Comments on: Strategy Session – Steals Early and Late

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:59:15 +0000

by “that type” I meant speedy and little production.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:58:49 +0000

No. The point of the article is to say that cheap steals can be had late. Can you find someone late in the draft who can hit 50 homeruns? Hell no. Can you find someone late in the draft who will steal 30-40 bases? Yes. Several are named in this article.

By: Yakker

Yakker — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:56:23 +0000

“He is a 3-category force but I don’t think there’s any way that type of player should go so early.”

I assume that means you avoid Ryan Howard too?

By: D Wrek

D Wrek — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:01:09 +0000

I like that stratedy too. Rather than having a Ryan Braun type and a Wily Tavares type, I like to go with a couple 20/20 types like Hart, Rios, Kemp, etc.

I find steals can be like saves. Some people tend to panic, then end up with too many. As the article suggests, I agree steals can be had on the cheap.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:40:30 +0000

Plus, if Pence and Milledge have breakout seasons, you could be looking at 50 homeruns and 50 stolen bases.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:38:31 +0000

I always try to take the “Sizemore-lite” players who can do a little bit of everything. If you have, say, Milledge (15 hr and 25 sb) and Pence (25 hr and 15 sb) in the outfield, you will probably get a combined 40 homeruns and 40 stolen bases between them, on the conservative side. That’s like having David Ortiz (maybe 38 hr) on a good year and Chone Figgins (2 hr and 40 sb), who you would have to spend higher draft picks on. Even if the players aren’t elite in any category, 2 of them combined is like having 2 players who specialize in one category and are probably considered more valuable. See what I mean?

I do agree though that taking pure speed early can be costly. The main offender I always see going early is Ichiro Suzuki. He is a 3-category fiorce but I don’t think there’s any way that type of player should go so early.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:32:10 +0000

The main difference between Figgins and the rest of the people on that list is that he will contribute greatly in the AVG and OPB departments, whereas the others are truly 1-category contributors.