Mock Draft Central: Fantasy Baseball Guide Mock Draft

Mock Draft Central: Draft Grid

I often feel like an explorer. For instance, the link above is to the draft grid for the Fantasy Baseball Guide 2006’s mock draft. But maybe you have to be a MockDraftCentral member to access this info.

I’m posting it here to find out. And if you’re reading this and it doesn’t work it’s because I’ve washed up on some shoals and have yet to find my way back. And I’m going to suggest to the sensible Jason Pliml that he make some of this info available for free, so that we all can see how useful his aggregated info is.

In the Guide there are five pages of mock draft player comments and strategy notes, and Matt Berry’s incredibly funny rationale for why he didn’t actually draft his mock team. And why maybe it doesn’t matter.

Fantasy Stats and the Intellectual Property Debate — The Hardball Times

Fantasy Stats and the Intellectual Property Debate –Maury Brown

MLB Advanced Media, for which I work sometimes, continues to assert increasing control over the rights to player and team names. I can see why they’re pursuing revenues this way, but there are serious questions about what intellectual property the game owners actually own, and what is in the public domain. On January 19 MLBAM made a deal with the MLBPA for the exclusive rights to all player names and likenesses for online games, which at least centralizes who is in charge. Maury Brown explains most of what this all means.

For the rest, we need the courts to decide.

A surprising resource

Mock Draft Central Fantasy Baseball Mock Drafts

When I first visited Mock Draft Central a couple of years ago it was to do the mock draft for the Fantasy Baseball Guide. Looking over the site, noting that is a pay site, I thought that a site devoted to mock drafts was plain goofy. Not that I said that to Jason Pliml, whose baby this is. To him I said, Thank you for having us.
But then we did our draft, the software was quite helpful, and I began to see the appeal of a drafting site that works. And I continue to meet people for whom practice drafting is one of their most important prep practices going into the fantasy season. And this year the software is even better.
So, consider me converted. If you’re interested in mock drafting and want to learn more about how mockdraftcentral.com can help you improve your fantasy game, check out the sales pitch at the site and sign up for the free trial.

Arizona Fall League

First Pitch Forums

I just returned via a circuitious and much-delayed plane ride from Ron Shandler and Rick Wilton’s First Pitch Arizona Arizona Fall League event. You’ll find a short thread about some of the stuff I saw there on the discussion board in the Baseball Talk forum.

Here I just want to say that it is great fun to be in the company of so many people who know so much about the game of baseball, and particularly to hear from scouts and inside baseball people about the game. They aren’t always right (who is), but their endless observation yields some gems (Kimball Crossley, Blue Jays scout, says: “Pitchers who move their head too much during their delivery never have command.”)

Revelation of the week for me was Shane Komine, who is small but throws hard. The gun readings I saw don’t show just how much life his heater has, which makes his vast repertoire and fine command all the more impressive.

Travis Phelps

Who the hell is Phelps?

Those waiting for the other shoe to drop on Yan are barking up the wrong tree. Phelps is a soft tossing know-it-all who may eke out a big league career because he is capable of adapting. As long as he’s not asked to blow people away.

He came in to pitch the 8th with a 3 run lead, did a good job and got left in when the 9th inning became a non-save situation when the DRays scored one in the 9th.

Phelps is not a guy to pick up as a replacement for Yan.

ESPN.com: MLB Boxscore: Tampa Bay vs. Oakland