Are you new to fantasy baseball and are wondering what type of league you should play in? Have you played a few years and are wondering what type of league you’d like to try next? The idea for this article came to me when a friend was complaining that no one in his fantasy football league made trades. I tried to explain to him that, in my opinion, it’s a little harder to make a deal in football than in baseball and the reasons why. His personality lends himself to a dynasty-type league where trading is more common than a redraft league. My intent here is to cover a variety of formats that you can play in and point you in the right direction towards a league that fits you best.
The most common league to play in is a redraft league. This is a league where there are no keepers and all players are returned to the draft pool each season. There are different formats which expand your choices within redraft leagues. They can be rotisserie style where standings are based upon where your teams ranks in ten categories (referred to as 5x5) or head-to-head where you compete against a team in those ten categories on a weekly basis. Win the most categories that week and you get a “win.” They can be further broken down into Mixed, AL-only and NL-only leagues with mixed leagues being the most common. These drafts can also be a serpentine draft or an auction. So as you can see, there are many options to choose from just within each type of format. Regardless of which of these subsets you are interested in, redraft leagues are good for the beginner. They allow you to reset each year as you learn how to draft and run your team during the season. There are many nuances to managing a team in a head-to-head vs. roto style, in an auction vs. a draft, in a league with daily moves vs. weekly moves, etc. You can start with free leagues that are available on a number of websites and then dabble into ones with an entry fee. Some of these leagues allow trades and some don’t. Decide if you want to be active. It is sometimes a challenge to get “strangers” to trade in an online league, so if you do like to trade, try joining a league with friends or find a friend who is looking to fill an opening in their league. Attributes: New player, can play for free on a variety of sites, trading not an important aspect, good way to start a league with friends (not as complicated as a dynasty league), variety of formats to choose from.
Dynasty or Keeper leagues are those that you are able to carry all or part of your roster to the next season. Each league’s rules are unique so it’s impossible to get specific. These leagues are good for those who want to be active in their management. They tend to have more trades than redraft leagues as some teams try to build their teams for the future, while others are going for the championship that year. These leagues also tend to have more prospects on their rosters than in redraft leagues as they build their teams to win over time and not just that season. If you have little knowledge of prospects, then these leagues may be tough for you until you are comfortable with researching the minor leagues as well as the majors. The other thing you must have for these leagues is thick skin. Why? As trading is more common, so are the complaints when teams fighting for the top make trades that everyone may seem as lopsided for that season. It comes with the territory and you just have to be prepared for that. Unless there is proven collusion between owners, there’s nothing you can do about the trades. These leagues can be fun and no season is a loss as you can build for the future even if you are having a bad season. Attributes: Like to have an attachment to players, like to trade, must have thick skin, knowledge of minors a must, long-term commitment
Best ball leagues became popular in fantasy football and has been formatted for baseball as well. These leagues are draft-only leagues. There is no in-season management. Points are accumulated over the entire season and the team with the most points at the end wins. Large rosters are drafted as you cannot replace injured players. These leagues are for those who don’t have time to manage teams during the season, who want to just have fun drafting, and for those who use these leagues to prep for their regular leagues. It’s a good tool to do this along with the Mock Draft Army that we run here on Fantasy Alarm. Knowing where players are going in a dynamic setting is much more valuable than just knowing the ADP. If you want to get some practice drafting look for our MDA announcements on Twitter and our website. Attributes: Just love to draft, no time for in-season management, use as prep for other drafts
There are many websites that offer a variety of formats to play in. They all have their unique attributes and are usually an offshoot of one of the three varieties I went over. With the options of Auctions vs. Draft, Mixed vs. AL/NL only, and Roto vs. H2H that can be added to the redraft and Dynasty options, there are leagues for everyone. We will be covering strategies for each to help you prepare for your draft and to help you decide what type of league you want to play in if you are new to fantasy baseball. If you have questions in the meantime, feel free to ask me on Twitter @gasdoc_spit