Do you practice deception prior to and during your fantasy draft?

Question

What sort of deception tactics do you use to help get players you want?

Is using deception and disinformation at all unsportsmanlike?

Explain your tactics.

Answer 1

Not really. Most people are looking for the same players, and seldom do those sleepers mesh between different people's point of view ( example: I got Manny at the 50th pick in my draft; he was slotted at 37, and too many people were scared due to last year's fall off).

I ended up losing out on BJ Upton for that pick, but I knew that I could get a decent hitting base-stealer towards the bottom, or trade for him with good pitching.

My way to do the draft is to pick the best pitching, stock up on closers ( these guys are ALWAYS tradeable ), get the best Shortstop and Catcher ( I'll pick up a decent one toward the end and trade for the latter ), and consolidate the team to gett better players to keep a couple of spots open for free agent pickups.

Some people don't like picking out of the scraps of the free market, but I never went a year without finding some player who was overlooked because they missed a season, or had a bad season( Bradley ), or they suddenly blossomed ( Murphy, McClouth ), or their position is really deep.

Lets put it this way: There is ALWAYS someone who is batting .360 on the FA wire, and there is always a streak pitcher outside of the teams. I think the best deception is to get the best players by combining you good ( ie: Get A-Rod or Hanley for Jermaine Dye AND Aramis Ramirex ), get the multi-position good player ( DeRosa, Blake ), trade along with closers, and don't say anything about your sleepers ( Unless you know your friend was also looking at Colorado's DL:).

If anything, during the draft, just talk about players you aren't planning to get. If you mention anything about the players you want, you run the risk of having them picked. If you talk about players you don't want, they most likely will be picked up or not regardless of what you say, and won't matter since your player will already / or not be there when your turn comes up.

Best deception ( although its a huge risk ): pick a closer in the 2nd round, pick a funny person in the 3rd to last round ( ie: Roger Clemens), and it might free up room to get some others. But overall, I've played with amazing players, and am mediocre myself, so most players I know don't care about others' manipulations.

ALSO! Let me just add that the best catcher and shortstop, are usually in the 1st 10-15 picks. I would say 2nd best/most consistent catcher ( Victor Martinez: I am as shocked as everyone else).  I always passively add OF, 3B and 1B: They are all usually good, always deep, and there can be busts at decent picks ( Delgado was my 150th pick, and I got rid of him in May ) that you can't foresee.

Answer 2

1.Sometimes before the draft I would provide links on the message boards to websites I think have bad cheat sheets for drafting. When it comes to drafting I only trust myself becomes when it comes to who will be hot for the football season I'm always right. I've been doing this for 4 years and 4 championships later I'm pretty sure I've still got it. If any cheat sheets conflict your beliefs on who will be hot or not then put a link up to them.

2. In the draft players might ask who they should pick, but never give them an honest opinion. Try to tell them to shoot for the best rookie on the board since rookies are the riskiest picks.  If their are no good rookies then recommend someone who is injury prone or someone who he doesn't need because he already filled the starting requirements for that position.

3. Even when you're trading only say the best things about the player you're giving away. Do your best to try and sell the player to the other owner. Saying one bad thing about the player can easily get your trade rejected. You just always have stats to back up your allegations with stats if you want to make the player your giving away seem like the best player ever.

4.Just remember that deception isn't cheating and that it's not unsportsmanlike. You're in a competition and you should do whatever it takes to get an edge as long as it's not downright cheating (like owning two teams in the same league). Especially, if you play for money than you have to deceive if you want to have a fighting chance at that money.