How Many Leagues Are You In?

[Sour Masher]

A discussion in another thread got me thinking it might be interesting to share some data about how many leagues we participate in, thoughts on why participate in the number of leagues that we do, and reflections on what impact the number of leagues we do has on our overall success rate.

I'll start things off:

1. I mostly just do one league a year, which I also co-commish. I occasionally do a second league, but I have been in my main league for going into its 29th year.
2. My main league started in high school (we were on the cutting edge of points leagues, I think), and while it has evolved so only 3 of the 14 owners are friends from high school, most of the league has been in it long enough that I know everyone to some extent and enjoy competing against them. When I have been in other leagues, I've been successful, but I don't get the same enjoyment from competing and winning against people I don't know.
3. I think only doing one or two leagues a year works well for me, as it makes me care more about winning and gives more more time to focus on strategies to win. I've won a good bit in the leagues I have participated in, but think that if I were in many leagues a year, I'd win at a lower rate. But I do know many who just love to compete and prepping for one or multiple leagues is not a huge difference for them, so I wanted to learn from others how many leagues are folks here typically in, why you are in as many leagues as you are, and if you think the number of leagues you are in has an impact on winning.

[Pauly]

hmmm. Let me preface that my job is sitting in front of a computer screen all day with no oversight. haha.

I am in 10 NFBC leagues (counting co-owned and the free RJ league) and 4 home leagues. This is a record for me, but day-to-day management isnt that bad:

• 7 of the 10 NFBC leagues are draft and hold formats (either 15 or 12 teams), which means I need only set lineups twice a week (Mondays and Fridays) with no faab.
• Of the remaining 3 NFBC leagues, two are my "big money" ones, going for the online championship. The third is a satellite to next year's online championship. Same lineup deadlines with faab.
• 3 of the 4 home leagues are auctions (two mixed, one NL). I commish one of the mixed. 2 are weekly lineups and one is daily.
• The fourth home league is the one ive been in the longest and it is a weekly h2h format that im in really only for the nostalgia/friend factor.

Every year it seems to go up by one or two, but ive been around this volume for at least 5 years.

To break down the why, I like drafting first of all, and I dont mind the roster maintenance, since it is basically limited to faab on Sundays across 6 leagues, then lineups on Mondays/Fridays, for the most part. There is no better way to get to know the player pool (and all kinds of guys you would never think of taking) than by drafting a 50-rounder.

As far as success rate, Ive found that most years I zero in on 10-15 guys the most, and how they go, I go. Fortunately, Ive been lucky in that regard, so when I win, I usually win significantly. Most years I at least break even, at least that's what I tell my wife

[Sour Masher]

As far as success rate, Ive found that most years I zero in on 10-15 guys the most, and how they go, I go. Fortunately, Ive been lucky in that regard, so when I win, I usually win significantly. Most years I at least break even, at least that's what I tell my wife

This is interesting to me, because I've heard arguments for both focusing on getting the guys you think represent the best value and on spreading it around so you can get more guys you want. From your experience, it seems like if you know what you are doing, trying to get the same guys in as many leagues as possible is the better strategy. It is also the one I've seen professionals use the most. I know more casual players who will pay the extra buck for a Mike Trout if they were not able to get him in other leagues they are in. But then that isn't about optimizing one's chances of winning and gets more into playing for the fun of it. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. And going off script, at least one one league, does have the benefit of hedging against the likelihood of a couple of big injuries tanking all of your leagues.

[Pauly]

This is interesting to me, because I've heard arguments for both focusing on getting the guys you think represent the best value and on spreading it around so you can get more guys you want. From your experience, it seems like if you know what you are doing, trying to get the same guys in as many leagues as possible is the better strategy. It is also the one I've seen professionals use the most. I know more casual players who will pay the extra buck for a Mike Trout if they were not able to get him in other leagues they are in. But then that isn't about optimizing one's chances of winning and gets more into playing for the fun of it. There is nothing wrong with that, of course.

That does come into play with certain guys that might be riskier, like a degrom or alvarez. I will attempt to limit my exposure. But also, every time I had a top 5 pick and could get Judge, I did.

[Ken]

9 total leagues.

I am in 3 NFBC leagues including the shared/RJ league - I enjoy these, both the prep and the inseason management but I dont think I would enjoy many more - it gets a bit monotonous for me after a few.

I'm in 3 dynasty leagues and love the first year player drafts and the ability to manage a minor league system and at times push all in.(I think I've traded over half my roster this offseason in one league to give me a chance at it the title)

I have 1 AL only redraft that I really enjoy both due to the friends in the league and the deep nature of the AL only setup where a backup catcher matters. I'm a pseudo half-commish in this one, I help with the CBS side (fixing any settings or loading the players after the draft) but I've handed the planning/auction of it to two guys who are better at that. Call me the secretary, that's probably the best title.

I have one 15 team mixed keeper home league that I commish, it is a 15 player keeper league so it's like a half dynasty. Inflation is highest in this league so this is the league I use to guage how I handle inflation situations. Really enjoy that one, lots of trading, lots of good people.

And one 15 team mixed with a shorter keeper list that I enjoy as well, it is the closest that I have to a mixed redraft which means almost everyone is available and I can get a guy I'm high on this year.

I get something different out of each leagues. Some leagues are more about prep, even if I do still manage them in season. Some are about long term dynasty process, some are more challenging due to the player pool, etc. They all scratch a slightly different itch.

[umjewman]

Just one. I used to be in as many as 4, which was fine. Prep time overlapped quite a bit. One was a redraft league that people just didn’t want to do again. One was a keeper league that I didn’t know anyone so I left. One was a keeper league that went belly up because only 5 people were active and interested.

So now it is just the one. Which my wife prefers.

[Sour Masher]

9 total leagues.

I am in 3 NFBC leagues including the shared/RJ league - I enjoy these, both the prep and the inseason management but I dont think I would enjoy many more - it gets a bit monotonous for me after a few.

I'm in 3 dynasty leagues and love the first year player drafts and the ability to manage a minor league system and at times push all in.(I think I've traded over half my roster this offseason in one league to give me a chance at it the title)

I have 1 AL only redraft that I really enjoy both due to the friends in the league and the deep nature of the AL only setup where a backup catcher matters. I'm a pseudo half-commish in this one, I help with the CBS side (fixing any settings or loading the players after the draft) but I've handed the planning/auction of it to two guys who are better at that. Call me the secretary, that's probably the best title.

I have one 15 team mixed keeper home league that I commish, it is a 15 player keeper league so it's like a half dynasty. Inflation is highest in this league so this is the league I use to guage how I handle inflation situations. Really enjoy that one, lots of trading, lots of good people.

And one 15 team mixed with a shorter keeper list that I enjoy as well, it is the closest that I have to a mixed redraft which means almost everyone is available and I can get a guy I'm high on this year.

I get something different out of each leagues. Some leagues are more about prep, even if I do still manage them in season. Some are about long term dynasty process, some are more challenging due to the player pool, etc. They all scratch a slightly different itch.

Your 15 team mixed half dynasty sounds a lot like my league. We have gone between 14-16 owners, keep 15, with 20 man minor leagues, and I agree, that aspect of it leads to lots of trading, which is my favorite part of it all...besides winning, of course .

[Sour Masher]

Just one. I used to be in as many as 4, which was fine. Prep time overlapped quite a bit. One was a redraft league that people just didn’t want to do again. One was a keeper league that I didn’t know anyone so I left. One was a keeper league that went belly up because only 5 people were active and interested.

So now it is just the one. Which my wife prefers.

I made this thread mostly for guys like us who don't do many leagues to show our wives so they will appreciate us more.

[Ken]

I made this thread mostly for guys like us who don't do many leagues to show our wives so they will appreciate us more.

Don't let my wife see this

[Ken]

Your 15 team mixed half dynasty sounds a lot like my league. We have gone between 14-16 owners, keep 15, with 20 man minor leagues, and I agree, that aspect of it leads to lots of trading, which is my favorite part of it all...besides winning, of course .

I didn't address winning.

I've been very successful in winning a few of the leagues. In my long term leagues I've been in the money probably ~70-80% of the time and winning around 40% of the time or more? The dynasty leagues are newer and I've won less in that format, probably closer to 20% win rate, but I went into those expecting to have some rebuild years. NFBC I have not been very successful to date. Pauly and I won one last year.

[The Feral Slasher]

Just one. I used to be in as many as 4, which was fine. Prep time overlapped quite a bit. One was a redraft league that people just didn’t want to do again. One was a keeper league that I didn’t know anyone so I left. One was a keeper league that went belly up because only 5 people were active and interested.

So now it is just the one. Which my wife prefers.

Probably a lot less work for your wife to only have to help you in one league instead of four

[Moonlight J]

too many
AL LABR
AL Tout
XFL
FPAZ Writers League
TGFBI
SeaDog Memorial League
RJEL
Rotowire OC (drafting tonight)
Local AL
Local 15 team mixed reset draft
Online 15 team mixed reset draft

I think that's it althought I feel like I'm missing one

[Ken]

So now it is just the one. Which my wife prefers.

Or at least as far as she tells you.

[rhd]

I've been in 3 leagues for a while now. This is the 20th year for the most recent one. All are/were in-person but for 2 of them we havent met in person since Covid.

1 AL, 1 NL. The other one is mixed but we eliminate or add MLB teams based on the number of owners we have so it's as deep as an 'only' league. This year it's only 22 MLB teams because we have only 18 owners.

Different rules in each. The NL league is straight draft and there are no trades pickups or moves allowed and there are no reserves. I think of it as 'big bang' league, where everything is determined at the beginning and everything just unfolds during the season w no intervention. It also is a redraft league.

The other 2 are auction, keeper leagues and have a weird format where we draft by randomly selected teams. That is, MLB teams are drawn successively from a bag (or by randomized generator) and all the players on the 40-man roster of each team are called out in alphabetical order by position. It makes for a challenging auction because you have no idea when a particular MLB team's players will be up for auction. So if you save your money for the end, if nothing but crappy teams are left, you could have noone decent to spend money on. But some owners (not me) still save a lot of money until the end anyway. The AL league has weekly FAAB, which I like a lot, the other doesnt. In the mixed league, even tho there's trading it's very hard to make substantial trades because they tend to get objected to. There are 3 supplemental drafts during the season and this is the main way I get an infusion of talent. The mixed league auction is really long, taking about 12 hours to complete, not even counting the 3 1/2 hour commute 1-way to get there and back.

All 3 are money leagues. One has a league trophy for the winner (which I currently have but will have to give up this weekend), the other 2 dont.

There are some quirky, fun things. Like in the mixed league, before the auction each year someone does an 'odds' report where he figures the odds of each team winning. It's done as kind of a joke to rib each owner on their keepers or lack of league success. The team given the best odds seldom is the one that wins. In fact, I dont think the favorite has ever won. This year, guess who was picked to finish first? Maybe I can set a new precedent!

[The Feral Slasher]

I have an 18 team keeper (RJEL) which is my main league
I did the NFBC league Todd Zola organized for RJ and one more as part of a group.
I signed up for a sim league this year

That's plenty for me, as Ken noted, good to have some different type leagues to keep it interesting. I mostly do the NFBC as draft prep, last year I think i forgot to set lineups for the first month, I'll hopefully do better this year.