Alright. So you have decided that you want to jump into a fantasy baseball draft. Seems fun, right? Well, now you may be wondering how much time you need to budget. A fantasy baseball draft may actually take far longer than you would think.
How long a fantasy baseball draft takes will be heavily dependent on the number of players, the allotted time each person has per pick, and the number of picks made. This means that a fantasy baseball draft can take anywhere from an hour, all the way up to seven hours.
Let’s explain this in a little bit more depth. We also want to give you some handy hints on ensuring that the draft goes by as quickly as possible. This way, you will know more about how long you can expect that fantasy baseball draft to last, and how much time you need to ‘budget’ for it.
How Long Does a Fantasy Baseball Draft Take?
This is going to be dependent on three things:
- The number of picks you need to make
- How well-prepared each player is
- How many players are in the fantasy baseball draft?
In most cases, you will get 23 picks. There may be slightly more if you are allowed a reserve list, as some leagues now allow.
Depending on the league rules, you should have around 1 to 2 minutes to make one pick. So, at maximum, each person should take 23 to 46 minutes to make their picks. This means that, if you have a league with 10 teams, you could be looking at 7 hours! Thankfully, that is on the upper end of the scale. It is incredibly rare that somebody will take up all of their time making a pick.
It is more likely that a 10-team fantasy baseball draft will take 1 to 2 hours. If everybody prepares ahead of time, then there is no reason why each player shouldn’t be able to make their picks in under 10 minutes each. The only way it will take longer is if you haven’t done your research, or you aren’t quite sure how to read the stats for players that pop up.
What Is The Average Length Of a Fantasy Baseball Draft?
While a fantasy baseball draft could easily last 7 hours, depending on the number of picks and time limit, it is likely going to take anywhere from 1-hour to 3-hours. If you have booked yourself in for a draft, then it is important that you show up on time, and you stay right through until you have made your last pick. If you do not do so, then the software may automatically choose players for you, which means that you may not end up with the players that you want.
It seems as if the average amount of time per draft round is 10 minutes. So, if you want to take a quick break in the middle of the fantasy baseball draft, then you will have 8-10 minutes before your turn rolls around again. Although, do bear in mind that the early rounds tend to be a bit quicker as people are able to get the picks that they want, while the later rounds tend to be when the best picks have been taken, and those who haven’t put in the research are having to fumble, trying to find a player that will give them the points that they need in their team.-
Are Real-Life Fantasy Baseball Drafts Faster Than Online Baseball Drafts?
No.
Generally speaking, a real-life fantasy baseball draft is going to be a lot slower than an online baseball draft. This is because most real-life drafts don’t actually have a time limit. This means a person could take a whopping amount of time making their picks. Although, of course, a little bit of research is still going to go a long way here.
Remember, if you are playing an online baseball draft and do not make your selection in the allotted amount of time, then there will be an auto-pick for you. The result? Well, you may not end up with the player that you want on your fantasy baseball team!
Speeding Up The Fantasy Baseball Draft
Sadly, you don’t have control over the other players in that fantasy baseball draft. This means that you are only going to be able to speed things up for yourself. Although, maybe if you try and speed things up, people would start to get the hint!
A fantasy baseball draft will go a whole lot quicker if you do some preparation beforehand. This means knowing who you want to pick in each round of the draft. Although, of course, you are going to want to have a few backups, just in case somebody else chooses your pick. If you already know who your draft priorities are, then it is likely that you will be able to get each pick down to 15-30 seconds. imagine if everybody was choosing that quickly. The draft would be over in a little under an hour!
You should also learn how the draft works too, particularly if you are using draft-picking software that you have never used before. Not only will this help to speed up how quickly that fantasy baseball draft goes, but it will also ensure that you get to make the picks that you want. There is nothing worse than failing to get to grips with the user interface, taking too long, and the software choosing the pick for you instead.
Final Thoughts
You can expect a fantasy baseball draft to last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. While they could technically last a lot longer than this, it is likely that they will not. They will only last longer if people are consistently taking their full allotted time to make their picks. If you do a bit of preparation before the draft, then you should be making your individual picks in each round within a matter of seconds.
