My process isn't great. I'm finding players I like, but haphazardly jamming them into lineups, some stacked, some dispersed, roughly matching the style of contest they're supposed to fit. A better process would entail setting aside some budgeted amount, say $100, spread it out evenly over 50/50s and tournaments, and tailor lineups to each. Why didn't I do it that way today? Because I got too into picking the lineups, and once I came up with them, it was easier and quicker to pick a few contests into which to import them and hit send. Basically, I'm the type of person who tries to assemble the IKEA furniture without reading the instructions, discovers there are leftover screws and the desk is wobbly and has to start over again.
In order to make the deadline, here are my four lineups. The first was entered into four contests, two of which are the Tout Wars and RotoWire ones, which don't count. The other two contests were for $10 each, one of which is a tournament, the other a 50/50. The second lineup was entered into two contests, both tournaments, one of which was $10 and the other $5. The third was entered into one $5 tournament, and the fourth one $5 50/50:
| Contests | 4 | $20 | 2 | $15 | 1 | $5 | 1 | $5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | $ | Player | $ | Player | $ | Player | $ |
| P | Scherzer | $10,500 | Quintana | $7,600 | Kennedy | $7,300 | Kazmir | $9,200 |
| C | Posey | $3,500 | Posey | $3,500 | Posey | $3,500 | Posey | $3,500 |
| 1B | Napoli | $2,500 | Abreu | $4,000 | M.Cabrera | $5,300 | Votto | $4,000 |
| 2B | Pedroia | $2,900 | Altuve | $4,500 | Kinsler | $3,700 | Altuve | $4,500 |
| 3B | Seager | $3,000 | Machado | $3,600 | Headley | $2,700 | Seager | $3,000 |
| SS | B. Miller | $2,200 | A.Ramirez | $2,500 | Bogaerts | $2,900 | B. Miller | $2,200 |
| OF | H. Ramirez | $4,400 | M. Cabrera | $2,500 | C.Carter | $2,600 | M. Cabrera | $2,500 |
| OF | Beltran | $2,200 | Springer | $3,900 | JD Martinez | $3,500 | Heyward | $3,000 |
| OF | Betts | $3,100 | C.Carter | $2,600 | Cespedes | $3,200 | Betts | $3,100 |
| $34,300 | $34,700 | $34,700 | $35,000 |
A few notes:
I went Scherzer despite the tough match-up against Matt Harvey because we're talking about a four points for the win, and it's still nearly 50/50. Even with a great match-up it's not much more than 75/25, so you're talking about the projected different between three points and two. That's equal to one strikeout, so I'll still pay up for the ace, especially in this new annoyingly-soft-hitting-pricing environment where I can get plenty of bats anyway.
For the lineup I used four times, I stacked right-handed Sox bats at home against C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia can miss bats and doesn't walk anyone, but when he misses out over the plate he gets roped - I'm hoping for 3-4 doubles and 1-2 homers.
Buster Posey against a lefty was too cheap to turn down, so I used him everywhere. Of course, any hitter can go 0-for-4 no matter the match-up on a given night. But I couldn't bring myself to diversify at catcher. I also like Beltran hitting lefty against Justin Masterson at the minimum salary. Maybe Beltran's done, but I'm not convinced of it yet.
I hate Quintana in season-long and drafted him nowhere, but thought the price and match-up were good. I also stacked White Sox who were too cheap against the hittable Kyle Gibson and right-handed Astros against Roenis Elias.
My third lineup was a cheap Ian Kennedy at home for the Ks and an expensive Tigers stack. And the fourth was a diverse 50/50 style one with players I expect to do something matched with a Captain Obvious Scott Kazmir.