FANTASY BASEBALL 2012: HITTERS DRAFT STRATEGY

FANTASY BASEBALL 2012: HITTERS DRAFT STRATEGY

By Muntradamus

FOR RANKINGS BY POSITION AND OTHER PRE-SEASON ARTICLES.  CHECK OUT THE DRAFT GUIDE.

Fantasy Baseball season is inching closer and closer.  This article will go over position by position the players to target in your draft at each offensive position.  Pitching strategy will be released tomorrow.

OVERALL OFFENSIVE STRATEGY: Grab elite 3^rd Basemans.  Catcher aim for 20+ HR guys that go after the elite group.  Wait for 1^st Base, grab POWER. 2^nd Base I will be patient, speed power combo if possible, if not Ryan Raburn.  SS I will try to grab the best. OF I will try to build speed and 20/20 type players.  In my infield I want a few guys that will steal 20-40 Bases, possibly more if I can get Jemile Weeks and Dee Gordon.  More important to get guys that will hit 20 HRs.  OF guys like Crisp and Maybin go very late so I do not need to reach for speed if I do not need to.

* The numbers next to the players are the ADP average of YAHOO, ESPN, CBS, and FOX. 

1B:

STRATEGY. If you want an elite guy, you can.  But there are plenty of power options that will fall in your draft at this position who can easily eclipse the 30 HR mark.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

MIGUEL CABRERA 2

ALBERT PUJOLS 3

ADRIAN GONZALEZ 9

JOEY VOTTO 10

PRINCE FIELDER 14

MARK TEIXERIA 24

CARLOS SANTANA 39

MIKE NAPOLI 42

PABLO SANDOVAL 46

PAUL KONERKO 53

ERIC HOSMER 59

MICHAEL YOUNG 61

MICHAEL MORSE 64

KEVIN YOUKILIS 67

JOE MAUER 75

LANCE BERKMAN 76

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EARLIER.

MICHAEL CUDDYER 106

RYAN HOWARD 120

MARK REYNOLDS 122

ADAM LIND 169

PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT 174

IKE DAVIS 176

KENDRY MORALES 200

MARK TRUMBO 207

LUCAS DUDA 215

ADAMU DUNN 217

CARLOS PENA 218

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

PAUL KONERKO 52

LANCE BERKMAN 76

 

2B:

STRATEGY. You can take Kinsler, Cano, or Pedroia early if you want.  If you miss out on them you can wait a little bit and grab some players that should put up solid numbers all the way around.  Kendrick should be a beast batting in front of Pujols, Roberts is an easy 20/20 candidate, same with Espinosa, while Jemile should steal 40 bases.  I also believe Ryan Raburn will hit 25+ HRs.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

ROBINSON CANO 9

DUSTIN PEDROIA 16

IAN KINSLER 23

BEN ZOBRIST 54

DAN UGGLA 55

MICHAEL YOUNG 61

BRANDON PHILLIPS 61

RICKIE WEEKS 76

CHASE UTLEY 76

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EARLIER.

IAN KINSLER 23

HOWIE KENDRICK 125

RYAN ROBERTS 164

JEMILE WEEKS 169

DANNY ESPINOSA 191

JASON KIPNIS 193

AARON HILL 225

RYAN RABURN 230

MIKE AVILES 243

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

BEN ZOBRIST 54

DUSTIN ACKLEY 141

 

3B:

STRATEGY. Not a lot of 3^rd Base options, I would grab the elite ones off the board early, then wait to count on guys who are last resort like Freese and Moustakas as quality reserves.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

JOSE BAUTISTA 5

EVAN LONGORIA 15

ADRIAN BELTRE 30

DAVID WRIGHT 32

RYAN ZIMMERMAN 40

PABLO SANDOVAL 46

ALEX RODRIGUEZ 51

BRETT LAWRIE 55

MICHAEL YOUNG 61

KEVIN YOUKILIS 67

ARAMIS RAMIREZ 77

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EARLIER.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ 51

RYAN ROBERTS 164

DAVID FREESE 170

MIKE MOUSTAKAS 185

MIKE AVILES 243

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

DAVID WRIGHT 32

 

SS:

STRATEGY. Plenty of decent options later in your draft.  If you miss out on the top 3, I would wait and grab any of these guys who can produce like solid starters the whole season, while strengthening other positions.  Dee Gordon can steal 70 bases, J.J. Hardy can hit 30 HRs, Peralta can go 20-80.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

TROY TULOWITZKI 6

HANLEY RAMIREZ 16

JOSE REYES 23

STARLIN CASTRO 54

ELVIS ANDRUS 62

ASDRUBAL CABRERA 66

JIMMY ROLLINS 68

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EARLIER.

JOSE REYES 23

J.J. HARDY 129

DEE GORDON 138

JHONNY PERALTA 156

ZACK COZART 242

MIKE AVILES 243

ALEX GONZALEZ 254

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

ASDRUBAL CABRERA 66

 

C:

Strategy: J.P. and Ramos can easily be top 10 catchers at the position.  I would target those guys earlier than their ADP, while making the other options high upside last resort players.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

CARLOS SANTANA 39

MIKE NAPOLI 42

BRIAN MCCANN 55

BUSTER POSEY 72

JOE MAUER 75

MATT WIETERS 86

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EALIER.

*JESUS MONTERO 154 – Does not qualify at catcher yet in most leagues.

J.P. ARENCIBIA 186

WILSON RAMONS 195

JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA 237

CHRIS IANETTA 242

MIGUEL OLIVO 250

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

JOE MAUER 75

 

OF:

STRATEGY. There are a lot of fish in the sea when it comes to OF.  There are so many that you can get guys who will steal 40 bases and possibly hit 10 HRs after the 14^th round.  You can grab the elite ones while they are around, but if it comes down to a solid OF option, or filling depth at another position.  Fill the depth, and come back and grab great talent late in your OF.

PLAYERS WHO WILL GO IN THE FIRST 10 ROUNDS

(PLAYER IN BOLD IS TO TARGET)

MATT KEMP 2

JOSE BAUTISTA 5

JACOBY ELLSBURY 8

RYAN BRAUN 11

JUSTIN UPTON 14

CARLOS GONZALEZ 17

CURTIS GRANDERSON 21

ANDREW MCCUTCHEN 27

MIKE STANTON 29

JOSH HAMILTON 35

MATT HOLLIDAY 38

NELSON CRUZ 49

HUNTER PENCE 53

BEN ZOBRIST 54

JAY BRUCE 56

MICHAEL BOURN 60

MICHAEL MORSE 64

CARL CRAWFORD 69

SHANE VICOTRINO 70

DESMOND JENNINGS 74

LANCE BERKMAN 77

ALEX GORDON 78

SHIN-SOO CHOO 82

ADAM JONES 86

 

PLAYERS TO TARGET A ROUND OR TWO EARLIER.

CARLOS GONZALEZ 17

CURTIS GRANDERSON 21

NELSON CRUZ 49

CARL CRAWFORD 69

DESMOND JENNINGS 74

B.J. UPTON 86

COREY HART 103

BRETT GARDNER 111

CHRIS YOUNG 127

CAMERON MAYBIN 153

COCO CRISP 172

YOENIS CESPEDES 190

ANGEL PAGAN 204

DELMON YOUNG 206

ALEX RIOS 214

JASON KUBEL 221

ALFONSO SORIANO 226

VERNON WELLS 234

 

PLAYERS TO AVOID.

ANDREW MCCUTCHEN 23

BEN ZOBRIST 54

ALEX GORDON 77