Fantasy baseball

[Huskers1236]

I personally feel that the prizes should equal(or close to) what the pay-in is.  We need to decide what the prizes are up front and get them purchased so winners know what they are getting.  I could see the prize money being a little less than the total buy-in for shipping fees/effort, but not several hundred. 

 

IMO, prize structure should be something similar assuming 14 teams:

 

1st -  450

2nd-  250

3rd-   150

Regular season champ - 70

 

This way the guy rounding everything up and shipping gets a little something for the effort and if he needs to ship something out of his pocket there's some funds there to do it with.  If he can dropship everything, more power to him.  I have no problem with double dipping.  If you were that dominant that you are the regular season winner and win the playoffs, you deserve it.  Probably won't happen, though.  Guys that weren't in the league last year, I led almost wire to wire the regular season last year.  Got to the playoffs, lost both games, ended with my $25 bucks back.  Anybody can win once the playoffs start.

[Huskers1236]

To those that were in the league last year, one thing I can tell you is that starting pitching will be less of a dominant group than last year.  I will be making you put more focus on your bullpen, mark it down. 

[hxckid88]

I personally feel that the prizes should equal(or close to) what the pay-in is. We need to decide what the prizes are up front and get them purchased so winners know what they are getting. I could see the prize money being a little less than the total buy-in for shipping fees/effort, but not several hundred.

IMO, prize structure should be something similar assuming 14 teams:

1st - 450

2nd- 250

3rd- 150

Regular season champ - 70

This way the guy rounding everything up and shipping gets a little something for the effort and if he needs to ship something out of his pocket there's some funds there to do it with. If he can dropship everything, more power to him. I have no problem with double dipping. If you were that dominant that you are the regular season winner and win the playoffs, you deserve it. Probably won't happen, though. Guys that weren't in the league last year, I led almost wire to wire the regular season last year. Got to the playoffs, lost both games, ended with my $25 bucks back. Anybody can win once the playoffs start.

I reslly agree with this. Let me rework prizes and such in a day and I'll post again. We have plenty of time so we can get this all finalized.

However. If another team or so joins once prizes and such are established I will not go back again. We have 15 teams. Maybe I'm being foolish bit I am counting all all 15 of you paying and being a part of this.

Just last year I really had to hold a person or two for money and remind etc.

As for bullpen I'm down just no crazy weird stats. I want it as straight forward as possible. Please no ''hold'' stat.

I don't mind one negative stat being a strikeout either. If u were thinking of going route of neg stats. I believe you mentioned it but I could be wrong.

[pcaster]

To those that were in the league last year, one thing I can tell you is that starting pitching will be less of a dominant group than last year.  I will be making you put more focus on your bullpen, mark it down. 

 

C'mon now.  You know us Tigers fans don't care about bullpens as much as we should.

[Huskers1236]

C'mon now.  You know us Tigers fans don't care about bullpens as much as we should.

I am well aware that the Tigers are completely devoid of a bullpen.  That said, I think it makes for a more fun league when every aspect of a team is covered in a fantasy league.  So HXC, yes, I am talking about adding HOLDS to one of our categories.  I may go with Saves+Holds so someone can still go all closers if they don't feel comfortable with middle relievers.

 

I also am thinking about adding Strikeouts to the hitting and taking away hits.  I like having negative categories in both hitting and pitching.  It takes streaming out of the equation a bit when you have the potential to lose by adding appearances at the plate and on the mound.

[hxckid88]

I am well aware that the Tigers are completely devoid of a bullpen. That said, I think it makes for a more fun league when every aspect of a team is covered in a fantasy league. So HXC, yes, I am talking about adding HOLDS to one of our categories. I may go with Saves+Holds so someone can still go all closers if they don't feel comfortable with middle relievers.

I also am thinking about adding Strikeouts to the hitting and taking away hits. I like having negative categories in both hitting and pitching. It takes streaming out of the equation a bit when you have the potential to lose by adding appearances at the plate and on the mound.

I'd like hits and strikeouts both if possible.

My issue with holds is their are one or two people that are very active posters here and not totally keen on every aspect of baseball or fantasy. I'd like to make it as easy and straight forward for them as possible so half way in their not like this is confusing and quit.

Average person understands a hit. The more my team hits the better. They know what a hit is. When you start doing stats that only diehards of baseball or fantasy know it muddys the water.

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[Huskers1236]

That's a fair point and one that I hadn't thought of.  Most leagues I've participated in have been pretty die-hard so you had to really be on your toes and know many nuances.  I haven't made any changes yet and probably won't for a few days to gather some feedback from posters here.  If people have ideas, I'm all ears right now.  I will do my best to keep it cut and dry.

[redghostx]

Can we have doubles down the line on the first game of a doubleheader when it's sunny and off left handed pitchers with at least 2 runners on base

[Huskers1236]

Can we have doubles down the line on the first game of a doubleheader when it's sunny and off left handed pitchers with at least 2 runners on base

Yahoo just took that option out this year, unfortunately.

[vexxet]

 Maybe I'm being foolish bit I am counting all all 15 of you paying and being a part of this.

Just last year I really had to hold a person or two for money and remind etc.

 

I got money ready to go right now =D

[vexxet]

 So HXC, yes, I am talking about adding HOLDS to one of our categories.  I may go with Saves+Holds so someone can still go all closers if they don't feel comfortable with middle relievers.

 

I also am thinking about adding Strikeouts to the hitting and taking away hits.  I like having negative categories in both hitting and pitching.  It takes streaming out of the equation a bit when you have the potential to lose by adding appearances at the plate and on the mound.

Holds are good.  I like them, the only thing negative that holds do is makes closers less valuable as people can then start ignoring picking up closers and choose to outright lose that catergory and then start picking up the 7th and 8th inning firemen.

 

Strikeouts as a negative for hitting is great and I love it.  I dont like to draft Chris Davis types... lol.  I've always liked taking away hits, but then making sure that 2B 3B OBP(OBP basically covers hits and walks) and SLG were included...  leaving out OPS(because OPS doesnt individualize OBP without Slugging.)

 

of course this is just my opinion and if we wind up doing something totally different im cool with it.  any format really should be adaptable and strategizable.

Edited February 26, 2015 by vexxet

[NickKim38]

I got money ready to go right now =D

I am definitely in as well. I know it might be difficult to set the perfect day and time for draft. I would like to see a sun, tues,or thurs night draft with my schedule. Don't mind which categories we use as long as we know in advance of draft day. Pumped for baseball

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[hxckid88]

In leaning towards a Sunday night for draft.

Combine closes and holds as one category.

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[grackleflint]

If we are doing head to head, why the uneven number of teams?

 

Going of the current settings, the categories are:

 

Batters Stat Categories:  Runs ®, Hits (****), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Strikeouts (K), Batting Average (AVG)
Pitchers Stat Categories:  Wins (W), Losses (L), Saves (SV), Strikeouts (K), Earned Run Average (ERA), (Walks + Hits)/ Innings Pitched (WHIP), Quality Starts (QS)

 

For batters, I'd like to see Walks or OBP added, just so it's not a bad thing to get a walk.

For pitching, I'd like to see holds. Just saves lets a few people with multiple closers just run away with an entire category.

 

If we are going to have a large number of teams, more categories lets more players have value.

[hxckid88]

In regards to 15 teams, one more will join or one will fail to join. We will have even number.

Everyone if you havnt done so I'll pm ur personal email so I can send you invite. Will start sending out tonight.

I also recommend downloading the Yahoo sports app and getting accustomed to it. Very easy. U all will pick up fast.

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[Huskers1236]

If we are doing head to head, why the uneven number of teams?

 

Going of the current settings, the categories are:

 

Batters Stat Categories:  Runs ®, Hits (****), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Strikeouts (K), Batting Average (AVG)

Pitchers Stat Categories:  Wins (W), Losses (L), Saves (SV), Strikeouts (K), Earned Run Average (ERA), (Walks + Hits)/ Innings Pitched (WHIP), Quality Starts (QS)

 

For batters, I'd like to see Walks or OBP added, just so it's not a bad thing to get a walk.

For pitching, I'd like to see holds. Just saves lets a few people with multiple closers just run away with an entire category.

 

If we are going to have a large number of teams, more categories lets more players have value.

Everything is a work in progress right now, I have just started to tweak things.  Size of roster will be different this year as well.  Teams will be smaller as there are going to be 50% more teams.   I'll let you know when I think I have a finished product.   Outside of the main categories, many things are up for discussion.  I would like to fit something like OPS in, but again, if folks don't want to get too technical, this is one of those categories that joe blow might not know much about.

[hxckid88]

Ops and slg are in my opinion over the head for some. Era is fine as its easy to understand and a viable stat. Please keep that.

Holds and saves together is awsome. I agree with above as counting walks in. Maybe hits and walks together would be great. Basically equates to a productive bat category outside of rbi or home run.

Defiantly smaller bench and smaller dl list. Will keep from hoarding so to speak and force people to make smart decisions. Plus goes with just having more teams. I'd love to get one more team as having 16 is a very good number to have. It works well with the flow and such.

Yahoo actually has a fees tab too so everyone will see who has paid and such. Just a reminder to send as friends and family via PayPal.

Those that have sent me their emails will have invite to join league either tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Once you're in you can then pay.

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Edited February 26, 2015 by hxckid88

[grackleflint]

Would also like to see the minimum innings pitched per week set to something higher, like at least 28/30.

 

This is to basically force people to actually have pitchers pitch. I've been in leagues where people would have a pitching staff of just a couple of aces and closers who pitch like 10 innings total and they then automatically win the quality stats (ERA, WHIP) and Saves for the week and are already half way to winning the week. Then they load the rest of the roster with batters and try to overpower the batting/counting stats giving up average for numbers.

 

It's tough balancing between counting stats and quality stats.

Edited February 26, 2015 by grackleflint

[Huskers1236]

Would also like to see the minimum innings pitched per week set to something higher, like at least 28/30.

 

This is to basically force people to actually have pitchers pitch. I've been in leagues where people would have a pitching staff of just a couple of aces and closers who pitch like 10 innings total and they then automatically win the quality stats (ERA, WHIP) and Saves for the week and are already half way to winning the week. Then they load the rest of the roster with batters and try to overpower the batting/counting stats giving up average for numbers.

 

It's tough balancing between counting stats and quality stats.

This will absolutely be done.  I actually thought I had already changed this one.

[Cbenioff]

I strongly recommend standard 5x5 categories. Anything else risks unbalancing the league. I've done 4-5 leagues a year for about 15 years with various rules. The further from 5x5 the more the league devolves or someone figures out a trick and dominates while others quit. All sites and rankings and info out there is for 5x5. Tout wars LABR etc... All 5x5 for a reason. Or close to it.

Putting holds in makes closers less valuable and skews pricing on relievers. It's workable but everyone better be prepared to make their own rankings or they will be at a disadvantage.

I'd also recommend roto over head-to-head. Id prefer the best team win and not just whoever had one good week at the end of the year.

I'll play any way but I'll be the guy taking advantage of any rule changes.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Cbenioff

[Cbenioff]

I'd prefer a deep bench for sleepers but if we can't do that we should at least have 5 DL spots. Nothing like ending your season early because you can't stash a couple injured early picks.

[Huskers1236]

I strongly recommend standard 5x5 categories. Anything else risks unbalancing the league. I've done 4-5 leagues a year for about 15 years with various rules. The further from 5x5 the more the league devolves or someone figures out a trick and dominates while others quit. All sites and rankings and info out there is for 5x5. Tout wars LABR etc... All 5x5 for a reason. Or close to it.

Putting holds in makes closers less valuable and skews pricing on relievers. It's workable but everyone better be prepared to make their own rankings or they will be at a disadvantage.

I'd also recommend roto over head-to-head. Id prefer the best team win and not just whoever had one good week at the end of the year.

I'll play any way but I'll be the guy taking advantage of any rule changes.

Can't stand rotisserie.  Quickest way to have half your teams quit by midseason is to have a roto league.  If we were doing a keeper league, I'd be more in favor of it, but we aren't at this point.  Everybody has their preference, though.

 

I have no issue with 5x5 vs. 7x7. But it is my personal opinion that 5x5 is a dumbed down version of what it takes to really run a team.  You have to know much more about the game of baseball to be successful at 7x7, which is why I like it.  I can also see the flip side and see where people that don't follow the game as much are going to have their heads spinning trying to figure out what holds are, wtf OPS means and what it means to their team, etc.

 

I don't want deep benches for exactly the reason you stated, people stashing players away.  We had benches last year that could have been starting teams in deep leagues because we had 10 teams and huge rosters.  I can expand the DL so that teams aren't losing bench spots for hurt players, but I won't expand the benches or the waiver wire will be a wasteland.

[Cbenioff]

Adding more stats isn't necessarily complex. I'm sure we all know what ops is. If you add it then the speedsters get devalued. Is that what we want? A league where our rankings are different than other leagues? Even the other leagues we play in? It works but those of us that pay a bit more attention will do much better and it isn't necessarily a reflection of who the better player is just who can game the system. If we wanted a coaching Sim we could just use WAR and nothing else.

Head to head also has half the league quitting. You can come back in roto but you can't come back from 1-10. But roto is not usually for the casual fan and I get that. Most expert leagues are roto and I find my roto leagues more interesting (though they are also keeper leagues). I just hate the randomness of head to head. I tend to have bad luck in the playoffs.

Can't please everyone. Let's just not go crazy.

[Huskers1236]

Adding more stats isn't necessarily complex. I'm sure we all know what ops is. If you add it then the speedsters get devalued. Is that what we want? A league where our rankings are different than other leagues? Even the other leagues we play in? It works but those of us that pay a bit more attention will do much better and it isn't necessarily a reflection of who the better player is just who can game the system. If we wanted a coaching Sim we could just use WAR and nothing else.

Head to head also has half the league quitting. You can come back in roto but you can't come back from 1-10. But roto is not usually for the casual fan and I get that. Most expert leagues are roto and I find my roto leagues more interesting (though they are also keeper leagues). I just hate the randomness of head to head. I tend to have bad luck in the playoffs.

Can't please everyone. Let's just not go crazy.

That's why you combat OPS with a strikeout category.  7x7 allows you to have more checks and balances so that a category of hitters or pitchers doesn't get to much weight to it.  I think we had 2-3 teams last year that "quit".  But 60% of the teams made the playoffs as well.  That won't be the case this year.

 

Edit:  You're right, we won't be able to please everybody, but I want it to be fun for everybody so that's why I'm wanting feedback right now.

[grackleflint]

Head to head is for people who can't spend the time to play all season (make adjustments, etc) and who want to have a "win" every week vs the grind of a long season (i.e. Instant gratification).

 

My biggest beef about H2H is that it ends up being all about luck when you get to the playoffs (i.e. did your player have a big week?) than about season-long excellence. A roto league lets the "real" quality players affect the ending outcome vs a guy who goes insane for that one career week. For a perfect example, Hunter Pence had 20 HR's one year and 6 of them came in one week of that season. In a roto league (aka real life), he is valuable. In a H2H league, not so much.

 

I'm idealistic, so my preference is to have categories that reflect the true value of a "good" team (holds, walks, OBP, QS). Without bad stats (strikeouts, etc), you can basically win a league with a team of Adam Dunns which isn't reality. A winning team in a standard 5x5 league has no resemblance to a "real" team. I've seen people run away with a 5x5 league by loading up solely on aces/closers/power. Not so easy in a 7x7 with hold/strikeouts/walks/OBP.

 

Regardless, whatever the majority decide is fine with me. As long as the settings are finalized with enough lead time so people can adjust their draft strategy accordingly.