If you're reading this, then congratulations! You are one of the hand-chosen candidates to participate in the inaugural season of the Apex Fantasy Baseball League. Whether you're an existing member of the AFFL, a proud member of the Key, or just a baseball fan that Jake considered for membership, you have the golden ticket to get in on the ground floor of what will certainly be a fun, engaging, and competitive league. I'm here today to set the stage and provide some basic details about the league to equip you with the information you need to make a decsion on your participation.

The League

If you're new to fantasy baseball like me, the game is played a little differently than fantasy football. There are a variety of versions, and you can get lost in trying to learn about them. I will try to simplify as much as possible.

Our league is a Head-To-Head Weekly Points league. That means, much like in fantasy football, you'll have an opponent for a week, your players will earn points based on their performance (e.g. a batter getting a hit is worth points, a pitcher recording a strikeout is worth points), and whoever has more points at the end of the week wins. This is not the traditional method of playing Fantasy Baseball, but I think it will be an easier introduction to a group that is generally unfamiliar with the game coming from Fantasy Football.

I'm still ironing out the details around team management. I'd like to have lineups set daily, so you can sit/start players based on who's playing, who has favorable matchups, etc. This may require roster management to be live throughout the week, but if that is the case I'm going to limit transactions so people without the time to check every day aren't at a disadvantage. Another option would be to set one lineup for the entire week, which would require more planning for players' real-life schedules/matchups, but then be hands-off during the week. Happy to field opinions.

I plan on using default scoring for the most part. Any exceptions will be communicated, but that way you can have an idea of scoring strategies if you are considering joining.

I'd like there to be a buy-in. I'm willing to forgo that if there is no interest, but I've found even a small ($50 or less) keeps people way more invested for way longer, and league-wide participation is the number one key for a healthy, entertaining league.

Why AFBL?

If you mean, "Why is it called Apex?", its because the AFFL is already a well-recognized and respected brand. Branching out is a natural progression of the League's span of influence.

If you mean, "Why should I join?", well take a look around. As a commissioner I am dedicated to user experience, I want my constituents to be engaged and, more importantly, to have fun. You can poke around on the website to see the bones of what I've set up, or navigate over to the AFFL homepage to see what we've built over the last 15 years there.

I played in a similar format of Fantasy Baseball four years ago with randos. I scraped the data from that league to use on this website so you can see the idea using real results. I'm not perfect, though, and if you see something that's wrong, or not showing up correctly, or generally unclear, let me know!

I'm In, What Can I Expect

Wonderful! Welcome to the League, we'll get you onboarded with HR soon. I am already planning some exciting stuff to keep the league fun this year, including (but not limited to):

• Division-style scheduling and playoff seeding to mimic real-life baseball
• A true "wild card" playoff spot that will be a semi-random pick of teams, with probability weighted based on wins
• Advanced stats for all league members, enabling advanced shit-talkery

All I need from you is to let me know that you're in! I'll also need a headshot for the website eventually, but don't send that yet. ESPN league's haven't even started back up yet, so you have time to sleep on it, talk to your family, etc. Looking forward to a fantastic 2026, and the start of something truly special, the Apex Fantasy Baseball League.