GOOD LUCK IN 2024!
Our content is complete for the 2024 season. We’ll post final season statistics and BABS ratings in October.
The BABS Draft Game Plan has a new look for the 2024 season. Our offerings have been restructured to target your needs better and deliver the content in a more concise, more accessible, and more useful manner for your fantasy roster construction. And for a potentially lower cost!
The BABS Draft Game Plan is no longer a subscription product. It is now a single suite of reports, published initially on January 26 and updated twice during the pre-season (February 23 and March 15). You can purchase any or all of the updates individually based on your draft needs. Each suite costs $9.95.
ORDER THE MARCH 15 UPDATE NOW
What each suite of reports contains:
Our regular data offerings — Access to the BABS database, Master Spreadsheet, and FISH List: This does not change.
Beyond this, there is a set of four reports that look at the player pool based on expected value, draft stage and risk. These new reports will attack the process in a way that will be more useful for you, providing valuable planning tools to help you identify the best draft day targets. The four reports: Core Players Report, Positional Market Analysis, Skills/Risk Market Analysis, and End-Game Target Report. Think of these reports as input to marking up your Master Spreadsheet or FISH List with the best players to build your roster around.
Core Players Report is a market analysis of the top 60 players being drafted, essentially all $20-plus purchases, those who will form the foundation of your team. The below example shows how it will look. For each player, you’ll see their full BABS rating; listed underneath will be several alternatives, showing what you’d be giving up or gaining by targeting another similar player later in the draft.
How to read this: If you miss out on drafting Corbin Carroll or are looking for a lower cost alternative, here are some other options, along with what you may be gaining or losing. The alternatives are then listed in ADP order. Here, Turner provides the same skill set but lesser risk if you have a lower first round pick. With Harris, you’ll sacrifice some speed and add some injury risk. McLain and Lowe are further downgrades, but their skills shape is similar at a fraction of the cost.
By looking at each core player this way, you can immediately evaluate your options should you get sniped or outbid. This helps you draft the best players to form the backbone of your roster.
Positional Market Analysis shifts the focus to a by-position look at the marketplace. These are essentially BABS-infused positional depth charts.
This report also introduces some new metrics to our analytical arsenal. BABS has always been reluctant to quantify elements of the system that are prone to wide error bars. However, some stats are sometimes important for comparison purposes, even if the raw data itself is less useful.
So, this year we’re introducing a Skills Index (Sx) and Risk Index (Rx). For each, we set a baseline from the top 350 players in each update and scale everyone else from there. This allows us to publish indices for draft rounds so you know where it is safest to fish. Here is a sample, at the top of the catching pool:
The positional reports then dig deeper into each player, position-by-position. These are market-drive reports so they are in ADP order, but allow you to see when there are better picks further down the list. Those top 10 catchers:
According to this early sample report, Rutschman may be the first catcher off the board, but there are several other options that have at least as much value to your roster.
Skill/Risk Market Analysis contains three charts. The first focuses on each round/dollar tier of the draft, identifying the balance between skills and risk for 10, 12 and 15-team leagues. Presenting this in a round-by-round format, you will be better able to evaluate your options at each stage of the draft.
The second chart is a leaderboard of the players with the best skills/lowest risk indices. The third chart is a leaderboard of the best skills/highest risk players.
Here is a sample:
End-Game Target Report looks at 600 of the highest-skilled players outside the Top 350 — essentially the ones who you’ll be prospecting for your reserve list, especially in very deep leagues. Players are sorted by skill, without regard to playing time expectations, which are highly variable at this stage. ADPs are listed just for show; they are irrelevant at this point of the draft.
ORDER THE MARCH 15 UPDATE NOW
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What will happen to my subscription? If you have a current subscription, it will continue to run until your expiration date. You will be able to access any of the reports published during the term of your subscription and will receive an email prior to each update with a link to access the reports. Once your subscription expires, you will have to purchase any reports that are published afterwards. Make sure you read our emails — they will contain important information about how to access each report.
We’ve tried to redirect subscribers away from the old subscription option but some of you have still found a way to resubscribe. Those subscriptions will expire on December 31, 2024 regardless of the date that appears on your account.
I have an active subscription but I did not receive an email with instructions. Check your expiration date here. If it is past your expiration date, purchase the current report. If it is still within your expiration date, contact us here.
How will I access these reports? When you purchase the individual updates, you will receive a PDF file with a link to the page containing all the reports. If you are on a subscription, you will receive an email with the link when the update is published. Again, make sure you read our emails to have access to these reports.
It sounds like there will be only three updates instead of four? Yes, that’s correct. We found that there were rarely any changes of note between the late February and early March updates, so we’ve essentially eliminated the early March update and moved the late March report up a week.
Will I be able to purchase all three reports at a package rate? Unfortunately, no. You can reasonably purchase one report and get everything you need. Each subsequent report just updates any interim changes.
Will I still be able to get the BABS ratings in RotoLab? Yes. However, there will only be three updates instead of four.
Will there be any minor league coverage? None specifically. BABS needs a lot of good data in order to provide usable ratings, and even Major League Equivalent stats are not deep enough to be reliable. Minor league skills are incorporated into the regular ratings, which is what you’ll need for drafting purposes anyway.
Will there be any strategy articles? No. Each year’s strategy pieces tended to repeat the tactics outlined in The BABS Project ebook, just with new players. Our new array of reports will help you target players yourself, and you can always look back at past articles for tips on implementation.
Will you continue to run the BABS fantasy leagues? Yes, however, the deadline was March 9. Look for us next year.
Will there be any in-season updates? No, however, there will be a final database update at the end of the season.
If you have any other questions, contact me here.