Category: NL

Tout NL: Can’t run out the clock in fantasy baseball

Tout Wars NL leader and USA Today columnist Steve Gardner describes his situation going into the season’s final seven days:

“There’s exactly one week left in the regular season. And without a doubt it’s going to be the longest week of the year.

That’s the feeling you have when your fantasy team is in first place — like mine is in the NL Tout Wars experts league. On Sunday, I had a 10.5-point lead on Mastersball.com’s Brian Walton … but in just a couple days he whittled the margin down to 6.5. I can tell these last few days are going to be absolutely brutal.

It was nerve-wracking last year when I was in a tight three-way battle in the Tout Wars mixed league. But that was different because I was always the third wheel trying to stick my nose in there — and I never really got a sniff of the lead. This time, I’m the one trying to hold on for dear life.

What am I going to be watching most intently? Pitching, pitching and more pitching. Brian is breathing down my neck in three of the five pitching categories.

I lead ERA 3.31 to 3.37.
I lead WHIP 1.21 to 1.23
I lead strikeouts 1070 to 1041

I’m not just wearing one target on my back, I’m wearing three. Because I can still gain ground in wins, I can’t afford to run a bunch of relievers out there to protect my ratios. If any of my starting pitchers have a major meltdown, I could see those leads in ERA and WHIP evaporate in an instant. With Brian there waiting to pounce — and with RotoWire’s Chris Liss between us with a 1.22 WHIP — there’s potential six-point swing in those ratio categories.

With all that said, I really do like the guys I have out there. Madison Bumgarner has been awesome since the All-Star break (8-3, 2.43). Zack Greinke has rewarded my patience with almost-identical (8-3, 2.29) stats over that span. They’ll go next for me on Thursday and Saturday.

The problem with being in first place is that there’s nowhere to go but down. Outside of possibly a point in wins, there’s almost no chance for me to move up in any other category. So in effect, I have to do what never seems to work in pro football — play not to lose.

But since it’s fantasy baseball we’re playing, maybe the results will turn out better.

The FAAB Issue: Rotoman Speaks

Brian Walton wrote a story earlier this week about his attempts to trade with a nameless owner who caused him fits. Brian was peeved and let the owner know it, but when he told the story he scrubbed it of any identifying information, to save the owner from embarrassment. It was a gracious gesture but unnecessary. The owner felt his actions were, with one small exception, above board and proper. I should know, the owner was me.
Continue reading “The FAAB Issue: Rotoman Speaks”

A FAABulous Move

Steve Gardner describes his midseason FAAB strategy, which Brian Walton touched on in a story at Mastersball, and looks at the thinking of the owners with the money at the trading deadline.

TOUT NL FAAB Survey

Last night Rotoman bid $5 on Jose Altuve and thought he had a chance. No way! Remembering similar debacles with Dee Gordon and Chase D’Arnaud earlier this year, Rotoman looks back at this year’s first-half FAAB results. Is aggression good? Read about it here.

Jason Collette’s Tout NL midseason review

If you were a subscriber to baseballprospectus.com you could have read Jason Collette’s midseason Tout Wars roundups two weeks ago. Jason and BP, however, are making them available to us all now, for which we are thankful. Jason Collette’s column appears at every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at baseballprospectus.com.

Playing in Tout Wars is a rewarding experience because of the exposure the league gets. It, like the LABR (League of Alternative Baseball Reality), are the two best gauges fantasy players have to see how the “experts” apply their knowledge at the draft table. It is one thing to read the work each of them publishes online, but it is another to see what they do with their imaginary money, or in the case of playing in high-stakes leagues such as the ones in the NFBC leagues, real money.

Last week, we looked at the AL-Only league and how Larry Schechter and Jeff Erickson have turned their profits into the top spots in the standings and how others have suffered some serious losses from the prices they paid at the draft table either due to bad valuations or bad luck related to injuries. This week, we look at the NL Only League that was won by ESPN’s Nate Ravitz last season.

Here are the current standings for the 12 team AL-Only League:

  1. Brian Walton – 103 points
  2. Chris Liss – 80 points
  3. Steve Gardner – 79 points
  4. Tristan Cockcroft – 78 points Continue reading “Jason Collette’s Tout NL midseason review”

No Schadenfreude Here!

Brian Walton has such a giant lead in NL Tout that it is hard not to be upset that he’s lost Albert Pujols to a fractured forearm for a month. Too bad! I feel really badly that his great season has been tarnished, and I really really hope he’s able to hold onto his lead.

USA Today’s Steve Gardner, another Tout NL competitor, feels badly for Brian, too, though he doesn’t come right out and say it.

Scott Pianowski Shops Braun. Uses Brains.

Last week in NL Tout Scott Pianowski, for his good hit-no pitch team, sought offers for his main stud, Ryan Braun. His requirements, an ace pitcher and an everyday hitter, were stringent, and few made offers.

This week Scott tells all, but doesn’t address the elephant in the room: Can anyone catch Brian Walton without making a bold pivot?