The Do’s and Don’ts of Fantasy Baseball Draft Preparation

Jenny Butler breaks down how to win fantasy baseball drafts. Read her draft prep tips, and her Do’s and Don’ts of fantasy baseball for draft strategy.

Good draft preparation is one of the most important factors in winning a fantasy baseball league. With so many great resources and advanced stats out there, it’s difficult to know what to do.

I’ve put together a list of do’s and don’ts for fantasy baseball draft prep to help you prepare for the 2023 draft season.

If you follow these simple guidelines, it should help take the guesswork out of your fantasy drafts!

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DO use the amazing tools that are available to you

The fantasy baseball community has developed lots of valuable tools in recent years. They can be great time savers during draft prep:

ADP: While it’s not a good idea to draft from an ADP list exclusively, ADP is still an important tool. Comparing a projections system or your rankings to ADP can help to identify players to target or avoid. You can see all of fantasy baseball ADP data and make comparisons between the various platforms, but I like using the NFBC ADP because it allows the user to filter the ADP data and date. It’s important to use these filters if you can to get the most applicable ADP to your draft.

Projections: I find that the biggest advantage of using projections is that they are doing a lot of the heavy lifting for me. Many of the stats that we are reviewing when we do a deep dive on a player are already factored into the projections, so I am free to spend my time looking at other things. Projections are also factoring in a lot of things besides player skills, like rules changes, schedule changes, and ballpark factors.

Draft software: Several sites (including RotoBaller!) have draft assistant tools that will help you during your draft. These tools will help you monitor your draft, view the best available players, and see your team’s needs as the draft progresses.

DON’T spend time on things that aren’t adding value

This one is really about knowing your strengths and weaknesses. When I started playing in higher-stakes fantasy baseball leagues, I felt like I needed to deep dive into every player and learn every new stat to be legitimate. I spent all of my draft prep time digging into every player starting with catchers and moving through each position.

As the draft date approached, I fell behind and often wouldn’t make it through the entire player pool before I had to draft. I wasn’t able to spend any time on big-picture items, like roster construction. I also didn’t feel like my extensive research was really adding anything to the available projections.

If doing a deep dive on players is truly providing value and you have the time to do it, then do it! If you want to use one of the great projection systems out there, one way to customize them is to manually adjust the playing time and use a spreadsheet to recalculate the adjusted stats.

DO re-evaluate your draft strategy each season

If you’ve been playing fantasy baseball for several years, it can be easy to fall back into the same draft strategies season after season. For example, if you’ve never drafted closers in the early rounds, it can be easy to reinforce that opinion by looking only at the busts amongst early closers and convincing yourself that you were right. It’s important to take a look at the bigger picture when evaluating the success or failure of any draft strategy.

Another reason to evolve your draft strategy is the game itself has been changing. Many years ago, there were only a few shortstops that didn’t actively hurt your team. In 2019, any hitter with moderate power could hit 20 home runs. The rule changes in 2023 could shift the balance again. If your draft strategy doesn’t evolve as the game evolves, you’ll be left behind.

DON’T let your biases influence your player evaluation

Did Lucas Giolito sink your pitching stats in 2022? Did Jake McCarthy save your season with 21 stolen bases in the second half? It’s easy to let your past experiences impact your opinion of a player.

When looking a little deeper, it’s easy to see what we want to see. Advanced stats can be used to support the case either for or against a player. This is where projections can be helpful. Block out the name and see what the projections are telling you.

Alternatively, take a closer look at places where you may have a hole in your coverage. For example, players that weren’t on any of your teams in 2022 could fall through the cracks. If you play fantasy football, players that emerged in September may have gone unnoticed.

DON’T get hyper-focused on the first few rounds

Too often, fantasy baseball analysis focuses on the top 100 players. Why not? They’re the best players, and the most fun to talk about! As much as you can, pull yourself away from the top few rounds, and focus on the back half of your draft.

These are the players that will fill your CI, MI, and the last OF spot, and they’ll contribute just as much to your overall stats as the studs at the top. It’s also possible to miss out on your primary targets at a position, so it’d be good to have alternative targets later. Look through the ADP and find some players to target. The stats and positions that those players provide can be used to formulate a plan for the early rounds.

Along the same lines, take some time to plan how you will build your bench. The bench spots can be used to back up weak spots in positions or categories. They can also be used to stash prospects or potential closers. It’s important not to use too many bench spots for stashing players that you can’t use every week. Injuries will inevitably find you, and you’ll need to make room.

DO plan for draft day

If you’re using draft software, make sure that you’ve practiced with it before the draft starts. If your league has moved to a new site, check out the draft room ahead of time. If you’re using a spreadsheet, hide any extra columns and use conditional formatting to make viewing easier. You’ll want to make sure that you have access to all the information that you need without becoming overwhelmed.

DON’T draft too many teams

Fantasy baseball leagues are like tattoos – once you get one, you just want more. It’s easy to get carried away during the draft season. You owe it to yourself and the other managers in the league to keep it manageable. If FAAB leagues are too much, draft and hold leagues can lighten the load. Best ball leagues involve no in-season work and can be a great source for draft prep.

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