Are
you tired of the traditional fantasy baseball categories? We were.
Why? Because they don't utilize the entire pool of MLB players effectively.
Power hitters are weighted too heavily. Leadoff men are not weighted
enough. Setup guys are pretty much ignored. So what we did was tweak
our categories over the last few years to try and make players of
all types (not ability) equally important to the equation. This
posed a problem, because we used to use Yahoo! as our FB host. They
don't allow you to make custom categories. CBS does. So we bit the
bullet and payed $100 to CBS.
This
is the formula we came up with (actually evolved into):
Batting
Categories: HR, RBI, SB, AVG, SPARK, EAGLE
Pitching
Categories: Wins, Losses, K's, ERA, Saves, Holds
So
what the heck are Spark and Eagle you ask? They are just gimmick
names we gave to a statistcal formula:
SPARK=RUNS
- HRs (runs minus home runs)
What
this does is give the guys who get on base and score a little more
weight, because it takes the typical home run slugger out of the
RUNS equation.
EAGLE=K's
- Walks (strikeouts minus walks)
Ever
get mad when you player gets walked with ducks on the pond. Now
you get some value out of that walk. Plus the free swinging slugger
now gets penalized for all those strikeouts.
HOLDS
- These are essential to giving the setup man some weight in fantasy
baseball. The setup man has become increasingly important in the
real game, so why not the fantasy game? Without holds, most owners
don't even carry a setup man on their team unless it is a big NL
or AL only league. Even with that, you are only getting their occasional
cheap win or save at best. Not enough to make a real difference.
In our league a hold is as important as a save.
What
all these categories do, is expand the pool of players a fantasy
owner would typically have on their team. This in turn makes the
free agent waters deeper, and enhances trade possibilities. It also
makes it more fun, which is what fantasy baseball is all about.
-OGP
Staff
If
you have any comments on this or any other rants, feel free to e-mail
us. |
