How do we get Taylor Swift into fantasy baseball? Your 2024 ILX Fantasy Thread! (also, there is an opening for a new manger!)

So very shortly all you lucky, lucky people will have received an email letting you know the league has been renewed.
I'll set the draft date for Sunday, March 24, at 4pm EST. If this time is a calamity for anyone, let me know here and we can all bicker about a new time.
So please have your keep picks in by the 17th.
I will take a look if any new stats are available (i'm still lukewarm on doubles); but i am not hopeful.
Will should be along with a link to his awesome spreadsheet at some point. And speaking of Will, he is the man to beat this year after whooping us all last season. But free agency is a bitch and the league is wide open!

We also have a manager departing; so if we have any aspiring managers lurking, ✖'s old team - Votto No Get Enemy (I never got the reference) - has some decent keepers just waiting for a big spending owner to swoop in.

w/r/t thread title:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_VNbWB41AI (44m22s)

w/r/t x's reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQBC5URoF0s

w/r/t doubles: dumb cat imho

here i am with that link!

as always, look there, see who's available for you to keep, and their age. if anything seems off lmk and i'll fix it!

i might as well post my keepers now, subject to change but unlikely:

1B - Pete Alonso (29)
1B - Nathaniel Lowe (28)
OF - Ronald Acuna (26)
RP - Jhoan Duran (26)
RP - David Bednar (29)

with trea aged out, nola aged out, REDACTED out, and shane bieber sucking now... look, i won last year, ok? they can't all be multi-year dynasties. back to the ol' "drafting for the future" mode!

i'll have a team name eventually too

i was just looking at the keepers today. i'm 95% sure i know who my five are - of the seven eligible keepers i have, one is a pitcher who has been bad recently and is about to age out and the other is wander franco (lol). but i'll hold off until closer to the deadline in case lucas giolito gets bit by a radioactive spider or another one of my players turns out to be a horrible pedophile.

tentative keepers for Corbin Burnesen (maybe the last year I'll have that name...)

Corbin Carroll (23)
Fernando Tatis Jr (25)
Yordan Alvarez (26)
Freddy Peralta (27)
Corbin Burnes (29)

guns of buxton, prospective keepers...

bobby witt jr
esteury ruiz
luis arraez
jazz chisholm
pablo lopez

probable keepers for probable second-to-last finisher "the weimer republic"

hunter brown
josh jung
jeremy pena
devin williams
alexis diaz

i remember this time last year i was wondering if i had a curse on my pitchers; and then the Alek Manoah debacle did not help that feeling. RIP to him after one year of being a keeper.
so here's this years likely picks for (the soon to be renamed) Newcombes On de Blok:

Gunnar Henderson (22)
Shane McClanahan (26)
Jesus Luzardo (26)
Ozzie Albies (27)
Bryan Reynolds (29)

likely keepers for Giolito Shuffle (also due for a name change - i almost talked myself into keeping Giolito and hoping he could at least be playable in Boston but then remembered he's about to age out of keeper status anyways)

Adley Rutschmann (26)
Emmanual Clase (26)
Luis Robert (26)
Ke’Bryan Hayes (27)
TJ Friedl (28)

I’m already having second thoughts about McClanahan, since he’ll be out for most of the season. I don’t have the best options tho, aside from hoping Manoah can return to form (but holy shit his 2023 was a disaster). Munoz is the only non disaster option, but kind of a waste using a pick on a reliever.

i will be jettisoning jeremy pena back into the universe and keeping sal frelick instead.

Ok. I’ll probably remember this one since I had frelick on my short list to target later in the draft

my picks for Send Nootbaar. feel like Lawlar has a high ceiling for stupid puns.

Jordan Lawlar 21
Logan Gilbert 26
Austin Riley 26
Ian Happ 29
Josh Hader 29

Ohtani Dancer in My Hand:

Michael Harris II (23)
(Future Red Sox Superstar) Triston Casas (24)
Bo Bichette (26)
Logan Webb (27)
Shohei Ohtani (batter) (29)

Def playing the long game, drafting Lawlar last year!

giolito injury news has made this lineup for giolito shuffle a lock:

Adley Rutschmann (26)
Emmanual Clase (26)
Luis Robert (26)
Ke’Bryan Hayes (27)
TJ Friedl (28)

have we forgotten about the opening series in Korea on March 20th? seems like we might want to conduct the draft earlier.

i had, yes. ugh. the sunday 17th is not doable for me. would have to be Sat 16th, or in the evening Mon/Tuesday. i don't want to push it too far up incase someone doesn't see the date change in time.

looking at the probable starters, Yamamoto and Glasnow(?) vs Darvish and Musgrove probably? I'd feel bad about anyone missing a start with one of their SP keepers, but that doesn't look likely. for the hitters it's not so bad to miss two games out of 162, but maybe some LA/SD owners can weigh in on preference

Literally any weekday evening works way better for me than the proposed draft day in the OP.

looks like i can make the games count retroactively (tho i cannot find how to do this in my commish tools right now):
https://ca.help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN6317.html

xpost. noted.

Also I'm still finalizing my last 2 keepers. Need to monitor some spring training data before I make that call tho...

i'm completely ok with the 16th, it would just feel weird to me to conduct the draft with a couple of games already in the can, even if we can retroactively count the stats. idk how much it matters to anyone else obv.

This happened before (maybe when I was commish?) and there was a mid-tier player who went off in an exhib game played internationally played before the draft and they ended up going a couple rounds earlier than anticipated. Seeing as this is rotisserie (ie, not points or H2H), I don't think those games are enough to move the needle.

I’m fine with the retroactive stats solution, but if it gets moved my preference is Saturday > Monday > Tuesday. I’m pretty open that week.

lets see if this works...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JPSW77D

i only just now noticed the spelling mistake in the thread title

(and now do you finally get my youtube ref?)

also more importantly are you replacing 2B with another offensive stat?

as much as i would like to, nothing else looks all that great to use in it's place; and i'd like to keep the amount of stats the way they are for balance between pitching and hitting

What was the argument for 2Bs instead of XBHs? Overvalues HRs but undervalues 3Bs?

Or a negative OFF stat? Ks is a nice equalizer.

(I think I used GIDPs one year as well lol)

more or less. i think a few people thought home runs were just too overpowered with xbh

xpost

GIDP was kiboshed because it punished cleanup type hitters with lead foots hitting a head of them

Yeah my rationale was that guys who hit with runners on get more RBI chances so GIDPs a nice way to balance that out for guys who play on weaker teams who do not have the luxury of RBI opps.

I also remember a year where we drafted after Opening Day in Japan one of those years, and it didn't really make a difference? But I'm fine with moving up the draft by a week.

sorry i've been not as attentive as i should be! i am in full on winging it mode, but i need to get my list of keepers. also i submitted to surveymonkey (bow down to the one you serve) for the draft dates, i'll do my best to make whichever date so i don't get autodrafted!

we're at 9 answers so far and it's weirdly very interesting lol

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

speaking from experience, get off of Jack Flaherty's wild ride asap

I’m smelling a comeback player of the year award for amed rosario!

smell the rosarios!

formerly A Moon-Shaped Pujols, now obviously:

Honey Nut Chouri◎s
20 CHOURIO
26 LODOLO
26 HOERNER
29 AROZARENA
29 HELSLEY

ok - 11 respondents. think it's safe to call this one...

9 vs 2 in terms of picking a new date.
Most preferred date was a tie between the Sat 16th and Tues 18th; and a tie between Tues 18th and the OG date for what most people found workable.
Highest rage score, after the "none" option: Sat 16th.

So looks like our new date will be Tuesday the 18th starting at 7:30 est. apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

I will change the league setting shortly; and anyone with outstanding picks, please get them in my mid week next week.
i should prolly get a mod to edit the initial post as well.

Tues the 19th?

FFS. yes. Tuesday the 19th. sorry about that.

trying to do too much this morning.

apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

if i finish in last again this season i'm going to blame it on this!! ;) ;)

no worries, and there's a chance i could join for at least part of it (aka do the draft in the background of a band practice lol)

could always do a little pre-ranking (esp if there are young guys you'd like to target) and then join in part way to fix whatever mess the auto draft left you with.

i was the other person who ranked that at as my least favorite option but it's OK, should still be able to join

appreciate all efforts made to accommodate the rescheduled draft

good news - looks like Votto No Get Enemy will live on under the stewardship of clemenza! i think this might be his first foray into fantasy nerdball?

That spreadsheet looks like hieroglyphics to me, but I'll tentatively give it go. No guarantee I'll last. Thanks for the invitation.

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

fuck, oops, sorry for including that text at the top! i meant to delete before posting my keepers:

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

lars nootbaar has fractured his ribs. i am sorry lars.

clemenza, i predict that you'll have a great time doing this, if you participate! and if nothing else you can race me for the cellar

Stumbling along blindly here, will help from Thermo, but these will be my keepers:

Grayson Rodriguez (24, P)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (25, 1B)
Bryson Scott (26, 2B)
Corey Seager (29, SS)
Sean Murphy (29, C)

I'll change my team name as soon as I think of a good Ball Four connection.

Grant BallFour?!

Ok, since i don't think we are in danger of adding or losing any more managers, i am going to lock the league and will post the draft order later today.

i think there is just one last manager that needs to get their selects in and then i can start plugging those bad boys in.

Lets try to get final keep selects in by the 14th.

Is this still valid or out-of-date?

(I would like to see a larger sample of more than 2IP of ST pitching before I lock in a keeper lol)

14th is still good. I’ll probably enter the picks over the weekend - I just want managers to have some time to double check I got everything right.

Billy Childish Bambino:

Juan Soto (25)
Spencer Strider (25)
Triston McKenzie (26)
Kyle Tucker (27)
Willy Adames (28)

Mind blowing that Soto is only 25

ok. draft order is set:

1 Giolito Shuffle
2 Satanic Frelick in the Attic
3 The Worst Players in Baseball
4 The Guns of Buxton
5 Newcombes On de Blok
6 A Moon-Shaped Pujols
7 Votto No Get Enemy
8 Send Nootbaar
9 Ohtani Dancer in my Hand
10 Dascenzo Corbusier
11 Corbin Burnesen
12 Billy Childish Bambino
13 Morning Alonso!

oh man the pressure of the #1 pick (and back-to-back picks after that). not that i'm complaining.

Changed my team name to Steve Barber and a Cast of Thousands (rendered a bit differently on Yahoo to fit the 30-character maximum). Bob Locker, Ball Four: "Boys, today it looks like Steve Barber and a cast of thousands."

I love these team names, have fun everyone. Whoever gets the most dodgers, let me know so I can root for you

So do we have 2B again as an off cat or ... ?

Not really a lot of input on that front - so same as last year.

Einstürzende Baumgarten fka Dascenzo Corbusier

Julio Rodriguez (23)
Jarred Kelenic (24)
William Contreras (26)
Rafael Devers (27)
Zac Gallen (28)

He lives!

However, almost 30 years after throwing my last pitch, I have developed a torn rotator cuff, delaying my return to the field another season.

Devastating. But this bodes well for Tarik Skubal as the clear #1 on the squad

selects have been input. everyone have a look and double check i got everything right:
https://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/41654/draftresults?drafttab=team

Einstürzende Baumgarten--love that!

yeah i love that name too. in fact a couple of times i have wanted to tell ppl about how great that name is irl but then i keep realizing that the fantasy baseball music pun game is a venn diagram with a brutally tiny sliver

like my gf has listened to a bunch of EN due to her old roommate but i don't wanna be like "ok so there's this guy named madison bumgarner"

I will always have a soft spot for yanc3y's first year ILXFBB team name: "My Bobby Valentine"

Devastating. But this bodes well for Tarik Skubal as the clear #1 on the squad

Officially his role to lose.

Einstürzende Baumgarten--love that!

Thanks. That was the name I wanted the first season I played, but Yahoo's character limit back then didn't allow it (so I settled for the Cerutti Column).

Team names understood only by music nerds, and premium young talent sentenced to a decade on mediocre squads: my fantasy baseball legacy.

like my gf has listened to a bunch of EN due to her old roommate but i don't wanna be like "ok so there's this guy named madison bumgarner"

There's this guy Ross Baumgarten!

https://jewishbaseballmuseum.com/images/player-cards/a-c/Baumgarten-1983-Fleer-PittsburghPirates-(front)jpg.jpg

Of course...I associate him with the White Sox and all those good young starters they had at the time, but I was thinking of Bumgarner too.

There's this guy Ross Baumgarten!

I THOUGHT I WAS IN THE SLIVER BUT I WASN'T IN THE SLIVER

Einstürzende Baumgarten = COLLAPSING TREE GARDEN

did we determine that it's impossible to get yahoo fantasy to show a list of ALL available players (i.e., both batters and pitchers, in expected draft order, with the selected keepers taken out)

I need lots of help on this, so I made one up myself using a Sporting News list--anyone who wants to, feel free to use it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18sbWAGuT1QwQLqILaUSXmF8WfUMg-vjhGSMQbPp_I8U/edit?usp=sharing

For yahoo, I don’t think there’s a way to view pitchers AND hitters together

on the fantasy app, you can in fact view them all together. i don't understand why the desktop site is lagging in that respect.

yeah the current in-draft tool is incredibly robust compared to even like 4 years ago.

thanks!

I need lots of help on this, so I made one up myself using a Sporting News list--anyone who wants to, feel free to use it.

Juan Soto and Luis Robert Jr shouldn't be on this list, they're both keepers. Or am I interpreting this wrong?

I predict a first place finish this year. I’ve got a really good feeling about this

the Rosario factor

Juan Soto and Luis Robert Jr shouldn't be on this list, they're both keepers. Or am I interpreting this wrong?

My mistake, now fixed.

draft day! i feel almost comically unprepared!

i am 100% unprepared and won't have time :(

i am going to try to go in and take obviously injured players (or people like wander franco, if they're on there?) out of my auto-draft. i feel like i'm going to look tomorrow morning and find i have a lineup of former superstars who are having tommy john in 2 weeks

i am going to try to have my phone on, with the app, so i might be able to make a few decisions depending on timing!

I will likely be at "The Society of Magical Negros" during the beginning of the draft so maybe AutoDraft will be better than I usually am at roster construction

BTW Baseball Prospectus came up with "Arraez Were Watching God" so...damn.

draft window is open!

CORBIN BURNESEN

C - Garver
1B - Christians Walker and Encarnacion-Strand
2B - Morel/Julien
3B - Royce Lewis
SS - Bogaerts/Trevor "Just Another" Story
OF - Tatis/Yordan/Corbin Carroll/Jarren Duran
SP - Burnes/Peralta/Kirby/Skubal/Verlander/Keller/Kershaw
RP - Jax/Payamps/Tyler Rogers

Gott Money (I'll do anything 4U)

C | Will Smith
1b | Paul Goldschmidt
2b | Ozzie Albeis (27)
SS | Gunnar Henderson (22)
3b | Jake Burger (27)
OF | Bryan Reynolds, Anthony Santander, Steven Kwan (26)
bench | Starling Marte - OF, Colton Cowser - OF (23), Jackson Holliday, 2b/SS (20), Ryan McMahon - 2b/3b

SP | Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo (26), Shota Imanaga, Bobby Miller (24), Kodai Senga, Alex Cobb, Kyle Harrison (22)
RP | Pete Fairbanks, Bryan Abreu, tbd

IL for the year | Shane McClanahan (26)

did not intend to buy into the Orioles so hard. oh well. wanted to invest heavily in young guys after the Manoah disaster and with Luzardo and McClanahan moving up to 27+ next season. apologies to Miller and Harrison fans, i may have cursed them now.

BILLY CHILDISH BAMBINO

C - Willson Contreras
1B PLATOON - Spencer Torkelson (24) or Josh Naylor (26)
2B - Marcus Semien
3B - Alex Bregman
SS - Willy Adames (28)
OF - Juan Soto (25), Kyle Tucker (27), Teoscar Hernandez, Jack Suwinski (25)
DH - Nolan Arenado
UTILITY/IL - Tommy Edman (2B/SS/OF)

7 man SP rotation - Spencer Strider (25), Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Shane Bieber (28), Nathan Eovaldi, Triston McKenzie (26), Nestor Cortes (29)
RP - Chris Martin, Andrew Kittredge

NA/PED SUSPENSION - Noelvi Marte (22)

the soon-to-be-renamed GIOLITO SHUFFLE

C - Adley Rutschman
1B - Nolan Jones, Anthony Rizzo
2B - Mookie Betts
3B- Mannie Machado, Ke'Bryan Hayes
SS - Dansby Swanson
OF - Seiya Suzuki, Luis Robert, TJ Friedl, Jose Siri, Brent Rooker

SP - Cole Ragans, Joe Musgrove, Merrill Kelly, Chris Sale, Ryan Pepiot, Kutter Crawford
RP - Emmanuel Clase, Jose Alvarado, Robert Suarez, Abner Uribe

i feel pretty good about the draft, i made a plan and largely stuck with it until the last few rounds when i maybe floundered a little and overlooked some good remaining options. if i'd realized that Friedl is injured i might have pushed for another good OF earlier in the draft but i didn't see that until after.

Learned around 6:45 EST that I wouldn't be able to make the draft, frantically shuffled rankings and deleted injured players, then learned the hard way about not being able to make changes within half an hour of a draft. (Should be good with five healthy arms, right?)

currently Morning Alonso, new name tbd
some of them will be under 30 next year and some of them will even be under 27

C - MJ Melendez
1B - Pete Alonso / Nathaniel Lowe
2B - Andres Gimenez / Colt Keith
3B - Yandy Diaz
SS - CJ Abrams / Carlos Correa
OF - Ronald Acuna Jr. / Brandon Nimmo / George Springer / Tyler O'Neill

SP - Kevin Gausman / Zack Wheeler / Shane Baz / Carlos Rodon / Taj Bradley / Max Scherzer / Aaron Civale
RP - Jhoan Duran / David Bednar

NA - Samuel Basallo

was noticing the auto draft make some interesting decisions on your behalf there.
you'll have a great rotation come August tho!

xpost

thats a pretty solid team there.

this year's sheet because why not post it early! will as always update drops in big chunks every 2 to 8 weeks (aka whenever i remember to)

Steve Barber and a Cast of Thousands:

C - Sean Murphy, Gabriel Moreno
1B - Vladimir Guerrero
2B - Bryson Stott
3B - Jose Ramirez, Isaac Paredes
SS - Corey Seager, Jeremy Pena, J.P. Crawford
OF - Marcell Ozuna, Nick Castellanos, Cedric Mullins, Lourdes Gurriel

SP - Luis Castillo, Grayson Rodriguez, Jose Berrios, Bryan Bello, Yusei Kikuchi
RP - Camilo Doval, Evan Phillips, Jordan Hicks, Tim Mayza

Completely in the dark on how to balance production, position, age, etc.

I had to auto-draft this year, the results weren't horrible but my SP corps consists of Logan Webb (keeper) and unsigned Jordan Montgomery. The first thing I did today was to put in claims for the SP scraps on the waiver wire.

holy shit dude. 5 relievers!! your lineup at least turned out somewhat ok.

i dunno...

c: bo naylor
1b: arraez
2b: ketel marte
3b: max muncy, coby mayo
ss: bobby witt, oneil cruz
of: adolis garcia, jazz chisholm, esteury ruiz, james wood, henry davis
sp: yamamoto, pablo lopez, dylan cease, eduardo rodriguez, reese olson, casey mize, bryan woo
rp: clay holmes, yennier cano, adbert alzolay

Satanic Frelick in the Attic checking in

C: Cal Raleigh, Logan O'Hoppe (ideal name for a fictional leprechaun imo)
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Zack Gelof
3B: Maikel Garcia, Josh Jung
SS: Anthony Volpe, Garcia
OF: Jung Hoo Lee, Riley Greene, Sal Frelick, Evan Carter, Josh Lowe
SP: Framber Valdez, Bailey Ober, John Means, Hunter Brown
RP: Hunter Harvey, Hector Neris, Yuki Matsui, Alexis Diaz, Devin Williams
NA: Paul Skenes

Had to look up who Skenes is. That’s a pretty wild flier!

Honey Nut Chouri◎s
https://i.postimg.cc/Nj8sWYn5/chourio-sparkle-250.jpg

02 Sal
1B PASQUANTINO
2B Gleyber
3B POLANCO
OF Eloy
OF AROZARENA
OF CHOURI◎
OF SOLER
NA LANGFORD, Wyatt

SP RYAN
SP BIBEE
SP STEELE
SP SNELL
SP LODOLO
RP MUNOZ
RP LECLERC
RP HELSLEY
RP MILLER, Mason

*continued rebuild: focus on keeper-eligibles.
juust missed Holliday, drafted Langford for my #1 (6th overall)

had my eye on Skenes - he was the best prospect in The Show game last year

yep. was also eyeing holliday, langford and skenes. didn't think i'd also miss colin cowser and jordan westburg!

my top three were Holliday, Yamamoto and Langford. wanted to try later for one of Bobby Miller, Kyle Harrison or Bibee and then Jordan Walker or Evan Carter. Cowser was a total stab in the dark with one of my last picks, since i missed those last two.

Morning Alonso's new team name is "No Xmas For Colt Keith"

https://i.imgur.com/SyfazUr.png

almost went with "I am Seiya Suzuki" but then i remembered I have him in a different league

oh yeah Giolito Shuffle is now Naked Ragans, extra Chicago punk points. my alternate was Adley Drawn Boy.

ha! i love that last one.

Probably stick with my current name but also thought about Freddie Freeman in Paris (Joni not Kanye/Jay-Z) and Hunter Greene Typewriters

that logo + name is legit! 🎅👍

Anything I ask will be Fantasy Baseball for Dummies level...What is the easiest, best way for me to keep track of injuries? I mean really easy--all in one spot, well organized. Is that information right on the Yahoo site, maybe even right on my team list? I won't even get into what I'm supposed to do if I have an injured player until I do.

In the web app or mobile app you'll need to check the manually status of your player, eg Tommy Edman here, notice the red IL:

https://i.imgur.com/vioZIF0.png

But pay special attention to the "notes" box in blue right above the red IL. If you click on that blue box it expands out to a player "card" and then on the far right you'll see some recent updates and news blurbs culled from various sites, but typically injured players will have their injury listed and either definite news or guesses at how much this will affect their playing time/rehab:

https://i.imgur.com/FayEyIW.png

I'm sure there are aggregators that have every injury listed in real time but I do not use those, perhaps someone else does?

Thanks. Hopefully something I can access on a desktop or laptop (no cell).

I find it waaaay easier to navigate all the info on desktop. Mobile is handy for basic daily roster moves tho.

Also Clem once you move a player to the IL you can add a player from the free agent list or waiver wire. Players who get dropped go to the waiver wire for 2 days from the end of the day (12am PT) they were dropped, and you can put in a claim. You will see lots of teams adding and dropping players due to injuries, poor performance, minor league call-ups, trades, hot streaks, etc. and it's a way you can speculate whether those players are better than your current roster.

Here's the URL of our league if you want to dive-in to the mechanics of the UX:

https://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/41654

i'm sorry, i'm very bad at puns. my team is still called The Worst Players in Baseball.

fear this team:

c: francisco alvarez + keibert ruiz
1b: bellinger
2b: nolan gorman
ss: ezequiel tovar
3b: elly de la cruz
of: trout, jordan walker, lane thomas
dh/bench: james outman, jd martinez, justin turner, byron buxton, amed rosario
prospect/NA stash: Junior Caminero

SPs: Glasnow, Eury Perez, Sonny Gray, Hunter Greene, Christan Javier, Nick Pavetta

RPs: Jordan Romano, Aroldis "fuck this guy" Chapman (oof), Alex Lange

shit, i probably need some holds and saves, don't i

oh hey clemenza, maybe already addressed upthread, but another thing to keep an eye on are the weather postpones/delays! for example, the MIL @ NYM game today is postponed, so i benched the mets' alvarez so i don't end up with a zero line for catcher today.

same with everyday players who unexpectedly get a day of rest - if you can find that out before their game officially starts, you can switch them out with someone from your bench that's going to play, so at least you can accumulate some numbers.

(sometimes this is annoying, actually, because although there are days where i have free time and can check the weather and last minute substitutions and move players around, there are also days where i'm either too busy or just don't feel like checking all the games across the day and spending time on an app.)

i believe most of the stuff i just mentioned ^^ is on the web browser page for the league. i usually just go to the "My Team" view and scan the games really quickly to look for who is playing, who isn't, and the weather - it's pretty intuitive but feel free to ask if you want help using it!

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I plan to continue playing dumb till I take over first place, then I will reveal who I really am.

https://i.postimg.cc/dQWtQ8Zp/book.jpg

That rainout advice was really helpful--I just moved four guys from bench to playing (but still came up one OF short).

glad to hear it!

if you miss benching a guy due to a rainout, it's not necessarily bad. keeping in mind you have a games limit, you might want to simply hold out for your preferred starter coming back tomorrow to play two games in a doubleheader instead of burning one position game today on a lesser player (ALSO keeping in mind that sometimes players don't play both ends of a doubleheader so it could be a moot point! but if it's a star player you figure they would! idk!)

Three home runs for me so far today - off to a good start!

#stopthecount

Clem, just took a peek at your lineup and you want to make sure all your RPs are in your lineup daily. They won't earn you any points if they're on the bench. Your starters will *95% of the time* (sometimes there's some surprises) be indicated as starting with a green check mark next to their name. If I were you, I'd have Mayza in Hicks' spot in the P slot.

Damn--of course, thanks. I'll try to get in a routine of checking that every morning. (I hit my limit on supply teaching today, finished until September now, so notwithstanding all the LOST INCOME, my fantasy team will reap the rewards of undivided attention.)

Corbin Burnesen running away with the league!!

Another basic question. Because of a rainout, I moved my utility player, Isaac Paredes, into my lineup at 2B. He played, but at third--does he still get points?

sure does.

Where they play irl (3b, DH, C etc) has no bearing on where you’ve slotted them in your lineup. As long as you’ve started them, the stats count.

CLE @ OAK will probably PPD

Day 2 and I'm already fucking up my starts. We are so back

Shout-out to my "batters" for going 4 for 32 yesterday. Auspicious!

begs2 are you a former haikunym etc.? nice to see you; hope you are doing well

If I have Jordan Hicks as a P, but not an SP, does he get points today for everything he does as an SP?

all pitching stats are counted the same and you just slot in your pitchers in where you can

refer to your maximum innings pitched chart at the bottom. you'll want to stick closely to the projected number of 1400 over the course of a season

Thanks. I see I can't change him to an SP anyway.

he'll become eligible for SP soon enough and will keep his RP status from last year. so you'll soon be able to slot him in anywhere. great to have that versatility

Another 3 HR (so far) day for Gott Money!

4!

My catcher is out for 10 days. I actually don't know what to do...Do I just stick with my backup and live with no points if he or his team isn't playing, or do I get someone from a reserve list? And if I do, can someone claim the guy I drop?

Also, I somehow created an "Empty" pitcher on my roster--how do I get rid of that?

https://i.postimg.cc/nrmfqsPD/empty.jpg

When someone is injured you can put them in an IL slot and add another player. You do this the same way you slot them into position or onto the bench. When they are on the IL they don’t count as being on your roster.

Your empty pitcher just means you have an open P slot. Move a pitcher off the bench to fill the empty slot.

Got it, thanks. Count on these kinds of questions for two or three more weeks, then I should be okay.

i had a billion of these questions at first too, clemenza, it's very normal. just a head's up, i was checking your team and saw you're starting 2 guys (seager and bryson stott) who aren't in the starting lineup today

https://i.imgur.com/g8kwcLr.png

the red x's on the right mean they're not starting, while the numbers in green circles mean they're starting and indicate where in the order they're hitting.

i think the injury management stuff is a big part of the fantasy "game". whether you drop a player who has a significant injury or keep them because you don't want to risk losing them on waivers. on the flip side, during the season you can sometimes pick someone up who was is coming off the IL.

(got that screenshot from your team page here: https://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/41654/11)

so who was is
or
the worst players in baseball

these questions are a big part of the fantasy "game" for me lol

Thanks! I had caught and shuffled Stott earlier (you must have looked before that) but missed Seager.

I know it's early, but I'm leading the league in roster moves (7). This has never happened for me in fantasy baseball, at any point in the season.

Tell me you autodrafted without telling me you autodrafted 😅😅

you're on, NoTime - 114 last year :D

guns of buxton is now yamamotopsycho nightmare...y'know? i don't think i ever DID sign byron buxton.

begs2 are you a former haikunym etc.? nice to see you; hope you are doing well

Yep it's me, mooks, thanks for asking. All is well, if you don't count losing my job two months ago.

I am in last place in Wins in spite of assembling perhaps the best (7 man!) SP rotation I've ever had in this league.

well another of my guys just went down and my pitching is for crap so far. I have listed some absolute units as trade targets, entertaining offers for 3B/OF/P

I'm terrible at OBP and net stolen bases. May have to consider a name change to the Alfredo Griffins.

Took me a week to find 12th place. And I've actually been engaged thus far, shuffling players in and out every day. Wait till I'm disengaged, then you'll really see something.

paradoxically, you'll probably shoot up to mid-table

Clem, last July I went camping to an area in the Sierra Nevada mountains that not only had no wifi but also no cellular service and that was the week that I went from mid-pack to 1st.

a trade in the first week, intriguing

was debating if i should chime in on that one. feels kinda lopsided considering Jung has three years of control and Snell still hasn't even made his debut this season.

just saw Jung is going to be out for 2-3 months. i guess that do shift the math a little.

What a roughy day for my pitching. Between my two teams I had the following happen today:
4 loses
3 blown saves
2 starters that got unexpectedly shellacked
1 closer who got usurped

Of the 9 pitchers I had throw a ball today, only three had an era below 6

...but did you lose a Keeper for the rest of the season?

Nope , but give it time.

Took me a week to find 12th place. And I've actually been engaged thus far, shuffling players in and out every day. Wait till I'm disengaged, then you'll really see something.

― clemenza, Thursday, April 4, 2024 10:12 AM (two days ago)

(two days pass)

https://i.imgur.com/xVYRg39.png

https://i.imgur.com/AX2R4aG.png

In my defense re: Jung/Snell trade, my pitching is last in the league and I have a lot of time to find out what my 3B situation will be. On the other hand, I'm not that smart.

I am in last place in Wins in spite of assembling perhaps the best (7 man!) SP rotation I've ever had in this league.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Monday, April 1, 2024 7:02 PM (five days ago)

el oh el... *jinx*

If Jose Ramirez is rained out and I don't have a back up third basemen, should I a) just let it go, since the game will be replayed, or b) pick someone off waivers for today? And if I go to b), what do I do to make room?

I would let that go because you're not really losing a game in terms of overall stats. I think I mentioned once before that sometimes the risk is when it comes to a game being made up as part of a double header, that player might not play both games, but I think in his case he definitely would.

I’d only add a guy for one game if I had a slot that was either being vacated that day due to injury or something or if there was a player a really didn’t give a shit about that I was going to drop anyways.

The joys of early season fantasy baseball jumping from 8th to 2nd in one night.

With Jackson Holliday's call up, I have 4 of the O's starting lineup going for me today. Guess I'm watching the Orioles game!

Weirdly enough, the only two Jays who are worth a damn this year--Berrios and Kikuchi, both drafted because I didn't get someone else I was after--are keeping me out of last place.

I tried juggling people around, but I had to go without a second baseman today (Bryson Stott was out of the lineup)--feel like I'm doing something wrong.

Some managers will roster a (often shitty) utility player (eg, I have Jon Berti) in the event that you need to plug a hole but honestly, it's usually a net negative then just having a regular on rest day.

Another cornball theory of mine is that regulars who are initially benched for rest (or against RHP/LHP if they have weak splits) are sometimes brought in to pinch hit in high-leverage situations in late/close games so you can sometimes walk away with some RBIs from a spot where you expected nothing, which happens from time to time.

I already had my utility guy, Paredes, playing third--I think I forgot to put Ramirez back in the lineup after yesterday and his game had already started. So it was more of an oversight.

Aye, that's frustrating. On the other you can set your lineups ahead of time by scrolling forward on the daily calendar, good when you are traveling or otherwise occupied for large chunks of time away from the app/connectivity.

hey clem, i mentioned the projected games played at the bottom that is good to follow (especially for pitching), and you’re 2B slot is actually projected 1 gm over max, so no worries there

your********

how in the heck is my literal glue-factory of a team in (a 3-way tie for) third place?

Man, I was excited to be a seller for once...

https://i.imgur.com/SJ0E5Cp.jpeg

(xpost) Meaning...I still have to lose a 2B game somewhere anyway, so yesterday's vacancy helps moves me closer to the maximum?

Your 2B can only play a max of 162 games, right now you are trending at 163 games. I personally wouldn't start paying attention to those limits/maxes until the ASB and then again at the trading deadline.

xp yes, just to keep in mind there are days off in real life, so it’s there to show you what your projected games are

Fwiw, I won last year and I did not obsessively fill spots on my team to ensure each position got its 162 games. Nor did I hit my 1400 IP limit, not even close iirc. But the year before's winner used this start to get effect. Both methods are valid

BTW while we're on the topic, is there any way to see this stuff on mobile?

That sounds reasonable. I've gotten into a routine of checking in the morning and then again closer to game times, and that's about the extent of what I can do. Unlike a certain online game, I won't get obsessive.

Will: that info should be in the same spot on mobile. It’s right at the bottom for me.

abner uribe, a closer candidate i took a flyer on in the last round of the draft, has now provided me more wins (1) than either kutter crawford or cole ragans, my two best starters by most other statistical measures

yennier cano leads my team in wins

yahoo was already brutal to copy-paste drops (for the keeper spreadsheet) but they've made some tiny change that now just... adds random line breaks when copying from their site. good lord my kingdom for a csv export

Twenty points separating first place from eighth!

I forgot to set my lineups yesterday and missed 2 stellar starting pitching performances. :-\

haha, yeah, i moved last week (still unpacking) so i haven't been paying close attention to my roster, and i found today that both of my catchers and three of my starting pitchers are on the IL! we are playing hurt

so is there a new spreadsheet? apologies if it was already linked, i only seem to have last year's.

it's good i have solid pitching because my hitters have mostly been nightmarish, none of them have been up to par except Royce Lewis (small sample size of two at-bats.)

I have no shortstop today, and no way to get one in there. All you have to do is choke up a bit and guide something out to left field.

Another solid start by Kikuchi tonight. My starting pitching--Berrios, Hicks, Kikuchi, Bello, Grayson Rodriguez--has been amazingly good thus far. Only Luis Castillo has been a disappointment, but he finally had a great start last time out.

i got Bello as a flier in my other league and he has surprised me so far

my team is a Jackson-Holliday-esque 1-23 with -1 NSB today.

my hitting over the last week -- 39-209 with three HR

i think if i started a random assortment of "most dropped players" in the transaction trends i'd have done better.

I don’t play fantasy baseball but Wilyer Abreu looked great when he was called up in September and he’s looking exactly like that right now - might be a good cheap pickup for anyone in search of an outfielder. Potential plus defence and plus arm, when he’s going well he’s got good plate discipline and pop

aaaand he got picked up this morning! am surprised he wasn't drafted tho, given this is a keeper league.

and looks like Clems and i jinxed Bello

Damn...I guess I'll take a look at the scrapheap list as a stopgap.

ha i didn't even see gyac's post before i picked up abreu, i just really really need some offense

now that i'm not in first place any more, i feel like i'm allowed to complain: my draft choices have mostly worked out, but picking nolan jones in the third round has ... not. i was not familiar with the dude or his strong performance last season, but he was hyped up by a bunch of the sources i was using for draft planning, so i took him high, and he has been a black hole of offense so far. he's just 25 and keeper-eligible so i'm holding on in hopes that he warms up eventually.

Was able to add the 2018 NL leader in CG (2) and shutouts (1)--jackpot.

looks like zach_tbd made the right choice in keeping amed "MPV" rosario. though jack flaherty hasn't been terrible either.

if we're going to reflect on our draft choices, this is my first round choice's stat line since getting called up: .059/.111/.059/.170

Feel obliged to point out that Abreu’s nickname is Thicc Willy. Despite being a solid little guy he can run like nobody’s business. Abreu truther out. 🤟🏻

Btw Bello says he was playing with a sore back last week & they don’t anticipate him being off longer than the 15 day minimum.

Draft thoughts:

R3: Bregman .555 OPS, -3.1 offensive fWAR, 0 HRs
R4: Fried 4.97 ERA/1.38 WHIP, was supposed to be my 3rd SP1 after Strider (RIP) & Bieber
R6: Bieber: 2 ++ starts then shipped off to the Tommy John glue factory
R8: Arenado (drafted because I didn't trust Bregman's floor): .728 OPS, 1 HR

A fantasy rite of passage, I'm sure: my favourite team (allegedly, anyway) mounting a late comeback, up against one of my two fantasy closers. If you know who my favourite team is, you know how it turned out.

it's a really weird way to watch baseball, i agree. i am definitely a fantasy homer, to my detriment, because i do pick more cardinals players because i like to root for them, and i do sometimes bench very good baseball players because they're playing the cardinals and i don't want them to do well that day.

and then sometimes i do start the very good players anyway, and as they're kicking the cardinals' ass irl, i'm kind of grimly satisfied at how things turned out

I don't check my hitters each night--seems like it'd be a lot of work--but I do look in on starting pitchers, and they continue to keep me afloat: good games tonight from both Grayson Rodriguez and Jameson Taillon, who I picked up off the scrapheap to take Bello's place.

It's definitely weird to start my ace pitcher against my favourite team and to root for a 0-0 game won by the good guys in extra innings. We do what we have to do.

I so enjoyed my one day in first place!

yeah i have to remind myself that whatever's going to happen will happen regardless of my rooting interests!

I wonder about Varsho and whether I should've kept him. I traded Trout for him last year (I was rebuilding!), because I believed in his potential, he's a Blue Jay, and I thought it was possible he gained Catcher status (he didn't). Hope he keeps it up, I see he's on the 1st place team

We all turn into our favourite real-life teams that we hate: I'm going to be right in the middle all year, bouncing between 9th and 7th place.

I'm now using all four of my IL spots: Bello, Rodriguez, Murphy, Crawford. Is that unusual or par for the course?

I think it's probably actually more unusual to not have at least three of those IL slots occupied at any given time.

xp PRO-TIP: if you have an extra IL spot or two, consider picking up a good player that might come back down the road. you can always drop them again if one of your guys has to go in that IL slot. if you pick up a FA though, there has to be a spot open. your free agent can't go directly to your IL.

same for na

you can actually add straight to your IL now!
currently i have all 4 IL slots, plus a bench spot occupied by injured players.

oh is that the case? even easier to bury your treasure

you can actually add straight to your IL now!

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, May 1, 2024 10:37 AM (two hours ago)

Are you positive? I just tried to do an IL pick-up 1:1 for an IL drop and the league settings wouldn't allow it.

i also tried, and didn't have any luck replacing one IL for another ["would put you over max roster size"]

don't remember if i tried adding a player directly to an empty IL spot or if i had to drop someone (i mean, i could check my log)

Huh. I remember doing it earlier - but maybe it was my other league?! I’ll have to go through the settings I guess.

If it is something i can switch on, would we want that for our league, or would it feel too “easy mode” for us?!

Also how mad would everyone get if I suggested LF, CF, RF positions instead of 3x OF next season?!

hm, would definitely switch OF positions to "advanced". not sure

Also how mad would everyone get if I suggested LF, CF, RF positions instead of 3x OF next season?!

I would be mad because NYY is using Soto in RF instead of LF, giving me 2x legacy RF keepers (w/ Kyle Tucker).

That said, if we could find a way to grandfather in (this would take *MOD/COMMISH POWERS*) those of us who established keepers based on the rules at the time, I would be game?

yes, i had to check bc i have 2 likely OF keepers, and they are LF/CF, and wouldn't be ok if they were the same position.

it appears i had to clear a spot on my active roster for Manoah (IL) to be added there before going on my IL, which maybe makes sense anyway?

Seemingly at this point I have three outfield keepers but it looks like I would be okay within the new rules, though maybe it would be a moot point if Corbin Carroll keeps hitting like Larry Bowa... 😵‍💫

My team crapped the bed this week and I've fallen from first to seventh (32 points back) in only three days!

and i seemed to have climbed a few spots despite half my pitching staff being dead.

hmmm. what about having CF, OF, OF then? shoving a CF to a corner spot or moving a guy from one corner OF spot to the other happens often enough in baseball that there's less of a need to make a distinction for LF/RF as long as you have at least one guy capable of playing CF.

Remember like a month-ish ago I was bragging about my unstoppable 7-man rotation?

JFC, I'm going through it.

May change my team name to ElAttrache's Pulled Pork Sliders.

yeah, my team is verrrrrrrry injured. the replacements for the injuries get injured

Some mornings I wake up convinced I'll be in last place because I know I had at least two unfilled spots the day before; those days I move up. Other days I get at least two good games from my starting pitchers, and I think I'll move up to fourth or fifth; those days I drop down.

it's hard to predict how your team's performance will impact your ranking day-to-day because the scoring is relative to the other players, so your ranking is also based on how the other teams did that day

also having unfilled spots may be bad for the counting stats but can be helpful for your average-based stats if your active players do well

my injuries are out of control too. IL is full, have dropped two guys already due to being injured, and have two IL guys on my bench

Is it a common strategy to make sure both your catchers are on the same team? I've got Jansen from the Jays and Moreno from the D-Backs right now (while I wait for Sean Murphy to return). There are so many days when they're both sitting.

And honestly, is Jansen that fragile that Schneider has to sit him down when he's so hot? I assume he's 100% mended by now.

i was about to offer some advice, but then remembered i am in 12th place and called Barf Sandwich

Advise away, please. My bouncing-between-9th-and-5th-place ego is under control.

Fyi clemenza Bello was activated off the IL today and pitched five innings with 2 ER

Backup catchers don't produce much at the plate (plenty of first string catchers don't either), I usually don't even bother with a second catcher, let alone worry about whether they play for the same team.

(xpost) Thanks--saw that and reactivated him this morning.

I'll give that some thought. When Murphy returns, maybe I'll just go with him.

Now if I had the Ernie/Buck 1985 platoon, I'd want one of them in there every day.

I'd rather keep Moreno and hope he figures it out than spend a roster spot on a few handy at-bats from Kirk. If the backup guy was significantly better than Kirk is, like when William Contreras was a backup but still raking, that's another story.

i prefer to just find a decent catcher and forget about the off days, i assume if they're good enough i'll get 130-140 starts from them and if the raw numbers are good and the OBP and slugging are solid, i prefer to not waste ABs on what is likely a lesser player who will bring down the latter stats. i also usually assume (unless i draft a star) i might have to find a catcher in the free agent pile anyway, considering the volatility of the position. i rarely carry two catchers except in the case of injury, or if there's a guy who's really solid in the free agent pile and my catcher is a good enough hitter to stick in the utility slot or another position they're eligible for (such as Honey Nut Chourios playing Salvy Perez at 1B right now.)

I'm wondering if I've been playing the whole time under a fundamentally false assumption--that counting numbers matter as much (if not more) than rate stats. That's why I worry about days with an unfilled position. When I look at categories like runs, 2B, HR, etc., are we talking total or on a percentage basis?

include me on the injury train; i've got 7 players on the IL as well as one who's DTD and another on bereavement leave. i'm trying to hold tight because it looks like some of them could be coming off the IL later this week, but it's really hampering my flexibility

Dumped Sal Frelick finally and changed my team name to Celebrity Skenes.

xp those are counting stats, whoever has the most HRs wins the category

On one hand we have more counting stats than rate stats, on the other hand, counting stats are cumulative but rate stats can go up or down. I always worry about starting a third string player because if he goes 5-35 for the week with 2 RBI and a run scored, then my rate stats will certainly go down, and that will hurt my team more than the extra two ribbies will help. At least that's my feeling, am I wrong about this?

To make up for that 5-35, another player would need to go 15-35 and have a monster week, which is not something you can count on. Whereas picking up an extra run scored and two RBIs from a decent starting player isn't much of an ask.

What are the settings in this league? Is it head-to-head weekly matchups? How many transactions and bench spots are there?

didn't you used to be in it?! still a points league with no transaction limit, 6 bench spots and since covid we've been running with 4 IL spots

Yeah it's been a long time though! I didn't remember how it was set up.

You should come back! You won back-to-back years like forever ago, right?

Hmm, I don't recall. Could be. I've been playing since the '90s so there's been a lot of leagues haha.

I thought about playing this year but it's cooler to me seeing people who haven't played before get involved. Plus it's not for money. ;)

didn't you used to be in it?! still a points league with no transaction limit, 6 bench spots and since covid we've been running with 4 IL spots

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, May 13, 2024 12:48 PM (two hours ago)

Correction: it's a roto league.

Ya thank you. Weird brain fart there. It’s not head to head. That’s the important thing.
We hate h2h.

sorry to ask again but is there a new spreadsheet this season? i need to see which of my players are keeper-eligible before i can decide who to drop :(

now that i've got eight players on the IL, including three of my SPs

bookmark or ctrl-f "sheet":

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hpsG8k76efjA3bMamBZbU_RRa9Wf99KXzrFZHbsKdeI/edit#gid=1545943393

Trying to find a historical IRL analogue for my team... who was one of the great offensively stacked teams but had terrible pitching?

maybe the 2007 or 2009 Rockies?

thanks - i swear i searched the thread

Dumped Sal Frelick finally and changed my team name to Celebrity Skenes.

Immediately Sal hits his first and then second home runs of the season. He just needed me to set him free!

I loved looking at the team compositions and names, impossible to say which one I like best but damn, some of you have been hit hard with injuries. I’ll have to play this next year.

i was worried i'd get hit with a rash of injuries after Royce Lewis went 2 for 2 with a HR and promptly injured himself AGAIN***, but my team has been shockingly healthy. and yet aside from a couple SPs everyone i drafted is really underperforming.

***https://memeguy.com/photos/images/well-ok-then-283717.jpg

♪♫ For ACL or torn hammy, call Jacob Emrani. Call Jacob! ♫

^ this rules, I would also submit a modified version as:


♪♫ For broken wrist or John that’s Tommy, call Jacob deGrommy . Call Jacob! ♫

Lol very good. I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to experience one of LA's finest ear worms, that omar so thoughtfully reinserted in my ear.

i use "charming" in the relative sense but Jacob is probably the most charming of the billboard lawyers (a million miles better than Sweet James)

he recruited LeBron to come to L.A.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rPmwPMof3hs/maxresdefault.jpg

Jacob is the great guy who helped us through our collective trauma after the bitter Cellino & Barnes divorce. He's family.

(sorry for crashing fantasy thread)

I went to check who had Paul Skenes, and I see he has his own team now!

7 man SP rotation - Spencer Strider (25), Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Shane Bieber (28), Nathan Eovaldi, Triston McKenzie (26), Nestor Cortes (29)

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, March 19, 2024 6:37 PM (two months ago)

Only 3 of the 7 SPs I drafted are currently healthy (Fried, Cortes & McKenzie). 2 of the 4 on the IL will be out not just this season but a substantial part of next season as well (Strider & Bieber).

This must be how the Dodgers GM feels like, it's insane.

Forgot to switch Danny Jansen back into my lineup this morning: 3 hits, HR, 5 RBI.

Wait till that day when you make a calculated decision to sit someone and play someone else and the guy on your bench goes off for two or three home runs

Right up there with dropping a struggling player who immediately it's a hot streak, and then you somehow manage to pick them back up and they immediately go cold again. One of the closer approximations of how the owner of Michigan J Frog must have felt.

Fried, Cortes & McKenzie

And all these guy pretty much have one foot on a banana peel

Yup, you know you're fucked when Cortes is your best pitcher.

Mired forever in 7th-8th-9th place, I forget to check in this morning (possibly the first time) and left Berrios on the bench for his (very good) start today.

haha my team was finally starting to turn the corner

finally got my IL down to four players, but my offense is dogshit right now, and i don't have much hope that getting ke'bryan hayes or tj friedl back off the IL is going to help. if anyone wants to trade me (Naked Ragans) a reliable source of offensive power (especially at 1B but i'm open to other positions as well), i have some decent SP/RP/keeper options available.

Ridiculous--three catchers on my roster, and all are sitting today.

(xpost: I dropped Cedric Mullins today to make room for Sean Murphy's return--you're obviously after more than the numbers he's putting up this year, but maybe as a stopgap?)

NA- I sent you a chat msg via the y! mobile app. Not sure if that made it to ya...

Clem- Clearly the solution is you need to roster a 4th catcher.

I was thinking of going all-catcher.

It's a new variation on the Jays' all-utility strategy.

i was going to say, if i was advising you'd i'd get even further into the pocket of Big Catcher

the cousin of the Padres' all-shortstop strategy

Big gloves & bad knees... my kind of team!

Clem, I sent you a msg on the fantasy page

Sorry, francis, didn't see that till now.

Real-talk question:

If a ~seasoned~ manager doesn't even recognize the name of one of his players, that player should automatically be traded (y/n)

lol my bad, for some reason i thought you thought i had jared jones. i think i can be forgiven for forgetting about nolan jones, given his impact so far this season

Bro, he's like the 3rd or 4th best "Nolan" to ever play the game!

~33% of the season status report:

I am almost trailing the league in Wins with 24. My IRL MLB team equivalent would be the Cincinnati Reds, owners of last place in the dismal NL Central.

Offensively my 289 runs scored puts me ahead of LAD yet behind the mighty PHI out of all MLB teams.

I feel out of the running but my foolish optimism think I'm close enough to harbor a top 3 finish?

Not ready for a fire-sale but could be open to SELL-MODE by the ASB.

I remember when I used to remember he names of every mediocre set up guy I ever had on my teams. Now I’m constantly forgetting the names of my current middle relievers. Nolan Jones tho was a gem for me last season, will always be in my heart.

i entered this season feeling thoroughly set at OF and decided to go all-in on pitching, and while my pitching has been vv solid, my best hitters are two free agent pickups, the completely decent Christian Walker, and the poor man's Corbin Carroll in Jarren Duran (Corbin Carroll for me being the destitute man's Jarren Duran this season.)

Yordan and Tatis = extremely mid!

The Autodraft bungled my SP (by not bothering to draft anybody who wasn't injured or NA). That's been the story of my season. My offense should continue to be good if most guys are healthy, but grabbing Ranger Suarez off the scrap heap the day after the draft basically saved my ass. A few more decent SP pickups here and there have kept in contention, but I don't suppose anyone wants to trade me a front line SP?

Have kept *me* in contention . .

just noticed you have the top two hitters and the top SP!

the top SP rankings is a really weird mix

Blockbuster trade in the offing.

(I'm so low in the standings, I won't vote.)

Ah yes, the best player in the league for a guy who just got absolutely manhandled by *checks notes* the worst team in the league and who will probably be shut down/workload limited by the ASB...

I just noticed that Sale start this morning, when I was checking into Reynaldo Lopez...think I'll write a book called Baseball Is a Funny Game.

Def quite the haul for sale.

Sale was NL pitcher of the month for May. Is there anyone clearly better?

The start vs Oakland is just one start (hopefully).

There is always a higher injury risk with pitchers (and Sale missed most of two years due to injury) but Judge has had his share of injuries too.

The main point is that I don't have the pitching to win this year. If Sale can give me 100 dominant innings then I have a chance. On offense I have some options to offset the loss of Judge. But my pitching is a clusterf***.

Wondering what I could get for Imanaga now…

a great comparison, given that he also has an innings limit this season and had a very bad start last time up. but i would still be happy to have him on my team, personally.

i'm not going to weigh in on what i thought was a reasonably fair trade offer, except to say that i think a lot of times people look at the trades by comparing the individual players, but without looking at the needs of each team involved in the trade (as NTBT alluded to). when i'm looking to set up a trade, i look for what i can offer and then i look at which owner NEEDS what i can offer and is in a position where the trade would make a difference to their success. then i look at what they have that i want.

Not sure of the etiquette, I tried to jump in with my own offer for Judge this morning. As the rest of you know, can't do that while the trade's on the table.

The replacement level for pitchers is so much lower. Crochet and Reynaldo Lopez have a higher fWAR than Sale, and I picked them off the scrap heap. Far less likely that I sign someone who beats out a healthy Judge this year.

well, when we see the trade, it's already been accepted and done - and generally they always go through (you're only supposed to vote against trades if you think something is amiss, but since our league is a little weird sometimes managers will vote against one sided trades). if you really want Judge you'll have to try and get it from Naked Ragans after the trade, but good luck with that!

xpost

I can throw in some cash, though, right?

cumulative bWAR/fWAR 2020-2024

Chris Sale: 4.2/5.0
Aaron Judge: 26.1/26.4

As of today, Judge's fantasy value in our league this season is 160% of Sale's (who isn't as valuable as even someone like Skubal who is keeper-eligible and will be pitching in Aug/Sep).

Will bookmark this post for a ~mind-bending~ post-season analysis.

But seriously I really do believe we need to add a negative stat for offensive players (Ks instead of 2Bs?) to make the equity of batters vs. pitchers a bit more even. Right now there are only 2 pitchers in the our league's top 10 players (Suarez & Skubal)...

(...Sale is currently rated #20 overall)

whoops wrong league, in ours Sale is rated #14th overall

If it were me, I would trade Judge for ~minimum~ a top 30 <26yo player if I thought I was in contention.

And FULL DISCLOSURE, I was offered Sale for the very lukewarm (31yo) Teoscar Hernandez a couple weeks ago and passed on him because I'd prefer a player that's gonna be playing after the ASB (god willing)...

The fact that NTBT landed Judge is a showcase for his sales techniques and ability to close the deal. Kudos!

who is a top 30 <26 player who would have dramatically improved NTBT's pitching numbers (ie what he needs to improve to contend)? paul skenes, who likely also has an innings limit and whose arm will probably explode in the next six months?

Obvs most of us feel Sale is too much of a health risk, but I hope notime doesn’t feel over dunked on here. I also hope he’ll enjoy all the trade offers he’s about to get!

As noted in my earlier post, I'd have tried to land Skubal:

26yo, #2 pitcher overall in our league (will probably be #1 by Sunday), #7 player overall.

skubal is 27, turning 28 this year
also the team with skubal is only four points behind NTBT in the rankings, so you'd have to really think about the value in aiding close competition. fair enough though.

i'm trying to be chill about this, but this is at least the second time that Steve Shasta has claimed that a trade i made was dramatically uneven in my favor, and at a certain point it starts to feel like i'm being accused of something and/or other players are being dissuaded from trading with me, which i don't love

~just a bit of fun, so lets be cool~

I'm heading out of town for ~3 weeks with sporadic internet access so feel free to enjoy a Steve-Shasta-free board in my absence, alas I will not be available to Judge any fire-Sale trades.

Also apologies for my multiple inaccuracies today, a natural by-product of wrapping up work projects and packing. ✌️✌️

I quote Ball Four way too often, I know, but this is all reminding me (will have to reconstruct from memory) of Bouton asking someone for the latest gossip, and the response is something like "Just the usual Norm-Miller-for-anybody-in-the-league rumours."

ok i will be cool

I'm last in saves and have (I think) a surplus of starting pitching...open to a trade!

(saves + holds)

Those too, yes...I'm also good in HR/RBI/OBP but last in doubles (which doesn't really make sense to me--doubles and HR often go together) and SB; open to something there, too.

No offense taken Shasta! I know I'm assuming a larger risk in this deal. It's not a real-life trade (obviously it doesn't happen in real life). It's a fantasy trade that attempts to fix the most obvious weakness of my team -- starting pitching. I didn't need a keeper in return, I need to win now. And if it doesn't work out, I haven't mortgaged my future, Judge isn't a keeper.

I'm usually risk-averse with trades and since people understandably value their keepers a lot in our league, complicated trades involving keepers usually don't happen. And if I waited too long, I'll be too far behind in the key pitching stats for it to matter.

The last big trade I made in our league was in 2021 -- Vlad Jr for Freddie Freeman, Hyun Jin Ryu, and Kendall Graveman. Vlad had seven more years of keeper eligibility ... but, I won the league. From the time the trade was made until the end of the season, he and Freeman had almost the same level of (MVP-level) production. Ryu and Graveman gave me the pitching depth I didn't have at the time (subtract Ryu's wins and QS's and Graveman's holds and I don't win) and Vlad hasn't turned out to be a generational player. Can't say I regret that trade either.

it's a landmark day, i actually have an open IL slot

that will not last. trust me.

i did intend to bump the IL spots down to three post covid, but wow are injuries ever high right now.

Ready to do what my hometown team is hedging on: turn the page and move on. If you're a contender looking for starting pitching, I'd trade Berrios and/or Kikuchi for a decent keeper.

Sent you a message via the league chat 👀

now that's a trade.

I hope I haven't overrated Royce Lewis. He's just back from an injury, but he looks to be a good bet for the next few seasons. I remember him killing the Jays in the ALDS last year. Obviously, I've given up on this year.

it's fair for both teams

keep Clemenza, that's a solid transaction for both parties

keep it up* i should say

both Sale and Judge performing well post-trade for their new teams as well!

I think there's a chance that Royce Lewis winds up being pretty damn valuable the rest of the season, so it could be an even swap, but I like him more long-term as a great star keeper than I do him remaining off the IL this year and being fully reliable.

Welcome aboard, Royce Lewis! (3-5, double, HR.)

Curious who is leading the league in SP pulled after 5.2IP <4.50ERA starts... ffs.

the problem with having 4 excellent SP lining up the same day is one of those days I'll forget abt my lineups ʕノ•ᴥ•ʔノ ︵ ┻━┻

i should say lining up the day ALL SEASON bahh

same* day, lol nvm

Mr. jqhiggins,

I sent you an intriguing trade proposal...

...

SShasta

thinking about it!

i just noticed Jake Burger and David Fry are on the same team

Ya. It’s too bad Colas isn’t worth an ad.

don't forget Zach Pop

worth a cup of caffeine at least

*** any Non-Keeperable (Crochet, Salvy, Reynaldo...) going for exceptional keepers ***

i missed 2 of the 4 SP tonight: 1W, 5H, 13K:2BB, 2QS

sent you a message via the fantasy chat, francis

Remember every time you drop a player because they've been cold and you have a desperate need elsewhere, that player will immediately go off on a hot streak. #themoreyouknow🌈

lmk if u drop skubal pls

He gave up like 4 runs tonight. Time to drop!

Rebuild mode: activated!

I woke up this morning with Bradish on the IL, Verlander DTD, Ramirez NA (congrats to the new dad).

ugh mookie injured

further to omar’s point I have dropped Sleepy Gleyber Torres so his campaign will surely get back on track

Early on, when I was bouncing around the middle of the standings, I was dutifully moving players back and forth from the bench; I figured as long as a kept on top of that, I'd make out okay. Except for forgetting to check the occasional day--once a week, maybe--I'm still doing that, once or twice without fail, and I slide a little bit more down the standings every day. I'm 11th now, down to 77.5 points--my lowest ever, I think.

Conclusion: my players just aren't that good.

my team weird because i have the worst offense in the league and arguably the best pitching. i’m not competitive yet this year anyway but come on hit a hr once in a while, Chourios

lost harrison to the DL and figured i could stream starters until i got a SP back...
i don't think i've even had streaming SP go so horribly wrong in all my years of fantasy baseball.

remember when i was in first place for like a month? i'm now in 10th place. i think my offensive numbers have actually gotten worse since i traded for judge (not because of judge, obviously).

I have six players on the DL, five of them were Opening Day starters on offense.

I wrote that post, and last night my team put up 12R, 4HR, 12 RBIs. Obviously my words fired up the fantasy troops.

My impressive free-fall continues: 12th-place, with last well within view. I have power (most of it from Ozuna, I think) and nothing else.

Royce Lewis has worked out spectacularly thus far--power from him, too--and it hasn't mattered a bit.

JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO

Jack Flaherty is pitching the best season of his career

Amed Rosario has lacerations after getting hit in the face with a 97 mph fastball yesterday

i'm riding the amed rosario train all the way to mvp city

well my will to try and compete this season has been crushed, i'm open to trade offers too. in particular i've got a couple of excellent closers for anyone chasing saves. looking for keepers in the lower age bracket, since i only have one option there right now. not trading rutschman or ragans but i'd listen to offers on anyone else.

I'm now 12th, a mere 6 points ahead of z_tbd. My collapse has been relentless.

Sent you an offer.

(2 NA)

i was not joking, clemenza - the battle for last place will be a real one, and it will get ugly

it is my honor and duty to be a competitive last place team

i do think there should be some sort of league system where the last place team gets a special bonus in the offseason, like maybe a big cash prize

i am so passionate about winning that i am not only starting Lance Lynn today, but i am also physically traveling to busch stadium to cheer him on from the loge section along the first base line! i am hoping that lance lynn gets PISSED about something!

https://swanboy.com/comic/injuredlist/

lol my team has -3 steals tonight

Done! I have found my way home.

REBUILD MODE CONTINUES:

For anyone looking for <27 keepers, I drafted a 24yo 1B currently in AAA who is currently ranked #54¹, 55², 74³ or 89th⁴ in Fantasy Dynasty/Keeper/Prospect rankings:

Spencer Torkelson (he hit 27 homeruns over Jun-Oct last year in MLB)

He is cockblocked because I have 2 *other* <27yo prospects awaiting my NA list and the other 1B I drafted as insurance has exceeded expectations.

I'm humbly looking for SVH help, eg someone who has earned ~20 SVH so far...?

src:
¹: MrCheatsheet
²: FantasyPros
³: Fantrax
⁴: ImaginaryBrickWall

NEVERMIND, lol NA accepted my trade earlier lol. Kindly disregard.

i have a similar problem - i need some 27-29 keepers for next year! i will try to some research soon and figure out if another team is a good fit for a trade. but...i have a surplus of younger keepers and decent starting pitching, up for grabs

i feel like we are all very trade-y this season

Mon - Wed stats:

a whopping 4 for 54: .191 OBP/.130 SLG = .321 OPS

i feel like i already missed the boat on trading win-now guys, but i do have gausman and zack wheeler and rodon, the latter two of whom have been top 20 and top 100 all season, and the first of whom has also been good if you ignore the first awful month. my keepers for next season are pretty solid -- abrams, taj, basallo or gimenez in the young slots and acuna + jhoan or o'neill in the old slots -- but if someone wants to help me upgrade one of those slots, i got them pretty darn good pitchers

also the sheet is updated once again for the end of the month (roughly)

names i didnt bother including above in my offers but who are available include, uhh, pretty much everyone. alonso, yandy diaz, correa, winker, stanton, scherzer, bednar, etc. honestly my team looks good on paper its just been awful in practice

Watching a rare Jays inning, and I see that Tim Mayza has a 6.20 ERA. I've left him on my roster all year, untouched--he had a great spring, or a great first few games, or something, and I think I start with the assumption that all relievers in 2024 carry sub-2.00 ERAs. This is why I'm bouncing around last place.

Roused myself into cutting Mayza loose this morning.

Could just be coincidental, but feels like Vlad has switched into audition mode.

Oops--wrong thread.

My streak of streaming disasters continues: James Paxton 9 ER, 4 IP

Six SPs set to throw on the 4th. God bless America and no place else.

wow, god bless!

"Lopez dominated once again...sixth start of the season with five or more innings and zero runs allowed, tying him with Tarik Skubal"

left on the bench again! I swear, if you set your SPs a few days in advance, they will sit back down if there are other changes made after (FA pickups, etc)

I wish I could bench my whole roster. Just to let them know I'm not happy.

i put a collection of keep eligible players on the block. i don't think i will be competitive this season, so i'm open to swapping a combination of >29 talent, plus any of the guys i put up for a solid <27 player.

I had four catchers on my roster this morning. Dropped one, still have three; glad to part with one in a trade. (I still tinker around for two or three minutes each morning...no real point, just habit by now.)

ya its habit forming.

Clem, I have an extra catcher if you're feeling vulnerable in the Catcher department.

I also have 2 vet 3Bs (Arenado or Bregman) up for trade if any needs some solid 2nd half production from the the hot corner.

Thanks, but quite the opposite--I'm swimming in catchers.

I also have 2 vet 3Bs (Arenado or Bregman) up for trade if any needs some solid 2nd half production from the the hot corner.

flagging post for blatant misdirection and false hope ;)

ok, i understand my team is bad. but even worse than my players is my own management of them. i am a bad gm. i watched moneyball last night and thought, what a terrible gm. what terrible writing. this movie is horrible. but then today, i noticed that i am in last place not just in hitting (pretty much every category) and overall points, but also in games played and innings pitched. like many teams, i was hit by a hilarious number of injuries early on, and i guess i didn't do well in making roster decisions to fill the gaps quickly enough.

the tone of this season was set by the early decision to keep amed rosario rather than jack flaherty. it's been a rough one, but i am still determined to take down clemenza and avoid last place.

You see, I love Moneyball, and all the wisdom I have learned from that will be my secret weapon in holding you off for 12th-place. For instance, a) I know that playing first base isn't easy, it's incredibly difficult; b) I know what losing sounds like, and c) I'll know that I've hit a home run when I finally do hit a home run. And these are the lessons I try to impart to my players every day.

Sounds like both of you guys need another catcher, hit me up in the DMs

tbf Rosario has been good when he does play. certainly had himself a day today.

Lemme just check I haddhimonthebench oooooooof

Always start your guys against the jays. Pro tips from your commish.

I should just give up on having starters. Clearly I’m not meant to. Senga comes back after being out all season, throws 5, then dies. Out for the rest of the year. Just like that.

Gray: removed before throwing a pitch

Two of my players who were traded, Paredes and Kikuchi, have "NA"s beside their names. That's just temporary, right?

yeah they're just switching over - could be a couple days

Thanks...Wow at that pending trade; that's practically Williams for DiMaggio level.

Yeah that's a fun one, an absolute gamble to see who can stay off the IL.

https://i.postimg.cc/cHfwnByQ/trade.jpg

Two of my players who were traded, Paredes and Kikuchi, have "NA"s beside their names. That's just temporary, right?

― clemenza, Tuesday, 30 July 2024 14:01 (one hour ago) link

if it says NA next to their name it means you have to trade them to me

I couldn't pass up the chance to trade away the two best hitters in MLB in the same season.

Any suggestions for a new team name?

I’m pretty sure my team just went 1 for 34 tonight!

I’m pretty sure my team just went 1 for 34 tonight!

I am almost 99% sure

My superstar CF who has been sidelined for 2 months for a *checks notes* bruised shin may be back by September!

Wow - my boys hit 7 home runs today!

aaah they changed the app

After finally sorting out my catcher problem (i.e., four of them) and getting back down to a more normal two, I look today and 1) Moreno's on the IL, 2) Patrick Bailey's sitting and his game has already started. So no catcher today. I picked up Jacob Stallings to tie me over till that moment when Moreno returns and I realize I'm pointlessly carrying three catchers and I have to start shuffling again.

Bryan Bello has "NA" beside his name, but it also indicates he's starting tonight, which I confirmed on mlb.com.

???

Brayan--I'll get that right eventually.

he was on pat leave, but now he's back with dad power

I checked back later and they make the adjustment automatically--just wanted to make sure I didn't have to do anything myself. Bello pitched very well tonight.

dad power!

This is actually his second child and he shoved the last time he came back from paternity leave too. Dad power is so real

After finally sorting out my catcher problem (i.e., four of them) and getting back down to a more normal two

Clemenza please believe me when I say the "normal" number is actually 1

I just want everyone to know that I am actually trying to win

Two catchers has been working out p well for me!! Pretty much cemented that coveted 6th place position.

If you carry only one catcher, you just forfeit the 30 games or so he sits then? I take it you'd do better with another relief pitcher in that spot?

I think I'm too anchored to the idea that lineup construction should approximate a real-life team.

Please respect C/1B/2B/DH Connor Wong and his 6 stolen bases!

I'm just sayin you'll more often see just 1 catcher on a team's roster. "streaming" catchers is a thing i'll do. tho I'll definitely punt Catcher innings if it means I'm carrying some lump over an impact player in that very valuable BN slot. depends on the lineup.

YES

https://i.imgur.com/FS6d4pk.png

kudos to billy childish bambino for leading the league in both games played (batting) and IP! i am last in the league in both categories. it is very hard to keep a full team on the field for 162 games!

Congratulations. Just don't get any delusions of grandeur re 11th place.

oh, you bet i'm aiming to break single digits in the rankings this year!

Y'all my all-star CF who suffered a shin bruise in June *MIGHT* be back by the end of the season!!!!111one1!

Went to do my daily check, and one of my starters is on the bench for a game that's already underway and he started. Jesus--who ever heard of day baseball?

Well that was a fun game!!
Wagner going 5/6 with his second major league home run and a double

And guess who left Berrios on the bench? Was out all day, made a mental note to check that, note is still posted somewhere in my brain.

Damn. That was meant for the jays thread. Whoops

i am coming for you, steve barber & a cast of 1000s. like the t-1000, i will never give up!

https://i.imgur.com/FKs9ho8.png

i briefly bobbed back up to 6th place earlier this week, it did not last
my team is actually decent rn but i dug myself way too big of a hole back in may/june

https://i.imgur.com/kUlvXPS.png

I've basically thrown in the towel, so that will aid and abet you.

Some of us have worked all season for that sweaty, thrown away towel

My pitching staff is 100% responsible for that “unlucky”

much easier said than done, but next season i hope to improve just by fielding a full team more often and getting closer to the IP and GP limits for the season. at the moment, i am projected to finish the season with 1218 IP, which is just 87% of the limit of 1400 IP. on the position player side, i'm projected for 1376 GP, 94% of the limit of 1458.

scanning the standings, one thing every team in front of me has in common is that they simply have more games and innings pitched which counted. i'm thinking next year i'm going to start streaming at least one SP position (for those new to fantasy baseball, streaming means picking up a starting pitcher for one game, then dropping them the next day and replacing them with someone else who is starting, in a cycle) in order to bulk up my counting stats a lil

conversely (as per my post above), streaming was a disaster for me after injuries/demotions crippled my staff and made a bad situation worse. i just had the worst fucking luck streaming this year.

have you streamed in other years? and do you do it with all your SPs, or just like one constantly rotating spot? i'm thinking of doing the latter

usually i wind up streaming towards the end, because i always wind up with *some* IP space.
generally i want to start the season with all the pitching i think i'll need (6 healthy starters).
this was just such a horrible season for me for pitching in general. and since i was curious, here is how my streaming (or short lived) starters fared (3 starts or less):

Jack Flaherty: 12 IP, 5.25 ERA
James Paxton: 18.2 IP, 8.20 ERA
Luis Gil: 5 IP, 9.00 ERA
Simeon Woods Richardson: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA
Slade Cecconi: 4.1 IP, 12.46 ERA
Ben Lively, 15.2 IP, 4.60 ERA
Cole Irvin: 7.2, ERA 2.35 ERA
Erick Fedde: 6 IP, 7.50 ERA
Carson Spiers: 6 IP, 6.00 ERA
Alec Marsh: 3 IP, 21.00 ERA
Davis Daniel: 5.1 IP, 6.75 ERA
Yariel Rodríguez: 4 IP, 4.50 ERA
DJ Herz: 2.2 IP, 6.75 ERA
Robbie Ray: 6.2 IP, 9.45 ERA
Dean Kremer: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA
Jon Gray: 7.2I P, 1.72 ERA (then promptly went on the DL)
Kodai Senga: 5.1, 3.38 (started season on Dl and then was out for the season after that start)
Jeffrey Springs: 8.2 IP, 6.23 ERA

So "streaming" is just a guy you pick up from the scrapheap for a short stay?

sometimes these guys will surprise you, such as me picking up Spencer Strider on a whim right before he entered the Braves rotation in 2022. sometimes they're Logan Allen.

xpost clemenza, yep. i imagine there could be some strategy with it, too - on any given day, even in a deep league like ours, there are at least half a dozen SPs who are available as free agents, and sometimes one or more of them have quite favorable matchups. even relatively mediocre major leaguers are capable of kicking ass on any given day. in contrast, there's the typical fantasy starting pitcher spot on the roster where you just play them every time their spot in the rotation comes up, even when they're going against a team that hits really well, or on the road on a rainy day, etc, just because you need those innings.

however - i don't intend to spend any time doing that. my thought is to just scan the list of available SPs, spend about 10 seconds thinking about it, and then let jesus take the wheel

- and also i guess i'm just going to try it with one spot in the rotation rather than the whole rotation. although...now that i think about it, another advantage of streaming multiple pitchers would be you'd open up more roster space for batters?

or not? i have no idea. and yeah i can imagine it going really poorly as well, a la thermo's experience this year

i've had mixed results from streaming. it's almost always going to end up in mixed results because you end up streaming a lot of young/rookie pitchers (because the established pitchers are claimed or known to be bad) so you're working based on SSS and unpredictable matchups and luck. often what i do is start out with a set rotation, but if a pitcher is struggling i'll drop him and stream for that spot until i hit on someone who seems like a good shot for the future, then i'll hold on them until they prove me wrong.

you can definitely get lucky and find some stud pitcher that no one has heard of. of course then he's not going to be keeper-eligible for you anyways, which sucks too.

That would definitely require 10 minutes every morning at least, and I'm sure, like most everyone in this league, aren't up to that. If we were playing for cash, maybe a different story!

aren't = I'm not

(Says the guy who devotes 20 minutes most mornings to Immaculate Grid.)

Season post-mortem:

R1.12: Zach Elfin = met expectations
R2.15: Marcus Semien = bust
R3.38: Alex Bregman = bust
R4.41: Max Fried = bust
R5.64: Spencer Torkelson = bust (demoted to minors)
R6.67: Shane Bieber = bust (season ending injury)
R7.90: Teoscar Hernandez = met expectations
R8.93: Nolan Arenado = bust
R9.116: Josh Naylor = exceeded expectations
R10:119: Nathan Eovaldi = exceeded expectations
R11.142: Nestor Cortes = exceeded expectations
R12.145: Willson Contreras = bust (season ending injury)
R13.168: Chris Martin = bust (anxiety induced IL stays)
R14.171: Andrew Kitteridge = exceeded expectations
R15:194: Jack Suwinski = bust (demoted to minors)
R16.197: Noelvi Marte = bust (spent 1st half of season suspended for PEDs, since activated he has been... not good)
R17.220: Tommy Edman = dropped immediately, was out half the season

Keepers:
Juan Soto: met expectations (#4 overall)
Kyle Tucker: bust, missed half the season with a "bruised shin"
Spencer Strider: bust (arm fell off, traded him for James Wood)
Willy Adames: exceeded expectations, certified stud
Triston McKenzie: bust, dropped him after his long recovery from "alternative to TJ treatment"

oh this looks fun let me do it too

1. (13) Kevin Gausman BUST. 4.09 ERA, ranked around 200, only 150 Ks
2. (14) Zack Wheeler (PHI - SP) GREAT. He'll hit 200 Ks with quality rates, goood enough for a top-3 pitcher
3. (39) Yandy Díaz (TB - 1B,3B) BUST. Has mostly ridden the bench and almost gotten dropped a few times, always manages to pick it up just enough to stay
4. (40) Andrés Giménez (CLE - 2B) BUST. I reached for him due to his age, but he was expected to be top-100 at least. All rates down from last 2 years, only 8 homers so far :(
5. (65) Brandon Nimmo (NYM - OF) FINE. Was bust for a while, but picked it up big time lately.
6. (66) CJ Abrams (WSH - SS) FINE. bordering on ANTIBUST for much of the season, but fell way off in the second half. I got him for steals (and AT a steal in this round) and he's young so I can keep him.
7. (91) MJ Melendez (KC - C,OF) BUST. I cannot remember why I drafted this bum in this round. Insane.
8. (92) George Springer (TOR - OF) BUST. long gone from my team. one of the worst players in baseball i wanna say this year?
9. (117) Shane Baz (TB - SP) BUST-ISH. Got dropped, expected more, but he wasn't... AWFUL. K/BB was trash though
10. (118) Carlos Rodón (NYY - SP) FINE. neither exceeded nor failed to meet expectations. which made him one of my best pitchers lol
11. (143) Carlos Correa (MIN - SS) FINE. hard to fault him considering i got him down here and never dropped him. tolerable
12. (144) Tyler O'Neill (BOS - OF) GREAT. Better than expected and keeper eligible. was REALLY good for a month there, fat lot of good it did me
13. (169) Taj Bradley (TB - SP) GREAT. or at least when i look. when i don't look he absolutely implodes lol. surely i will look at his aggregates and not just "follow my gut" when i keep him next year ah shit ah fuck
14. (170) Colt Keith (DET - 2B,3B) WHO CARES. cut him early because i needed another position, named my team after him, saw he got picked up so i am sure he's thriving now.
15. (195) Aaron Civale (MIL - SP) WHO CARES. drafted late and dropped early.
16. (196) Max Scherzer (TEX - SP) WHO CARES. thought i was clever drafting an injured guy for when he came back, he came back, was fine and then got hurt again lol
17. (221) Samuel Basallo (BAL - C) WHO CARES. minors stash

KEEPERS
David Bednar (PIT - RP) BUST. Probably one of the most damaging bums on this team, absolute bust
Jhoan Duran (MIN - RP) BUST-ISH. did not meet expectations, but tolerable
Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL - OF) BUST. great until he got injured RIP
Nathaniel Lowe (TEX - 1B) BUST. i dropped him, but keeping two 1Bs was not a great position anyway
Pete Alonso (NYM - 1B) FINE. almost met expectations. can't keep him next year tho lol.

BUST: 8
BUST-ISH: 2
FINE: 5
GREAT: 3
ANTIBUST: 0
WHO CARES: 4

(I made a category called antibust for anyone who was REALLY good at value but i ended up with 0 of them)

i'm happy to be the HYUNDAI TEAM TO BEAT. tbh i didn't care about coming last for the longest time but now that someone is trying really hard to finish ahead of me i'm kinda motivated to ruin that. also going first to worst is awful(ly funny)

also i updated the keeper sheet. link is somewhere upthread

okay --

1. (11) George Kirby (SEA - SP) He has been TOTALLY VERY GOOD, he was great up until recently and then he like most of my pitching completely fell apart
2. (16) Tarik Skubal (DET - SP) INCREDIBLE -- very happy with this guy
3. (37) Royce Lewis (MIN - 3B) BUST for me, but I did trade him with some regret for the excellent Jose Ramirez, so it worked out.
4. (42) Xander Bogaerts (SD - 2B,SS) BUST -- never again, this guy is replacement level at this point.
5. (63) Christian Walker (AZ - 1B) GREAT -- injury aside, he's been terrific
6. (68) Christian Encarnacion-Strand (CIN - 1B) BUST -- this guy was supposed to be hot shit, not total shit
7. (89) Jarren Duran (BOS - OF) AMAZING -- I drafted him based on something I always look out for, which is a high number of doubles coupled with some over the fence pop and speed. i was banking on a breakout and it worked.
8. (94) Christopher Morel (TB - 2B,3B,OF) SUCKS -- he's somewhere in the Rays lineup now, striking out a lot.
9. (115) Justin Verlander (HOU - SP) COOKED -- he was okay for awhile and i only cut him due to a lack of room when everyone started getting injured, now he's just bad.
10. (120) Edouard Julien (MIN - 2B) SUCKS -- was hoping for a solid middle infield and despite a week or two where he was very good, he was a disaster.
11. (141) Griffin Jax (MIN - RP) GREAT -- i don't typically draft many RPs, glad he was one of them though.
12. (146) Joel Payamps (MIL - RP) NOT GOOD -- he wound up being ok for someone else for awhile but he's back on in the free agent pool now
13. (167) Mitch Keller (PIT - SP) GOOD - drafted, sucked, dumped, picked back up in time for a really helpful run of quality starts. Now he's back to hit or miss.
14. (172) Mitch Garver (SEA - C) BUST -- the first of about half a dozen catchers i went through
15. (193) Trevor Story (BOS - SS) BUST -- i was banking on something better than a wrecked shoulder and lousy hitting, not necessarily in that order.
16. (198) Clayton Kershaw (LAD - SP) BUST -- held onto him forever only to watch him wash out
17. (219) Tyler Rogers (SF - RP) GOOD -- he wasn't good for awhile so i dropped him and picked him up again, he's been helpful.

KEEPERS
18. (224) Yordan Alvarez  (HOU - OF) GREAT - I made what might've been a useless parallel move in trading him for Ohtani, but I was maybe not going to keep him anyway due to leaning more towards Skubal, Kirby, and Duran.
19. (245) Freddy Peralta  (MIL - SP) NOT AMAZING - He was ok but I traded him for Glasnow. Probably a lose-lose deal.
20. (250) Fernando Tatis Jr.  (SD - OF) MEH - it feels like ten years since he was a top 3 consensus player but i'll keep him in 2025.
21. (271) Corbin Burnes  (BAL - SP) GOOD - he was on many lists the top ranked pitcher coming into this year, so he was a bit disappointing.
22. (276) Corbin Carroll  (AZ - OF) BUST but then AMAZING - I was really lucky to pick up Profar early on because he picked up CC's considerable slack. It looks like he's fully back now, but it might be too late for me.

My work here is done.

mid tier teams, i am coming for you. i am in the midst of the greatest last place to 9th place late season run in ilx fantasy baseball history.

Chicago White Sox, I am coming for you.

are you tanking? not sure if the draft order is determined by previous years standing, but i salute your long-term vision

Just negligent. And bad at this.

Draft is a weighted lottery. Somewhat annoying to set up, but I think the fairest way to do things. So, while the basement teams will probably all land p high in the draft, we also had the 1st place team draft in top 5 not long ago.

nice, that's awesome! more effort for you, appreciate that, but seems more than fair

i guess i'll do one of these post-mortems. going into the draft i wanted to have a reset year to restock my keepers, however we all saw how my streaming pitchers went...

R1. (5) Jackson Holliday, 20 yrs – dud. he's young and i'll probably keep him; but did terrible, got demoted, got recalled, briefly did ok, then did terrible again.
R2. (22) Aaron Nola - performed about as hoped
R3. (31) Bobbly Miller, 25 years - that boy ain't right. wanted to land a young arm i could hold onto and liked Miller a lot. got destroyed to the tune of a 8.52 ERA in 13 starts.
R4. (48) Paul Goldschmidt - dud. career worst season.
R5. (57) Will Smith - was surprised he fell to me. he did ok but not as good as I'd hoped. has been supplanted by Tyler Stephenson
R6. (74) Anthony Santander - finally some good news. meh OBP but a wild career high in HR (43) (so far)
R7. (83) Shota Imanaga – amazing. probably my best pick. dude dominated this year
R8. (100) Pete Fairbanks - dud. dude was a mess
R9. (109) Kodai Senga - dud. seemed like a soldi IL stash. took way longer than expected to recover. pitched one game. died, then died. out for ROS
R10. (126) Jake Burger - down season, but serviceable
R11. (135) Steven Kwan, 27 - career high in HR (13) and generally amazing first half, followed up by a terrible slump bookended by injuries
R12. (152) Kyle Harrison, 23 yrs – dud. hedged my bets w Miller here, and this was less of a disaster. 4.56 ERA and some injuries. might keep (shrug emoji)
R13. (161) Starling Marte - did ok when not hurt
R14. (178) Bryan Abreu - dud. started the season terribly and then did amazing after i dropped him
R15. (187) Colton Cowser, 24 yrs - UGH. didn't have high expectations, dude got off to an amazing start then hit a wall. then dropped. then he got hot(ish) again.
R16. (204) Ryan McMahon - did ok
R17. (213) Alex Cobb - dud. dropped his ass p quickly
keepers
Gunnar Henderson, 23 - fucking amazing year.
Jesús Luzardo, 26 - dud. pitched terrible, 5.00 ERA and then went down with an injury
Ozzie Albies, 27 - dud. was not good and also hurt a good chunk of the year
Shane McClanahan, 27 - decided he was worth keeping, even tho he had tommy john and missed the season
Bryan Reynolds, 29 - did fine. didn't have huge expectations

god did this ever go wrong. it's a miracle i'm not lower than 9th and i have no idea who i should keep aside from Henderson and McClanahan. have to decide on three from Holliday, Kwan, Harrison, Albies and Luzardo.

Post mortem -- I'll always remember this as the season in which I traded away the likely MVP's of each league. When things were looking up in mid-June, I even spent one day in first place! I know it's lame to blame injuries in fantasy baseball, but I'll do it anyway. I had an All-Star team worth of talent that spent way too much time on the IL, mainly on offense, and there were too many holes to fill.

1. (9) Aaron Judge. A+. The Judge for Sale trade worked out. Sale had 10 W, 1.96 ERA, 143 K's in 110 IP for my team. Take away those numbers and I'm in last place in multiple pitching categories.
2. (18) Jose Altuve. A+, couldn't have asked for more.
3. (35) Edwin Díaz. C, not nearly as dominant as expected.
4. (44) Christian Yelich. Was looking like an A+ pick with his best season in years until he went down for the season.
5. (61) J.T. Realmuto. C+. Good player but missed significant time with injuries.
6. (70) Raisel Iglesias. A. My best RP.
7. (87) Ha-Seong Kim. B. Good but limited to 120 games. Currently injured.
8. (96) Paul Sewald. NA. The first of the bad autodraft picks, I ended up with way too many relievers. Dumped him in preseason.
9. (113) Kenley Jansen. NA. Autodrafted. Dropped him in preseason and grabbed Ranger Suarez, who gets an A+ for his first half, D for his second half (he was injured).
10. (122) Tanner Scott. Dropped him after a slow start to the season. Not the best move on my part.
11. (139) Jordan Montgomery. F. Suffered with him for eleven starts and a 6.00 ERA before giving up. The real life Diamondbacks unfortunately don't have that option.
12. (148) Rhys Hoskins. Couldn't find a spot for him in the lineup with three first basemen on my roster (thx autodraft), tried to trade him unsuccessfully (and unsurprisingly), dropped him in June.
13. (165) Jonathan India. Dropped him in preseason, the first of my season long search for decent starting pitching.
14. (174) Ryan Mountcastle. C-. Not bad as a fill-in first baseman.
15. (191) Gavin Williams. C-. Injured in the first half, inconsistent in the second half.
16. (200) Lars Nootbaar. D. Kept waiting for him to break out but he never did.
17. (217) Matt Chapman. Dropped him in pre-season but didn't really have a spot for him in the lineup.

Keepers:

18. (226) Shohei Ohtani (Batter). A+++. And traded him for Yordan Alvarez (.423 OBP, .669 SLG, 15 HR while on my team), who has another year of keeper eligibility.
19. (243) Logan Webb. A. A rock.
20. (252) Bo Bichette. F. Multiple IL trips and unmotivated when he did play.
21. (269) Triston Casas. C. But injured too much.
22. (278) Michael Harris II. B-. But injured too much.

Summary: Harris II, Casas, Bichette, Realmuto, Kim, and Yelich all lost significant time due to injuries. That's just the offense. Some of my replacement pickups worked out, but that's just too much talent, and too many injured guys. If half of them had stayed healthy and produced then it's a top three offense in the league even with the Judge trade. If Suarez had stayed in Cy Young form in the second half, and if Williams had come back from injury strong, then I might have had the starting pitching to hang in near the top of the standings (after trading for Sale, of course) and avoided having to cycle about a dozen waiver wire starters in and out of the rotation looking for a solution.

That's a lot of ifs though. It happens. I should be able to come back with a decent keeper core next year, choosing from Harris, Casas, Bichette, Webb, Alvarez, Williams, Kim.

no season recap for me yet, i'm still playing to win the championship. this morning i picked up mitch keller as a streamer sp, and he immediately got shelled by the brewers. but, i forgot to start him, so he was on the bench. now that's winning fantasy baseball

i've thought of a long-term strategy that would be very fun for me but potentially unsportsmanlike or un-fantasy-like.

what if i just become the St. Louis Cardinals? with this strategy, i would try to acquire the entire st. louis cardinals starting position players, pitchers, and bench, giving outstanding bargains to whichever managers agree to give me the most and best cardinals players. this would also affect my draft strategy, as i would target someone like tink hence or jj wetherholt in the first few rounds, to make sure that no evil anti-cardinals manager would swoop them up years before their major league debuts

because basically my season recap is that i bet everything on the cardinals and lost badly

i'm not going to do a full postmortem either but looking back at the draft, a personal highlight was drafting abner uribe and jose siri immediately before paul skenes was drafted by someone else. i even had skenes on my target list, but apparently getting a few extra saves and a few steals at the beginning of the season was more urgent.

the most consistent problem i had all season was 1b. i took a risk on drafting nolan jones, who was either awful or injured all season, pretty early, with anthony rizzo, who was also bad or injured, as my backup. there were never any other decent 1b options available, i ended up slotting brendan donovan in there for most of the season. the worst of it is i'll probably still hold onto jones next season because i only have two keeper options in the young age range.

the most consistent problem i had all season was 1b. i took a risk on drafting nolan jones, who was either awful or injured all season, pretty early

and yet... you still wouldn't let him go in a trade. in fact, i had to remind you he was on your roster because you claimed he wasn't 😂

correct, i would not let him go in a trade for spencer torkelson, a trade that would not have benefited me in any way.
tbf jones was pretty forgettable this season

a trade that would not have benefited me in any way.

torkelson was worth +1.36 points, jones was worth -1.24 points. that's +2.60 points you would have benefited!

I will confirm torkelson was a disaster most of the season. I dropped him in my other league after he was finally, mercifully demoted. Then he comes back up (after seriously not earning a promotion) and starts socking dongers again. I wouldn’t be surprised if all his value come in the back 6 weeks and fully support anybody who was highly suspicious of that man.

congrats to

1. Corbin Burnesen
2. Send Nootbaar
3. Yamamotopsycho Nightmare

!

congratulations!

Congrats Corbin Burnesen on an amazing last month surge!

My pitching staff was a thing of beauty: point totals of 2-1-2-1-2-2-1 across the board.

omar, nice job on a commanding victory.

thanks y'all -- i really thought bnw had it in the bag there, i was resigned to the fact that having no good first baseman w/Walker on the IL and rotating through eight different catchers and never really solving my second base issue and my rotation having gone a bit cold other than Skubal might have all doomed me, but lots of guys suddenly started playing out of their minds.

congrats dude! is this your second triumph?

btw, i called this victory 6 months ago!

i won in 2009 and 2015 and since then i've been going back and forth between third and fourth place forever. i'm just happy i was able to give team namesake Corbin Burnes his ring during what's probably the final season he'll be on my team.

Well done, Omar!

Congrats to Omar! - tho I don't get the reference 😳

my team was something - tied for last in offence and top 3 pitching. 10th overall

I drafted for the future this year, landing Langford, Joe Ryan, Bibee, Steele and Mason Miller as options
Chourio immediately shined in his rookie year, thankfully. hoping for similar results from Langford
I also bolstered my future by trading Snell for Jung
the offence was completely frankensteined together all year
the biggest boon was grabbing Reynaldo Lopez and Crochet in the first week.
have keepers, will travel

MVPs: Salvy, Reynaldo, Joe Ryan, Mason & Honey Nut Jackson

i guess if i had to name a team MVP it would be Gunnar Henderson, with Imanaga then Kwan/Santander following.

also big announcement from the soon to be renamed Gott Money I'll do anything 4U: we will be retiring the numbers for team legends "King" Felix Hernandez and Jose Fernandez!

looking to next season - i think we have consensus that it's time for doubles to go. i guess we don't *have* to replace it with anything and i doubt we will see any new stats available next season. i was concerned it would throw off the balance with pitching stats, but if we consider there is a distinction between SP and the one cat we have for relievers; it's probably fine.

i also *really* like the idea of having CF + 2 OF instead of just three OF. try to make sure we have at least one OF that has some acumen with the glove.

I'd go for the CF idea, though it'd be more of a pain obv

re doubles: I think a negative stat might help here: K, GIDP, or maybe even OFA (outfield assists) if you want to boost CF/RF value.

is there any way to see what our players would be ranked w/o doubles being included? it doesn't change anything for me w/only having five keeper-eligible guys, just curious.

I wouldn’t want to do GIDP again - it punished hitters that had slow ass runners infront of them too much. Also going negative instead of just getting rid of it would actually cause some imbalance vs SP.

congrats on chasing me down, omar! I had a surreal run where all fantasy luck was working. I would forget to start a guy and he would get nuked. I’d pick someone up and they’d become babe ruth. Then in those last few weeks in flipped 100% - I think I had a whole week without an ERA under 6. Feel ok that I have decent keeper options for next season.

it felt like you were ahead of me for three months, i thought i might be cursed and the trades wouldn't help so much since the rest of my team wasn't so hot and yours was so well rounded, but it worked out. it was probably very fortunate that Carroll and Tatis came back really strong, but maybe even better was having a relief corps i didn't have to do anything with most of the season, they just gave me 400ish IP of great k/bb, low ERA, and excellent WHIP, and got me a bunch of wins too.

Is there a new thread? I feel like I'm missing something

Ready your international amateur free agent pool money: it's your 2025 Fantasy Baseball thread! (with a poll about replacing one OF slot with CF)