Fantasy baseball leagues must choose between weekly or daily transaction formats. Both options are based on how often team owners are allowed to adjust starting lineups.
A weekly league forces owners to create starting lineups by a certain deadline. Once that day passes, no lineup adjustments can be made during the week. Also, any free agent pickups will not help until the following week.
Daily transaction leagues allow team owners to adjust lineups everyday. Generally the only requirement is that players are in starting roster spots by game time. Free agent pickups can possibly be available right away, depending upon individual league settings.
Below are some of the main arguments for and against the weekly and daily transaction league formats.
Weekly League Advantages
Most weekly fantasy baseball proponents feel that it creates a level playing field for everyone. Since no daily moves can be made, nobody gains an advantage by constantly watching or checking a team. Men with busy lives that must tend to family and career obligations can benefit most from this.
Some feel that the weekly aspect actually makes things more fun and therefore creates another advantage over daily leagues. Team owners in a daily league usually only look at current situations. Weekly owners must consider such things as future series match ups, possible pitcher appearances and scheduled days off.
Weekly League Disadvantages
One weekly league drawback is that an owner can get stuck using an inactive player for a while. A serious injury can suddenly knock a player out long term. If this happens early in the week, a team owner must go several games with no production from that roster spot.
Some fantasy baseball participants also see a disadvantage due to the lack of owner involvement in weekly leagues. Although a team owner should still keep up on new information, there is no direct activity for them during the week. Owners have no way of altering an outcome and can only watch how their team performs.
Daily Transaction League Advantages
The ability to quickly replace a player creates one advantage for the daily league format. Throughout a season players might get suspended, injured or even leave a team for personal reasons. Daily leagues allow for immediate roster replacements, therefore avoiding the production deficiency that weekly owners would face in similar situations.
The possibility of finding additional starting pitchers is another aspect seen as an upside to daily leagues. Extra starting pitchers can have a huge impact upon a team owner’s total pitching statistics. In a daily league, an owner can easily add any available pitchers scheduled for a start.
Daily Transaction League Disadvantages
Finding the time to track fantasy baseball on a daily basis can become problematic. Men occasionally face shakeups in life that can suddenly take away most free time. Typically fantasy teams which are not updated regularly perform poorly and finish low in the standings.
Another daily league disadvantage is that some owners will overuse the waiver wire. Constant waiver transactions by one or two owners can keep other teams from filling spots they might need. Some leagues combat this with transaction limits, but unfortunately others do not.