With the 2008 baseball season upon us, the fantasy baseball season is about to begin. Here are some tips to creating a successful fantasy baseball team.

1) Be smart

When you are drafting your baseball team, don\’t take unnecessary risks. This year you shouldn\’t be taking Pedro Martinez (36 years old and diminishing health) or Chris Carpenter (might be out until All-Star break) in any of the early or middle rounds. You may not know every player in the MLB, but it isn\’t hard to use good judgement. Don\’t fall into the mentality that you need to get certain positions early in the draft, just because the rest of the league makes a run on a specific position. You cannot afford to take catchers, like Victor Martinez and Russell Martin, in front of other Top 40 players such as Aramis Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez, Alex Rios, and Curtis Granderson. Closers fall into this same type of category; there are plenty of good closers that will be available after the 8th round. Decide what is more important: having the best catcher and closer or getting more stats for your draft picks.

2) Make a plan and stick to it

Have a plan before the draft starts. Of all the fantasy baseball teams of mine that have been good, only one or two have been very balanced. More so than in other fantasy sports, such as football or basketball, you need to choose some categories that you want to dominate your league in. Whether that is good pitching (Wins, ERA, K\’s), power hitting (HR, RBI), or speed (SB, R), it doesn\’t really matter what it is, but pick something and stick with it.

3) Drafts cannot make a season, but they can break one

It\’s true that you need to research, know your stuff, and have a plan going into the draft, but don\’t put too much emphasis on the draft. The baseball season is six months long and you can\’t underestimate the value of staying on top of your league every day. Because of the length of the season, it is very easy to turn around a baseball league in the summer months by simply checking the free agents every day, watching what players get on hot streaks, and updating your daily lineup.

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You’ve been holding a yearly draft with your high school buddies thanks to the world wide web for a few years now. You’ve mastered the process, cleaning off your desk so you can lay flat a few “cheat sheets.” You have a Sharpie marker in hand to cross off players drafted and a soda nearby. So, why change now? Well…

1. The camaraderie. When you hold your draft online, you lose the camaraderie. Sure, they have “chat” during the draft, but it’s too distracting difficult to keep up with conversations. And you can forget about private conversations unless you have a friend on your cell phone or are using a separate messaging service. But unless you have mastered the skill of multitasking, it just isn’t worth it.

2. You have all the time in the world. Each team is given somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2 minutes per pick during an online draft. But when you host the draft, break out the grill and turn it into an all-day party. Or make it short and sweet. We recommend the former, but it’s all in your control.

3. Everyone will be there – or you can postpone. Have you ever held a draft online and, after it started, realized that someone was missing? And for the next 16-17 weeks, all you hear is his or her constant whining? Eliminate that possibility by hosting. Players are more likely to circle the draft’s date on their calendar when it means traveling to another player’s house.

4. Bragging is way more fun in person. This one requires no explanation.

5. You have more options. You can’t hold an auction draft online. Even if you could, you’d be missing out on the screaming of bids and exchange of Monopoly money. In fact, your options are essentially unlimited with a hosted draft. And wheeling and dealing to get trades done is easier, more exciting, and more intense than ever before.

6. You get the “feel” of the real NFL Draft. 99% of the players in your league will take it more seriously if it means a trip to your house, whether it is next door or 10 miles away. You get to set up a draft board and post all the selections. And who wouldn’t want a commissioner step up to the podium and announces to all, “With the first overall draft choice, the Pink Pandas select…”?

7. Everyone will have a great time, especially you! No one talks about online drafts the way they do hosted drafts because no one gets the same feeling when surfing the web. Everyone loves to shout, everyone loves to hang out, everyone loves to eat medium rare food straight off the grill, everyone loves… get the idea?

Everything is in your control during a hosted draft, from the amount of time each player is “on the clock” to the types of beverages being served. So call your friends, fire up the grill, and buy a draft board; this year, you’re doing it right!

Tom is the lead writer for The NFL Minute, a news-and-analysis blog aimed at both casual fans looking for the latest news and die-hard fantasy players looking for an edge. He currently resides in Wisconsin.

If you’ve played rotisserie-league baseball for more than a couple of years, you’ve probably finished out of the money at least once or twice. Unless you are a lucky owner in a league full of chumps, you’ve had to endure a season where you had Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, Derek Lee and Todd Helton all end up with extended stays on the DL. In such situations, there is often no way to turn your team around. You simply have to face up to a lower-division finish. Hey, it happens in the major leagues as well as fantasy baseball.

The trick is knowing when to cut bait on a losing team to maximize your chances of winning in the coming years. For inspiration, let’s look at a couple of MLB teams who have either sprung up from the depths of futility, or have remained stuck in “loser” mode.

Detroit Tigers
Year…………Record………….Payroll
2007…………??????…………..$95 million
2006…………95-67……………$82 million
2005…………71-91…………….$69 million
2004…………72-90……………$46 million
2003…………43-119…………..$49 million
2002…………55-106…………..$55 million
2001………….66-96……………$49 million

When the Tigers won the ALCS in 2006, it had been nearly 20 years since the organization had been to the postseason. Detroit hit rock bottom in 2003, winning only 43 games (a .265 winning percentage), one of the worst seasons in the history of Major League Baseball. That season, the Tigers’ payroll ranked 24th out of 30 Major League teams. The next season, Detroit won 72 games, an amazing increase of 29 games over the previous year. Only AFTER they experienced success with their younger, inexpensive players did they begin to substantially increase the team payroll in 2005.

When team ownership saw that they needed a few more stars to contend, they added veteran pitcher Kenny Rogers, closer Todd Jones and infielder Placido Polanco, all at multi-million dollar salaries. Of course, the 2006 season was a smashing success, but despite the high payroll, the team’s foundation is still its youth. That young, inexpensive nucleus should make the Tigers competitive for years to come.

An important part of the Tigers’ success has been player evaluation. In the same way, a fantasy team owner needs to assess which players will help the team in the coming years at minimal cost. Players such as Jeremy Bonderman, Mike Maroth, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe and Jamie Walker all made huge contributions in 2006 at very affordable salaries (under $3 million apiece). Those players had all been around for a couple of seasons, and the team decided they were worth keeping. Combining these guys with the outstanding core of young players and adding in a few well-chosen veterans at the right time has been the Tigers’ recipe for success.

Baltimore Orioles
Year…………Record………….Payroll
2007…………??????…………..$93 million
2006…………70-92……………$72 million
2005…………74-88……………$73 million
2004…………78-84……………$51 million
2003…………71-91……………$73 million
2002…………67-95……………$60 million
2001…………63-98……………$74 million

If you want to have a fantasy team stuck in mediocrity for years, emulate the Orioles. They haven’t had a winning team in years, yet team payroll is consistently in the top half of the league. They annually add players for huge sums who are at or near the end of their careers, yet don’t have the strong nucleus of young players or the roster of talented veterans to support those mid-level acquisitions.

Here’s a list of recent seasons, and some of the high-salaried players who didn’t live up to their billing:

2003
Albert Belle……..$13 million
Scott Erickson….$7 million

2004
Omar Daal……….$4.5 million
David Segui………$7 million

2005
Sammy Sosa……..$17 million
Sidney Ponson….$8.5 million

2006
Kris Benson………$8 million
Javy Lopez……….$9 million
Bruce Chen & Rodrigo Lopez…..$4 million each

This year, it’s more of the same. The names change, but the result will be similar to past years…

2007
Danys Baez……….$6 million
Kris Benson………$7 million
Jaret Wright……..$7 million

Perhaps Orioles management will get the hint after 2007. They have a developing core of young players, such as Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera and Corey Patterson, but they lack the superstar talent to justify spending over $90 million. They consistently bring in players like Kevin Millar, Jay Payton, Steve Trachsel and Aubrey Huff, all of whom will probably be out of baseball in three years.

This is an organization with no direction. They seemingly can’t bring themselves to admit that there’s not enough talent to win, and scrap the whole thing and start over.

Don’t do this with your fantasy team. If you aren’t going to win this year, be the first to start dealing your overpriced players to contending teams. You will get the best deals in return. Load up that roster with promising, young players and head into next year’s draft looking to pick up a couple of superstars with an eye on contending in the next year or two.

Scott publishes his own fantasy sports blog at http://www.rotojournal.com

There is different charm altogether of cricket world cup, after all this event happens after every four years. Being part of cricket world cup is most flourished desire of a cricket fan. What a wonderful thing it would be to a fan if this comes true. Fantasy cricket world cup is such a fantastic medium to fulfill dream of playing cricket by own will. For playing fantasy cricket world cup, you don’t need to go to any ground. You just require an internet-enabled computer and the desire to participate and play. Fantasy cricket world cup fills fans with the enthusiasm, action and emotion of a real world cup.

The websites providing fantasy cricket world cup are innumerable. You need to hunt those websites giving chance to play fantasy cricket world cup. After searching that website, you get yourself registered to become a member to play the game. Each websites has its own rules for fantasy cricket world cup. That attracts even non-cricket lover to play the game as the rules are easy and simple to follow.

There are certain rules followed for selection of players to take part and play fantasy cricket world cup. Points are allotted to players depending on their performances on the field. The points allocated to a player are determined by the contribution of performances in team. The points in the game are scored from actual performance of player in world cup. Fantasy cricket world cup is based on similar format on which the world cup takes place.

There are as many countries in fantasy cricket world cup as those participating in world cup. Each team will have 11 members comprising 5 batsman, 4 bowlers, one all rounder and a wicket keeper. The selection of players must be with the aim of balancing and maintaining the whole team. You have to select 11 cricketers from international cricket squads taking part in the world cup. Fantasy points are scored according to how the players in your team perform in real life.

The team, which accumulates the highest points, will be declared winner. The actual performance on the field will determine the fate of fantasy cricket world cup. There are good chances of wining massive prizes in game. You need to be cautious to select players. You should not be swayed by big names of cricketing world. That can prove a burden in your victory. You must concentrate choosing players of current form.

It can be a good experience for those fans who dream of selecting their own players to play on the field. They have full authority of selecting players from all the teams of the world. They can view it with full enthusiasm and see how their favorite stars are performing on the field. Fantasy cricket world cup takes fans on a ride of thrills and excitement. Being a part of fantasy cricket world cup will be a unique experience for fans. So fans must makes sure that they play the game at least one to get a feel of the real thing.

Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is. At Stickiewicket she works on Online cricket score, live cricket score, fantasy cricket world cup and Cricket News among other things. You can see her works at http://www.stickiewicket.com

I’ve been competing in fantasy baseball for as long as I can remember. I’ve won my fair share of titles, and have come in the top three of countless others. My worst finish in any season has been fifth out of twelve teams. That season I lost several key starters to injuries, and couldn’t recover to higher than fifth. Competing in fantasy baseball can be tough. The season is long, players get hurt, other owners sometimes let their team go dormant, and in the worst cases, some owners collude with each other to win by not so fair means.

Despite all of the downsides, we compete for the thrill of the hunt. There’s nothing quite like coming in first place after a long season. Contrary to my better judgment, I’m going to share with you some of my strategies for coming in first for years to come. Who knows, we may compete with each other down the road, or one of my tougher league rivals may come across this. But I’m not worried about that right now. My goal here is to make fantasy baseball more competitive across the board. Let’s get started with what it’s going to take to be successful.

The draft is the most important part of your fantasy season. Though a poor draft can be recovered from, it’s not ideal. It can take some luck and a lot of other factors to win your championship. You need to prepare for your draft. This doesn’t mean read every chart known to man. Find a cheatsheet that you can rely on such as one from Sports Illustrated or ESPN. Make note of your league’s scoring system, and target players that fit into the system. For example, if your league awards four points for a homerun, and only one point for a stolen base, you need to focus on the homerun hitters.

Position scarcity is another huge factor you need to keep in mind. If your league starts one catcher or two will be a large factor in your draft plans. There is usually a big gap between the upper tier catchers, and the middle of the road catchers. You may want to reach a little earlier in a league such as that. You’ll want to sift though each position and mark out where you think the drop offs are. What I like to do is take each cheatsheet list by position, and draw a line at each level. If I think the top tier guys are the first four at a position, I’ll draw a line under the fourth player. Then, during the draft if I see the top four players at that position going off the board, I know I can wait until later to pickup that position and focus on another position. There’s no reason to reach at a position with lesser players when there are higher tier players available at another position.

One of my hard and fast rules of drafting is never draft a pitcher in the first round. I know there are a lot people out there that will say this is dumb. But I can tell you this. If you go back through the last few years of drafts, more often than not, pitchers taken in the first round don’t pan out as well as the position players. There are always plenty of quality pitchers available. This is a position you can afford to wait on.

When drafting, don’t get caught up in the emotion of a “run”. For those of you who don’t know, a run consists of three or more players at the same position being drafted one after another. This can be for any number of reasons. Usually it’s because that top tier I wrote about earlier is seen as drying up. Whatever you do, don’t be the fourth or fifth owner who gets involved in this. At the time it seems like a good idea so you can stake your claim on “your guy”. But usually what ends up happening is the smart owner who lets everyone else panic draft fills other draft holes with higher quality talent throughout as opposed to getting a mediocre prospect at the scarce position. Just be aware.

Don’t overvalue closers. There are usually plenty of saves that can picked up from the waiver wire. Everyone always says this, but it’s true. Even though it’s seen as common knowledge, there is always someone who will spend a fourth or fifth round pick on someone like Mariano Rivera. Closers are usually sporadic. If you see good value and an opportune time to pick one up, go for it. Just don’t waste a pick on a closer when you can draft a better player instead. There are plenty of saves that can be drafted in the middle to late rounds.

After your draft is complete, you’re not done. Make sure that you stay up to date on injuries, trades, minor league call ups, etc. Don’t be the owner that starts someone who get injured last week and won’t be back for months. Stay active, and stay informed. Make sure your starting pitchers are all going to pitch that week, and the hitters you start are regulars on their own team. Backup outfielders that get five at bats per week don’t do you much good.

Stay on top of free agents in your league. Don’t be the owner that has to top waiver wire position and never uses it. But, don’t just pickup free agents just for the sake of doing it. There has to be a balance. Some free agents fizzle out, others perform like champions. There’s no true way to predict, but do your homework, and make an informed decision.

The biggest thing is to have fun. If you drop a player that your opponent picks up and that player breaks all kinds of records, shake it off. It could just as easily happened for you. There’s no way to know for sure. In the end, it’s still a game. But if you follow this guide, you may have a lot more fun, especially if you’re winning. Good luck, we’ll see you on the diamond.

Nicholas Kirt is an online entrepreneur. He’s developed websites for e-books, ticket sales, and real estate. His latest venture ACG Ready E-books Inc. at http://www.acgrei.com is in the beginning stages of business, but has already become a top reference for all things e-book related.