Fantasy Baseball 2018: Explaining the different league types

There are four main scoring types in fantasy baseball. How do you which one is best for you and your league?

Fantasy baseball is a fantasy game unlike any other. You can have anywhere from eight to 20 teams in a league. The rosters can be changed a myriad of ways. The pool of players can be split in half for AL- or NL-only leagues. The big league modifier is the scoring system.

Depending on where you host your league, there are four major scoring systems. The scoring system your league uses can change your draft strategy completely. One player ranked as a third-round pick in a categories league could move up to a first rounder in a rotisserie league.

Your league commissioner can make the stats to whatever your league agrees on. I’ve said my piece on wins as a category. It isn’t a true tracker of a pitcher’s skill. Yes, the pitcher needs to last at least five innings and allow few runs to the opposing team. But, the pitcher’s offense has to score more runs and the bullpen needs to hold and secure the lead when the starter leaves.

I also like on-base percentage over average. OBP accounts for the hitters that walk a lot, like Joey Votto. You don’t need to use walks as its own category but it gives those batters a boost in value.

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So, what scoring system should you use for your league?

Head-to-head each category

This is the default for most fantasy baseball leagues. There are usually 10 categories, five for hitters and five for pitchers. The hitting categories are usually runs, home runs, RBIs, steals and batting average. The pitching ones are ERA, WHIP, wins, strikeouts and saves.

So, to the actual scoring. On a weekly basis, you go head-to-head with another owner in your league. At the end of the week, from Monday to Sunday, whoever has the most (insert stat here) wins that category.

Your record at the end can range from 0-10 to 10-0 based on how many categories you win. If you have a bad week, you can easily bounce back the next week and get back to .500 or higher.

I classify this as the beginner’s scoring system. It’s the easiest to keep track of.

Head-to-head most categories

This system is similar to the previous one but with one caveat. At the end of the scoring week, you either finish with a win or loss. If you win six of the 10 categories, you are 1-0, not 6-4.

This system is similar to fantasy football based on standings but you still draft a team to contribute to as many categories as possible. Some owners like to punt a category, like steals, in favor of stacking up for the others. It may be frowned upon but not illegal.

Points

Points leagues are becoming more popular because of its similarities to fantasy football. Like football, everything a player does has a point value. The actual points depend on your league’s settings.

By default, home runs are four points, RBIs are one, wins are five, etc. When drafting, you want to have to most players that will contribute to the highest-scoring stats. Points are accumulated throughout the season the owner with the most points at the end of the year wins the league. There usually isn’t a playoff for this league type, so it’s a race to the end of the finish line.

Rotisserie

This is my personal favorite scoring system. However many categories your league has, each other is ranked best to worst in each one.

Let’s use 10 teams and 10 categories as the default for this one. You are first in home runs and RBI, second runs, fifth in average and sixth in steals for the hitting categories and third in wins (ugh), fourth in ERA and WHIP, second in strikeouts and seventh in saves for pitching at the end of May.

With the way scoring works, you have a great team for one and 75 of a possible 100 points. That may be good enough for first place or there might be a team or two ahead of you in the standings.

The standings in roto leagues change on a daily basis based on how your and your opponents’ players perform. This also helps you keep track of what your team’s needs are and what you have too much of. This, like points league, does not have a true playoff. Whatever owner has the most points at the end is the winner.

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Now that you have the scoring down for each of the four formats, you have a better idea of what league you want to play in. If you want to play against everyone every day, join a points or roto league. If you want to go against someone different each week and have bragging rights, then you should join a head-to-head league.

Regardless of your league, the point is to have fun and win a championship. Good luck this season.

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