SB Nation User Blog: acr

My 2010 New Year's Resolutions for fantasy baseball

acr — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:04:17 -0000

Here they are- post yours to remind yourself later (or have someone remind you)

1. I will not draft or bid for Adrian Beltre.

2. No players on my teams will have "female' names. That means no Gils, Angels, Shelleys, Danas, Sandys, Connies.

3. I will try not to hate players because they perform poorly for my fantasy team. I won't hate Rick Ankiel or Khalil Greene anymore.

4. I will try to not have my daily mood dictated by whether my fantasy teams are doing well or poorly.

5. I will try to stop analyzing others by their social Pecota.

6. When my girlfriend says another line about a hitter bumping a ball to get to first place (translation: bunting a ball to get to first base) I will not give her a "what the hell did you just say?" dirty look anymore. It's ok. She's really trying.

That's it for now.

Who are the Arizona Cardinals? I finally figured it out (I think)...

acr — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:56:30 -0000

So I get the feeling I knew would be coming. Time running out in the AZL v STL game- Marc Bulger just scrambled on 4th and 18, fumbles, ball over to AZL on downs. The Cards take a knee and the visitors leave as victors, 21-13.

Who are these Cardinals? It's hard to say, but I think I know. I will always have a small place in my heart for them. I grew up loving them when they resided in St. Louis. Even though they sucked, I was always convinced as a kid they would turn things around just in time to win the next Sunday. Everyone else seemed to know different and I have grown up quite a bit since then.

Here's who these Cardinals are: they are that girl I knew in college who was kinda slutty but hot. The one who every guy had a story about, except me. We were just friends. But she was still hot and she knew it. And she knew I liked her. Then one day something magical happened- she gave me a second look. Maybe it was because it was late and we were both drunk. And probably no other guy available at the minute. But I didn't care and a relationship started. Then she left at the drop of a hat. "We can still be friends" she said. And she was with someone new.

That's like the Cardinals. They ho-hummed along in St. Louis for years. Everyone knew they were a trashy team. But I liked them anyway. I stuck with them for years, watching faithfully every Sunday. Neil Lomax, Stump Mitchell, Roy Green. Man they were great. As a kid I would be asked who was my favorite NFL team and I would proudly proclaim "the Cards". That always got me an awkward look from others. Maybe they just did not understand. Then again, maybe I didn't understand at the time.

Then came the day the Cards rejected me. Just like that chick in college. They left for another, just like she did...an old man in Arizona. He built her a new house and she was that "hot blonde" on his arm. But she was still a whore and most people knew it. But he didn't care, he just wanted the eye candy. And soon enough she went back to her old ways....

But for me a new one came into my life. In walks the Rams. They started out horribly but I played Mr. Broken Wing guy once again. This time it worked! I stuck it out and "The Greatest Show on Turf" was born. I was so proud too. And it helped that the Cards were back to their losing ways. Plus they would come visit. What an awkward feeling that was.

Time passed though. And the Rams became the Lambs. And the tide turned in Arizona as well. They went to the big show. Today they return once again but this time as a different team. They are good now. And the Lambs suck. Today they walk off victorious. I guess. But they're still whores. I understand that now. And it's time for me to walk out on the Rams. They're whores too.

Quick trivia : Is this an MLB first?

acr — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:40:52 -0000

I was looking back through the last few League Championship Series, the Final Four of MLB, when a question started bugging me. Is this the first time in MLB history that all four teams in the League Championship Series had a payroll of $100 million + ? I really don't have anything else to write here, just trying to fill up space.

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Fantasy basketball - going old school, who's interested in help?

acr — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:53:49 -0000

Ok so I have a couple days to kill. Here is what this post is about- I used to be a big time fantasy basketball player and wrote freelance for Sportsline back in the day. Anyway, the reason was because I invented this scheduling/scoring tool-chart I used which really enhanced a team's overall performance by taking advantage of players who had more games per week. This will not work in a league where weekly averages are used- which kinda tells you how advantageous it can be. Essentially, the tool takes advantage of a small sample size. If team schedules were spread over, say, a 10 year period, it would be reasonable to expect the number of 4 game weeks to be about the same. When the time period is only one season there is a great discrepancy in the number of 4 game weeks. So this is great for points in roto, in head-2-head where weekly averages are not in the scoring mix and to make trades/pick ups or drafting. Since most drafts are already completed the last category may be of little use.

If I could post a screenshot of an older pic of the chart I would but the images on this board can only be from hosted sites/url's. My old pic is in pdf format and it would just be for getting an idea what it looks like.

Anyway, things have changed a bit since I used this last- mainly that there are 30 teams now as opposed to 29 when I used this last. That could figure into the sample size discrepancy. But if anyone is interested in me putting this thing together and then kinda breaking it down just let me know. Maybe if it goes over well we could post it here in kinda a perma link for NBA fantasy? I am game and bored so now's the time to ask.

How I won the Faketeams NL 4x4 roto league

acr — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:38:02 -0000

My cardinals are getting drilled in an elimination game. So to get my mind off things I'll post about how I won the Faketeams NL only 4x4 roto league. Here's how it was done-

Luck had a lot to do with it. But there were a few other things involved as well. One was a major trade, for my team's needs, anyway. And a total of 54 adds/ 54 drops. That's after a weak draft where I made a rookie mistake of running out of money. But at the draft I was able to assemble a fairly decent starting rotation to go with a 'wait and see' closer ensemble.

Hitting was a different story. For those unaware, this was an NL only, 4x4 roto league, 10 teams. Here's my starting line-up of hitters week one-

C- Nick Hundley

C- Ivan Rodriguez

1b- Chad Tracy

2b- Dan Uggla

3b- Ronnie Belliard

ss- Rafael Furcal

MI- Felipe Lopez

CI- Bill Hall

Of- Rick Ankiel

Of- Chris Duffy

Of- Dexter Fowler

Of- Brandon Moss

Of- Hunter Pence

DH- Casey McGehee

If you remember the way things looked back at the start of the season it would be easy to say the above may be the worst assembled lineup in the history of roto. Hundley, Fowler, Moss and McGehee were unproven. Belliard and Duffy were, but not in a good way. Obviously Pence and Uggla were the stars of this group but they would not have enough to carry a team. Furcal and Ankiel had question marks. Pudge was getting older daily. And it would be later in the season before Fowler and McGehee would see much regular playing time.

My pitching was a different story as there was actually hope involved with that group. Here's the week one staff-

SP- Chris Carpenter

SP- Aaron Harang

SP- Rich Harden

SP- Javier Vazquez

SP- Adam Wainwright

SP- Carlos Zambrano

RP- Hong-Chih Kuo

RP- Brad Lidge

RP- Huston Street

And on the bench was a recovering Trevor Hoffman. I would have bet anything Harang was going to have a nice rebound this year. And Brad Lidge was horrendous. But besides those two I certainly cannot complain about much pitching wise. And I was able to add Randy Wells which was a bonus.

Trades- about mid April I was able to trade Carlos Zambrano straight up for Adam Dunn. That certainly helped my offense. Actually with adds of Miguel Montero, Garrett Jones, Drew Stubbs and Carlos Gonzalez my offense started to take a turn for the better. Not to mention that I had dropped McGehee and Jonny Gomes only to pick them back up later. This bunch of guys were able to end up second in the league in homers.

Final season pitching stats show-

ERA- 1st

Wins- 1st

WHIP- 1st

Saves- 2nd

Saves might have ended in 1st had I not traded Mike McDougal (another waiver add) for Kazuo Matsui. I needed steals pretty badly at that point and it seemed like a good deal. And in fairness, I was able to move from 9th in steals at the time of the trade to 5th by the time the season ended. While in saves I only dropped a point.

Final season hitting stats show-

BA- 8th

HR's- 2nd

RBI- 7th

Steals- 5th

Overall I finished with 61 points which was nine points in front of the second place team. I guess it just shows if you watch the waiver wire there are plenty of quality pick-ups available, even in deep leagues like this. Mistakes can be made though. I dropped Everth Cabrera for Craig Monroe early on. Dropped Monroe for Wes Helms, who was dropped for Mitchel Boggs, who was dropped for Jeremy Affeldt, who was dropped for Bobby Scales, who was dropped for Casey McGehee. Which fortunately turned out ok.

Now it's back to watching my Cardinals getting drilled.

Poll

Was my team just lucky?

Yes, lucky as hell.

7 votes

No, working the waiver wire can turn any team around.

4 votes

Obvioulsy a combo of luck and a solid pitching staff.

9 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed

Who wins? Tigers v. Twins for AL Central

acr — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:24:16 -0000

Tomorrow night the Tigers send rookie Rick Porcello out to the mound to face Twins starter Scott Baker. The game is in Minnesota. Who do you think will win this game? Porcello has a 3.22 ERA in six September starts but a .270 BAA during that span while striking out only one hitter in each of four of those starts. His last game against the Twins was just September 29th where he went 6.1 innings in a no decision, giving up just a run and seven hits/one walk. Baker pitched well against the Tigers in his last start- going five innings, giving up one unearned run and getting a win.

Who do you think will win the game? Tigers or Twins?

Poll

Tigers v. Twins, who wins?

Tigers

3 votes

Twins

5 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed

NL Cy Young Award should go to...

acr — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:22:26 -0000

There may be more than the Big Three in contention for the NL Cy Young award. But for simplicity sake I kept it narrowed to Chris Carpenter, Tim Lincecum and Adam Wainwright . Who do you think deserves the award? If you think someone else deserves the Cy Young award please choose "other" and state the player in a post and the reason why you think he deserves it.

Brief overview of each player's season stats-

Carpenter: 28 GS, 17-4, 192.2 IP, 144 k's, 2.24 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, .226 BAA

Lincecum: 32 GS, 15-7, 225.1 IP, 261 K's, 2.48 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, .206 BAA

Wainwright: 34 GS, 19-8, 233 IP, 212 k's, 2.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .243*

* estimate

Poll

NL Cy Young award winner should be:

Chris Carpenter

13 votes

Tim Lincecum

26 votes

Adam Wainwright

11 votes

other

0 votes

50 votes | Poll has closed

NL Rookie of the Year?

acr — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:07:34 -0000

This has been a fairly crazy year for rookies in the NL. I don't pay that much attention to the AL anymore so I have no idea what's going on over there. Anyway, here is a list of 2009 NL rookies. Take your pick and make a post why your pick should win. Or make an argument why someone else should be added. I hope I did not miss someone legit or accidentally add someone who does not meet rookie status. I tried to check rookie status but it's hard to figure service time/days on the 25 man roster. Anyway, here goes-

Poll

NL Rookie of the Year

Ronald Belisario, RP Dodgers

1 votes

Kyle Blanks, OF Padres

0 votes

Everth Cabrera, SS Padres

2 votes

Chris Coghlan, OF Marlins

13 votes

Chris Dickerson, OF Reds

0 votes

Dexter Fowler, OF Rockies

2 votes

Jake Fox, OF Cubs

0 votes

Tommy Hanson, SP Braves

53 votes

J.A. Happ, SP Phillies

27 votes

Garrett Jones, OF Pirates

11 votes

Andrew McCutchen, OF Pirates

26 votes

Casey McGehee, 3b Brewers

6 votes

Gerardo Parra, OF Diamondbacks

2 votes

Colby Rasmus, OF Cardinals

8 votes

Drew Stubbs, OF Reds

1 votes

Will Venable, OF Padres

1 votes

Randy Wells, SP Cubs

6 votes

159 votes | Poll has closed

Stephen Strasburg WARNING!

acr — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:10:14 -0000

This warning applies to those who play in CBS Sportsline leagues. Strasburg is eligible to be picked up as a free agent on Sportsline in NL Only leagues but not in AL Only leagues. In fact, Sportsline already has Strasburg's "affiliated" MLB team as the Nationals.

There is a small chance (signing issues) that Strasburg falls to the Mariners as the second pick. So what if that happens? If Sportsline handles things as they have in the past it means all those teams in NL Only leagues who picked up Strasburg will have an ineligible player. This may not seem like a big issue to some but it can be an issue to others. Sportsline traditionally has only a few spots available for bench players- although this may not apply quite so much to those who run their commissioner service.

The oddity is that Sportsline seems to be indicating Strasburg will be eligible nomatter which MLB team drafts him. This may not be the case at all. A couple years ago Roger Clemens signed with the Astros a year after being with the Yankees. Clemens was eligible in AL Only leagues and able to be drafted in those leagues. It was later he decided to sign with the Astros. But upon signing with the Astros Clemens was no longer eligible in AL Only leagues. I had carried Clemens on my roster for several weeks, just waiting for him to be activated. But it was all for nothing.

If you pick up Strasburg and he is drafted by an American League team and if Sportsline decides he is no longer eligible in NL Only Leagues you have no right to complain. But a lot of that will depend on Sportsline and how they decide their rules.

Fantasy Baseball: Must We Always Allow Even Trades?

acr — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:38:06 -0000

So there are a few unwritten rules of ethics involved in fantasy baseball. One of which is not to vote against even trades. Who came up with this? In every league I have ever been involved in this unwritten rule existed- kinda like the unwritten rule in the real game not to steal signs.

A NL only h2h league I have this year had a couple owners with an agreed upon trade: Ted Lilly straight up for Ryan Howard. Seems a little iffy to me. But the two owners thought it was fair. It was vetoed by the league. Then came the mesage board posts- mainly with the Howard owner claiming that NL only leagues are usually won by the team with the best pitching staff. And because of that Howard for Lilly is actually fair. The trade was proposed again and this time it went through with a couple objections.

I asked myself, who cares if it's fair? Here we have an owner saying pitching rules NL only leagues yet he decided to draft Ryan Howard instead of a starting pitcher. Now he wants to trade for pitching to make his team better. The Lilly owner may have a need at first as well. But why should all the other teams in the league be obligated to approve these two teams getting stronger?

It seems to be a classic finger pointing argument- if you veto a fair trade you are obviously a jerk who knows nothing about the unwritten rules of the game. So trades go through and the teams get stronger. I am not really buying into it. And I would appreciate comments from others.