ESPN Fantasy Baseball Position Eligibility Rules

Position eligibility in ESPN Fantasy Baseball is based on playing time during the previous season. A batter must have played 20 games in that position.

ESPN determines the primary position of every major league player available in the fantasy game at the start of the season. The most recent season of the player, where he played at least one match, is taken into consideration to determine the initial position.

The position eligibility a player begins with is fixed throughout the season and can not be changed. However, additional eligibility can be added based on certain criteria.

In the case of athletes with no prior experience in the major league, the primary position is determined based on their expected major league position and minor league position. Such players can only be eligible for one position.

Here are the required number of games to be eligible for a position:

Batter eligibility

• Played at least twenty games in that position during the previous season. If played less than 20 games throughout the season, must play at least 25 percent of the games in that position.
• Played at least ten games at a position during the ongoing season. The eligibility is available as soon as the player plays ten matches.

Starting Pitcher eligibility

• Three games played as an SP in the ongoing season.
• Five games played as an SP last season.

Relief Pitcher eligibility

• Five games appeared as a reliever in the ongoing season.
• Eight games played as a relief pitcher the previous season.

Note: In leagues that use specific outfield positions, such as Left Fielder (LF), Right Fielder (RF), and Center Fielder (CF), the player must have ten appearances at that position to be eligible. For example, if a player has appeared in six games at LF, seven at CF, and thirteen at RF, he is eligible for only the RF position.

Further, if the league uses a standard position, i.e. Outfielder (OF), the number of appearances is added. For example, if a player has three appearances at RF, three at CF, and four at LF, he is eligible for the OF position as he has ten combined appearances in the three outfield positions.

ESPN Fantasy Baseball regular season tiebreaker rule determines who qualifies for the playoffs. The tiebreak is based on the head-to-head record of the teams.

The process of breaking a tie depends on the type of the head-to-head (H2H) league as well. There are three types of leagues in ESPN fantasy baseball: H2H Points, H2H Most Categories, and H2H Each Categories.

The process of determining the winner in case of a tie is the same for the Most Categories and Each Categories league, whereas the Points league has a slightly different process. However, all three types of leagues have some common things to consider.

Here are the important things to remember for the tiebreaker in all three head-to-head leagues:

• The teams that are tied must have played the same number of head-to-head games among them.
• The tiebreaker process is started over from the beginning after a tie is broken for each bracket seed.

H2H Points League

The Points League is one of the most common scoring systems used in fantasy games. In the head-to-head points league, the teams face each other each week per schedule, and the team with the most fantasy points wins.

Here are the steps taken to break the tie in the Head-to-Head Points league:

• The H2H record between the tied teams is compared to the one with the best record.
• If the head-to-head records are tied, then the Points For accumulated by the
• teams are compared.
• If still tied, the Intradivisional record of the teams is compared.
• In case the intradivisional records are also the same, Points Against is taken into consideration, and the team with the most points advances,
• If all of the above criteria are the same, a virtual coin flip is done to determine the seed.

H2H Each Category and H2H Most Categories

The H2H Each Category is the most common in fantasy baseball. The managers have to select a number of statistical categories after the weekly scoring team totals are accumulated, and a win, loss, or tie is credited in each of the selected categories based on the results.

On the other hand, the Most Categories league allows managers to set a number of statistic categories. Then, each week, the total points in each category are accumulated, and the team that wins the most number of categories is determined as the winner of the week.

Here are the steps taken to break the tie in H2H Each Category and H2H Most Categories leagues:

• The head-to-head records of the tied teams are compared, and the one with the better record advances.
• If the H2H records are tied, the team with the better Division record advances.
• In case both the H2H record and the Division record are tied, a coin flip determines who gets seeded.

ESPN Playoff Tiebreaker Fantasy Baseball

Tiebreakers for playoffs in the ESPN Fantasy League are settled with the higher-seeded team advancing. This is the default setting in the league.

The scoring system during the MLB playoffs is the same as of the regular season, except for the fact that each playoff round lasts for two weeks. The regular season scoring is based on one week.

However, in the League Manager leagues, the manager has the final say on the advancement of the teams. The manager can edit the default setting and add their own tiebreaker system.

The settings can be edited using the League Manager Tools. Most Points from Bench is one of the options to break the tie, which is available to only the grandfathered Custom Leagues that used the tiebreaker rule in the past seasons.

Here are the steps to change the playoff tiebreaker settings:

1. First, click on LM Tools available on the top menu.
2. Then, select Edit Schedule Settings.
3. Now, click on the Modify Tie-Breakers option.
4. Edit the setting as you desire.
5. Scroll down and click on Save Changes to implement the new settings.

ESPN Fantasy Baseball rules for suspended games add points if the game is resumed within seven days after suspension. The points do not add up after that point.

In case the suspended game is resumed within seven days, all the stats from that game are counted for the scoring period when the initial game began. However, if the game is resumed after eight or more days of suspension, the stats of the resumed part of the match are not counted.

For example, if a game is suspended on Tuesday and is resumed on Thursday, the points for both parts of the game will be added when the system updates on Monday. Even if the suspended game happens during the next matchup period, the points are added.

In addition, managers will receive points in the resumed game for the players who were in the original lineup on Tuesday, not for those that you have on your squad on Friday.

How To Auto Draft ESPN Fantasy Baseball?

Autodraft in ESPN Fantasy Baseball can be done using the Autopick Draft option. It automatically drafts players to the team on a scheduled draft date.

The managers do not have to be present during the draft when using this option. However, they can pre-rank players in their draft lists to improve their chances of getting their desired squad.

Here are some of the things to consider while using the Autopick Draft option:

• Managers can make their draft list by pre-ranking players. This increases the chance of getting a desired squad even if the system auto-picks the roster.
• The draft list can be edited until midnight before the day of the draft.
• If a manager fails to submit a draft list, the system uses the default draft list of ESPN.
• The system loads each manager's draft list after the start of the draft and uses them as a basis to fill each spot for all teams with the Autopick Draft option.
• The system chooses the highest-rated available player without exceeding any roster limits that can fill one of the undrafted slots in the roster.