The Major League Baseball season (and the fantasy baseball season by proxy) is a marathon, not a sprint. That is part of the beauty of the game, but it can also turn managing a team into a chore. That is especially true in leagues with daily transactions. Many fantasy managers simply do not have the time or patience to deal with the constant upkeep.
The good news is that there is a way to enjoy fantasy baseball without the grind of constant lineup decisions, waiver wire claims and awful trade proposals from leaguemates. Enter Best Ball leagues.
Best Ball leagues are quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of the hobby. You can draft until your heart’s content and then sit back and watch your handiwork unfold. In Best Ball leagues, there are no lineup changes for the entire season. The team you draft is the team you have from the first pitch on Opening Day until the 27th out of the 162nd game is recorded.
This format presents its own unique set of challenges. Here’s the complete Fantasy Baseball Best Ball Draft Strategy & Players to Target. Below we dive into a few picks to zero in on when it comes to you fantasy baseball best ball drafts.
Fantasy Baseball Best Ball Targets (2024)
Now that I have explained my Best Ball strategy and theory, let’s identify some of my favorite Best Ball targets for 2024.
The soon-to-be 35-year-old appears to be getting stronger later in his career. Chris Bassitt has set a career-high in innings in each of his last three seasons. I do not expect him to top the 200 IP he posted last season, but he was tied for third in the Majors with 21 quality starts last year. Every out helps in Best Ball leagues. Bassitt is generally valued as a borderline SP3 in 12-team Roto leagues, but I think he deserves a bump in Best Ball. I think he is a top-30 starter and would draft him in the ninth or 10th round instead of the 11th or 12th.
Max Muncy is normally being drafted outside the top 150 overall picks in early Roto drafts. That seems odd when comparing him to the likes of Schwarber. I do value Schwarber more in Best Ball because he is Philadelphia’s primary leadoff hitter. More plate appearances lead to more points. However, I do not think the gap between these two players is that great.
Muncy has an outstanding 15% career walk rate, giving him a bump in Best Ball leagues. He is also hitting behind the most fearsome trio in the game: Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. The only issue is that Muncy may sit when the Dodgers face a left-handed pitcher. That prevents me from ranking Muncy inside the top 100 overall in Best Ball formats. Still, I think he is worth a pick in the 10th or 11th round.
Jeimer Candelario (1B, 3B – CIN)
When you draft Jeimer Candelario, none of your leaguemates will pound the table in frustration or offer you praise for making such a savvy pick. But Candelario is a switch hitter who can play multiple positions on the diamond. He is also projected to hit in the middle of a potent Cincinnati lineup and gets a sizable upgrade playing in a hitter’s park. He will not hit .300, smack 40 home runs or swipe 20 bases. However, barring injury, I think he is a borderline top-100 hitter who you can currently draft several rounds later. That is exactly the type of player to target in Best Ball leagues.
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