Drafting in a stats only league

[NateAndStuff]

Hey guys. I recently started a stats only league and just got to my first Amateur draft. This is usually where I sort players by potential and start looking through all the guys at the top, but there's obviously no potential rating now. For any of you that do stats only, how do you go about drafting players? I know that you want good work ethic and decent stats, but is there any way to tell who you should be looking at in the first round with ratings off?

Thanks.

[Scottiedog]

Frankly, I never figured a good way to tell. I sort of guess and pray he isn't a bust. I wish I could be more helpful.....but I've wondered that myself.

[Tyler87898]

What I do is I sort by stats and I look at my (probably very far off) scouting reports. I also need to see good work ethic and intelligence. I usually look at college players for the first round and at first I usually sort by homeruns or slugging %, because I usually want a batter (if I'm looking for a batter) that has good star power potential (with good contact as well). I click on the top dude and go through the scouting reports until I see a guy my scout likes and has the good work ethic and intelligence. Make sure his stats are good relative to the competition.

As for pitching, I again look at the college SPs first. I sort by ERA (don't hate!!!!!), click the guy who has the best ERA, and go through the pitchers, making sure they have at least 3 pitches and good stamina (if you don't hide these ratings, I know some people do). If my scout likes 'em and has the good personality stuff, then I'll consider him.

Please don't hate me for using these basic stats to draft, by the way!!!

This stuff doesn't always work (no person drafting is perfect), but I've had surprising success using these methods.

[Questdog]

Is this a league with feeders or without?......better with feeders, because then you have 4 years of stats to look at.

Check out the guy your scouting director recommends.....check out the guys demanding the highest bonuses.....90% of the time the best choice is from one of these.

I always go into a draft with list of positions I want to fill in a certain order.

Like:

1 C
2 P
3 SS
4 P
5 RF

etc.

I have 8 lists that I rotate each year. That way I avoid being overstocked or understocked at any position. But I never stick too closely to the list; if there is a player that begs to be drafted, we alter the list to accommodate him.....

[NateAndStuff]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Is this a league with feeders or without?......better with feeders, because then you have 4 years of stats to look at.

Check out the guy your scouting director recommends.....check out the guys demanding the highest bonuses.....90% of the time the best choice is from one of these.

I always go into a draft with list of positions I want to fill in a certain order.

Like:

1 C
2 P
3 SS
4 P
5 RF

etc.

I have 8 lists that I rotate each year. That way I avoid being overstocked or understocked at any position. But I never stick too closely to the list; if there is a player that begs to be drafted, we alter the list to accommodate him.....

I'm not using feeders right now. I want to but it seems like every league I use them, they produce too many great players. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong though. I really like the list idea though. I usually just draft the best guy out there but I do seem to run into the problem of being pretty shallow on some positions so I'm going to try this out. Thanks!

[NateAndStuff]

Originally Posted by Tyler87898

What I do is I sort by stats and I look at my (probably very far off) scouting reports. I also need to see good work ethic and intelligence. I usually look at college players for the first round and at first I usually sort by homeruns or slugging %, because I usually want a batter (if I'm looking for a batter) that has good star power potential (with good contact as well). I click on the top dude and go through the scouting reports until I see a guy my scout likes and has the good work ethic and intelligence. Make sure his stats are good relative to the competition.

As for pitching, I again look at the college SPs first. I sort by ERA (don't hate!!!!!), click the guy who has the best ERA, and go through the pitchers, making sure they have at least 3 pitches and good stamina (if you don't hide these ratings, I know some people do). If my scout likes 'em and has the good personality stuff, then I'll consider him.

Please don't hate me for using these basic stats to draft, by the way!!!

This stuff doesn't always work (no person drafting is perfect), but I've had surprising success using these methods.

Hmm. I always just assumed the scouting reports were gibberish that meant nothing. I've drafted guys before that my scout said were franchise players that never even made it to my team's top 3 prospects at their position. Does anyone know for sure if the scouting reports can be trusted?

[Tyler87898]

Originally Posted by NateAndStuff

Hmm. I always just assumed the scouting reports were gibberish that meant nothing. I've drafted guys before that my scout said were franchise players that never even made it to my team's top 3 prospects at their position. Does anyone know for sure if the scouting reports can be trusted?

They definitely cannot be the only thing you look at, but if my scout doesn't like a player, I won't get him. In my first and only stats-only league, my scouting reports aren't very accurate, but at least it's something to go buy.

A lot of the times they are not very accurate, I guess is basically what I'm trying to say.

[TribeFanInNC]

You really need to use feeders with stats only leagues. Otherwise, it is complete guess work. Even with feeders, it's a crapshoot sometimes.