DRAFT KIT ESSAY REQUESTS

Message

#1 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 2nd, 2009, 6:58 pm

As was explained in a blog post, I am soliciting requests for essays you would like included in the Draft Kit. We can't promise to hot everything, but we will do our best to provide the best cross-section of information and analysis possible. Please reply with any ideas, suggestion and comments you might have.

Thanks.

cwk1963 · #2 Post by **cwk1963** » January 2nd, 2009, 7:17 pm

The standard tiers, ADP things should be included but for me, I really got a lot out of Perry's Auction Budget Sheet piece.

#3 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 2nd, 2009, 7:35 pm

Will you be OK with Todd's Auction Budget Sheet Piece?

cwk1963 · #4 Post by **cwk1963** » January 2nd, 2009, 7:44 pm

Absolutely!!

I think other auction players would get a lot out of it.

#5 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 2nd, 2009, 7:51 pm

I've got at least two other auction pieces already in mind, one has to do with the difference between the number of players a conventional system assigns values of $1-$3 and the number that typically get bought in that range, which is a topic I broached last spring but really never expanded on as well as how someone used to doing drafts can approach their first auction - which really will be a supplement to the standard auction budgeting theme, sort of a unique way to approach it.

cwk1963 · #6 Post by **cwk1963** » January 2nd, 2009, 8:14 pm

Todd Zola wrote:I've got at least two other auction pieces already in mind, one has to do with the difference between the number of players a conventional system assigns values of $1-$3 and the number that typically get bought in that range, which is a topic I broached last spring but really never expanded on as well as how someone used to doing drafts can approach their first auction - which really will be a supplement to the standard auction budgeting theme, sort of a unique way to approach it.

I remember you mentioning the $1 - $3 players and would like to hear (read) your thoughts on that. As far as the 2nd topic, I'm on the other side of the coin - used to doing auctions and looking to get more involved with drafting.

davgie · #7 Post by **davgie** » January 2nd, 2009, 11:05 pm

Todd, is "PAUL" still alive? It was great for me with our non-standard league.

#8 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 2nd, 2009, 11:23 pm

The tool formerly known as PAUL is alive and kicking. I mention what we will do in the latest blog entry.

We'll do our best to make sure you can be prepared for the upcoming fantasy season for those in non-conventional leagues.

eudubbz · #9 Post by **eudubbz** » January 3rd, 2009, 1:04 am

I was a big fan of Gary's essays from 2 years ago. He went through top players at each position, a 3 year stat line and a small paragraph explaining it. I might have saved a copy of it somewhere if you don't remember what i'm talking about.

SteveB · #10 Post by **SteveB** » January 3rd, 2009, 2:09 am

I found one of the most useful tools from the old mastersball pre draft prep was the
depth charts on one page with top minors at the bottom. I think Rob may have did the spreadsheet work. In addition to his auction tracker software which is very cool and easy to use.

I also enjoyed work done by Jason with regards to "minors to watch". I dont know if you plan on having someone do something similar in that vein. I think a few years there you even had John Sickels provide some minors updates. In keeper/auction leagues with minor league rosters this part saved me a lot of time and helped me quite a bit.

In the past couple of years i know a lot of your focus seemed to change towards the NFBC style of roto.

I dont mind that and play in a few satelite leagues for the past two years. The draft was a fun unique experience for this old auction guy. I think essays covering trends or significant player flucuation from year to year really is helpful when playing a straight draft. I usually get a lot of this info from ADP's and such but i remember Todd did some writing on that in the last couple of years.

Thats its for now

#11 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 3rd, 2009, 7:40 am

I was a big fan of Gary's essays from 2 years ago. He went through top players at each position, a 3 year stat line and a small paragraph explaining it. I might have saved a copy of it somewhere if you don't remember what i'm talking about.

Gary did a set of profiles that complemented the quick-hit style that Jason did. With the manpower what it is and time constraints, we may not produce EXACTLY the same thing, but Gary is going to focus on the player profiles while I focus on the strategy essays so you will definitely get his point of view, which is really the more important aspect. They you can ask about any player you want some elaboration for in the forum.

#12 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 3rd, 2009, 7:53 am

SteveB wrote:I found one of the most useful tools from the old mastersball pre draft prep was the
depth charts on one page with top minors at the bottom. I think Rob may have did the spreadsheet work. In addition to his auction tracker software which is very cool and easy to use.

Good call on the depth chart. It is basically a reflection of how we see playing time distribution so updating it with the updated projections is not a chore.

As for the draft sheet, we obviously cannot offer Rob's as he is with another station down the dial. But I am pretty sure we can help load our projections into a copy of his old one for anyone who has it saved. The development of our own is on the to-do list, but not for the 2009 season.

I also enjoyed work done by Jason with regards to "minors to watch". I dont know if you plan on having someone do something similar in that vein. I think a few years there you even had John Sickels provide some minors updates. In keeper/auction leagues with minor league rosters this part saved me a lot of time and helped me quite a bit.

Not sure what we will have for this season. John used to share his top-100 with us but obviously is unable to do that anymore. That said, Lawr Michaels produces his own top-500 list. It is possible we bring on someone more familiar with the minors than either Gary or myself for this season, but this is definitely something we will do down the road.

In the past couple of years i know a lot of your focus seemed to change towards the NFBC style of roto.

I dont mind that and play in a few satelite leagues for the past two years. The draft was a fun unique experience for this old auction guy. I think essays covering trends or significant player flucuation from year to year really is helpful when playing a straight draft. I usually get a lot of this info from ADP's and such but i remember Todd did some writing on that in the last couple of years.

Thats its for now

My personal focus did shift a bit to drafts, and as hard as I tried to explain the NFBC analysis transcended the NFBC into draft leagues in general, I think the NFBC tone may have turned some people off a little. We will still have an NFBC primer, but not in the initial phase of the Draft Kit so those draft articles will be generic. I have a couple of ideas in mind for these more generic draft articles, but as suggested, I am also curious what type of stuff the subscribers desire.

da_big_kid_94 · #13 Post by **da_big_kid_94** » January 3rd, 2009, 9:45 am

This may not be 100% totally relevant to the draft kit (may be better served as a sticky), but I have yet to see a site with a glossary of terms. For the newbies (and for some of the old timers, for that matter), a common base of understanding may be helpful. For example; What is a redraft league? Define a dynasty league. Or LIMA, for that matter. It may also bring out unknown commonalities or misconceptions.

There may be terms floating out there that it is assumed all know what they refer to upon sight, which may or not be the case. Just a thought.

#14 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 3rd, 2009, 10:46 am

da_big_kid_94 wrote:This may not be 100% totally relevant to the draft kit (may be better served as a sticky), but I have yet to see a site with a glossary of terms. For the newbies (and for some of the old timers, for that matter), a common base of understanding may be helpful. For example; What is a redraft league? Define a dynasty league. Or LIMA, for that matter. It may also bring out unknown commonalities or misconceptions.

There may be terms floating out there that it is assumed all know what they refer to upon sight, which may or not be the case. Just a thought.

FAQ?

A longer-term goal (dream?) of mine is to build the preeminent fantasy baseball FAQ. But first things first as we have to re-establish ourselves as a major fantasy baseball entity.

The FAQ would evolve from a community like we had with the original Mastersball. If in the coming months we are able to capture some of that magic, perhaps my dream can come to fruition. We are building the site with back-end wiki capability and I do own the URL fantasybaseballfaq.com

da_big_kid_94 · January 3rd, 2009, 10:55 am

Todd Zola wrote:
FAQ?

That could work.

shif6 · #16 Post by **shif6** » January 3rd, 2009, 11:23 am

I would like to see an essay on drafting in smaller leagues and an essay on drafting in keeper leagues (specifically the extent to which strategy is affected beyond the normal considerations of inflation).

#17 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 3rd, 2009, 11:42 am

shif6 wrote:I would like to see an essay on drafting in smaller leagues

Noted -- I consider 12-team mixed Tout Wars a smaller league and I most definitely use different strategies. Things like 8 team AL or NL only also are smaller leagues

shif6 wrote:and an essay on drafting in keeper leagues (specifically the extent to which strategy is affected beyond the normal considerations of inflation).

Good call, this is actually one of my "pet peeves" -- not the question of course, but how some people do not differentiate a "keeper" league from a "dynasty" league and thus do not design a strategy best suited for that particular type of league. I talked about this a little when I wrote for SI.com a couple years back, but I am sure that was lost in the shuffle (literally and figuratively) so yeah, it deserves to be updated for the Draft Kit.

shif6 · #18 Post by **shif6** » January 3rd, 2009, 3:07 pm

Actually, I recall an essay (here or on FB) in which you discussed (among other things) leagues in which salaries were automatically increased by (as I recall $4) for the next year and that people were wrongly characterizing those leagues as well as others. I would very much like to see that essay (or a variation) again.

#19 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 3rd, 2009, 5:43 pm

shif6 wrote:Actually, I recall an essay (here or on FB) in which you discussed (among other things) leagues in which salaries were automatically increased by (as I recall $4) for the next year and that people were wrongly characterizing those leagues as well as others. I would very much like to see that essay (or a variation) again.

Yup, that's the one. It's not so much the dollar increase as it is the churning of the player pool.

It's on the Toddy-do list.

momige · #20 Post by **momige** » January 6th, 2009, 7:53 am

I'll second the requests for depth charts and articles on drafting for keeper leagues. I also like the idea of contrasting strategies for drafting shallow vs. deep leagues.

Any chance of BOD doing his "Tiers of Starting Pitching" this year?

#21 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 6th, 2009, 10:27 am

momige wrote:I'll second the requests for depth charts and articles on drafting for keeper leagues. I also like the idea of contrasting strategies for drafting shallow vs. deep leagues.

I'm going through the teams now, assigning playing time estimates and summarizing each into a depth chart -- though it would be really helpful if you guys can do something to get Manny, Dunn, Abreu et al signed this week. Thanks.

momige wrote:Any chance of BOD doing his "Tiers of Starting Pitching" this year?

You'll have to ask the man himself -- but Bod is more than welcome to share his work here if he desires.

da_big_kid_94 · January 6th, 2009, 10:30 am

momige wrote:Any chance of BOD doing his "Tiers of Starting Pitching" this year?

If his posting on RotoJunkie can be believed (and I have no reason to doubt it), I'd say yeah.

#23 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 6th, 2009, 10:46 am

da_big_kid_94 wrote:
momige wrote:Any chance of BOD doing his "Tiers of Starting Pitching" this year?
If his posting on RotoJunkie can be believed (and I have no reason to doubt it), I'd say yeah.

With the caveat he appears to have moderator status in The Bullpen so it is understandable if he cannot co-post.

Wrigley · #24 Post by **Wrigley** » January 8th, 2009, 5:03 pm

Nothing to say about the draft kit

Just glad to see the old crew back together

-Haywood

wetm15 · #25 Post by **wetm15** » January 10th, 2009, 10:05 pm

Todd, I'd like to see a tool that can organize players by value by draft round and position for my serpentine league. That would be a helpful way to look at values by round.

#26 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 10th, 2009, 10:31 pm

wetm15 wrote:Todd, I'd like to see a tool that can organize players by value by draft round and position for my serpentine league. That would be a helpful way to look at values by round.

This is basically tiering and is definitely something we will provide. We discuss tired drafting in the strategy forum.

We have an customizable automated value calculator that can do this for non-standard leagues.

Mojo Jojo · #27 Post by **Mojo Jojo** » January 12th, 2009, 9:47 am

Todd Zola wrote:
We have an customizable automated value calculator that can do this for non-standard leagues.

just curious...will the calculator be part of the draft kit or available as part of general site use?

#28 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 12th, 2009, 10:09 am

Mojo Jojo wrote:
Todd Zola wrote:
We have an customizable automated value calculator that can do this for non-standard leagues.
just curious...will the calculator be part of the draft kit or available as part of general site use?

It is a DRAFT KIT item -- preseason it will be loaded with our projections so you can get customized values and rankings and in-season it will be loaded with year-to-date stats to get year-to-date value earned as well as rest-of-year projections so you can get rest of year projected value. It is a downloadable Excel spreadsheet.

msugray · #29 Post by **msugray** » January 28th, 2009, 7:19 pm

Keeper League Essay already suggested. Should include long-term contract analysis, freeze list strategy, budgeting, inflation, pre-freeze trading (if allowed).

Pre-Season Baseball. Things to look for; things to ignore.

RandyKutcherHair · January 28th, 2009, 9:23 pm

Will there be a one page valuation draft grid spreadsheet by position this year? In MB years past there were an AL, Only, NL Only, and Mixed grids that was extremely helpful on draft day. Not sure if I am explaining this properly. I have last years so I can email it to you Todd if you need it to understand. Thanks.

#31 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 28th, 2009, 10:17 pm

Yes -- what I will likely do is provide it (and depth charts) from the initial projections and ask for feedback, then come March we will update as we update the projections.

brooklyn49 · #32 Post by **brooklyn49** » January 28th, 2009, 10:58 pm

Todd Zola wrote:
shif6 wrote:I would like to see an essay on drafting in smaller leagues
Noted -- I consider 12-team mixed Tout Wars a smaller league and I most definitely use different strategies. Things like 8 team AL or NL only also are smaller leagues

Would you elaborate in the article on the extrapolation of the reasoning behind the different strategies to slightly smaller "boutique" leagues (e.g. mixed 10-team? Does one wait longer to go after certain types of players or certain positions?

#33 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 29th, 2009, 12:39 am

This all ties into proper valuation for small leagues and understanding your league tendencies. We will do our best to provide some essays, but this may be an interesting strategy to discuss in the forums, as I am not sure there is a "right answer", it is more a matter of understanding the value in the particular league and reacting during your auction/draft to maximize the value you obtain.

alleyoops · #34 Post by **alleyoops** » January 29th, 2009, 1:24 am

Todd Zola wrote:
shif6 wrote:Actually, I recall an essay (here or on FB) in which you discussed (among other things) leagues in which salaries were automatically increased by (as I recall $4) for the next year and that people were wrongly characterizing those leagues as well as others. I would very much like to see that essay (or a variation) again.
Yup, that's the one. It's not so much the dollar increase as it is the churning of the player pool.

It's on the Toddy-do list.

I'll second (or third) the request for an article specific to strategies in keeper leagues. One of the things that I recall from last year was your comments about not necessarily keeping (or trading for, if dumping) the guys whose salary next year will be the most under their expected auction salary (or value, if you want to use that). You gave an example where keeping 3 more expensive guys who were $5 "bargains" wound up being a better strategy than keeping 3 cheaper guys who were $10 bargains, or something like that. Not just this one thing - but that might be part of a more general article on keeper league strategies.

Shyguy30 · #35 Post by **Shyguy30** » January 29th, 2009, 11:27 am

I'm curious if there are any theories on how multiple-position eligibility affects a player's value. It's an issue that doesn't get much attention, but there is some merit in it as far as I'm concerned, especially in leagues that allow daily lineup changes and have no game limits.

#36 Post by **Todd Zola** » January 29th, 2009, 11:47 am

This is something I talk about every season. I don't know that I would put a quantitative value on it EARLY in a draft, but at the least it is a tiebreaker and is a factor later.

Guest · #37 Post by **Guest** » January 29th, 2009, 2:30 pm

I'll second (or third) the request for an article specific to strategies in keeper leagues. One of the things that I recall from last year was your comments about not necessarily keeping (or trading for, if dumping) the guys whose salary next year will be the most under their expected auction salary (or value, if you want to use that). You gave an example where keeping 3 more expensive guys who were $5 "bargains" wound up being a better strategy than keeping 3 cheaper guys who were $10 bargains, or something like that. Not just this one thing - but that might be part of a more general article on keeper league strategies.

We will definitely cover significant strategic ground on keeper leagues, including pre and in-draft strategy.

BudSeligIsMyHero · February 5th, 2009, 4:35 pm

I think I recall a keeper league article about loading up one season and rebuilding the next. If that could be included in the Classic Strategy and Theory Articles section, that would be great.

#39 Post by **Todd Zola** » February 5th, 2009, 5:01 pm

I believe that was a piece that was a piece for SI.com that we also posted at the old place -- not sure it if is classic worthy, but I do plan on re-working it for the Draft Essays. If I am wrong, and this is something from the old Mastersball archives, let me know and I will try to find it. Obviously, depending on the author, we may or may not be able to post it

Mosey · #40 Post by **Mosey** » February 6th, 2009, 6:19 pm

I'm curious if there are any theories on how multiple-position eligibility affects a player's value. It's an issue that doesn't get much attention, but there is some merit in it as far as I'm concerned

This would be a function of positional scarcity, which for the most part is none. the only real exceptions are the rare OF-2b or 3b-C or some such. I can thnk of only about half a dozen player-years where that came into play.

Even then it depends on the depth of your league (i.e. not mixed and more than 12 teams or so).

All a double position does in most leagues is add an extra 3b or SS who you normally put at 2b, etc. These are also, usually players who you are not too happy to have laying around anyway (paging Craig Counsell) and could pick up a guy at least 9/10ths as good off the FA list.

Kind of like going to a crappy restaurant because you get shitty dessert for free.

especially in leagues that allow daily lineup changes and have no game limits.

Oh well, it may be important in both of those leagues. Do they really use those rules any place?

viper · #41 Post by **viper** » February 6th, 2009, 8:01 pm

ESPN is daily move no limit ... not that I would recommend them but an awful lot of people play there.

Mosey · #42 Post by **Mosey** » February 6th, 2009, 8:34 pm

viper wrote:ESPN is daily move no limit ... not that I would recommend them but an awful lot of people play there.

Lots of people have herpes too. Most people don't.

cubswin · #43 Post by **cubswin** » February 15th, 2009, 10:04 pm

I'm doing an auction draft for the first time this year and would love an auction draft prep article. I know there have been some other requests for auction strategy pieces, but something basic(for beginners) would be nice as well.

Wasn't there something in the archives like this in the past? I seem to remember it from old Mastersball days...

#44 Post by **Todd Zola** » February 15th, 2009, 10:25 pm

Look for an auction prep piece early this week.

ViceREV · #45 Post by **ViceREV** » February 16th, 2009, 10:46 pm

Todd will there be an "auction tracker" like there was last year on FBB.com?

It was a great tool.

#46 Post by **Todd Zola** » February 16th, 2009, 10:55 pm

The auction tracker was Rob's, so unfortunately, we cannot offer it. If you have it, we can help input our projections.

ViceREV · #47 Post by **ViceREV** » February 17th, 2009, 1:58 pm

okay... I do have it (on a different computer - but that's fixed easy enough)

how do I get the new projections in?

#48 Post by **Todd Zola** » February 17th, 2009, 4:23 pm

I'll see if I can get a tutorial from Rob.

brooklyn49 · #49 Post by **brooklyn49** » February 17th, 2009, 5:45 pm

is the auction tracker considered proprietary by Rob or can ViceREV share? I think I already know the answer.

#50 Post by **Todd Zola** » February 17th, 2009, 6:28 pm

What you and ViceREV do on your own time is your own business

Rob dropped by and talks about the draft tracker in post 7 or so of this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=157

aburt19 · #51 Post by **aburt19** » March 17th, 2009, 9:33 am

This really isn't a request, but a thank you for the article on bottom up drafting. I was doing that, but didn't even know
that I was doing it. It really confirmed numerically that it works.

Thanks.