Today I would like to introduce Paul Greco from the site Fantasy Baseball Guy. He has been a great friend to me while getting this site going. If you have never been to his site, take the time and check it out. While you are there, pick up his FREE, yes FREE draft kit that has tons of valuable information in it. I had asked Paul to contribute a guest article on winning a roto style league, and here is what he has to say:

Thump-thump Thump-thump!!! You hear that? Of course you do. It’s your heart pounding moments before your draft. Thoughts run through your head, “Am I really ready? Who do I pick? Is that guy still in the league?.”

The guys sitting across from you, you know, your “buddies”, are now your mortal enemies for the next three hours. That’s not your biggest fear though is it? It’s the thought of calling out that one guy who’s either retired, playing in Japan or lost to a season ending injury; and your buddies calling you out for it.

Preparation is the key to any draft. In Roto style leagues, rules can be differ Do you know yours? Is it a 4×4, 5×5 or even a 6×6 league? A silly question for some, but for other Fantasy Baseball Owners an obvious, “I don’t know.”

I’ve received many e-mails since fantasybaseballguy.com came online in January about preparing for Roto style drafts and leagues. The most common e-mails I receive sound kind of like this:

Dear Fantasy Baseball Guy,

I’m new/veteran to Fantasy Baseball and was wondering what your thoughts were on the best strategy for my Roto style league? Can you please give me some advice?

The New / Vet Guy

Before I voice my opinion on what I believe wins a Roto style league, let me offer this quick piece of advice before you read on. I’d recommend looking over other “Experts” advice on Roto style leagues before coming to your own conclusion on what you believe will win your league. Don’t only rely on one persons opinion, do the research, and come up with your own style/method you believe will make you a winner. Just think about the satisfaction you'’ll feel because you came to your own conclusion on how to win your Roto style league. It’ll be like dancing in the meadow on a warm spring day.

Enough mushy stuff, lets get to what will make you win your Roto style league.

For argument sake, I’ll be using the 5×5 point system, in a 12 team league. What does that mean?

You’ll score points in the following Batters and Pitchers statistical categories:

Batters:

Batting Average, Home Runs, Runs Batted In, Runs Scored, Stolen Bases

Pitchers:

Wins, Earn Run Average, Wins + Hits / Innings Pitched, Strikeouts, Saves

Now that we’re all on the same page, lets continue.

I’m going to start with the draft only because, as you’ve done your research, you’ve probably read about the idea of punting categories. What does punting a category mean in baseball, simply put, you leave a category out when drafting your team. Some Fantasy Baseball Owners punt steals, while other punt saves. I will say this, I don’t believe in punting categories, and here’s why.

In your 12 team league, you can receive a maximum of 144 points, if you win all 12 statistical categories. That’s pretty unlikely to happen.

Lets look at this realistically now. To win your league, you’ll probably have to score a total of 90 points. That means you’ll have to average, at a minimum, 4^th place in all 10 categories. (4^th place receives 9 points for all 10 categories – 9 points x 10 categories = 90 total points)

If you punt a category, lets say saves, you’ll receive 1 point for that category for the season. You’re now going to have to make up 8 points over the other 9 categories, which can be very tough.

To reiterate what I stated above, I don’t believe in punting categories because it makes it a lot tougher to win your leagues.

Back to the draft. Here are the Fantasy Baseball Guys keys to success when drafting your Roto style team.

1) Balance Baby YA : Like I stated up above, you want to make sure that you’ve covered all 10 statistical categories during your draft. This will help you after the draft as well. You’ll be able to see where your team is weak, and make adjustments throughout the season

2) Find an Ace : Personally, the first 4-5 rounds of my drafts, I stack up on hitters. Depending on if a run on pitchers has occurred, you still have the opportunity to find an ace in the middle rounds. Your team will be much better with at least one ace on your pitching staff.

3) Stay Away From the Runs : You’ll see it starting. Five or six closers, or starting pitchers in a row. This is called, “The Runs.” Avoid the Runs at all cost. Stick to your plan of attack. If you see this happening, don’t be afraid to be the man who stops it. You came to the draft knowing what you want and when, so don’t deviate from your lists.

4) Flexibility is key : Find those guys that qualify at more then one position. If your league allows daily transactions, flexibility allows you to move players to the alternate positions. This will remove the handcuffs and allow you to play a player off your bench, giving you more of an opportunity to score points for your team.

5) Find the next American Idol : This is where you get to do your best impersonation of Simon, Randy or Paula. Late in your draft, you should be looking for that player you’ve deemed a sleeper or the “Next American Idol”. The players are out there. Every year some new comes out of the wood works. Image if you’re the owner who selected that player. That player now becomes the difference maker between winning and losing. Look, everyone knows about the studs, you should make it your mission to find the unknown.

Now that you’ve drafted your team using the Fantasy Baseball Guys keys to a successful draft, it’s now time to look ahead at how to make your team even stronger.

During the course of the season you’ll have several opportunities to improve your team. You can do it through the waiver wire or you can make a trade.

I compare searching the waiver wire in the middle of the season for a player to my mom bargain hunting at a garage sale. She’ll see a lot of crap and think it’s better then what she already has at home, but after having it in the house for a week or two, she decides to throw it away and put back the piece she replaced.

During the season the waiver wire is a crap shoot. You may get lucky here and there because a guy gets hurt, and you were the first to realize it. All in all though, there’s a reason why that guy’s on the waiver wire.

I’ve found that the best way to improve my teams throughout the course of the year is via a trade. Let me make this very clear, YOU HAVE TO GIVE IN ORDER TO GET!!! Don’t try to trade away your crap and expect to receive a pot of gold.

You’ll probably be strong in a couple of categories if you follow the Fantasy Baseball Guys keys to a successful draft. You now have the ability to trade away a guy who’s made you strong in one category in order to improve your weaker area(s). Don’t be afraid to move a stud to get a stud. It’s all apart of the game.

The final point I’d like to make is don’t cringe when you see your team drop a couple of points in the standings. In Roto style leagues ,this is going to happen several times throughout the year. Roll with the punches. Don’t have a heart attack if you wake up one morning and your team dropped five points in the standings. As quickly as you lost those points, you can get them back just as fast. Relax, evaluate your team, and see if your team needs improving. Remember, Fantasy Baseball is meant to be fun, and if you’re not having fun, maybe you should try playing another type of Fantasy game, like Fantasy WNBA. Get my point!!!

Paul Greco is the Fantasy Baseball Guy and is a guest writer. You can read more of the Fantasy Baseball Guy’s articles at www.fantasybaseballguy.com or e-mail Paul at paulgreco@fantasybaseballguy.com.