The origin of fantasy sports is attributed to a group of friends in New York City who named the game “Rotisserie” baseball after a restaurant they gathered at. The game has evolved to include multiple formats such as Head to Head, Dynasty, Daily, Points, etc, but we’re going to go over the original. Today rotisserie formats are more commonly known as category or 5x5 leagues.

THE BASICS

Rotisserie leagues have anywhere from 8 to 15 teams. Originally, these leagues were developed as NL or AL only, but with the addition of mixed leagues, the 15 team format became more popular. The goal in these leagues is to accumulate the most points over all categories. In a 12 team league, you get 12 points if you finish first in a category and one if you finish last. Pretty simple.

The most common categories used are batting average, runs, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases for hitters. For pitchers they are wins, strikeouts, ERA, saves, and WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched). As we have become more analytical and stats are more readily available thanks to the internet, categories have developed such as on base percentage, holds, quality starts, and more.

PLAYER ACQUISITION

There are two ways to fill your roster. You can use a draft format or an auction format. There are challenges to both and in separate articles in the draft guide, the staff will be going into more detail as to specific strategies for each. In general, the goal is to build a team that is strong in all categories, but that is usually a tall order. Your league rules come into play when planning how to build your team.

In many online national contests, trading is not allowed in order to eliminate any collusion amongst players. In these leagues, it is important to try to acquire players that contribute in all categories as you won’t have the opportunity to make trades to improve your team. In leagues that trades are allowed, one strategy can be to ignore a category such as saves or stolen bases and then use your strength in another category to trade for them. Knowing your league rules is very important.

In-season player acquisition is either by waivers or blind bidding also known as FAAB (free agent acquisition budget). Most leagues do this once a week, some twice. You can use waivers to try to bolster categories you find your team lacking, but some categories are tough to improve this way such as stolen bases because they are rare and batting average because most free agents aren’t everyday players and they won’t get enough at bats to help.

LINEUPS

Teams usually consist of 1-2 catchers, the four infielders, a corner infielder, a middle infielder, 5 outfielders, a utility hitter, and 9 pitchers. Most leagues use a 23 player roster and a bench of anywhere from 3 (ESPN) to 7 (NFBC). How often you set your lineups also plays into roster construction. In the NFBC national contests, you set your lineup on Monday and can switch out hitters on Friday. Pitchers must remain for the full week. Some leagues allow you to set a new lineup every day which allows you to maximize the players in your lineup.

Daily lineups allow you to use middle relievers to help your ERA and WHIP as they “fill in” for your starters on their off days but their role in weekly lineups is limited. In these leagues, players such as Ryan Pressly and Nick Anderson who were used in non save situations can be more valuable than a struggling starting pitcher.

STRATEGIES

Season-long rotisserie leagues are a marathon. It starts with your draft prep in February and March (earlier for some) following ADP and auction prices. The most important thing and I can’t stress it enough, is to prepare your own cheat sheet (of course the FA Ultimate Cheat Sheet can be used). If drafting online, do not rely on the website’s ADP/rankings!

The size of your league will affect how you draft. As league size increases, the free agent pool shrinks and it becomes increasingly difficult to overcome category shortcomings and in-season injuries. Let’s go over drafting strategies for 10, 12, and 15 team leagues.

10-TEAM LEAGUES

After a snake draft in a 10 team league, most teams are going to look pretty good. Each team should be able to draft at least 2 and some 3 reliable closers. Unless someone went all out, even stolen bases shouldn’t be too scarce. The league will only be dipping into the starting pitching pool 70-80 deep rather than 100 deep in a 12 teamer. With every team having a strong lineup, it does not allow you to “punt” a category. You must be strong across the board and your draft has to be geared toward that. Don’t be the person who waits too long on steals and then you’re reaching for a Billy Hamilton type who gives you nothing else.

If you are in an auction 10 team league, there are going to be “bargains”. Since the player pool isn’t as deep, players you will get for less than $10, will seem cheap compared to their projections. Feel free in these leagues to spend up for the top guys you want, it won’t hurt you as much as in a 15 team auction.

In-season management will be a little easier if you have to deal with injuries as the free agent pool will have some players that should be useful. Paying attention to the free agents on a weekly basis is the key to a successful season. Picking up a player in April can be the key to winning as he will accumulate stats for almost the entire season. As you get deeper into the season, pay attention to the standings and your deficiencies. This obviously goes for any size league. If you see yourself drifting down in a category, start scouring the waiver wire for help, especially if there is no trading allowed. Lastly is NEVER give up. I have had teams near the bottom of the standings in June or July, but with a look at the categories, you can figure out ways to improve your team and make a move.

12 TEAM LEAGUES

The step up from 10 to 12 teams affects pitching and outfield the most. 18 additional pitchers and 10-12 outfielders will be drafted. Position scarcity also comes into play as each year you will see the lack of depth at some positions with catcher being the most obvious. Being strong in every category starts to become more difficult. Not all teams can have 3 closers, so you have to decide if you want to go that route or just stop at 2 and hope you can get one on waivers later in the year or draft a few “closers in waiting”. Steals become a hotter commodity which makes 5 category studs a priority early in the draft and increases their prices in an auction.

This is my preferred size league as it balances the free agent pool and the draft/auction. It takes a little more skill to construct your team as not everyone is going to have an “all-star” team. In season management is the same as in the 10 team leagues except it may be harder to acquire that budding superstar call up as every team will have some deficiency to go after. In leagues with FAAB, make sure you save some of your budget for the end of the season when you may need to bolster a category or two.

15 TEAM LEAGUES

I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of 15 team leagues. The NFBC’s Main Event and The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational are 15 team leagues that I’ve participated in. These are tough leagues to win as it is extremely difficult to put together a balanced team. Here is where you start to think about punting a category.

During your draft prep you will of course try to construct teams that are balanced and competitive in all categories. These plans can go up in smoke pretty easily in 15 team leagues. With stolen bases being scarce and saves usually available throughout the season via the waiver wire due to the ever-changing closer landscape, I tend to be less attentive to these categories. I’m not looking to come in last in each of them, but I’d rather wait on a closer and build up my starting pitching or offense in rounds 5-10 when the elite closers start to be taken.

Is this gospel? Of course not. There are many approaches to a 15 team draft/auction. In a snake draft you must be more aware of potential position runs especially if you have an early or late first round pick. If you have the first or 15/16th picks, there will be 28 players taken before you take your next player. Be aware that you may have to “jump” ADP in order to get someone you want as they will probably be gone by the time it’s your turn again. In an auction format you see inflation for the elite players which then drops the price for some of the middle/lower tier players.

KEY POINTS

Rotisserie leagues are a marathon starting with your draft prep in February and ending in late September. That’s eight months. If you don’t have the attention span or the time, consider best ball leagues. If you like the week to week competition like season long fantasy football, then head to head leagues are for you.

Don’t give up. You can make a move if you study the standings and see what it’ll take to move up. Of course this should be done throughout the season, but Memorial Day is a good time to get a state of the union for your team. In leagues that allow trading, this is when I look to make some moves.

League size is important and if you’re just starting out, start out with a 10 or 12 team league. It will allow you to develop your skills of drafting and in-season management more readily than with a larger league.

Have fun. That’s what this is all about isn’t it?