Fantasy Baseball: Hitters, Relievers, the Waiver Wire, and so Much More

In-Season Strategies You May Want to Consider

I won. Twice. Yeah, last season I went 2-for-2 in my Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues, both 10-team, Head-to-Head leagues.

Guess what? It hasn't helped me much.

The allure of fantasy baseball is that anyone can begin playing, and with a bit of luck, anyone can win. Twice on the path to the finals in one league, I tied 6-6 for the week, but my ERA was just lower than my opponent's, so I advanced. One more run given up, and my season would've ended.

However, now's not the time to be thinking championship. It's early, still time to jockey for position. So if you want to make a run towards the top, no matter if you're in a Head-to-Head or Rotisserie league (I play both now....sheesh!), here's a few ways to do just that, by taking advantage of slow/hot starts, or playing the waiver wire just right.

First off, you need to assess your weaknesses. This is easily done- just find the page where all the stats are listed (usually one click away form the "standings page"). In Roto leagues, this is huge, because everything is constantly shifting with the standings. Are you severely lacking in the saves department in a roto league,? Now's the time to jump into the middle of that pack and pick up a few points. Do your opponents keep embarrassing your lineup in the SB department week after week? That's fine. You're reading the right article.

Okay, so we're going to divvy this up between pitching and hitting.

Hitters are finicky sometimes. Take Nate McClouth. He's been ridiculous thus far in 2008, scoring 24 times, hitting 7 bombs, 25 RBIs, and a .330 average. What to do? He's in Pittsburgh's lineup, which hurts the stock, and before this month I'd never even heard of the guy. But do you sell high, or ride this out and hope for a big year? It's a risk either way. And by the way, I'd probably keep riding this wave, but don't expect top-5 numbers for the year. Maybe top-50 or 75, though.

Now, there's a few ways to attack a hitting problem. You can punt a category or two (concede you'll never win that category and concentrate on the others), or maybe there will be a hidden gem somewhere that turns up. There is always the sell high option. Or buy low. So let's see what's available.