a way that helped since my last Yahoo draft was from that draft slot also so I knew I drafted 11, 14, 35, 38, 59, 62, etc   which helped me look ahead to players I expected to have available when my turn came and have 5 or 6 queued up.

Since this is a Roto League, there are no areas of stats which one can "punt" and hope to win the league.  My strategy in Roto leagues is to try to be in the top 3 in all categories.  You don't have to win any but need to finish in the top of all to have a chance to win so you need across the board production PLUS a decent batting average - say 0.270 and above.

Pk 11     Jose Ramirez    3B

PK 14    Trevor Bauer    SP

PK 35    L. Castillo        SP

PK 38    A. Mondesi      SS

PK 59    Randy Arozarena  OF

PK 62    Y. Alvarez    U (He may gain OF or 1B eligibility in season)

PK 83    E. Diaz    RP (Closer 1)

PK 86    R. Iglesias  RP  (Closer 2)

PK 107    R. Pressley  RP (Closer 3)

PK 110    M. Moustakas  1B, 2B 

PK 131    Will Smith  Catcher

PK 134     N. Anderson   RP

PK 155    D. Williams  RP

PK 158    D. Moore  2B,  OF

PK 179    K. Gausman   SP

PK 182    C. Taylor  OF, 2B, SS

PK 203    J. Walsh  1B

PK 206    R. Tapia  OF

PK 227    A. Civale  SP

PK 230    Z. Efflin  SP

PK 251    A. Gimenez  SS, 2B, 3B

PK 254    D. Castillo  RP, SP

PK 275   A. Dickerson   OF

PK 278    C. Dickerson   OF

PK 299    H. Kim   2B

PK 303    Ty France  2B

I ended up with a strong mix for pitching and so-so for hitting.  My hitting is strong on SBs and should be strong for runs.  HRs and RBIs?  Those are the question marks.  I need Y. Alvarez to have a healthy season with 30 - 40 HRs which he is capable of providing if he is healthy and Moustakas to rebound and also hit 30+   I think Mondesi could "breakout" this year and hit 20 Hrs to go with 60 SBs and 100 runs - we'll see.  I am more bullish on his non-SB potential than others.  I think he has the tools to hit 0.275 or better and if he does, he will score more runs along with having more SBs than forecast (50).

Gimenez looks to be solidifying his role in Cleveland as the everyday SS so he is another good source of SBS, Runs and potentially upside in HRS and RBIs.  

I just signed up to do a POINTS HTH league on CBS Sports on Saturday March 27.  Points leagues have different values so I am in the process now of organizing my draft list.  Juan Soto will be my #1 listed player in Points leagues with Trout #2.  Cole will be the # 1 Pitcher.  Since a hitter gets a point for walking, OBP is more important than batting average but striking out costs you points so a 250 hitter who strikes out a lot hurts you more than a 250 hitter who simply flies out ot grounds out.  You want hitters who put the ball in play or walk.  A single is worth 1 point, a double 2 points, etc   Pitching - you want innings and quality starts since both give you points along with wins and saves (7 points each) but losses cost points.  I'm still trying to create my draft strategy for the points league.

 

MLB 2021 Fantasy - Players to keep an Eye on - Catcher

As April 1 approaches,  the search for the player or players that will out perform expectations as well as recognize players that may underperform is a key to winning a fantasy baseball title.

Every year the difference in finishing first or not often comes down to the manager who grabbed a player that was overlooked or undervalued.

Losing often comes down to bad luck - injuries of key players who can't be replaced from the waiver wire but the truth is few managers wina fantasy title without making moves on the waiver wire.

Catchers:

One player I am intrigued by going into 2021 is Toronto Catcher Alejandro Kirk.  Catchers is a shallow pool of production so if anyone performs well, it is an asset to have them on your team

So far, Kirk is hitting BUT the question for him as it is for many players is playing time.  I don't have Kirk on any of my 3 teams yet but do have him on my watch list as I wait to see how much playing time he may get in Toronto.

The other Catcher who has my attention is Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa of Texas.  He seems to be set to play predominately at shortstop for Texas and bat 3rd in the order but is also eligible at 3B and Catcher.  Last season Isiah hit 0.280 and stole 8 bases.  A player who is Cather eligible and stealing 20 bases?  That is what I see.  He won't won't me on average and he will provide a rare stat these days in stolen bases.  Batting 3rd should also give him an opportunity to provide useful stats in runs and RBIs whether he hits a ton of HRs or not.  I'll take 10 HRS / 20 SBs with a 0.280 average from my Catcher position.  

Mock Draft Results

Yahoo mock draft for a 12 team draft; Head to Head, 5x5

With my first draft of the season coming up tomorrow I joined a mock draft to test my idea of drafting hitters for the first 4 rounds, then taking a starting pitchers and 3 top closers.  I chose the middle position to test it out.  My results follow:

My first 9 picks were:

1.  Mookie Betts

2.  A. Mondesi

3.  Ozzie Albies

4.  W. Merrifield (I wanted to see my team if I took him.  With Mondesi drafted I probably would have                               gone Power bat here - maybe J. Abreu, M. Ozuna)

5.  T. Glascow

6.  J. Hader

7.  S. Gray

8.  J. Karinchak

9.  K. Jansen

This projects me to finish 4th according to Yahoo.  That would be based on points and this is HTH.  Plus I think it undervalues the playing time of many of the players I choose - note the projected ABs for players like Dominic Smith and Ke'Bryan Hayes both draft targets of mine.  I expect both to be daily players so the projected ABs of 431 and 428 are low in my opinion.  

I purposely took Chris Sale to test out which pitchers would still be left undrafted.  My plan tomorrow is to draft both Chris Sale and Noah Snydergaard and then place them on the IL and fill in from the waiver wire post draft.  

Most drafts from the 6th spot will give me Mike Trout rather than Mookie Betts.  I may look at adding Colorado OF Tapia to my lineup to give me more runs - one area this mock draft (with the ABS projected) show me being weak.

Now I need to test it again from a low draft position like 12.