FINALLY IT IS HERE! THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THE YEAR! (Just don't tell that to your significant other). This day will determine whether the next 6 months are agony or ecstasy.
The most important thing is to be prepared. Equally important, review once again that the players on the opening day rosters and the players you have coded as on the opening day rosters match perfectly!!
The second is to only have that information which will help you during the course of the draft. Remember, KISS! (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) Every year we hear of owners bringing reams of paper or computers into their draft and being blown away by the second round because they are lost.
One frequent question we get is whether to bring a computer into the draft. We emphatically answer NO! Hard as it may seem to believe it will only slow you down. Also, until computers have true artificial intelligence I don't want them making pre-programmed decisions on assumptions that have changed half way through the draft. If you want to see more on this topic, print and read the essay on Computers in the Draft. If you have a partner then you may consider bringing a computer into the draft and using the "Draft Module" attached to the paid version of program. However, be sure you read and understand the essay on Phantom Inflation.
We believe that there are only 3 reports that this system generates that should be taken into the draft (4 for a league that has a reserve list or taxi squad).
We recommend putting these reports in a three ring binder. Also, use "tab" type divider pages to easily access the reports. Place one tab page in front of each report or position so that you can easily find it (ie all hitters, C, 1B, 2B,etc.).
First, print the "Unprotected Major League Player Projection" report. This will give you an alphabetical listing of every player available in the draft. Put this at the front of your binder. As each player is introduced, find him alphabetically and cross him out, preferably in red. By finding him on this list you also know exactly how much he is worth and the position at which he qualifies. You should now proceed to cross him off the list of overall value and (if applicable) the positional list. While this sounds time consuming, you will actually find him faster than on a computer.
The second report that we use is the players listed by overall value i.e. "Draft List - Value Sorted", from the report menu. We put a tab in front of this list labeled Overall for easy access. The purpose of this list is to highlight the next most valuable player, regardless of position, at all times. As players are introduced, cross them off this list, preferably in red.
The third report that we use is players sorted by position by value i.e. "Draft List - Position Sorted". Once again we use tabs, but here we put a tab before each position's page. We use something original like C,1b,2b,etc. Again, as players are introduced, cross them off.
On each of the draft lists, we also draw a red "stop" line under the last player who should be taken or the last player you think should be taken at each position. This "stop" line prohibits you from bidding on any player who should not be chosen. Never bid on or introduce a player below the stop line. There are two other pieces of information that you need for your draft. First you need a clean roster list for your league. Since our league has pre-determined seating assignments based on the prior year's standings, we have the teams listed in that order. It should have a space for every position and have those players who are protected filled in with their salaries. It should also be large enough so that it is readable and you can add players to it as they are selected. Also, keep a list of how many players a team needs, total salary left to spend and maximum bid per player. We always bring a calculator into the draft to make sure we don't make any silly math errors. Actually, keeping track of this info is quite easy. On a piece of paper put the number of players each team needs, the total salary left, maximum bid, and salary of the last player taken. Here is how part of our sheet looked before the 1992 draft:
LIONS ROCKERS
PLYR AVAIL MAX BID PLYR AVAIL MAX BID
11 106 96 13 166 154
10 12
9 11
8 10
---------------------------------------------------------- 2 4
1 3
2 1
The Lions needed 11 players and had 106 units available. Thus they could acquire 10 one unit players and place a maximum bid of 96 units on any one player. The Rockers needed 13 players with 166 units available. Their maximum bid was 154 units for any one player.
Notice how easy it is to calculate the maximum. It is always the Available less the next line's player number. Thus for the Lions it is (106 - 10) = 96 and for the Rockers it is (166 -12) = 154.
With so much to spend, the Rockers were active early. In the first 5 rounds the Lions acquired 2 players costing 19 and 12 respectively. The Rockers acquired 5 players costing 39, 41, 45, 13 and 7 respectively. Thus the chart now looked like this:
LIONS ROCKERS
PLYR AVAIL MAX BID PLYR AVAIL MAX BID
11 106 96 19 13 166 154 39
10 87 78 12 12 127 116 41
9 75 67 11 86 76 45
8 10 41 32 13
7 9 28 20 7
6 8 21 14
As you can see, 5 rounds into the draft it is easy to ascertain that the Lions are in good shape and can still bid up to 67 units on any player. The Rockers on the other hand are now down to a maximum bid of 14 units on any player and have been taken out of the bidding for most players from here on.
To conclude, be prepared for your draft and the fact that you purchased this system shows you intend to be. Keep an eye on everything this spring, send us your post draft rosters and
GOOD LUCK!!
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