2012 Draft Prep: 12-team, mixed H2H draft
The first surprise of our latest mock draft came with the second overall pick, where Roy Halladay went ahead of Fantasy royalty Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Kemp. A mistake? Well, it is a Head-to-Head league, and as a general rule, pitchers go off the board sooner in Head-to-Head than Rotisserie. One reason is because pitchers tend to outscore hitters in Head-to-Head, but the bigger reason is because Head-to-Head owners don't have nearly as many hitter slots to fill.
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Only three outfielders? Only one catcher? Yup, those are just two examples, and you can see the impact they have on the draft. Carlos Santana went off the board in the second round, but the next catcher didn't go until the eighth round, when Jeff Tobin selected Alex Avila. With only 12 catchers likely to get drafted in a 12-team Head-to-Head league, the whole position tends to go later than in Rotisserie. So was Santana a reach? Hard to say, but because his extra playing time and superior walk rate actually count for something in Head-to-Head, he has a bigger advantage at the position than he does in Rotisserie.
To those familiar with the rankings, a few of these picks might seem out of place. Nick Markakis ahead of Michael Morse? Logan Morrison ahead of Mike Napoli? Dustin Ackley ahead of Nelson Cruz? What? Hey, these people know their stuff. They've played in enough Head-to-Head leagues to understand what type of players get a boost in the format. When doubles, triples, walks and strikeouts count for something, the players who excel in one or more of those areas end up being surprisingly productive. They're called format-specific picks, and if you can get them at a discount, even better.
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| 1 | Bill Passonno, Fantasy Writer | 7 | Jeff Lippman, Fantasy Writer |
| 2 | Chris Towers, Fantasy Writer | 8 | Michael Hurcomb, Editor |
| 3 | Peter Madden, Editorial Director, Fantasy Sports | 9 | Jeff Tobin, Associate Managing Editor |
| 4 | Al Melchior, Data Analyst | 10 | Kevin Goodwin, Fantasy Writer |
| 5 | Scott White, Fantasy Writer | 11 | Matt Snyder, Eye on Baseball blogger |
| 6 | Adam Aizer, Podcast Host | 12 | Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer |
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