As a grizzled veteran when it comes to salary cap leagues, I will give an example to you all on how I prepare and draft for salary cap leagues. I am very excited about this opportunity as I get to use the FantasyPros Draft Wizard which offers a “buy now” mode that makes prepping for salary cap leagues a breeze. You can practice your fantasy baseball mock drafts in minutes for free!
Admittingly most important to me, I get to draft without Zac or Brandon bidding on players just because I am bidding on them. Stop doing that. I know you both are just watching and waiting for me to bid.
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12-Team Mock Salary Cap Draft (2024 Fantasy Baseball)
Prep Going into the Mock Draft
Allocate Funds to Each Position as Desired
The general rule of thumb for auction is 65% position players and 35% pitchers, although this can be altered based on your strategy. I lean pitcher-heavy because traditionally I have found better value with position players on the waiver wire. So, I will be going 60/40.
Find a Strategy
For this mock, I will be going for two elite OFs, a quality SS/3B, high-upside young starting pitching, punting saves and looking for value elsewhere. For a standard roster with $260 auction dollars, my prep will look something like this:
- C- $1
- 1B – $14
- 2B – $7
- 3B – $17
- SS – $15
- OF – $45
- OF – $45
- OF – $1
- Util – $4
- Util – $3
- Util – $1
- P – $27
- P – $27
- P – $21
- P – $13
- P – $7
- P – $2
- P – $1
- Bench – $2
- Bench – $2
- Bench – $2
- Bench – $1
- Bench – $1
- Bench – $1
Be sure to bid a player up to your final amount even if you think they will go for more. Knowing your limit and allocation is how value happens in salary-cap leagues. Going $1/$2/$3 over budget is okay, pull that money from other positions.
Tier Up
I have done many, many large buy-in auction leagues, and I will give you the secret to how to have a great auction draft.
The last player in a tier will always go for more than the other players in the tier.
Pat Fitzmaurice does an incredible tier breakdown for reference, but for example tier 1 in pitching –
Once the first two are off the board, whoever is the last remaining will always cost the most. It’s a rule of life, like Ryan Braun and FedEx drivers not getting along.
Other league members will see the drop-off between the final player in a tier and the next best available after and get impulsive.
Try to avoid getting into a bidding war for the last player in a tier, it will happen a lot.
Post Mock Notes
- Went top-heavy with guys like Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuna Jr., Corbin Burnes and Julio Rodriguez. Got tremendous value on them as predicted, players were going for $50+ later in the draft as the player pool got more shallow.
- The value I got early let me spend more on SS and snag Corey Seager at a good value.
- Ended up heavy shortstop but I like the value I got on each.
- I am not projected to finish first in any category. Not ideal.
- The “Buy Now” option on FantasyPros Draft Wizard is a game changer for preparing for salary cap leagues.
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