What is Your Draft Prep Style?

So here we are at what everyone would have you believe is that “magical” time of year. A time when every club still has World Series dreams. A time when every player has come up with a new stance – or a change in his mechanics – that will lead to great improvement in the season ahead.

The blue skies…the green grass…the smell of hot dogs and the sound of vendors hawking beer and scorecards.

Spring training: the most relaxing and enjoyable time of any baseball season.

At least that’s what the television talking heads and the newspaper beat writers would have everyone believe.

But you and I both know that nothing could be further from the truth. Because depending on when your league holds its annual draft you could be weeks, days…or even minutes away from sitting down to select this year’s team.

(Seriously – if you’re only minutes away from your draft, I’m afraid this blog won’t help you. For that matter, nothing will help you at this point – why are you surfing the Internet when you’re about to draft? What’s wrong with you?)

Anyway, since the majority of fantasy leagues have yet to hold their drafts or auctions, let's spend some time examining the five distinct methods of draft preparation.

Which of these descriptions fits your draft preparation style?

1. The Osmosis Method – I can honestly say that this described me perfectly for two or three years until I realized it wasn’t working. I would hit the newsstand at least twice a week and buy every new baseball magazine – fantasy-related or not – that appeared on the shelf. Of course, I never got around to reading all of these magazines…but I still felt my intentions were good. Looking back on it, I have no idea what I was thinking. Did I think that just by purchasing the magazines I’d absorb the information? Or was I hoping to intimidate other owners on Draft Day when I walked into the room with a dozen magazines? Take a look around the room before your draft gets started this year – if you see anyone with a stack of magazines piled up to his eyes, you’ll know exactly what’s going on: that guy didn’t prepare at all.

2. The Information Junkie – Given the fact that you’re reading this blog, I’d say there’s a good chance you fall into this category. The Information Junkie makes a conscious decision on the date that pitchers and catchers report to spring training that he’s going to read everything he possibly can in order to get ready for the season. This means checking all of his favorite fantasy sites three or four times a day. This means reading the local papers online from every major league city every day. And this means saying things out loud such as, “It’s been over 72 hours since Gammons has posted a new column – what does he think this is…a vacation?!?!” The Information Junkie is very dangerous during the entire month of March and should be avoided as much as possible.

3. The Wannabe Scout – Sadly, this is yet another category that I’ve fallen into from time to time. OK, OK, I confess – I’m still there. The Wannabe Scout makes up his mind that he’s going to watch every spring training game that’s broadcast on television. (And with Directv and three Tivos firing on all cylinders in my house, well, let’s just say I know more about the dimensions of Space Coast Stadium and City of Palms Park than anyone really deserves to know.) The problem with watching dozens of spring training games, of course, is that you’re bound to become overly impressed with a handful of players based on just a small sample size. Because, let’s face it – the Wannabe Scout isn’t watching these games for enjoyment…he’s doing it to try and find a sleeper. I can remember very vividly watching a Detroit Tigers spring training telecast a few years ago with a friend of mine and seeing two pitchers that were ridiculously impressive. We both wound up going after these players in our major league auction when they clearly weren’t ready for the big leagues. (By the way, the pitchers? Matt Anderson and a younger, slimmer Francisco Cordero.) But we were convinced that we had seen future dominant closers before anyone else, so we had to go after them. Much like the Information Junkie, the Wannabe Scout is a pathetic figure and deserves no sympathy.

4. The Numbers Geek – I’m not sure why the Numbers Geek even plays fantasy baseball. Because it doesn’t seem like this person really enjoys the sport at all. He simply puts together a complicated spreadsheet that measures the true dollar value of every player in his league. Then on Draft Day, the Numbers Geek refuses to spend any more than what his spreadsheet tells him to. This could mean missing out on the top-tier talent – or it could mean having no money left for the end-game. But the Numbers Geek isn’t really worried about any of that. He’s not out to prove that he has superior baseball knowledge. Nope – he’s simply out to prove that all that time he spent paying attention in math class back in school was really worth something. The Numbers Geek is not dangerous at all, but it is unwise to try and engage him in any sort of baseball discussion. If you do, you’ll likely get a 20-minute monologue about how Morgan Ensberg was way overpriced at $15 given the linear progressions of his three-year stat trends. (Yawn.) Excuse me, I got bored just thinking about that.

5. The List-Maker – We’ve all seen this guy, haven’t we? He marches into the draft with a binder full of lists. He’s taken the time to list his top ten sleepers…his top ten rookies…his top ten pitchers to stay away from…even the top ten left-handed hitting backup corner infielders. It looks like he spent hours making these lists and he’ll spread them all around as the draft begins and begin systematically crossing the names off as the players are taken. This guy is very protective of his lists – he won’t let you see any of them – and covers up his workspace like a smart kid covering up his answers on a calculus test. The problem with the List-Maker approach, obviously, is that at some point you become a prisoner to all of those lists and your entire strategy gets ignored. The best way to deal with a List-Maker on Draft Day is to sit right next to him. Take a handful of fake lists into your draft with you – seriously, just put down a bunch of names on paper – and then spread the lists out next to him. He’ll inevitably start trying to look them over and he’ll spend more time wondering what your lists are all about than worrying about his own team.

So now that we’ve identified the five types of draft prep styles, which one best describes your approach? Chances are – whether you’ll admit it or not – you’ve nodded your head while reading at least one of the descriptions above. And if you’re like me, you’ve probably tried each and every one of them.

But no matter what type of preparation you do, you’re likely to face a bit of anxiety at some point between now and Draft Day. Don’t sweat it, though – this is perfectly normal.

Each year, as a matter of fact, I usually wind up with some awful nightmare about every player in my AL-only league selling for more money than I have available…so I wind up with no players. I realize it’s completely irrational, but at some point – after studying the names, numbers and stats for so long – I work myself up into a panic I guess. And after a day or so it simply goes away.

So what does all of this mean – the draft prep styles and all of the anxiety? The truth of the matter is that it’s all part of the game. After all, you wouldn’t be reading this blog – and identifying with much of it – if you didn’t have a passion for baseball.

Keep that in mind – that all of this really is fun – over the next few weeks as you cram for the most enjoyable “final exam” of the year: Draft Day. As you watch all the spring training games…read every last notebook column from the Minnesota Twins’ beat writer…compile list after list or crunch those dollar values one more time…well, it’s worth pointing out that this is the fun part.

So while you may not be relaxing in Florida or Arizona with a fat expense account – like those writers and television reporters – just remember that even in the middle of all this draft prep that you really are having fun…and you are tied for first place.