Fantasy Baseball ’09

Well, my little grapefruit leaguers that time has come around, the time for fantasy baseball and I have some great ideas to build a squad for you this season. For the past three years I have won my league twice and finished second place last season. This year I’m back to take it all and here’s how.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

Follow up on your roster from the previous season by ranking your players in order based on who you want to keep as well as those missing pieces from last year to break through during the regular season. Batting isn’t everything in fantasy baseball, especially in a head-to-head league where pitching controls half of your points. My suggestion is to have a large rotation using free agency and picking up players that are pitching the next day. Making tons of moves through pitching and getting your starters back by the time they clear waivers for their next start brings up your K’s and wins, but based on performance could hurt your ERA and WHIP…which would still be fine if you have great closers like Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox or K-Rod now of the “amazing Mets”…both of whom I had last season.

Going Streaking

You are going to need your big time players as well. So rank them in an order that can cover all the needs that you have to address in your scoring scheme. Account for BA, HR, Runs scored, RBI’s and stolen bases…don’t think defense when you’re drafting your team because in fantasy baseball it’s all about offensive production. So find your Manny’s, Papi’s and Pedroia’s in the first round (high in your ranking) and your hitting for average players later in the third and fourth round when all the Ryan Howards and Adam Dunn’s are gone.

Some big steals this year could be Kevin Youkilis (1B, Boston Red Sox), Evan Longoria (3B, Tampa Bay Rays) last years AL Rookie of the Year, and even Jacoby Ellsbury (OF, Red Sox). Although these are some very big names in baseball, within fantasy baseball, everyone wants the big home run hitters and don’t account for the intangibles like hitting .300 and stealing 40+ bases…remember, you’re in it to win it, not to have an all-star roster. Make tons of free agency moves throughout the entire season (as long as there’s no limit) and keep your team up on who’s hot and who’s not. Follow the stat line, just because you haven’t heard of a player before doesn’t mean he can’t have an amazing month in June and rack up points for you. It also takes a few days for released players to clear waivers and if you track them, you could pick them back up after their slump has come to an end.

Not my fantasy baseball draft but close...

Loyalty With Ownership

When it comes to making trades with other people in your league, I advise against it. Everyone looking to make a trade is looking to take your best players for their worst and you will end up very upset if you give up a Jason Bay for some guy you never heard of who’s all over SportsCenter because he’s on a 5-game hit streak with a couple home runs. Again, think long term for the season based on career averages and last years production for their respective teams.

Prepare for the Fall Classic

Remember all the important things you’ve learned today: pitching rotation, draft rankings, free agency and not making trades. Stay tuned in and I’ll let you know how my race to redemption is going this season. To play fantasy baseball yourself you can go to Yahoo! sports where I play or ESPN fantasy baseball which is also free this year.

Take a jump from the cactus league into the bigs and use these tips to be the talk of the board, but don’t think you can just auto-draft a team and not pay attention for the first two months of the season and walk away a champion. When you’re hoisting your league’s trophy at the end of the year, remember who got you there. You’re welcome!

Thanks to nautical2k for the great photo.