Ch Ch Ch Changes

[DOUGHBOYS]

Remember when we started playing fantasy baseball?
Everything was wonderful.
Drafts, trades, free agents, trash talking. We loved everything about it.
But, shit happens.
Since, we have become a different person. And even though technology has made everything easier for us, we don't want to be bothered with some aspects of fantasy baseball.
In short, we have less time for this hobby.
We got married. We had a family and a job tugging at us.

When starting, we couldn't wait to make trade offers. Always trying to get the best of another team.
Then, trade offers made to you were met with more and more sneers. Why can't somebody offer up fair trade.
But, we realize that our own trades were not that fair either.
Trading sounded like a good idea then. Now, it is mostly a waste of time and e-mails. Most trades are met with a push of the 'delete' button.
Trades are like two catchers in fantasy baseball. Some leagues have them, only because of tradition.
If only having one catcher in leagues all these years, can you imagine the resistance against a suggestion to start two catchers?
The idea would be dismissed quickly. Traditions are strong in fantasy.
Trading is a tradition that would not be missed by most in the industry.

We also couldn't wait to pick up free agents. Free agents are like band-aids, fixing the scrapes we got ourselves into in drafting injured or under performing players.
Whether it was a standings placement or faab decided new free agent, we couldn't wait to see who would be the new player on our roster.
Now, FAAB is dreaded. We have multiple leagues. We have families. We have personal lives.
Something has to give.
We put a little less time into FAAB. More time to our personal life.

Now, we have daily fantasy baseball.
No trading. No FAAB. No committment.
Daily baseball is the slut we have a one night stand with.
It comes with satisfaction, but with no commitment and no strings attached.
Personally, I like the commitment. I like knowing that if I draft Kris Bryant, I immediately become a Kris Bryant fan.
And that I will be that fan for the whole year.
Cherry picking an easy day for a Bryant home run on a daily basis holds little charm for me.
But, that's just me.

A veteran of the NFBC since its inception did not sign up with the NFBC again this year.
The reasoning was that he had drafted Jose Fernandez hard and heavy last year, only to see Fernandez have Tommy John surgery.
I understand the angst.
This fella decided it was in his own best interests to cut ties with long relationships and join daily leagues.
I hope it works out for him. He's a great guy.
At the same time, he is basically playing the same game. He has become a day trader instead of a long term investor.
Now, instead of season ending injuries, he'll have to deal with shorter term problems like rain outs and late minute Managerial decisions, or players opting out of the lineup for the day he had that player in the line up.

The best part about fantasy baseball is the choices.
Now, we don't have to trade.
We don't have to FAAB.
We don't even have to draft.
We can put as much or as little as we wish into this hobby.
Players of today, especially fantasy players just starting out, are lucky in the choices they can make.