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Vinnie For The Winnie

Yahoo opened up its fantasy baseball league today, and not a moment too soon, really. My league drafts in just six weeks, and I'm going to need just about every minute of that time to properly prepare.

Why so long, you ask? Well, it's a real league for experts -- dozens of us. It's a 50-team league with 20 man rosters, auction (naturally) and keepers, and it's really the only one to go to really test your knowledge. Anyone can win a league where, if your guy gets hurt, there's another guy in the major leagues to replace him. It's an entirely different matter when his AAA replacement is already on an active roster.

Then, there's the categories. Some people think it's random, silly, and borderline certifiable to play a five by five league where the categories are sacrifice flies, caught stealing, hit by pitches, outfield assists and catcher interference. I'd then ask (a) why Yahoo offers them, and (b) why you can't sack up and learn enough about the game to truly appreciate Adam Jones, Juan Pierre, Carlos Quentin, Jeff Francoeur and Carl Crawford. (Carl, by the way, is a catcher's interference machine. Nearly 13% of all of them are Carl's. We're all really hoping he stays healthy this year, just to watch those CIs.)

As for the pitching, I'm really excited about my chances this year to crush the five categories of Hit Batters, Wild Pitches, Balks, Holds and Pitch Counts. Justin Masterson and Luke Hochevar were horses for me last year, and my $29 gamble on Lucas Harrell gave the crucial balk support I needed.  Masterson was a top 10 finisher in pitch count to boot. Holds is always a bit of a crapshoot, but I think Vinny Pestano can keep locking down the 8th inning for my club. I'm also really pumped up about the potential for a big bounce back year from A.J. Burnett. He really cost me in 2012, but I'm thinking he's bound to bounce back to the awesome work that he did for the Yankees in 2010 and 2011.

Now, this league isn't for everyone -- hell, the $550 entry fee keeps out only the most serious players, and Winner Take All just leads to all kinds of heartbreak -- but I can't get enough of it. And once you've seen your back up catcher get in a game, then take one off the ribs, only to run into a Vengeance Caught Stealing...

Well, that's just the purest joy there is in fantasy sports. And we might have a few openings, so if you want in, ping me in the comments. Once you've played this way, you'll never go back.