I had the privilege of participating in my first Tout Wars auction this past weekend as one of the 15 participants in the mixed league. Sitting in that room felt a bit like being invited to sit at the big kids’ table for the first time, and the excitement I felt was comparable to how I feel as the Christmas season approaches.
It’s a tradition of sorts for Tout Wars’ participants to post a blog entry in the days following their auction in which they share their thoughts about their team. Since it’s my first year in the league, I’m going to start my own tradition and refrain from doing that. Such a recap would be as painful for me to write as it would be for anyone else to read. If you’re interested in seeing the gory details of the 15 rosters, they’re available in this Google doc. If you’re suffering from Tout recap withdrawal and want to read others’ thoughts, they’re available via the Tout Wars’ website.
Instead, I’ll offer a few general thoughts on the proceedings. First off, as you would expect in a league like Tout, everyone in the room is extremely well-prepared. You’re not going to sneak any players past people (unless you’re defending champion Andy Behrens, who purchased Scott Baker, Anibal Sanchez, Marlon Byrd, Michael Brantley, and Jim Thome for $1 apiece). To add to the challenge your player projections are highly unlikely to be significantly more accurate than those of anyone else in the room.
So, given that, how can you still make yourself stand out from the rest of the field in a Tout Wars auction (he asks rhetorically)? There are actually a number of reasons why your roster and results may vary greatly from those of your competitors:
Roster composition - do you focus on players’ overall fantasy value? Do you buy stats with little or no attention paid to the name that’s attached to them? Do you take a “stars and scrubs” approach (which generally works better in a mixed league than in “only” leagues), or do you try to diversify your risk by spreading money more evenly across the best available second and third-tier players at each position? Does position scarcity factor into your overall player rankings and associated fantasy values?
Auction budget - do you follow the more-or-less standard split of $180 for hitters/$80 for pitchers, or do you plan to deviate from these norms? Do you use your league’s history as a guideline for prices, or do you rely solely on your own judgement? Do you include slots for $1 players in your budget, or do you save a bit of money earlier in the auction so that you have $2 per roster spot to spend at the end and can trump the $1 bids?
Philosophy re: spending money - do you want to spend your money earlier in the auction on the marquee players, or do you want to exercise restraint so that you have more of a say in determining which players you purchase for your roster later in the auction? If your well-thought-out plan goes awry due to unforeseen circumstances, are you flexible enough to move to Plan B (or Plan H) on the fly, or do you stick with your original plan despite the bumps in the road?
Auction style - how predictable are you during the auction? Do you follow a consistent pattern in your bidding (e.g. - always raising the current high bid by $1), or do you vary your bidding style from player-to-player or stage-to-stage during the auction?
Nomination philosophy - do you nominate only the players you want, only the players you don’t want, or a mixture of the two? If you sense that one of your opponents is running low on funds and needs to buy a player at a specific position, do you nominate someone at that position in hopes they’ll overspend? If the previous nomination generated a bidding war over a specific player, do you follow by nominating a player at the same position as a consolation prize for the person who ended up with the short end of the stick in the bidding for the previous player?
Monitoring player news - almost everyone in the room has a laptop - do you check the player news and transactions during the auction hoping to gain an edge on your opponents (or at least stay even with those who also have laptops), or do you view that as an unnecessary distraction?
So, as you can see, even in a league as competitive as the Tout Wars leagues, there are plenty of ways you can still distinguish yourself (for better or for worse) from the competition. Don’t kid yourself - many of the participants are friends, but while the auction is on, we all want to put together the best fantasy squad possible. One competitor, J.P. Kastner, summed it up beautifully: “I wish everyone else in the room could finish tied for second!”It’s said that you can’t win a fantasy baseball league during your auction, but you can certainly lose it make things more challenging for yourself once the actual season begins if you have a less-than-stellar auction. Of course, there’s some good fortune involved - I doubt any of our rosters could withstand the loss of a star player or two for the season and still have a good shot at capturing the championship.Now comes the fun part. Owners will spend time assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each roster, including their own. Once you determine your roster’s weaknesses you have several choices:
Stand pat and hope you were overly pessimistic in assessing your roster (not likely).
Propose trades to other owners whose strengths match up nicely with your weaknesses, and vice versa (difficult to do in this league - no one wants to get “taken” publicly).
Work the free agent pool with the $100 Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) we’re each given. In a league like this it’s better to shoot first and ask questions later (e.g. - Jose Bautista in 2010). I’m guessing that once they participate in Tout Wars most owners also start paying more attention to minor league players than they did previously.
I’ve promised myself that I’m going to enjoy my first year in Tout Wars. Like everyone else, I’d love to win, but I also realize that it’s quite an honor just to be invited to sit with the big kids. Among the roughly 10 million fantasy baseball players in the US, I’m sure many would happily trade places with me in order to have the opportunity to match wits with the best-know experts in the fantasy baseball industry.I’m sure I’ll make some mistakes along the way, but most importantly, hopefully 2011 is the year that I finally learn to spell Ryan Madsen’s Madson’s name correctly.The SherpaFantasy Baseball SherpaThe Fantasy Baseball Sherpa’s BlogThe Fantasy Baseball Sherpa’s fanpage on Facebook@fantasy_sherpa on Twitter
Happy New Year! Hard to believe it’s only another 5 weeks or so until pitchers and catchers report. When Carl Pavano is the biggest name among the remaining free agent starting pitchers, you know you’re getting close to the start of Spring Training.
I’m happy to announce that I’ve been chosen to participate in the Sirius XM/FSTA (Fantasy Sports Trade Association) fantasy baseball experts’ league for the 2011 season. The draft for this 13-team league will take place on Mon 1/24 in Las Vegas starting at 8pm EST, and it will be broadcast live on Sirius XM’s fantasy sports channel. We’ll be drawing for drafting positions sometime this week.
I recently participated in Yahoo fantasy sports writer Andy Behrens’ 2nd annual Roto-Arcade Pro-Am league’s auction. Andy followed up with several questions for each of us, enabling us to discuss strategies and defend questionable picks. Here’s a link to the Q&A
I know that for most fantasy sports participants there’s nothing potentially more sleep-inducing than reading about other peoples’ fantasy teams. However, I’m sharing this not so much because you’re likely to care about this particular league or its outcome, but several of the participants get into some interesting strategy discussions during their Q&A section. Undoubtedly saving the best for last, the Sherpa’s Q&A appears at the end of the entry (right before the reader comments).
Last night the draft for the inaugural Bloomberg Fantasy Baseball Challenge was held on RealTime Sports’ website. This is a 5×5 league which includes 6 fantasy baseball enthusiasts, who were chosen from among ~300 applicants, and 6 industry experts. The league uses the usual 5×5 scoring categories (AVG, HR, RBI, R, SB for hitters; W, SV, ERA, WHIP, K for pitchers). Rosters consist of 14 hitters (2 Catchers, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 5 OF, 1 1B/3B, 1 2B/SS, 1 Util), 9 pitchers, and a 5-player Bench.
Here are the 12 participants for 2010 in the order they drafted (affiliation noted for industry experts):
I used the 2010 projections from my Fantasy Baseball Sherpa website to predict the standings based on the results of last night’s draft:
Projections by Team (in draft order) - Hitting Categories
Owner
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
R
Michaels
7,846
.288
261
1,145
194
1,238
Shandler
7,626
.285
270
1,080
195
1,189
Mitchell
7,399
.278
292
1,092
198
1,114
Reed
7,986
.283
286
1,126
227
1,214
Reynolds
7.665
.276
292
1,126
142
1,150
Heaney
7,618
.284
296
1,167
219
1,211
Levey
7,630
.288
280
1,172
227
1,207
Roher
7,558
.288
265
1,106
194
1,182
Farrell
7,748
.278
312
1,211
139
1,175
VanRiper
7,622
.285
272
1,142
179
1,198
Kii
7,086
.281
273
1,079
201
1,097
Gardner
7,506
.282
257
1,059
188
1,144
Projections by Team (in draft order) - Pitching Categories
Owner
IP
W
SV
ERA
WHIP
K
Michaels
1,369
83
98
3.62
1.20
1,167
Shandler
1,336
83
36
3.98
1.26
1,314
Mitchell
1,312
80
90
3.72
1.27
1,244
Reed
1,221
73
88
3.55
1.21
1,179
Reynolds
1,310
80
81
3.76
1.30
1,067
Heaney
1,409
82
59
3.79
1.26
1,201
Levey
1,485
90
68
3.81
1.23
1,185
Roher
1,400
84
71
3.70
1.23
1,293
Farrell
1,370
85
76
3.60
1.22
1,217
VanRiper
1,469
90
66
4.07
1.30
1,238
Kii
1,312
77
62
3.57
1.25
1,239
Gardner
1,406
89
58
3.75
1.24
1,161
Projected Standings (in order of finish)
Owner
H Pts
P Pts
Total Pts
Levey
49
33
82
Michaels
38
42
80
Reed
42
38
80
Farrell
33
44
77
Roher
31
43
74
Heaney
48
23
71
VanRiper
32
27
59
Mitchell
25
34
59
Shandler
30
25
55
Kii
22
32
54
Gardner
14
27
41
Reynolds
22
19
41
Keep in mind, this is just one man’s opinion, not an “answer key”. However, I thought this would be of interest since I am an independent observer rather than a participant. Hopefully, all 12 of the participants came out of the draft feeling good about their team. Hope springs eternal before the actual games begin.
Several other reasons why the actual results are likely to differ from the projected standings above:
At the risk of stating the obvious, players’ actual results may differ from their projected results, sometimes significantly so. This can be due to a myriad of reasons including injuries, suspensions, role changes (e.g. - bench player becomes a starter, or vice versa), changes in batting order position, trades, Closer changes, etc.
There appeared to be a glitch in the draft software. Occasionally, a drafted player seemingly destined for a given team’s bench was placed in the starting lineup over a player with greater fantasy value. Apparently, these decisions were based on alphabetical order or something equally irrelevant (e.g. - just a hunch, but I doubt Tim Heaney would choose to start Kelly Shoppach at Utility and keep Jayson Werth on the bench). I did my best to account for these discrepancies in order to optimize each team’s expected results.
Some participants, especially Reed, Kii, and Mitchell, took more chances than others in drafting talented players who are either injured or likely to start the season in the minors. Of course, in the actual contest, the owners will replace the players in the lineup, which will improve their results in at least the counting stat categories, but I did not attempt to adjust for this factor. Thus, my projected results for these owners may be a bit conservative.
Some owners will prove to be more adept (or luckier) than others at making in-season trades (if the league decides to allow them), free agent pickups, etc.
Even with the above caveats I’m still confident that the projected standings gives a reasonably accurate picture of the teams’ relative strength coming out of last night’s draft. Let’s see what happens as the season unwinds - good luck to all the participants!
Yesterday I took part in an industry experts’ mock draft using the World Championship of Fantasy Baseball format. For those unfamiliar with this format, it’s a 14-team 5×5 mixed league that requires a 24-man active roster (14 hitters; 10 pitchers) and an 8-man bench. As you can imagine, even though it was a mixed league, by the time we got down to the last few rounds, we were really scraping the bottom of the barrel. I had the 7th pick in a snake draft - I purposely chose that position to see what would happen if I were shut out from the players who typically go in the first few picks (i.e. - Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, A-Rod, Utley, Braun).
Yesterday I participated in an 5×5 NL-only experts’ auction hosted by Eric Mack of CBS Sports. Here’s a list of the participants in the order in which we nominated players:
1. Scott White, CBSSports.com
2. Eric Mack, CBSSports.com
3. Al Melchior, CBSSports.com
4. Mike Gianella, Patton & Co
5. Scott Swanay, Fantasy Baseball Sherpa
6. Erik Siegrist, RotoWire.com
7. Marc Normandin, Baseball Prospectus
8. David Gonos, OpenSports.com
9. Ben Ice, RotoExperts.com
10. Mike Kuchera, TheFantasyMan.com
11. Charlie Wiegert, Fanball.com
12. Derek VanRiper, RotoWire.com
Here’s a link to the results of the auction (7-round reserve draft is currently underway): http://bit.ly/9Iv0i4
Charlie Wiegert is the defending champion in this league - he and Eric Mack both deserve kudos for finishing in the Top 3 each of the past two years (note: I finished fifth last season in my first year in the league - hoping to improve on that result this season!)
I won’t risk boring you by providing an in-depth analysis of each expert’s purchases or projecting a first-place finish for my team - you can see the details for yourself if you’re interested. Instead, here are a couple of general observations from our auction:
It’s interesting to see the wide variety of auction strategies the experts used. Most were willing to spend at $40 or more on at least one player; Charlie Wiegert, Mike Gianella, and I were the only ones who didn’t spend at least $30 on a single player. Predictably, we were among the last owners to enter the fray, but also among the first owners to finish.
Most experts more or less adhered to the rule of thumb about spending roughly $180 on hitters and $80 on pitchers. The notable exception was Eric Mack, who assembled the strongest pitching staff, but spent almost $120 to do so. It will be interesting to see whether this strategy pays off.
Saturday I covered the 2009 Tout Wars Mixed League auction, which took place in midtown Manhattan. This is a 5×5 league which uses the usual scoring categories (AVG, HR, RBI, R, SB for hitters; W, SV, ERA, WHIP, K for pitchers). Rosters consist of 14 Hitters (2 Catchers, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 5 OF, 1 1B/3B, 1 2B/SS, 1 Util) and 9 Pitchers. Each team had $260 to spend during the auction on their 23-man roster. The auction was followed by a 4-round reserve draft.
I used the projections from my Fantasy Baseball Sherpa website to predict the standings based on the results of Saturday’s auction.
Projections by Team - Hitting Categories
Owner
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
R
Behrens
6,720
.280
244
1,042
126
1,063
Carroll
5,129
.286
180
785
70
776
Cushing
6,290
.281
214
895
165
971
Dennis
7,293
.280
277
1,104
150
1,118
Gonos
6,526
.276
259
1,027
97
1,069
Hoyos
6,983
.280
205
975
223
1,046
Karabell
7,492
.272
294
1,127
161
1,177
Kastner
7,324
.279
227
999
165
1,111
Liss
6,053
.279
231
887
123
917
Mack
7,009
.273
281
1,062
123
1,073
Patton
6,393
.278
244
924
206
1,024
Petera
6,668
.273
262
961
144
978
Pliml
6,908
.292
210
945
204
1,054
Roberts
6,691
.277
248
1,007
90
986
Salfino
6,905
.274
276
1,049
139
1,076
Schechter
7,404
.283
245
1,058
172
1,144
Van Hook
7,400
.284
256
1,067
171
1,059
Projections by Team - Pitching Categories
Owner
IP
W
SV
ERA
WHIP
K
Behrens
1,211
69
66
4.11
1.22
1,132
Carroll
1,376
86
41
3.94
1.22
1,207
Cushing
1,261
75
32
4.50
1.35
1,099
Dennis
934
56
20
5.12
1.27
820
Gonos
1,251
80
64
3.91
1.24
1,170
Hoyos
1,185
69
53
4.25
1.28
1,009
Karabell
1,333
75
58
4.40
1.28
1,158
Kastner
1,452
87
54
4.22
1.27
1,219
Liss
1,228
74
95
4.03
1.23
1,096
Mack
1,375
84
72
4.27
1.28
1,274
Patton
720
39
84
4.26
1.24
560
Petera
1,191
74
53
3.96
1.28
1,019
Pliml
1,032
57
27
4.27
1.28
891
Roberts
1,313
77
40
3.93
1.24
1,193
Salfino
1,270
75
43
4.22
1.35
1,034
Schechter
1,335
81
81
4.16
1.29
1,063
Van Hook
1,032
57
45
3.95
1.24
809
Projected Standings
Owner
H Pts
P Pts
Total Pts
Schechter
66
52
118
Van Hook
63
54.5
117.5
Behrens
46.5
52.5
99
Gonos
41
58
99
Karabell
62
34
96
Kastner
46.5
47
93.5
Dennis
65
28
93
Patton
40.5
52
92.5
Mack
49.5
39
88.5
Salfino
50
38
88
Hoyos
44
41
85
Liss
23.5
60.5
84
Petera
44
41
85
Roberts
32
49
81
Pliml
48
30.5
78.5
Carroll
20
56
76
Cushing
34.5
24
58.5
Keep in mind, this is just one man’s opinion, not an “answer key”. However, I thought this would be of interest since I am an observer rather than a participant. I’m sure if you asked them, many, if not all, of the 17 participants would feel that they came out of the auction with the best team. Such is the nature of the beast.
Several other reasons why the actual results are likely to differ from the projected standings above:
At the risk of stating the obvious, players’ actual results may differ from their projected results, sometimes significantly so. This can be due to a myriad of reasons including injuries, suspensions, role changes (e.g. - bench player becomes a starter, or vice versa), changes in batting order position, trades, Closer changes, etc.
I did not make any adjustments to the 23-man rosters purchased during the auction. Of course, when the league is played out, if a player is injured, suspended, benched, sent to the minors, etc., the owner will replace them in their starting lineup. I chose not to do this because I didn’t want to make judgments re: replacement players that would potentially affect the projected standings.
Some owners will prove to be more adept (or luckier) than others at making in-season trades, free agent purchases, etc.
Even with the above caveats I’m still confident that the projected standings give a reasonably accurate picture of the teams’ relative strength coming out of the auction. Let’s see what happens as the season unwinds!
Yesterday I covered the 2009 Tout Wars NL-only auction, which took place in midtown Manhattan. This is a 5×5 league which uses the usual scoring categories (AVG, HR, RBI, R, SB for hitters; W, SV, ERA, WHIP, K for pitchers). Rosters consist of 14 Hitters (2 Catchers, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 5 OF, 1 1B/3B, 1 2B/SS, 1 Util) and 9 Pitchers. Each team had $260 to spend during the auction on their 23-man roster. The auction was followed by a 4-round reserve draft.
I used the projections from my Fantasy Baseball Sherpa website to predict the standings based on the results of Sunday’s auction.
Projections by Team - Hitting Categories
Owner
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
R
Cockroft
5,987
.284
193
843
180
946
Hertz
6,205
.275
209
893
101
885
Kreutzer
5,333
.276
156
729
156
792
Leibowitz
5,426
.281
207
768
139
828
Lombardo
4,082
.282
156
658
58
628
Melnick
5,313
.265
213
783
112
858
Pianowski
7,033
.272
263
1,062
73
1,002
Ravitz
6,003
.279
193
784
155
884
Schwartz
5,007
.285
190
731
83
762
Walton
5,787
.262
191
798
132
887
Wilderman
5,587
.276
178
767
156
838
Wilton
5,543
.268
180
745
107
733
Zola
5,252
.284
184
729
105
760
Projections by Team - Pitching Categories
Owner
IP
W
SV
ERA
WHIP
K
Cockroft
1,220
68
31
4.06
1.27
1,130
Hertz
1,028
57
54
4.71
1.38
742
Kreutzer
1,416
82
0
4.18
1.30
1,017
Leibowitz
1,079
63
37
4.33
1.27
880
Lombardo
1,111
65
42
4.33
1.27
970
Melnick
1,078
58
12
4.51
1.31
989
Pianowski
1,156
62
65
3.99
1.33
1,014
Ravitz
1,068
63
72
3.80
1.25
942
Schwartz
954
54
74
4.25
1.30
786
Walton
1,243
69
38
4.60
1.28
981
Wilderman
995
53
55
4.67
1.32
928
Wilton
1,150
65
53
4.37
1.34
982
Zola
987
56
37
4.00
1.23
852
Projected Standings
Owner
H Pts
P Pts
Total Pts
Ravitz
44.5
52.5
97
Cockroft
56.5
36
92.5
Pianowski
45
35
80
Leibowitz
41
39
80
Walton
37
35
72
Schwartz
30
41
71
Hertz
42
28
70
Zola
26.5
42.5
69
Wilderman
33.5
26
59.5
Kreutzer
27.5
32
59.5
Melnick
37
20
57
Lombardo
14.5
38.5
53
Wilton
20
29.5
49.5
Keep in mind, this is just one man’s opinion, not an “answer key”. However, I thought this would be of interest since I am an observer rather than a participant. I’m sure if you asked them, many, if not all, of the 13 participants would feel that they came out of the auction with the best team. Such is the nature of the beast.
Several other reasons why the actual results are likely to differ from the projected standings above:
At the risk of stating the obvious, players’ actual results may differ from their projected results, sometimes significantly so. This can be due to a myriad of reasons including injuries, suspensions, role changes (e.g. - bench player becomes a starter, or vice versa), changes in batting order position, trades, Closer changes, etc.
I did not make any adjustments to the 23-man rosters purchased during the auction. Of course, when the league is played out, if a player is injured, suspended, benched, sent to the minors, etc., the owner will replace them in their starting lineup. I chose not to do this because I didn’t want to make judgments re: replacement players that would potentially affect the projected standings.
Some owners will prove to be more adept (or luckier) than others at making in-season trades, free agent purchases, etc.
Even with the above caveats I’m still confident that the projected standings gives a reasonably accurate picture of the teams’ relative strength coming out of the auction. Let’s see what happens as the season unwinds!
This past Saturday I covered the 2009 Tout Wars AL-only auction, which took place in midtown Manhattan. This is a 5×5 league which uses the usual scoring categories (AVG, HR, RBI, R, SB for hitters; W, SV, ERA, WHIP, K for pitchers). Rosters consist of 14 Hitters (2 Catchers, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 5 OF, 1 1B/3B, 1 2B/SS, 1 Util) and 9 Pitchers. Each team had $260 to spend during the auction on their 23-man roster. The auction was followed by a 4-round reserve draft.
I used the projections from my Fantasy Baseball Sherpa website to predict the standings based on the results of Saturday’s auction.
Projections by Team - Hitting Categories
Owner
AB
AVG
HR
RBI
SB
R
Berry
5,428
.277
205
782
102
754
Collette
5,913
.269
203
816
150
845
Erickson
5,388
.284
170
772
135
833
Grey
6,608
.276
218
946
177
1,014
Michaels
5,657
.277
173
789
126
859
Moyer
6,354
.283
226
972
111
975
Peterson
6,158
.276
228
897
94
943
Shandler
5,786
.281
188
806
129
890
Sheehan
5,485
.277
161
686
153
857
Siano
5,400
.281
170
781
87
851
Walker
6,397
.265
232
907
94
933
Wolf/Colton
5,261
.284
168
749
112
765
Projections by Team - Pitching Categories
Owner
IP
W
SV
ERA
WHIP
K
Berry
977
58
41
3.96
1.21
935
Collette
1,142
69
40
4.67
1.21
932
Erickson
1,026
63
51
4.64
1.34
853
Grey
823
48
54
3.82
1.30
654
Michaels
1,249
78
38
4.00
1.29
982
Moyer
1,211
77
33
4.42
1.27
949
Peterson
1,040
61
58
4.52
1.29
894
Shandler
956
56
19
4.81
1.33
826
Sheehan
915
56
31
4.45
1.25
806
Siano
1,034
63
46
4.20
1.29
843
Walker
1,013
63
44
4.15
1.33
907
Wolf/Colton
1,028
61
51
3.70
1.29
926
Projected Standings
Owner
H Pts
P Pts
Total Pts
Grey
47
39
86
Moyer
48
31
79
Peterson
36.5
33.5
70
Walker
34.5
32
66.5
Collette
31
33
64
Michaels
30
33
63
Siano
21.5
40
61.5
Wolf/Colton
22
38
60
Sheehan
29
30.5
59.5
Erickson
29.5
29.5
59
Berry
24
34
58
Shandler
37
16.5
53.5
Keep in mind, this is just one man’s opinion, not an “answer key”. However, I thought this would be of interest since I am an observer rather than a participant. I’m sure if you asked them, many, if not all, of the 12 participants would feel that they came out of the auction with the best team. Such is the nature of the beast.
Several other reasons why the actual results are likely to differ from the projected standings above:
At the risk of stating the obvious, players’ actual results may differ from their projected results, sometimes significantly so. This can be due to a myriad of reasons including injuries, suspensions, role changes (e.g. - bench player becomes a starter, or vice versa), changes in batting order position, trades, Closer changes, etc.
I did not make any adjustments to the 23-man rosters purchased during the auction. Of course, when the league is played out, if a player is injured, suspended, benched, sent to the minors, etc., the owner will replace them in their starting lineup. I chose not to do this because I didn’t want to make judgments re: replacement players that would potentially affect the projected standings.
Some owners will prove to be more adept (or luckier) than others at making in-season trades, free agent purchases, etc.
Even with the above caveats I’m still confident that the projected standings gives a reasonably accurate picture of the teams’ relative strength coming out of the auction. Let’s see what happens as the season unwinds!
Just wanted to let all of you in Sherpaville know that Fantasy Baseball Sherpa was featured in Andy Behrens’ Roto Arcade blog that appears regularly on Yahoo Fantasy Sports! We participated last week in a 16-team Pro-Am league that will be played out during the course of the 2009 season - should be a lot of fun! Following the results of the draft there’s a Q&A with each of the league’s participants. Since I was drafting out of the #12 spot, my segment appears ~3/4 of the way through the entry.