This year, I've learned that...

[RedSoxNation04]

No matter how well you draft, the injury bug can kill your team quickly.

No matter how many times I tell myself I won't do it, I end up chasing stats.

I can draft pitching late and still compete for a championship.



Anyone else?

[Bloody Sox]

I can draft one closer and still lead the league in saves.

I can draft four starting pitchers and still finish at or near the top in all pitching categories (thank you Cliff Lee, Shaun Marcum, and Ervin Santana).

I can trade away all my keepers, win a championship, then come back the next year and do it all over again.

[markj11]

I hate Hold leagues. This was the first time we used holds. I needed one hold to win the league so I loaded with 4 MR for Fri, Sat, Sun. Those 4 MR had 9 appearances with 0 holds.

[Bloody Sox]

I hate Hold leagues. This was the first time we used holds. I needed one hold to win the league so I loaded with 4 MR for Fri, Sat, Sun. Those 4 MR had 9 appearances with 0 holds.

Yeah, hold leagues are interesting... they add some interesting strategies, but ultimately they are so hard to predict that they can be maddening. Then again, saves aren't always any easier to predict.

[mweir145]

I don't have to draft one closer, and I'll still do reasonably well in the save category.

[Mugrila]

I've learned that I won't be drafting a pitcher in the first two rounds ever again. I used to be very against this, but I gave it a shot this year b/c I've seen it work. I found out the hard way that you become much more vulnerable to an injury to one of your big bats.

[Neato Torpedo]

I've learned that non-keeper redrafts bore me, and that while H2H does suck often, it makes for some interesting finishes.

[Grouperman941]

... H2H is fun.

... waiver priority is very important in an AL or NL-only league.

[jfg]

- To buy low as often as possible. I tried that strategy out this year and if you aren't giving up stars in return, the players you get who don't pan out won't outweigh what you get from the ones who go back to being stars.

- That said, I learned to never buy low on multiple players at the price of a star. It cost me 1st place in my money league.

- Finally, I guess I always knew this but this year it became more apparent than ever (at least in my money league): I might get called out for low-balling, but as long as I'm persistent and keep submitting offers, sooner or later I get trades finished that favor my team. But, I've learned over the years when give up to keep the other team interested in trading with me in the future.

[MTUCache]

This year I've learned that.... I need to find a better league to play in.

For the first time of my fantasy baseball experience I decided to commish a league. Every other year's experience has been tainted by poor league setups, questionable owners'-moves, and general apathy by two-thirds of the league. Unfortunately, taking the reins for myself only fixed about one and half of those. We finally had a decent league-setup, and I managed to keep a lid on most of the shenanigans, but we still ended up with most of the league losing interest by the ASB.

As it turned out, the roto-lead I ran away with in the first third of the season held up despite some pretty downright bone-headed moves on my part. I honestly think it says more about my opponents skill than it does about mine, when I can still win the league after trading away DiceK, Hamilton, Quentin, ManRam, and a handful of other players who I didn't get a good return-on-investment on.

Next year I'm going to take a stab at something a bit more competitive.... and not trade away so many guys who are having a good first half for slumping stars who aren't living up to their supposed "track records". A bit more patience would have served me well this year, I would have won by 20 points instead of 3.