Monday, February 26, 2007

I'm Here, And I Want Answers

Thanks to Gideon (and no thanks to the stupid "new" blogger), I have finally figured out how to post here.

I need answers, and I need them now.

What kind of league are we going to have? And what kind of draft are we going to have?

I don't think I can start the league (that's right, even start the league!) until I know these things.

I, personally, feel like I'm flexible on the categories but I have too much of a "life" (as lame as it is) for a live draft.

So, I've said it before and I'll say it again, unless someone feels REEEEALLLLY strongly about a live draft (and I guess you do, Gideon? Anyone else?), I'd rather stick with autodraft.

Ok, vote below. One vote per team manager, please.


Now, you can also vote for or against having a keeper league.


Let's say that I'll keep these polls open until Friday and then make a decision based on your votes. Fair? Fair.

MLB.com fantasy preview

To whet our appetites, here's MLB.com's Fantasy Preview. Click on the link for "Fantasy Preview" on the right and then click on the main link. It'll open up a popup that has great info for drafts.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/index.jsp

On the question of drafts

I see from some comments on the Commish's blog that I'm not the only one excited about the upcoming season. What are everyone's thoughts on the type of draft? Live or auto?

Friday, February 16, 2007

Statistical categories

Yahoo FBB is now open and we can finally see the statistical categories available.

Statistical Categories:

Batting Games Played;
Games Started;
Batting Average (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
Slugging Percentage (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
On-Base Percentage (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
On-base + Slugging Percentage (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
Fielding Percentage (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
At Bats;
Runs Scored;
Hits;
Singles;
Doubles;
Triples;
Home Runs;
Runs Batted In;
Sacrifice Hits;
Sacrifice Flys;
Stolen Bases;
Caught Stealing;
Walks;
Intentional Walks;
Strikeouts;
Ground Into Double Play;
Total Bases;
Putouts;
Assists;
Errors
Pitching Pitching Appearances;
Games Started;
Earned Run Average (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
WHIP Ratio (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
Strikeouts per Nine Innings (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
Strikeout to Walk Ratio (Rotisserie, Head-to-Head Only);
Wins;
Losses;
Complete Games;
Shutouts;
Saves;
Outs;
Hits;
Total Batters Faced;
Runs;
Earned Runs;
Home Runs;
Walks;
Intentional Walks;
Hit Batters;
Strikeouts;
Wild Pitches;
Balks;
Stolen Bases Allowed;
Batters Grounded Into Double Plays;
Save Chances;
Holds;
Total Bases Allowed;
Innings Pitched


I've highlighted the most common and most appealing. This is me, not the Commish. Final decision making rests in the hands of the Commish. Commish has given me permission (I think) to engage in this discussion, so please contribute and let's see if we can sway her ;)

My personal opinion follows:

I've highlighted to common but quickly becoming controversial stats: Batting Average and Wins.

Both are now considered (by the statistical world) to be poor indicators of performance. Wins is pretty obvious. It's a team stat and the pitcher has only so much control over the outcome of the game. He still needs the offense to score runs for him. W-L records are considered poor determinants of a pitcher's performance.

Batting Average is not as bad, but it doesn't capture a hitter's true capability. For that, I'd prefer something like OBP or OPS. OBP is Hits+Walks - basically the number of times a batter gets on base.

Any thoughts? Too much new mumbo jumbo?

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Registration starts tomorrow

Just a reminder that Yahoo! will open registration tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates.

Monday, February 12, 2007

League settings

Since the start of the season is just days away, it's time to start thinking about the league, the draft and other related items.

First on the agenda are the categories. In case you forgot, last year we had a 6x6 league:

R, HR, RBI, SB, FPCT, AVG
IP, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP



What should this year's categories be? Do we keep them the same, do we add new ones and remove old ones? Post your thoughts here.

Other popular options for hitting categories are: OBP, OPS, SLG. For pitching: Holds.

Next on the agenda is the question of the draft. Normally, we've done an auto-draft where you pre-rank your choices and Yahoo! drafts automatically in a snake draft.

An option, to change things up, is a live draft. Don't worry, we don't have to meet in a room. All you have to do is log on to Yahoo! before the draft starts and you have one and a half minute to make your pick. All in all takes about an hour and a half to two, depending on the number of teams.

Finally - and a little more involved - is the question of keepers. Seeing as how this would be the third year of the league and most of our owners return, I proposed to our dear Commish that we should turn our league into a keeper league. A keeper league is the same as a normal league, except you get to "keep" a predetermined number of players from one year to the next. So if you get 3 keepers, you can keep 3 players from your roster going into next year; the rest of the players go back into the draft pool.

Thoughts on any or all?

Friday, February 9, 2007

Yahoo! reopening February 15th

Our Commissioner just checked in to provide the good news: Yahoo! will start registration for FBB leagues on Thursday, February 15th!

The season is upon us, my friends. Get your managerial thinking cap on!In the coming weeks, I'll try to provide links to FBB articles in preparation for the draft.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Banners available

If you want the above image in a more manageable size to display on your blawg, please let me know and I'll be only too happy to provide it. If someone out there can come up with something better, let me know and I'll showcase that instead!

Friday, February 2, 2007

The new season is almost upon us!

As the 2005 champion of Blawgers Baseball and not a finalist last year, I have taken it upon myself to create this blog to discuss the upcoming season and for people to trash-talk. Leave a comment if you were in the league last year and plan on returning and I will add you as a blogger.