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MLB Postpones Season: Fantasy Baseball Adjustments To Make

By Sean Millerick

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 29: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 29: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

With the 2020 MLB season on hold, fantasy baseball fans need to dramatically rethink how they will approach their upcoming drafts.

Over a dizzyingly sobering twenty-four hours, collegiate and professional sports ground to a halt Thursday afternoon as a consequence of the coronavirus.

In the case of MLB, fans can currently expect a two-week delay. Hopefully, it goes without saying that health and safety are of paramount importance right now. Everyone’s lives are going to need to adjust for the next little bit, and when things like the economy and education are shuttering, it is only right and proper for our games to take a backseat.

That being said though, if you have still made your way to this neck of the interwebs, you are probably looking for a little distraction. Which means you have probably gotten around to asking yourself a question that is pretty significant for millions of baseball fans around the world:

How is this going to impact my fantasy baseball draft? 

That’s where my mind went the moment the NBA announced their decision on Wednesday, as it was clear that all active leagues would be following suit in short order at that point. Weeks of rankings analysis, podcast binging, pouring over tiers….all of it now needing to be looked at in an entirely new light.  My mind started churning through repositionings, raising some names, dropping others.

Now while I’m sure many of you might also have made the jump to worrying about this could impact pennant races and competition windows…I’m a Miami Marlins fan. Three straight trips to the league championship, with two wins, has gotten me through a lot of hometeam despair these past few years.

Fantasy baseball is my baseball season. And I’m sure it is for you as well.

So with that, let’s get to some quick changes fantasy baseball players can make. Many of you are likely drafting this weekend after all. What follows are the four biggest questions/reactions players should be making over the next week of drafts.

Housekeeping Draft Changes

Before diving into rankings adjustments, some housekeeping matters for fantasy baseball leagues need to be brought up. First off, is your draft going to proceed as scheduled? It seems pretty unlikely that fans will be put in a situation where baseball just happens again on short notice. Savvy drafters know to wait as late into spring training as possible, and now spring training is being abruptly paused and then restarted. There will be side effects of this.

It might be worth taking a league vote on whether or not to postpone until MLB sets an official start date.

Secondly, if you’ve already drafted, do you commit to those rosters or redraft? Arguments can be made either way in that case. Again though, worth taking the pulse of your leaguemates.

Finally, if you haven’t drafted yet, make sure you don’t draft in person. Last time coronavirus will come up in this article, but safety first. Nothing wrong with an online draftroom and the myriad number of messaging and video apps at our fingertips. That last point does not need to be a league vote by the way. Commissioners just need to make that settings change now.

Draft settings all set? Great- let’s get to the rankings reactions.

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