Answers to fantasy baseball questions (and much more) since 1996
Major League Baseball : Fantasy : Fantasy
The new one went up yesterday afternoon, with a look at the demise of Chris Shelton and Dan Johnson, trading a phenom for a flake (a really good flake), and why you shouldn’t cancel even a really bad trade. Plus chatter about that flukey outfielder in Detroit.
This week, why there can be more to a trade than the players involved, learning something about 12 offensive categories, using BABIP, Component ERA and Defense Independent Component ERA to find buy-low pitchers. Plus chatter about the Rockies pitchers, Justin Verlander, Stephen Drew and Chris Denorfia. With lovely charts. Really lovely.
Chuck James and other young pitchers, on being a powa-hatah, second half recommendations among those who wrecked the first half, and chatter about Gary Matthews and the Tampa Bay bullpen.
MLB – Cleveland Indians/Seattle Mariners Box Score Saturday May 6, 2006 – Yahoo! Sports
Seattle manager Mike Hargrove was tossed from this game in the third inning, and one of his coaches got tossed in the seventh, both for arguing balls and strikes. The odd thing is that Seattle starter Joel Pineiro struck out six and walked none in the game. Could the arguing have made a difference? (And I know that coach Mike Goss was chucked because the home plate ump appealed to the third base coach on righty Richie Sexson’s checked swing, rather than the traditional first base ump, but maybe by that point the ump was rattled.)
rec.sport.baseball FAQ – Rules
Want to know what makes an error and error? An RBI an RBI? This plainly written FAQ covers an odd couple-handfuls of questions directly and clearly. Well worth a look-see for a rules refresher.
A friend tells me that this is a fantastic fantasy format. As best I can tell it’s a GM game. You try to get the best results using the fewest resources. But there is no salary cap (there is a luxury tax, however). Results are computed in team wins and losses based on the Expected Runs (Xr) formula for hitters, derived from 14 measures. The site is very handsome and the basic ideas of the game are sound. My only concern is that the scoring system will make the game play too flat, but if it achieves 50 percent of it’s apparent potential it should be an excellent experience.
Texas Rangers : News : Texas Rangers News
Jamey Newberg writes a handy summary about player options and roster decisions, what is usually a pretty dull topic. Whether a player has options or not (RA Dickey has pitched in the minors each of the last 10 seaons, but has used just one option) is a major determinant of whether he makes the big league team, so this isn’t trifling stuff.
It’s out, and features talk about starting a keeper league, choosing between Jeff Mathis and Ryan Doumit, and defense: does it matter? As well as a little chatter.