FanNation

Man I can't believe the draft season is already upon us. This is one of my favorite times of the year. I'm always excited about drafting a superstar team and watching it develop (I rather draft several times a year than the daily grind of updating your team). This year there were once again a ton of talented players primed to break through and a bunch of overachievers destined to fall. I don't claim to be an expert, but I've gotten fairly good success with my strategy. Take note that my strategy is specifically for h2h leagues, in roto you need to invest better into starting pitching than my strat. Anyways here is the draft for my yahoo public 12 team h2h league:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/31272/draft

My Team - Santana Madness (too bad I couldn't actually draft him lol): 

Some things that I was targetting before the draft began:

1] Get at least three 30 hr/100 rbi capable guys
2] Get at least 100 SB  potential in 3 players
3] Don't overinvest in pitching
4] Make sure to take care of C, SS, 2B, 3B (the 4 positions I feel are the hardest to supply impact players)

With the second pick in the draft I was really hoping that Arod would fall to me, as he worked out beautifully for me last year. Alas it didn't work, but I happily picked up one of the 3 stud SS's, Hanley Ramirez. I know that a lot of people think that he's going to decline because Cabrera isn't there anymore, but that's going to be a serious lapse in judgment. This guy is just a stud and nothing is going to stop him from putting up a fantastic year.

My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th picks were focused on filling up the 2B, C, & 3B positions. There's a dramatic dropoff after the top 5 or so players in each category. I might have reached a little for Russell Martin, but in my humble opinion he's going to have a more positive fantasy impact in H2H than Victor Martinez.

I was VERY happy to see Hafner fall to me at 50. In hindsight I would have drafted him with the 47th pick as I had forgotten that the first guy selected Arod (so there wasn't as big a need for him to get Atkins). I had a small feeling of regret of not being able to get Putz, but I was determined to make sure to get my offense ready first, especially when so many offensive studs were falling.

I couldn't believe Markakis was still there at 71 and I picked him up. I was seriously contemplating between him, Pena, and P Chris Young. That was another unfortunate thing that I saw, being unable to get Chris Young as I feel he's going to really have a great year. But I had my top hope still waiting in the wings.

I was worried before my 95th pick that Liriano wouldn't be there anymore. There was no way that over twenty - thirty pitchers would get selected before him, right? But it really happened and I was VERY happy to get him in the 8th round. There's no reason to believe that Liriano isn't going to be as awesome as he was before he got hurt. It's certainly a risk, but a very HIGH REWARD risk, as Liriano can be a top 20 yahoo player when he's on his game.

I was very pleased to get Hart & Cain with my next two picks, as I feel both players could have gone higher. It was starting in the 11th round that I started to implement my strategy. As many of the people started to draft the leftover position players, this is where I pounced on the closers and other players.

From picks 11-21, I picked up 6 potential closers (I usually try to have at least 5 for the regular season), and also got to roll the dice on perennial disappointment Rich Harden. If he gets hurt I can dump him pretty fast with no concern while the payoff is big. The other SP I REALLY wanted in the lower rounds was Jason Schmidt, someone picked him up in the next to last round before he came my way, if you are in need of good starting pitching you should consider investing a pick in him in the 17th-19th round (before too many people realize that Schmidt is healthy AND feeling mighty good).

I feel like Hamilton and Hill have high potential as backups, especially for Hamilton to have a breakout season at OF. I felt very good about every single draft pick, and I'm hoping to turn one of my extra closers into another utility player or starter. I usually try to run 5 closers and 4-5 starters during the regular season. In the H2H category I try to dominate every offensive stat, and I give up Ws & Ks, while trying to take Ss, ERA, & WHIP (very possible as relievers often have lower ERA & WHIP than starters) which allows me to take a 7-3 or 8-2 victory ever week if things turn out right.

Comment and let me know what you guys think  ^^