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2012 Fantasy Baseball H2H Points League Strategy: Rotowire Expert Draft Analysis

By ILikeBaseball

Earlier this week I recapped a H2H mock draft done by the fantasy baseball writers and experts of CBS Sportsline. That post can be read here.

Today I wanted to take a look at another similar mock draft performed by the Rotowire staff with a much different scoring format than the one I used in my rankings or seen in the aforementioned CBS mock draft. The entire draft and commentary can be read here.

This particular mocked draft was based on the Yahoo! standard 5x5 Point League scoring:

Hitting- Run 2 pt., Hit 0.5 pt., HR 4 pt., RBI 2 pt., SB 2 pt.

Pitching - IP 1 pt., W 5 pt., SV 5 pt., ER -0.5, K 2 pt.

As you can see, the big difference here is that there are very few categories in this format that cost you points as well as no penalty for hitters who strike out often or losses from pitchers.

Draft results below:

Rotowire Expert H2H Mock Draft:

PLAYER PLAYER PLAYER PLAYER
1 Albert Pujols 1B 26 Cliff Lee SP 51 Jon Lester SP 76 Craig Kimbrel RP
2 Matt Kemp OF 27 Adrian Beltre 3B 52 Dan Haren SP 77 Hunter Pence OF
3 Miguel Cabrera 1B 28 David Wright 3B 53 David Price SP 78 Lance Berkman 1B/OF
4 Troy Tulowitzki SS 29 Felix Hernandez SP 54 Yovani Gallardo SP 79 Michael Young 2B/3B
5 Jose Bautista 3B/OF 30 Starlin Castro SS 55 Ben Zobrist 2B/OF 80 CJ Wilson SP
6 Carlos Gonzalez OF 31 Brian McCann C 56 Matt Cain SP 81 Mat Latos SP
7 Jacoby Ellsbury OF 32 Jay Bruce OF 57 Michael Bourn OF 82 Desmond Jennings OF
8 Robinson Cano 2B 33 Dan Uggla 2B 58 Nelson Cruz OF 83 Madison Bumgarner SP
9 Evan Longoria 3B 34 Tim Lincecum SP 59 Shin-Soo Choo OF 84 Miguel Olivo C
10 Adrian Gonzalez 1B 35 Ryan Zimmerman 3B 60 Brandon Phillips 2B 85 Michael Cuddyer 2B/OF
11 Justin Upton OF 36 Cole Hamels SP 61 James Shields SP 86 Drew Stubbs OF
12 Clayton Kershaw SP 37 Brett Lawrie 3B 62 Matt Garza SP 87 Ian Kennedy SP
13 Curtis Granderson OF 38 Ryan Braun OF 63 Michael Pineda SP 88 Cameron Maybin OF
14 Jose Reyes SS 39 Matt Holliday OF 64 Alex Rodriguez 3B 89 Jason Heyward OF
15 Prince Fielder 1B 40 Elvis Andrus SS 65 Mark Reynolds 1B/3B 90 Jayson Werth OF
16 Carlos Santana C/1B 41 Josh Hamilton SP 66 Aramis Ramirez 3B 91 Rickie Weeks 2B
17 Hanley Ramirez SS 42 CC Sabathia SP 67 Mike Morse 1B/OF 92 Matt Wieters C
18 Andrew McCutchen OF 43 Zack Greinke SP 68 Ricky Romero SP 93 Josh Beckett SP
19 Joey Votto 1B 44 Mike Napoli C/1B 69 Pablo Sandoval 1B/3B 94 Shane Victorino OF
20 Dustin Pedoria 2B 45 Jered Weaver SP 70 Carl Crawford OF 95 Adam Jones OF
21 Justin Verlander SP 46 Paul Konerko 1B 71 Buster Posey 1B/C 96 Jimmy Rollins SS
22 Ian Kinsler 2B 47 Eric Hosmer 1B 72 Alex Gordon OF 97 Brandon Morrow SP
23 Roy Halladay SP 48 Stephen Strasburg SP 73 Asdrubal Cabrera SS 98 Joe Mauer C/1B
24 Mike Stanton OF 49 BJ Upton OF 74 Kevin Youkilis 1B/3B 99 Matt Moore SP
25 Mark Teixeira 1B 50 Asdrubal Cabrera SS 75 Howie Kendrick 2B/OF 100 Drew Storen RP

Observations:

For a H2H Points League mock draft, it might seem odd that only one pitcher (Clayton Kershaw) would be drafted within the first 20 Rounds. However, in looking at last seasons consensus #1 pitcher and #1 hitter, Roy Halladay scored 738 points in this format compared to 701 for Albert Pujols. Overall, its a fairly balanced format with pitching and hitting rather equal.

What a difference the lack of a strikeout penalty makes! In this format, Mike Stanton being selected at 24th overall makes sense and is in line with his Mock Draft Central ADP and consensus value for traditional roto scoring players.

Considering a single, double or triple are of little value in this league, it makes sense why a perennial home run hitter such as Mark Reynolds would be drafted as early as 65th overall.

Carlos Santana being drafted in the 2nd Round of H2H expert mocks is becoming a trend. I can't say I disagree with it much as his Relative Value to Position (RVP) is nearly 50% higher than the average Top 20 catcher. However, considering BB Is useless, I might prefer Mike Napoli at 43rd overall. This might be the only draft/format this season where you see Miguel Olivio selected 84th overall.

Since all three are nearly the same player, it would be interesting to know why someone valued BJ Upton at 49th overall when Drew Stubbs could be selected at 86th overall and Chris Young is nowhere to be found in the Top 100.

Considering there is no penalty for hits against or walks, it's not surprising to see Brandon Morrow in the Top 100 of this scoring format.

It turns out Ryan Braun at 38th overall will be a steal after the announcement that he won his appeal and will not face a 50 game suspension.

What are your thoughts on this mock draft and scoring format? Personally, I would rather play traditional roto scoring than this watered down version of a points league. Comment below.

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