Auction Question

[gradysfalcon]

For the guys that do auction drafts
How much do you spend on hitters /pitchers

[OaklandA's]

Typical is around 70% for Hitters, 30% for Pitchers.

[The Dane]

Typical is around 70% for Hitters, 30% for Pitchers.

Agreed. That's pretty typical. However, I sort of consider that the "expert's ratio." If too many people in your league all use the same methodology, it might be better to even it out a little more depending on where value is to be had. For example, I ALWAYS go cheap on pitching. The wildest I go is maybe an ace with a bunch of scrubs or ace plus strikeout relievers. Whatever. But I rarely pay a lot or target more than just a couple starters. However, something strange happened in my 12-team NL draft: everybody decided to pay for hitting, boosting salaries of high- and mid-range guys, even though we rarely have much inflation. Luckily, I had very solid cheap hitting keepers (KJohnson, Alvarez, Castro, Stanton, Braun, Bruce, Torres) and so I landed a $24 Pena and sat on pitchers. By the time we got around to pitchers pretty much everyone was tapped out, so I got Marcum for $11, Kuroda for $6, Putz for $9 and Nunez for $7, (to go with keepers THudson, Gallardo, Axford, Chapman and Myers) steals all. I figure that's about $70 worth of pitching for $33. I spent $116 on pitching, way more than usual, but I ended up with a better team than I expected.

[TopChuckie]

Without consciously paying attention to it, I spent 72/28 in both my AL-Only and NL-Only leagues.

[wannabegriffey]

ALWAYS buy your offense at the auction. Minimum is a 70/30 split towards hitting.

Trade and faab your way to a pitching staff.

[Lucky]

ALWAYS buy your offense at the auction. Minimum is a 70/30 split towards hitting.

Trade and faab your way to a pitching staff.

This is a good way to put yourself in contention. I try to spend a minimum of $200 on pitching.

[Midnight Otter]

This is a good way to put yourself in contention. I try to spend a minimum of $200 on pitching.

Wow! $200 on pitching?

[gradysfalcon]

This is a good way to put yourself in contention. I try to spend a minimum of $200 on pitching.

$200 seems like you would get at least 5 top of the line pitchers

[The Dane]

ALWAYS buy your offense at the auction. Minimum is a 70/30 split towards hitting.

Trade and faab your way to a pitching staff.

Good advice. This always reminds me of what the great Bill Walsh said about building that 49er dynasty of the 80s-90s: "Scheme on offense, draft on defense." The same principle applies to fantasy baseball: "Scheme on pitching, draft for hitting."

[SKI]

190/70 or 73% hitting/27% pitching

[DMT]

I prefer 180/80 myself

[Crime Dog]

Great question grady. I started drafting Ffootball, ....and Fbaseball a long time ago, ....longer than I'd care to admit. But I've only recently (2008-2009) become intrigued by the dynamics of strategy for auction drafts. Last year, I drafted two Fbaseball teams. One team pulled a 1st place finish out of nowhere, ....that was a snake draft team. The other, ....an auction team, ....was in contention coming into Sept, ....but folded like a wet taco down the stretch.

My goal is to WIN a team that I bought, ....via auction. Your question got me to thinking about my 2011 hitters vs. pitchers expenditure ratio (I drafted in one auction + one snake draft). So, .....I calculated my costs and found that I spent 69.6% on hitters. That made me feel pretty good, ....pretty normal, .....but that auction didn't go ANYTHING like I expected. I USUALLY sit back, ....nab a few expensive studs at a modest discount, but generally save plenty of money for mid-game and end game bargains. Instead, ....I found myself grabbing lots of stud bargains early, one or two mid-game bargains, ....and settling for a ton of $1 players. Even though I only spent $79 on pitching, ....I got these guys:

Halladay
Lester
Haren
Colby Lewis
James Shields
Edwin Jackson
Chris Perez
Craig Kimbrel
Brian Fuentes
Jon Rauch
Jose Contreras
Ryan Madson

The bottom line: I've been listening to XM/Sirius Radio Fantasy Baseball for the last several weeks. I've heard the "how much should I spend on hitting vs. pitching?" question numerous times. Although the 65/35 and 72/28 answers are okay, ....you SHOULD NOT lock in on ANY inflexible strategies. You need to develop a feel for the auction, ...adjust to the trends, ....get the early/mid auction bargains, and ALWAYS save money for the semi-late and the end game steals.

[chancellor]

I've done about 190/70 the last two years. I'll flex the pitching number about +/- $5-8 each way, depending on values at the auction.

[Lucky]

Brain cloud. I spend at least $200 on hitting, leaving $60 or less for pitching. It takes some work. You need to find an underrated closer. You put a couple of good MRs with him who have a legit chance for saves. Buy an offense geared to dominate. Get some starting pitchers who have a chance to put together a good year, which takes a lot of research. I probably spend much more study time and much less money on pitching than most.