Fantasy Baseball 2019 running thread

[outofplace]

Well, the results of that have been interesting. Brad Keller was great for two starts, then got lit up and shut down for the rest of the season. Correa got hurt again and Stroman has been only decent. Osuna and Molina have been the best players I got in that deal.

I'm still very much alive for a championship. I'm still in the money in third place, but only 6.5 points out of first with plenty of time to go.

That said, I've been kicking around ideas about my keeper list. We can hold on to players a maximum of six years, though I don't have anybody close to that. Cap space is the real issue. We get $300 for the auction, with the cost of the our keepers subtracted. Keepers' salaries go up $5 each year. Last season, I had a decent keeper list and $174, which was about average.

One thing I've noticed is most of us end up spending between $50 and $60 on one big-ticket item in the auction, which brings me to the point. Freddie Freeman cost me $51, which would mean he would cost me $56 to keep. Sure, it's high, but the guy is gold in an OBP league and I'll probably spend that much on somebody. The question is, do I hold on to the overpriced star or hope I can get a similar player in the auction for a little less?

I've hpy five minor league guys who will cost me $9 total. The rest of my cap will be based on eight major league players. I've got two options in mind.

One is keeping Freeman. One has me holding on to Clevinger instead. He would cost $20, so that's a $36 savings against my cap. Just curious if anybody here has an opinion. I'll probably kick this around more when we have to make cuts by Jan. 1.

With Freeman
Freeman $56
Yoan Moncada $20
Yordan Alvarez (DH only) $6
Trey Mancini $9
Josh Bell $16
D.J. LeMahieu $7
Gerrit Cole $33
Josh Hader $18
Cap spent: $174
Available for auction: $126

Without Freeman
Yoan Moncada $20
Yordan Alvarez (DH only) $6
Trey Mancini $9
Josh Bell $16
D.J. LeMahieu $7
Gerrit Cole $33
Josh Hader $18
Mike Clevinger $20
Cap spent: $138
Available for auction: $162

Thoughts?

 

[Songbird]

Said I wouldn't care about finishing 2nd in the regular season so long as I got a bye.

Got the bye, sure, but would have enjoyed the regular season title too.

Congrats, Sterling Silver, for slowly but surely moving up week by week to claim the regular season title and top seed.

Very happy to have Mondesi again. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs.

See you next week, Ray of Hope or Wombats.

 

[outofplace]

Said I wouldn't care about finishing 2nd in the regular season so long as I got a bye.

Got the bye, sure, but would have enjoyed the regular season title too.

Congrats, Sterling Silver, for slowly but surely moving up week by week to claim the regular season title and top seed.

Very happy to have Mondesi again. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs.

See you next week, Ray of Hope or Wombats.

This is the running fantasy baseball thread, not the one for our league.

I've been in more than one league with Sterling Silver and his teams are always good.

 

[Songbird]

LOL a fantasy thread is a fantasy thead is a ...

I'll make sure to bunt against the shift next time.

 

[bigpern23]

Well, the results of that have been interesting. Brad Keller was great for two starts, then got lit up and shut down for the rest of the season. Correa got hurt again and Stroman has been only decent. Osuna and Molina have been the best players I got in that deal.

I'm still very much alive for a championship. I'm still in the money in third place, but only 6.5 points out of first with plenty of time to go.

That said, I've been kicking around ideas about my keeper list. We can hold on to players a maximum of six years, though I don't have anybody close to that. Cap space is the real issue. We get $300 for the auction, with the cost of the our keepers subtracted. Keepers' salaries go up $5 each year. Last season, I had a decent keeper list and $174, which was about average.

One thing I've noticed is most of us end up spending between $50 and $60 on one big-ticket item in the auction, which brings me to the point. Freddie Freeman cost me $51, which would mean he would cost me $56 to keep. Sure, it's high, but the guy is gold in an OBP league and I'll probably spend that much on somebody. The question is, do I hold on to the overpriced star or hope I can get a similar player in the auction for a little less?

I've hpy five minor league guys who will cost me $9 total. The rest of my cap will be based on eight major league players. I've got two options in mind.

One is keeping Freeman. One has me holding on to Clevinger instead. He would cost $20, so that's a $36 savings against my cap. Just curious if anybody here has an opinion. I'll probably kick this around more when we have to make cuts by Jan. 1.

With Freeman
Freeman $56
Yoan Moncada $20
Yordan Alvarez (DH only) $6
Trey Mancini $9
Josh Bell $16
D.J. LeMahieu $7
Gerrit Cole $33
Josh Hader $18
Cap spent: $174
Available for auction: $126

Without Freeman
Yoan Moncada $20
Yordan Alvarez (DH only) $6
Trey Mancini $9
Josh Bell $16
D.J. LeMahieu $7
Gerrit Cole $33
Josh Hader $18
Mike Clevinger $20
Cap spent: $138
Available for auction: $162

Thoughts?

I generally err on the side of having the extra cash available, unless I really love the player. If you're on the fence about it, I'd drop Freeman. I was actually in the same boat at the beginning of this season. I dropped Freeman, who was going to cost me $48, I think, and tried to get him back. I got outbid, and ended up nabbing Pete Alonso for $1.

My league is similar in that everybody ends up with a player or two in the $40-$60 range. I generally try to nominate guys early who I don't want, but who I'm reasonably sure will get drafted by someone. The goal is to try to chew up the other managers' salaries before nominating guys I really want. You never know when you'll luck into a stud at bargain prices because the other managers have overspent during the early frenzy on mediocre players.

 

[outofplace]

I generally err on the side of having the extra cash available, unless I really love the player. If you're on the fence about it, I'd drop Freeman. I was actually in the same boat at the beginning of this season. I dropped Freeman, who was going to cost me $48, I think, and tried to get him back. I got outbid, and ended up nabbing Pete Alonso for $1.

My league is similar in that everybody ends up with a player or two in the $40-$60 range. I generally try to nominate guys early who I don't want, but who I'm reasonably sure will get drafted by someone. The goal is to try to chew up the other managers' salaries before nominating guys I really want. You never know when you'll luck into a stud at bargain prices because the other managers have overspent during the early frenzy on mediocre players.

That's how I play auctions, too, but with 15 teams it is tough to get everybody to run out of money with good players still available.

I don't have a great need at first base because I'm keeping Bell. It's about having an on-base machine who can hit 40 home runs. But when I look at it as a choice between Freeman or Clevinger and $36 in cap space, it's tough to go with Freeman. That said, it is a lot of fun having the league's best offense.

 

[bigpern23]

I need the opinion of the group here.

There are three teams tied for second in my dynasty league (of which I am the commish). Team A leads the tiebreaker by about 50 points over Team B. Team C has no chance at the tiebreaker. Team A and Team C are playing each other this week. Team C manager said in chat the other day that he'd rather see Team B finish third because the second seed gets a bye and he views Team B as the bigger threat. He said he is going to tank to allow Team A to get the bye week. Today, he is sitting Syndergaard and Buehler.

Do you view this as collusion or gameplay?

 

[Songbird]

Is what the Dolphins doing today collusion or gameplay? lol

To answer your question ... it's strategy. Just win, baby. Just ****ing win.

Or as someone I know says ... Play to win, Hate to lose, and Everything in between.

 

[outofplace]

I need the opinion of the group here.

There are three teams tied for second in my dynasty league (of which I am the commish). Team A leads the tiebreaker by about 50 points over Team B. Team C has no chance at the tiebreaker. Team A and Team C are playing each other this week. Team C manager said in chat the other day that he'd rather see Team B finish third because the second seed gets a bye and he views Team B as the bigger threat. He said he is going to tank to allow Team A to get the bye week. Today, he is sitting Syndergaard and Buehler.

Do you view this as collusion or gameplay?

It is strategy, but no way in hell I would tolerate somebody tanking a week like that. It's one thing if he hadn't actually said it in chat, but you have proof that he's tanking. I'd want him gone.

Technically, it isn't collusion because you don't have evidence of Team A being involved some kind of deal with Team C. In collusion, everyone involved is guilty of wrongdoing. In this case, it is just the owner of Team C who is out of line.

 

[bigpern23]

It is strategy, but no way in hell I would tolerate somebody tanking a week like that. It's one thing if he hadn't actually said it in chat, but you have proof that he's tanking. I'd want him gone.

Technically, it isn't collusion because you don't have evidence of Team A being involved some kind of deal with Team C. In collusion, everyone involved is guilty of wrongdoing. In this case, it is just the owner of Team C who is out of line.

I tend to agree with this. I told him as much, that discussing tanking to help the team he’s playing against is unacceptable.

Team A ended up blowing him away today anyway, so it ended up a moot point, but the open tanking doesn’t sit well with me. It doesn’t help that every headache I have in this league is because of this guy.

 

[outofplace]

I tend to agree with this. I told him as much, that discussing tanking to help the team he’s playing against is unacceptable.

Team A ended up blowing him away today anyway, so it ended up a moot point, but the open tanking doesn’t sit well with me. It doesn’t help that every headache I have in this league is because of this guy.

All the more reason to politely invite him to find his fantasy baseball fix elsewhere. I'm not a big fan of booting people from a league, but if you mess with the integrity of the game and you are dumb enough to talk about it publicly, it's time to go.

 

[justgladtobehere]

It's not any different than professional teams angling for lower playoff spots. The Pats did it when they stayed in the 4th seed to avoid the sixth seed. I think it was 2005. The Pats wanted to play Jacksonville and avoid Pittsburgh, which had the 6th seed. They didn't try their hardest against the Dolphins in Week 17. I think Cassel threw a 2-point conversion into the 15th row.

[EDIT] Weren't NBA teams doing this before the playoff seeding was changed to straight W-L record? Teams would angle for the 6th seed to face the weakest division winner.

 

[bigpern23]

It's not any different than professional teams angling for lower playoff spots. The Pats did it when they stayed in the 4th seed to avoid the sixth seed. I think it was 2005. The Pats wanted to play Jacksonville and avoid Pittsburgh, which had the 6th seed. They didn't try their hardest against the Dolphins in Week 17. I think Cassel threw a 2-point conversion into the 15th row.

[EDIT] Weren't NBA teams doing this before the playoff seeding was changed to straight W-L record? Teams would angle for the 6th seed to face the weakest division winner.

The difference here, I think, is that Belichick never sat in a post-game presser, looked over at Jack DelRio and said, "I think we're going to let you win this week so we don't have to face Pittsburgh."

 

[outofplace]

It's not any different than professional teams angling for lower playoff spots. The Pats did it when they stayed in the 4th seed to avoid the sixth seed. I think it was 2005. The Pats wanted to play Jacksonville and avoid Pittsburgh, which had the 6th seed. They didn't try their hardest against the Dolphins in Week 17. I think Cassel threw a 2-point conversion into the 15th row.

[EDIT] Weren't NBA teams doing this before the playoff seeding was changed to straight W-L record? Teams would angle for the 6th seed to face the weakest division winner.

I don't like it in those circumstances, either. It's not as easy to force teams to play to win in the NBA or the NFL. Intentionally screwing up to lose is not acceptable. A real team resting key players because the game either doesn't matter or you may be better off with a loss isn't the same thing. In an NFL game especially, that has value due to the relatively high risk of injury.

Sitting your key players in a fantasy baseball league doesn't help keep them healthy. It's just my opinion. I absolutely get it if others see things differently.

 

[outofplace]

The difference here, I think, is that Belichick never sat in a post-game presser, looked over at Jack DelRio and said, "I think we're going to let you win this week so we don't have to face Pittsburgh."

That is the most important difference here, yes.

 

[JC]

I need the opinion of the group here.

There are three teams tied for second in my dynasty league (of which I am the commish). Team A leads the tiebreaker by about 50 points over Team B. Team C has no chance at the tiebreaker. Team A and Team C are playing each other this week. Team C manager said in chat the other day that he'd rather see Team B finish third because the second seed gets a bye and he views Team B as the bigger threat. He said he is going to tank to allow Team A to get the bye week. Today, he is sitting Syndergaard and Buehler.

Do you view this as collusion or gameplay?

It’s horse****. You should have to start your strongest lineup or they should be fined. Obviously it depends on how much you are playing for but these aren’t real players who need rest.

 

[outofplace]

How many people here are in leagues that continue through next week? My money league is rotisserie-style scoring and we just go to the final day, which gets annoying with so many teams shutting guys down next week. The league has daily transactions, too, so it will be a high-maintenance week just trying to get something resembling a full lineup out there. Do you think all leagues should wrap up a week ahead of the end of the regular season?

I'm in third place, six points out of first and six points ahead of fourth. The top four teams are in the money. Fourth place just means my league fee is covered for next season. If I want a check, I've got to hold on to third. Given that my team was a bag full of hot garbage when I took it over before the 2018 season, contending this quickly is an accomplishment, but that will be little consolation if I can't at least hold my current spot. We really have six of 15 teams in contention for the money with a little over a week to go, which is good by the standards of the league.

I'm so not ready for the end of baseball season.

 

[outofplace]

These are the moments that drive fantasy baseball players nuts. Going into today's games, I was within three points of first place in my money league. My pitching has come on of late after being a weakness much of the season. Mike Fiers was coming off a string of ugly outings, including two brutal starts while he tried to pitch through a sore arm, so I sat him today. Of course, he is dominating the Rangers, taking a shutout into the ninth inning.

My team has been really good today, pushing me within a point of first place, but I'm busy being annoyed with my lineup error. Anybody else got a good story of a bad choice?

 

[Songbird]

I forgot to deactivate Brandon McCarthy on NIAFL Championship Week Sunday 2 years ago ... and he came on as a reliever and walked a batter, which lowered my K/BB a few percentage points, which gave Machine Head the lead in that category, which made it 6 to 6, which is how it ended, which gave Machine Head the title based on the tiebreaker. A single walk undid 24 weeks of work lol but it was my fault. #RIPRon

 

[outofplace]

Ouch. That does sound like one that would stick with you. I've had a few choices blow up in my face lately, but they made sense at the time. Those are the times you have to remind yourself that you did a lot right to be in that position in the first place. My money league team was a complete disaster when I took it over before the 2018 season and now I've got a shot at the championship in only my second season. I'm trying very hard to focus on the positive.