Snake draft prep strategies

[Pauly]

I am a devoted auction player but this year I am in a very competitive snake redraft league. I know it is the less popular format around here, but for those who do them, what are the most successful ways you prep for a snake draft? For example, for an auction draft Im a big believer is budgeting a certain amount of money per position or per player. Obviously you cannot do that in a snake. I realize that knowing the players and having projections is the foundation (we all have that), but what else?

My first stab was to use ADPs to project the 4-5 players who will be available at each pick - for the fifth pick for example, that would be pick 5, pick 20, 29, 44, etc. etc. But after doing that it seems pretty untrue to real life.

Any better ideas?

[joncarlos]

I try to look for clusters of players, and figure I'm going to get one of those (or figure I'm going to something else around that time).

So in a 15 team league you'll see the starting pitchers from 4-22 all go in rounds 3-4, followed by the 1st and 2nd tier closers in rounds 5-7, then a handful of similar outfielders in round 9-11 (Burns, Inciarte, Revere, Gardner, Pillar), a bunch of similar high-AVG 2Bs towards the end (Lemahieu, Murphy, Panik), etc.

If I want to zig when everyone else is zagging, I might see what power bats, or SPs are around when everyone is taking their closers. Which means I need to have a general idea of where I'm going to take my closers.

Of course, you've got to sort of be willing to blow it all up if someone falls into your lap. Sometimes it's better to just go BPA for the first 12 rounds and then see what you still need. (Maybe keeping in mind that you're comfortable with the late-round 2Bs and using that as a tiebreaker in the early rounds, whereas you might hate all the late round 3Bs)

[revo]

I find having a strategy for the early rounds is most important. For instance, I was picking 5th in my 16-tm redraft last week, and had a good idea my first pick was going to be between three players. It took me a good month to make a final decision on the first choice, then the backup plan. I did some ADP homework and saw that for my next two picks in Rds 2 & 3, the cluster of ADP players 25-50 were for the most part SPs and OFers, so I knew I wanted a position player at #5 -- that eliminated one of my 1st round choices (Stanton). My decision for Rds 2 & 3 was then to take, or pass on, an ace starter. Using the mocks, I determined that I could likely land one of the last couple of aces in Rd 4, so having done my homework, I passed on the 3rd round ace and was successful in landing Chris Archer in Rd 4. I then knew I wanted Pujols in Rd 5, and lo and behold, he was there. I landed the five guys I anticipated landing, and it went exactly to plan.

Doing mocks helped me to formulate a strategy for these early picks, and it went exactly as I anticipated. I then drafted best players available (and needed) and started grabbing mid- and later-round targets.

Do mock drafts using Fantasy Pros mock drafting tool. Get an idea of who's been generally going in the area of your picks. Make a list of those players so that you're not forgetting anyone. Take players who are falling way past their ADP value, as long as there are no issues with them. Come up with a list of later round targets, and using the mocks, get a decent idea of where they're going. Have a plan to grab these players in their appropriate rounds. Reach on a couple if necessary.

[Fresno Bob]

come up with tiers of players, so you know what's going on during runs. ADP is your friend

[Mithrandir]

I find ADP to be close to useless. Pick who you think will produce. If player "X" has an ADP of 180 and you want him on pick 120, then take him. Trust your own judgement rather than ADP.

[revo]

I find ADP to be close to useless. Pick who you think will produce. If player "X" has an ADP of 180 and you want him on pick 120, then take him. Trust your own judgement rather than ADP.

While I agree with taking players you really want, ADP is far from useless. I like Jackie Bradley Jr this year -- should I take him in the 4th round? Of course not. Knowing relative values assures you won't overpay dramatically.

[james33]

I've never done snake drafts. Oversimplifying it to say just sort the players by your auction price (descending), and draft off that list, while being careful to not take too much pitching or too little pitching in first 5-10 rounds?

[Mithrandir]

While I agree with taking players you really want, ADP is far from useless. I like Jackie Bradley Jr this year -- should I take him in the 4th round? Of course not. Knowing relative values assures you won't overpay dramatically.

That's not using ADP, that's knowing the players in MLB

[onejayhawk]

I once had a chat with Todd Zola. He said that the last 1/3 of the draft was his domain. He would track who needed what to fill their roster and prey on scarcity.

I find ADP to be close to useless. Pick who you think will produce. If player "X" has an ADP of 180 and you want him on pick 120, then take him. Trust your own judgement rather than ADP.

I'm with Revo. a good ADP is like the Kelly Bluebook. It gives you the asking price. Negotiations are up to you. They are also useful for flagging sliding players.

J

[swampdragon]

I did deep NL auction for years - snake draft mixed for about 5 and now snake draft NL for 2 years

after about round 15 in single league is when you start looking for only upside guys - closers in wating - super utility - injured players and backup players