What Is a Rotisserie Fantasy Baseball League?

Rotisserie Leagues come in many different versions. The one common denominator in Rotisserie Ball is that overall scoring is compiled in a composite 10-category format throughout the whole Major League Baseball season. For hitters, the categories are batting average, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in and stolen bases. For pitchers, the categories are wins, saves, strikeouts, earned run average and WHIP. WHIP is calculated by adding the amount of walks and hits allowed by a pitcher and then dividing that total by the innings pitched.

  1. Salaried Leagues

    • Each owner will be given an allowance at the start of the season determined by the league commissioner. Then each owner will purchase players to fill his roster. The player pool will be a listing of all available players currently on a major league roster. Each player in the pool will have a preset value. A player's value can go up or down once the season begins depending upon the player's performance. Team owners can trade, sell or add/drop players to their teams throughout the season at the player's current assessed value. The Rotisserie league winner is determined by the owner leading in the most categories at the end of the season.

    Bidding Leagues

    • Each owner begins the season with an allowance and then builds their roster by bidding on available players against the other owners. Each owner must fill a complete roster without going over his allowance. Roster sizes are determined at the beginning of the season.

      Transactions can be completed during the season in the form of add/drops as long as the owner has enough collateral to make the change. If the owner has available funds, he places a claim on the available player, and if no other team seeks that player, the owner can purchase that player for a minimal fee. If another owner seeks the same player, a blind bid between the interested owners will take place.

      The season winner is determined by the owner who leads the most composite statistical categories at the end of the season.

    Open Leagues

    • Each Rotisserie owner will be assigned a draft position and will create a roster. No allowances or values are assigned to the owners or the players. This is a simplified version of Rotisserie League Baseball. Roster sizes are pre-determined by a commissioner, and drafting order is determined by a random draw. Odd numbered rounds of the draft will go in order of drawing position, and even numbered rounds will be conducted in reverse order. Owners can add/drop players during the season at their leisure. The season winner is the owner that leads the league in the most composite statistical categories at the end of the year.

    Online Leagues

    • All types of Rotisserie leagues can be found online at such sites as Yahoo, ESPN and CBS Sports. The major advantage to playing online is daily scoring is compiled automatically and other player/owners can be easily found to form leagues. You will need to sign into an online league with a user ID and a password. If you don't have an ID, you can create one at any site.

    Benefits of playing Rotisserie style baseball

    • Rotisserie leagues are perfect for a player who wants to experience the fun of fantasy baseball without having to "manage" a team on a daily basis. Because the Major League Baseball season occurs during a time when some owners are planning summer vacations, Rotisserie baseball could be perfect because all statistics are compiled in a composite format, and very little roster changes are necessary.