Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy: Easiest Ways to Win Your League

Winning in fantasy sports feels better than watching your favorite team claim a championship.

It gives you a feeling of accomplishment because you were the one that put the whole thing together on draft day. 

It is not an easy task to claim victory in your fantasy league, because everyone else playing is (presumably) as smart as you. That's not always the case, as there will tend to be trolls who don't know what they are doing. 

However, there are some easy tips that you can follow to ensure that you come out on top at the end of the season. 

Don't Over-think Every Pick

One of the biggest problems that most players run into when making picks is their mind.

You plan the entire draft out before it happens, which means that you will be afraid to deviate from what you want to do. 

Forget all that. 

No draft is going to go play out the way that you expect it to, so you can't get your mind set on anything.

Be free and open to what everyone else gives to you. Life will be much easier if you handle it that way. 

Don't Reach For Anyone

Even if you are 100 percent convinced that Freddy Sanchez is going to be a stud in 2012, that is no excuse to draft him five rounds ahead of where he should be taken. 

Reaching on players is one of the most egregious sins that fantasy players make, especially in baseball.

You watch all these (meaningless) spring training games, and are so sure that some random player is going to be a star that you have to get him before anyone else does. 

Stop that!

When you go over-slot on draft picks, you will get burned more often than not.

It is acceptable to take rookies perhaps one round sooner than anyone else would, but that is the only exception to the rule. 

Don't try to play magical analyst to make everyone else look foolish, because odds are good the egg will be on your face. 

Wait on Relief Pitchers/Closers

Mariano Rivera is the best closer in baseball history. Fantasy owners are going to overpay to make sure that he ends up on their team because he is going to get 35-40 saves with an ERA around 2.00 and a WHIP less than 1.00. 

The problem is that you will end up missing out on that great catcher you really need because you are so concerned about your save total. 

Much like in reality, saves are the easiest thing to replace in fantasy baseball. Closers will shuffle in and out of the role so many times for so many teams that there is no reason to go after one before the 10th round. 

Their ERA might be a little higher than what you will get from someone like Rivera, Craig Kimbrel or Ryan Madson but the value will be significantly better. 

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