It has been another great summer of fantasy baseball! I am certainly not done with my 2010 fantasy baseball season. But I am planning for 2011 already. One of the ways I prepare for 2011 is by looking at my current teams and their 2010 performances. What I really mean is that I judge MY performance as a fantasy baseball team manager over the season.

Unlike many owners, I do not believe that I win or lose a season based on the performance of my team’s players. Their jobs as players are to hit, run, pitch and catch. My job as a fantasy team manager is to analyze their performance and figure out which players are going to get me the best numbers regardless of their name.

The stats are out there for the taking. Every baseball season has hitters with 30 or more home runs and pitchers who can strike out 200 or more batters. Every team in your league let Jose Bautista slip through their grasp in the first several rounds this season. Of course hindsight is always 20/20. As fantasy baseball team owners we have to find those players and their stats in order to win our league.

If you wanted a first base eligible player who could have potentially hit 35 home runs, 100 RBI with a .300 batting average you may have drafted Pablo Sandoval or Prince Fielder. The Kung Fu Panda has struggled to hit 12 / 58 / .273 and the Fresh Prince sits at 28 / 69 / 269 at the time I wrote this. It is doubtful they will pick up the stats in September to reach the numbers we expected. As a result many of us probably consider them underperformers for 2010 and blame them for poor fantasy team’s performance.

I would like to say that the underperformer was not Sandoval or Fielder (or any other major leaguer that didn’t live up to their pre-season expectations). In the real world of MLB where they are paid millions of dollars the ‘underperformer’ tag is correctly applied. But in fantasy baseball the real underperformer was the manager who didn’t have the mindset to make a roster move.

Other first basemen like Joey Votto, Nick Swisher, Aubrey Huff and Daric Barton have posted better fantasy numbers than Sandoval, Fielder and even Ryan Howard. If those names don’t surprise you how about Paul Konerko and Adam LaRoche! To properly put this in perspective, ask yourself what it would have taken to draft LaRoche ahead of Fielder or Sandoval. No worries, I would not have done it either.

But, if you were in need of more HR and RBI how long did guys like Adam LaRoche hang on the waiver wire this season? Guys like LaRoche drive me crazy. But drafting Sandoval with a 2^nd or 3^rd round pick to get 12/58/.273 through September 1 is worse.

Whether you are in a head to head or roto league, your job as a fantasy manager is to collect the best statistics. Rather than complaining on your league message board about how Fielder ruined your chances this year, how about looking in the mirror? I did it. My AL Only team has names like Pena, Jeter, Pedroia, Upton, Abreu, Greinke and Beckett. I currently sit in 8^th place. Guilty as charged and owning up to my 8^th place finish in that league.

Finish your 2010 and start to prepare for the 2011 season by reviewing your teams, players and stats and then state the following: “For 2011 I promise to remember that stats win fantasy baseball, not player’s names.”

Let me know how your baseball teams did this year and good luck in your fantasy football leagues this fall!