Selecting A Fantasy League: Important Rules To Consider

This year, I looked for a new fantasy baseball site to play my leagues. I ended up picking the heavily advertised CBSSportsline.com to host my leagues. Even though I have had a fairly enjoyable experience playing in their leagues, there are a few things that you should consider before you sign up to play their leagues (or any fantasy baseball league, for that matter).

First, there are no inning limits in my leagues. The CBS default setup for their rotisserie leagues includes inning minimums, but no inning maximums. Therefore, this can cause a major problem when you are attempting to compete in a fair manner at your league!

For owners who fall behind in the main pitching categories, they pick up and drop starters every day to add to their wins and strikeout totals. Obviously, this adversely affects their ratios (ERA and WHIP), but even those can be kept down with careful pitching selections.

This is great if you are a super-active fantasy baseball owner, but it would involve more strategy if everyone was on a strict innings limit!

Another way you can insure limited innings is through the limiting of roster moves. If fantasy owners know that their transaction numbers are limited, they won’t go overboard with free agent additions and streaming starters. Like limiting innings directly, this has a significant effect on the standings and the overall competition in your league.

Roster moves are the key to winning any fantasy league, so look to see if your league makes use of waivers. If dropped players become free agents immediately, it can increase the potential for collusion between two owners. Waivers can be nice, as it gives every owner a fair chance to put a claim in on a potentially great talent.

On another note, be sure that you are aware of the trade deadline set for your league. The trade deadline is something that is usually set by the league commissioner, and can play an important part in the stretch run in your league. In my league this year, our trade deadline was exceptionally late, and some lopsided trades got through without vetoes!