Intro To NL/AL-Only Leagues: Draft Strategies for Fantasy Baseball

February 8, 2024

Rick Lucks discusses three things about NL-Only and AL-Only fantasy baseball leagues he learned the hard way. The player pool is smaller, which means draft strategy is even more important.

If you're looking to liven up your fantasy baseball experience, trying your hand at an Only league could be a great way to bring a fresh perspective to one of your favorite pastimes. While standard mixed leagues are largely a race to accumulate as many elite performers as possible, Only leagues allow gamers to demonstrate their knowledge of the entire player pool. You can take pet players that wouldn't be viable in standard formats and still have a shot. Better yet, you can take a bow when they finish firmly on the fantasy radar.

Some people balk at the idea of an Only league because they like players in both the AL and NL. "Why would I want to limit the choices available to me?" they might ask. Participating in both an AL- and NL-Only league concurrently solves this issue. You're still working with the entire player pool between the two leagues while having a reason to care about that nondescript prospect who started getting reps in Oakland.

Other managers claim that Only leagues are too much work, and a lot more research indeed goes into them. This article is intended to jump-start a novice manager's Only draft prep with three proven tips. Let's get started!

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1. Playing Time is Key in Only Leagues

If you take nothing else from this article, you must understand the team that records the most plate appearances and innings is likely to finish well in an Only league. Managers in standard leagues usually look for upside when one of their core players lands on the IL, but your waiver wire will be a barren wasteland in an Only format. You'll be ecstatic to find a .220 hitter with little power or speed.

Thankfully, you can prepare for this eventuality on draft day. Invest in bench bats covering every position, and prioritize multi-positional guys to give you versatility when you're scouring the waiver wire. This way, you'll be as prepared as possible when injury inevitably strikes.

Likewise, Only leagues are not the right place to invest in playing time gambles. Jacob deGrom will probably be great when healthy, but we know he won't be ready for Opening Day. Byron Buxton isn't injured yet, but do you think he'll log 600 PAs? Paul Skenes has all the talent to make an immediate fantasy impact upon his debut, but when will that be?

Guys like that are worthwhile plays in standard leagues because quality is more important than quantity, but quantity is more important in Only formats. Boring regulars like Carlos Santana will be the glue holding your roster together, so don't hesitate to take them over flashier playing time risks.

2. Outfield is a Scarce Position in Only Leagues

Outfield is seen as one of the deepest positions in fantasy, ranging from perennial All-Stars like Ronald Acuna Jr. to exciting prospects like Jackson Chourio. Managers in standard leagues never need to inflate an outfielder's value for position scarcity, but some basic arithmetic shows that it's different in an Only league.

Assuming a 10-team league with standard deep rosters (2 C, 5 OF, CI, MI, U), your league wants to roster 50 outfielders (10 teams times five per team). However, each of the 15 real MLB clubs only has three outfielders. That works out to 45 starters (15 teams times three per team) before we even consider platoons and teams lacking everyday options. Considering that outfielders traditionally generate a lot of value, coming up short at the position is a great way to finish in the bottom half of your league.

The math isn't as bad for infielders. Your 10-team league wants to roster 15 third basemen (10 teams with a 3B slot plus half of the CI slots), which is the exact number the 15-team AL and NL provide. Catchers are also scarce, but they play less often and put up poor numbers anyway. Therefore, you must treat outfielders as a scarce commodity and take pains to ensure that you leave your draft with at least five everyday players at the position. Otherwise, you'll spend the entire season trying to correct the deficiency.

3. You Can Wait on Starting Pitching in Only Leagues

Assuming the roster construction above, your league wants to roster 90 pitchers (10 teams times nine pitcher slots). All 15 of the guys currently earning saves should be rostered in an Only league, and some managers will roster an additional reliever to improve their ratios. If we say an average of 20 relievers will be rostered at any one point, we need 70 starters to meet our league's demand.

Most MLB clubs have a five-man rotation, meaning that 75 starters have jobs at a time. That's more than we need to fill out all of the starting rosters: the only position with a surplus in the entire format. The starters you find on waivers won't be good, but they will start. That's more than you can say for all the offensive positions, so you don't need to invest in as much SP depth.

Closers are a challenging commodity to manage in Only leagues. Your fifth-ranked and 10th-ranked closers don't differ by enough to offset the loss of an everyday position player, but you also need to compete in the saves category. The ideal strategy is to take the last two closers on the board, setting you up to finish in the top half of your league in saves for as little draft-day capital as possible.

Conclusion

Playing in an Only league is a different experience than many managers are used to, but it can be more engaging if you're looking to add strategy. RotoBaller offers a variety of resources to help novice and experienced managers alike with all of the research, so why not try an Only league this season?

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