Fantasy Baseball 2018?

[Symphony Steve]

OK, kids, I'll throw out the first SOS. Are we getting the gang back together for another season of fantasy baseball? I'm in.

 

[MSOrange]

I'm in also. Need to redeem my 2nd place finish last year and get over the hump and take it all this year!

 

[Symphony Steve]

I had a really good team last year as well. Just didn't fire during the playoffs...hey, that's baseball.

 

[JackBauer44]

That's been my team every year we've played. Finish 1 in regular season - suck in the playoffs.

 

[Knicks411]

I'm so much better at Roto than head to head, but I'm in

 

[KaiserUEO]

I’ll pick up a team if u guys need a Billy Martin...

 

[Guy Fawkes]

In.

This year will be the year that I remember about the draft and don't draft five people with torn UCLs or are suspended for countless games.

 

[TDTOrange]

I've been slacking again. I've renewed the league and all of last years teams are back in. I'll get a better handle on who's in and if anyone is out in a little while. I thought the game play last year was fine, but if anyone would like some new settings, now is the time to suggest them.

 

[HakAttack]

If we keep the draft day as Tuesday, can we move the draft time back to 9? I teach a class at LeMoyne until 8:30 on Tuesdays. Just a request from the 2x defending champ.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Thoughts.

Max acquisitions per week: 5 (I am probably at fault for abusing the waiver wire more than anyone)
Playoff tiebreaker: Opponent wins
Remove pitching designations (all P's)
Eliminate: Wins, saves, batting average
Add: Saves+Holds

This would give us 5 categories for pitchers and batters. IMO, wins aren't necessary when we have quality starts which is a great replacement. Batting average isn't necessary when we have OPS.

 

[Knicks411]

Thoughts.

Max acquisitions per week: 5 (I am probably at fault for abusing the waiver wire more than anyone)
Playoff tiebreaker: Opponent wins
Remove pitching designations (all P's)
Eliminate: Wins, saves, batting average
Add: Saves+Holds

This would give us 5 categories for pitchers and batters. IMO, wins aren't necessary when we have quality starts which is a great replacement. Batting average isn't necessary when we have OPS.

I would be ok with all of these, I wouldn't mind keeping BA, but not a big deal.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I think that we should either keep BA or add OBP. OPS is more reflective of extra base power, so I don't see it as a substitute for BA. Plus I kinda like 12 points a week instead of 10. I'm fine with the max acquisitions, the playoff tiebreaker, and removal of pitching designations. Also fine with substituting saves plus holds ( 1 for saves/1/2 for holds?) for saves.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Free league?

 

[HakAttack]

Thoughts.

Max acquisitions per week: 5 (I am probably at fault for abusing the waiver wire more than anyone)
Playoff tiebreaker: Opponent wins
Remove pitching designations (all P's)
Eliminate: Wins, saves, batting average
Add: Saves+Holds

This would give us 5 categories for pitchers and batters. IMO, wins aren't necessary when we have quality starts which is a great replacement. Batting average isn't necessary when we have OPS.

I don’t like removing SP and RP. If you do that and add holds, like you suggested, you completely sway it to loading up a team with relievers who can get you SAVES, WHIP, ERA & HOLDS.

That’s kind of gaming the system. Having SPs as a requirement as well as RPs prevents that from happening and forces players to balance both starters and relievers on their roster. NOT a fan of holds as a category, at ALL. I don’t play fantasy baseball to carry 7th and 8th inning relievers on my team. I don’t care one iota about those guys. They’re also incredibly hard to predict and it’s just such a bogus category to have for fantasy.

I also would say we should limit it to 5 free agent adds per week. I streamed my way to the title last year and although it is a strategy and was legal due to our league settings, it is somewhat cheap.

So here are my recommendations.

Hitting Categoeries:
Runs
HRs
RBIs
SBs
OBP
OPS
(HR, RBI & OPS are for sluggers, so in a way people like Joey Votto and Goldshmidt are doubly valuable for OPS/OBP purposes. I like replacing AVG with OBP in fantasy although I am not wedded to it.)

Pitching Categories:
Wins
Saves
ERA
WHIP
QS
Strikeouts
(balanced cats. SPs get you Wins, QS & Ks, RPs get it done in WHIP, ERA & SVs. No need to change, IMO.)

Playoff tiebreaker should be opponent wins H2H.

Last thing, I feel really really strongly about keeping both SPs and RPs and not adding holds. That makes it a completely different form of fantasy baseball from the pitching side that I don’t enjoy. If the league does that, I might need to sit it out, which is a shame because I’ve won the league 3 out of the 4 years it’s been active and came in second the one year I didn’t win.

So I know a little bit about fantasy baseball.

 

[HakAttack]

Free league?

Yes, it’s been free.

 

[HakAttack]

I think that we should either keep BA or add OBP. OPS is more reflective of extra base power, so I don't see it as a substitute for BA. Plus I kinda like 12 points a week instead of 10. I'm fine with the max acquisitions, the playoff tiebreaker, and removal of pitching designations. Also fine with substituting saves plus holds ( 1 for saves/1/2 for holds?) for saves.

Again, why even have holds at all? If you have holds, you need to raise the minimum innings pitched category to ensure someone doesn’t draft 10 relievers and only 2 SP. That requirement is there to prevent that.

If you add holds as a category, which clearly favors RPs, then you need to add another one to balance it out towards SPs, like OUTs, or K/9.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Again, why even have holds at all? If you have holds, you need to raise the minimum innings pitched category to ensure someone doesn’t draft 10 relievers and only 2 SP. That requirement is there to prevent that.

If you add holds as a category, which clearly favors RPs, then you need to add another one to balance it out towards SPs, like OUTs, or K/9.

When you put it that way, I've generally been fine with the categories we have. Perhaps the best change is no change at all.

 

[MSOrange]

I don’t like removing SP and RP. If you do that and add holds, like you suggested, you completely sway it to loading up a team with relievers who can get you SAVES, WHIP, ERA & HOLDS.

That’s kind of gaming the system. Having SPs as a requirement as well as RPs prevents that from happening and forces players to balance both starters and relievers on their roster. NOT a fan of holds as a category, at ALL. I don’t play fantasy baseball to carry 7th and 8th inning relievers on my team. I don’t care one iota about those guys. They’re also incredibly hard to predict and it’s just such a bogus category to have for fantasy.

I also would say we should limit it to 5 free agent adds per week. I streamed my way to the title last year and although it is a strategy and was legal due to our league settings, it is somewhat cheap.

So here are my recommendations.

Hitting Categoeries:
Runs
HRs
RBIs
SBs
OBP
OPS
(HR, RBI & OPS are for sluggers, so in a way people like Joey Votto and Goldshmidt are doubly valuable for OPS/OBP purposes. I like replacing AVG with OBP in fantasy although I am not wedded to it.)

Pitching Categories:
Wins
Saves
ERA
WHIP
QS
Strikeouts
(balanced cats. SPs get you Wins, QS & Ks, RPs get it done in WHIP, ERA & SVs. No need to change, IMO.)

Playoff tiebreaker should be opponent wins H2H.

Last thing, I feel really really strongly about keeping both SPs and RPs and not adding holds. That makes it a completely different form of fantasy baseball from the pitching side that I don’t enjoy. If the league does that, I might need to sit it out, which is a shame because I’ve won the league 3 out of the 4 years it’s been active and came in second the one year I didn’t win.

So I know a little bit about fantasy baseball.

I definitely agree with keeping SP and RP for exactly the reason you stated at the beginning. I don't have a huge preference on the other categories one way or another, but holds doesn't get me too excited.

 

[JackBauer44]

When you put it that way, I've generally been fine with the categories we have. Perhaps the best change is no change at all.

I agree with this sentiment. No change is needed.

 

[HakAttack]

I agree with this sentiment. No change is needed.

That would be my vote as well. But I might limit weekly roster moves to five.

 

[MSOrange]

That would be my vote as well. But I might limit weekly roster moves to five.

The weekly roster move is the one change I am strongly in favor of even though I enjoy playing psycho GM as much as the next guy.

 

[HakAttack]

The weekly roster move is the one change I am strongly in favor of even though I enjoy playing psycho GM as much as the next guy.

As do I, my friend. But it's really unfair to be able to stream pitchers like that during the playoffs.

 

[HakAttack]

If we keep the draft day as Tuesday, can we move the draft time back to 9? I teach a class at LeMoyne until 8:30 on Tuesdays. Just a request from the 2x defending champ.

But yeah, changing the draft time to later that night would be much appreciated.

 

[JackBauer44]

I am fine with limiting weekly roster moved and moving the draft to a later time.

 

[TDTOrange]

Draft time pushed back to 9:00. Also updated max transactions to 5 per week. I never realized how much time some of you guys have to waste on a free league

I'll try to find some time to confirm the team list. We have room for 2 new teams as things stand right now, so if anyone else wants in, present yourself.