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?

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.