2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit

Most players base their entire season on the Fantasy Baseball Draft. Your team does not live and die with the draft, but you do need to build a solid foundation for your team. Here are 10 quick tips to improve your draft.

1. When conducting your Fantasy Baseball Draft the best advice is to play it safe. Don’t try to out smart yourself, draft a balance of pitching and offense.

2. Look at positions that are thin, like 2B for example, and make sure you get yours.

3. Draft a “sure thing” veteran starting pitcher.

4. Draft a veteran big bat. Beware of players with only 1 good season, although some may pay big a proven is more of a sure thing.

5. After filling those needs as soon as possible, use player rankings and team needs to guide the remaining of your Fantasy Baseball Draft.

6. Save gambles for middle and late rounds. Let some one else take the big gamble early.

7. Go into the draft with a small draft plan and some sleepers. Then throw away your plan. The most important thing during the draft is to ADAPT! Notice what positions are and are not being drafted. Can you hold off on drafting your first basemen because everyone has already drafted one? Was there a run on starting pitchers? You better get one, even if it is a slightly over-priced player. Go with the flow of the draft and you will do better than sticking to a plan.

8. If you are new to drafting and your league offers an auto-draft option, use it. This will give you a safely drafted team.

9. Check your point system. Seems obvious and it is. Most point systems are a basic system, some high points and some low, but they generally are equal in proportion. Sometimes there are point strengths and weaknesses, if there is one find it and exploit it.

10. One last tip for the draft may be the most important. Draft dominate closers. They do not grow on trees. They score big and use few innings. In most Fantasy Baseball leagues closers are valuable and can’t really be replaced. They will get you more than just saves in their usual inning of pitching. They have low ERA's, great WHIP's and a high strikeout ratio. Draft enough closers to try to fill all P-slots and RP-slots. Consider a closer who qualifies as a starting pitcher and stick him in the SP-slot to gain an extra closer.

2010 Draft Strengths

If you examine the 2010 Mock Draft and Player Rankings you will see that the strengths of the draft are the following positions: Starting Pitching, First Base and to a lesser extent, Catcher.

Starting Pitching continues to be an area both difficult to predict and plentiful in free agency. The lesson of the past is after you draft your #1 pitcher, back off and wait for bargains. You should shy away from drafting a pitcher in the first two rounds (12 team draft). That does mean that it is wise to let someone else draft Tim Lincecum or your number one starting pitcher. It is a guess who will finish #1 in 2010, so the longer you can wait to get your ace, the less risk is involved. If you can wait until round 3 (or later) you can easily find a starting pitcher who can potentially finish #1 overall.

Don't waste high picks on your #2 or #3 pitchers. In 2009 pitchers who were mid-round draft picks ended up amongst the best and other pitchers like Adam Wainwright and Josh Johnson as well as countless other good fantasy starters were found later in the draft or in free agency. Wait until the mid and late rounds for drafting most and feel comfortable that you will be able to fill you 3rd, 4th & 5th slots with free agents if necessary. DON'T OVERDRAFT STARTING PITCHING!

First Base is loaded coming into 2010. From the rise of Joey Votto and Pablo Sandoval, to the underrated play of stud Adrián González or Al-Star Derrek Lee, to newbies Kendry Morales and Billy Butler, there are plenty of top-notch first basemens to go around. With a veterans like Adam Dunn and Lance Berkman ranked out of the top-ten, the last thing you should worry about is drafting a first basemen. If the stud comes your way, go ahead and draft away, but just know there are plenty of strong options in 2010.

Catchers are always a fantasy headache, mostly because the position is generally so thin, but in 2010 the position has a very solid bunch. Youngsters Matt Wieters, Miguel Montero and even Kurt Suzuki have strengthened the position in 2010 just as Joe Mauer and Brian McCann have done in recent years. This year hopefuls include Chris Iannetta and Buster Posey. The new infusion of blood over the last few years makes the catcher spot the strongest it has been in a long time.

Add that to the the inconsistencies of offensive play at the catcher position (see Russell Martin and Geovany Soto) and it is simply better to wait until later in the draft and grab a bargain.

2010 Draft Weaknesses

Shortstop is weak because of the huge drop off after studs Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Reyes (though there are questions about Reyes injury). The next shortstop ranked is Jimmy Rollins, who is a capable of having a big year, but his 2007 NL MVP was an exception and he will likely never do anything like that again. The good news is there are several solid fantasy shortstops, so if you do not get a stud, wait. Many who could breakout out like Alcides Escobar or Ian Desmond or shortstops who were disappointments in 2009, but could return in 2010 like JJ Hardy, Stephen Drew, Alexei Ramírez or Jhonny Peralta. Then there are a plethora of young and old bargains like Yunel Escobar, Cliff Pennington, Marco Scutaro, Orlando Cabrera or Miguel Tejada.

Second Base As it has been for years, second base is still a weakness in the 2010 draft, but just a moderate one. The rise of Robinson Canó and Aaron Hill has given it some strength to go along with studs Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler. Like the shortstop position, there are plenty of solid players and prospects if you don't get a top-level second basemen like Casey McGehee, Adam Kennedy, Scott Sizemore or Eric Young.

Outfield continues to be weak just because of the shear number that it will take to fill your roster. Questions about players such as Josh Hamilton with his injury and Jason Bay with his move to the Mets, weaken the position, but shooting starts like Matt Kemp, Adam Lind, Justin Upton, Nelson Cruz and others balance it out. Try to get a sure-thing stud early on (try a bargain like Curtis Granderson if you miss out on the top) and be sure to grab some young future stars like Drew Stubbs or Nolan Reimold.

Closers We always must mention Closers. Many philosophies say to stay away from them and work the free agent wires. We couldn't disagree more. There is some sense to the philosophy because of there volatility, but that is actually the reason to make sure you get at least one stud. Rarely does a veteran stud falter. Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon and a few others are sure-things and must be given the proper draft respect. The fourth-round is a solid spot to nab one. Start the run on them, don't finish it. Closers provide great K/9-ratios, low ERA's, low whips and of course can win the saves category if you build a strong bullpen. Don't overdraft, because you will be able to get new ones in free agency.