The BABL Manipulation, part 2

So, we ran into an issue with the BABS Baseball (BABL) exhibition, described here. Briefly, one of the owners, Matt, figured out that he could nearly guarantee success in two categories (IP, K) if he completely eschewed one (Sv+Hld). I asked the BABL owners four questions: Is this a flaw in the construction of the…

Read More

The BABL Manipulation, Part 1

With the exception of my home H2H league (where I’m currently in first place by 9.5 games) my fantasy league performance this year has been awe-uninspiring. My team has sunk to 9th place even in the BABS Baseball (BABL) exhibition, a league I designed where one would think I’d do reasonable well. Nope. A refresher on…

Read More

A BABS Perspective on Under and Overachievers

by Chris Doyle By now we’ve had a solid couple of months to analyze player performance. On the hitting side, we’ve seen plenty of standouts and disappointments, but when it comes to BABS’ assessments there are some clear underachievers and overachievers. Here are six players whose performances have defied expectations, one way or another: Underachievers…

Read More

Turning over the Tout Apple Cart

When the Florida Marlins purged their roster this past off-season, a reason given was that their cache of stars was not winning them anything. One could argue that acquiring a few pieces could have been the quicker path to contention, but other teams have had success by tearing everything down and starting over. I am…

Read More

BABS June 2018 Update – Pitchers

See the latest BABS update here. by Chris Doyle Strikeouts continue to rise in baseball, which means you’ve got more options when it comes to building your balance sheet. Averaging a strikeout per inning is no longer special and is almost a requisite for being considered a fantasy starter. With that said, here are some…

Read More

BABS June 2018 Update – Batters

Access the second BABS update of the season here. by Chris Doyle We’re two months into the season and things are finally starting to crystalize. Have we learned anything after the first third of the schedule? Let’s see if we can draw any conclusions. Cream of the crop Mookie Betts (PW, SB, A+) Mike Trout…

Read More

How to avoid the complacency of success

by Chris Doyle When we think of fantasy baseball advice, it’s typically the tough times that call for assistance. What’s often overlooked is the success scenario. It usually goes something like this: “I have no holes to fill right now, this is awesome.” “Look how great my team is doing! I knew I nailed the…

Read More

Tourniquet

The following article was written 10 years ago, at BaseballHQ.com, during the season that was filmed for the “Fantasyland” documentary. In honor of my current last place Tout Wars team, and Memorial Day, I present this redux.  I woke up on the morning of April 24 to find my Tout Wars team (12-team AL) in…

Read More

BABS Mining for Closers

by Justin Cary Closers continue to be a difficult game to maneuver. Here are a few interesting insights and speculations for in-season acquisition. The elite (E+, K+, SV) closers group includes many names you’d expect: Aroldis Chapman, Wade Davis, Edwin Diaz, Brad Hand, Craig Kimbrel and Bud Norris. Most were highly touted coming into the…

Read More

BABS charts early rookie progress

by Chris Doyle As Ron pointed out in his piece on Minor League BABS back in January, there’s one weakness in BABS’ analysis that can group players together who otherwise may not actually share similar skill sets. The example he cited was Austin Slater and Boog Powell, who had identical major league stats in 2017…

Read More