Understanding Fantasy Baseball: No Longer Just for Nerds

By Jason Johnson

Historically, people that have had the most interest in fantasy baseball have been statistic junkies and lovers of baseball in general. People who immerse themselves into spreadsheets and stare at computer screens to develop strategies have made a name for themselves in the industry. With technological advancement in recent years however, this is no longer the case. Information is very accessible and easily compiled so that almost anyone can put together a team and compete in fantasy baseball with a reasonable amount of time, research, and luck. It is not nearly as difficult to find player statistics, trends, reports or any other type of information that you need to succeed in your league.

When I began working on this book, many people asked me why I was writing it. What could this book offer that other published works didn’t already talk about? There is some truth to those questions. There are plenty of available works published that provide a tremendous amount of knowledge about fantasy baseball. Reading other fantasy baseball articles and books myself, I’ve found that many of them, while thorough, tend to neglect the fundamentals. They assume that any reader already has a good grasp of the basics. While that often may be the case, I believe it’s critically important not only to know the basics but to completely understand how to use them to your advantage. Having this book as a foundation, you can then better understand some of the more complex topics: sabermetrics, drafting, trading, etc.

In this book I will provide insights into not only the basics of fantasy baseball, but will also delve into complex strategies and statistical analysis to help you succeed. In each section, I will first present the topic and then discuss how understanding it in detail will help you as a fantasy baseball team owner. I’m certain that even savvy fantasy baseball players will be able to take away at least a few insights to improve their overall fantasy baseball experience. In one section in particular, Relative Draft Value, I provide original, self-developed formulas and strategies that you simply can’t get anywhere else. I will be focusing primarily on season long leagues; however I have also dedicated a section to daily games which have become extremely popular and deserve discussion. In short, this book will go into almost everything you need to know to start yourself down a path to fantasy baseball success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jason Johnson
• Release date: Feb 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311731494

Book preview

Understanding Fantasy Baseball

(No Longer Just for Nerds)

An instructional guide by:

Jason Johnson

Copyright © 2015 Jason Johnson

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords

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Table of Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Getting Acquainted with the Game

Chapter 2 - It's All About the Draft

Chapter 3 - Managing Your Team Throughout the Season

Chapter 4 - Advanced Methodologies, Daily Games and More

Conclusion and Thank you

Disclaimer

About the Author

Detailed Table of Contents:

Introduction

About Fantasy Baseball

About this Book

Chapter 1 - Getting Acquainted with the Game

I. The Basics

A. Fantasy Baseball 101 - 5 Rules for Success

II. Getting to Know Your League

A. Scoring Categories

B. Scoring System Types

i. Rotisserie Leagues

ii. Head to Head Leagues

1. Head to Head - Categories

2. Head to Head - Points

iii. Roto vs. Head to Head - Pros and Cons

iv. My Opinion

C. League Rosters

D. Number of Teams

E. Games Played Limit

F. Games Started / Innings Pitched Limits

G. Waivers, Free Agent, and Free Agent Acquisition Budge (FAAB)

H. Tiebreakers

I. Redraft, Keeper and Dynasty Leagues

i. Redraft Leagues

ii. Keeper Leagues

iii. Dynasty Leagues

J. AL and NL Only Leagues

Chapter 2 - It's All About the Draft

I. Drafting

A. Prepare and Practice - Research and Mock Drafts

B. Auction vs. Snake Drafting

i. Auction Drafts

ii. Snake Drafts

C. Auction Draft Strategies

D. Snake Draft Strategies

E. Relative Draft Value

F. Position Scarcity

G. Pitching vs. Hitting

H. Statistical Goals

I. Site Pre-Rankings and Projections

J. Punting Categories

K. Positions 'Runs'

L. Don't Draft with Your Heart

Chapter 3 - Managing Your Team Throughout the Season

I. In Season Decisions and Moves

A. Roster Management - Daily, Weekly and More

B. The Art of Trading

C. Adds, Drops and Waiver Wire Moves

D. Use your Disabled List (DL) Spot

E. Mid to Late Season Statistical Targets and Decisions

Chapter 4 - Advanced Methodologies, Daily Games and More

I. Advanced Statistics - Predictors of Progression and Regression

A. Advanced Hitting Statistics

i. Advanced Hitting Statistics Examples

B. Advanced Pitching Statistics

i. Advanced Pitching Statistics Examples

II. Daily Fantasy Baseball

A. Yearly Formats vs. Daily Games

B. Daily Fantasy Baseball 101

III. Miscellaneous Advice

A. Streaming Starters

B. Closers and Relievers - A Highly Under-Rated Commodity

IV. Research and Resources

A. Do Your Research

i. Twitter

ii. Web Resources

Conclusion and Thank You

Unsolicited Shameless Plugs

Disclaimer

About the Author

Introduction

About Fantasy Baseball

If you're reading this book, it's pretty safe to assume you have some understanding about fantasy baseball. However, just in case, a quick web search will pull up the definition of fantasy baseball as: A game where people manage a roster of Major League baseball players. The participants compete against one another using those players' real life statistics to score points. It is one of the most commonly played fantasy sports games, and is arguably one of the most difficult and time-intensive due to the 162-game season of the MLB and the inconsistency of players. (Thanks Wiki).

My definition looks something like this: you and 'x' amount of other team owners pick your team from available MLB players to make a complete team based on the positions within your roster. You then manage this team throughout the baseball calendar season with the goal of being the best team statistically while following the parameters and rules predetermined by your league. Throughout this process you should have fun!

Fantasy baseball (fantasy sports in general) has become one of the fastest growing sectors of the sports industry. People of all demographics participate and very much love the allure of the fantasy game. At the same time, others participate for huge payouts and take the game very seriously. Whatever the reason you play, I'm hopeful that through this book I can share with you some of my fantasy baseball insight, gained through years of experience.

About the Book

Historically, people that have had the most interest in fantasy baseball have been statistic junkies and lovers of baseball in general. People who immerse themselves into spreadsheets and stare at computer screens to develop strategies have made a name for themselves in the industry. With technological advancement in recent years however, this is no longer the case. Information is very accessible and easily compiled so that almost anyone can put together a team and compete in fantasy baseball with a reasonable amount of time, research, and luck. It is not nearly as difficult to find player statistics, trends, reports or any other type of information that you need to succeed in your league.

When I began working on this book, many people asked me why I was writing it. What could this book offer that other published works didn't already talk about? There is some truth to those questions. There are plenty of available works published that provide a tremendous amount of knowledge about fantasy baseball. Reading other fantasy baseball articles and books myself, I've found that many of them, while thorough, tend to neglect the fundamentals. They assume that any reader already has a good grasp of the basics. While that often may be the case, I believe it's critically important not only to know the basics but to completely understand how to use them to your advantage. Having this book as a foundation, you can then better understand some of the more complex topics: sabermetrics, drafting, trading, etc.

In this book I will provide insights into not only the basics of fantasy baseball, but will also delve into complex strategies and statistical analysis to help you succeed. In each section, I will first present the topic and then discuss how understanding it in detail will help you as a fantasy baseball team owner. I'm certain that even savvy fantasy baseball players will be able to take away at least a few insights to improve their overall fantasy baseball experience. In one section in particular, Relative Draft Value, I provide original, self-developed formulas and strategies that you simply can't get anywhere else. I will be focusing primarily on season long leagues; however I have also dedicated a section to daily games which have become extremely popular and deserve discussion. In short, this book will go into almost everything you need to know to start yourself down a path to fantasy baseball success.

Chapter 1 - Getting Acquainted with the Game

I. The Basics

If you've played fantasy baseball in the past and have even minimal experience in the game, then this chapter may seem very familiar to you. A lot of the topics discussed are elementary, but essential discussion points. I will not only explain the basics, but also provide strategic guidance how to understand and use this knowledge to your advantage over your competition. If it seems tedious at first, stick with it, and I can almost guarantee that you'll be able to take away new insights.

A. Fantasy Baseball 101 - 5 Rules for Success

Many of the topics I discuss in this book will have similar underlying messages. If you were to take all of those messages and comprise an executive summary, it might look like the following rules for success. Not that these are the only things you need to do succeed, but doing these 5 things at minimum will certainly build a nice foundation for success.

1. Know your league rules and settings

I absolutely cannot stress enough that this is the most important basic key to succeeding in fantasy baseball. Just as in your daily life, if you are completely aware and understand the rules/guidelines of any event, competition or challenge, you are putting yourself in a position to succeed by maximizing your preparation. Applied to fantasy baseball, knowing your league scoring system, draft settings, waiver settings, schedule, and a variety of other configurable settings is critical to stay ahead of your competition. With this knowledge, you will be able to evaluate players and projections properly for your league settings and make the best decisions possible for your team throughout the season.

Here is just one example how a scoring setting can affect a player's value: Let's say for instance strikeouts are a batting category in your league. Obviously, the fewer strikeouts your batters accumulate over the course of a season the better. Someone that is a top 10 player in a league without this category might drop significantly in your rankings because you project him to be the league leader in strikeouts. You