Posts Tagged ‘Ron Shandler’
Is 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…
Read MoreShortstop 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…
Read MoreAnchoring Aaron Judge
Each year, members have access to all the columns I write for ESPN Insider. They will appear here every Thursday or Friday. Many will include a BABS-relevant postscript. Enjoy. We are nothing if not beholden to our psychological biases. If I ask you how many home runs Aaron Judge will hit in 2018, you will…
Read MoreSecond base 2018: Focus on speed
With a scarce commodity like speed, second base is where you need to stock up. There are 10 multi-asset mid/full-time players who include speed as part of their skill set. You need to get at least one of them, even if that means bypassing an otherwise solid power commodity. You can get power anywhere. In…
Read MoreSpend deep, or not, for elite 1B skills in 2018
As always, this is a position loaded with excellent power options and good batting average foundation players. The nice thing is that you don’t need to pay big for the skills that this group offers. Sure, it would be nice to own some of the top names – and do feel free to invest, they’re…
Read MoreBABS 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:…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreFive Named to Rotisserie Hall of Fame
While the baseball universe waits for the always-controversial Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame announcement, the fantasy industry has named its 2018 picks for the Rotisserie Hall of Fame: Carlos Beltran, Cliff Lee, Joe Nathan, Alex Rodriguez and Johan Santana. They are the 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st and 102nd members of the…
Read MoreMinor 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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