Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop

Like many fantasy baseball players, my first exposure to fantasy baseball came when I stumbled across “Rotisserie League Baseball” at the mall bookstore. Ten minutes later, I knew I had to buy this wonderful book and figure out how to play this game. Ten hours later, I was plotting how I’d con the guys I talked baseball with in my study hall into playing in a league with me. The game itself sounded great, but it was the book’s witty and irreverent sense of fun that won me over forever.

However, while the original book was filled with great writing and jokes, it was lacking a coherent message when it came to strategy or tactics. While this deficit has been remedied over the years through many terrific web sites and expert advice, fantasy baseball has never had a definitive how to manual to guide enthusiasts through the competitive landscape of what Rotisserie League Baseball called “the greatest game for baseball fans since baseball.”

The latest entrant into the fantasy baseball how to book arena is Larry Schechter. Schechter needs no introduction if you have even a basic knowledge of the fantasy baseball arena. He has won the title in the Tout Wars expert competition six times, and if Rotisserie-style fantasy sports aren’t your thing, Schechter has also won the CDM Sports salary-cap league twice. I have competed against Schechter twice and have watched him purchase teams in auction-style leagues on three other occasions. It is a grand understatement to say that Schechter knows what he is doing.

Schechter’s how to guide does what few before it have done. It provides a cohesive, coherent, and logical blueprint that will help the novice as much as it will help the intermediate and more advanced fantasy players. The advice in Winning Fantasy Baseball is concise and to the point, and eschews long-winded theory in favor of targeted guidance for every facet of the game.

The first two chapters of Winning Fantasy Baseball are geared toward beginners. They explain the origins of the fantasy game as well as the various game formats you can choose from, but do not cover any new ground. The meat of the book starts in Chapter 3, where Schechter starts talking about general strategies for auction and draft formats. Here, Schechter drives home a simple point: there is no winning strategy beyond ensuring that you obtain the best value you possibly can at your auction or draft that suits your format. Schechter breaks down the mythology of other “systems” (e.g.: “I employed a Stars and Scrubs approach”) and explains why pigeonholing yourself in an auction with a specific philosophy is a losing proposition.

Chapter 4 offers additional strategy for auction formats, including ideas on how to rank players by specific positions, the benefit of having an early nominating position, and the idea of reviewing and/or revisiting your rankings if your projection for a specific player is too optimistic or pessimistic. The concepts presented here aren’t groundbreaking, but are presented in a concise, easy-to-use, and practical format that provide useful information to any fantasy player.

Chapters 5 and 6 discuss statistical projections and valuation formulas. If you are interested in doing your own player projections (as opposed to using a published version of projections like Baseball ProspectusPECOTA) then the information in Chapter 5 offers a basic framework with which to start. Once again, practicality takes precedence over theory, so rather than start with a complicated series of formulas, Schechter takes what he calls a “Real Clear Politics logic” and uses other projections to provide a baseline. Sabermetric thinking is discussed and considered, but the primary thrust behind projections for Schechter is a practical, easily workable framework.

The biggest strength of the book for any fantasy player—particularly for any player who plays in an auction league—is “Chapter 7: Mono-League Auctions (AL or NL only)”. This is a long chapter and a short paragraph or two in a book review won’t do it justice, but Schechter does an excellent job discussing how he prepares for an auction and then uses his 2011 Tout Wars AL-only auction to provide a real life example of how he takes his theories and applies them in a fast-paced auction environment.

My approach is similar to Schechter’s – and I suspect many experts also approach their fantasy auctions in a similar manner. However, it isn’t my agreement with Schechter’s approach that matters but rather how adroitly he navigates the explanation to his readers. Even in the rare instances where I don’t agree with Schechter’s methodology (for example, he recommends tiered approach to buy players, whereas I do not have an issue with buying two or more $30+ hitters under the right circumstances), he explains his methodology well, and makes a compelling case for adopting it at your auction.

Chapter 8 dives into mixed league auction values. The discussion about how to value mixed league players takes a practical bent as opposed to a deeply theoretical one, offering a good deal of practical, useful value if you have never played in a mixed league, auction-style format. Where the earlier chapters didn’t necessarily provide any fresh insights into the game, the mixed league chapter does offer one gem that Schechter provides ample evidence to support: with the exception of catchers, positional differences have always been overblown in mixed leagues.

Chapter 9 covers draft leagues, and provides a thorough review of the best way to maximize your dollar value or point value in this format as well as a practical way to prepare for drafts and execute your plan. Again, Schechter shows that positional differences in this format are extremely overstated. Chapter 10 focuses on salary cap leagues, and offers advice on how to pick players in a league where you can pick any player you want. Schechter goes into great detail on how to rank players in a salary cap league, how to adjust for the specific format, and how picking players in cap leagues is different than in Roto-style formats where you compete with other owners to own certain players. As someone who doesn’t play much in cap leagues, I found this chapter to be quite a learning experience.

Chapter 11 discusses managing your team during the season, and is a detailed examination of trading, free agent acquisitions, and bench management in leagues with benches. I enjoyed reading Schechter’s process on how he analyzes whether or not he is going to make a trade, as well as how different owners evaluate different players.

Chapter 12 focused on keeper leagues. If there was a part of the book that could have used more information or provided a deeper dive for readers, it is in this section of the book. The information Schechter provided was fairly general and didn’t quite have the nuance or strength of the rest of the guide. There was nothing wrong with the chapter, but it was more foundational information than anything else. If you are specifically looking for a deeper understanding of keeper leagues, I would start elsewhere.

Overall, Winning Fantasy Baseball is a gold mine of information from one of the all time great players of the game. Schechter has presented his readers with a treasure trove of invaluable information that players of any skill level can use and apply to their leagues. If you are looking for a book that provides a deeper understanding of fantasy baseball and augments your existing skills, Winning Fantasy Baseball is a strong choice, and an instant contender for the definitive guide to fantasy strategy and tactics on the market.

Thank you for reading

This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.

Subscribe now
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe
jonkk1
12/27
Seems like an excellent overview of an intriguing book. Thanks Mike.
JohnnyFive
12/27
Good article, but I've been playing fantasy for a good ten years and have never heard of Mr. Larry Schechter. I would argue that an introduction to him is still needed at this point. Household name, he is not.
majnun
12/27
He went on to explain who he is immediately after
OsandNattyBohs
12/27
Thanks for the review, looks like something just got added to my Winter reading list.
Shankly
12/28
Anyone who listens to or reads anything related to fantasy baseball should have heard of Larry.
mhmosher
12/28
$20 for a fantasy baseball strategy book is crazy.
delatopia
1/01
If you play in a $20 fantasy league, sure. If you play in a $100 league, that's a small price to pay for what are apparently some sizable advantages.
Robotey
1/07
a bargain- compared to $64 million for Jason Bay!
timjrohr
12/29
Unlike Mike, I found more than one gem in the mixed-league chapter, which I think is the best chapter in the book. His method of pricing players using mono-league prices, with tiered changes to those prices, makes great sense and explained my own experiences. He also has great practical advice on whom to nominate in the middle rounds of mixed-league auctions to drain money from those who don't understand the effect of mixed-league bidding on mediocre mono-league priced players.

I agree that his keeper/dynasty league analysis is pretty simple and neither insightful nor original. For example, he doesn't offer any advice on when and for how long to sign players to contracts, depending on various leagues' price escalators, ages, positions, etc.
MikeGianella
12/29
There was a lot of good stuff in the mixed league chapter, and I enjoyed the mixed league pricing/mono pricing translation a great deal. However, I didn't consider it as groundbreaking as the position scarcity information, as I've seen models with some similarities to Schechter's model elsewhere.
lschechter
12/29
Mike, thanks for reviewing the book. I have a couple of comments...

1)$19.95 is not a crazy price for a 360-page paperback being sold in stores. You can also get it online at Amazon or Barnes + Noble for about $14-15. Or get the e-book (which should be out any day now) for $9.95.

2) I agree myself that the Keeper League chapter is the weakest link. I don't think I say anything that hasn't been said elsewhere, except for my disagreeing that if you compete, you then have to rebuild.

But I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that if they only play in a Keeper league this book isn't for them. The bulk of being in a Keeper league involves projecting stats, auction or draft strategy, and in-season management...which are all covered in the rest of the book.
MikeGianella
12/29
Thanks for weighing in.

I would agree. Most everything else in the book pertains to all leagues - whether they are keeper leagues or one-and-done.
BurrRutledge
12/29
I'm mostly worried that other owners in my league will be buying this book and using it to their advantage... This goes on the birthday list.
woodruff11
12/30
Just ordered it. I wish you as much success with the book as you've had in Tout.
mattcommins
1/01
Great write up Mike! I pre ordered the book and when I received the book I read it in one sitting. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to perform better in their leagues. When I go to my NFBC live auction draft I'm curious to see how many people have read this book.
prs130
1/02
The best tip I've ever gotten is to collect a few players from the same team so you can adopt that team and follow your players. Doesn't always lead to wins, but it makes it fun.