Okay, we’ve talked about commitment and the need to make an effort the whole season. We said that giving up even when you think the season is lost is a mistake because teams come back (and some of the other guys give up).  But now let’s talk strategy. How do you win at these fantasy games?

Over the next few weeks we’ll explore some of the dos and don’ts of fantasy sports. Let’s start with one of the most obvious traps managers fall into.

Rule #1 – Do not fill your team with home town players

You’re a Royal fan, you’re a Cub fan. Fine, root for them all you want but if you load up your team with home town players you better hope they win the pennant this year because if not neither are you!

It’s fun to root for your home town players knowing that when they do well, so do you. It’s like double the pleasure. But if you want to win in fantasy sports this is not the way to do it.

Take a tough no-nonsense attitude right from the start. Quit ranking your home town guys so high in the draft. Are they really that good? Should Ordonez really be ranked higher than Choo? Detroit fans might think so, but come on.

These same managers then compound their mistake right after the draft by running around trying to make trades for all the home town players they missed in the draft.  You should see some of the deals they make. Ouch. They often sabotage a draft just for the sake of collecting their homies. Not good strategy.

I’ve been guilty of this myself so I know from whence I speak. I’m from Detroit and yes I like it when I have some Tigers on my team but only the likes of Cabrera or Verlander.  You have to be brutally honest in evaluating players. Just because a guy is a starter for the home team doesn’t mean he’s better than the other team’s starter.  You won’t get far with Inge and Bonderman cluttering up your roster. I mean they are nice guys and have had their moments but when there are other better players available you have to go after the better players.

There’s nothing wrong with filling your roster with your favorite players and then rooting for them all season. Some managers do that and are perfectly content if their fantasy team hangs around the middle of the pack or lower. That’s fine. They’re having fun, it’s their money and they can do what they want. But you need to make up your mind right from the start…are you playing to have fun so you can root for your home town players or do you want to win at fantasy baseball? Rarely can you have both.