Comments on: Deep League Bench Strategy

By: Ijan

Ijan — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 06:24:42 +0000

Nice one. Think there are a lot of genuinely decnet people out there it’s just that everyone has a defensive shield around them most of the time and with the generally negativity that the media populate, we all think everyone is out to get us.Wonder what it would be like if everyone just treated people nicely until they proved to be an arse instead of the other way round.

By: Emilia

Emilia — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:59:15 +0000

When we lived in Edmonds, WA I used to drive down to the overlook near the beach and ferry and often eat my lunch there both when wtaeher was good or bad. I agree, there is something so neat about the water so soothing in nice wtaeher and so tumultuous in storms. Love it either way. It’s probably the one thing I miss most about where we live now it’s now a 15 20 minute drive to the water rather than a 5 minute drive. I’ve always lived within minutes of the water until now and grew up where the water was nearly always within view.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:28:56 +0000

Not saying antinyhg against your son, but my son is 2 months away from his 4 Birthday and he is way ahead of your little guy and my son is already about the same size right now as yours .He Breaks the siding on the house with tennis balls and the house is only 3 years old .He also sleeps with his bucket of balls ..

By: Sai

Sai — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:38:53 +0000

Dear Anonymous,Thanks for the feedback! Once Verlander puts up cvenscutioe monster seasons, he’ll rank higher in my books. He had an amazing 2011 to be sure but Halladay, Lee and Lincecum have done it for years, so I have to give them the edge for now.In regard to steals, I guess the way I see it is this: steals are an entire category unto themselves and I like to build my fantasy team with a nice balance of some power guys and some steal guys, so I feel guys that consistently deliver steals (i.e. Michael Bourn) are worth their weight in gold and deserve to be taken earlier than most. I put Ichiro higher not just for the steals but also the previously proven ability to put up a high batting average. Rather than simply writing off 2011 as the end of Ichiro’s elite outfielder status, I think he is too good (and too proud) to not have a big bounce back in 2012. It’s my personal opinion is all. Much like the guy that delivers the speed, I like to value guys that historically deliver the average as well.Speaking of which, the majority of the lists are based upon personal opinion. True, 2011 statistics are a big part of determining a player’s fantasy value, however I also go with my gut (as well as intangibles). Call me crazy but this is the way I see things: baseball players are human beings, not robots. As such, they are subject to ups (Verlander) and downs (Dunn). Players talented enough to make it to the major leagues will be able to bounce back or regress due to the (equally talented) opposing players gunning for them. I like to think that in baseball, things tend to regress to the mean.While Kershaw and Hamels are both top 15 pitchers, I think there is a lot of talent at the top of the list and things will shake out accordingly. In regard to Miggy, he still is one of the best first basemen in the bigs until someone comes along and knocks him off (same goes for Pujols).All in all, it proves one thing…. baseball is an amazing game with some very passionate and knowledgeable people that follow the game. You clearly fit into that category and I look forward to discussing the game (and the fantasy aspects of the game) together throughout the off season and into 2012.Thanks again for the feedback and thanks for adding value to the site. Have a great off-season as we look forward to spring training 2012!!

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:49:34 +0000

What you'd pay and what it's worth are two different things. I'd pay more too since the upside is high and the downside is low.
I can quantify this – will get to it soon…

By: Eric Kesselman

Eric Kesselman — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:02:40 +0000

Also with no reasearch (obviously!) that feels a shade low to me. I definitely would not sell two of my present spots at $.50 each, and I suspect I'd pay a buck and buy two extra spots. My guess is they're worth closer to $1 each.

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:21:18 +0000

Agree on DL rule. Wouldn't have drafted either Perez or Kalish without it (though, to be honest, I thought Perez was out for 30 days vs. 90-120 days – would not have drafted him for $4 had I'd known the severity of the injury)
I had done a post in the offseason on Ryan Braun where I estimate the value of a bench slot for the first 50 games of the season in a 12 team MLB with daily changes (http://razzball.com/what-is-ryan-braun-worth-in-2012/) – came out to $3-$4 of value.
But about 1/2 of that was driven by the ability to swap in hitters/pitchers on off days. Not an option in weekly leagues. Maybe you can still make a $1 worth of value per bench spot used to swap in and out pitchers with favorable matchups. Assuming I have only 1-2 pitching spots that I want to use for rotating players AND I'm employing this already with 1-2 bench spots, this value couldn't be attributed to a new opening on the bench.
Post-draft, I think the chance of a 'lottery ticket' coming in (someone coming up and delivering starter value) is very low. Maybe it's worth a $0.25-$0.50?
My best guess (without doing the research) is the $0.25 to $.50 range.

By: Eric Kesselman

Eric Kesselman — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:36:01 +0000

This was a really insightful article, thanks. The point about OF vs CI is kind of obvious in retrospect, but something I had not really considered before.

I think one important point to add is that with our DL rule (you can draft injured players and stash them without using a roster spot as long as they are on the DL) players like Sal Perez and Brett Anderson go way up in value. They're likely to contribute a good third to one half of a season, and unlike the prospect in waiting they dont eat up a bench slot.

Here's a question for you guys- what do you think a bench slot is worth in dollar terms? Do you factor that into your calculations at all with picking your bench or making trades that open up a bench slot?