What better thing to do after a long season than prepare for 2010? It will happen in little bits, and most people will start to get the itch once their fantasy football seasons have come to a close. For those that have started 0-4, that might be sooner rather than later. Until that time, though, it does not hurt to be fed bits of information that help owners understand what happened in 2009.

 

The outfield, like every other position, taught us several relevant pieces of information. Much of this should be carried forward next year. The question is only how much we account for in our strategies.

 

Let us review three major pieces.

Odds are when you put together your draft list for 2009, you expected a fair amount of outfielders to crack 30 home runs, and a few to be north of 40. No doubt that every one of those was expected to drive in more than 100 runs and score their fair share as well. What we have found this season, though, is that the best laid plans oft go awry.

 

If 2009 has taught us nothing else, it has shown that there is no such thing as a sure thing. Expectations are simply that, and owners need to understand and take in a large amount of data very quickly in order to adapt to what they are seeing over the course of a season. The outfield was no exception this season.

The last two weeks of the season are meant for those that have been lucky enough and diligent enough to be able to participate in the semi-finals and finals. Many leagues work a two-week finals period, and that means that everything is all but over for many teams. Fear not, next year will provide another opportunity.

 

The few, the lucky few, still have some work to do. The end of the season creates necessary and unnecessary adjustments. Managers start and sit, obviously. Fantasy owners, however, are required to make the call if a player is going to help them the rest of the way. Head-to-head leagues have only one other team clawing at them. Even rotisserie scoring styles are going to limit those that can make an impact in the standings. Saying it again, do not hang on to someone just so they can “get a ring.” Impact players are still around to help you.

 

No sense beating around the bush. This is all about finding players that can help you during the playoff run. Some might already be on your roster, but maybe are riding the bench as there were better options. Others are going to be widely available. The key over the next two or three weeks is to ride the hot bats.

With apologies to Green Day, many leagues have either started their playoffs or are winding down the regular season this week. That means there are better than 50 percent of teams already done for the season and prepping their football draft strategies. For others, September will be a month filled with roster moves and callup responses.

 

Come playoff time, having depth on the roster is no longer a luxury. If a player is not playing for you, keeping him on the roster to avoid someone else having him is only partially effective. That becomes more true as the field is narrowed. Even if a player were to be cut, would he necessarily be picked up by your opponent? If so, why worry if you were not playing him anyway?