The Fantasy Baseball Sherpa

Hi everyone,

Here are the Top 10 performers through Week 10 for an AL-only 5×5 format.  The leader in each category is given 1.00 Sherpa Points; all other players’ scores in that category are based on their results relative to the category leader’s (e.g. - if the league-leader has hit 21 HR, then a player with 7 HR would be given a score of 0.33 Sherpa Points).  The maximum Total Sherpa Points is equal to the number of categories (i.e. - 5.00).

1. Zack Greinke (KC, SP) - 94.1 IP, 8 W, 0 SV, 1.72 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 97 K, 3.81 Total Sherpa Points
2. Roy Halladay (Tor, SP) - 103.0 IP, 10 W, 0 SV, 2.53 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 88 K, 3.55 Total Sherpa Points
3. Justin Morneau (Min, 1B) - 249 AB, 16 HR, 54 RBI, 0 SB, .329 AVG, 48 R, 3.36 Total Sherpa Points
4. Torii Hunter (LAA, OF) - 213 AB, 16 HR, 51 RBI, 11 SB, .319 AVG, 44 R, 3.34 Total Sherpa Points
5. Jered Weaver (LAA, SP) - 90.2 IP, 7 W, 0 SV, 2.08 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 74 K, 3.24 Total Sherpa Points
6. Carl Crawford (TB, OF) - 256 AB, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 36 SB, .316 AVG, 45 R, 3.21 Total Sherpa Points
7. Jason Bay (Bos, OF) - 227 AB, 17 HR, 61 RBI, 5 SB, .286 AVG, 45 R, 3.10 Total Sherpa Points
8. Joe Mauer (Min, C) - 152 AB, 13 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB, .414 AVG, 35 R, 3.02 Total Sherpa Points
9. Mark Teixeira (NYY, 1B) - 229 AB, 20 HR, 54 RBI, 0 SB, .284 AVG, 44 R, 2.95 Total Sherpa Points
10. Evan Longoria (TB, 3B) - 226 AB, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 2 SB, .305 AVG, 42 R, 2.95 Total Sherpa Points

If you’re interested in more details, here’s a description of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.  These are the only rankings in the industry that are updated daily throughout the season - our Remainder-of-Season rankings reflect injuries, minor league call-ups, and role changes (e.g.- new Closers)! If you’d like to see the top performers by position, change the scoring categories, or change the league type, here’s a demo of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.

Enjoy!

The Sherpa

FantasyBaseballSherpa.com

Fantasy Baseball Sherpa’s blog

@fantasy_sherpa on Twitter

The following is an updated & consolidated version of two posts I made in April 2008 concerning weekly FAAB spending targets - enjoy!

Many fantasy baseball leagues allow teams to claim available players from the free agent list/waiver wire on a first come, first served basis. Others have a weekly claim process in which the team currently at the bottom of the standings gets the first shot at the list of available players. My favorite method of awarding players to teams is the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (aka FAAB). Each team gets the same FAAB dollars (usually $100 or $1,000) to spend as it sees fit over the course of the season.

While the use of the FAAB system makes all unclaimed players available to all teams, many owners struggle with the question of how to spend their FAAB dollars as wisely as possible. Should the spending be front-loaded? Should the FAAB dollars be spent evenly over the course of the year? Should the money be hoarded until later in the season in case an injury to a real-life player necessitates a fantasy replacement or results in a hot-shot minor leaguer getting a shot at The Show?

Here are the Sherpa’s tips for spending your FAAB wisely - I call them my “FAAB Five”:

1. Pace yourself, but not too much. All else being equal, a player acquired earlier in the season is much more likely to affect your place in the year-end standings than a player acquired later in the season. If your league allows claims at the end of each week of the season, then a player claimed at the end of Week 1 (i.e. - the first claim) should have approximately 25 times the impact of a player claimed at the end of Week 25 (i.e. - the last claim). Your FAAB spending should reflect this reality, keeping in mind that most leagues require whole dollar bids of at least $1.
2. Assess other teams’ current needs before you bid. If you need to find a replacement for the DL’d Jake Peavy, and you’re the only team in your league that currently needs to pick up a Starting Pitcher, don’t bid against yourself. The notable exceptions to this tip involve players with potential contributions in the Steals and Saves categories. At least one other team will more than likely submit a bid on a player who may contribute in either of these two categories, even if they have no immediate need from a roster position standpoint.
3. Monitor other teams’ FAAB spending throughout the year. Unless your league creates automated reports tracking and summarizing FAAB spending by team, this can be time-consuming, but it’s well worth the effort to know how much money other teams have left if you may be bidding against them for a player.
4. Balance your remaining FAAB with a player’s actual abilities. Do not spend 50% of your FAAB dollars (or even 25% for that matter) on a pitcher like Dontrelle Willis, even if you are unlucky enough to have Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, John Maine, Justin Duchscherer, and Jesse Litsch on your current pitching staff. Also, do not overspend for highly-touted rookies such as David Price, Matt Wieters, Tommy Hanson, etc. You may get lucky and get the next Ryan Braun or Evan Longoria, but you’re much more likely to get the next Alex Escobar.
5. Timing is everything - don’t be afraid to speculate! If you have the roster positions to do so, speculate on desirable players before an injury, role change, or call-up from the minor leagues sends their value skyrocketing. Matt Laporta, Brandon Wood, Jeff Clement, Chad Fox, Jesus Guzman, Gaby Sanchez, Kyle Banks, Jensen Lewis, Brian Bruney, and Tony Pena (the pitcher!) will be much less expensive now than they will be if the players currently ahead of them on their respective teams’ depth charts falter or suffer an injury.

That said, the following is how I’d recommend spending a $100 FAAB if your league has 25 claims over the course of the season (i.e. - one at the end of each week starting with week 1). The week number is listed first, followed by the recommended amount to spend that week, followed by the recommended amount to spend year-to-date (YTD), and the implied FAAB dollars remaining. If you spend less than the recommended amount in a given week, then you will have more left over to spend in subsequent weeks, and vice versa.

• (End of) Week 1 - spend $8; $8 spent YTD, $92 remaining.
• Week 2 - $7; $15; $85.
• Week 3 - $7; $22; $78.
• Week 4 - $7; $29; $71.
• Week 5 - $6; $35; $65.
• Week 6 - $6; $41; $59.
• Week 7 - $6; $47; $53.
• Week 8 - $5; $52; $48.
• Week 9 - $5; $57; $43.
• Week 10 - $5; $62; $38.
• Week 11 - $5; $67; $33.
• Week 12 - $4; $71; $29.
• Week 13 - $4; $75; $25.
• Week 14 - $4; $79; $21.
• Week 15 - $3; $82; $18.
• Week 16 - $3; $85; $15.
• Week 17 - $3; $88; $12.
• Week 18 - $2; $90; $10.
• Week 19 - $2; $92; $8.
• Week 20 - $2; $94; $6.
• Week 21 - $2; $96; $4.
• Week 22 - $1; $97; $1.
• Week 23 - $1; $98; $1.
• Week 24 - $1; $99; $1.
• Week 25 - $1; $100; $0.

For those of you who play with a $1,000 FAAB budget, here is how I’d recommend structuring your spending over the course of the season:

• (End of) Week 1 - spend $77; $77 spent year-to-date; $923 remaining.
• Week 2 - $73; $150; $850.
• Week 3 - $71; $221; $779.
• Week 4 - $68; $289; $711.
• Week 5 - $65; $354; $646.
• Week 6 - $62; $416; $584.
• Week 7 - $59; $475; $525.
• Week 8 - $55; $530; $470.
• Week 9 - $52; $582; $418.
• Week 10 - $49; $631; $369.
• Week 11 - $46; $677; $323.
• Week 12 - $43; $720; $280.
• Week 13 - $40; $760; $240.
• Week 14 - $37; $797; $203.
• Week 15 - $34; $831; $169.
• Week 16 - $31; $862; $138.
• Week 17 - $28; $890; $110.
• Week 18 - $25; $915; $85.
• Week 19 - $22; $937; $63.
• Week 20 - $18; $955; $45.
• Week 21 - $15; $970; $30.
• Week 22 - $12; $982; $18.
• Week 23 - $9; $991; $9.
• Week 24 - $6; $997; $3.
• Week 25 - $3; $1,000; $0.

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you - even though we’re at the end of Week 10, and just under 40% of the season has elapsed, you’re completely justified in having already spent over 60% of your FAAB for the year!

Finally, everyone makes “mistakes” with their FAAB purchases - it’s just an inevitable part of the game.  How many of you spent large amounts of your FAAB on Matt Laporta or Brandon Wood earlier this season, only to see them languish on their respective teams’ bench before being sent back down to the minors?  Don’t worry - it happens.  The key is to make sure that your “mistakes” don’t make you gun-shy in pursuing other potential impact players in the future.  Just like a Closer who gives up a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning of a game, you’ve got to put it behind you and bid in future weeks as though your “mistake” had never happened.

Happy bidding!

The Sherpa

Fantasy Baseball Sherpa

The Fantasy Baseball Sherpa’s Blog

@fantasy_sherpa on Twitter

Hi everyone,

Here are the Top 10 performers through April for a Mixed League 5×5 format.  The leader in each category is given 1.00 Sherpa Points; all other players’ scores in that category are based on their results relative to the category leader’s (e.g. - if the league-leader has hit 9 HR, then a player with 3 HR would be given a score of 0.33 Sherpa Points).  The maximum Total Sherpa Points is equal to the number of categories (i.e. - 5.00).

1. Zack Greinke (KC, SP) - 36.0 IP, 5 W, 0 SV, 0.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 44 K, 3.79 Total Sherpa Points
2. Albert Pujols (StL, 1B) - 83 AB, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 4 SB, .337 AVG, 22 R, 3.74 Total Sherpa Points
3. Ian Kinsler (Tex, 2B) - 86 AB, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB, .326 AVG, 18 R, 3.40 Total Sherpa Points
4. Raul Ibanez (Phi, OF) - 78 AB, 7 HR, 17 RBI, 3 SB, .359 AVG, 20 R, 3.17 Total Sherpa Points
5. Evan Longoria (TB, 3B) - 84 AB, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 1 SB, .369 AVG, 17 R, 3.12 Total Sherpa Points
6. Adrian Gonzalez (SD, 1B) - 81 AB, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB, .333 AVG, 19 R, 3.09 Total Sherpa Points
7. Aaron Hill (Tor, 2B) - 101 AB, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB, .376 AVG, 16 R, 3.04 Total Sherpa Points
8. Johan Santana (NYM, SP) - 32.2 IP, 3 W, 0 SV, 1.10 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 44 K, 2.99 Total Sherpa Points
9. Chase Utley (Phi, 2B) - 73 AB, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 2 SB, .342 AVG, 18 R, 2.94 Total Sherpa Points
10.  Dan Haren (Ari, SP) - 35.0 IP, 2 W, 0 SV, 1.54 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 36 K, 2.92 Total Sherpa Points

If you’re interested in more details, here’s a description of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.  These are the only rankings in the industry that are updated daily throughout the season - our Remainder-of-Season rankings reflect injuries, minor league call-ups, and role changes (e.g.- new Closers)!  If you’d like to see the top performers by position, change the scoring categories, or change the league type, here’s a demo of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.

Enjoy!

The Sherpa

FantasyBaseballSherpa.com

Hi everyone,

Here are the Top 10 performers through April for an AL-only 5×5 format.  The leader in each category is given 1.00 Sherpa Points; all other players’ scores in that category are based on their results relative to the category leader’s (e.g. - if the league-leader has hit 9 HR, then a player with 3 HR would be given a score of 0.33 Sherpa Points).  The maximum Total Sherpa Points is equal to the number of categories (i.e. - 5.00).

1. Zack Greinke (KC, SP) - 36.0 IP, 5 W, 0 SV, 0.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 44 K, 4.00 Total Sherpa Points
2. Ian Kinsler (Tex, 2B) - 86 AB, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB, .326 AVG, 18 R, 3.51 Total Sherpa Points
3. Evan Longoria (TB, 3B) - 84 AB, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 1 SB, .369 AVG, 17 R, 3.26 Total Sherpa Points
4. Aaron Hill (Tor, 2B) - 101 AB, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB, .376 AVG, 16 R, 3.16 Total Sherpa Points
5. Kevin Youkilis (Bos, 1B/3B) - 76 AB, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 1 SB, .395 AVG, 20 R, 3.00 Total Sherpa Points
6. Nick Markakis (Bal, OF) - 84 AB, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 0 SB, .381 AVG, 23 R, 2.97 Total Sherpa Points
7. Adam Jones (Bal, OF) - 78 AB, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 1 SB, .359 AVG, 24 R, 2.94 Total Sherpa Points
8. Robinson Cano (NYY, 2B) - 93 AB, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 1 SB, .366 AVG, 18 R, 2.91 Total Sherpa Points
9. Torii Hunter (LAA, OF) - 77 AB, 8 HR, 16 RBI, 1 SB, .325 AVG, 19 R, 2.85 Total Sherpa Points
10. Nick Swisher (NYY, 1B/OF) - 77 AB, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 0 SB, .312 AVG, 21 R, 2.76 Total Sherpa Points

If you’re interested in more details, here’s a description of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.  These are the only rankings in the industry that are updated daily throughout the season - our Remainder-of-Season rankings reflect injuries, minor league call-ups, and role changes (e.g.- new Closers)! If you’d like to see the top performers by position, change the scoring categories, or change the league type, here’s a demo of our In-season Updates to Player Projections & Rankings.

Enjoy!

The Sherpa

FantasyBaseballSherpa.com

One of the more challenging (and entertaining) aspects of managing a fantasy baseball roster is the ongoing need to juggle your roster. Perhaps you’re frantically scanning your league’s free agent/waiver wire for a short-term fill-in for your star player who just landed on the DL. Maybe you’re just looking to upgrade the fringes of your roster, or you’re seeking a player to fill a potential hole in your line-up that will be created if you pull the trigger on that trade you’re considering. Regardless of your motivation, the following is The Sherpa’s list of players who may still be available in your league.

I’m assuming that you’ve already missed out on the following list of players who may not have been on a roster at the beginning of the season: (NL) Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Nate McLouth, Jeff Keppinger; (AL) Brian Bannister, Zack Greinke, Carlos Gomez, Rafael Betancourt, and Evan Longoria. If any of these players are still available in your league, stop reading this NOW, open a new browser session, go to your league’s website, and put in a claim for one or more of them . . . Done? Good, now feel free to review the names below, which are listed first by position, then by league (for the benefit of those of you who play in NL-only or AL-only leagues):

Catchers
AL: Shawn Riggans, Miguel Olivo, Kelly Shoppach, Jeff Matthis, Gregg Zaun.

NL: Brian Schneider, Chris Iannetta, Ronny Paulino.

First Basemen
AL: Ben Broussard, Ross Gload, Kevin Millar, Eric Hinske, Sean Casey.

NL: Joey Votto, Dan Ortmeier.

Second Basemen
AL: Brendon Harris, Asdrubal Cabrera, Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Lopez.

NL: Eugenio Velez, Jayson Nix, Tad Iguchi, Ray Durham, Adam Kennedy.

Shortstops
AL: David Eckstein, Bobby Crosby, Yuniesky Betancourt, Erick Aybar.

NL: Cristian Guzman, Clint Barmes.

Third Basemen
AL: Mike Lamb, Jack Hannahan, Marco Scutaro.

NL: Jorge Cantu, Nomar Garciaparra, Jose Castillo.

Outfielders
AL: Carlos Quentin, Franklin Gutierrez, Jose Guillen, Jonny Gomes, Jack Cust (only in leagues that use OBP instead of AVG!), David Murphy, Ryan Sweeney, Travis Buck, Justin Ruggiano, Emil Brown, David DeJesus.

NL: Ryan Church, Angel Pagan, Fred Lewis, Matt Diaz, Scott Hairston, Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, Jayson Werth, Jim Edmonds, John Bowker.

Designated Hitters
AL: Mike Sweeney

Starting Pitchers
AL: John Danks, Edwin Jackson, Dana Eveland, Jeff Niemann, Kevin Slowey, Chad Gaudin, Jason Hammel.

NL: Micah Owings, Mike Pelfrey, Scott Olsen, Tom Glavine, Wandy Rodriguez, Shawn Hill, Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Correia, Justin Germano, Zach Duke, Jamie Moyer, Nelson Figueroa.

Relief Pitchers
AL: Scot Shields, Jeremy Accardo, Rafael Perez, Santiago Cassilla (the Pitcher formerly known as Jairo Garcia), Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Mark Lowe.

NL: Heath Bell, Manny Acosta, Tony Pena, Duaner Sanchez, Jonathan Broxton, Brian Fuentes, Jared Burton, Matt Lindstrom, Will Ohman, Royce Ring.

Some of these players have a bright future ahead of them, while some are no more than band-aids to be used for as short a time as possible, then discarded. The key point is that unless your league uses average-based stats only, you can’t afford to go any length of time, especially this early in the season, without accumulating At-Bats and Innings Pitched.

Finally, I’ve omitted the names of injured players who may be helpful in the near future, such as Al Reyes, who is quite likely the only Pitcher in MLB history to get tasered one day, then record a victory the next. He subsequently went on the Disabled List with an injury that’s apparently unrelated to his being tasered. Rumor has it the Cincinnati Bengals have already called to inquire about Reyes’ availability.

Until next time,

The Sherpa

Many fantasy baseball leagues allow teams to claim available players from the free agent list/waiver wire on a first come, first served basis. Others have a weekly claim process in which the team currently at the bottom of the standings gets the first shot at the list of available players. My favorite method of awarding players to teams is the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (aka FAAB). Each team gets the same FAAB dollars (usually $100 or $1,000) to spend as it sees fit over the course of the season.

While the use of the FAAB system makes all unclaimed players available to all teams, many owners struggle with the question of how to spend their FAAB dollars as wisely as possible. Should the spending be front-loaded? Should the FAAB dollars be spent evenly over the course of the year? Should the money be hoarded until later in the season in case an injury to a real-life player necessitates a fantasy replacement or results in a hot-shot minor leaguer getting a shot at The Show?

Here are the Sherpa’s tips for spending your FAAB wisely - I call them my “FAAB Five”:

1. Pace yourself, but not too much. All else being equal, a player acquired earlier in the season is much more likely to affect your place in the year-end standings than a player acquired later in the season. If your league allows claims at the end of each week of the season, then a player claimed at the end of Week 1 (i.e. - the first claim) should have approximately 25 times the impact of a player claimed at the end of Week 25 (i.e. - the last claim). Your FAAB spending should reflect this reality, keeping in mind that most leagues require whole dollar bids of at least $1.
2. Assess other teams’ current needs before you bid. If you need to find a replacement next week for the DL’d Michael Barrett, and you’re the only team in your league that needs to pick up a Catcher, don’t bid against yourself. The notable exceptions to this tip involve players with potential contributions in the Steals and Saves categories. At least one other team will more than likely submit a bid on a player who may contribute in either of these two categories, even if they have no immediate need from a roster position standpoint.
3. Monitor other teams’ FAAB spending throughout the year. Unless your league creates automated reports tracking and summarizing FAAB spending by team, this can be time-consuming, but it’s well worth the effort to know how much money other teams have left if you may be bidding against them for a player.
4. Balance your remaining FAAB with a player’s actual abilities. Do not spend 50% of your FAAB dollars (or even 25% for that matter) on a pitcher like Livan Hernandez, even if you are unlucky enough to have Pedro Martinez, Rich Harden, John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Doug Davis on your current pitching staff. Also, do not overspend for highly-touted rookies such as Clayton Kershaw, Evan Longoria, Colby Rasmus, Jay Bruce, etc. You may get lucky and get the next Ryan Braun or Hunter Pence, but you’re much more likely to get the next Nelson Cruz or Alex Escobar.
5. Timing is everything - don’t be afraid to speculate! If you have the roster positions to do so, speculate on desirable players before an injury, role change, or call-up from the minor leagues sends their value skyrocketing. Heath Bell, Rafael Betancourt, Tony Pena (the pitcher!), Carlos Quentin, and Joey Votto (if available in your league) will be much less expensive now than they will be if the players currently ahead of them on their respective teams’ depth charts falter or suffer an injury.

That said, the following is how I’d recommend spending a $100 FAAB if your league has 25 claims over the course of the season (i.e. - one at the end of each week starting with week 1). The week number is listed first, followed by the recommended amount to spend that week, followed by the recommended amount to spend year-to-date (YTD), and the implied FAAB dollars remaining. If you spend less than the recommended amount in a given week, then you will have more left over to spend in subsequent weeks, and vice versa.

• (End of) Week 1 - spend $8; $8 spent YTD, $92 remaining.
• Week 2 - $7; $15; $85.
• Week 3 - $7; $22; $78.
• Week 4 - $7; $29; $71.
• Week 5 - $6; $35; $65.
• Week 6 - $6; $41; $59.
• Week 7 - $6; $47; $53.
• Week 8 - $5; $52; $48.
• Week 9 - $5; $57; $43.
• Week 10 - $5; $62; $38.
• Week 11 - $5; $67; $33.
• Week 12 - $4; $71; $29.
• Week 13 - $4; $75; $25.
• Week 14 - $4; $79; $21.
• Week 15 - $3; $82; $18.
• Week 16 - $3; $85; $15.
• Week 17 - $3; $88; $12.
• Week 18 - $2; $90; $10.
• Week 19 - $2; $92; $8.
• Week 20 - $2; $94; $6.
• Week 21 - $2; $96; $4.
• Week 22 - $1; $97; $1.
• Week 23 - $1; $98; $1.
• Week 24 - $1; $99; $1.
• Week 25 - $1; $100; $0.

If your league also allows a claim before the first week of the season, here’s how I’d recommend adjusting your FAAB spending:

• (Start of) Week 1 - spend $7; $7 spent YTD, $93 remaining.
• Week 2 - $7; $14; $86.
• Week 3 - $7; $21; $79.
• Week 4 - $6; $27; $73.
• Week 5 - $6; $33; $67.
• Week 6 - $6; $39; $61.
• Week 7 - $6; $45; $55.
• Week 8 - $5; $50; $50.
• Week 9 - $5; $55; $45.
• Week 10 - $5; $60; $40.
• Week 11 - $5; $65; $35.
• Week 12 - $4; $69; $31.
• Week 13 - $4; $73; $27.
• Week 14 - $4; $77; $23.
• Week 15 - $3; $80; $20.
• Week 16 - $3; $83; $17.
• Week 17 - $3; $86; $14.
• Week 18 - $3; $89; $11.
• Week 19 - $2; $91; $9.
• Week 20 - $2; $93; $7.
• Week 21 - $2; $95; $5.
• Week 22 - $1; $96; $4.
• Week 23 - $1; $97; $3.
• Week 24 - $1; $98; $2.
• Week 25 - $1; $99; $1.
• Week 26 - $1; $100; $0.

I’ll post similar charts for a $1,000 FAAB later today.

Until then,

The Sherpa