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Time for fantasy baseball again.

First thing's first: if you're not in this league already, there may be room for you! I should warn you that it's a competitive league, so you'll want to have played fantasy baseball before, and while it's not necessary having played Roto-style before it's a big plus. If you'd like to play just reply and say so, and we'll do our best to make room. Please note that we give priority to a) returning owners and b) more active users.

If you're a returning owner, please take a moment to ensure your email address with Yahoo is correct, and if it's not, please PM me the address you're using right away so I can update it accordingly.


Draft Time

Please read this in full:

I'm thinking Saturday, March 4th or Sunday, March 5th, around the usual time (1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT). Either works for me, but I need everyone to please reply by letting me know your availability for both dates. IE: "I can do both the 4th and 5th" or "I can do one but not the other." Also fine to say "I can do the following weekend but not that one." But whatever you say, please do not just list a preference without signaling your availability for the other options. If you do that you are not confirmed. For those who think this sounds harsh, I can only say that in the long history of the league, I ask people every year about this and every year someone skims the post and doesn't read it.

Also please note that you must confirm your involvement even if you're a returning team. If I don't hear from you, either in this thread or via PM/profile comment/post comment/carrier pigeon/whatever, you won't be able to play. It's a simple way to hedge against inactive owners and, frankly, I think it's a fair way to give new people a chance to join the league.


Confirmed Teams

Yoda
rauldc14
TONGO
Powdered Water
Sedai
Hey Fredrick
Banknotes Harper
Dan
seanc
mikeython1
Adamantium18

Standby



Obviously it's rare for spots to open up, but with Mark unfortunately passing, there will be at least one spot available.

Also open to having a bigger (IE: 14-team) league, as I think we've had a few times in the past, so anyone interested should definitely reply, you have a better chance than usual of nabbing a spot.



I'll also go ahead and float the idea of an auction draft again, just in case enough people have come around to the idea. I can list the pros and cons (I think I can be pretty fair about both) if someone's not sure.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
I'm in. I would prefer the March 5 draft date. March 4 will be tough for me to swing. If it's a deal breaker though I understand.



My schedule can fill up unpredictably on weekends, but for the moment I have no strong preference, so I'd certainly be willing to go with the 5th instead if it increases the number of owners who can make it.



I'm in, and thankful there isnt a winning percentage to be maintained for membership.


Any and all times for draft are good for me as ill be working regardless.



Also regarding doing an auction draft in the baseball league....I'm not so sure its a good idea for FBB. For Fantasy Football i think we should try it as FFB has seemed flat with no excitment lately. Our Fantasy Baseball league is vibrant though, and im of the belief if it aint broke dont fix it.
Just my 2 cents.



And doing mocks right now at random draft positions since it doesnt seem to matter when it actually counts.


Embrace the random



I kinda understand that, though I don't think of it as a "fix," just an improvement.

The very very short, simplistic argument is: in an auction, everybody gets a shot at every player. If you really believe in someone and are willing to pay for them, they're yours. In a snake draft there are tons of players you literally just can't get no matter how much you want them/would sacrifice for them, and you have far less agency over how your team is constructed. The primary benefit of snake, really, is just that it's simpler/requires less prep/takes less time.



I'm available for any time or date. Not sure I fully understand the auction process but am willing to try if enough owners are.
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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...



Auction is everybody gets a budget (usually like $260), people take turns throwing out player names and then people just bid on them. That's basically it. If you're willing to blow 40% of your budget on Jose Ramirez, he's probably all yours. There's some strategy to when you throw players out (by the end some people are almost out of money, of course), but if you're willing to go beyond for some player (or think some player is undervalued), you just bid accordingly.



A system of cells interlinked
I am in. I am available for both dates but they have a strike through them so what up with that?

This isn't going to be the same without ol' Mark. Who will step up to reject all our trade offers now?
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
Auction is everybody gets a budget (usually like $260), people take turns throwing out player names and then people just bid on them. That's basically it. If you're willing to blow 40% of your budget on Jose Ramirez, he's probably all yours. There's some strategy to when you throw players out (by the end some people are almost out of money, of course), but if you're willing to go beyond for some player (or think some player is undervalued), you just bid accordingly.
Does it work pretty well online? I figured easy in person, wasn't sure online.



Does it work pretty well online? I figured easy in person, wasn't sure online.
Way easier online because the draft engine is doing all the hard work and keeping everything up in real time. They work really well, and are more fun in my opinion.



I haven't done it with Yahoo, but my ESPN league is an auction and it works fine. There's a timer, it counts down, whenever someone bids higher the counter goes up again so everyone can react, etc.

I found it pretty intuitive, it shows everyone's roster and remaining money and all that.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
I haven't done it with Yahoo, but my ESPN league is an auction and it works fine. There's a timer, it counts down, whenever someone bids higher the counter goes up again so everyone can react, etc.

I found it pretty intuitive, it shows everyone's roster and remaining money and all that.
Sounds pretty fun



Yeah, since we're talking about it I'll throw out my best good faith Pros and Cons of auctions:

Pros
  • Everyone gets a shot at every player
  • Team more closely reflects your valuations of players
  • Far more strategic decision making
Cons
  • Takes longer
  • Ideally benefits from (but does not require) a little more prep
I honestly think the time/effort increase is the only downside here. Snake drafts just remove tons of your options and decisions based on who gets taken between your picks. That's simpler and "easier" in some sense, but it also means there are entire kinds of teams you literally cannot build. You can't decide, for example, that you want a few star players and to try to keep the rest of the lineup afloat on the waiver wire. You can't decide you want good players at every position but not great ones, betting on consistency and a high floor everywhere. Both are literally impossible with snake draft, but with auctions they're just decisions you can make, or not.

That, for me, is the big difference: with auctions you can build the same kind of team that you could in snake, but the same isn't true in reverse.