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07 Jan 2009 |
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Tweet me!| You have already made the decision to play fantasy baseball, now you must choose a league. Will it be a AL only, NL only or mixed league? Will you be using the draft or auction method to assemble your team? Lets take a look at these two questions first as we find the right league for you.
As you might have guessed already, AL-only leagues use players that play in the American League. NL-only uses players from the National League and mixed leagues use players from both American and National Leagues. Having played in all formats, mixed leagues more enjoyable in my experience. You get to choose players from both leagues, making a bigger player pool. Not only does this give you more quality players at every position on draft day, it also gives you more choices when picking up free agents or waiver wire players as the season moves forward. In AL and NL only leagues you have less players to choose from and have to worry about midseason inter-league trades. For example, last season when Manny Ramirez was traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers, and C.C. Sabathia from the Indians to the Brewers, it left a big hole in many AL-only fantasy team rosters. The same trades gave a big boost to many NL-only rosters and had a big impact, both good and bad, on many league standings. In mixed leagues trades like this have no effect at all, giving you one less thing to worry about. For these reasons, mixed leagues are probably better suited for beginners; although AL and NL only leagues are just as much fun, they are a bit more challenging. The method used to assemble your team before the season begins will be your next decision. The two options you have here is to participate in either a draft or an auction league, two very different experiences. While drafts are used on most internet web sites that provide fantasy baseball leagues, auctions are beginning to show up in more and more places. The draft is generally done in snake form (called a snake draft, of course). In a 12- team league, the first round starts with the team that has pick 1 and ends with pick 12. The second round starts with team 12 picking first and goes backwards with team 1 picking last. Team 1 will have the first pick in all odd numbered rounds, and team 12 picks first in all even numbered until the draft ends, simple enough. Picks 1 and 12 are known as the “wheel” picks, they are the picks that always end one round and then start another. They will get 2 picks in a row through out the draft, but waiting as 22 players come off the board before your next pick is sometimes painful. As the draft begins you should have your list of players ranking by your side or on your computer screen, as each team drafts a player you will scratch his name off your list or he will come off your computer screen and the player is now a member of that fantasy team. Player ranks will be available here on the Fantasy Pros 911 Premium site and in upcoming articles we will discuss player rankings and draft strategies, but for now this is all we need to know about snake drafts. Auctions are done in a completely different manner. Each team starts with an imaginary sum of money used to buy and their roster, usually around $260. Auctions are more time consuming and take more planning. You need to manage your money and not overspend for some players, leaving you with little or no cash to fill out you roster at the end. You assign a dollar value to every player on your rankings list. Just like with draft rankings, player dollar values will also be available here on the site. One big upside to an auction over a draft is that every player is available to every team. If you want Jose Reyes on your team, you can have him. You just have to willing to out bid everyone else in the league to get him. In an auction you will get great joy from getting a player at a much lower price than the dollar value you have assigned to him. While in a snake draft you will find the same type of joy when you pass on a player you wanted in one round, only to find him still available the next time you pick. For beginners the snake draft is the best fit. One team takes a player; then the next team picks. You don’t have to worry about how much money you have left to get a player you need; if you need a catcher, just draft a catcher. It is the simplest way to go and a lot of fun. I am currently participating in a slow mock snake draft on another web site. For those of you who don’t know, a slow draft is done through e-mails. You make a pick, e-mail it to everyone involved in the draft and the next person does the same. It takes some time to complete but is a great deal of fun and I am enjoying this one with a lot of knowledgeable fantasy baseball people. Below are my first 3 picks from the draft along with my comments on why I took each player. There are 14 teams participating and I have pick 11.  R1, P11 Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers,1B- Seemed to get adjusted to a new team, league and position in the second half last season hitting .302 with 21HR and 70 RBI in the 68 games after the all-star break. A lifetime .309 hitter who has never had less then 112 RBI and only once less than 33 HR in his 5 full MLB seasons. All this and still only 26 years oldR2, P4 Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays- Had a great rookie season and you just know the best is yet to come. Like Ryan Braun last season and Hanley Ramirez the season before, Longoria could become a first round fantasy pick for years to come after his sophomore season. R3, P11 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, San Diego Padres - Despite already having drafted a 1B & 3B with my first two picks, I couldn't pass him up. He should hit at least .280 with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI and 100+ R as my CI or UTL player. Please tell me, what type of league and method of assembling teams do you plan on playing in this season and why? Let me know in the comment box below along with any questions you may have, or e-mail me at the link up top. Also what do you think about drafting 3 corner infielders with my first 3 picks? Will it work out for me in the end or was it the wrong way to go?
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Comments (10)
  written by RhettOldham, January 19, 2009
Joe, great article. I will refer to this in my Commish Corner Column when talking about what type of league you want to set up. GREAT JOB
written by JoeLano, January 07, 2009
For once Tony and I agree on some thing. I am the best!
 LOL
written by JoeLano, January 07, 2009
No problem here. To be honest; I don't know what the right or wrong thing is with leaving links. Its a fantasy baseball community and sharing ideas and info is what its all about, I think.
There are so many sites out there that offer a wide range of info and services. I had no idea the site you brought up even existed. Its good to have a "computer nitwit" like you turn me on to new and different sites.
written by big o, January 07, 2009
joe :
i left a note to cincotta's comment in the response thread to troy patterson's batters -BABIP article that i would like you to read , when you get a chance. i apologize.
written by SeanAgranov, January 07, 2009
nice overview joe. I prefer mixed leagues only cause i like being able to choose from both the AL & NL player pool. Size of league is very important to consider cause you need to make sure its challenging. Don't do 6 or 8 team league. I dont care what anyone says it is not fun drafting the top 100 players only. IF you like only having superstars do one of those salary cap leagues on yahoo or ESPN or sites like that.
If you want more of a challenge than the standard 12 team mixed league but want to stay with mixed format go up to 15 or 16 teams or even 20 teams. The player pool gets much deeper.
written by big o, January 07, 2009
anyone can create a private (or public)custom mock draft ... fast , slow (up to 24 hours) or in-between.
you can even create a draft and erase it and start again ... or you can choose to save it for a later date. take it from this computer nitwit, it's pretty easy to do . plus the admins are very helpful.
written by big o, January 07, 2009
joe :
with only 3 rounds completed , my suggestion would be to transfer the data over to www.couchmanagers.com set the timer at 24 hours/pick. michael james , proprietor , might be able to assist you in initially setting it up. but all players would have to eventually sign-up and create their own passwords. the site is totally free. regards.
written by JoeLano, January 07, 2009
To view the entire slow mock draft I am participating in, go to:
http://fantasybaseballtrademarket.com/ I want to thank Bob Sikon for inviting me.
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Tags: Beginner fantasy baseball AL only NL only mixed leagues snake draft auctions Manny Ramirez C.C. Sabathia fantasy baseball trade market Miguel Cabrera Evan Longoria Ryan Braun Hanley Ramirez Adrian Gonzalez
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