The Fantasy Baseball GeneralsThe Fantasy Baseball GeneralsA blog devoted to the underlying theory and strategic principles of Fantasy Baseball Articles
Mock Draft Central ADP Analysis: 2nd Base
2008-02-27 04:11:00 A look at over/undervalued players at each position. Next up in our stroll through MDC's top 250 ADP report as of Feb. 23 is 2nd Base . There are a bunch of players worth mentioning so I will try to keep my comments brief and to the point. Here we go... Overvalued BJ Upton (23rd overall, 3rd amongst 2B)- I can't add much else that hasn't already been mentioned by other experts/bloggers, so More About: Analysis , Draft , Central , Mock
Some "Quick Hits" on Billingsley and Bonderman
2008-02-26 19:37:00 Our friends at Roto Professor are running a series of "quick hit" articles that are must reads. Here are my comments on two of them. At Roto Professor they are running a series of "quick hit" articles. Essentially they are one or two paragraph summaries of certain intriguing players. They are well thought out, well written and well worth a look. I don't, of course, agree with all of the More About: Quick , Hits
Attacking the "Experts"
2008-02-26 15:02:00 I read an interesting article today that dealt with forums bashing expert selections. Here is an interesting article appropriately entitled "LMAO, He Took Santana #1 Overall." The article points out that there is a lot of bashing of experts who publish their mock draft lists etc. On the radio show on Sunday, Todd "The True Guru" Farino aptly opened the show with discussion about how anyone can More About: Experts
Top 101 Baseball Blogs
2008-02-26 14:59:00 We were named one of the top 101 baseball blogs, and one of the top 17 fantasy baseball blogs, by Brock For Broglio. Given the other sites and blogs named this is a great honor, and we wanted to say thanks to the guys at Brock for Broglio! More About: Baseball , Blogs
Mock Draft Central ADP Analysis: 1st Base
2008-02-26 02:25:00 A look at over/undervalued players at each position. Up next in our run through of the Feb 23rd ADP report from Mock Draft Central is 1st Base . If you missed it, my catcher analysis can be found here. Surprisingly, I didn't find many glaring "mistakes" at the position. However, I did find 2, and also a couple of players who were not part of the top 250 that you should keep an eye on. More About: Analysis
Judging the "Family Feud"
2008-02-25 16:41:00 Colleagues Lenny Melnick and Paul Greco are feuding over Chris Young. I am the judge and render my verdict. Over at Melnick and Greco Fantasy Sports Lenny and Paul have a vehement disagreement on the virtues of Chris Young. I am simplifying their respective positions below. Plaintiff's Case: Lenny Melnick says Young is a stud. He points out his low BABIP, opining that it will be much better More About: Family , The Family , Judging , Feud
Total Control Drafting
2008-02-25 16:25:00 Lenny Melnick has a method called "Total Control Drafting." Here are the nuts and bolts. The Godfather of Fantasy Baseball and two time Tout Wars winner Lenny Melnick developed a method he calls "Total Control Drafting." Details are in the link. The basics 1. List the players that you think will be drafted. 2. Put dollar amounts (he uses his own, but any published ones will suffice) for
2/24 Radio Show Link
2008-02-25 16:20:00 Here is the 2/25 radio show. You will have the "pleasure" of hearing Todd wax poetic about glistening male American Gladiators. We also discuss our American League offensive Sleepers and Busts. More About: Radio , Show , Link
Mock Draft Central ADP Analysis: Catcher
2008-02-25 00:52:00 A look at over/undervalued players at each position. For those of us who have decided not to shell out the $3.99 monthly fee for Mock Draft Central , Sport Fanatics has worked out a deal with MDC to provide the average draft position for the top 250 absolutely free. Over the next week, I will take a look at their report as of Feb. 23. I'm not sure exactly what types of drafts are part of the More About: Catcher , Analysis
Nominate Travis Hafner in the First Round of Your Auction Draft
2008-02-23 21:00:00 Why you might be given an opportunity to acquire Hafner at a bargain price. A similar idea to my previous article about nominating sleepers and potentially undervalued players early, is throwing out a DH-only eligible player during the first few rounds. This year, Travis Hafner is a perfect player to use this strategy with. Not only is he only eligible at DH in most leagues (with 20-game More About: Auction , Draft , Round
Some Interesting Analysis using PrOPS
2008-02-22 20:17:00 David Chase at Brock for Broglio did some interesting and essential work with PrOPS. Our friends at Brock for Broglio did some research that I found to be quite eye opening. Here is a link to the article. A similar article exists with "lucky" hitters. Essentially the thesis of the article is that these are hitters that are likely to improve in 2008, since their projected OPS was higher than More About: Interesting , Analysis
Backing Into a Corner and Leaving an Outlet
2008-02-22 16:59:00 Mike's article on his bidding war illustrates the value of leaving yourself an outlet. In his most recent article Mike Podhorzer discussed a bidding war that occurred. Such bidding wars should be assiduously avoided if at all possible. The way to do it is to either avoid backing yourself into a corner, or to provide alternatives to your opponent. Experienced auction players know all too well More About: Corner , Backing , Leaving , Outlet
Some Key Stats
2008-02-21 23:31:00 My friend and former colleague at The Hardball Times had a fine post on some key analytical stats. Here is a link Most readers are probably already familiar with many/all of these, but it is good to have a glossary in one place. Derek's explanation of the importance of each is also useful. One thing I would add is that contact rate and walk rate are vital cogs in understanding batting More About: Stats
Some Auction Draft Strategy
2008-02-21 17:41:00 How to spend your entire $260 budget. I participated in my first ever mock auction draft yesterday at Fantasy Auction eer and something happened that reminded me of such an important principle. I set up the mock as a mixed league with 12 teams, 5x5 categories, and 23 active players. It was late in the draft, with everyone having around $50 or less to spend, and other than Brett Myers, the only More About: Strategy , Draft
Ron Shandler Responds on the Cabrera Pick
2008-02-21 15:47:00 After reading my article, Ron emailed me with a response. There is some interesting strategy and counter-intelligence here. I had the great pleasure to hear from Ron Shandler upon reading my article on the Cabrera pick. One thing that regular readers know is that our primary focus on this site is the strategical aspect of fantasy baseball, and how to take the step of deliberately taking More About: Pick
Sunday's Radio Show
2008-02-21 15:43:00 Sunday will be the first "official" radio show (last week being a test run): Tune in February 24 at 7pm EST for The Fantasy Baseball GURUS Show ! Join Todd Farino, Patrick DiCaprio, and RC for the first Fantasy Baseball GURUS show on February 24 at 7pm EST. We will be discussing anything and everything about fantasy baseball. If you need draft help, tune in and email us or call us at (646) 716 More About: Radio
More On The Draft Day Endgame (See Edits!!)
2008-02-20 21:31:00 Looking in greater detail at the draft day endgame. However, I did amend my apparent misunderstanding of my discussion with Lenny Melnick. Oops.... In my latest Fanball Owner's Edge column I address in greater detail my view on the draft day endgame. Here are some of my thoughts: 1. The later rounds usually reflect a constant pursuit of "value" on the basis that this is where you can make or More About: Draft , Endgame
Ron Shandler and the Learned Minority Theory
2008-02-19 20:16:00 In a recent FSTA auction Ron Shandler drafted Miguel Cabrera with the first overall pick. Here are my thoughts. Ron Shandler of BaseballHQ fame, in his column on the site, gave us the following nugget: And, as for Miguel Cabrera with the first selection in Round 1, I'll leave that for you to debate. (The next four picks were Santana, A-Rod, Pujols and Wright.) Before making my comments, I More About: Theory , Learned
PECOTA's Collapsing Pitchers
2008-02-19 14:52:00 Here are some interesting projected "collapse" pitchers from PECOTA. Ian Kennedy-Kennedy's somewhat surprising 2007 (but short) debut was a bit of a mirage, per PECOTA. Kennedy comes in with a 67% chance of collapse (again it must be remembered that this is a specifically defined term in PECOTA, not a general "collapse"). PECOTA projects him with a 9-7 record and a 4.24 ERA. This would be a More About: Pitchers
Projected Expert Mock Draft Results
2008-02-18 03:29:00 Here are the anticipated league results based on projections. Check out who is the projected winner! Here is the link; the Generals are the projected champs based on "all projections" and on "BaseballHQ" projections. More About: Results , Draft , Expert , Mock
First Radio Show Link
2008-02-18 02:59:00 Here is the link for my first radio show. Click on the 2/17/08 show. Feel free to comment..... More About: Radio , Show , Link
Expert Mock Draft Results
2008-02-18 02:49:00 Here are the results from my recently completed expert mock draft. Here is the draft results, in spreadsheet form, by team. More About: Results , Draft , Expert , Mock
Follow-up to Not a Sleeper: Micah Owings
2008-02-17 05:15:00 Some good info from John Sickels and another blogger. In John Sickels' ongoing series "Not a Rookie" (yes, it appears I stole my title from his site! Although I'm not totally sure, I probably subconsciously did...sorry John), he profiles Micah Owings . The key takeaway from the article is the following paragraph: "I see him as an inning-eater type who should maintain his current level of More About: Sleeper
Not a Sleeper: Jon Lester
2008-02-16 21:26:00 An analysis of popular sleeper Jon Lester . The 3rd article in my Not a Sleeper series (article 1 can be found here, article 2 here) takes a look at Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester. A former top prospect, Lester battled back from lymphoma to return to the Sox, making for an incredible story. With Curt Schilling possibly out for the year, Lester is all but guaranteed a rotation spot, not having to
Mock Draft and Radio Show Tomorrow
2008-02-16 18:19:00 Just a reminder that we will be participating in a mock draft, which I believe will be viewable at Mock Draft Central tomorrow at 5:30 EST, and my first radio show (which is bound to be ugly) will be at 7 PM EST. You can listen in at www.fantasybaseballsearch.com, or click here. More About: Radio , Show , Tomorrow
Comparing Two Projections and Why "Value" Is Flawed
2008-02-15 16:04:00 Some proof of the view that with the best players, value is not a sufficient criteria for a selection. There are always some interesting items to be found when comparing the various projections/forecasts generated by the big boys in the fantasy business. I was looking over and comparing PECOTA with Ron Shandler’s BaseballHQ forecasts, and they both have radically different forecasts for Miguel
Risk Management in Late Round Drafting
2008-02-15 15:58:00 Why managing risk is the key consideration in end game picks, and whether an owner should seek high or low variability. When I write about the concept of value and its lack of vitality, I recognize that I am partly a lone voice railing against the traditional measures of “value” when dealing with the top of the player pyramid. As a result one can easily criticize my theories based on the notion More About: Management , Risk Management , Risk , Late , Round
Want to Compete Against a General?
2008-02-15 02:50:00 I am commish of the Devout Followers of Paul (named in honor of the legendary Paul Konerko) league and we are looking for several more owners. And yes, I really meant it when I said Konerko was my favorite player in my first article! Anyway, we are going into our 6th season and are looking for 12-14 teams. The league settings are as follows: -Mixed, 5x5, Roto scoring -Standard 23-man active More About: General , Compete
The Clemens Hearings
2008-02-14 19:26:00 Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus did a great job summing up the hearings. Here are some of the key details with commentary. For those with Baseball Prospectus premium subscriptions, you can read the text of Will's excellent article here. If not, he made some great points that provide some sanity on the issue, and with his permission I am going to outline and comment. In the interests of More About: Clemens
PECOTA's Breakout Pitchers
More articles from this author:2008-02-14 15:32:00 Following up on the continuing series of PECOTA breakouts, here are the pitchers. With pitchers the top PECOTA breakouts are generally pitchers who were absolutely shellacked in the previous year. However, one man's shellackee is another man's gold. Case in point is number one on the list. How should the Fantasy General use this breakout information? It requires understanding that PECOTA More About: Pitchers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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