Instead of making my own cheat sheet from scratch this year, I decided to put together a hybrid NFBC/algorithmic projections one. But no cheat sheet, no matter how well calibrated, is sufficient to prepare you for competitive drafts. One problem is that projected stats are 50th-percentile estimates of a player's possible outcomes, and as you get deeper into the draft, the 50th-percentile output becomes less and less important. What you're looking for is optionality, i.e., what could go right?

To that end, you need to be aware of potential playing time opportunities (as well as likely avenues for skills growth). A cheat sheet lists players in order, but not in context. For context you need depth charts, and I rely on them heavily, while clicking through to the player pages and learning more about their skill sets. But instead of building my findings into a cheat sheet this year, I decided to make a list of key findings I can use to supplement my hybrid one. These are the key things I want to know as I'm crossing off players during my draft:

A few notes on the categories:

Sleepers aren't necessarily players I think *will* be good, just those that have a chance and a modicum of skills to overperform their low draft costs. Players I like are those who are going at too much of a discount, and those I don't like are too expensive. But that I don't like Alex Bregman as a first-round pick doesn't mean I wouldn't still take him over Carlos Correa (who I like.) It's just that the gap between them should be one round (Bregman in 2, Correa in 3) rather than three.

Closers and closers in waiting are important to know, no matter their projections. Some closers in waiting are left blank because I have no idea who would get the job if the current closer loses it.

The rest are fairly self-explanatory. Catchers, prospects (all of those who were in James Anderson's top 200 and who have an ETA of 2018 or 2019), players with dual eligibility and injured players.