Editor’s Note: Just in time for the 2013 MLB season, LastWordOnSports is proud to welcome Jae Park to our staff. Jae is a very big baseball and football fan, and will be contributing on each in-season. Also a fantasy nut, he is more than happy to share his wealth of information.

It’s March 6th and Major League Baseball’s spring training season is already into its third week. As March unfolds there will be thousands of individuals logging onto various websites (ESPN, CBSSports, Yahoo!) to participate in Fantasy Baseball drafts. Now I love fantasy sports…hockey, football, basketball…and sadly even golf. But nothing will top fantasy baseball for me. It’s the fantasy sport that requires, in my humble opinion, a lot of knowledge and strategy to play well.

Since I’m a new contributor to lastwordonsports.com I thought my first contribution should be something related to fantasy sports. Since there are enough websites out there providing you with player rankings and cheat sheets to help you along, I will contribute some basic strategies that I employ when participating in a draft:

TRACK THE DRAFT: I know a lot of people who simply draft off the top of the board (especially during online drafts). While this might get you the best projected player, it doesn’t necessarily fill out your roster. Tracking the draft is also important when determining who you should draft next…look at who others have drafted and what positions they will need to fill out their roster. Knowing what position the other GMs are looking to fill could mean the difference between reaching and not reaching on a certain player.

TAKE A RISK: Last year I drafted Mike Trout in the 18th round in a long established keeper league. As usual I was chirped by others in the league for taking yet another rookie who wouldn’t be called up until June (I hate that stupid MLB Arbitration Clock). I knew that a June call-up was likely, but I also didn’t want to take the risk of leaving Trout out there for someone else to take, or pick up on the waiver wire. Most leagues have additional bench spots. Some use it to backup injury prone players. I like taking risks with those spots by filling them with potential impact rookies. Needless to say my gamble worked, Trout was called up in April and produced one of the greatest fantasy baseball seasons ever.

ESTABLISH A WINNING BENCHMARK: I play in two different styles of fantasy baseball. One is a point based league and the other is the traditional 5X5 rotisserie league. Knowing what the minimum benchmark required to win the league is crucial. Knowing what you will need in terms of points will make your draft day decision making process that much easier.

ZIG WHEN EVERYONE ELSE ZAGS: I tend to draft away from the general flow of the draft. This strategy has had mixed results, but I don’t generally like following the crowd in anything so why would this change for fantasy baseball? Where it does help me is in the middle rounds. By picking away from the trend, you can sometimes find value in positions while everyone is scrambling to “finish the run”. Amid this panic GMs tend to reach for players rather than drafting something that fills out their roster. This often happens to shallow positions like Relief Pitchers (Closers). Always look to start a run, never finish a run.

DON’T BE A HOMER: I can’t tell you how often I have seen someone draft a player because they “love the team” and they have to “represent” their favourite team. I’m a Toronto Blue Jays fan, but when it comes to fantasy baseball that gets left at the door. It’s not like I’m getting a “hometown discount” by picking a player from my favourite team. I can say for certain that I will never take Jose Bautista over Miguel Cabrera simply cause I’m a Jays fan.

REMEMBER – DRAFTING IS JUST THE START: No fantasy league is ever won on draft day. Even if you got all the players you were targeting, the work isn’t done. Those who tend to win are those who are active in the league, making trade offers, playing the waiver wire, etc. It’s a long season in reality and if you don’t check your team regularly your fantasy baseball season will seem that much longer (or shorter I guess).

ENJOY THE DRAFT: Things can get tense during a draft, but seriously…enjoy the draft. Chat up your fellow players, crack a few jokes (appropriate or not) and enjoy the process. I mean this is fantasy baseball.

The first pitch of the MLB season will be thrown in under a month (Rangers vs. Astros on March 31st). Between now and the start of the season I will be participating in about 7 drafts (including one live and in person). March is going to be a pretty good month.

Play Ball!!!

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