2021 BABS Game Plan – Preview
This is where you will find your new DASHBOARD on February 10. All links are here.
It’s been nearly a month since my last post and we still don’t know if there will be a designated hitter in the National League. MLB says they are committed to playing out a full 162-game season, yet this country is in far worse COVID-shape than it was when they could only salvage 60 games. As several writers have noted, “The owners and players seem committed to driving off a cliff together.” For now, we have little choice but to follow their lead, albeit from a safe distance.
So… welcome to BABS 2021 and the BABS Game Plan series. This is the Preview Installment to help you get a head start on the mega-content that begins shortly and extends over the two-month draft season, pending any changes to the MLB schedule.
The four-part publication calendar provides you with intensive, comprehensive content so you can make the best use of the BABS system. We’ve been likening it to moving from network TV (where you have to wait for content according to their schedule) to a Netflix model (where we publish it all at once and you can binge-read). Four times — February 10 and 24; March 10 and 24. Opening Day is April 1 this year. We hope.
(* Asterisked links are for members only.)
It all starts here, with The BABS Project 3.0. It’s your FREE reference tool. (All are PDF files.)
Book 1 – Why we need a new system
Book 2 – The Broad Assessment Balance Sheet
Book 3 – BABS in practice
BABS 2021: What’s New?
For BABS rookies and veterans, here is a summary of what to look forward to in 2021.
BABS Tutorial
How to use the Database and Spreadsheet Reports. Bookmark this page; you’ll come back to it often.
BABS Database Preview
We’re still putting the finishing touches on the first publication of the database, but here is a sneak peak*. There are still a few data issues to iron out, including position eligibilities, some injury designations and some playing time anomalies. For BABS veterans, you should know your way around. For newbies, here is the Report Key and a blank roster grid, but the heavy duty analysis to help you navigate better will begin on February 10.
BABS Master Spreadsheet Preview
We’re still fine-tuning the ratings and rankings here as well, but here is a sneak peak*. The links above for the Report Key and roster grid apply here as well.
Average Draft Position Rankings
We use those from the National Fantasy Baseball Championship.
Introducing… the FISH List
I never hesitate to innovate, even if it might be misguided. I’ll let you be the judge*.
BABS in RotoLab
The industry’s best draft management software has a module just for BABS. The software is sold separately but the BABS unlock key is here*.
Mailbag
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. I’ll select the best ones to respond to in each of the four Game Plan installments.
Reader forums
It’s your community of really smart BABSians. Ask questions, offer insights, vent – it’s your neighborhood. Quiet since last summer, let’s reopen the doors now*!
BABS Baseball Leagues (BABL)
A fantasy competition based on BABS philosophies. 10-team leagues, 50-man rosters
The BABL Concept* | Details and Signup Info
(Signup deadline March 12. Drafts begin February 21.)
Okay, that’s enough to get you started. We’ll jump in with both feet after the Super Bowl.
I love Love LOVE the FISH List. A quick, concise, easily understandable list of players who might be mis-valued by other owners. Another tool in the toolbelt, and more tools are better.
I agree with Todd. Bring on the FISH list.
Ditto. My only other thought is that, once the proper round is determined based on ADP and BABS, the listed order of players within that round should be based on the BABS ranking, rather than the order of ADP.
This is a good point. How many others feel this way?
That makes total sense. I agree.
FISH List is a powerful tool! I agree with Thomas that players should be sorted by BABS ranking.
I, too, love the fish list; it is a much better version of what I would be trying to do right now with ADP/BABS. Indeed, just to take one example, I was thinking that Freeman is as much (or more) a top half of the first-round choice as Soto according to BABS, no matter what the market says. He and Soto are about the same, except that we have more stats behind Freeman and BABS rightly fears regression from Soto. So . . .
Let’s go fishing!
This is why I continue to subscribe to Babsbaseball. The FISH List is just an additional advantage we’ll have at the draft table. I have sort of tried to do this on my own the past 3 years, but this will make it so much easier. Keep it up, Ron and team.
I want the fish list now 🙂
Great work
First off, absolutely LOVE the fish list. I am using this moving forward for all drafts. Was doing this manually but this cuts out a ton of work…
I believe this list is generated for a 15 team draft, correct?? Would it be possible to have the number of teams as an input, or, have versions for 15, 12, 10 teams??
Great work here…
Actually, seems there are 120 player listed so I believe this would be for 12 teams…
The response to the FISH List has been outstanding. I’ll include it in the Feb. 10 update along with a guest column. However… I will need to make a small tweak to the formula. Even thought the BABS list is not a pure ranking, I thought we could still use it for this exercise, but in reviewing the output, there needs to be some tweaks. For those who want to use the concept with a straight ranking of projections, the concept works just fine.
Ron… how would the FISH list be tweaked for Points leagues?? Is it possible to work the BABS rankings based on Points?? If not, any rule of thumb on how to modify BABS rankings based on the Speed element, dropping players with high Speed attributes 10-20-30 spots?? Bumping players with *OBP up 5-10 spots?? Thoughts??
BABS is just a tool, and the FISH List is just one application of it. You can take the spreadsheet and move anything you need to in order to fit the parameters of your league. There is a limit to customization in their current form, although the next iteration of the FISH List will include a spreadsheet that allows you to input your league size. I suspect there is an application for points leagues, and I have been toying with an auction equivalent. We are just at the beginning of the discussion, and I encourage everyone to share their experiences.
Thanks for the answer. This is the first (I think) I saw an actual BABS numerical ranking so maybe that’s what’s hanging me up.
Would indeed appreciate insights on how others approach Points drafts.
Using 2019 stats, points breakdowns were approximately 50%/35%/15% A/P/S . I included BB’s in the A category (tick up for OBP) in this analysis and considered R to be made up of (50% A, 25% S and 25% P) and RBI to be 67% P and 33% A).
Other thoughts?? I also have a thread on the Reader Forums if that is a more appropriate location for this discussion.