What worked, what didn't ? (fantasy baseball 2010 review)

Well the season is winding down and it's time to put a grade on the season for our fantasy teams.  Sure, some head to head leagues have playoffs left but much of the time the results of those are due in large part to luck, two start weeks for pitchers, etc.  So just rate how your season went thus far.  Include what seemed to work this year and what didn't (if you experimented some).  

For me, my AL only h2h team is 13-9 and tied for first in my division.  The Pythagorean win/loss is 11-11.  The team with the best record is 15-7.  I would guess my chances of making the playoffs are about 75% and from there, who knows.  As for a grade on the team I would give it a C+/B- .

My NL only h2h team is 13-9 as well but in second place in my division.  The Pythagorean win/loss is 12-10.   I would guess my chances of making the playoffs is about 75% although I see my team backing in.  I would grade this team as a B/B- because of the better draft picks initially.

In my NL only league I was screwed by CBS Sportsline on draft night as I had auto pick set to OFF but the system picked for me anyway.  That was the #6 pick and Sportline drafted Roy Halladay when I had Ryan Howard cued.  But later on the Auto Draft suddenly decided to initiate itself again and chose Jon Garland late.  I was pretty ticked but that pick actually worked out pretty well.

In my AL only league there were no draft night issues.  I had the #4 pick and took Miguel Cabrera (despite recommendations to take someone different).   I certainly cannot about the results Miggy has provided.  But as in most AL only leagues, position scarcity raised its ugly head, especially for pitching.  And looking at my drafted team I think only about 1/2 or less of my roster is still in tact.

I think what has worked for me is to have a balanced team, hitting and pitching.  I like to get the best 2-3 players available at first and then alternate picks between position players and pitchers.  If it's time to take a pitcher I focus on starters but if they all look alike or I am undecided which to take, that's the cue for me to take a closer.

Then after assembling my team I keep an eye on how all the free agents are doing.  If some FA is doing well, especially at a scarce position, I grab them up.  Of course this means dropping someone I drafted, but that's the way it goes.  I put much more emphasis in having a few solid players at key positions and then grabbing fill ins from the available free agents.  Seriously, I think a person could take free agents in any mixed league formats and have a team that can compete with most any other team.  It ends up that way every year.  The trick is just to be able to pounce on those guys quickly.  Also, the availability of quality FA's in NL or AL only leagues is obviously much less than mixed leagues.  But it's still there.

I think I would give my overall grade a B- but the poll I have doesn't have the +/- options so I'll give my overall grade a B.