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1. How to be an "Effective"
Fantasy Baseball Manager
The most important thing to remember when running a
fantasy team and being an effective manager is that you need to be ACTIVE!!!
I just cannot stress that enough. People ask me all the time,
"What can I do to ensure I don't finish in last place?"
.... and
my response is always, "be active!" In 9.5 out of 10
leagues, there are always 2 or 3 managers who stop checking their
teams all together once June or July hits or once they realize their
team has no chance of finishing in the money. These deadbeat managers don't realize that if they
spend a few minutes a week checking their teams, they could probably
make a trade or a few pick-ups and get right back in the
running. Basically, an effective manager checks his teams
every day or two. Be the first to grab a rookie call up if
he's a fill in for an injured player. Email every manager in
your league with trade offers. Don't send silly and ridiculous
offers but at least get the talk going. By being active like
this, you can almost assure yourself of a top 5 finish.
Of
course, the rest depends on the players you originally drafted......
2. How to "Size Up" your League Mates
Before the draft and as soon as your league is registered and teams
managers are finalized, start some chatter to "size up"
your league mates over email and instant messenger. Ask fellow
managers about their favorite teams, players, etc. You'll be
surprised at the amount of information you can amass by just asking
a few questions. See if they hint at who they like and take
note of questions like "What do you think of
_______". Look at the names of the teams or the email
address and instant messenger screen names. As a starting
point, these also may give you hints as
to favorite teams or players. If
a manager is a die-hard Mets fan, you know automatically that they
are targeting Jose Reyes and David Wright and will most likely pay a
premium in the auction! Make them overpay and bid them
up. Feel free to go an extra few dollars, they will probably
out bid you and your strategy will put them in a hole way to early
in the draft! That's a job well done.
If you want to get a little nuts, start some
chatter and hint that you love certain players. Of course,
these will be players you have no intention of ever bidding on or
drafting on a fantasy team but are players that other managers could
easily be thinking about. For example, I hate Brian Giles on
my fantasy teams, don't know why, but other managers love him and I
always throw him out at an auction and watch some poor schmuck over
pay. This whole idea of "giving away your fake desired
players" creates an urgency for other managers to pick your
players before you do...or so they think. Its sneaky but it
works!
Basically, we want other managers to pick the garbage
players we don't want which in turn leaves the players we do want on
the board in a regular draft. In an auction, we want our
friendly managers to try to exploit your "hints" and throw
your garbage players out too early thinking they will pressure you
to bid. To their surprise, you'll sit back and relax and watch
this other guy take a player he doesn't want and spend money.
Its just like a poker game, make your opponent believe you have
something that you really don't, or you want something that you
really don't need. It may not be the most moral way to play
fantasy baseball, but its certainly not illegal. When cash is
on the line, any advantage we can get can go a long way to ensuring
that the cash ends up in your hands at the end of the season.
Besides, we spend all of our time buying magazines, scouring the
internet, and buying subscriptions that the answer may lie directly
with our league mates!
3. How To Draft Wisely
This is an easy one. Follow me here........
1. Do Not punt a category such as saves! Why start the season
in a hole? If you really want to wait, draft a closer late and if he
doesn't pan out, trade for one or two in May or June.
You need at least one Closer to vulture some points in the Saves
category until you are in a position to either pick a new closer off
the waiver wire or through a trade. You need some kind of
points from every category to win a championship. Anyone who
tells you that they won a league by punting saves or another
category was either a liar or just plain lucky that year!....and
that includes fellow "experts". Ask an expert how
many consecutive years they won a league without a closer and see if
you get the answer you are looking for.
2. Try your best to stay away from aging players and/or injury
risks. This year the Jim Thome's, the Frank Thomas', the Randy
Johnson's, the Curt Schilling's ... they all sound great and the
potential for nice seasons are there, but they could be total
disasters as well. In a middle or late rounds, why not opt for
a younger player with more upside instead of risking a player who
might not last the entire season. Think about it, which risk
are you more willing to take? Age/Injury/Great numbers or
Young/Upside/Possibly great numbers? In keepers leagues,
we should obviously opt for the latter. Go with what you believe
in. I'm not telling you not to draft these older guys, I'm
simply saying not to build your team around them. If they slip
to middle - late rounds, then they'll be considered a steal!
Just be smart about each pick and when you pick them.
3. Always keep Average in mind. Having a tough decision
between two hitters, opt for the better average potential. A
team full of Adam Dunn, Jason Giambi, and Pat Burrell could do a
number on your overall production. HR's and RBI's might be tops
in the league, but runs, average, and SB's will be in the gutter and
your team wont be far behind.
4. Drafting players that do it all are the key in your first 5 - 7
rounds. Guys like Chase Utley, David Wright, Jason Bay, Carl
Crawford to name a few to get early and Rocco Baldelli, Alex Rios,
and Hanly Ramirez to get a bit later. Once the sure fire power
studs are gone like Pujols, Arod, Howard, Berkman, Ortiz, Manny,
Cabrera, Hafner, etc., these are the types of players you should be
looking at when not picking a pitcher. I'm not saying not to
draft power hitters, I am simply saying to make sure you draft
different types of hitters as you draft. Some say, a great way
to draft is by category and not so much by position. Make sure
your categories are covered before you start to take risks.
5. Lastly, many leagues are won in the late rounds of the
draft and reserve picks. Be wise. Look for talent,
upside and potential, and players in 'waiting". Stay away
from the high era/whip veteran pitchers and opt for young pitchers
who could create a splash. Just plugging a guy like Kris
Benson or Miguel Batista could kill your ERA in leagues where you
have innings limits. Don't activate a pitcher just to make
sure you reach the full innings potential. Your better off not
using all of your innings with solid guys than forcing more innings
with risky players.
4. How to research like an "Expert" and utilize your
resources
Researching is now a major part to winning a fantasy
baseball league. No longer can you wake up after a drunken
night at the strip club, with the same clothes on, side step into
the draft room and pick a winning team. Even the days of
buying a magazine the morning of the draft are starting to
fade. You need to do your homework now. As fantasy
baseball has been growing, more people are paying more attention to
their success. Its starts with reading player updates and
projections online as early as November. Its the fantasy
magazines that go on sale the end of January and into
February. Then its watching games during spring training on television
and then watching regular season games which include
your players to get tips and ideas on other players who might be
lurking around on the waiver wire. These are your resources,
USE THEM!!! There are hundreds of fantasy baseball sites,
scour them for information. Some are better than others but
look around and see what you like. You won't believe the
difference in your approach if you just started reading in December
as opposed to late February before your draft. Take the time
to study. Most experts are on target but you need to make sure
you get second opinions from other experts. We all believe our
information is correct, but overall, we are all just predicting!
5. How to trade "intelligently"
1. The first rule of thumb is, DO NOT make a trade "just
to make a trade"! Please try your best to resist
temptation, especially if you are top 3 in the standings at any
given time. While at the top, you will undoubtedly receive
trade offers, most of them ridiculous. Unless the deal really
helps you or fills an immediate position need, try to resist.
2. Obviously, "if it ain't broke, don't fix
it". Why break up a good thing? Only fill your
needs with out giving up your superstars.
3. Effective trading is a skill and sometimes a
bit of luck. You first need to analyze your team and decide
what you really want. Do you want to upgrade? Do you
need to fill a position due to injury or lack of production?
Do you want to make a deal just so your foe doesn't get
him?
Once you know that, start sending out emails or instant
messages. Don't be overly aggressive and send out 50 emails to
the same guy but send one and if you don't hear anything, send
another maybe two days later and every few days after that until you
get a "No". Always try to offer a "throw
in" to help entice the other owner. Sometimes you get
lucky and it works.
4. DO NOT send ridiculous offers. You'll just get that
manager mad and they will never deal with you. Always try to
offer a deal that helps fill their needs. A manager who lost
Derrek Lee, Matsui, or Sheffield in the beginning of last year
would have been a prime target. Kick a man while he's down, I
always say!.... and then take his players!
5. The main strategy used by everyone is to
"Sell High" and "Buy Low". Every season,
in late April or Early May, there are big time players who are
struggling early, this is your time to get them! However, if
you have these players, its important to stick with them as
well. The best example here was Aramis Ramirez who was
absolutely horrible from April to June and then lit it up the second
half. The hardest to deal with was Mark Teixiera although he
turned it on slowly the second half as well. These are players
you can acquire early on and help yourself to a league
championship. You then try to offer guys who get off to hot
starts who you feel wont last, guys like Chris Shelton, Jose Lopez
and Chris Capuano last year. If you "Sold High", you
were probably rubbing your hands together like Ebenezer
Scrooge. I will make it a point this year to pick out these
players for you you in hopes to help your efforts in winning a
championship, so stayed tuned!
6. How To trade "Keepers"
intelligently - its an Art!
So you had a good team last year but you want to try to upgrade at
some positions by making off season trades. First, gather the
players that you feel have "keeper" potential. Let's
say your allowed 5 keepers. Most likely, you have 7 or 8 you
could potentially choose from. Never post your
"REAL" keepers until the deadline. Do not let other
owners see who you are really keeping, this will cause them to think
differently and change their game according to what you do, and we
don't want that. What we want, is to package those 2 or 3
extra players in offers along with that 5th keeper you are on the
fence with and fineagle a deal to upgrade that 5th keeper.....making
the other manager think they are more valuable than the really
are. So let's say your keepers are Arod, Crawford, Halladay,
Delmon Young, Granderson..... Jenks, Burnett, Cuddyer with
Granderson being on the fence. You can keep 5 so those first 5
are your best. What you do is, post your keepers as Arod,
Crawford, Halladay, Young, Jenks. Adding in Jenks hopefully
will increase the value within another managers mind because he
thinks your keeping him. So when a trade offer comes in for
Young, you can counter and offer Jenks(or Cuddyer or Burnett) &
Granderson for a Grady Sizemore, Jake Peavy, Scott Kazmir, or a
Derek Jeter for example....all upgrades over Granderson.
7. The Grab & Stash Theory!
This one is quite simple and is nothing new to most experienced
players. I just like to take it to the extreme. Grab &
Stash basically means to draft a player late, pay a dollar in the
auction, or snatch off the waiver wire early in the season to do one
of three things:
1. Use this player as trade bait later in the season.
2. Use this player as a potential hole filler on your active roster
at some point in the season.
3. Predict the future and hold onto this player for next season.
Basically, you are plucking a player from the draft or waiver wire
and stashing that player for a rainy day to use any way you see
fit. Usually these are young players, rookies, minor leaguers
who have a shot a cracking the major league roster, or simply back
ups waiting for a shot. Imagine drafting Huston Street in 2005
when no one knew who he was. Imagine drafting Grady Sizemore
on your bench in the reserve draft that same year or Johnny Peralta
as well. Imagine picking up Chase Utley off the waiver wire in
early May 2005 when he was splitting time with Placido Polanco.
Imagine picking up a news paper in early June and reading that
Polanco was surrounded by trade rumors to make room for Utley!
Then, imagine picking up Ryan Howard off the waiver wire after that
same 2005 all-star break! Hmmm, sounds to me like The
Fantasy Man is on to something! DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! Save
a bench spot on your roster for a "stasher" and wait
patiently. You'll thank me later! Grab him now and Stash for
later!
More Draft Strategies to come in the next few days..... |
