The time has come upon your league to prepare your draft cards in anticipation of the upcoming draft!
First things first, as an experienced owner, I can tell you that I start building next year's team the minute the Waiver Wire opens (after the league has played past April 25 on your league's calendar.
You may ask, how do you prepare for a draft when you don't know what era or what players are available? Well, to me, it's pretty simple. You can ALWAYS improve your roster, period. With over 15,000 players in NB, there's a small handful that will be signed to Type 1 contracts and never be released from a team, other than that, you're going to have players on your team that are either going to be released or traded or have a contract that expires at season's end.
Your OTF is the simplest place to look for any replacement, you may not find one, but there could be a SP down there to replace one of your five or six, and you could trade a SP off to improve at SS! Now, depending on how many years that are left on contract or what other positions that particular SS is rated for this season, well it's not too complicated, and I'm sure you'll figure it out!
Having numerous seasons under my belt, this is a process that has become second nature to me, and rarely do I make a mistake when it comes to roster construction; however, Draft Card Construction is a completely different animal! I've NEVER not put a superstar on my card because that position was already filled. If the top 7 teams in the league don't feel it necessary to draft Rogers Hornsby because they already have a 2b, then so be it, I'll draft him from any position in the drafting order! I can always trade him to a team in need, or send off my unwanted 2b to a team in need, whatever my finances dictate.
Where you put players on your draft card is probably the toughest thing to 'teach' in NB...
Some owners have the philosophy that the higher the PV (Player Value), the higher that player belongs on your draft card...well...if that player is a one or two year player, do you really value that player higher than a 5 or 6 year player that could sustain your team's winning tradition for a longer period of time?
Some owners will put all their needs first and their wants second...in other words, because they need a SP, they'll put a lower quality SP above a superstar on their draft card. To each his own, I say, but imagine this, there are those owners who use the wants first/needs second philosophy, and trading off who they don't need because got what you wanted.
Personally, I mix my needs and my wants, and there are players that I have never had on a roster, simply because every league is different, every owner is different, and every draft is different, it's a complex mathematical equation, I'm sure!
I go through each position in the draft and place the top 3-4 from each position on my card, and I may write down any others I'd like to have on the card (if there aren't 3-4, then go back and add the positions that had more than the 3-4). I ALWAYS go through the Regular Draft Era first, then the Supplemental Draft Era (if your league is using this option).
In the Supplemental Pool, I'm only going to add players that are of utmost quality (Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, etc.).
You then have to determine which players are more important than others according to your roster and the status of your OTF.
Like I said, the most difficult process is just beginning! Good Luck! Ask veteran owners specific questions, and I'm sure they'll give you an honest answer. And remember, just like a baseball game, the draft is very unpredictable!
