Draft Buddy for fantasy baseball is ready for the 2015 season. Version 1.0 of DB was published last week, and a newsletter is out to our baseball members that it is ready.

Not sure what Draft Buddy is? It is a combined custom cheatsheet player rankings and draft tracker tool, created in Microsoft Excel. It works for fantasy points and roto scoring leagues of varying sizes and formats. It includes two sets of 2015 projections, Steamer-Fangraphs and Zeile from FantasyPros. It includes player stats from 2012-2014. It is FREE to download, use and update. We will be doing regular updates from now through Opening Day. Start by reviewing the features to understand how it works.

For prior members to download the new 2015 version, simply login to your existing account and renew your subscription, as follows:

For new members, register an account (also free) and make similar selections as part of your registration – that you want the Fantasy Baseball Draft Buddy. Hey, while you are at it, if you play Fantasy Football then please feel free to check off the Fantasy Football Member option as well so I can add you to that mailing list.

When you first open Draft Buddy in Excel, go through the first five tabs in order. Most of your changes will be made on tabs 1 (rules) and 2 (scoring), while tab 3 (owners) can really be filled in any time, and the default settings on tab 4 (options) should be fine to start. Then on the tab 5 (action), make sure to click the Compile Cheatsheets button. This will create your custom cheatsheets and adjust the other tabs as appropriate for the size of your league.

I plan to update the projections, depth charts and ADP later this week. Watch for the note when it is ready on Facebook or Twitter, and if you have any questions that is a good way to track me down, or post a comment here.

As for my own fantasy baseball preparation, there are really too many quality podcasts, websites and individual writers to mention. Maybe what I will do is some due diligence (a.k.a. fantasy baseball research) and then post or tweet out the sources I liked and felt were a big help. Any suggestions you guys have, then please let me know.

I’m also deciding between a couple league or contest options. I prefer a slow draft just to help me manage my time on the home front. Options appear to be limited so maybe some salary cap style contests. I started to make some notes comparing different ways we can blow our fantasy budget. Sounds like the makings of another future post!