sportsjabber.net

If you had a really good fantasy draft ten years ago, you would be set for your fantasy baseball season. Back then, the draft made or broke your season. You kept track of your players for injuries and an occasional gem of a free agent but not on a daily basis.

Much has changed since those days. Now everyone has access to the latest fantasy baseball information at our finger tips with the Internet. Ten years ago, people were still looking at last year’s stats to determine who to draft and fantasy baseball magazines (with months old data) were just starting to become popular. I remember the middle of the 2000s having secret websites that gave me an advantage but now everyone knows about the RotoWorlds and RotoWires of the Internet. There is not as much chance that you will be able to find those steals of the draft because everyone now knows about them.

Most leagues were Roto style leagues ten years ago. Traditional Roto style does not have a bench so all of your players are in your line up continually. Many of those leagues would not let you pick up free agents unless you had injuries. Now days, Head to Head leagues and Roto leagues with benches have replaced many of the traditional leagues and they demand that you pay attention to the lineup. You now have to manage a bench, off days, and probable starting pitchers.

The draft is still important. You do not want to lay an egg at the draft. But if you don’t hit a home run at your draft, you can still win your league. You have to work your team and roster daily. You need to find those key free agents, pick up and rotate your players appropriately. Some owners will do this through the first part of May and then start taking days and then weeks off. Many owners will stop changing their line up except once a week by the All Star Break. If you are in a Head to Head league, you only need to make the playoffs to have a chance. I came back from a 15 point deficit at the All Star Break in a traditional Roto League because I stayed on my top of my team and also because of a a little luck.

The key is to out work your opponents. This is true for the draft and for the season. Do not let the long season wear you down. Stay on top of it if you want to win and it will pay off much of the time. With such a long season, the cream does float to the top unlike in Fantasy Football where I have seen the best team not make the playoffs because of bad luck. I have won nine championships in fourteen seasons (with 4 more top 3 finishes) in my local traditional Roto League because I out worked my opposition. You can do the same but you have to be dedicated to your fantasy team(s).

MORE…

By Larry “Bud” Litle – Jabberhead, Blogger, SJ Contributing Author

http://forums.sportsjabber.net/sjforums/showthread.php?t=85202