This one is for the sickos who play in the dynasty leagues most fantasy players wouldn’t dare. The 20-teamers. The AL/NL Only leagues. Farms 200-400 deep. We know a different kind of pain from the redrafters who have hard choices like starting Ian Happ or Taylor Ward. We start Kyle Isbel and are happy he’s playing every day. We stand up and scream DINGLER TIME!
I mentioned in part one that my first full dynasty league was a 20-teamer with 15-man farms. I got lucky on a late J.T. Realmuto pick, but had to replace the rest of my farm within a year. I was scraping the barrel for anyone with an outside shot at being a big-leaguer in year two, and as a contender, I didn’t get high FYPD picks and traded picks away pretty freely. I saw a lot of busts in the several years of that league, and held onto Lucious Fox for far too long (Yes, there was a baseball player with that name, not just a Batman character. Also, yes, that’s the #1 reason I drafted him)
MORGAN FREEMAN VOICE: Don’t tell me you drafted him because he had a funny name
ME: But it worked with Jazz Chisholm!
Targeting Prospects in Deep Leagues
The Information Game
This was a theme in the Shallow End, but I’ll say it again: Prospecting is a game of information. The more you can learn about a player, the faster, the better. The difference in deep leagues is that sometimes waiting for information is just the price you have to pay to find top-end talent. You have to be in on players early, when we don’t know much, and you have to be patient. The guys we know something about will go in the first few rounds of your First Year Player Draft (FYPD), and depending on how many guys you traded or graduated, you might have several picks to make after that. I don’t like holding J15 signees for 2-3 years before getting even low-A stats, but when you’re making your 8th FYPD pick, that 16-year-old might be your best shot.
That said, don’t be too patient. If we learn something about a guy in the low minors who wasn’t much of a prospect – better command, better contact rates, more power – don’t be afraid to jettison that 12th-ranked international prospect for the new hotness, or even just a glimmer of hope
Read as Much as You Can
Shallow leaguers can mostly get by on lists, but if you want to succeed in Dynasty, you need to be ahead of the lists. Read daily or weekly prospect reports from as many sources as you have time for. Dig through the org ranking lists in the off-season and get familiar with names (it can be hard to know every Luis Castillo, Aidan Smith, or Emerson Keith out there.
You were probably thinking of Emerson Hancock, Colt Emerson or Colt Keith
If you don’t have time to read, listen. While prospect sites usually require a subscription, podcasts just require you to sit through some ads. Baseball Prospectus’s Heat Check is a bit irregular but a good source of names of note at every level (RIP TINO). RotoWire frequently has prospect shows in their feeds. I just heard about Austin Overn and Brandon Clarke listening to them, and they were available in all my leagues, go get ‘em!
At worst, follow a variety of prospect writers on social media to keep up with the buzz (but not me, I do not post about sports)
Real Baseball Lists are Good Lists
You still don’t want a general baseball list as your primary source, but playing time and probability matter in deep leagues, and you’ll get those things factored into real baseball reporting. If you’re in a two-catcher league hanging your hopes on Dillon Dingler, you definitely want to know if scouts think Jefferson Quero is gonna stick at catcher long term (He’s still not a top 20 dynasty prospect though, even in two-catcher NL Only leagues). The back end of any list is going to have a few names that aren’t on any other, and if those guys are doing something well enough to get one scout’s attention, they’re probably worth yours, even if your favorite list has them ranked 300th.
I Love Jacob Wilson
I wouldn’t rank this guy in the top 100 for shallow leagues, but I love him in deep leagues, especially with extra categories that count doubles. Elite hit tools with below-average power and speed are snooze fests for most formats, but defense will keep him on the field and contributing every day, even if the counting stats aren’t exciting.
On the other side of that coin are Kyle Manzardo and Heston Kjerstad. These guys showed good power and excellent plate discipline in the minors, but their defensive limitations with merely above-average pop make teams reluctant to give them significant playing time. I still roster them, but there’s a risk in this profile that doesn’t show up on the statline. I still have Kjerstad and Manzardo in a few places, but they are not producing as much as I paid for them. Learn from my mistakes, folks.
Diversify
We don’t have the luxury to target or avoid specific profiles. Just try not to load up on too many of one type of guy. You don’t want a ton of pitchers and catchers, but if those are the guys you can snag off the wire? Pick ‘em up and trade a couple when they hit lists. Carry a couple of J15 guys. Stash an arm that just had TJ. Take a shot on that bullpen risk with two-plus pitches. You can go after your type in FYPDs but you’re gonna have to take some flyers to fill your farm.
Next time, I’ll be going into the other way to find names to add: Statline Scouting
