Straight Draft Guide

[PriceIsRight]

Forgive my dimness, but I'm having difficulty understanding what is the straight draft guide.....how are the players ranked, please?

[Tom_T]

SDG is basically a ranking of players based on their relative values given the current player pool and how each position stacks up, Obviously, a Tatis or Acuna are high-level picks no matter what. But let's say there are a handful of really good starting pitchers, and the rest aren't that great. The good starters should be highly ranked because after that, the quality drops off. Or, a Realmuto stands out because of his hitting ability compared to other catchers. There may be ten middle infielders who can give you the same stats as Realmuto, but you'd take Realmuto because he's a catcher, and you can grab a middle infielder later. It's basically "this player, playing this position, should be considered at this point in the draft."

I like the SDG, but something very similar is the Custom Draft Guide which allows you to group by position and sort by dollar value within each. Then it becomes really obvious that Realmuto is a lot more valuable than the next catcher, while there are a number of second basemen who are interchangeable. That helps you decide when you should jump on one position, and when it's safe to wait until another round. As you cross off players under each position, you will definitely think "I'd better grab a shortstop now because there's not much left after this."

[RAY@HQ]

I'm not sure what your exact question is, but the rankings in the Straight Draft Guide start with Custom Draft Guide outputs (the CDG inputs are described at the top of the Straight Draft Guide), with a little bit of "extra sauce" for reliability sprinkled in (this is explained toward the bottom of the Straight Draft Guide in the 'Disclaimers' section).

[PriceIsRight]

Thank you for both responses.....They are very helpful.....I read the recent Straight Draft Guide article....it's great.

Ours is a 12 team mixed league 5x5 Roto AUCTION DRAFT... 13 starting batters: 1 catcher, 5 OFs...9 starting pitchers...minimum 750 innings....5 bench players....so each team drafts 27 players with the usual $260 to start, and $100 FAAB for the season.

Here's the plan so far, ....your consideration and input would be much appreciated, but not insistently requested (Tom - that was a terrific comprehensive response ) (Ray - it's amazing you find the time to respond - I totally love this site and begin my day reading as much as I can on Baseball HQ)

step 1 - Utilize BABS
step 2 - Utilize CDG
step 3 - list all players' AAV based on recent NFBC....beside each AAV, note CDG projected $ return for 12 team league.....see where there's close to estimated $ return compared to AAV for CORE players....see where there's more $ return than AAV for everyone else.....then factor in BABS assets and liabilities for both those groups of players....

step 4 - try not to "marry" players I really like (Bichette) and overbid during the draft...try not to run out of wiggle room money too early and especially toward the end .....where I only have $1 options ....I hate that feeling when league mates pick up the players I want for $2, because I only have $1........make sure I don't leave any money on the table....HAVE FUN !!!!!!