Mailbag, Loose Papers and More
Do you have a question that would be best answered by one of our experts and benefit everyone? Submit it on our Contact Page and put MAILBAG in the Subject Line. We’ll select the best ones to respond to in each of the four Game Plan installments.
Would you change, and if so, how would you change the asset group rankings for a 4×4 league where strikeouts are not a points category?
This is the beauty of a skills-based system like BABS. While strikeouts may not be a category that your league uses, it is still a skill that is important in evaluating pitchers. It is not much of a leap to state that pitchers who strike out a lot of batters will also tend to have lower ERAs, lower WHIPs and better potential to win ballgames. As such, I would not change the asset group rankings at all.
I love love love Fernando Tatis and it looks like BABS does too. But I’m skittish about drafting him with my first pick. Should I? BABS seems to think so.
Yes, BABS loves Tatis but his skills profile is only half of the story. The marks on the liabilities side of the ledger are significant. Can you draft him in the first round? Yes you can, so long as you are planning out the rest of your roster to accommodate the liability baggage that comes along with that pick. His injury and experience liabilities have to be recorded against your risk budget, and that negative regression mark has to be considered as well. Are you willing to shoulder that burden by drafting more conservatively with the rest of your roster? It’s certainly doable but it’s a high risk-high reward strategy.
I try to stay away from young players who tend to get over-drafted. Is there an easy way to identify these guys with BABS?
There is a very easy way. Either run a database report or use the spreadsheet. Scan down and look for players near the top of each asset group with an EX liability rating. These are the players who a) have less than one full year of major league experience, and b) are being ranked ahead of more established players with comparable skill. As examples, Keston Hiura (PW,a) and Chris Paddack (e,k) are being drafted ahead of many same-skilled players. Bo Bichette (p,SB,AV) and Tommy Erdman (p,SB,a) are in solo asset groups that are ranked ahead of other more established players. And Shohei Ohtani still has a lot of pitching helium, but there are nine other more experienced arms in his (e,KK) asset group being drafted behind him.