How to Prepare for a Fantasy Baseball Draft

Baseball's Opening Day is quickly approaching which means that your Fantasy Baseball Draft is right around the corner. Whether you play for money or just for bragging rights, Fantasy Baseball is a great way to maintain your interest in Major League Baseball throughout the season. Each Fantasy Baseball league has different rules and policies as set by your Fantasy Baseball commissioner, but no matter what league you have joined, you will certainly see better results if you show up to your Fantasy Baseball Draft well prepared. This article will provide you general research tips and guidelines to prepare you for your upcoming Fantasy Baseball Draft and hopefully get you closer to the coveted title of "Fantasy Baseball League Champion".

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   First, whether you are a new Fantasy Baseball rookie or a seasoned Fantasy Baseball veteran, you need to take the time to review your league's rules, particularly the scoring procedures. Again, each league can be designed differently by your commissioner, and your Fantasy Baseball drafting should reflect the specific league's scoring setup. So, before crossing any players off of your list, make sure you look into your Fantasy Baseall league's policies.

2. 

   Now that you have printed off or written out your league's scoring procedures, it is time to start your Fantasy Baseball Draft player research. If your league is heavily weighted towards either pitching or hitting, that will affect your player rankings. Obviously, if your league only drafts National or American league players, then your research immediately gets cut in half. The majority of Fantasy Baseball Leagues use both National and American League players and attempt to equally weight pitching and hitting statistics. So for the sake of this article, you can expect the suggestions to revolve around both leagues with equally weighted scoring.

3. 

   Much like an investment portfolio, it is important that your Fantasy Baseball team is well diversified - balanced between quality hitters and quality pitchers. As you build your draft rankings, keep in mind that generally, there will be more hitters drafted in the early rounds than pitchers. This is because for Fantasy Baseball purposes, hitters tend to be more reliable for expected stats than pitchers. That being said, it is very important that you get an ace pitcher in the first few rounds to anchor your pitching squad. Also be sure to get at least one respectable and reliable closer as a relief pitcher.

4. 

   The night before your Fantasy Baseball Draft begins, be sure to check the latest injury report. You will be amazed at the number of fantasy participants who draft a player that is having season ending surgery before the season even got started because they never payed attention to spring training injuries.

5. 

   As you research hitters and pitchers for your Fantasy Baseball Draft, you will certainly want to look at the player's previous year Fantasy statistics. However, take note of any players that have changed teams. If a high quality player has moved from Pittsburgh to New York in the offseason, chances are that their stats will be better this year than they were last year. So, to maximize your team's potential, look for bargain players that will improve just by wearing a different uniform.

6. 

   As you research for your Fantasy Baseball Draft, you will also want to look at position depth. For example, there are many high quality first base players, however there are not nearly as many excellent second base players. For that reason, you should place a premium on drafting a great second baseman in the first couple of rounds and hold off until the later rounds to fill your first base slot. Also note that there happen to be many high quality outfielders and shortstops as compared to third base players and catchers.

7. 

   Finally, as you prepare to make your Fantasy Baseball Draft selections, pay extremely close attention to history of injuries and consistency of stats. For instance, if a player tends to get injured year after year at some point in the season, avoid that player like the plague. More importantly, search for those players that put up excellent numbers year after year and are multi-tool type players. Examples are Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes - these players help you consistently achieve points across multiple categories.

8. Good luck with your Fantasy Baseball Draft, here's to a great season for you and your players.

Tips & Warnings

• Most of your Fantasy Baseball opponents will get trigger happy during the season. So, pay close attention when your opponents drop a valuable player just because they had a slow start to the season. Also, if you have a player that is mediocre who gets off to a hot start, make every attempt to trade that player out of your lineup for one of your opponent's more consistent players that is off to a poor start!