Auction or Draft

Fantasy baseball has been around, in one form or another, for three decades now. In that time the hobby has undergone a number of face lifts which seem to always accommodate the fantasy football/instant gratification crowd. Rotisserie leagues, the traditional format, are now being changed to point scoring head to head formats. This is done so the fantasy football crowd can equivocate a home run to a touchdown and check their win-loss record weekly instead of enjoying the six month marathon that is the rotisserie baseball season. American League Only and National League Only baseball formats are now more commonly converged into Mixed League settings.

I blame this on "industry". When the "industry" realized there were millions to be made, "they" realized fantasy baseball was somewhat of an untapped market compared to football and that it would behoove "them" to lure the average fantasy football guys over to the fantasy baseball side. By doing so "they" felt the need to dumb the game down and simplify it so the casual fan can easily transition over to fantasy baseball. The Mixed League format is a perfect example, this allows crossovers to skim by on limited knowledge of the player pool whereas in "Only" Leagues you need to know every starter and his backup and his backup. The transition from auction drafting to straight drafting falls in line with this new way of thinking as well and I do not like it. Just because something is easier does not make it better. Yes, an auction is more complicated and it requires more preparation time, but it sure is worth it and I would like to try to convince you to make the switch to an auction draft.

First things first, lets distinguish the two drafting formats. In a snake draft, every team owner is assigned a number. Lets assume a twelve team league. The teams would then draft from slot one through slot twelve, and then in round two it goes from slot twelve back to slot one. Fascinating, I know. In most leagues there is usually a two or three minute time limit to make each pick. That means one round of drafting could take up to thirty-six minutes. Can you say snooze-fest?

On the other hand, an auction draft is a dynamic, action packed event. Each team is allotted $260 of fake money. Ideally, all teams sit in a circle while an unaffiliated auctioneer stands in the center. One team, starting with the defending champion (usually me), yells out a player and a dollar amount, for example: Roy Halladay $20. After this initial bid, everyone in the room is allowed to bid however much they want at whatever interval they want. Each bid is noted by the auctioneer and when the bidding slows down the auctioneer will say "going once, going twice, sold". The highest bidding team at the end will own this player and the winning bid will be deducted from the team's budget.

People. Friends. Strangers. This is me begging you to open your minds and embrace something new and positive. Your draft league needs to convert to an auction format this year. You do not have to marry it. You do not have to sign a multi-year contract. All you have to do is give it a shot. As a social experiment, I have asked all of my friends and anyone else I have spoken to recently who plays fantasy baseball to try and get their league to switch over to an auction format. It is amazing to me, but the look on the subjects' faces when I bring it up is the same look my Mother-in-law, who doesn't know how to use a computer, gives me when I ask her to shoot me an email. Just utter stubbornness and refusal to embrace a better, more innovative and exciting version of something they have been doing the same exact way for years. Here are some reasons why I think everyone who does a straight fantasy baseball draft should try out an auction:

1. Fantasy auctions are infinitely more fun than straight drafts. My baseball auctions typically last 5+ hours and it feels like ten minutes. The intensity is indescribable and you do not have to wait a half hour in between picks. My friends who do straight drafts go through two packs of cigarettes during their draft because there is so much down time. It just gets boring after awhile. You are constantly involved in every single moment of an auction, you must be alert and involved, at least mentally, in every single player nomination.

2. Auctions factor in so much more strategy than drafts. Do you want to roster Alex Rodriguez AND Albert Pujols (two of fantasy baseball's best hitters)? Roy Halladay AND Tim Lincecum (best pitchers)? You can have them all, but it will cost you a pretty penny and you will have to manage your remaining funds exceptionally well to fill out a balanced roster. This is not for people who like to print out rankings the day of the draft and just yell out the name of the next player on the list when it is their turn (which I am guessing is one cause of the resistance). This is where you have to think about what you are doing, where you are going, and what every other team is doing and where they are going. There are so many layers of strategy to this it is ridiculous (in a good way).

3. Luck is minimized, skill is enhanced. No longer is your fate determined by a deck of cards or pulling numbers out of a hat. The days of one team drawing the Ace of Spades or picking a piece of paper with a "#1" on it, getting the best player and riding him to the championship are over..

4. Everyone has a friend who spends money like it is water in real life, right? If his employer were to give him his annual salary in one check he'd be broke in a month. Coincidentally, this same guy always spends about ninety percent of his budget within the first ten minutes of the auction. So, from a pure comedy standpoint, wouldn't it be fun to see your friend do this.....and then go smoke two packs of cigarettes while waiting for the end-gamers? Conversely, it would also be great to see your friend who is, lets say, "careful with money" refuse to spend any of his money with the hope that he gets to keep his unused balance (he can't, it is fake money).

I hope I have convinced you to at least try out an auction draft. If you do not like it you can go back to your straight draft next year, but my money is against that. Once you go auction, you never go back.

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