While I certainly enjoy the day-to-day managing of my fantasy teams, I consider drafting to be the most enjoyable aspect of the fantasy experience. Over the years, I have learned a number of techniques that help me to get out of the gate quickly and hopefully contend for first place all season long. Here are those tips.

1. Know your league rules. I cannot stress this point enough. If you don’t understand how points are accumulated in your league, you will not have the chance to win, except by sheer luck. While I have enjoyed my fair share of luck in the past, I like to believe it was my preparation that made the fortuitous results possible. Does your league use a roto or head-to-head set-up? Do you need to set your team roster once a week or daily? If weekly, what day of the week is your roster due? Does your league use a DH only slot (if so, draft one early or be prepared to lose stats all season long for that position)? Is your league based on 4×4, 5×5, or some other statistical set-up (i.e., do you get points for fielding, lose points for strikeouts by hitters or losses by pitchers)? Study your league settings so you can draft accordingly.
2. Research. Read everything you possibly can before the draft. Although I personally have not used a publication that I bought at the bookstore for years, feel free to do so if it gives you comfort. I prefer to use online resources because of the timeliness of the information. In a related vein, don’t rely on just one source for your information, unless you have utmost faith in that source. For example, for a couple of years I used the cheat sheets prepared by Matthew Berry’s Talented Mr. Roto website almost exclusively with superior results. That site no longer exists and thus I now peruse several websites for my information. (Anyone interested in my sources, I will be glad to make them available if you contact me through the Fantasy Gameday site.)
3. Prepare your own cheat sheets. Similarly, you should adjust any cheat sheet information to fit your league’s particular settings and idiosyncrasies. I like to rank my cheat sheets into tiers, so that I know approximately where a player should be drafted. I don’t want to take a player too early, and I love finding a bargain because some player has fallen a couple or three rounds beyond where I projected his draft position. For example, I am seeing Ryan Braun going in the first or early second round, which I think is too high. On the other side of the coin, I’ve seen Cory Hart fall to the 7^th or 8^th round, where he is an absolute steal in my opinion. I take this information, plug it into my tiered cheat sheet and wait for the bargains to fall to me.
4. Participate in mock drafts. There is no better way to get the feel for how the players are being evaluated than to see what other fantasy players do in a draft situation. Mock drafts on Mock Draft Central or ESPN will provide a real sense of how the various players are being valued by others. Plus, mock drafts give you a good sense of timing. If you are new to fantasy baseball, the draft process can overwhelm you, but by having several mock drafts under your belt, you will feel more confident, with a better sense of how long you have to make your selections and what you should do in between picks. (I advise that you review what players are being drafted and by whom, rather than grabbing another beer from the refrigerator, but to each his own.)
5. Develop your own draft strategy. While I have never embraced the “punt a category” strategy, maybe that works for you and you’ll forego drafting players that provide steals, or strikeouts. Maybe you believe having a superior pitching staff will win your league (this works in a lot of head-to-head leagues, actually, so long as you get sufficient power hitters as well) and figure there are plenty of hitters available in the later rounds. Or you want to snap up what you perceive as the best 3 or 4 relievers so you corner the market on saves (by the way, my belief is not to overvalue saves, as the closer role fluctuates so wildly during the season). Perhaps you simply take the best available player throughout the draft regardless of position scarcity or team needs. Whatever your strategy, know it going into the first round and follow through. Personally, I try to adjust to the dynamics of any particular draft as it develops, but if having a set plan makes you more comfortable, more power to you.
6. Don’t overvalue “sleepers” or rookies. These players are sleepers because they don’t have a proven record yet. Likewise, a rookie may have torn up Triple A, but the Majors are a different animal. Look at Alex Gordon of the Royals in 2007. He was touted as a “can’t miss” stud, and while he did start for the Royals, he didn’t put up anything special until the last month-and-a-half/two months of the season. Ryan Braun was the exception, not the rule.
7. Avoid the often-injured veteran. You want your starters to play as much as possible. Players that consistently spend time on the DL leave you scrambling for replacements on the waiver wire or from the free agent lists. Consistency is the key to winning at fantasy baseball, whether in a roto or head-to-head league. If your starting OF is sitting on the DL for significant parts of the season, your team will suffer. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t draft Ken Griffey, Jr., Chipper Jones or Randy Johnson, just make sure you get a quality replacement for your bench, or better yet, draft the injury prone for your bench.

I hope these tips help you prosper during the upcoming draft season. If you play against me in a league, I wish you luck short of winning. To the rest of the readers, hope to see you reach the winner’s circle.