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How is draft order determined?

Something to consider when setting your rankings and your positional salary caps is how the draft order is determined.  The first round of the SP draft is determined by random chance.  (Except if you are in a second year of a Keeper League -- see Keeper League rules.)  When the round begins, the game computer will assign each team a draft position for that round.  For each successive round (for the SP draft and for all other positions) the order is set in descending order of payroll remaining.  So, if you have the most payroll remaining at the beginning of a round you'll select first and if you have the least payroll remaining you'll select last.  

Because of the draft order rules you'll have to balance your desire to spend money on players now versus where you are comfortable drafting in later rounds.  If you keep spending more money than your league mates you will keep picking last in each round.  A major part of the draft strategy is budgeting your spending so that you can position yourself to pick first in a particular round. For example, if you want to draft Alex Rodriguez as your starting shortstop, you'll need to put your team in a position to pick first in the shortstop draft round.  You would limit your spending in the preceding rounds so that you'll have the most remaining payroll, and thus pick first, when it comes time to draft shortstops.