First, decide what type of league that you would like to play in and by that I mean primarily the scoring system. There are essentially two types of leagues – rotisserie or head to head. Rotisserie is a format that gives points based on certain statistical categories such as wins for pitchers or batting average for hitters. Then, at the end of the year the points are totaled and a winner is determined. Head to head is another way to play. Essentially, scoring is calculated every week with a winner being determined for that week. The champion is crowned based on the win-loss record. Any fantasy sports software that has baseball leagues should have either option.

Second, assemble your team by participating in the league draft which is one of the best aspects of playing. Most leagues focus on one of two draft types. Again, pay particular attention to how scoring works so as to make the most of the players selected. The first type is what is called an auction draft where each league manager is allotted a predefined amount of money upon which to bid on players. The second type is called a serpentine (also called a snake or ladder) draft. In this format, draft positions are determined ahead of time and from 1 to n (n being the number teams in the league) players are drafted. Then, the order reverses and the draft goes down the ladder from n to 1.

Third, manage your team throughout the season. Each week you’ll want to make sure that your starting lineup is set which means paying close attention to injuries, matchups and free agent acquisitions. Also, as the season goes on, players will begin to show at what level they are going to producing at. So, you will want to perform trades with the other league managers. Just like stocks, the expression buy low and sell high also applies in this situation.

Fantasy baseball gives you the power of a professional manager with the ability to draft, manage your lineup and make trades. So, this spring get in the game and enjoy the great game of baseball like never before.

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While each site has its own little quirks, they all offer pretty much the same things, especially with football. However, when you are playing in a low budget league or a free one, why would you pay for the software?

ESPN offers very good free fantasy sports software. A lot of the sites will not allow you to see real time updates as the games are being played. While it was the case with ESPN a couple of years ago, they received too many complaints and have thrown that into the free package now. They also offer upgraded service, but the free one really is one of the few sites that give you just about everything that you need to enjoy your league.

Yahoo is another site that is very popular amongst the fantasy leaguers. Their software gives you a few more options regarding what you can do with the scoring, but is almost too many options. Baseball is a great example of this as just about every statistic in the world can be used for your league. You can even count holds for relief pitchers if you want. Who counts holds? When you think of the amount of players that you will have to draft, it gets a little ridiculous.

Another factor when you are considering your free fantasy sports software is whether or not you are going to have a daily or weekly scoring system. While this is not an issue in football, it is for every other major sport. This is an important factor because it will affect the players that you start, especially your pitching staff in baseball.

Whether you choose rotisserie style or head to head, weekly or daily scoring, there is an ample amount of free fantasy sports software programs out there for you to choose from. In all honesty, the best way to figure out which one you like is to play them all for one season and see which one fits the league style that you want to run. Remember, they don’t cost anything so there is no harm in being a total fantasy sports junkie for one season. Just be careful not to get hooked and join that many leagues that you have to pay for!

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