Heya everyone! First time fantasy baseball player here and right off the bat -- I am a fantasy baseball noob (Also new to reddit so still learning how to go about formatting everything so it displays cleanly and easy on the eyes). I apologize for the length here but I want to give as much info as I can so I can get the best responses in return. I think a lot of this stuff is fairly simple and straight forward to an experienced fantasy baseball manager and will be a breeze. ... I've done fantasy hockey for years but some guys I play FH with had a free, for-fun 12 team keeper league where they needed a replacement and I've taken over a team. *Basic league overview: * 12 team / Keep 8 * C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, IF, LF, CF, RF, OF, Util * SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P * BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL, DL, DL, DL, NA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Batters Stat Categories: (R), (H), (HR), (RBI), (SB), (TB), (AVG), (OPS) Pitchers Stat Categories: (IP), (W), (CG), (SV), (K), (ERA), (WHIP), (QS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------My keepers: * George Springer (Hou-RF) * Edwin Encarnacion (Cle-1B) * Adam Jones (Bal-CF) * Jean Segura (Sea-2B,SS) * Chris Archer (TB-SP) * Carlos Martinez (StL-SP) * Julio Teheran (Atl-SP)

* Tanner Roark (Was-SP)

I was wondering if you could give me some quick basic tips in re: drafting --- I have the 5th pick. For some general reference, here are the'top 10 available batters + pitchers (based on 2016 final season ranking in my league). With so many more players in baseball & stat categories than hockey, I have no idea if these are 'typical' rankings for these players, etc. Batters (Rank): * #20 - Robinson (Cano Sea-2B) * #30 - DJ LeMahieu (Col-2B) * #42 - Dustin Pedroia (Bos-2B) * #46 - Ian Desmond (Col-LF,CF) * #56 - Matt Kemp (Atl-LF,RF) * #66 - Jose Ramirez (Cle-3B,LF) * #67 - Jason Kipnis (Cle-2B) * #69 - Carlos Beltran (Hou-RF) * #80 - Albert Pujols (LAA-1B) * #84 - Justin Turner (LAD-3B) Starting Pitchers (Rank): * #22 - Kyle Hendricks (CHC) * #43 - J.A. Happ (Tor) * #57 - Steven Wright (Bos) * #59 - John Lackey (CHC) * #61 - Cole Hamels (TEX) * #62 - Danny Duffy (KC) * #68 - Kenta Maeda (LAD) * #70 - Jeremy Hellickson (Phi) * #71 - Jeff Samardzija (SF)

* #72 - Dan Straily (Mia)

1) CATCHER - I feel CATCHER is the SHALLOWEST in terms of depth but think that the production here goes from the elite few to a vast majority of average to the handful of crap quality. When should I draft a catcher?

2) Relief pitchers - Of my 8 pitching categories, RP aren't really helping in IP, CG or QS. I would think their statistical impact on weekly H2H match-ups is minimal unless you get an ace reliever/closer who is a lock for a bunch of (opportunities to get) W but more so, SV, K, ERA, WHIP. So like catchers, I imagine RP has a shallow top tier, an ever changing pool in the middle of average, and then a group of duds that start as a closer but are awful and just see middle relief and then injuries so maybe some closing time, etc. Is there usually enough turn over during a season to just grab some out of the FA pool? I'm looking @ RP primarily for SVs + decent K/9. Are long relief or 7th/8th inning guys worth looking at?

3) Infielders - I figure 1B/3B players generally have more power stats (HR, XBH, K) at the plate vs. 2B/SS where I'd assume more singles, hits, SB are prominent. It seems 1B has the most depth, followed by 3B and then 2B/SS are a toss-up.

4) Outfielders - Lots of depth here I think - especially in the case of my league using 1 of each LF-CF-RW-OF-Util. I figure you can find OFs that produce in all sorts of varieties -- from guys like Jose Bautista to guys like Billy Hamilton. Which position of the 3 OF is the deepest/shallowest?

5) Value of multi-position players - I know Ben Zobrist a few years back was able to slot in as almost anything but pitcher. Should I be putting much weight into a player who plays multiple positions? I thought about this in re: to CATCHER - should I just get anybody who is C eligible and puts up the best numbers? **My concern is if players' position eligibility ever changes in Y! FB.

6) Steals - Are stolen bases that common amongst players? Are there just ~10-15 players that get a boat load of steals and then a bunch that get some and then most just get 1-5 on the year? I assume players on teams that are managed by the Joe Maddons of the league are a lot more likely to see decent SB #s than other teams. Is the category shallow enough that taking an ELITE SB player is worth it as they're valuable enough in that category that I could be in a good spot to win every week with the addition of the rest of my teams few SB here and there?

DRAFT 17 rounds to draft and I have all my original picks and am picking 5th overall. I have the following pick #s: 5-20-29-44-53-68-77-92-101-116-125-140-149-164-173-188-197.