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BABL Exhibition draft results
Our group of 10 intrepid explorers have begun their journey, taking BABS Baseball (BABL) out for its initial voyage. We have just completed the first leg, wrapping up our slow draft last week. As a refresher, here are the basics of this new, BABS-inspired league format: 4×4 Rotisserie draft & hold Categories are HR, SB,…
Read MoreUsing risk to your advantage on draft day
This is my weekly article from ESPN Insider. During the course of his career, Edwin Encarnacion has had a pre-draft ADP in the Top 15 only once, slotting in at No. 10 in 2015. He has earned first round value only once as well, pulling up the bottom at No. 15 in 2012. Yet Encarnacion…
Read MoreBABS evaluates the young crop
By Justin Cary Predicting a full year of a player can be a risky endeavor when you only have one year of historical data. BABS’ Experience liability tells you that the performance of these players is not set in stone and that their skill sets could look different a year from now. So which young…
Read MoreBABS Baseball Leagues are open now
BABS-inspired fantasy leagues are now taking entries. These are 10-team, 50-round 4×4 Draft & Hold leagues (HR, SB, Batting average, Plate Appearances, ERA, K, Saves+Holds, IP). Details below. Deadline March 16. For RonShandler.com members only, https://babsbaseball.com/downloads/babs-baseball-league-2018/
Read MoreUsing BABS in deeper leagues
BABS is great, but she’s not perfect. She works best with players who generate statistically significant performance samples. BABS likes playing time. As such, she works like a charm in most standard mixed league formats. But once we start dipping into those batters likely to see just a few hundred plate appearances, or rarely-used pitchers,…
Read MoreIdentifying first round fails
This is my weekly article from ESPN Insider. It is possible to lose your draft in the first round, so you would expect that we’d be experts in identifying those elite players. We’re not. Over the past 14 years, our success rate at projecting which players will earn Top 15 value is about 35 percent.…
Read MoreNo need to overpay for closer roles
When it comes to the BABS philosophy of players being “more alike than they are different,” there is no better demonstration of this than with relief pitchers. There are about three dozen relievers who have a shot at about 10 or more saves; about 20 who are good bets for 30-plus. However, the top dozen…
Read MoreStarters offer stable vets at the top, but lots of health risk
Over 90 percent of BABS’ top 25 starting pitchers are established veterans. This would seem to lend needed stability to these volatile cornerstone players. However, only about 44 percent of them are free of any health concerns. Some Asset Groups are healthier than others – (ER,KK) has good pickings but the bottom of (ER,k) and…
Read MoreIs Clayton Kershaw still a first-rounder?
This is my weekly article from ESPN Insider. The talent curve at the beginning of a draft is very steep. In Rotisserie dollars, the variance between the no. 1 pick (Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, whoever) and the pick at the end of round 2 could be as much as $20. Value flattens considerably the deeper…
Read MoreOutfielders provide big skill, but lots of health risk
The top of the outfield food chain is similar to last year – lots of skill, lots of risk. There is no shortage of power, good average and some nice extreme speed options. But seven of the top 10 players have injury risk, and five of those seven are rated as major risks. Dropping to…
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