The Problems With America’s Fantasy Pastime

Fantasy Baseball is the pinnacle of fantasy sports, where the most hardcore, dedicated and knowledgable fans flock to show off how much they know about the game. Baseball fans combine their knowledge of the game and its stats and apply it to a draft and season-long “game” composed of players they handpicked. Nowadays, there’s a fantasy for everything, even gymnastics. Still, Fantasy Baseball always seems to have this aura surrounding it as the most intense, in-depth and nuanced of all the fantasy sports, which is partially the reason why it’s reached that pinnacle status. However, even with that said, there are reasons I strongly dislike Fantasy Baseball.

I see the appeal and recognize the positives, but damn if it isn’t one of the most boring, drawn-out experiences I’ve had in fantasy sports. I tried it mainly because of my love of baseball and the recommendation of people who continually talked about how it was the “real” fantasy experience. And boy, was I let down.

My favorite part of any fantasy experience is always the draft, which didn’t change with baseball. It would be tough to screw that up, and for me, it wasn’t a terrible experience at all. It did, however, inform me early that this was going to take a significant amount of time out of my day.

The most common and probably annoying complaint Fantasy Baseball lovers hear is that it takes way too much commitment. The problem is that it’s true. Frankly, it takes a ridiculous amount of effort and research to feel comfortable walking away from your lineup, confident that you did the best you could. A typical 162-game schedule means there is a game played almost every day. Therefore, it is difficult for the casual fan to enjoy. Suppose you aren’t continually keeping your team in mind. In that case, you will most likely fall behind in your league, ultimately making it hard to casually enjoy the experience — unless being bad or average is fun for you.

This generally means that people who join leagues are serious about it and willing to put the time in to be competitive. Also, it makes it that much sweeter when you succeed because you’ve validated your knowledge and put in many hours to get to that point. But every day? For damn near half the year? Do these people not have jobs? It’s summertime; there are too many pools to swim in, places to go and ballparks to enjoy to be worried about a lineup being perfect.

Personally, I believe that the casual experience is crucial. I think fantasy sports are for fun, and having “levels” makes it a better all-around experience. I’m a fan of Fantasy Football because I can enjoy it no matter how much effort I put into it. If I want to check on it two or three times a week, I can without feeling like I fell behind in my league. Suppose I had as much time as Fantasy Baseball fanatics. I could get advanced offensive and defensive efficiency numbers, watch film and check the injury reports daily to make strong pickups and lineup choices. My team would be much better off — but if made not so rigorous, I wouldn’t have to worry about all that every day, and I would also be able to have multiple teams without getting confused or overwhelmed. I might be completely wrong here, and Fantasy Baseball veterans could be screaming at their computers right now insisting that I don’t know what I’m talking about. Still, I maintain the opinion that with Fantasy Baseball, the floor is too high to be enjoyable at a casual level.

I don’t want to sound like a basic millennial obsessed with instant gratification and the necessity to succeed with minimal effort, because I don’t think that way. It’s a game. I respect that the high standard and time commitment is positive for some and is an appealing feature. Ultimately, I’m not a fan of feeling like I have to put so much time into a recreational game to enjoy it and be competitive. Maybe that means that Fantasy Baseball strongly dislikes me instead of the other way around.

I think there are ways that I, and likely others, could enjoy the experience much more. I’ve seen a couple of ideas brought up, but the most promising to me is multiple redrafts throughout the season. The draft is always the best part of any fantasy season, so why not just maximize that enjoyment? Perhaps an option to have a redraft every so often or at the Midsummer Classic would lure more casual fans to play. Hardcore fans could appreciate this, too. If you’re feeling crazy, play with the idea; do one at the 40-game mark, and then a final redraft at the All-Star break that people have to stick with for the remainder of the season. A mid-season redraft option could maximize the thrill factor and make Fantasy Baseball increasingly more intense as the season continues. Maybe it could even help alleviate the issue of being stuck with injured players, since several guys will inevitably land on the injured list for something as small as a blister.

I’m going to keep trying to enjoy Fantasy Baseball because I know in the back of my mind that it can probably be a good time. At this point, there is nothing about Fantasy Baseball that is fun or exciting enough to draw me into an entire season of play, which is what I’m ultimately looking for in a game. “Out of the Park Baseball” or even “MLB The Show” can give me much more enjoyment than any Fantasy Baseball season has so far. It just isn’t worth the time for something that doesn’t seem to add anything I can’t already get from merely watching and analyzing the season.

Cover photo courtesy of Dan Sewell/AP Photo