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Let’s get this out of the way - every league is different so this article is going to focus on as standard of a version of a league as possible - rotisserie format, 12 teams, standard 5-by-5 – max innings pitched limit between 1,300 and 1,600, daily roster changes, bench of more than four players. Please adjust as necessary. Now that’s out of the way, you want to bank on 1,000 innings pitched from your starters. There is going to be at least one bust or injury in the group, but I like to plan on two. That said, I’m also aggressive on waivers, especially early in the season so if I can add a seventh starter I do it. If I fail then I try to carefully stream my way through the season. Relief pitching is the key to success - you want saves and to help with ratios and your strikeouts per nine innings, but you don’t want to pay for it. Load up on starting bats so you don’t have to use your bench for extra bats. Use that bench space for middle relievers and speculative closers. Ideally, you want three closers going into the season but you can make due with two. The goal is to end up with four closers by May so you can shift your attention to hot middle relievers. It’s OK if you can’t due to injuries or losing waiver claims; you just can’t use as much bench space on middle relief as long as you don’t have 3-4 closers. How to build this staff? See below. I have broken up each tier with a description on how I’d treat that tier during my draft to build the perfect staff mentioned in the introduction. Group 1 – I’m not drafting any of these guys because the early rounds are for building your offense. It’s so much harder to chase offense (without stolen bases) than pitching. These guys are phenomenal, but they will be phenomenal on someone else’s team. Roy Halladay Cliff Lee Tim Lincecum Felix Hernandez Jon Lester CC Sabathia Clayton Kershaw Group 2 – I’m getting one of these guys, but probably not one of the first few except for (hopefully) Zach Greinke. I’m looking at the guys listed after Francisco Liriano. Zach Greinke Jered Weaver Justin Verlander Ubaldo Jimenez Josh Johnson Francisco Liriano Yovani Gallardo Cole Hamels Roy Oswalt Dan Haren Tommy Hanson Group 3 – It’s highly unlikely I’m taking any of these guys, as their price is too close to their upside and doesn’t account for their risk. David Price Clay Buchholz Mat Latos Group 4 – Assuming I have a Group 2 player already on the roster, I need a guy from this group. On the off-chance that I got Kershaw or Lester, a player from this group is not a necessity. It’d be a luxury. Max Scherzer Brett Anderson Chad Billingsley Chris Carpenter Matt Cain Josh Beckett Group 5 – If I screwed up somewhere, these are my fallback options, but I’d like to ignore everyone in this group though. Tim Hudson Ted Lilly Wandy Rodriguez Hiroki Kuroda Ryan Dempster Ricky Nolasco – the numbers suggest there might be some upside with him, but that’s the case every year. Group 6 – Don’t let this group end with you having less than four starters on your staff. Shaun Marcum – his rising price may command Group 4 status, and he’ll justify it. Phil Hughes Brandon Morrow Jonathan Sanchez Trevor Cahill – don’t let the lack of strikeouts scare you. Gio Gonzalez Daniel Hudson – becoming overpriced though. Edinson Volquez Jhoulys Chacin Ian Kennedy Madison Bumgarner Johnny Cueto Jorge De La Rosa Group 7 – Hopefully I have four arms at this point and I can skip this group. Edwin Jackson Colby Lewis Brett Myers Ervin Santana CJ Wilson Carl Pavano Jaime Garcia John Danks John Lackey Matt Garza Bronson Arroyo Carlos Zambrano Group 8 – Fliers! Unlike the last group there’s some upside in this group. You’ll want to load up on them, but it depends how deep your bench is and what waivers will look like in-season. You want guys that could blow up, but also can be easily dropped in April if they’re terrible to start. These guys are listed in no particular order because if history is any indication their positioning on my board will change frequently over the next few weeks. James Shields – numbers suggest upside, but his actual pitching says otherwise. He’s “Nolasco-lite.” Ricky Romero Javier Vazquez Jordan Zimmermann Jeremy Hellickson – price might be too steep here. James McDonald Jair Jurrjens – I love post-injury reclamation projects. AJ Burnett Scott Baker Kevin Slowey Wade Davis Bud Norris Tim Stauffer Mike Minor Rick Porcello Aaron Harang Justin Masterson Rich Harden Derek Holland Justin Duchsherer Phil Coke Group 9 is long, boring and won’t be on your team anyway so if they aren’t listed to this point they aren’t worth looking at until after the season begins. On to closers! Relief pitching Group 1 – guys that probably won’t be on my team. Neftali Feliz – he’s a potential exception, as a possible move to the rotation is intriguing. Carlos Marmol Joakim Soria Heath Bell Brian Wilson Relief pitching Group 2 – guys who might be cheap enough that I’ll consider and then likely pass on for more hitting. Jonathan Broxton Jonathan Papelbon Jose Valverde Francisco Rodriguez Mariano Rivera Relief pitching Group 3 – these guys scare the hell out of me. Andrew Bailey Huston Street Brad Lidge Leo Nunez Frank Francisco Relief pitching Group 4 – closers that will be on my teams; likely three in a row since I probably won’t have any yet. JJ Putz John Axford Chris Perez Craig Kimbrel Drew Storen Francisco Cordero Joel Hanrahan Brandon Lyon Brandon League Relief pitching Group 5 – if I don’t have three yet I’ll take a shot on one of these guys and cross my fingers. Ryan Franklin Fernando Rodney Matt Thornton Kevin Gregg Kyle Farnsworth – just run. Middle relief – get as many of these guys as you can until you’ve reached your innings pitched/roster limit, but first you want to put a priority on handcuffs to your risky closers and then stealing handcuffs to risky closers while making sure those handcuffs are worth a damn. The handcuff strategy in this game is a sound one. Just don’t get married to them if/when better options become available. These guys are listed in no particular order. Aroldis Chapman Chris Sale Joe Nathan Octavio Dotel David Aardsma Clay Hensley Ryan Madson Jason Motte Rafael Soriano Brian Fuentes Takashi Saito Hong Chih-Kuo Daniel Bard Koji Uehera Mike Gonzalez Jonny Venters Luke Gregerson Hisanori Takahashi Joaquin Benoit Evan Meek Matt Capps JP Howell Juan Cruz Kenley Jansen Pat Neshek Joey Devine Zach Braddock Joel Zumaya Mike Adams Wilton Lopez David Hernandez Jon Rauch Jason Frasor Matt Lindstrom |
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