How to Play Rotisserie Fantasy Baseball

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A head on your shoulders
A bit of patience
Willingness to manage for an entire baseball season

An Introduction to Rotisserie

Step 1

Every fantasy expert will tell you: Knowing your league is the best thing you can do for yourself. There are a few specific things to know for rotisserie fantasy baseball, so listen up:Rotisserie is a style completely different then head-to-head. In rotisserie, it's you against the league, for the whole season. Every day counts towards your total stats, so daily management will be needed (setting rosters days in advance helps the time commitment, just so you know). Nobody is just going to roll over and let you cruise to victory, so making sure your hitters are playing and what pitchers you have pitching are active is your job. Forgetting for a few days can cost you valuable innings or at-bats, and since that's where you accumulate stats, your chances across the board get hurt by inactivity. Again, most sites allow you to set your roster days in advance, in case you might not have the time later.
Step 2

In this style of play, the object is to be the team with the most points at the end of the season. Points are awarded based on your performance in each category your league offers. Hence, knowing what categories you'll be competing in is key (Runs, Batting Average, ERA, Wins, etc. etc.) to your success. The better you do in each category compared to the other managers determines how many points you have.For example, let's say you're in a 10-team roto league, with the standard 5x5 categories (Runs, Home Runs, RBIs, Stolen Bases, Batting Average, Wins, Strikeouts, Saves, ERA, WHIP). The amount of points available per category is the amount of teams in your league. Thus, the best you can do in this situation is ten points in each category, or one hundred points in all.
Step 3

Okay, so you know the basics: Every manager is fighting everyone else for positioning in EVERY category. Thus, you're really fighting many small, unique battles, one per category. Keep this in mind, as we move to strategizing and drafting, where leagues are often won and lost.

The Beginning: Planning for Victory and Starting the Journey

Step 1

Let's take the example mentioned in step 1 again: 10 teams, one hundred points as a perfect score. Let me get this out of the way early:You are not going to win every category.That's right. Unless all of the other managers DO roll over and stop caring, there will be no feasible way for you to win every category. It just won't happen. But fear not! Knowing this beforehand is power! So here's the strategy you want to abide by when entering your draft: Aim to win a majority of categories.This can be done in a variety of ways, as the next step shows.
Step 2

Let's look at the hitting categories again: Runs, RBIs, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Batting AverageUnless you draft a team of 5-tool players (all of which will go in the first and second rounds, so...no), you cannot possibly win each category. For every Alex Rodriguez, who contributes greatly to all 5 stats, there are 30 others who can help in only a couple. That's why you plan to charge hard in three or four of these, and don't concentrate AS hard on the others. You don't want to just finish dead last in anything, but finding a balance is key here. For this example, Stolen Bases is the easiest category to "punt", or avoid so you can focus on the other stats and improve those even more.What exactly do I mean by this? Let's say you're drafting for Runs, Home Runs, RBIs, and Batting Average. You nab Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton early. Both are high-average hitters with plenty for the power categories (remember, a HR gets you an RBI and a run, too. At the least). When it's your turn to pick again, you can get Ichiro Suzuki, or Nick Markakis: both highly regarded outfielders. For your strategy, which does not emphasize SBs, Ichiro is worth less than Markakis, because he steals more bases but hits for little power.Sticking to this strategy throughout the draft will put you in the driver's seat early on, because you'll be near the top in MOST of the categories, and therefore near the top of the overall standings. Now, not emphasizing Stolen Bases is just one way to go about things: There are other ways to do it, such as punting Average.
Step 3

The same strategy applies for pitching, remember: While fighting for Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP, you will NOT be able to win them all. But there are multiple strategies that you can use. For instance, avoiding Saves is the easiest: Instead of drafting closers, taking middle relievers will improve ERA and WHIP, and they sometimes pirate wins as well. Or, placing a higher priority on Strikeouts than ERA is possible: later in the draft, don't hesitate to take a decent K starting pitcher such as Javier Vazquez, who might get hit hard sometimes, instead of a Carlos Marmol, who might get the occasional K but is more useful for his ability to get the inning done.
Step 4

So, it's draft day. The strategy is set: you know what you're drafting for. This is a MUST! But knowing what to draft for, and knowing WHO to draft, are very different! Having a list of players great in certain categories will pay off when one or two of your targeted players are taken just before your next pick. Knowing that Adrian Gonzalez is still available even though Mark Teixiera, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard are gone might save your season at the 1B position. Realizing that Carlos Lee had more HR and RBI than Manny Ramirez last season will give you an edge at seeing through the aura of big names that other managers may buy into. And seeing the difference between Orlando Cabrera and JJ Hardy is 15 runs for Cabrera, but about 10 HRs for Hardy will keep you an informed drafter as the rounds drag on.Knowledge is truly power in this case, and being able to stick to your drafting strategy in every round is key.

Managing Towards the Top

Step 1

Hopefully everything has made sense so far. This is, actually, the easiest part! All of the information you need to make informed decisions throughout the year can be found on one page, and that'd be the one where everyone's stats for the year are totaled.Be honest: You're not going to be tallying your stats every day and then comparing them to your opposition. Everything you need is on one page, though. Here, you can see where you're doing well, and what areas could use work. And this information is valuable to you making a good trade that could be accepted.
Step 2

Let's say you took the drafting strategy mentioned earlier, and drafted for power in hitting/no saves in pitching. Two months into the season, you've made a couple of moves when a better player became available in the free agent pool and are sitting near the top, thanks to strong showings in HR, RBI, R, and W, Ks, and good in ERA/WHIP. You're probably not going to be doing so well in SB, AVG., and SVs. Obviously, the goal is to be near the top in all ten areas. But is it possible? Yes. The key is knowing what you can afford to lose.Let's say you lead HR, RBI, and R. Second place is twenty-five home runs back, thirteen RBIs, and there's a logjam of contenders in runs scored. RBIs can be a streaky category, and thirteen with a few months to go is not substantial. You need runs to stay competitive. But you have a plethora of home run hitters at your disposal. Is there someone like Dan Uggla, who hits around 30 HRs every year but hasn't reached 100 RBI in a season yet, on your roster? Trading him away for someone like Ichiro, who would provide Runs, SB, and Avg, is just the deal you're looking to make. You sell part of your surplus for stuff you need!
Step 3

It's never that simple, is it? If only you could just dump what you have plenty of for what you could really use. What about other managers? That's where the trick of making a good deal that'll get accepted comes into play. Because although you know what YOU need, they have needs too. So finding somebody who has a surplus of what you need, and has to have what you're offering, is a plus. Got plenty of Wins, but need a couple of closers fast? Find a manager loaded with closers: they'll have an abundance of saves to trade.

Now You're Ready!

Step 1

You've covered everything: Planning, Drafting, Managing, and Trading. All it takes now is some research on your part, and staying active: check your roster everyday, put pitchers starting that day into the active roster, and drop guys sent to the minors or hit by an injury. There are also tons of experts dispensing free advice, and these are the proven guys. Some of my favorites are those found at sports.yahoo.com/fantasy, and games.espn.go.com/frontpage/baseball.
Step 2

Another way to get the info you need is through iTunes, on podcasts. They're free to download, and subscribing is easy. My personal favorite? The Fantasy Focus Baseball podcast, featuring ESPN's very own Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz, along with producer Podvader. It's a fun-filled podcast with plenty of off-topic joking around and stupidity to keep anyone entertained, while giving you all the info you need at the same time. That's a good podcast, FYI.
Step 3

Now you're set! Get out there, and dominate your roto league!