How to know when you are NOT ready for your fantasy baseball draft.

Some people think fantasy baseball leagues are won or lost in the draft room. That’s probably being overly dramatic as auditing thousands of past leagues have shown that the draft is only responsible for 51-62% of your end-of-season success (or failure).

But while it’s hyperbole to say the draft is where leagues are won or lost, it certainly is foolish to not be prepared for the 2 hours (or a fortnight if you auction draft) that is still more than half responsible for your end result. Yet, year-after-year guys show up to their fantasy baseball drafts unprepared and unequipped to draft.

Below are 4 ways to know you are NOT ready for your fantasy baseball draft.

1. You’re planning on bringing 3 magazines and a stack of papers with you to draft day. If we’re ever drafting together and you walk in carrying a fantasy baseball magazine, intending to use that as your “cheat sheet”, then I’m going to begin making fun of you immediately. I mean, it’s full on heckle you out of the room, making you run home crying.Look, magazines are fine (if not necessarily current and up-to-date), but you need to prepare based your individual league settings and play styles. The purpose of a fantasy baseball magazine is to entertain (to sell more magazines), not necessarily inform, and the magazine certainly doesn’t know your individual league settings and league play style. If you come into the draft with a magazine you just plucked off the news rack, you are NOT ready for your fantasy baseball draft.
2. You don’t know your league settings. I criticized fantasy baseball magazines because they don’t know your league settings. So why is it important to know your league settings?Innings limits, positional eligibility, scoring categories, and even knowing the guys you are playing against, are all important to understand and plan for going into your fantasy baseball draft. Does you league have additional scoring categories outside the traditional 5×5? Is so, you better bet that this changes which players to target in the draft. Does your league use 2 catchers or identify outfield position independently? If so, it changes the players you need to target in your draft. Does your league have an innings minim or maximum? Are there other owners that will target their favorite team’s players? Heck, have you checked is it’s a roto or head-to-head league?I can’t tell you how many guys come into the draft not knowing the settings of the league they are drafting for and it puts them at a severe disadvantage. Learn the rules! If you come into your draft without knowing your league’s settings are are NOT ready to draft.
3. You don’t know what your targets are. Don’t just draft a bunch of players to fill a roster. You need to have an intentional plan which includes setting target goals for each scoring category. Roto is a game of balance, patience and wiles. You don’t get a bonus for having 1000 more home runs than the other teams. It’s hard to win without balance or by punting categories.I’ve written on this extensively before, so I’ll send you there. But the point is that you need to go into the draft with certain targets in mind that allow you to be competitive in your league. Have 150 steals won that category the past couple of years? Then that’s your target and you need to draft a collection players whose skill on the basepaths should give you about 150 steals for the season. Has a WHIP around 1.20 been adequate in the past? Then there is your target skillset for the pitchers you draft. The point is that you are NOT ready for your fantasy baseball draft if you haven’t set a target for the team you’ll draft.
4. You don’t have a plan B for each position. I shouldn’t have to point this out, but the other guys in your league aren’t going to just roll over and give you the players you want. They might have their eye on the same guy and snatch him away from you.  If you put all your eggs in one basket you’ll be scrambled because the other owners won’t hand you the draft over easy (you’ll catch up to those puns).Plan for your A team, the collection of guys that best meet your target, but come prepared to take what the draft gives you, which means you need a back-up plan B, C, D, and maybe E in the draft room. Plus, knowing these deep guys is where you can often sneak out some value late in the draft. But you are NOT ready to draft if you have one guy and one guy alone that you are targeting at a particular position. So pour through some numbers, consult a Draft Kit, and go out and watch some real flesh and blood baseball, maybe catching a Spring Training game.
5. You don’t have a strategy. I admit that strategy is a fluid thing and sometimes the best fantasy baseball strategy is to roll with the punches. But while it is harmful to be locked into one particular strategy, it is more harmful to walk into a draft with no strategy in mind.Here, take a break and read some of these. That links to hundreds of posts talking strategy. You won’t need that many, but do give some thought and research as to what strategy you will employ. Heavy on hitting or pitching? Punting steals? LIMA? MRI? Stars and scrubs?  It doesn’t matter, they all have strengths and weaknesses, but you do need to draft with some strategy in mind, and you are NOT ready for your fantasy baseball draft without a strategy in mind.

I realize that 1-5 above means that you have a few hours of research ahead of you. But believe me when I tell you that the guys are win your fantasy baseball leagues each year are treating it as a year-round endeavor. They are coming prepared, so you can’t just waltz in and not be ready. The thing that is gravy is that we are talking about baseball!  Several hours of baseball research is time best spent.