The L.I.M.A Plan

LIMA (Low Investment Mound Aces) was invented by the great baseball mind Ron Shandler (baseballhq.com) as a draft strategy for traditional 4x4 Rotisserie leagues. LIMA is named after pitcher Jose Lima, whose 1998 performance captured what the strategy is all about. To successfully implement the LIMA plan, take the following steps in your auction draft.

First, set aside $60 max out of your $260 allocated dollars to spend on your pitching staff. No more than $30 of the $60 set aside for pitching should be spent on saves. Depending on what type of league you are in, it might mean drafting 1 stud closer or a few mid-range closers.

Next, determine who to spend your money on. According to Shandler, you should only draft pitchers that meet the following conditions:

• K/BB ratio of 2.0 or better
  
• K/9 ratio of 6.0 or better
• HR/9 of 1.0 or less

In order to calculate these values you need to use the following formulas:

• K/BB Ratio = K/BB
  
• K/9 Ratio = (K/IP) * 9
• HR/9 Ratio = (HR/IP) * 9

At the auction, draft as few innings as your league allows. This generally means you only draft 2 or 3 starters (you may have to draft more depending on your league's inning limits). You should estimate a starter will pitch about 175 to 200 innings a year and a reliever will pitch approximately 50 to 70 innings a year.

Since you will be spending $200 on offense you should be able to acquire players that will place you at or near the top of every offensive category. Be sure to spend all of your money by the end of the draft, without spending more than $29 on any one batter. If you overspend in one area you are going to have to compensate for that in another.

After the draft, you want to have a team that will win or be amongst the leaders in all the batting categories and in the upper 1/3 of ERA, WHIP and Saves. Ideally, you should also be above the bottom 1/3 in Wins.

In 5x5 leagues, aim to be in the upper half of the strikeout category. Be aware that a 6.0 K/IP ratio may not give your staff enough K's to compete in the strikeout category. In most 5x5 leagues you will probably need to allocate more of your budget to fill your pitching categories. Don't be afraid to modify the LIMA plan according to your league specifications.

To apply the LIMA strategy to a straight draft, spend 10 of your first 12 picks on offensive players while using the other two picks to draft at least 1 closer and a high strikeout producing starter to anchor your staff. Grab LIMA pitchers in the mid-teen rounds and close out your draft with relievers that are solid in ERA and WHIP, who can also vulture wins and saves.

In a competitive league the LIMA plan should allow you to win or finish in the money. With the surplus of offensive talent on your team, you should have no problems trading for pitching later on in the season if needed. Even if you don't use LIMA as your sole strategy it will still help bring you closer to a fantasy championship.