Time For Fantasy...Baseball

It's that time of year again. The weather is getting warmer, the rain is going away, and the grass seems a little greener. You guessed it...fantasy baseball is about to start. Unlike Major League Baseball, fantasy baseball starts as early as March.

Actually, if you're in a keeper or dynasty league, it's probably started years before. This is the time of the year where your average baseball fan becomes a general manager of his own team of players he wished he could manage in real life. It lets every Joe Schmo out there get to act out his dreams, even if only in a simulation world, by starting and benching players, trading a player to upgrade their team, and dropping aging veterans for recently called up rookies on a hot streak.

There are various ways a fantasy team could be created. Snake drafts tend to be the easiest to understand, especially for newcomers. That's where players pick in a predetermined order and then the person with the last pick in a particular round becomes the first pick in the next with others following in the reverse order of the previous round.

I particularly prefer live auction drafts. This is where you start with a budget and have to fill a roster within that budget by bidding on players called out during the auction. Without proper planning, a fantasy player could make or break his team before the season even starts. This is almost a game within a game, getting the players you want to build a team to your liking.

Unlike snake auction drafts where your only real strategy is having a back up if a player you wanted is drafted before you can get to them, a live auction draft has multiple strategies that players use. Some up bid on players they don't want, so their opponents have to spend more money on players they wanted. Some players sneak bids in at the last second to steal players they were hoping for. Other strategies exist, but every player has their own method.

Keeper and dynasty leagues give a real sense of ownership. Owners get to keep a predetermined amount of players for multiple seasons. Hit it right with a rookie and you could be set at a particular position for years.

Fantasy baseball may seem silly to some, but for others, especially the hardcore types, it's a way to stake a form of ownership on your favorite players and feel like you're a part of the game itself. Bonus for those who earn money at the end of the season in rewards for placing in their league.