Every year new strategies for fantasy baseball are developed. Veteran owners have developed a strategy over several years of fantasy knowledge, while brand new drafters can shake up any draft with head scratching picks.  There is no strategy set in stone that will work for you every single draft. It just doesn’t work like that.

But there is one important strategy that all owners should live by. From pick one until the draft is over you have to be focused. If you draft Miguel Cabrera, then sit and watch television until your next pick odds are you are going to be lost. Likely hood of your team being consistent up and down the lineup goes down the drain. 

Getting a feel for the tendencies of the other players in your draft is extremely important too. For example, if five straight pitchers are drafted before your pick and you have no starting pitcher on your team common sense would tell you to draft a pitcher. This is just one of many tendencies that you will see throughout your draft. The question is how will you react?

If you study for your draft beforehand, your knowledge and confidence skyrockets. Nobody likes the guy who comes into the draft with no knowledge. There will be a player in your draft who does this, don’t be that guy or girl. Developing awareness and understanding for your draft is key.

When it comes to actually setting your board, this is the most important part of all. There are two positions that don’t have a lot of depth and you want to look at drafting early. If you wait on these positions until late rounds your team is going to have some holes in it. The two positions are stated below.

1. Catchers: Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Matt Wieters

When your draft is over and you have one of these players above on your squad, be happy. You have successfully drafted a catcher you can feel confident in. If you don’t get one of these three you are going to have to take the risk on a; Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana or even Victor Martinez. Unless taking risky pick after risky pick is your style try and grab one of these stud catchers above.

2. Second Basemen’s: Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Brandon Phillips

Think about it like this. Most fantasy rosters consist of a second basemen along with a 2B/SS. If you have 10 players in your league; that leads to about only three or four teams with a good second basemen. The even trickier part is if an owner in your draft stockpiles second basemen’s. Obviously this could lead to openings at other positions but will still affect the consensus of your team.

Overall, the main thing to remember is keep your focus. Watch what players are going where and when. If you don’t have a lot of time to study for your draft, two or three hours directly before your draft will help you gain confidence and get a feel for your league. When it comes down to it the draft is one of the most important pieces in molding a championship team. Do you want to be a champion or tread water season after season? Do some extra research and you’ll be surprised. Hard work pays off.