Drafting Tips and Tricks for Fantasy Baseball

This article will explain 10 tips and tricks for drafting your Fantasy Baseball team for the 2009 season and seasons to come.

1. Don't be too Anxious

Taking an excellent rookie or sleeper player can be one of the best feelings of Fantasy Baseball. This can lead to fantasy drafters being overly anxious and picking their underground picks much too early. You want to wait as long as you possibly can before it becomes likely that somebody else will take your pick. The reasoning behind this is that the whole idea behind picking somebody underground is that you are picking this player whilst other people in your league are picking average or poor players.

2. Study your players

The thing that sets apart great fantasy drafters from the poor and average drafters is the time they spend studying players. There is such a bountiful amount of information on the internet it would be silly not to read up on draft strategies for the fantasy basbeall draft.

3. Avoid taking too many risks

Risks can make or break you in fantasy baseball. Certain players that may look like star prospects may be injury-prone or may be declining in their career. Make sure to pick solid and consistant players along with your risks and wildcards. Try taking risks and gambling on players in the later rounds of the draft, as a solid start is much more important in fantasy drafting.

4. Know your league

Many fantasy baseball leagues differ from eachother in many aspects. Some fantasy leagues start you with a couple of pitchers; while others start you with no players at all. Make sure you also know which stats influence your score in your fantasy league. You may invest in a team heavy in pitching stats and later realize your league supports hitters much more well. Remember to study your fantasy league along with your players.

5. Develop a strategy.

Knowing who you're going to choose and when you're going to choose is very important in fantasy drafting. A good strategy is one that has many options and different points in the draft, as things never go exactly as one plans in fantasy leagues. Don't have your plan be too linear; this leads to unnecessary picks and taking too many risks. Plans are vital in fantasy drafts.

6. Pay attention every round.

It is possible that a star player goes unnoticed and unpicked to late rounds in fantasy leagues. It is very important to pay attention to all star players, as many of them could improve your fantasy league rankings. If the opportunity presents itself, you may nab yourself a star player in the later rounds simply because you were the one paying attention to all of the players in the fantasy draft.

7. Have solid picks in shallow spots

It is very important to pick a player that you want early in spots with little talent such as DH and infield positions. This is vital as experienced players in fantasy leagues recognize which holes need to be filled in their roster, and fill them immediately. You can't expect to succeed in fantasy leagues with scrubs in various positions because they were shallow.

8. Know thy injuries

Certain players are prone to injury. Assume that once a player undergoes a serious injury, he is likely to become injured again. The key to picking injured players in fantasy drafts is the cost. If you are paying too much for an injury-prone player this is likely a poor pick. If you can nab a injury-prone yet still above average player in the later rounds, you may have just taken a risk that will greatly help your team.

9. Don't look too deeply into the off-season

Many times an average or below average player will look amazing during spring training only to not fulfill expectations in the regular season. Yes, it is important to watch spring training; but do not let this be your deciding factor in your fantasy draft. Track spring training stats but don't let them sway you strongly in your fantasy league.

10. Stay calm

The most important thing of all in fantasy drafting is to stay calm. If all of your first and second rounds picks are getting taken it is necessary to stay calm and move on to your backup plan. Remember that it is almost impossible to have everything go your way in fantasy baseball drafting.

Sites that may help you in your quest:

Mlb.com

http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/baseball

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1