Book excerpt: Historically, people that have had the most interest in fantasy baseball have been statistic junkies and lovers of baseball in general. People who immerse themselves into spreadsheets and stare at computer screens to develop strategies have made a name for themselves in the industry. With technological advancement in recent years however, this is no longer the case. Information is very accessible and easily compiled so that almost anyone can put together a team and compete in fantasy baseball with a reasonable amount of time, research, and luck. It is not nearly as difficult to find player statistics, trends, reports or any other type of information that you need to succeed in your league. When I began working on this book, many people asked me why I was writing it. What could this book offer that other published works didn’t already talk about? There is some truth to those questions. There are plenty of available works published that provide a tremendous amount of knowledge about fantasy baseball. Reading other fantasy baseball articles and books myself, I’ve found that many of them, while thorough, tend to neglect the fundamentals. They assume that any reader already has a good grasp of the basics. While that often may be the case, I believe it’s critically important not only to know the basics but to completely understand how to use them to your advantage. Having this book as a foundation, you can then better understand some of the more complex topics: sabermetrics, drafting, trading, etc. In this book I will provide insights into not only the basics of fantasy baseball, but will also delve into complex strategies and statistical analysis to help you succeed. In each section, I will first present the topic and then discuss how understanding it in detail will help you as a fantasy baseball team owner. I’m certain that even savvy fantasy baseball players will be able to take away at least a few insights to improve their overall fantasy baseball experience. In one section in particular, Relative Draft Value, I provide original, self-developed formulas and strategies that you simply can’t get anywhere else. I will be focusing primarily on season long leagues; however I have also dedicated a section to daily games which have become extremely popular and deserve discussion. In short, this book will go into almost everything you need to know to start yourself down a path to fantasy baseball success.