Category: strategy

Bret Sayre: How I Won Tout Wars X.

Tout Wars X Champ Bret Sayre.
Tout Wars X Champ Bret Sayre.

Let’s let Bret set the scene:

“If the entire final month left me seasick, the final weekend made me schizophrenic. In fact, it almost made me jealous of the fantasy writers who cover both baseball and football, as I would have had a healthy distraction. Almost. By the halfway point, Pat had taken the overall lead and I was staring down the barrel of what would easily have been my worst period of the entire contest. A week later, my luck had turned and my offense started hitting–pushing me to a 5.5-point lead overall and a little more comfort, which would hold until the final lineups were set on Friday. From that point on, my team’s performance became irrelevant, as Pat’s team was absolutely firing on all cylinders. My lead was down to one at the end of the day Friday and gone by the evening games on Saturday.”

You can read Bret’s story at Baseball Prospectus. It’s on the free side of the paywall.

LINK Al Melchior Laments, and gives good advice

almelchiorEvery fantasy baseball season brings its own challenges. Al Melchior graciously shares his observation about his 2015 results, and how that might help him plan for 2016.

At CBSsports.com. With some references to FOMO, which I know about because I have a teenaged daughter, and TOFU, which I know about because my teenaged daughter is vegetarian. But I’m pretty sure Al means something else.

Gene McCaffrey (Tout NL): LET’S TALK ABOUT ME!

I can’t believe how big the whole thing is now. Back in the day we would huddle in the dank basement of some New York bar. One year we drafted in Steve Moyer’s basement, which I thought was great but later heard tell of other putative Warriors who did not. Now there are at least a hundred people there either drafting or media-involved. Even girls! Maybe three! TV cameras, live radio broadcasts, no question we’re big shots.

Gene McCaffrey, with Steve Gardner, Todd Zola and Lenny Melnick.
Gene McCaffrey, with Steve Gardner, Todd Zola and Lenny Melnick.

The best thing is that the people are terrific. The very few assholes who have passed through the expert ranks of fantasy baseball over the years all disappeared quickly. I mean, I’m the biggest asshole there and I’m only an asshole sometimes. But you want to know about my team.

I won the battle but I may have lost the war. Here’s The Conundrum: in NL- or AL-only leagues the bargains are going to come on the pitchers, but you can’t get too many or you won’t have enough money to buy an offense. Everyone is spending 30 percent or less on pitching and bragging about it, which ABSOLUTELY guarantees that 1) pitchers will be undervalued, and 2) hitters will be overvalued. (A corollary is that some team or teams who don’t spend on pitching are going to score some pitching bargains, making them instant contenders.) When it works it looks great, when it doesn’t—which is usually since everyone is doing it—it looks terrible, but no one cares because odds are that’s what the winner did. To me this state of affairs calls for a contrary strategy and hence the conundrum. Continue reading “Gene McCaffrey (Tout NL): LET’S TALK ABOUT ME!”

Tout NL Three-Time Presiding Champ Tristan Cockcroft Tells All!

2012cockcroft-nl2013ToutWarsNLChamps2014ToutWarsNLChampsWinner of Tout Wars NL in 2012, 2013 and 2014, plus a two-time LABR champ, Tristan lays it all out for us Tout NLers who have been chasing him, and tells us (and you) how he wins.

Rotowire’s Derek VanRiper Explains How He Won Tout Mixed Auction.

Over at Rotowire’s blog.

Good health and good pitching pickups on the waiver wire were a part of it, but to get the full measure check out the full post. His showing of draft prices and season earnings for each roster spot is instructive.

Fred Zinkie Makes a Trade! Scott Pianowski Writes About It!

Actually, Spianow wrote a story over at Yahoo! explaining why he sold low on Shin Soo Choo, by trading him to Jeff Erickson in the Yahoo Friends and Family League and to Fred Zinkie in Tout Wars Mixed Auction. So the headline here could have been:

Pianowski: Ah Choo!

Or ScottP: The Shin Soo Also Sets.

But we chose to go with the Dog Bites Man hed, though it would seem to foreclose on us using it again. Because Zinkie will make another trade. He also promises us his thinking about taking on a bum like Choo later, after he handles some personal business.

In the meantime, enjoy Scott’s Closing Time piece. There really is something good called Selling Low.

UPDATE: Fred’s angle.

Tout Notes: The Sherpa and a Madman

Brian Walton weighs in on the Tout Wars rules regarding FAAB, and how Scott Swanay’s draft day adventure puts them in a different light.

Follow Zach Steinhorn’s thoughts about this Tout Wars Mixed Auction team, closers, Vickery, injuries and more, as they unfold!