BABL Exhibition draft results
Our group of 10 intrepid explorers have begun their journey, taking BABS Baseball (BABL) out for its initial voyage. We have just completed the first leg, wrapping up our slow draft last week.
As a refresher, here are the basics of this new, BABS-inspired league format:
- 4×4 Rotisserie draft & hold
- Categories are HR, SB, Avg, PA, ERA, K, Sv+Hld, IP
- Standard snake draft
- 10 teams, both leagues
- 50-player roster: 23 active, standard positional configuration, 27 reserves
- Weekly transactions – active-reserve-active moves only
- No free agent access
- Even player-for-player trades allowed
Here are more details on the concept.
Here is the league home page, where you can follow along all year.
Here are all the team rosters. Feel free to comment on how you think we all did.
Interested in joining a BABL League? SIGN UP HERE! (Deadline March 16)
At the conclusion of the draft, I polled the owners about their experience. Here is a summary of their responses. Afterwards, I share some impressions about my team.
Was this the first time you were in a 50-round draft?
Of the 10 participants in this draft, seven had never done a 50-rounder before. Two were auction vets who had never done a snake draft before. That might color the answers to some of the subsequent questions.
What did you think would be your biggest challenge going in? Was your expectation correct?
This was the first time a group of readers were taking out BABL for a test run. It might have been interesting if we stocked the league with half BABSians and half non-BABSians, but several owners quickly realized the challenge of facing a slate of opponents who were all drafting off the same list. Still, one owner said, “I thought others would construct their teams similar to mine, which would put the strategy to risk. To my relief, this was not the case.”
Several of the 50-round newbies thought it would be a challenge to find 50 draftable players, but for some, it turned out that the pool was more plentiful than they had imagined. I have been in several 15-team 50-rounders where some of my players never saw the light of an active roster spot all year. That’s why I thought a 10-teamer might be more accessible.
How closely did you follow the BABS reports/spreadsheet?
Most of the owners followed the BABS reports fairly closely during the first half of the draft, then less so as the affair progressed. Most owners started to stray significantly once the draft entered the 30th round.
For me, I relied on the minor league BABS reports for the prospects. Once the draft got into the 40th round, I found myself using external sources for contextual information about how teams were planning to use certain fringe players. It’s a bit of a crapshoot at that point, but it was helpful to find any edge for all those below average commodities with identical BABS ratings.
And an FYI… if BABS shows no asset rating for a player, that does not necessarily mean he has no skill; it’s more likely that he has below average skill.
Not surprisingly, the owner above who was relieved to find out that other owners were following different paths was also the owner who admitted that he hardly followed BABS at all.
At what point did you find yourself most straying from the ratings?
For many, the point of departure was around Round 35. For others, there were specific types of players that forced them out of BABS – speed and starting pitching were the most prevalent. One owner: “Once past 200 or so, I started accepting higher risk to fill reserve position quotas.” That made perfect sense; in fact, it was tough to avoid.
How did this league’s 4×4 categories influence your choices?
The Saves+Holds category had some owners delay their bullpen picks. That was smart. If you actually model out the value of relievers in this format, the inclusion of Innings Pitched push them pretty far down the draft board. Personally, I stocked up on relievers for the sole purpose of allowing me to manage my starters each week. If some starters have poor matchups, it gives me the flexibility to roster more relievers in order to preserve ERA.
Thanks to the inclusion of Plate Appearances, two owners targeted hitters expected to be in the top few spots in their Major League team’s batting order. I wasn’t one of those smart ones. One owner: “I consciously sought out playing time over stats, and drafted some one-category guys I normally wouldn’t.”
Another owner: “Psychologically, it was weird not worrying about Runs, RBI and Wins and WHIP.” And still another owner: “Until I read this, I didn’t know PAs and Holds mattered while R, RBI, Wins and WHIP did not. What a moron.”
Ah… been there before. Rules.
Where did you find the most scarcity, the point where you had to start reaching for players? A specific category? Specific position?
For all of us, it was pretty universal that finding sufficient BABS-worthy speed was difficult. I noticed it zooming off the board, and even with the 7th seed, I got closed out of some prime commodities. Other experiences:
- “Quality starting pitchers without injury risk were scarce.”
- “Four times I would have a catcher in the queue only to see them taken ahead of me.”
- “Found it difficult to find a 3Bman for my reserves.”
- “I failed to meet my asset goals for full-time starting pitchers and batting power.”
- “Baffling, but plate appearances was the least scarce for me.”
I found myself falling into this trap as well: “I passed on too many veterans late in the draft which would have given me more secure backups.” I recognized this during the last few rounds so I grabbed up a few vets very late.
Did you have a plan for the 27-man reserve? If so, what was it? If not, how did you decide who to take?
“Significant redundancy” was a nice phrase one owner wrote to characterize his reserve draft. Some owners wanted two backups per position, some three and some four. A focus on pitching and multi-positional players were other common themes.
Only two owners wrote that they took potential trade bait into consideration. This is a trading league.
Do you think your team is well positioned for the season?
Most of the owners are optimistic about their team. Some are encouraged by where they appear in the projected standings posted on the site. Some admit that they have work to do. This was really a throwaway question for me to ask. But I think our success will be driven by how well we constructed our teams within BABS parameters.
Here is mine:
My key takeaways:
I was able to avoid injuries with most of my regulars, less so with reserves, but my pitching staff represents the absolute virtue of health. We’ll see.
Five multi-positional players should help mitigate any health risk downside. Unless they get hurt.
I took on an excessive amount of Experience risk but that was mostly deliberate. I think teams are pushing prospects up quicker these days – the 10 day DL creates constant openings – and many of them do succeed. Obviously I will need them to. Given the choice between a risky vet and a prospect with upside, I went with the latter. Given that my team is projected to be near the bottom of the pack in both PA and IP, I could be wrong. We’ll see how much the burden of Experience risk affects my success.
My catchers are an extremely powerful mess. Hopefully, I can create two reasonably productive roster spots out of four gimpy backstops.
I have way too many single asset hitters. Part of that was the result of getting closed out of speedy players. My only hope to contend in batting average is for my (a) and (AV) players to stay healthy.
I need Alex Cobb and Greg Holland to sign already.
This will likely be the only team this year in which I will get to own Shohei Ohtani.
As we await Opening Day, I will remind my fellow owners that, unlike other public 50-round leagues, this is a trading league. Get ready…
Interested in joining a BABL League? SIGN UP HERE! (Deadline March 16)
Looking at the rosters, it looks like Brian and I have the same draft strategy. I’m currently drafting in a league, and our rosters look very similiar.
Going into the draft, I thought quality 1bmen would be scarce. As the draft went along, it seemed like quality 3bmen was scarce, and there were plenty of good BABS options at 1b. I drafted 2 catchers by round 15. I could see plate appearances by a 2nd catcher possibly being the difference by a spot or 2 in the standings as the season unfolds.
onroto shows the draft results, but it doesn’t look like it was in the actual order (1st round all 1B) – can you link/post the draft by pick?
Thanks so much
Unfortunately not. The first 14 rounds were done live. When we switched to a slow draft beginning in Round 15, the only way to make the conversion was to enter the first 14 rounds as “keepers.” Picks from Round 15 on should all be in order.
Correction –
Round 15 and later is on that page. For the first 14 rounds, you can go to League Pages -> Transaction Logs -> Display Draft Results.
Love this idea. I am in the 19th round of my draft. Great way to drive home the overall idea of using BABS in a hands-on way. I think it will help me in other drafts, thinking in this way, especially since I am not a big baseball watcher. Thanks Ron!
Very interesting results, I like a couple responders here am currently drafting our BABS teams. Through 24-rounds, I like my batters, of the starting 14, all have multiple assets, only 2 may impact PA (for some reason Broxton has nothing listed for PT), the other Iannetta I realize may split time, but his power potential in Coors added to his OBP I think will not hurt me. As for my pitching, I went heavy on hitting not taking a pitcher until round 8 (G. Gole). I have three BABS friendly closers, and strong K potentials, however IP and injuries will be something to monitor all year.
Thanks!
I signed up, do we look for an email on when the draft starts?
When we get 10 teams signed up, you’ll get an email.
Ron, would you care to comment that on the surface it appears you may have punted IP and BA? “No path to playing time”?
Would BABS consider not signing with an MLB club to be a liability? It could be noted as -ns. Would she say that Jake Arrieta is still a safer pick than Chase Anderson, who has the same skills with INJ and EX risks? I ask after seeing Arrieta fall 40 spots in an NL-only draft.
Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Not sure how any conclusions can be arrived at. Re: IP – I drafted a full contingent of starting pitchers with few liabilities, which should equate to them maximizing their innings better. I supplemented with high IP relievers like Green and Petit. As noted above, I do need my young players to come through. Re: BA – 11 of my 15 full-timers have above average BA ratings, and the few with -AV liabilities are injury replacements, at best.
I don’t see the need to add any complexity to the system. If you want to add a manual note, it’s your draft tool. Bottom line – Do you really think Arrieta is going to sit out the 2018 season? His drop in market value is a profit opportunity for you.
Thank you. I never get to take Arrieta, then again he typically doesn’t drop below Wood, Weaver, Godley, Hill, and even Samardzija. With an adp of 42, I got him at pick 70 in an NL league. Maybe everyone read an article about him sitting out the season that I missed, but you’re right that such things are probably just noise and I’m psyched about the pickup.