When I was tasked with creating my ultimate draft strategy, I became a little concerned about what I wanted to talk about, considering I typically try and stay as balanced as possible in roto leagues. However, I have been thinking for multiple seasons about a different strategy that could be employed in leagues, and I think this is finally the year that I do it in multiple leagues. Before I can tell what the strategy is, though, I have to give a little history lesson.
Justin Mason’s Ultimate Draft Strategy: The CLabadini
In 1996, Larry Labadini came into LABR with the most innovative and extreme strategy that had ever been attempted in an industry league, a $9 pitching staff. The goal was to dominate the hitting categories and do well enough in the pitching categories to keep him close enough that he could trade for it later on. He finished fourth but was only eight points out of first place and could have won the league. Since then, it has lived in lore, but no one has attempted to repeat it with success. I have wanted to try this in an industry league since I was first invited to Tout Wars years ago, but I have always chickened out. However, I think this is the year I try out my own version of it.
When I was tasked with creating my ultimate draft strategy, I became a little concerned about what I wanted to talk about, considering I typically try and stay as balanced as possible in roto leagues. However, I have been thinking for multiple seasons about a different strategy that could be employed in leagues, and I think this is finally the year that I do it in multiple leagues. Before I can tell what the strategy is, though, I have to give a little history lesson.
Justin Mason’s Ultimate Draft Strategy: The CLabadini
In 1996, Larry Labadini came into LABR with the most innovative and extreme strategy that had ever been attempted in an industry league, a $9 pitching staff. The goal was to dominate the hitting categories and do well enough in the pitching categories to keep him close enough that he could trade for it later on. He finished fourth but was only eight points out of first place and could have won the league. Since then, it has lived in lore, but no one has attempted to repeat it with success. I have wanted to try this in an industry league since I was first invited to Tout Wars years ago, but I have always chickened out. However, I think this is the year I try out my own version of it.
I call this strategy the CLabadini. The idea is very similar, all of your starting pitchers are $1 in an auction or in the last round of a snake draft, but the difference is the “C” at the front of the word, which is for closers. Closers are hard enough to come by, and while you can get them in FAAB, the best ones give you a distinct advantage, so draft them where you would to get two good closers, and then don’t touch pitching until the end.
This allows you to potentially wrap up six categories with all the hitting categories and saves while helping your ERA and WHIP with the starting pitchers you do end up rostering. As you build a lead, you can make trades for elite starting pitching to catch up in strikeouts and wins if needed. In a league in which you do not have an innings minimum, you can actually draft mostly relievers and punt strikeouts and wins, but in most leagues, you need those innings to qualify.
Why might this work? Starting pitching is as deep as it has ever been this year. While you will definitely be behind in the pitching categories, this year, more than others, it is easier to build a rotation out of nothing than it has been in previous years. Also, with new rules around the pitch clock, banning of extreme shifts, and reports that MLB will enforce the sticky stuff bans more strictly, pitching could be more unpredictable. This strategy allows you to see the effects on the pitching pool before over-investing in them to prevent yourself from having a high-priced starter blow up on you the way Lucas Giolito and Trevor Rogers did last season.
Now, this strategy obviously will work better in your shallower formats, but I think it can work in any size league, and while other people spend big on the Gerrit Coles and Corbin Burneses of the world, you can load up on everything else, and throw off the values of your competitors with my ultimate draft strategy. Long live the CLabadani!!!
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