I've played fantasy baseball w a points league format for about 10 years (at the end of the season, team with most points wins). I'm about to join a league with H2H (also points). Is the drafting strategy different from what I'm used to? Is the playing strategy different? Is there anything I need to keep in mind as I formulate my roster for the season or stretch of games? Thanks.
When you're dealing with things in short-term rather than long-, looking only a week or two into the future, things like matchups and bench depth become much more important than consistent performers.
Obviously things like max-moves or moves-per-week are going to affect strategy, along with what categories and such, but I think a weekly H2H really shows off the idea of "replacement level" in baseball. Outside of a handful of star performers who won't come out of your starting lineup for anything, everyone else on your team becomes a pawn, to be discarded or replaced at the earliest convenience.
In the playoffs of my H2H league last year I think I probably turned over my entire team twice, just inside the space of a month, simply to get the best matchups, the best two-start pitchers, and the most Monday/Thursday games I could. No allegiance to anybody at that time, not even Pujols. If he's not performing, or he's got a couple of tough matchups, I'd much rather have Konerko or Thome for that week.
the biggest thing is streaming SP in unlimited moves leagues. if your league doesn't have some restrictions there will be teams that don't draft SP at all early & just pick 'em up week by week. You might go more hitting early anyway in your h2h draft...
Guys--thanks a lot for your responses. I think I may just stick to the kind of fantasy baseball I know best. This "old dog" isn't that up for learning new tricks.
I think it really depends on how many teams you have in your league to implement this pitching streamer strategy. In shallower leagues, streaming two-start pitchers off the FA/WW works fine. There will be plenty of mid-level starters for you to choose from. In deeper leagues, however, you'll want to invest either a few early round picks or most of your mid-round picks on quality starters you can rely on a weekly basis. Otherwise you will be streaming pretty questionable options and be liable to get your pitching ratios blown up. I play in a 12 team H2H league and I've found this strategy works best. I'll go power early and often with picks #1-5, only grabbing an SP if he falls enough, and then stockpile my starting rotation with picks #6-10. You really don't want to start the season with an SP2/3 being your staff ace.
It really depends what your hitting categories are, but I tend to ignore speed and simply try and get power guys who hit for a good average/obp. Or if you don't want to completely forfeit steals, mix a blend of HR/SB threats into your lineup. In roto every steal counts, but in H2H the variances are too high to really build around speed as "winnable" category every week. My league counts OBP/SLG, so I concentrate on sluggers and bank on winning HR, RBI, AVG, OBP, SLG every week as often as I can.
You can go light on RPs at the beginning and not be penalized for not accumulating saves all season long like in roto. Simply be vigilant and you will build a decent bullpen to finish the year off for fantasy playoffs. I always begin the season with 2 or 3 really shaky closers, and by season's end I'll have 4 or 5 decent closers.
thejusman1 wrote:I tend to ignore speed...You can go light on RPs at the beginning...
Shh... This is by far the easiest way to dominate most casual leagues. The Yahoo/ESPN/CBS rankings always put value on players for their production throughout the year, making them really mostly applicable to roto or full-season point leagues.
Punting a category to firm up your dominance in another category is one of the easiest ways to take a little of the variance of weekly H2H and give yourself an edge. Because most offensive categories are related more to average and power than speed, this makes punting steals an easy choice. Just as you said, this also makes ignoring saves during the draft very easy. If you're confident that you'll be able to shape your team with FA later, there's no reason to pay for them.
Flexibility... watching your upcoming opponents, and putting together a team a week ahead of time that will beat your next opponent. If you're coming up against a guy who doesn't have any base-stealing threats, there are times when you'll end up picking up and starting a Rajai Davis type player and benching a Matt Holliday. Those 2-3SB are worth more this week than whatever else your normal starter will bring.
thejusman1 wrote:I tend to ignore speed...You can go light on RPs at the beginning...
Shh... This is by far the easiest way to dominate most casual leagues. The Yahoo/ESPN/CBS rankings always put value on players for their production throughout the year, making them really mostly applicable to roto or full-season point leagues.
Punting a category to firm up your dominance in another category is one of the easiest ways to take a little of the variance of weekly H2H and give yourself an edge. Because most offensive categories are related more to average and power than speed, this makes punting steals an easy choice. Just as you said, this also makes ignoring saves during the draft very easy. If you're confident that you'll be able to shape your team with FA later, there's no reason to pay for them.
Flexibility... watching your upcoming opponents, and putting together a team a week ahead of time that will beat your next opponent. If you're coming up against a guy who doesn't have any base-stealing threats, there are times when you'll end up picking up and starting a Rajai Davis type player and benching a Matt Holliday. Those 2-3SB are worth more this week than whatever else your normal starter will bring.
i think the OP i talking about H2H points, not the lame Yahoo H2H
i would call H2H points lame-o. the 1 legaue i play every yera thats h2h points..and i dont like it too much
no real thought put into it...which guy scores more points is the guy i play. no looking at categories...which imo adds to the fun. i enjoy building a fantasy team that has strengths and weaknesses...not just one taht scores 500 points a week
and drafting is boring in points. i just make a list of projected points accrued and draft down the list without regard for categories. how boring
i agree to load up on big bats early, forget steals and saves until later rounds. 1 dimensional guys arent too bad in h2h..especially in a points league...where all that matters is points...no matter how you get them
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by acapulco » Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:40 pm 
