Saturday Night Live celebrated its 50th year this past weekend. Did you watch it? If not, go find it…or at least watch the clips. Great stuff! SNL has been one of my favorites ever since I discovered it two score and several fortnights ago. Ok, maybe not THAT long ago, but it’s been a minute! There were years when the cast was fantastic and of course, there were years to forget. These 10-year anniversary shows are fantastic though and the 50th was no different. One of my all-time favorites is “Lazy Sunday” so you see the inspiration for the title.
Fast forward, it’s a new baseball season as well and I have a new assignment here at Razzball. For the 2025 campaign, I will be taking over the weekly column on Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues. That’s right, each week (or something close to that), I’ll be providing insight and suggestions on how to master your points leagues. Points leagues come in all shapes and sizes, so I’ll be counting on you to provide plenty of feedback on your specific league so we can work together to win that title. That’s what it’s all about, right? It is for me! Let’s do it together.
If you’ve followed my content here at Razzball, you know I love data and analytics (remember my “Analytics Anonymous” series?). There is so much information out there at our fingertips. We just need to use it as much as we can. The trick is to know what to do with it, and how much to rely on it, as we navigate the season. As I said, I’ll be providing insight along the way. This will be a blast!
To get started, let me ask: What really makes a Points league different than a Roto league? This isn’t a trick question and I’m not trying to insult your intelligence here. If you’ve made it this far, I know you understand how they are scored, respectively. What I’m getting at here is…STRATEGY!
Don’t get me wrong, Roto leagues are a lot of fun. But they’re also a lot harder for the average fantasy baller. Drafting a winning team is really hard to do – especially if your league mates know their stuff. Also, you could have an A+ draft but if your roster suffers in a couple categories, whether through injury or some other reason, the likelihood of a top finish (league or combined) may be virtually impossible. In many cases, you’ll also find half the owners in the league aren’t all that engaged after the All-Star break because they’re so far behind in a few categories. Fantasy baseball is a grind as it is, but nobody benefits if half the league loses interest and drops off halfway through the season.
Unlike Roto leagues, Points leagues give you much more flexibility in finding a pathway to a title (or more likely, “the money”). Whether you play in a straight Points league or a Head-to-Head Points league, the goal is the same…accumulate more points. Pretty simple, right? The fact is, it doesn’t matter WHERE the points come from, you just need to find them. Here’s where it gets a little trickier. What is the best way to accumulate the most points? The answer to that question is the #1 thing every fantasy baseball owner needs to do, regardless of format – KNOW THE RULES!
In this case, it’s the SCORING RULES that matter most. Look at the offensive scoring for these two leagues and tell me what you see:
Before we go any further, I just want to say I didn’t make these up. These are the actual scoring formats for two of my current Points leagues. Quite a difference, huh?
The main thing that stands out to me is the number of categories. League 1 is pretty standard, but League 2 breaks down H (Hits) into a tiered structure, so the astute drafter might want to look for players who rack up doubles and triples. League 2 also includes BB (Walks) and HP (Hit by Pitch), which gives a slight boost to players like Juan Soto (BBs) and Anthony Rizzo (HBP). Yet another difference is the negative points of League 1, tamping down players with big swing-and-miss, who are not punished for that in League 2. So, what does this mean in reality? Let’s look at a few player projections (using free Razzball projections):
You’ll note the 5-tool players, like Ohtani and Witt Jr., will still rise to the top in both formats. However, as tools diminish or flaws are exposed in the scoring, like Schwarber and Olson in League 1, their relative draft rank drops. You’ll want to let someone else spend the draft capital on players like that.
The beauty of Points leagues is that you can likely find (or create) the league that fits your preferences. If you like to emphasize power and/or speed, go for it. If you like balanced scoring or introduce some of the unique batting stats (2B, 3B, etc.), you can do that too. The world is your oyster!
Now, the same exercise for the pitching categories:
W (Wins) and K (Strikeouts) are about the same. On the other hand, SV (Saves) are pushed up higher in League 1, making CLs a little more valuable. You’ll note IP (Innings Pitched) are a little different here and just like what we saw with the offensive categories above, League 1 penalizes pitchers for H, BB, and ER (Hits-, Walks-, and Earned Runs-allowed, respectively). Lastly, League 2 expands the pitching opportunities by adding 2 points for HD (Holds) and if you’re so lucky to have a pitcher toss a CG (Complete Game), you get a 6-point bonus. Pretty unique, right? Again, let’s look at a few player projections (using free Razzball projections, of course):
At the top, there’s a little shuffling of positions but generally, they all slot in where you’d expect. As usual, it comes down to personal preference. As we move down the list, you see a shift in pitchers like Sale and Crochet who project higher in League 1 than League 2. This is primarily due to the IP (Innings Pitched) scoring.
You’ll also note pitchers generally score higher relative to hitters in League 2.
I dug deeper to see the scoring effects with RPs. As you’ll note, RPs who are projected to be late inning, but not necessarily CLs, receive a ranking bump in League 2 scoring. In fact, I just drafted Jason Adam in a Best Ball Points league for this very reason! The boost is not a tremendous amount but remember one of the key aspects of Points leagues
It doesn’t matter WHERE the points come from, you just need to find them.”
If you take nothing else from this article, make this the lasting message…and let me kick the podium once again: “KNOW THE RULES”!
Summary
Anyway…for those of you who haven’t tried Points leagues before, I hope this got you interested a bit. There are plenty of positives and some negatives to Points leagues. In my opinion, there are two big benefits to Points leagues: (1) it provides a format for all those fantasy footballers to dip their toes in fantasy baseball without overwhelming them (TRUTH: fantasy football is EASY, but fantasy baseball is MORE CHALLENGING), and (2) your league will remain more engaged throughout the season.
In the coming weeks, I’ll share my top 100…or top 150…or top 250… pitchers and hitters for Points leagues. In fact, since these leagues come in all shapes and sizes, I’ll probably give you two lists: one for typical NFBC scoring (with negative points) and one that pushes up the value of RPs.
In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter/X (@Derek_Favret) and on BlueSky (@dfavret.bsky.social).
Until next time, my friends.
