Disclaimer: Fantasy baseball success may not be an accurate reflection of summer enjoyment. Keep in mind the GNUru is a Cubs fan, prone to seasonal June depression. Individual results may vary depending upon which baseball team you root for.

While the GNUru hesitates to outline a generic draft strategy to ensure success this upcoming season, there is only ONE simple thing you need to do to make the most of your draft. So before you set your sights on drafting your infield the first 5 rounds, followed by 2 starting pitchers, and waiting until round 12 for your closer, read the GNUru’s golden rule of the fantasy baseball draft.

GNUru Golden Rule: Read, read, and read some more

The most important thing any fantasy baseball owner can do is read. Read every fantasy baseball cheat sheet, positional rankings, sleeper and bust picks, mock drafts, and advice column you can find. In addition, visit as many fantasy baseball forums and message boards you can (Since you’re reading this, your already way ahead of the game). What’s important here is not nailing down who is going to have a better year Rocco Baldelli or Tori Hunter. The goal of all this research is to determine when Rocco Baldelli and Hunter are going to be drafted. Knowing this will put the power in your hands. Remember, preparing for a fantasy baseball draft is more of an exercise in psychology than in pure number crunching. Why draft someone like Baldelli in the 8^th round when you know Hunter (who is probably more likely to stay healthy and put up better numbers) can be had in the 12^th round?

It is human nature to want to discover, invent, and create. You want to be the owner who heard of them first, is the expert talent evaluator, etc. Sometimes this desire is to a fault. The GNUru calls this the Sexy Pick Syndrome (SPS).” Every year the draft is full of players who are this year’s crop of “sexy picks.” Some pan out, others are busts but the vast majority of the “sexy picks” are simply mild disappointments. Last years classic example is Mark Teixeira. Although Teixeira had nice year, he had failed to live up to the expectations put upon him as a “sexy” top 5 pick last year. In most leagues Travis Hafner could have been had much later in the draft and put up even better numbers.

Another advantage to reading and doing your research learning how other owners in your league operate. To succeed in any competitive environment, you must “know thy enemy”. That is, get to know what your opponents are thinking and how they think. With a solid grasp of this, you can begin to categorize every owner in every league you compete in.

The easiest way to illustrate this is by using the typical public Yahoo or CBS Sportsline league. These “Fantasy Baseball” for dummies leagues plop all the fantasy information anyone can handle right in front of their noses. How many times have you noticed an owner in your league claiming a player off waivers within minutes of a CBS fantasy expert started touting the player? By knowing which owners will parrot off the backs of these articles and which owners are likely digging deeper will give you a serious advantage.

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