Brand new to fantasy baseball, Advice?

[DNYLkiller]

I know a simple google search would surely produce some excellent mock drafts/advice/draft help, but I was hoping some posters in this forum could give me a hand in my first MLB Fan draft ever. So if anyone could point me in the direction of there favorite mock draft, a link of players to avoid or just some advice on how to draft/build a quality team, it would be much appreciated. I have the 5th overall pick (snake style draft), in my 14 team roto league. Cheers.

[-RDB-]

Try the forecaster baseball guide. It's completely free.

http://magazine.forecaster.ca/baseball2008/

[Chach]

First off, you are going to want to find a lot of mock drafts and check them to get a feel for how players are valued in fantasy versus real life. If you are not well versed then it will take a few seasons for you to kind of figure out where guys should slot. I generally use one list as a cheat sheet during drafts but I look at the players in like a 15-20 player range to determine who I want. Use a few mock drafts to get a feel for it.

Remember that fantasy baseball is like the stock market, it's all about projection. A lot of factors can improve or reduce a guy's value so look for undervalued guys. If a guy is moving to more hitter's friendly park (like Swisher) then you can maybe move him up a notch or two but don't overdraft him real early on that fact alone. He's going to be in a crappy line-up so he may not get a ton of RBI chances. Likewise, if guys are coming off injuries then they can drop in the draft and you can take them on a flyer. For instance, I'm hearing that Pujols is dropping like a fly in a lot of leagues because of the concern with his elbow, dropping out of the first round. Pujols has been injured pretty much his entire career so while this is bit worse, it's not terribly new. If he drops around the 10 spot, you need to grab him. The only way he is probably going to come out of the line-up is if the Cards drop out of the playoff hunt and the NL central is not that strong so that might go until September.

I always advise going against the trend in a draft. If there is a rush on catchers and you miss out on the top tier, so be it. There is no point in drafting the 9th best catcher in baseball 4 rounds early when you can get the 10th best catcher later in the draft around his suspected slot. If you want to take a position-premium pick early (like a Russell Martin) then so be it. But don't overdraft for run of the mill talent.

Pay attention to how teams run their training room. I think Mauer is a great talent but I hate how the Twins are running him. They had Redmond DHing at points last season when Mauer clearly was having leg issues but they kept him behind the plate. Meanwhile guys like Beckett and Kazmir are looking to start the year on the DL but both teams are very cautious with their young arms and this seems more precautionary than worrisome so those might be undervalued targets.

Pay attention to the minors leagues, especially if this isn't a keeper's league. I'd suggest a subscription to Baseball Prospectus or Baseball America. BP is a better overall baseball site, BA is great for prospects. While Braun and Tulowitzki were great rookies and it is unlikely that their success will be match by rookies this season, someone like a Colby Rasmus could get called up in June, put forth a great second half and help your team out.

My last little piece of advice is look into top set-up men. They are undervalued because they don't net saves and relief pitching can change from year to year but by May/June, you should have a good idea on who is a top guy this year. It helps with your rate stats like ERA and increases your Ks. It's a small incriment that could lead to a few wins a season depending on how close some of your weeks are. You can vulture some saves and wins as well. I took George Sherrill last year in a keeper's league because of his K rate and now he is closing in Baltimore. Hope that helps. mahalo
~Chach~