2009 Fantasy Baseball

There are a few articles and pages that I’ve read that really stick out in my mind as I think about my upcoming drafts. I’ve listed them below. I think they are particularly helpful for completely preparing you for your drafts. These are good articles to read after you’ve done your own initial research and reading.

2009 Draft Theories from RotoSavants – Troy Patterson gives an overview of the strategies he’s developed during his mock drafting: http://www.rotosavants.com/2008/11/2009-draft-theories.html

Slow Twitter Mock Draft on CrookedPitch – I’ve talked about this article before. This is the most informative mock draft I’ve seen: http://www.crookedpitch.com/542/were-slow-mocking-over-here/

Overrated Players from Razzball - These are potential draft pitfalls to keep in mind:
http://razzball.com/category/overrated-for-2009-fantasy-baseball/

Sleepers from Razzball - And, from the same blog, sleepers to target this year: http://razzball.com/category/2009-sleepers/

Who’s Closing - There are various good resources for this, but it’s something you need to have a good grasp on when you start drafting. Most of us look for cheap saves, which means taking some risks. I like this report: http://www.fantasysportsempires.com/2009%20Closer%20Report.htm

For those who really want to dominate you should purchase a draft kit. We’ve already talked about VideoDraftKit.com, which is the coolest draft kit out there. For more traditional draft kits we like RotoWire’s offering the best. If you’ve got the money, go for the Cadillac of draft kits and fantasy baseball advice offered at BaseballHQ.com.

Good luck in your drafts!

This is hands down the coolest idea for a draft kit on the market.  www.VideoDraftKit.com is a premium site that pays experts to record their mock drafts and then explain their picks, thoughts, and strategies while they draft.  The main video producer for this season’s draft kit is Troy Patterson of www.RotoSavants.com, which is a blog we’ve talked about quite a bit on this site.  The cost of the draft kit is $24.95, which is a bargain for a video-based product like this.

The videos normally focus on a specific subject.  In their premium section the currently have videos on drafting closers, drafting from the 12th position, drafting from the 1st position, overall middle rounds draft analysis, and more.  There are 10 total videos at the time of this writing and they add 1-2 new videos each week.  They say the aim is for 25 videos before the season starts.  That would be over eight hours of watching draft-based videos.  If you’re not ready to dominate your drafts after that then you never will be.

I’m excited to see products like this coming into the fantasy realm.  Fantasy sports are really on the map now.  This particular product is very similar to the poker training sites, such as CardRunners and Daniel Negreanu’s VT poker, which are wildly successful.  The poker sites are much more expensive but also cover a much broader scope.  VideoDraftKit.com just covers the draft, and they cover pretty much every nook and cranny.  We definitely recommend plopping down the $25 and checking it out.

Video Draft Kit

The Nationals? Really?

We all know this is a downgrade in Dunn’s fantasy status, but how significant?  I did a mock draft today and he fell all the way to round 7, pick 9 in a 12 man league!  That’s nearly two rounds lower than his ADP, which apparently is going to drop like an anvil.  I hope this overreaction continues when I start my real drafts because it just doesn’t make sense.  He’s going to get about 40 HRs in just about any field in baseball.  He’s also going to strike out and kill your average.  RBI’s will dip a bit, but Washington’s lineup is young and fairly talented.  He’s really one of the most simple and predictable players in fantasy.  If you liked him/disliked him before you should feel about the same now.

I’m not the only one that thinks this.  Razzball and FantasyBaseball365 pretty much feel the same.  Here are those articles:

http://razzball.com/nats-finally-sign-a-one-tool-outfielder/>http://razzball.com/nats-finally-sign-a-one-tool-outfielder/
http://fantasybaseball365.com/2009/02/fantasy-impact-dunn-and-abreu-sign.html

Be sure to make it all the way to the bottom of the Razzball article.  I lolled at the before and after Nick Johnson pics.

To be fair, I must also link to the detractors.  The article below actually did some research, and as it turns out Dunn hit 9 “just enough” HR’s that may not have cleared the fence in Washington.

http://www.fantasyplayers.com/mlb/FeedItem.asp?FEED_ITEM_ID=63399

All things considered, I think Dunn can will himself to 37-40 HRs.  If you find yourself in need of power in mid-late round 6 Dunn is still your guy.

This is brilliant stuff here that you should not miss.  A bunch of experts are doing a Mock Draft through Twitter.  Knox at CrookedPitch is organizing it all.  Each pick comes with comments from the drafters.  They are up to round 10 and still going at the time of this post.  It’s difficult to find all the posts on Crooked Pitch so I’ll list them for you here.  Each Round is included in a different post:

Round One: http://www.crookedpitch.com/542/were-slow-mocking-over-here/
Round Two: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-two/
Round Three: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-three/
Round Four: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-four/
Round Five: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-five/
Round Six: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-six/
Round Seven: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-seven/
Round Eight: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-Eight/
Round Nine: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-nine/
Round Ten: http://www.crookedpitch.com/556/slow-mock-round-ten/