The first article I wrote for MLB Front Office called all fantasy baseball players “ignorant and cocky.” That doesn’t seem like a great way to build a fan base, so I thought I should explain a little bit. Most people who play fantasy baseball play because they think they can be a better GM than the real GMs, or they at least want to see what it would be like. If you think you’re going to be able to make the jump from fantasy baseball into real baseball, you’re sadly mistaken. In fact, most people high up in the baseball world look down upon those experts who statistically analyze fantasy baseball. The baseball purists, such as the boys over at Baseball Prospectus, will be quick to point out the glaring differences between the two.

I’m the biggest fantasy baseball supporter there is, but it’s important to realize that these differences do exist. I’ve come up with a list of the 5 biggest reasons that fantasy baseball is different than real baseball. So, put down your emotion. Fantasy baseball is a hobby and baseball is a career. Even the experts that have made a career out of fantasy baseball admit: They’re just getting paid to play their hobby. So, before you email me saying, “I’ve won my fantasy baseball league 7 years in a row, I could do it better than Dayton Moore!” consider the following:

Defense Matters: Fantasy baseball is a one dimensional game. In real baseball you need to weigh the balance between a player’s offensive and defensive abilities. For example, when Alfonso Soriano was playing 2B he was pretty much completely negating his offensive ability with his poor defense. This lead to the decision to move him to the outfield and that leads me to my next point.

Player Development: If you’re a GM in the major leagues, you need to have a staff that can develop your talent and analyze your talent. You need to make the personnel moves of moving a player to a different position etc. In fantasy baseball, you do you’re research, but in the end, you’re being told a lot of the stuff real GMs have to figure out for themselves. In addition, as a fantasy GM you need to rely on the major league teams to develop players properly.

Thirdly, baseball players are people to! In fantasy baseball, a player is just a name on a computer screen, but in real life you need to keep the players happy. Trades are harder to make because you need to factor in no trade clauses and the effects of uprooting a player to move him across the country. Moving a player to a different position can also have an affect on team chemistry. In the majors, some teams have it and some teams don’t, but in fantasy it doesn’t matter.

A large part of team chemistry can be determined by the owner. The Owner also has a large say over what the GM can and can’t do. In fantasy baseball, if you want to do it…you do it! In the major leagues all things need to be run by the many different ranks before anything happens. This is millions of dollars we’re talking about!

Finally, and certainly most importantly…Real Baseball is played on the field, not on a computer screen. Fantasy Baseball is based purely on statistics. Real Baseball is played on the field and governed by the rules of baseball. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day, weather can drastically change the outcome of a game, and players have to play through slumps – you simply can’t drop him.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge supporter of fantasy baseball. But, this was a website founded to cure fantasy baseball players of their ignorance and this is one of the biggest misconceptions with fantasy baseball. It’s great if you can win your fantasy baseball league, but it doesn’t mean you could help the Royals.