Fantasy Baseball

The hot stove is officially cookin', but with Major League Baseball's winter meetings set to start on Monday, Dec. 9, in Orlando, it's as good a time as any to take a break from all the heat—and take stock of the fantasy impact from all the activity.

Did you take the rest of your league to school this fantasy baseball season—or were you the one getting schooled?

Either way, this question is worth considering: What did you learn?

Sure, winning is still the name of the game in fantasy baseball—and congrats if you're on the verge of locking up your league over the season's final days—but every year also serves as a learning experience that shapes how we play the game going forward.

The fantasy season, like the regular season, is coming to a close, but there is still time to make a difference in September thanks to the wonder of September call-ups. 

Most of the top prospects who were going to get brought up this year have been called up already. We aren't going to see a more highly-regarded player than Boston's Xander Bogaerts, brought up last week, before the end of the year, though that doesn't mean there aren't options to choose from. 

What good is talent to a fantasy owner who lacks timing?

Fantasy baseball, just like the real thing, is a game of skill, luck and timing. That last trait in particular comes in handy in regard to trading.

Knowing which player to trade away and which to deal for—and knowing just the right time to do so—can make all the difference. It doesn't get much better than making a move to unload a hot flavor-of-the-month type who's about to cool off in exchange for a slumping stud about to take off.

For all of you forward-thinking fantasy players, you're probably way ahead of me in coming up with a list of players who've given you great value in the first half, but won't come close to maintaining production for the remainder of the season. You'll spend the next few weeks looking for the best trade before their value begins to dip too much.

While it's way too late to buy low on a player that's already broken out in the first half of the season —Diamondbacks starting pitcher Pat Corbin and Brewers shortstop Jean Segura would be the best examples—plenty more could break out between now and the end of the season. 

In the fantasy baseball world, it’s difficult to discern if a player will be scorching hot for a week, a month, or a season.

For example, owners who picked up Edwin Encarnacion in 2012 reaped the benefits for the whole season. Managers who added speedster Jordan Schafer last year bemoaned his awful for the second half.

Finding sleepers in fantasy baseball is a process very similar to discovering them just as a fan and/or analyst of the game. Too often, we get caught up in the easily discernible numbers, like batting average, to say that a player is having a breakout season.

Thanks to enhanced metrics, as well as a deeper dig into stats, you can tell when a player is doing something different that is sustainable and who is in for a rude awakening as the season moves along. 

Giancarlo Stanton looks like Superman, but injuries have been his kryptonite. On a hustle play in extra innings Monday night, Stanton racked up another injury. This time it is a hamstring strain that could cost Stanton a month or more, depending on the severity.

Picking busts is about value.

Scratch that. It's about lack of value compared to expected return.

In other words, just because Maicer Izturis is hitting .162 and having a truly atrocious season, no fantasy owner in their right mind was expecting much, if anything, from him in the first place, so Izturis was ignored in drafts.