Thread: Fantasy Baseball '14

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

I sorted ESPN's rankings with my league rules, and their preseason projections have him as the 21st first basemen. Those projections have a couple free agents in them and I know everyone won't keep a second basemen, so there is likely opportunity early in the draft to get a better second basemen.

So here's the second question. I drop him because I can get someone better with a higher draft pick. That kind of obligates my strategy to try my best draft second base early at that point, right?

Position scarcity and tiers by position are a big thing in baseball IMO. It's not an exact science, but in general I always try to draft my middle infielders earlier. But in your case you might have already missed most of the top tier guys, so I don't know if it's as big of an issue. If most other teams already have 2B filled, then I'd be thinking more about best offensive player available.

Originally Posted by Buff

Position scarcity and tiers by position are a big thing in baseball IMO. It's not an exact science, but in general I always try to draft my middle infielders earlier. But in your case you might have already missed most of the top tier guys, so I don't know if it's as big of an issue. If most other teams already have 2B filled, then I'd be thinking more about best offensive player available.

You're probably right. Since I'm only keeping eight of 12, I'm going to end up getting probably 2 of the best 10 to 15 guys on the board, if not three, so best offensive player available is probably what I'll try to do.

I'm drafting my 20-team league tonight that I won last year... Finally settled on Scherzer and Desmond as my keepers. It sucks because not only do I have the last pick, but since we snake I will always have B2B picks. I'd much rather be in the middle of the round.

I did my draft a few nights ago. Landed Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Mark Trumble, Joe Mauer (playing catcher ),Yu Darvish, Max Sherzer, Craig Kimbrel, to name a few. I had the 2nd to last pick, snaking, non-keeper. My league has a lot of good defensive stats too, not just offense. Our pitching stats also consists of "quality starts" and "holds" amongst the more common stat categories. Sucks when I'd have a picture go 8 shut out innings only so the closer blows it and I don't get a win. So, I added the "quality start" stat so the SP still gets full credit. Adding holds along with Closes adds to the pitching depth too. I've also got Machado but he and Darvish are on the 15 Day DL to start the season. I also picked up that Ventura cat from KC. Hope he pans out well.

What do you think, MO? Head to head league, btw.

If you are using defensive stats...how does Mauer at catcher work since he wont have stats at that position? On the other hand...other than Machado and Pedroia, it doesnt seem you put an emphasis on defense to begin with

Originally Posted by CoachChaz

If you are using defensive stats...how does Mauer at catcher work since he wont have stats at that position? On the other hand...other than Machado and Pedroia, it doesnt seem you put an emphasis on defense to begin with

the biggest defensive stat is "assists", which Machado, Hanley Ramirez, and Pedroia will pile up. Those were just the players I could think of off the top of my head. Putouts is another defensive category that OF's & 1Bs will get. Its not a good league for DH's though. What I was shooting for when I drafted my IF was good defensive stats with good offensive production. I think I got that. My OF is weak (I have Trumbo out there (he plays both 1B/OF)) and Desmond. I also have Jhonny Peralta at SS as a backup. He was money for me last year until he was suspended.

Oh, and the players get credit for any stats they produce. So, even though Mauer won't get any credit for picking off a base stealer, he will get credit for the what he produces at 1B because in yahoo, he's still slated to play both positions (1B/C).

Originally Posted by artie_dale

the biggest defensive stat is "assists", which Machado, Hanley Ramirez, and Pedroia will pile up. Those were just the players I could think of off the top of my head. Putouts is another defensive category that OF's & 1Bs will get. Its not a good league for DH's though. What I was shooting for when I drafted my IF was good defensive stats with good offensive production. I think I got that. My OF is weak (I have Trumbo out there (he plays both 1B/OF)) and Desmond. I also have Jhonny Peralta at SS as a backup. He was money for me last year until he was suspended.

Oh, and the players get credit for any stats they produce. So, even though Mauer won't get any credit for picking off a base stealer, he will get credit for the what he produces at 1B because in yahoo, he's still slated to play both positions (1B/C).

Got it. So I'm guessing you can put players wherever you want.

Originally Posted by CoachChaz

Got it. So I'm guessing you can put players wherever you want.

Only if they are classified to play the position. For instance, Trumbo is a 1B/OF, Pedroia is only a 2B, Ramirez is only a SS, etc... Players who can designated to play multiple positions can be valuable in my league. Espeically the 1B/C players because Catchers usually take a day off here and there. And my league requires us to set our lineups weekly, not daily. So, once your roster is set, that's it.

Originally Posted by artie_dale

Only if they are classified to play the position. For instance, Trumbo is a 1B/OF, Pedroia is only a 2B, Ramirez is only a SS, etc... Players who can designated to play multiple positions can be valuable in my league. Espeically the 1B/C players because Catchers usually take a day off here and there. And my league requires us to set our lineups weekly, not daily. So, once your roster is set, that's it.

So how do you have Desmond in the OF? Or did I read that wrong?

Originally Posted by CoachChaz

So how do you have Desmond in the OF? Or did I read that wrong?

Lol. My bad... not Ian Desmond, meant Desmond Jennings OF Tampa. Dyslexia of the memory.

Originally Posted by artie_dale

Lol. My bad... not Ian Desmond, meant Desmond Jennings OF Tampa. Dyslexia of the memory.

That makes more sense.

I was kind of excited that maybe I was ahead of the game snagging Tanner Scheppers - especially once they announced Darvish would miss a start. 4IP 8Hs 3BBs 7ER. Ugh.

Can I interject a quick question - I love fantasy sports (well fantasy football) but have a real hard time keeping track of my few players that you do have with football

Is fantasy baseball 10x more intricate? Are you constantly trading and moving and such - basically what I am asking is - is this a daily thing - do you have to pay attention to your fantasy team daily?

Originally Posted by orangenblue420

Can I interject a quick question - I love fantasy sports (well fantasy football) but have a real hard time keeping track of my few players that you do have with football

Is fantasy baseball 10x more intricate? Are you constantly trading and moving and such - basically what I am asking is - is this a daily thing - do you have to pay attention to your fantasy team daily?

I'm still fairly new to it. But from my perspective, yeah. I think it sucks starting a guy who isn't playing. Obviously, he gets you zero points. So if you're serious about it, you have to keep up with who's starting and who isn't. And they play like everyday. I have trouble keeping up.

Originally Posted by orangenblue420

Can I interject a quick question - I love fantasy sports (well fantasy football) but have a real hard time keeping track of my few players that you do have with football

Is fantasy baseball 10x more intricate? Are you constantly trading and moving and such - basically what I am asking is - is this a daily thing - do you have to pay attention to your fantasy team daily?

In general, yes. But there are leagues that lock on Sunday nights, but you have to spend a good deal Sunday evening setting your lineup that week and making a few gambles, based on if a starting pitcher is going to start on one day or two and if someone is day-to-day and will his injury get worse or better...

Fantasy baseball is a lot more intense than fantasy football, IMO.