High-Stakes Leagues Draft Strategy: Middle & Late Rounds (Fantasy Baseball)

If you are new to the high-stakes world, the drafts can be overwhelming when you first sit down at the table. It is not just the larger amounts of money being played for or the amazing talent drafting against you that can be jarring, but the way rosters are constructed which is different from your average fantasy league. In my last pieces on high-stakes leagues, we looked at how to approach the early rounds and hitting. In this article we will talk about my approach to the middle and late rounds of a high-stakes draft.

High-Stakes League Draft Strategy; Middle & Late Rounds

Start at the End

It may seem counterintuitive but when you are thinking about who to draft you should look at the end of the draft before the beginning. After you have done your player analysis, you should have a list of players that you feel are undervalued at either specific positions or for certain categories. If you read my piece on the early rounds, you already know this. If you have not, then I suggest you do.

Middle & Late Round Strategy

So, what are you looking for in the middle round? Well, first it is important to realize that most of these players will be dropped. Even on a good team, you are likely to drop anywhere from 13-17 of your 30 initial players. After Round 15, you should be looking to keep a well balanced team in terms of categories, but unlike the first 15 rounds, you can take a bit more risk in terms of the downside. You do not want to take all risky players, but this is the spot you should focus on the upside of a player rather than the downside. In the beginning of the draft I focus on minimizing risk, in the middle and the end, I want guys that could pop and return a ton of value.

Depth & Streaming Options

At the end of the draft you are looking to fill out your roster, but also look for ways to set up your team for the early season. I know that a lot of people like to draft back ups for every position (i.e. a CI, a MI, an OF, and 3-4 pitchers,) but there are a few different ways to approach it. The first way would be to load up on potential closers in unsettled situations. Grab guys like Kirby Yates in case he wins the Angels job or Abner Uribe in case the Brewers trade Trevor Megill or Megill gets hurt.

Another thing you can do is look at the schedule for good streamers. The Rockies head to Miami which could be a nice streaming opportunity for the pitchers on both teams. The Twins head to Baltimore which should be a nice streaming series for Orioles pitchers. The Red Sox head to Cincy which is a great place to hit.

Targets

The most important thing to do is continue to stay balanced so you have a shot at the overalls you are competing for. Here are the 80 percentile targets for last season’s main event:

Hitters

Pitchers

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