Getting Back Into Fantasy Baseball!

[Jokes]

Up until about 5 years ago I played a decent amount of fantasy baseball, but since then I haven't played in a league. This year I'm looking to really get back into it again and have been invited to play in a new league an acquaintance is putting together. For the record it's a 16 team dynasty league that is going to use an auction to select teams. It will be a roto style league. (5x5)

I don't really need help with any thing like what WHIP or OBS or anything is, but rather what is the best way to jump back into it? Since I stopped playing I realize I have missed a lot. I used to be able to name every starter for every team, now there are a couple teams that I don't think I could name any of the regular starters. Ditto for closers.Whats the best way to immerse myself back into baseball so that I can regain this knowledge?

Next, what are some strategies for drafting a team? I mean like suggestions for what to spend money on, what stats are best to avoid losing too much sleep over etc.? Things that every experienced fantasy baseball owner should know.

I'm not asking people to give away secrets per say, but rather to enlighten me to what you look at when preparing for a draft. The forums on here? fantasy magazines? ESPN? Some nerdy fantasy baseball formula?

Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

--JoKeS--

[CincyReds11]

For starters, I would familiarize yourself really quickly with who the starters are with every team. Nearly any fantasy baseball website has complete roster depth charts for each major league team. I use CBS Sports' personally but some prefer MLB.com's or ESPN's--any accredited site will suffice. I'm assuming you are in a traditional roster size league (14 hitters, 9 pitchers) which means you will need to be familiar with at least the top 224 hitters and top 144 pitchers. Going even deeper than that can only help though as you may find a player with better breakout potential or keeper value depending on your own preferences.

Since you will be participating in an auction draft there are a few important things to consider:

1) Prepare your cheat sheet (tiers, dollar values, stat lines) --This will allow you to easily track what teams get what players throughout the course of the draft and when you may need to bite the bullet and pay for the last guy in a tier if there is a big dropoff.

2) Create a spending plan (budget) --By breaking down where you want to spend your payroll you can easily slot players and actively keep track of how much money you have available throughout the course of the draft. This goes hand in hand with your draft strategy.

3) Go in with a plan but be flexible --You can either google or I'd direct you to this article http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseb ... 0manifesto by Matthew Berry for some really basic spending strategies and overall advice on auctions.

As I mentioned above, flexibility is key because depending on how your auction progresses you will need to adjust your strategy accordingly. Also, if this is a brand new dynasty league then focus on drafting a more balanced team that will perform well now and in the future. However, if you are joining an ongoing league I would recommend focusing in on getting cornerstone players and taking chances on acquiring excellent keepers since your opponents will be operating from a position of strength having been able to accumulate keeper value over the past few years. The ultimate goal in a dynstasy league is to acquire the most value (in the form of players' statistics) for the minimum amount (in the form of low $ contracts). Pair these guys with studs and you have a winning combination.

Best of luck!

[Jokes]

Thanks a ton for your help. This is just the kind of thing I was looking for. Actually completed my first draft today, and am going to post the team in the other forum. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Getting back into it has been a ton of fun over the last few days. The season can't get here soon enough!

-JoKeS-

[CincyReds11]

Anytime man, hope the draft went well! I'll take a look at your team for sure. I'm more of an auction guy so its always interesting to see how the drafts pan out in comparison.

[kaiser]

I think all the above advice is very good. One thing that I would add is, in order to get a pretty quick gauge on which younger players people are assigning value to, do a TON of mock drafts. I think the best sites for mocks are Couch Managers, Mock Draft Central, and to a lesser extent, ESPN and Yahoo.

This helps me a great deal before doing any real drafts each season.