It’s not baseball season yet, but it is fantasy baseball season and all of the major sports sites are already running public league drafts. Here’s a few basic draft strategies that will help you maximize the value of your picks as you go along.

Have a Plan

You don’t have to do hours of research to have a good draft, but doing it totally on the fly won’t work either. Break the draft into stages: your top 3 picks are the most important ones. These are the big stars for your team.

Target a group of players you want and figure out which ones will go the earliest. Familiarize yourself with the players ranked 6-10 at each position. These are your mid-round picks. Pick out the ones you think will be the best producers and then prioritize in order of how highly ranked they are. Lower ranked players you like will last longer than higher ranked ones.

Don’t Panic

If a key second baseman you coveted gets taken the pick before you, don’t just take the next second baseman on the list because that’s what you were going to take that round. Take the best player you can get. Was your choice you lost on a big stolen base guy? Maybe you can fill that role with an outfielder and come back to second base later.

 

Use the Queuing Tool

Most sites let you queue up available players off to one side so you can keep an eye on them. This allows you to have back up players ready to go if your top choices are gone.

 

Watch the Competition

Usually, you can see what other team’s partial rosters look like. Taking a look at the teams picking one or two spots ahead of you is always a good idea. Are you worried your catcher won’t be there when you pick? Take a look at the spots ahead of you. If they’ve already filled that position you won’t need to worry. If they haven’t, it’s important to have a solid back up pick ready just in case.

 

Watch Out For Depth Chart and Injury Issues

Your player won’t rack up fantasy points from the bench or the disabled list. Try to steer clear of players who don’t play full seasons because of a history of injury problems or the presence of strong competition at their position on the roster.

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