ask me about fantasy baseball v.2007

[jaymajik]

5x5 ML roto, we keep 8: who should I keep?

Obvious keepers:

Santana
Soriano
David Wright
Tejada
Miguel Cabrera
Bay
Matt Holliday

I am not sure about the last spot. COntenders are:
Felix Hernandez
Schmidt
Lackey
Alex Rios

I got burned last year when I kept Felix over Halladay and Carlos Lee, so I dont want to make the same mistake again. I am leaning Felix or Lackey though.

[westside8]

I'm in the same boat, Felix and Lackey.

[crockpot]

[ QUOTE ]
5x5 ML roto, we keep 8: who should I keep?

Obvious keepers:

Santana
Soriano
David Wright
Tejada
Miguel Cabrera
Bay
Matt Holliday

I am not sure about the last spot. COntenders are:
Felix Hernandez
Schmidt
Lackey
Alex Rios

I got burned last year when I kept Felix over Halladay and Carlos Lee, so I dont want to make the same mistake again. I am leaning Felix or Lackey though.

[/ QUOTE ]

lackey is probably a slightly better option for 2007, but it looks like your team is so far ahead of the pack that you can afford to gamble on felix developing into a long-term stud.

felix, along with jake peavy, ben sheets, and brad lidge, is one of the guys poised to make big improvements once their BABIP and strand rates normalize this year.

[crockpot]

i'm apparently stuck at an airport for the next nine hours, so if anyone wants to do some kind of rapid-fire questioning on here, feel free.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

I need all kinds of help.

never played FB before, am joining an existing league as the 15th team. 7x5, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, DH, U, SP and RP.

the league is transitioning from a snake draft league to an auction league this year. everyone keeps 3 guys, who basically will be given a value of $25 each. I get to choose 3 guys who will all be worth $25 from the list of guys not kept from anyone else.

the list is not final yet, but I think the best players are guys like

how should I choose my guys? best available? by position? some guys who will be available will be Halladay, Konerko, Lee, maybe Jeter, I dunno, I don't have a complete list.

[g-bebe]

I'm not quite sure on some of the lingo: what does the #x# mean in terms of describing a league? I'm assuming keeper leagues are where you keep a certain number of players from your final roster of the previous year.

[westside8]

#x# usually is referring to the number of categories that counts towards scoring. The first number represent the number of hitting categories and second represent number of pitching categories. Standard is 5 hitting and 5 pitching.

[crockpot]

[ QUOTE ]
#x# usually is referring to the number of categories that counts towards scoring. The first number represent the number of hitting categories and second represent number of pitching categories. Standard is 5 hitting and 5 pitching.

[/ QUOTE ]

correct. specifically, a 5x5 refers to the following categories:

hitting: runs, ba, hr, rbi, sb
pitching: wins, k, saves, era, whip

the 5x5 system isn't perfect, but leagues that add more categories generally obliterate the value of pitchers, because there are so few positive "accumulation" stats for pitchers. things like hr, k/bb ratio, bb, k/9, etc. will only discourage you from racking up more innings.

[crockpot]

well, the nine hours in the airport turned into ten hours on a plane. fun times.

[ QUOTE ]
I need all kinds of help.

never played FB before, am joining an existing league as the 15th team. 7x5, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, DH, U, SP and RP.

the league is transitioning from a snake draft league to an auction league this year. everyone keeps 3 guys, who basically will be given a value of $25 each. I get to choose 3 guys who will all be worth $25 from the list of guys not kept from anyone else.

the list is not final yet, but I think the best players are guys like

how should I choose my guys? best available? by position? some guys who will be available will be Halladay, Konerko, Lee, maybe Jeter, I dunno, I don't have a complete list.

[/ QUOTE ]

without investing a considerable amount of time, i'd say the best resource is the player forecast manager over at BP. it has the pecota projections built in, and they'll soon be adjusted for playing time, batting order, etc. i personally believe the ratings formula they use is sub-optimal, but it's a good general guideline for the outright rankings, and you can adjust on your own from there during the draft.

in a 7x5 league, hitters have a huge advantage over pitchers. even in a 5x5, maybe three of the top 20 picks should be pitchers this year; in a 7x5, perhaps only santana should be in the top 30.

an auction is considerably more challenging than a straight draft. it's nice to have access to every player, but you have to monitor the size of everyone's stack and their team needs in order to make the best decisions, pay attention to who's still available, and know how bids affect the market as a whole. it will probably take some practice. if this league is important to you, see if you can do another auction beforehand and learn from it.

konerko, lee, and jeter seem like reasonable choices. if you have a complete list, i can select exactly three names.