Shortstop marketplace offers options at every draft stage

The top of the shortstop leaderboard offers an ample mix of power, speed and batting average. Here, as with 2Bmen, it is always useful to grab the speed when you can. But this group also is littered with health and experience risk, so you do need to exercise some caution. Multi-asset commodities run 20 deep…

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BABS Baseball 2018 (BABL)

Okay, let’s get started. The goal is to create a league format that: Captures the skill and risk categories of BABS Offers the best end-of-season report card on how well we did at assessing and projecting performance. Here are the basics: 4×4 Rotisserie draft & hold Standard snake draft 10 teams, both leagues 50-player roster:…

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The true test of BABS

Success in any one season of playing fantasy baseball is a combination of two things: skill in drafting a roster plus skill in managing that roster during the season. At its core, this process might be described as the combination of: a) comprehensive off-season research and analysis, plus b) reactionary, small sample reflex decisions. For…

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A New Year for BABS

As each year passes, BABS gets more and more fully formed. Last year, we got a quick peek at what she looks like. This year, the shy one will show herself a little bit more. In 2018, the BABS database reports are now automated and customizable from the get-go, and the display is more user-friendly.…

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Minor League BABS

What is the difference between Austin Slater and Boog Powell? Looking only at their 2017 major league stats, one might conclude, “pretty much nothing.” PLAYER               AB     HR     SB     AVG Austin Slater       117     3       0    .282 Boog Powell         117     3       0    .282 BABS viewed their 2017 performances likewise, awarding them identical ratings of… well, nothing. No assets, no…

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Final BABS Ratings

The final BABS ratings for 2017 have been posted to the database. Site members have access to that now. While I am working on the Baseball Forecaster (order now!), things will continue to be quiet here. However, if you have any insights about the 2017 season – and BABS in particular – feel free to post…

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Coming to terms with who BABS is

She’s my mistress, I know. Many of us have found great value in BABS, but we have also been trying to make her into someone else. We’re not satisfied with all that she provides us; we need her to give us more. It took me a few weeks in the Mediterranean to realize that maybe…

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Searching for asset group values

For the most part, BABS has done well so far this year. It has not been an easy road. The skyrocketing disabled list visits have skewed performance metrics and laid waste to playing time expectations. For instance, Max Scherzer, Noah Syndergaard and Yu Darvish all came into the season in the (ER,K+) asset group, but…

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New views on in-season BABS

We are 10 weeks in and the BABS database was updated over the weekend. Your survey results have gotten me to rethink how we use BABS during the season, so I’ve started to reimagine different presentations of the data. First, some clarifications from recent reader emails. The “2017p” line in the database represents our pre-season…

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