Designing Your Fantasy Baseball League: Weekly Vs. Daily Transactions

There are many ways to setup a fantasy league.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll go over the pros and cons of all of your different options so you can setup your league the way that you and your league mates will enjoy it most.

Should you allow free agent pickups/lineup transactions on a weekly or daily basis?  I’ve spent a lot of time playing both formats, so let’s take a look at what works and doesn’t for each:

Daily Transactions

Pros

• If you have an injury midweek, it is easy to replace because you can quickly go pick up a replacement.
• You have the ability to go pitch-and-ditch, especially down the stretch if you need to get as many starts as possible.
• More flexibility in playing match-ups. If you have a hitter that you know generally hits well against a pitcher, you can use him for just that one game.
• Gives owners the feeling of being more involved, since you have the ability to adjust things on a daily basis.

Cons

• You have to be paying attention every single day, because your opponents likely will be. If your opponent is maximizing his innings or games played by shuffling things for off days and you’re not, it is going to be tough to compete in the counting stats (HR, RBI, K, etc.).
• Timing is everything. If you happen to be on your computer at the right time, or if you are someone who lives on the internet, you have the advantage of getting free agents as soon as news breaks. This comes into play for things like injuries or change in closers, for example.

Weekly Transactions

Pros

• Evens the playing field. You don’t have to be as vigilant monitoring your team, because you can’t make any changes anyways. An owner who is able to be on their computer every waking moment doesn’t have an advantage grabbing free agents.
• Increases strategy. Do you roll the dice on a “lesser” pitcher who happens to have two favorable match-ups in a given week? It’s an added twist that you don’t get with the simple pitch-and-ditch, one-and-done theory of daily leagues.

Cons

• If you suffer an injury early in the week, you have a virtual empty roster spot the rest of the week.
• The timing of news can have a major impact. If you are unsure if one of your players will be able to go or not and opt to have him on the bench, you could miss out on several games from one of your better players. In a daily league, you likely miss out on just one game.
• Owners may feel more “hands-off”, since once you set your lineup at the beginning of the week, there’s nothing you can do.
• Middle relievers may not hold as much value (depending on your format). Without the ability to move players in and out depending on off days, why gamble on a pitcher who may only give you an inning or two in the week when you can put in a starter who you know is going to pitch?

My opinion

I’ve always been a bigger fan of weekly leagues, because it does even the playing field a bit and allows you to miss a day or two here or there.  I’m an owner that is involved on a daily basis, but you can’t expect your entire league to be like that.

What are your thoughts?  Which league format do you enjoy most?  What do you see as the pros and cons of each?

Make sure to order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here .

Make sure to check out our 2010 rankings:

• Catchers
• First Basemen
• Second Basemen
• Third Basemen
• Shortstops
• Designated Hitters
• Outfielders
• Starting Pitchers
• Closers

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