Yardbarker

Yardbarker

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Fantasy Baseball- What Kind of League is right for you - part 2

The Counselor is IN:

This is a series to assist fantasy owners in selecting the best kind of league for you. Fantasy Baseball has numerous variations and differences which can either enhance your fantasy experience or lessen the enjoyment. I hope to bring some understanding for those new to Fantasy Baseball and give some options to the savvy veteran owners.

Redraft vs Keeper vs Dynasty

Redraft leagues are fantasy leagues where your league redrafts or re-auctions a team every season.  You get a fresh start at picking players every year. If you did poorly one season, then the next year you get a clean slate.  The same is also true if you won the league the season before. There is no reward to picking up potential players unless they break out this season.  It is better in these leagues to leave potential players for others to gamble on and pick up the proven commodities except as a late round selection or a cheap auction pick up.  

Keeper Leagues are leagues that allow you to carry a predetermined amount of players from one season to the next.  I have seen leagues that allow you to keep 3 players and leagues that allow you to keep 15 players from season to season.  In auction leagues, you can usually keep the player for the amount you drafted them at for a limited time.  Some leagues have contracts for auction leagues that you sign players longer term but then you have to keep those signed players. In draft leagues, often you can keep the player at the draft round you picked them up for.  In other draft leagues, the kept players come off of the amount of players you can draft.  

Keeper Leagues do reward you for draft well one season to the next since you can keep a certain amount of players.  A strategy in keeper leagues is to pick up some players with potential or that are rookies.  Since you can keep these players year to year, you might be able to find the next Pujols for a bargain basement price.  But you should primarily pick up trusted veterans for most of your team if you want to win now.  

Dynasty Leagues are similar to keeper leagues in the fact you can keep your players.  In most Dynasty Leagues, you can keep your entire roster from season to season.  You have a draft or auction every season to pick up free agents and rookies after the initial season’s auction or draft.  Players with potential and youth are a premium in these leagues.  Since you can carry the entire roster to the next season for the entire existence of the league, you need to think about winning now and you need to pick ups veterans but also need to think about how to win in 5 years from now.  

Part 3 will discuss the differences of Draft (AKA Snake Drafts) vs Auctions.

The Counselor is OUT:

    

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Fantasy Baseball- What Kind of League is right for you - part 1- Roto vs H2H

The Counselor is IN:

This is a series to assist fantasy owners in selecting the best kind of league for you. Fantasy Baseball has numerous variations and differences which can either enhance your fantasy experience or lessen the enjoyment. I hope to bring some understanding for those new to Fantasy Baseball and some options to the savvy veteran owners.

Rotisserie vs Head to Head
Rotisserie Baseball, named for a  New York City restaurant where the concept was originated, - La Rotisserie Française, was the original fantasy sport.  Roto (short for Rotisserie Ball) complies statistics through out the season.  The stats are broken down into categories, usually between 8 and 12 categories.  The stat categories are split with half on offense and half on pitching. Typical statistic categories often are Homers, RBI, Stolen Bases, and Average on Offense and ERA, WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched), Wins, and Saves for pitching. Your stat categories are compared to all the teams in the league and each category is ranked.  If there are 10 teams in a league, a team will be give 10 points for the best in that category and all the way down to one point for the worst in the category.  Your points for each category are added together for a grand total.  The team with the most grand total points at the end of the season wins the league.  Your position in the league can change greatly day to day.  Earlier in the season the changes are more dramatic than later in the season.  In a league with 8 categories and 10 teams, an owner could have as much as 80 points or as little as 8 points at any time.  It is difficult to come close to the max or minimum points.

Head to Head is much more like Fantasy Football and is becoming more popular every season because of it. You play against another team in your league each week.  You are given points for winning categories against your weekly opponent (categories are the same type as used in Roto leagues). Those points compile to determine your ranking in the league.  The top teams make the playoffs.  The playoffs are usually win the week and play the next round, lose and go home. The best regular season team does not often win the league.

There are some strategic differences in the leagues.  In a Roto style, a team needs to be somewhat productive in category to be successful. With Head to Head, you can punt or minimized productivity in a category such as Saves or Steals and still win the league. I am a firm believer in not punting categories but some people are successful using this strategy

Part 2 will discuss Redraft Leagues vs Keeper Leagues vs Dynasty Leagues


 The Counselor is OUT: