Category Archives: Strategy Sessions

Rebuilding a Dynasty League Roster, Addendum 1: The 2013 Draft

by The Dynasty Guru

Back in November, when I was writing my Rebuilding a Dynasty League Roster series, I had to jump from the team which was the focus of the first two-thirds of the series to a team in a different league which was further along in the process. However, as things progress with the original team, I’m going post addendums to the series so that the exercise of following one team through the entire rebuilding process can be followed to completion. Here are the previous entries in this series:

Part 1: Setting the Table
Part 2: Establishing Your Time Horizon
Part 3: The Evaluation Stage
Part 4: The Opening Trades
Part 4a: Wait at Your Own Peril
Part 5: The Free Agents
Part 6: The Re-Evaluation Stage
Part 7: The Secondary Targets
Part 8: The Waiting Game
Part 8a: The Challenge Trade
Part 8b: Know Your Waiver System and Draft Rules
Part 9: The Draft
Part 10: The Turn
Part 10a: The Makings of the Turn
Part 11: Pushing In Your Chips
Part 12: The Prestige

Just as a reminder, here are the league details that are helpful in following along. Active lineups are 17 players and break out as follows: C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, 3 OF, 2 Util and 7 pitchers. Teams also have 8 bench spots, 2 DL spots and 25 minor league spots – which makes the player pool pretty deep. Pitchers seem a little more valuable than hitters in general in this point system, so most competitive teams stock their benches with starting pitching (though there’s a 14 start limit per week). My other first thoughts from looking at the scoring system were that big IP, low WHIP pitchers are very valuable, with strikeouts being slightly devalued compared to other points leagues. From the offensive side, it seemed pretty standard for this type of format – pretty OPS focused, with some skewing based on walks and strikeouts. Steals are a factor, but not a huge one.

For the 2013 draft, I had the 9th overall pick in the 1st round (out of 16 teams) and the draft snaked for the second round. I had accumulated five picks in the first two rounds from trades during the season and was looking forward to using them to further stock my farm system. But, as I talked about in my post on the draft, sometimes things happen that you don’t expect and you have to adjust. Here are how my picks went:

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: The End Result

by The Dynasty Guru

After 12 posts detailing both the major league and minor league portions of this initial 20-team dynasty draft that I participated in over the course of the off-season, it’s finally time to put it all together and see what the team looks like as a whole. After all, all the draft prep in the world can only get you so far — you need to put a winning team on the field. And I think I did a pretty good job of maximizing my strategy and the value on my roster. But I’ll let you, the readers, be the judge of that.

As always, before we dive back into the roster, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is my fully drafted roster below as of yesterday. The players who are struck through have been dropped since the draft, the players who have an asterisk have been added through free agency and anyone promoted from my minor league roster gets a ^. I never remember what that’s called. Regardless, for your reading enjoyment, your 2013 Minnesota Twins (currently 13-13 through two weeks):

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Major League Draft, Rounds 21-25

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 21-25 of the draft. I’m going to slightly tweak the format of the write-up, since it’s so far along in the draft, and I am of the mind that there are no bad picks anymore once you’re in the final 20% of your draft. So for this portion, I’ll just take a look at who the best picks in each round were, both for value and for upside (mine excluded, of course). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 21
(401) Boston Red Sox – Ervin Santana SP
(402) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Francisco Liriano SP
(403) New York Mets – Sean Burnett RP
(404) Milwaukee Brewers – Wellington Castillo C
(405) Baltimore Orioles – Josh Lindblom RP
(406) Pittsburgh Pirates – A.J. Ellis C
(407) San Diego Padres – Alberto Callaspo 3B
(408) Los Angeles Angels – Jedd Gyorko 2B (Party Foul)
(409) Washington Nationals  - Raul Ibanez LF
** (410) Minnesota Twins – Tyler Colvin RF
(411) Chicago Cubs – Tim Collins RP
(412) Detroit Tigers – Joel Peralta RP
(413) Houston Astros – Scott Baker SP
(414) Cincinnati Reds – Joe Blanton SP
(415) Oakland Athletics – Joakim Soria RP
(416) San Fransisco Giants – Ted Lilly SP
(417) Seattle Mariners – Derek Norris C
(418) Toronto BlueJays – Sean Doolittle RP (Party Foul)
(419) Colorado  Rockies – Seth Smith LF
(420) Texas Rangers – Johnny Giavotella 2B

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Minor League Draft, Rounds 17-20

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 17-20 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 17
(321) Boston Red Sox – A.J. Griffin SP
(322) Arizona Diamondbacks – Joaquin Benoit RP
(323) New York Mets – Clayton Richard SP
(324) Milwaukee Brewers – Justin Masterson SP
(325) Baltimore Orioles – Ryan Doumit C
(326) Pittsburgh Pirates – Luke Gregerson RP
(327) San Diego Padres – Bud Norris SP
(328) Los Angeles Angels – Jose Veras RP
(329) Washington Nationals – Ricky Nolasco SP
** (330) Minnesota Twins – Jeff Niemann SP
(331) Chicago Cubs – Neftali Feliz SP
(332) Detroit Tigers – Vance Worley SP
(333) Houston Astros – Frank Francisco RP
(334) Cincinnati Reds – Felix Doubront SP
(335) Oakland Athletics – Johan Santana SP
(336) San Fransisco Giants – Jon Jay CF
(337) Seattle Mariners – Drew Smyly SP
(338) Toronto BlueJays – Jose Quintana SP
(339) Colorado Rockies – Scott Downs RP
(340) Texas Rangers – Mark Reynolds 1B

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Minor League Draft, Rounds 13-16

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 13-16 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 13
(241) Boston Red Sox – Justin Maxwell CF
(242) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Dee Gordon SS
(243) New York Mets – Everth Cabrera SS
(244) Milwaukee Brewers – Yonder Alonso 1B
(245) Baltimore Orioles – Jason Grilli RP
(246) Pittsburgh Pirates – Alfonso Soriano LF
(247) San Diego Padres – Coco Crisp CF
(248) Los Angeles Angels – Kevin Youkilis 3B
(249) Washington Nationals  - Derek Jeter SS
** (250) Minnesota Twins – Glen Perkins RP
(251) Chicago Cubs – Devin Mesoraco C
(252) Detroit Tigers – Jason Hammel SP
(253) Houston Astros – Alex Cobb SP
(254) Cincinnati Reds – James McDonald SP
(255) Oakland Athletics – Stephen Drew SS
(256) San Fransisco Giants – Chris Carpenter SP
(257) Seattle Mariners – Cameron Maybin CF
(258) Toronto BlueJays – J.P. Arencibia C
(259) Colorado  Rockies – Edwin Jackson SP
(260) Texas Rangers – Ricky Romero SP

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Major League Draft, Rounds 10-12

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 10-12 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 10
(181) Texas Rangers – Derek Holland SP
(182) Colorado  Rockies – Rafael Betancourt RP
(183) Toronto BlueJays – Jason Kubel LF
(184) Seattle Mariners – Angel Pagan CF
(185) San Fransisco Giants – Jurickson Profar 2B (Party Foul)
(186) Oakland Athletics – Matt Garza SP
(187) Cincinnati Reds – Omar Infante 2B
(188) Houston Astros – Colby Rasmus CF
(189) Detroit Tigers – Brandon McCarthy SP
(190) Chicago Cubs – Carlos Quentin LF
** (191) Minnesota Twins – Mike Minor SP
(192) Washington Nationals  - Tommy Hanson SP
(193) Los Angeles Angels – Shane Victorino CF
(194) San Diego Padres – Hiroki Kuroda SP
(195) Pittsburgh Pirates – Marco Estrada SP
(196) Baltimore Orioles – Danny Espinosa 2B
(197) Milwaukee Brewers – Greg Holland RP
(198) New York Mets – Huston Street RP
(199) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Brandon Beachy SP
(200) Boston Red Sox – Zack Cozart SS

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Major League Draft, Rounds 7-9

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 7-9 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 7
(121) Boston Red Sox – Addison Reed RP
(122) Arizona Diamondbacks – Brett Anderson SP
(123) New York Mets – Hunter Pence RF
(124) Milwaukee Brewers – Andrelton Simmons SS
(125) Baltimore Orioles – Mark Teixeira 1B
(126) Pittsburgh Pirates – Rafael Soriano RP
(127) San Diego Padres – Jimmy Rollins SS
(128) Los Angeles Angels – Jonathan Papelbon RP
(129) Washington Nationals – Jarrod Parker SP
** (130) Minnesota Twins – C.J. Wilson SP
(131) Chicago Cubs – Jeff Samardzija SP
(132) Detroit Tigers – Jim Johnson RP
(133) Houston Astros – Ian Kennedy SP
(134) Cincinnati Reds – Tim Lincecum SP
(135) Oakland Athletics – Carl Crawford LF
(136) San Fransisco Giants – David Freese 3B
(137) Seattle Mariners – Alcides Escobar SS
(138) Toronto BlueJays – Tim Hudson SP
(139) Colorado Rockies – Fernando Rodney RP
(140) Texas Rangers – Joe Nathan RP

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Major League Draft, Rounds 4-6

by The Dynasty Guru

Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 4-6 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Major League Draft, Rounds 1-3

Round: 4
(61) Texas Rangers – Freddie Freeman 1B
(62) Colorado Rockies – Matt Holliday LF
(63) Toronto BlueJays – B.J. Upton CF
(64) Seattle Mariners – Matt Moore SP
(65) San Fransisco Giants – Ben Zobrist RF
(66) Oakland Athletics – Jacoby Ellsbury CF
(67) Cincinnati Reds – Chris Sale SP
(68) Houston Astros – Anthony Rizzo 1B
(69) Detroit Tigers – Max Scherzer SP
(70) Chicago Cubs – Ike Davis 1B
** (71) Minnesota Twins – Alex Gordon LF
(72) Washington Nationals – Matt Wieters C
(73) Los Angeles Angels – Yadier Molina C
(74) San Diego Padres – Brandon Phillips 2B
(75) Pittsburgh Pirates – Paul Goldschmidt 1B
(76) Baltimore Orioles – Dylan Bundy RP (Party Foul)
(77) Milwaukee Brewers – Jason Kipnis 2B
(78) New York Mets – CC Sabathia SP
(79) Arizona Diamondbacks – Curtis Granderson CF
(80) Boston Red Sox – Mike Moustakas 3B

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Drafting a Dynasty League Roster: Major League Draft, Rounds 1-3

by The Dynasty Guru

For those of you who’ve been around these parts for a while, you may remember the initial dynasty league I agreed to participate in at the beginning of the off-season for the purposes of writing up a full draft (and the thought process that went into it) on this site. We had the minor league draft through the boards back in November, and I wrote it up in a few different posts (Rounds 1-3, Rounds 4-6, Rounds 7-9, Rounds 10-12, Rounds 13-16, Rounds 17-25), but now this past Wednesday night was the marathon major league portion of the draft.

The draft started at 9:30pm ET, and by the time 1am rolled around, I still had a spot or two still left to fill. On top of this, I was running a fever the whole night and it ended up being the start of one of the worst viruses I’ve ever had in my life (that I’m just recovering from now). So by the end of the draft, I was mildly delirious and my gchat words were being used as internet fodder by a fellow TDG writer.

Over the course of the next week or two, I’m going to write up the entirety of the 25-round major league draft and then examine my full team at the very end. But from the outset, I will say that I’m very happy with how this whole draft turned out – and though my team certainly has some weaknesses, it’s a 20-team league, and that’s bound to happen. My strategy from the outset was that I was going to secure the offense first with firepower, and then build my pitching staff with depth. And in the end, I stuck to that plan exactly.

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Trader’s Corner: It All Starts With Listening

by Ian Kahn

My old man who passed away this past year taught me something smart about business. “Listen to what your client wants… then give it to them.”

You want to win your Dynasty League in the next couple of years? Follow that advice.

One of the lost arts of Fantasy Baseball is getting on the phone with your trading partner. Only on the phone can you hear your Partner/Opponent’s passions. If I send an email out to an owner in my league asking them who on their team they are less then excited about, I will get no information. If I am on the phone with the same guy, I can ask him if he would be willing to move Jon Lester or Matt Garza. He might respond with “No.. no.. Garza is my guy. Lester… not so much… he killed me last year.”

In that moment, I know that I can have Lester at a discount. That’s the guy I am looking to get. Why? Because my next call is to the owner who I know is a big believer in a Lester comeback.

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