Play fantasy baseball with other Over The Monster community members

Fantasy Baseball is great. You get to own players that your team doesn’t actually own, and hope your team of random players beat other teams of random players, owned by people that you might know.

As it turns out, there are a couple leagues (hopefully) starting up, and there are still other existing leagues that have openings. As a member of the community who plays fantasy baseball, I’ve been tasked with introducing the leagues to what we hope is a new generation of players.

Introduction to Current Community Leagues

• OTM1 and OTM2 - These are veteran keeper leagues, that have been around since 2010 and 2011, respectively. The league requires you to keep three players, minimum, and allows you to keep a maximum of five players, with the rest of the roster being filled out by a redraft in March. 16 teams, and Head to Head scoring. League managers of OTM1 and OTM 2 are BobZupcic and The Laser Show respectively.
• OTMD is a dynasty league that operates similarly to OTM1 and OTM2, except that it is larger (20 teams), and involves no re-draft. Teams keep all players, from year to year. Openings are rare, and this is seen as one of the most committed, and time-intensive leagues that are offered. League manager is AlohaSox.
• OTMS is a 14-team keeper league that operates under a totally different scoring system than the other leagues (All OTM leagues besides this one follow identical scoring, to provide a semblance of uniformity). OTMS differs, as it is a “sabermetric” league. OTMS follows the same keeper rules, but puts more of a value on sabermetric value, rather than relatively traditional fantasy point value. League manager is dsharp.

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New Community Leagues (pending enough interest)

• OTMA - This will be an auction league. Details are still forthcoming, as we aren’t entirely sure how much interest there will be in this league. The scoring will be the same as the other traditional leagues, and a draft date will be voted on by members of the league. BobZupcic (who LM’s OTM1) will be the LM for OTMA, at least in its first year, to ensure a smooth set up. No keepers from year to year. Amount of teams to be determined.
• OTMY - This will be a standard league, where all players will be in the player pool, and resets every individual season. As such, there are no keepers. Draft order will be determined by random chance in year one, with year two and beyond being determined by team record of returning owners, with new owners being sorted in randomly. Scoring will be the same as it is in all other leagues (besides S, obviously). Draft date to be voted on by league members. The league manager will be outofleftfield.

How to Join Each League

To join OTMY, it’s fairly simple, we’re going on a first come, first served basis. We can fit up to 20 teams in a league, with anyone beyond the 20th in line being put on a waiting list of sorts. With enough interest, we will find a way to accommodate as many people as possible. I’ll be putting a comment in the section below, with the only requirement being that you post in response to my comment, saying you have interest. As I can message you, using my powers, you are not required to give out any contact information at this time.

To join OTMA, it won’t be strictly first come, first served. Express interest in the league, similarly to how you do so for OTMY above, and a vote among members of the league (as it happens with all other leagues) will be held to determine who gets limited spots. Presently, the league has 9 spots taken, with room for 3-7 more, depending on interest.

The returning leagues with openings are OTM1 and OTM2 (and perhaps OTMS). The openings will be posted below. To join one of these leagues, express interest in response to the comment(s) posted below. This is not on a first come, first served basis. As veteran leagues, the community cares very deeply about ensuring the activity of members, and prospective members will be brought forth into a vote, to determine allocation of the team in question.

Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images

What (Current) Teams are Presently Open?

• OTM1 - This team is presently open. Draft date scheduled for March 22nd, at 9 PM EST. Keeper lock date is March 15th, at 9 PM EST. Both dates are crucial to successful, active membership in the league. As you will see in the by-laws posted at the bottom, OTM1 and OTM2 allow draft pick trading, but this particular team has kept all of their picks, meaning a straight snake draft following keeper selection. Potential keepers include Eric Hosmer, Brian Dozier, Starling Marte, and Jake Arrieta.
• OTM2 - This team is presently open. Draft date schedules for March 15th, at 8 PM EST. Keeper lock date is March 7th, at 8 PM EST. Both dates are crucial to successful, active membership in the league. Like with the above team, it appears this team has also kept its draft picks intact. Potential keepers include Carlos Santana, Justin Turner, Ryan Braun, Yoenis Cespedes, Zack Greinke, and Sonny Gray.
• OTM2 - Unknown amount of possible extra openings. The email confirming continued activity from a few owners has yet to be returned, meaning an extra team or two may be made available. I would personally suggest putting your name in the hat for the above team, in OTM2, as all prospective owners on that list will be considered for additional openings.
• OTMS - There are up to 5 spots up for grabs. One is for sure open (contact dsharp for information), and four owners have yet to check in, making their futures hazy, and potentially open.

What are the Rules?

This stuff is all very important, so I suggest reading the by-laws, as voted by the community (but not yet ratified for 2018) for all information you could possibly want. Included in the by-laws is an overview of each league (similar to the one I have posted above), detailed rules regarding (but not limited to) draft dates, scoring, roster size, transaction limits, rules on trades (including draft pick trading), details on voting for rule changes, a link to the OTM Fantasy Hall of Fame, and the history of the top 3 of each league since its inception.

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The community prides itself on having come up with these rules, and discussion happens frequently on a slack server, that league members will be invited to, and encouraged to join. It is not a requirement to join to play fantasy baseball, but it does help tremendously with negotiating trades, and talking with your fellow users about fantasy baseball.

Outside of the slack channel, there are plans to revive the OTM Fantasy Baseball threads that happened in years past, though there are no guarantees of significant activity in said threads.

This may seem like a lot, but the community is generally an affable sort, and wants to share their fun with you. All the leagues I have mentioned, OTM1, OTM2, OTMD, OTMS, OTMA, and OTMY are all free leagues, with no buy in, and no prize, besides the thrill of victory and bragging rights.

That’s my piece! Post below to express your interest in desired leagues. If something you see isn’t listed (maybe you want something crazy, like a straight points league, with no head to head), post it below as well.