MLB NEWS

Friday, May 2, 2014

Where do you need help?

One of the new things that I get to write about this year is how we are adjusting to new rules. When I first pitched the rules I was just trying to mix things up, level the playing field, add drama, anything to stop the repetitiveness of the fantasy baseball season that I had grown so damn tired of. In a way it was selfish, but in another way I used to dominate with the old rules and now I’m sitting in 8th place, and I’m happy about it!
One of the key adjustments from a having fun/creating drama perspective is that we no longer know how to value a good week vs. a bad week. We have less hitters, less pitchers, and some slightly different categories, so we don’t know what the standard is anymore. Easy enough to figure out, let’s look at the “average” week, so far this season:
Team Name
R
HR
RBI
OBP
NSB
The Franchise
27
7
26
0.338
3



Team Name
W
SV
K
ERA
WHIP
The Franchise
3
3
49
3.26
1.23




Ok, obviously these numbers are rounded to make them a little more logical in the context. But the message is the same, if you can get above these numbers; you’re having an above average week. If you are clearing these plateaus on a routine basis, you’re dominating a category. Examples of this would be John (32 runs per week, 10 homeruns per week, 31 RBI per week) and Pflanz (.375 OBP per week) for offense; and Richie (6 saves per week, 61 strikeouts per week) and Brad (2.41 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) for pitching.

If we extrapolate these numbers out a bit, we can find out what an average season might look like:
Team Name
R
HR
RBI
OBP
NSB
The Franchise
572
139
546
0.388
55

Team Name
W
SV
K
ERA
WHIP
The Franchise
66
66
1023
3.26
1.23

And now if we take everyone’s stats and blow them out to a full season, then subtract the league average:
Team Name
R
HR
RBI
OBP
NSB
The Young Guns
105.4
60.8
109.8
0.029
23.6
Curse of the Pujols
94.9
29.3
-16.2
0.037
-23.6
PEDex
68.7
34.6
67.8
-0.011
28.9
Kids back
42.4
3.1
-63.4
0.017
-18.4
The New Age Outlaws
37.2
24.1
-10.9
-0.008
2.6
Cargo Fuck Yourself
-4.8
-2.2
-26.7
0.002
28.9
Jones-town Massacre
-4.8
-33.7
-79.2
-0.036
7.9
Richie
-10.1
-12.7
46.8
0.013
2.6
Gettin' Miggy Wit It
-36.3
-7.4
83.6
-0.011
-49.9
Bay of Puigs
-41.6
-2.2
57.3
-0.002
2.6
Runin ChooChoo Train
-88.8
-33.7
-47.7
0.001
-13.1
The Prince is Right
-162.3
-59.9
-121.2
-0.026
7.9


Team Name
W
SV
K
ERA
WHIP
Jones-town Massacre
13.125
-13.6
-120.3
-0.145
0.045
The New Age Outlaws
13.125
-8.31
21.438
0.095
-0.04
Richie
7.875
49.44
252.44
-0.425
-0.13
The Prince is Right
7.875
-3.06
73.938
-0.855
-0.15
Gettin' Miggy Wit It
7.875
-13.6
-199.1
-0.095
0.095
Runin ChooChoo Train
2.625
-39.8
63.438
-0.275
0.025
Cargo Fuck Yourself
2.625
12.69
157.94
-0.275
0.005
Bay of Puigs
2.625
-13.6
105.44
-0.065
-0.07
The Young Guns
-7.875
28.44
-151.8
0.575
0.015
Kids back
-13.125
12.69
-146.6
1.355
0.135
PEDex
-13.125
-18.8
0.4375
0.115
-0.01
Curse of the Pujols
-23.625
7.438
-57.31
-0.005
0.055


A little help on how to read this: Green means “Stop…and take a look at how awesome you are in that category”; Red means “Go…ahead and start looking for help because you suck at that category”; Yellow is neutral, but if your number is negative, you are below average. You want a hitting row that looks like John’s, you don’t want a hitting row that looks like Jeremy’s. Just like you want a pitching row that looks like Richie’s , not one that looks like Mark’s. Anyway, I find this chart helpful to identify team surplus and team needs, so use it for moves and especially for trading.