One of the allures of playing fantasy baseball is the opportunity to act like a real-life baseball GM with control over roster moves and player personnel. Who hasn’t at one point or another criticized a move their team’s GM made and said “I would’ve done this instead,” or “I’d sign this guy over this guy.” And of course, we’ve all blurted out something along the lines of, “What the (Censor) is this GM doing?” While re-draft leagues are a good start to getting our own personal general manager fix, dynasty leagues are truly where it’s at. You have total control over your roster, prospects, and trades. Your say, no one else’s. That’s where this Fantasy Baseball dynasty strategy article comes in. While they’re incredibly exciting to be a part of, dynasty leagues are a lot of work. I’m here to help makes things a little easier on you.

Get ready to dive into the fantasy baseball part of my brain. Please keep all arms and legs inside the coaster at all times and enjoy the ride.

If you aren’t playing your dynasty leagues on Fantrax, you’re missing out on the deepest player pool and most customization around. Just starting out in a dynasty league? Then check out Eric Cross’ Top-250 prospects, Top-500 Dynasty League Rankings, & 2019 FYPD/J2 Rankings.

Also, make sure to check out the Fantrax Dynasty Baseball Podcast weekly with Nathan Dokken, Van Lee, and Ron Rigney!

Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Strategy

Rankings

Before we get going, it’d be foolish to not mention fantasy baseball dynasty rankings. Whether you create your own rankings or go off some industry list, rankings always help. I put together my Top-500 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings which hopefully can lend you a helping hand during your initial draft or when making trades.

Preparation/Initial Draft

This might seem obvious, but preparation is key when starting a dynasty league. Coming into a dynasty draft unprepared is a cardinal sin and can set your team back for years. I’ve also been in leagues where a manager quit after the first year due to their team being so bad from poor initial draft prep. Do not be that person. Those people are mocked for all of eternity and bring great shame upon their ancestors. You don’t want to do that, do you?

Now, there are many different ways to approach a dynasty draft. Okay, really there are three main ones. You can use a win-now approach, go young with plenty of prospects, or somewhere in the middle. Me? I prefer the middle ground. I want to try and build a competitive team for my first season while setting myself up well for the future. It might sound difficult to do but it definitely can be done. Here’s how.

In the first 10 rounds or so, I like to target 3-4 prospects with at least two of them being Major League ready. For example, in a dynasty mock draft I participated in this offseason, I took Jo Adell and Dylan Carlson as those two MLB ready prospects within the top-100 picks. They might not be in the Angels or Cardinals opening day lineups, but they’re going to be up very early in the season and have the upside to produce handsomely for your squad. Mixing a few guys like this in with your core MLB assets gives you a strong chance of competing right away and sets yourself up nicely for the next few seasons as well.

Going with the win-now or build for the future modes are fine too, but just try not to go too far on those ends of the spectrum. Going into full win-now mode can win you a championship your first season, but if you ignore prospects, the future will likely not be as rosy for your team. Building some sort of core of prospects in dynasty leagues is always key, no matter what your initial strategy is. Wow, what a perfect segway into the next topic. It’s almost like I planned that or something…

Approaching Prospects

How you approach prospects can make or break your dynasty team. Whether you’re looking to be a contender right away or building for the long haul, establishing a solid core of prospects is crucial. To do this, I like to go with something close to a 60/40 MLB to prospect split in the first 10-15 rounds, but again, only if the value is right. Basically, I want to build a competitive team in year one with the potential to be dominant in years 2-5.

Like I said above, we’re seeing a higher percentage of prospects find success right away, so just because you may draft a bunch of them in your initial draft doesn’t mean you’re not going to be competitive for years. In several dynasty mocks lately, I’ve drafted guys like Jo Adell, Luis Robert, Dylan Carlson, MacKenzie Gore, Nick Madrigal, etc, that all aren’t far off from the Majors and can help me as soon as this season while being big assets over the next few seasons and beyond.

When it comes to prospects, I like even more of a hitter to pitcher split than I do with my MLB assets. As we know, pitching prospects usually don’t pan out as often as hitting prospects. For that reason, I’ll usually grab a few stud pitching prospects to build around, like MacKenzie Gore or Nate Pearson, then work in upside pitching prospects later on. That allows me to focus most of my prospect resources on hitters and establishing a rock-solid core there. Ideally, out of my first 10 prospects, eight will be hitters and 15 of my top-20. That’s not an exact number and can fluctuate depending on draft values, but it’s a goal to shoot for.

When/How to Rebuild

Nobody ever wants to have to rebuild in a dynasty league, but unless you’re Bill Belichick over there, you’re going to need to do so at some point. Maybe not a full-fledged rebuild will be needed, but it’s difficult to continuously remain a dynasty juggernaut. So, when will you know it’s the right time to rebuild? The answer is actually pretty simple and easy to recognize. It’s when you start finding yourself in dynasty league purgatory. That means your always fighting for the playoffs year in and year out. Whether you make the playoffs is actually a moot point. But if you’re fighting for playoff contention as a middle team, it’s time to rebuild, at least a little bit.

Being a middle of the pack team for multiple seasons in a row is terrible. Now say it with me in a Charles Barkley voice… T-U-R-R-I-B-L-E. A middle team has a better chance of staying in the middle than making enough moves to get up into dynasty contention. It’s not impossible but usually involves trading off many young assets and setting yourself up poorly down the road. If you don’t mind years of crap finishes following MAYBE a league championship, be my guest and go this route. It’s just not one I advise taking. I’d much rather rebuild with young players and enjoy a much longer stretch of success down the road. And with how quickly prospects are succeeding at the Major League level these days, your rebuild time might not be as long as you think.

The next step is knowing your roster and figuring out just how much of a rebuild you need to do. If you have a solid core and think you can contend in a couple of years, a whole ton of moves don’t need to be made. Find a contending team or two and trade off the appropriate number of veterans for some prospects in return.

Making Trades

This can often be a sore spot for managers and cause rifts in leagues. Don’t be a you-know-what during trade negotiations. Dynasty trades are completely different animals than re-draft trades. Obviously, you want to improve your team or fill an area of weakness, but so does the other owner. Do yourself a favor and take a look at the other team first. Could they use a position you have a surplus in? Are they looking to rebuild while you’re looking to contend? Finding a trade partner that can use something you’re willing to trade is half the battle and a great place to start.

Respect Your Elders

Actually, embrace them. Target them if you will. Older players make for great short-term targets due to the fact that most owners have already written them off and moved on to the next young star. Players like Edwin Encarnacion, Nelson Cruz, and others might not be the sexiest names in dynasty league due to their age, but their price is likely to be cheap and they can give you solid production at least for this season.

This ties back into a previous point I made about trying to build balance in your initial draft. While drafting high-upside young players is great and all, snagging some veterans that slide down the draft board is a major key in remaining competitive early in your dynasty league. Below are just a handful of examples of veterans that slid in a recent dynasty startup draft I was in.

Nelson Cruz 138 | Andrew McCutchen 209 | Edwin Encarnacion 223 | Adam Eaton 279 | Joey Votto 305

Don’t go to this well too often, but sprinkling a few in will help keep you competitive in the first couple of years and act as stopgaps until younger prospects like Julio Rodriguez or Wander Franco are ready to contribute at the Major League level.

Other Quick Strategy Hits

Pitcher’s Command: Personally, I can’t stand drafting pitchers with bad control/command. A personal rule I set for myself many years ago was to never roster a starting pitcher with a K/BB ratio of less than 2/1. If their ratio is less than that, they either have crappy control or don’t strike out many batters. If it’s the latter of the two, I occasionally make an exception if the ratios are solid, but you’ll never find a guy that might walk 80-100 guys on my team. Not unless they’re giving me 250 strikeouts along with it. A perfect example of this is Dakota Hudson of the St. Louis Cardinals. No thanks.

Reliever Value: In re-draft leagues, relievers can have a fair amount of value. In dynasty leagues, not so much. Sure, you need to roster relievers to help with ratios, remain competitive in saves, etc., but with the turnover at the position, it’s not an area you need to put a ton of stock in.

Hitting Early: I touched on this above, but it’s a big strategy piece for me. Obviously, league settings can alter this a little, but for most normal league settings, going hitter heavy (Around 70% of first 12-15 picks) has worked out very well for me over the years.

Know When to Let Go: This can be tough but it’s necessary. You get attached to players or hold onto prospects too long and miss out on the opportunity to sell at peak value.

Media Credit: Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire, Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire

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