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Like Eating a Bushel of Peaches, I'll Help You Find Relief

By snakeob69, Section MLB
Posted on Tue Mar 29 2005 at 2:21 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

If you obsessively and fanatically draft relief pitching you can win your fantasy league.

Repeat.

If you obsessively...you get the idea.

The average head to head fantasy league has seven pitcher slots.  Two are reserved for starting pitching while two are reserved for relief and three slots are left open.
Let's do a quick breakdown.

For example, if you use your first, second, fourth and sixth round picks on Eric Gagne, Brad Lidge, Mariano Rivera and Frankie Rodriguez; you would be assured saves for all time, have WHIP of .97 and an ERA under two.  Now that you have nearly solidified those categories, quickly jot down that you would have more strikeouts than a starting staff of Mike Mussina, Jake Westbrook, Jon Lieber and Al Leiter...and you're, in a word...laughin'.

"So Simon, are you saying it's wise to pass on fantasy God's RJ or Vlad in favor of Gagne or Lidge?"

Now, I'm not saying that if you have one of the top eight picks you should pass on fantasy gods like RJ and Vlad.  

Yes, I realize the voice in my head has made it into this article but be like me and just ignore it.  Crack open another Red Bull and just ignore it. This strategy only makes sense if you have one of the bottom picks in the draft.  And again, it only makes sense for a head to head league.

This works for me for a few simple reasons.

1.    Saves are the only category that only one position could ever realistically get.  Unless you're the Unit and it's Game 6 or 7 of the World Series, most starters will never record a save.
2.    You can sacrifice stud hitters because you will always be able to find Alfonso Soriano stats at a Matt Lawton price.
3.    Seven and possibly eight elite closers exist in major league baseball.  Your goal is to stock your team with three or four of them.  In 2004, 36 players hit 30+ home runs and 32 players drove in 100 runs.  Plus, it is easier to pick someone off the waiver wire who is going to drive in runs than someone who will consistently have a low WHIP, ERA and will win SV's.
4.    Once you has grabbed the elite closers, secured the Casey Blake's, Lyle Overbay's and Aaron Rowand's of the fantasy world and promised yourself that your $5 fantasy bet isn't going to waste then it is time to go in for the kill.

Later in the draft, after you've covered nearly every position...you have a mission.
The mission you are assigned is to do whatever is necessary to get Tom Gordon on your squad.  If that means calling up the guy with the pick ahead of you on the phone and tell him his family was just in a horrendous car accident than that's just the world we live in folks.  

The bread and butter of your team are your closers, but the icing is the middle relief.  Tom Gordon, Shingo Takatsu of the White Sox and the Twins Juan Rincon are examples of sscogs to make sure you have enough innings to compete with the starter heavy teams.  It would be ridiculous to think you need all three on your team, but it's just an example.  I have all three on my team because I'm obsessive, don't shower and still sleep with my parents...but you need to pave your own path.

Try to envision the pitching staff as one big pitcher.  Seriously, it works.  Take your preferred pitchers and imagine they are melted down and molded into one dude.  If you use the relief model, not only will you end up with Ericgagnewagnerriveraisringhudotelbenitez; but you will have an entire staff of low ERA's, low WHIP, and a bunch of guys who will see action several times a week to make sure you're taking home strikeouts at least half the time.

Think of your relief squad in another way.  Close your eyes and imagine your friends on draft night after you have the Cadillac relievers and they are scrounging and saying in between sobs...

"Matt Mantei isn't injured is he?"

"Tim Worrell is my only closer...is that bad?"

Or my personal favorite...

"Is Bob Wickman still alive?"

Exactly.