Survival Guide for the Fantasy Baseball Player

Love is in the air tomorrow is it not? Sure, some under-dressed infant kid will be running around with no regard for human safety while he shoots arrows at folks, but I'm off in a totally different universe. Tomorrow, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training and the long, hard winter finally starts to look like it's behind us.

As traditional as Spring Training is, so too is the undertaking of fantasy baseball leagues. With that in mind, I am offering up the Third Annual Survival Guide For The Fantasy Baseball Player. As the seasons have passed, I have learned from my experience and wish to help pass on what I have gained. For some, this will be old knowledge, but it may help others out, so in the end, it is worth the time and effort.

So without further lead-up, I present:

Survival Hints for The Fantasy Baseball Player

10.) Always Do Your Homework
Taking the time to run some mock drafts and seeing the demand on certain players before you head into a real draft is beneficial beyond belief. Every good poker player would die for the ability to see how the cards are going to fall before the game is played, and you shouldn't handle a fantasy baseball draft any lighter.

9.) Don't Stick to The Good Old Boys
Drafting for names of players and their glorious pasts will get you into a quick hole. Luckily, the season is long and you can dig yourself out over time, but you can never get the early picks back, so don't spend them on over the hill or declining players who you expect to turn it around. The early rounds are for sure things, not gambles.

8.) Know Position Depth
Knowing how deep a position is in talent is the ultimate sign of a good fantasy baseball manager. Some positions are thinner than others and as such, deserve earlier attention for the elite players who play them. Know what positions you can let slide until later in the draft in order to get a leg up on your competition in thinner slots.

7.) Don't believe the Hype
One year, I drafted with a guy that filled his roster half full of rookies that literally were torn from the Top Prospects lists. Fortunately for me, half those players won't be on everyday rosters when the season opens up. Weigh the chances a rookie has of making the roster out of Spring Training before committing a roster spot. Keep the ones that won't on a Watch list, allowing you to keep tabs on them when they get called up and snap them up then if you have a spot. These guys will make better waiver claims than draft chances, just ask guys that won with Ryan Braun a year ago or the guys that lost with Alex Gordon or Dallas McPherson the last two.

6.) Keep Yourself Updated
Let's face it, we all live in the Internet age, and as such, information is readily available at our finger tips. That being said, your opponents are all watching for which closers are losing their jobs, which ones are taking their places, what rookies are getting the call-up,who got hurt, what players are being moved, and who is hot or cold. Every league is won by a manager that plays the waiver line like a fiddle, and knowing the information before your opponents is the key to being that guy.

5.) Know The Opposing Teams Strengths and Weaknesses
This holds true during the draft and during the season. During the draft you may want to pass on someone hoping he'll slide to your next pick. Before you do this, know what the next few picks are going to be looking for or that player won't be around when it comes back around.

During the season, this is the ultimate trade secret. By knowing what your opponents need and what excess you have, it makes it easier for them to except what you want to give them. This will enable you to make solid trade offers that will score you solid talent, but will also benefit your trade partner, which means they'll be more apt to trade with you at a later date as well.

4.) Stay Active in Your League
Last season was the first time I actually served as commissioner of a league. One of the biggest complaints I heard was managers who either weren't active or gave up and dumped players on the waivers for all to have. When setting up my leagues this season, I made sure to invite the folks that stayed true to themselves and their opponents, by sticking it out and playing the entire season. A sprinter doesn't pull up 3/4 of the way through a race and neither should any self respecting fantasy player. Finish what you started.

3.) Don't Stand Pat on Your Roster
Unless your league has a transaction limit, change is good. Baseball more than any other game is unpredictable. Players endure slumps and people get hurt, but your team doesn't have to pay for it. Use your DL slots and the league waivers to keep your team at top condition. This is most important at the end of the season, as teams will sit players to rest them for the post season or to give rookies a shot, especially if they are out of contention. During the final 4 weeks of the season when our playoffs were played, I watched one owner turn over his entire pitching staff daily to add pitchers with scheduled starts the next day. Despite the fact that I ran away with the regular season's best record by 12 games, he used this strategy to eliminate me in the first round and later take the championship.

2.) Don't Play The Team Game
Fantasy Baseball is all about individual stats. I've seen too many teams get buried because they spent too many spots on players from the same team. When those teams are off, have a bad match-up, or simply are playing horribly, you're screwed. Variety is a good thing. Adding to that point, don't shun players simply because they play for your least favorite team either. Remember, there are no uniforms in fantasy baseball, only names and stats.

1.) Have Fun
You can be a competitive person and still have fun, just don't irritate the other players. The same can be said if you are not a first place team, don't quit or become the Florida Marlins and sell everyone off, you still have a say in how things work out for the rest of the league. Interact with the other managers in your league, engaging in friendly banter or taunting. This will keep the league loose for the entire season and will ensure that you'll be invited back next season.

Do you have any you'd like to add to the fray? While passing on what I've learned, I'm also willing to soak up any extra pointers other players out there have. I hope you enjoyed this and here's to the best words of the week:

Pitcher and Catchers Report!