Fantasy Jose Canseco League

Jose Canseco simply cannot stay out of the news.  Anyone interested in a pool to bet on the next time Jose Canseco makes himself newsworthy?

What’s Next?

It’s become increasingly likely that, barring an injury or meltdown, Hurricane and I will win both our fantasy baseball leagues, currently leading them by 8 and 5.5 points.  With fantasy hoops and hockey finished for the year, and football season three months away, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.

Anyone interested in starting a fantasy wedding league?

Kawasaki Konjecture, June 1

Every two weeks, I post the top ten ranked pitchers over the two-week period, in order to test the theory that in fantasy baseball, drafted starting pitchers have little added value over starters added off the waiver wire.

This week’s top ten pitchers, from Baseball Monster, looking at Wins, Strikeouts, ERA and WHIP:

• Early draft picks: Jake Peavy, Tim Lincecum, C.C. Sabathia, (Matt Cain)
• Late draft picks: Chris Carpenter, Justin Verlander
• Undrafted: Jason Marquis, Clayton Richard, Edwin Jackson, Phil Hughes

Matt Cain is bracketed because he was an early-middle pick.  Compiling the results from the first four two-week periods of baseball season, I find that of the forty pitchers to appear in the top ten, fourteen are early draft picks, fourteen are late draft picks, twelve went undrafted and two are relief pitchers.

In both our leagues, Hurricane and I spent very few resources on starting pitching–no keeper spots, nothing earlier than a tenth round pick.  In both our leagues, we’re a little ahead of average in the four categories where starters compete, currently holding 24 of 40 and 32 of 56 total possible points.

I’m not sure how much support/opposition either of these analyses give to the Kawasaki Konjecture.  I’ll try to post a few more tests over the next few days.

Jose Canseco Fails to Steal Gold Coins

Jose Canseco’s Mixed Martial Arts fight, which I broke down earlier, is now complete.  Video here–skip ahead to the 5:20 mark for the start of the fight.  See below for commentary, but watch the video first.

Fantasy Baseball MVP

With the first quarter of the season complete, both my fantasy baseball teams sit in first place.  I wouldn’t say comfortably in first–in one league we’re tied for first–but I wouldn’t say uncomfortably either.  It’s like the teams are sitting on a futon.

Interestingly, the two teams have only one player in common and, given that both are in first place, this player is clearly the key to my early success*.  So, congratulations to my 1st quarter MVP: batting .216, with 9 homers, 1 steal, 32 RBIs, 21 Runs, and a 0.778 OPS, Mr. Dan Uggla.

*note: this post is meant to be sarcastic.  Uggla is not the key to our success; he’s been highly mediocre.  The true key to success has been my and Hurricane’s awesomeness.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Joe Mauer

I’m a bit of a self-hating sports fan.  I hate the fact that my emotions are dependent on the performance of sports franchises over which I have no control.  I hate all the randomness involved, and the misguided attempts by analysts to explain it all away.  I despise the degree to which referees can influence the outcome of a game, particularly in basketball and football.  I hate the tribalism involved in sports, the arbitrary in-groups and out-groups based on geography.  To be honest, were it not for fantasy sports, I probably never would have made it as a sports fan.

“Streaming Catchers” viable?

So I noticed that in the league that we play in, most owners are already in the hole when it comes to games played for catchers. The only owners who aren’t “in the red,” are the owners who have 2 catchers or have Victor Martinez. More specifically, I noticed it first for myself and have been trying to figure out how to ‘make up’ those games. So, how do you do that?

Kawasaki Konjecture, May 18

Every two weeks, I post the top ten ranked pitchers over the two-week period, in order to test the theory that in fantasy baseball, drafted starting pitchers have little added value over starters added off the waiver wire.

This week’s top ten, from Baseball Monster:

• Early draft picks: Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathaia, Jake Peavy
• Late draft picks: Justin Verlander, Johnny Cueto, Zack Greinke
• Undrafted: Matt Harrison, Rick Porcello, Jered Weaver, Wandy Rodriguez

Upside, Downside, and Everything in Between

I play in a fantasy baseball keeper league where the first three rounds of draft picks cannot be kept.  As a result, early fourth round picks are very valuable, since they’re the first players available to be kept.  Keepers can span four years, so if you draft someone after the third round, or add him off waivers, you can keep him up to three times.  Most people use these early picks on high-upside players, who might not immediately put up great numbers, but are likely to contribute down the road.  I chose a slightly different tactic, making a somewhat safe pick, that may have much more upside than anyone thought.

See ya, Sedin, Sedin, Sundin

I was out for drinks last night with some friends I hadn’t seen in years, and right as one of them was explaining his dissertation, I yell out, “It’s over, it’s over,” and start pumping my fist.  Everyone was thoroughly confused, unaware and mostly uninterested in the TV screen showing the Blackhawks with a two goal lead, and fifteen seconds on the clock.

TV screens in bars are a terrible thing.