Fantasy Baseball 101

	Apple iPhone

	What is Fantasy Baseball? Fantasy Baseball  is a game whereby people manage imaginary baseball teams based on the real-life performance of baseball players, and compete against one another using those players' statistics. A fantasy baseball leauge is formed by 8 to 12 "team owners". These owners draft real MLB players to create their fantasy team.  The statistics these players generate in their real games are collected, and fantasy points are awarded based on these numbers - the better a player performs, the more fantasy points he accrues for his owner's team. In fantasy baseball, these points determine a winner in either a rotisserie league or a weekly head-to-head matchup of two of the league's teams. The team that accumulates the most points or victories over the course of the season -- and in the case of head-to-head, prevails in the fantasy postseason -- is declared the league winner. There are many variations in fantasy baseball. We will discuss the most common rules used in fantasy baseball. Draft Types Before the MLB season starts, team owners take turns drafting players for their teams. The two most common draft types are autopick/list drafts and live drafts.   Autopick/List Drafts: For an autopick/list draft, team owners pre-rank players in a draft list. During the draft the owner's highest ranked player on his list that isn't already selected is drafted. Since this draft is automated, team owners do not have to be present during this draft.   Live Drafts: All team owners must be present during a live draft. The internet has allowed owners from all over the world to gather and participate in "live" drafts. During the live draft owners take turns selecting players one at a time until their rosters are filled.   Salary Cap: This style of play is different because team owners pick players based on a salary cap instead of drafting  players one at a time. MLB players are assigned a salary value (based on fantasy value, not their actual real life contract salary.) Owners can add any player to their roster as long as their roster remains under a certain salary cap Scoring Systems During the fantasy baseball season, teams accumulate points based on their players' current seasonal statistics. Leagues can choose which statistical catagories will be used to score points. Here are the most common scoring sytems:   5x5 Scoring Batting Category Pitching Category Batting Average Wins Runs Scored Saves Runs Batted In Strikeouts Home Runs Earned Run Average Stolen Bases WHIP [(walks+hits)/innings pitched] Traditional Scoring Batting Category Pitching Category Batting Average Wins Runs Batted In Saves Home Runs Earned Run Average Stolen Bases WHIP [(walks+hits)/innings pitched] Sabermetrics Scoring Batting Category Pitching Category Runs Scored Wins Runs Batted In Saves On Base % Earned Run Average Slugging % WHIP [(walks+hits)/innings pitched] Fantasy Baseball Websites Ready to play? Here are our top websites to join a fantasy baseball league. ESPN Cost per team: $29.95 League prize: T-shirt Overall prize: TV Draft: List & live Transactions: Daily CBS Sportsline Cost per team: Free - $499.95 League Prize: $150 - $3500 Drafts: Live Transactions: Weekly CDM Cost per team: Free - $39.95 League prize: $100 - $750 Overall prize: $3000 - $25,000 Draft: Salary cap Transactions: Weekly