The release of fantasy baseball magazines is an annual rite of passage for roto geeks like myself. The cheat sheets, player rankings, sleepers, prospects and mock drafts are all waiting for you tied up in pretty glossy packages. They have hit our local booksellers in full force. You probably own one (or two or three) if you're reading this.

 

Problem is, many of them aren't good. Without calling out any specific magazines, let me just point out that I was looking through relief pitcher rankings last night and Joe Borowski was ranked 61st among relief pitchers in one publication. Sixty-first! Yes, this was before the Keith Foulke retirement announcement. But to rank Borowski - a healthy pitcher coming off a 30+ save season who in the most pessimistic point of view was locked in a two-way battle with Foulke (coming off a zero-save season) - that low is unbelievable. Borowski was ranked below guys like David Riske.

 

I choose the Borowski example not only to highlight the level of misinformation out there by "the experts" but to point out the danger of relying on magazines alone. Buy your magazines, not only for the sake of nostalgia, but because they provide a solid foundation of information for your draft preparation. Some are better than others, and you can visit the front page for our endorsement. They are chock full of valuable information and insight. They clear out the cobwebs and refresh your brain with baseball knowledge. They'll even surprise you. Eric Byrnes went 25/25? Wow, I missed that.

 

If you're reading this column on this website, I'm not going to insult your intelligence. Obviously you understand the value of moving from magazine to internet for more up-to-date information.

 

But here's the problem: most owners still bring their magazines to the draft. Admit it. You bring your magazine, don't you? Even guys who bring their laptops bring their magazines. But why? You read it cover to cover over the first weekend you buy it. Then you ignore it for the month before your draft. In the meanwhile, as the magazine becomes more and more obsolete, you scour the web for insight and information and follow Spring Training box scores. You make your own lists and design your own projections. You become a fantasy baseball expert, catering your rankings and projections to your league's specific rules.

 

And then, when the chips are down on draft day, when you need to make a pick and your time is about to expire, when the bidding gets high and the auctioneer says "Going once ...", what do so many owners do? Where do they turn? To their magazines.

 

Desperately they grab their portable glossy friend, the sweat on their fingertips smudging the cover, frantically flipping through the worn pages as if there is some unread nugget they've missed, as if the six-month old generic projections are somehow better than the information they have cultivated over weeks of fantasy draft preparation. I used to think that owners like this (myself included) simply hadn't prepared adequately. And that would be bad enough. But the reality is far more disturbing.

 

The sad truth is that many well-prepared owners ignore their own thoughts and go with the magazine when they can't make a decision. There are nerve-racking moments in every good fantasy baseball draft. It's part of the geeky rush we all get. And when that rush comes, instead of trusting their own stuff, owners turn to the magazines instead. These magazines provide some sort of security blanket. And that's how you miss out on Joe Borowski. He was ranked 17th on your list of relief pitchers, but he's buried among the dregs in your magazine. So you go with someone else. Someone worse. And you just lost 25-30 saves.

 

I have come to believe that the mere presence of magazines can undermine all the work that has been put in. So put down the security blanket, Linus. Go to the draft sans magazine this year. You may feel naked, but if you've done your job preparing for the draft, you should feel good about it.