The value of positional versatility in fantasy baseball
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If you look at the previous two World Series Champions, you'll see a common thread: 2B/OF Benjamin Thomas Zobrist. He's graced the lineups of both the reigning champion Chicago Cubs and 2015 champion Kansas City Royals.
Zobrist's calling-card has always been his positional versatility - his ability to field multiple positions - allowing his teams to optimize their lineups under any condition or opponent. Zobrist logged 976 1/3 innings at second base for the Cubs last season, while also seeing significant time in the outfield.
And the Cubs' strategy didn't stop with Zobrist: 1B/3B/OF Kris Bryant, 2B/3B/SS Javier Baez and C/OF Willson Contreras all played at least 100 innings at multiple positions.
If manager Joe Maddon's strategies can break a 107-year World Series drought, there should be some takeaways for fantasy players as well.
Maximizing the quanity and quality of your player games
There is an advantage in maximizing the number of opportunities your players have to produce counting stats - runs, RBIs, home runs, stolen bases. The more player games you get out of your roster in a season, the better your chances are of winning those categories, whether on a weekly head-to-head basis or in a season-long points or rotisserie formats.
If you have three players who are only eligible to be used in either the 1B or UTIL slot, someone's going to be the odd man out. There's no worse feeling than being forced to leave a player on the bench, then watching him go off for a big day at the plate. If one of those players also has OF eligibility, assembling the optimal roster is made much easier.
Hardcore players in leagues with daily lineup locks can take it one step further by using the roster flexibility to better take advantage of various splits on a day-by-day basis.
If the third baseman on your bench has a cushy matchup at Coors Field, you're going to want him on your active roster - but not at the expense of playing him instead of a 3B-only player like Josh Donaldson. If you had Kris Bryant instead of The Bringer of Rain, you'd be able to shift Bryant to the outfield and move the bench player with a stronger matchup into the 3B slot.
As the kids say: get yourself a fantasy baseball player that can do both.
Super Subs
Keep an eye out for mid-tier players with eligibility at three or more positions; the flexibility they bring to your roster can often exceed their production, as is the case with Zobrist in real life.
Cleveland's Jose Ramirez finished 2016 eligible at 2B/3B/SS/OF, Tampa Bay's Brad Miller has 1B/2B/SS/OF eligibility and Pittsburgh's Sean Rodriguez, now with Atlanta, is listed as a 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF.
You could effectively replace all the hitters on your bench with one or two of these super subs, being able to maximize your player games without sacrificing your contingency plan should your team suffer an injury at any point. As a result, you would be able to add one or two more starting pitchers to your roster. Speaking of which...
SPARPS
SPARPs - pitchers eligible at SP and RP - are a way to effectively increase the volume of innings pitched. By rostering real-life starters in relief pitcher slots, you can maximize your pitcher's counting stats - particularly wins and strikeouts.
These players are typically former relief pitchers who have made an offseason transition to their team's rotation. They often enter the season listed as RPs but quickly gain SP eligibility, usually after three starts.
Last season, the Nationals' Tanner Roark and the Blue Jays' Aaron Sanchez both logged over 190 innings pitched despite having RP eligibility. The ability to replace a middling reliever with a legitimate fantasy starter like either of these two SPARPs would have certainly bolstered wins and strikeouts for their fantasy owners.
This strategy only works in leagues without a maximum innings limit, as those restrictions discourage aggressive SPARP and streaming strategies in favor of more traditional approaches to bullpen usage. As with any strategy, the usage of SPARPs is driven by need, the players available to you, and the rules and restrictions specific to your league.
Look for mid-season eligibility gains
Finally, keep an eye on which players are close to gaining new eligibility mid-season, particularly at positions where the overall talent isn't strong.
Last season, Astros OF Evan Gattis went from being a player no one wanted to a must-own fantasy asset overnight after gaining catcher eligibility. While his stats were largely unremarkable, he was a top-5 player at catcher, the weakest position in fantasy last season.
It might not be obvious where overall positional strength lies heading into the 2017 season. By maintaining overall versatility through multi-position eligibility, you can keep all your bases covered - and be ready to take on whatever challenges the upcoming campaign throws at you.