2021 BABS in My Experts Leagues

Ugh, Zoom. Such a different drafting experience. We’re all tired of conducting business in windows or sterile online draft rooms, but at least we are staying connected and engaged. Let’s hope for something closer to normality in 2022.

This year, my entries in the two premier experts leagues — LABR and Tout Wars — were both in 12-team leagues. Part of this was by design, part happenstance. I cut my Rotisserie teeth in 12-team AL-only and NL-only leagues, and have recently been settling into 15-team mixed leagues. But my experiences in these 12-teamers — despite still competing against top industry analysts — was that the BABS targets are pretty achievable if you keep on top of them.

 

LABR

This was my second year back in the industry’s first experts league after being mostly M.I.A. since the early 2000s (usually due to travel conflicts). LABR’s fourth league, a 12-team mixed, was started on my suggestion to Steve Gardner last year given that more readers play in these shallower formats. We did manage to draft in person in 2020, about a week before the world shut down. This time, it was an online auction. My roster:

BATTER Pos Tm PT Pw Sp Av * Pk Rg Sk- Inj Ex Nw Ag Pk Rg
$11 Smith,Will CA LAD M P+ a * inj- EX
$7 Grandal,Yasmani CA CWS M PW *
$16 Voit,Luke 1B NYY F PW a inj-
$40 Ramirez,Jose 3B CLE F p s AV *
$12 Bell,Josh CI WAS F p a * Nw
$11 Muncy,Max 2B LAD M PW * Rg+
$3 Gimenez,Andres SS CLE F SB Pk+ -P EX Nw
$4 Solak,Nick MI TEX F SB a EX Rg-
$15 Hernandez,Teoscar OF TOR F P+ Rg-
$15 Meadows,Austin OF TBR F PW a inj- e
$6 Laureano,Ramon OF OAK F p e
$4 Taveras,Leody OF TEX M p SB EX
$5 Winker,Jesse OF CIN F p AV *
$18 Martinez,J.D. UT BOS F PW AV Rg+
14 4 8 1 1.5 6
12Mx 14 8 14 0 3 3
PITCHER Pos Tm PT Er K Sv * Pk Rg Sk- Inj Ex Nw Ag Pk Rg
$24 Woodruff,Brandon SP MLW M ER KK INJ e
$10 Corbin,Patrick SP WAS F e KK
$13 Fried,Max SP ATL M e k e Rg-
$10 Morton,Charlie SP ATL M e KK Nw Ag
$10 McCullers,Lance SP HOU M e KK INJ
$3 Sale,Chris SP BOS P ER K+ INJ
$4 Pomeranz,Drew rp SDP ER K+ sv- Rg-
$7 Smith,Will rp ATL e K+ sv- Rg-
$12 Karinchak,James rp CLE E+ K+ SV EX
10 13 3 3 3
12Mx 7 7 3 0 2 2
Res Kikuchi,Yusei SP SEA M k Rg+ e
Res Margot,Manuel o879 TBR M SB
Res Keller,Brad SP KCR M -K Rg-
Res Castillo,Diego rp TBR ER KK sv- e Rg-
Res Tellez,Rowdy 30 TOR M p a inj- e

My earlier comment about staying on top of the targets applies here, because I didn’t. I am not a fan of online auctions; the interface makes it too easy to overbid unintentionally.

So, I’d like to have my $13 back from rostering Lance McCullers and Chris Sale. Those players pushed me way beyond my pitching targets; I could have used that fake money to buy another speedster with a decent batting average. Reserve pick Manuel Margot may end up coming in handy. Otherwise, my power game is sound; pitching is strong.

I fared pretty well on the Liabilities side, successfully limiting my injury exposure. I took on a bit more Experience risk with my batters; we’ll just have to see how that ends up. My negative regression candidates outnumber the positives, 7-3; I probably could have been more careful there as well.

Tout Wars

As one of the five members of the Tout Wars board, I am involved in the discussions about how this league can best contribute to the industry at large. One thing we discussed this winter was how leagues have been responding to baseball’s changing statistical environment. Folks have been asking us whether there is a reasonable replacement for the Wins category. There has also been some push to move from Saves to Saves-plus-Holds.

In the past, Tout has been proactive in implementing rules changes. Sometimes they’ve stuck; sometimes not. For instance, OBP replacing batting average is now standard in all Tout leagues; the Vickrey FAAB process was bounced after about five years. We decided it was worth testing to see how changing Rotisserie’s two core categories would affect the playability of the game. So we created a 12-team league as a laboratory. Innings and Saves+Holds replaced Wins and Saves. I was intrigued by the experiment so I joined the league. My roster:

BATTER Pos Tm PT Pw Sp Av * Pk Rg Sk- Inj Ex Nw Ag Pk Rg
6 Smith,Will CA LAD M P+ a * inj- EX
12 Garver,Mitch CA MIN M PW INJ e
11 Moustakas,Mike 1B CIN F PW a
10 Hayes,KeBryan 3B PIT F p s AV EX Rg-
19 Cron,C.J. CI COL M P+ a Pk+ Rg+ INJ Nw
4 McNeil,Jeff 2B NYM F A+ Rg-
1 Tatis,Fernando SS SDP F P+ S+ AV e
18 Hampson,Garrett MI COL M S+ e
2 Springer,George OF TOR F p AV * Nw
5 Martinez,J.D. OF BOS F PW AV Rg+
9 Rosario,Eddie OF CLE F p AV Nw
20 Straw,Myles OF HOU M S+ -PA EX
23 Hilliard,Sam OF COL F P+ s -A EX
21 McMahon,Ryan UT COL F p e
15 8 10 2 2.5 8
12Mx 14 8 14 0 3 3
Rd PITCHER Pos Tm PT Er K Sv * Pk Rg Sk- Inj Ex Nw Ag Pk Rg
3 Glasnow,Tyler SP TBR M ER K+ Rg+ INJ
7 Ryu,Hyun-Jin SP TOR F ER k inj-
8 Corbin,Patrick SP WAS F e KK
14 Yarbrough,Ryan SP TBR M
16 Eovaldi,Nathan SP BOS M e k Rg+ inj-
22 Hernandez,Elieser SP MIA M k e
13 Pomeranz,Drew rp SDP ER K+ sv- Rg-
17 May,Trevor rp NYM E+ K+ Pk+ Rg+ Nw
15 Yates,Kirby rp TOR ER K+ sv- Rg+ INJ Nw
8 12 2 0 3 1
12Mx 7 7 3 0 2 2
Res Ottavino,Adam rp BOS e KK sv- Rg+ Nw
Res Kopech,Michael SP CWS P e KK INJ EX
Res Reynolds,Bryan O PIT F p a Rg+ e
Res Tellez,Rowdy 1 TOR M p a inj- e
Res Montgomery,Jordan SP NYY M k Rg+ INJ e
Res Romano,Jordan rp TOR ER K+ inj- EX Rg-

Drafting from the No. 2 spot, this will likely be my only chance this year to own BABS’ No.1 poster boy, Fernando Tatis, Jr. I will relish every at bat.

Most of the competitors in this league had never played this format before, but they all caught on to the draft nuances. The handful of high-innings pitchers flew off the board early; the closer run – which we’ve come to expect around Round 6 – did not happen until Round 11. I grabbed a few high-skilled relievers after that run, which looked good until Pomeranz and Yates got hurt. Tucking Jordan Romano with my final reserve pick now looks like a prescient handcuff.

I decided to lean into my expectation that MLB teams will be managing their innings more closely this year, so chasing high-innings starters might not work. I drafted just one pitcher in the first six rounds, and just four in the first 12 rounds. I was content to fish in the middle rounds for arms.

Once again, I fared pretty well with the Liabilities. Injury exposure was fine. I once again took on excess Experience risk on the batter’s side — I have my favorites, I guess. A few negative skills pockmarks are disturbing but I had to chase speed late. This time, my positive regression candidates outnumbered my negative ones, 9-4. I don’t know if it will mean anything in the end, but it’s comforting nonetheless.