Position scarcity refers to the talent level available at each position. The primary question being, how much should the talent supply at a position influence you on draft day? This issue plays a role almost exclusively in the first eight to ten rounds, as in the middle and later rounds you should clearly be considering the available choices at each position as well as what statistics you may be lacking with the team you have already drafted. Getting the last available second baseman that will provide stolen bases may simply make sense over a fourth power-hitting outfielder. Having a balanced team has historically shown itself to be a primary factor on the teams that win fantasy leagues.
While trading is always an option, it is not recommended you draft an unbalanced team expecting to make an equitable trade later. Especially when you are trying to trade for talent at scarce positions since it is likely the other owner will not have an adequate replacement. Inevitably, the decision becomes to overpay now at the draft, or overpay later in trade. Personally, I prefer to overpay now and be in the drivers seat to keep the player all year long at the talent scarce position-or be overpaid in a trade. In a straight draft, overpayment refers to passing up better statistics at talent rich positions.

Lets discuss an example that will certainly be available to many at 2002 drafts. You have the 10th pick in an 11-team 5x5 NL only league. You are at a straight (non-auction) draft and whether right or wrong, the following players are already gone when your choice is up in the first round: Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Greg Maddux, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Vladamir Guerrero, Shawn Green, Todd Helton and Jeff Bagwell. While Kevin Brown is still available you have already decided not to risk your first or second rounder on him coming off injury. This leaves the best available players as: Bobby Abreu, Mike Piazza, Roberto Alomar and Chipper Jones. As you realize you have 2 of the next 4 picks you are already guaranteed two of these studs. You smile about that late pick.
Please, no emails, we realize Luis Gonzales, Larry Walker, Gary Sheffield and a host of other excellent players have not been recognized but I do not believe they warrant inclusion over one of the named four.

But now you must consider position scarcity. First, the absolute best fantasy player in the four listed is Bobby Abreu. Without going through all the numbers, bottom line, his stolen bases make him the stud of the studs just listed. But Piazza is far and away the best at an offensively scarce position. If you chose Abreu with the #11 pick, there is no way you get Piazza with the #14 (he may or may not be available at #11 in your league). In the above scenario, I would take Piazza and pass on the better player, Abreu.

Ok, now lets say you choose Piazza and the last team in the order grabs Kevin Brown and Chipper Jones. So you have Alomar and Abreu still out there at #14. Alomar is at the talent scarce position and Abreu is still the best player. In this case I would take Abreu. Why, because second base provides much better options for acquiring talent later in the draft than the catcher position does in the National League, it's that simple. And I would make these choices although I consider Piazza and Alomar very equivalent rotisserie players. So knowing how much, as well as the quality of, fantasy talent available at each position should play some role in the draft day decision-making process. While I am not a complete advocate of the theory of position scarcity, it should be a real factor in how you choose talent on draft day.

Factoring players needed at each position, factoring one catcher (it doesn't change if your leagues requires two), here are rankings of position talent scarcity, most scarce to least:

Just one additional comment, while in the design stage of FSRU.com it was decided to drop the commonly utilized second catcher on the roster and replace the position with a 5th reserve spot. The concern being there wasn't enough talent to fill one catchers position, let alone two. The statistics of the second catcher are often so poor they result in "negative" stats, hurting a team batting average more than they add to the other catagories. We also did not like the fact that many of the more savvy owners filled the second catcher position with a minor leaguer or disabled catcher just so they did not have to carry a .208 platoon player. Not so strange is the fact this strategy actually does work in many instances. Hey, you think those owners wished they had taken Piazza?

--- Al O'Harra