So this will be my first shot at proclaiming myself a “fantasy expert.” I’ll mainly focus on the H2H fantasy baseball format as there seems to be much less written specifically for H2H. You can find roto advice from ESPN, Yahoo, SportingNews, Foxsports, Sportsline, and SI. As for H2H, I prefer it, especially in yearly leagues. In a roto format, usually you can tell be 1/3 of the season whether you have a shot or not of winning. Most managers usually desert their teams and the league becomes stale. I suggest playing keeper or dynasty roto leagues to keep people involved. As for H2H, I had a couple of points of emphasis going into the season. Lets see how they panned out.
Don’t bother drafting a catcher until the last round. I’ve always found in a H2H format where the stat sheet is wiped clean every week, drafting a catcher early was a huge risk that doesn’t really pay off based on the small increase in production you get each week. And so far, the only catcher that has been somewhat productive is McCann. Martin’s been nice but I doubt he’s won any H2H categories for many teams. These catchers are nice in the roto format as their stats accumulate over the season, but I’ll pass in H2H. Instead you can rotate catchers size Suzuki, Navarro, or even Shoppach.
Draft Utley or wait to the end for a 2nd bagger. I think this strategy is somewhat debatable. It would seem that Uggla and Kinsler have joined Utley, Upton, and Phillips in the upper eschalon. So you would be missing out on some solid production from a weak position if you didn’t get any of the guys in between. Although in most of my leagues I either have Pedroia or Kelly Johnson and they have around 7 homers/ .280 avg/ 40 runs scored. So its not like I’m getting nothing from the postion. I anticipated Upton and Phillips to be somewhat mediocre, and they have been but didn’t see Uggla and Kinsler rising.
Draft a shortstop, 3rd baseman, and OF in the first 3 rounds. I believed these 3 positions to have the greatest drop in production after the first 3 rounds so I targeted these players early. In most of my leagues I pushed for Hanley or got Tulowitzski. So far, it looks like almost every shortstop has been a bust accept for Hanley and Reyes. So if your SS sucks don’t worry too much as the gap with the next team isn’t too much. If you have Hanley or Reyes. Congrats.
As for 3rd base, I think I am dead on. After Aramis Ramirez on the draft board, you have players like Reynolds, Crede, or Youkilis. They have some decent stats, but are no where consistent producers like the upper 3rd basemen. I have Aramis in the majority of my teams and am glad I took him in the 3rd round before the huge drop off.
As for OF, I think there have been huge surprises this year in Hamilton, McLouth, Ludwick, and Quentin. What I orignally though was a weaker position than most year has turned up some amazing sleepers. I guess you just never know about the OF as there are more players playing it, thus increasing the possibility of breakout players.
