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)

and i am completely lost as to how to approach my absolute mess of keeper eligible players

actually, we don't need 4 IL slots. gonna knock that down by one.

I'd agree to the CF position so long as those of us with 3 OF keepers with no CF are grandfathered in and not penalized by some sudden rule change that invalidates years of drafting results based on previous rules.

Also Thermo, if you currently are keeping a CF, I would recommend you either trade that player or drop them prior to the season start in the interest of transparency and unbiased parity as league commish.

Instead of doubles I think we need a negative offensive stat: GIDP for example?

no, only possible keeper for me in the OF is Kwan and he's LF. and i'm undecided on him.

i'm willing to work with anyone that has trouble with the new setting, but there's limits on what i can do in terms of roster set-up, as yahoo defines who is and isn't a CF. if it turns out the endeavour is profoundy unfair for anyone and there's no workaround, i'll just scrap the whole thing.

we had GIDP a while ago and it was dumb. just unfairly punished hitters that had slow/numerous runners in front of them

I am firmly in the "worth a try" camp. Why not try it and see how it goes, just a bit of fun, let's be cool, etc.

i just spent forever looking for the custom position eligibility tab, incase it could help the teams that have 3 OF keeper options (by my count there are two likely teams to have a likely packed outfield). turns out they got rid of that option like 2-3 years ago.

i am also okay w/ the proposed cf rule

lol

I know that you all disagree, but I liked having one random and fun category (e.g. cycles).

Fielding percentage is silly because it doesn't correlate to being a great fielder.

For pitching, we never had Inherited Runners Scored or On Base Percentage Against. One problem with saves and holds is that you can load up on mediocre relievers on winning teams. Adding more team-independent categories could make pitching choices more interesting.

I know that Inherited Runners Scored isn't really team dependent but the point is to reward excellence more. I'm not saying that we all haven't benefitted from guys pitching the sixth inning, giving up two runs, and "earning" a hold. But it could be good to get away from that.

team-INdependent, that is

i agree the zany wild card stats are fun, but the majority didn't like the chaos involved so it's probably off the table for the foreseeable future.

OBP or OPS against could be fine – but i think inherited runners would wind up like when we had blown saves. having a neg stat for relievers would make having them pointless. and speaking as someone who has, at times by necessity, loaded up on mediocre relievers – the damage they can do to your ERA with a couple bad outing is very real!

i think the ERA and WHIP stats really do offset one's ability to simply stash random bullpen arms, i've definitely had seasons where i thought i was doing pretty well with my RPs and then it just takes one shit guy like Craig Kimbrel having a meltdown to kill excellent outings by your SPs, not even just the other RPs.

so - i don't think i have the tools available as commish to let a team get around a OF/CF/CF set-up. and manually setting position eligibility no longer exists as an option. i thought last year that it wouldn't have much of an impact on any teams, but hadn't taken into account trades that happened during the season...
as much as i like the idea, and seems to be popular enough, maybe it's best to shelve it for a year or two. give our OF-heavy teams a chance to plan accordingly.

I’m cool with whatever. A random wildcard stat seems fun.

i'm gonna put in my keepers now for team most likely to soon be formerly known as Corbin Burnesen, unless i draft him again.

Tarik Skubal (28)
Jarren Duran (28)
George Kirby (27)
Fernando Tatis Jr (26)
Corbin Carroll (24)

Your team makes me want to barf already. I hate it.

Can someone re-post the keeper spreadsheet on this new thread?

Also hello old friends

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

my <27 keepers are so depressing

thanks dude

xpost

so i only have three i can keep and they will be skenes, lee, and volpe

if you want to double check things, the results of the 2024 drafts is here:

https://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/2024/b1/41654/draftresults?drafttab=team&draft_results_period=current

obviously any trades and drops aren't reflected there

EVERYONE READY FOR THE DRAFT ORDER REVEAL?!

"Make the upcoming reveal overflow with joy, and let pleasure drown the brim." --Jose Canseco

using last years team names, the random website randomizer gave us the following order:

1 No Xmas For Colt Keith
2 Honey Nut Chouri◎s
3 Gott Money I'll do anything 4U
4 Steve Barber & a Cast of 1000s
5 Celebrity Skenes
6 Einstürzende Baumgarten
7 Billy Childish Bambino
8 Barf Sandwich
9 Send Nootbaar
10 Naked Ragans
11 Ohtani Dancer in my Hand
12 Corbin Burnesen 
13 Yamamotopsycho Nightmare

Incredible team names

after last season's disaster, i am rebranding

going back a decade-plus, here are a bunch of our number one overall picks

2024 - Mookie Betts
2023 - Aaron Judge
2022 - Luis Robert Jr
2021 - Jacob deGrom
2020 - Jacob deGrom
2019 - Juan Soto
2018 - Clayton Kershaw
2017 - Manny Machado
2016 - Jose Bautista
2015 - Giancarlo Stanton
2014 - Miguel Cabrera
2013 - Jarrod Parker (?)

so that 2013 draft, the way to enter keeper picks was different/annoying and i had to enter them at the beginning of the draft instead of the end.
so the actual first selection was Justin Verlander that year.

and amazing really... even 12 years ago, he was still too old to be kept!

that makes sense! turns out i drafted JV, he wasn't really #1 overall worthy in the end...

whooooooa first pick thats exciting! ok "no xmas for colt keith" will get a name change at some point but in the meantime here are my probable keepers

Taj Bradley 24
CJ Abrams 24
Andres Gimenez 26
Jhoan Duran 27
Ronald Acuna 27

i might switch out the unexciting taj or andres picks for an equally unexciting tyler oneill pick after i do some more research.
FANTASY BASEBALL!

i'm definitely keeping Gunnar Henderson (23) and McClanahan (27).
likely going to keep Jackson Holliday (21) because i'm still a believer and don't want to toss away my 1st round pick so lightly.

but then i'm at a loss at the final two from:
Ozzie Albeis (28); fan fav but has been in decline.
Steven Kwan (27); epic first half of last season was probably an outlier
Jesus Luzardo (27); 80 grade name, but was terrible in '24 and seems to alternate between good and disaster
Kyle Harrison (23); would like another SP and he's probably less volatile than Luzardo. and if he pans out, i can keep him much longer

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

rolling with these 5:

elly de la cruz (23)
hunter greene (25)
jordan walker (22)

cody bellinger (29)
freddy peralta (28)

also, i have changed my team name from barf sandwich to little guys

i assume we'll change it to CF + 2 OFs? i think it's a fine idea, and it makes good hitting CFs a more valuable roster addition, shakes things up a bit 👍

Sorry, I need another reminder of how to pick my keepers.

So. Glad most people are down - but I missed one team that will be affected by it more than I realized. Will work on a solution with them to ease transition - so implementation might come next season if that’s the best way forward.

Hope I've done this right:

Under 27: Royce Lewis + Vlad
27-29: Isaac Paredes + Jeremy Pena
Under 30: Gabriel Moreno

speaking of stat categories, this was probably addressed years ago, but there are 7 pitcher categories and 6 for hitters. i don't have a problem with it, i just wondered if that's on purpose, to tilt it toward pitchers slightly?

well - thats why we had XBH and then doubles for a while. and also why a negative stat for hitter (like GIDP or errors) was not going to get implemented for hitters (at least not without a matching one for pitchers). but, in leu of a hitting cat that we can come to come consesus on, i'm not too troubled by having one more for pitching since SV+H is sort of it's own thing, with relievers having a lesser impact on ERA, Ks etc and none whatsoever on W and QS.

cool, makes sense!

I still really don't like it being a 6x7 but I also don't know what I'd cut from pitchers

Tbh at this point maybe QS? Seems like even great pitchers don't get a lot of 6 inning games anymore, and carrying mid workhorse to get a relatively rare stat is a drag

and they were facing each other! i should've been guaranteed one win!

breh, marquee matchups rarely end up with Ws for the SPs, it's always decided in the 8th/9th+++

Well not to worry. The poll I shared and then forgot about is favouring removing wins.

How do I move a player to the NA list again? (Suarez, suspended.)

SUSP is not eligible for NA

good news is he's off SUSP today

Thanks. My team is feisty and brawl-prone.

I don't think we discussed the incident but Tatis was HBP 3x and Suarez hit Ohtani once and got suspended.

Typical Dodgers. I def got Suarez's back and I'm glad that his Suspension was reduced.

Was their an actual brawl? I just glanced at the story briefly.

No brawl but it was an earned retaliation after Tatis kept getting peppered. Whiny LA fans were up in arms.

Petition to rename my team: The Lowe Bros (or The Lowe-Brows)

i mean i just recently changed my team name for a second time this season, so live your truth! (tho i do prefer the latter)

I was trying frantically earlier tonight (10 minutes to game time) to swap Royce Lewis (off the IL and right into 3B) for Arenado (DTD). I could not make it work. I even cut a player who was on the IL to free up space, and I still couldn't get the sequence right. No matter what I did, I kept getting a message that I had too many players. Help?

Move Pena and Cruz to from the bench to the IL and you'll have at least another slot, maybe two.

Once you do that, move Lewis to your bench.

Thanks, will give that a try. (Not sure if I'll be able to retrieve the player I dropped...probably no big loss if I can't.)

the commish might be able to offer his commish powers... ?

It's Santander. Maybe we could put him in special Clemenza-needs-a-day-to-figure-this-out holding cell.

Sorry lads, I was celebrating the birth of this here fine nation (and the blue jays glorious victory over the yanks) by eating and drinking to excess and then nodding off to the latest Wes Anderson.

I think you’re ok Clem? DTD guys can’t go on the DL, but you should have no issue swapping Lewis and Pena tomorrow. If you’re worried about Santander - I don’t think you need be.

What I really want to do is DFA Wes Anderson.

So that’s me cooked on the season. Was hoping I could crack the top three, but Schwellenbach is probably out for the season. Joining Sasaki and McClanahan on the IL ugh

Remind me again who your keeper eligibles are?

Neto, Goodman, Holliday, Henderson, Ramos, Kwan, Sasaki, McClanahan and Schwellenbach.
RIP Ozzie Albies

I think it was within the past 2-3 weeks when I picked up Ceddanne Rafaela off the scrapheap (to replace Jeremy Pena, I believe). My team continues to fall apart, but that might be my best acquisition in two years.

YOURRRRRR 2025 ILB Fantasy All-stars:

NL:
C: Will "Underrated" Smith - Steve Barber & A Cast of 1000s
1B: Pete Alonso - Cold Conforto Farm
2B: Ketel Marte - Steve Barber & A Cast of 1000s
3B: Eugenio Suarez - little guys
SS: Elly De La Cruz - little guys
CF: Pete Crow-Armstrong - Naked Ragans
OF: Kyle Tucker - Billy Childish Bambino
OF: Kyle Schwarber - Yamamotopsycho Nightmare
DH: Shohei Ohtani - Honey Nut Chourios

SP1: Zack Wheeler - Bichette's Brew
SP2: Paul Skenes - Cold Conforto Farm
SP3: Matthew Boyd - Gut of Pasquantifier
SP4: Spencer Schwellenbach (RIP) - Les Misiorowski
SP5: Logan Webb - Bichette's Brew
SP6: Nick Pivetta - Billy Childish Bambino
SP7: Sonny Gray - Les Misiorowski
RP1: Randy Rodriguez - Corbin Burnesen
RP2: Tyler Rogers - Naked Ragans

AL:
C: Cal "Big DOMPSTER" Raleigh - Gut of Pasquantifier
1B: Spencer Torkelson - Corbin Burnesen
2B: Ceddanne Rafaela - Steve Barber & A Cast of 1000s
3B: Jose Ramirez - Return of the Cerruti Column
SS: Bobby Witt Jr. - Yamamotopsycho Nightmare
CF: Aaron Judge - Steve Barber & A Cast of 1000s
OF: Bryan Buxton - Steve Barber & A Cast of 1000s
OF: Riley Greene - Corbin Burnesen
DH: Randy Arozarena - Return of the Cerruti Column

SP1: Tarik Skubal - Corbin Burnesen
SP2: Garrett Crochet - Billy Childish Bambino
SP3: Nathan Eovaldi - Les Misiorowski
SP4: Jacob deGrom - Corbin Burnesen
SP5: Hunter Brown - Naked Ragans
SP6: Joe Ryan - Honey Nut Chourios
SP7: Max Fried - Bichette's Brew
RP1: Josh Hader - Billy Childish Bambino
RP2: Aroldis Chapman - Honey Nut Chourios

doesn’t seem like anyone’s that interested in trading this season but if you’re looking for a decent-hitting catcher, I’ve got Carlos Narvaez or Victor Caratini available (due to Rutschman about to come off the IL)

C is so deep this year, will be hard to tempt a trade when there is a catcher currently sitting on the FA wire that is ranked higher than any of your 3 catchers, then there are 2 more FA/Waiver options as good/better as your other 2 guys.

Ya, I was running with three catchers for a while!

hey just putting it out there. sometimes I see players who have been dropped that I think the owner could’ve gotten something for if they made the effort

i feel seen 👀👀

emmanuel clase placed on leave as part of a gambling investigation. annoying that in fantasy he's considered day-to-day during this so i can't free up his roster spot without dropping him.

I'll bet you $20 he'll be back by mid-August.

bet

sign up for free and you bet you'll get instant rewards and your first $100 of bets on whether or not players who bet should be be disciplined, all on bet on baseball is good and betting is good.com, if you have a problem with gambling call this number, the inbox is full though

mis amigos: Miguel Trucha ya está disponible

buena suerte carnal~

vaja con dios guey~~

i am determined to make little guys the ‘best of the rest’ and i will never give up

jordan lawlar may not get a hit in 2025 but he is likely to record at least one hit in 2026, a year in which i guarantee he will win MVP, they should just go and give it to him

similarly, it was a great decision to not only keep jordan walker this year but also start him at every opportunity this year. he is the most due of any baseball player, and will also the NL mvp in 2026 along with lawlar

We should be talking more about the Corbin Burnesen vs Billy Childish Bambino dogfight at the top of the fantasy standings. Without yahoo chart view it's harder to track what's going on, but this is the best fantasy slugfest that we've had in years.

Return of the Cerutti Column DO NOT DO THIS TO ME

I NEED THIS

4th place is like…copper prize!

and the good kind of copper, not the coppers and robbers kind

congrats mr shasta on your second 1st place finish in the last 5 years! omar made it very close. a battle of vorped minds dynasties!

also, re: doubles next season, we had 8 responses. three in favour of removing doubles and wins, three for replacing doubles with xbh and two in favour of removing doubles and QS.
since it's 5 to 3 in favour of getting rid of a pitching stat to balance out removing doubles, i think it makes the most sense to lose doubles and wins next season.

congrats to billy chilidsh bambino, corbin burnesen, and honey nut chourios.

i managed to keep jordan walker on my roster for the entire year AND finish 4th!

congrats to the winnners
another mediocre season for me, oh well, someone's gotta be mediocre

Congrats Shasta 🫡 while I hope I kept you sweating a little bit, it was a well-earned chip

ILBB Fantasy Awards (manager, league rank):

ALMVP: Aaron Judge (Steve Barbera, #1)
NLMVP: Shohei Ohtani - batter (Honey Nut Chourios, #2)

ALCY: Tarik Skubal (Corbin Burnesen, #5)
NLCY: Paul Skenes (Cold Conforto Farm, #9)

ALROY: Nick Kurtz (YamamotoPsycho Nightmare, #25)
NLROY: Cade Horton (SendNootbar, #136)

Little Guys will claim the comeback player of the year, george springer

Thanks to everyone for playing, it was yet another fun season.

We should continue to debate the value of cats as I think our mix is obviously not perfect but there's still some room to improve.

ALSO: there's a large (50%?) chance I drop one of my HIGH-VALUE OF keepers before next season's deadline, which means we could switch to the 2xOF,1xCF,1xUTIL configuration (ie, going from 2xUTIL -> 1x UTIL) that Thermo proposed initially for 2025.

This would increase the quality of non-rostered players in the free agent pool. Not sure if everyone felt the squeeze this season when hunting for value in FA/WW pickups, I sure did.

my other league is AL only; so even with the extra UTL, our league feels like a veritable candy store of sweet offerings!

Congrats Bambinos! I'll happily take the copper, I was lodged in 3rd place most of the year with no real threat of moving anywhere