Archive for September, 2016

Ottoneu Waiver Wire: September 2016

Ottoneu owners have less than 12 hours (or possibly 36) to add players via 48 hour auctions before the regular season ends, so the title of this post more accurately should have been “Ottoneu Waiver Wire: The Final Countdown”. Obviously any pickups made at this point won’t contribute in 2016 but are purely speculative with an eye towards next year, so let’s take a look at some players owned in less than 50% of ottoneu that might offer some keeper potential:

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Checking in on Eric Thames

The regular season ends Sunday, and most gamers are looking ahead toward next year at this point. Gamers in keeper leagues and dynasty leagues have the joy of managing their teams year round, and this post is largely directed at them. Of course, there’s info in here that will help those in re-draft leagues, but we’re months away from drafts. Back in early August, as one of my keeper league teams (closer to a dynasty league format with the ability to keep up to 15 players) languished near the bottom of the standings thanks in large part to being ravaged by injuries, I headed to ESPN’s free-agent pool to see who was available. I stumbled upon Gaby Sanchez — who last played in MLB in 2014 but spent the 2015 season in NPB — and the wheels began turning. I had no interest in adding Sanchez, but if he’s available, surely another former MLB player who headed overseas to revive his career would be, right? Nope. Eric Thames isn’t in the ESPN player pool. He’s not in Yahoo!’s, either. Alas, I couldn’t beat my savvy league mates to a potential steal of a keeper. If you play at another fantasy baseball provider, perhaps he’s available in the player pool there. Read the rest of this entry »


Field of Streams: Episode 250 – Live With Brad Johnson To Close It Out

Episode 250 – Live With Brad Johnson To Close It Out

In this live broadcast, Dylan Higgins and Brad Johnson do the last live recording of the year to discuss the tie between the Pirates and the Cubs, the controversial Cardinals’ walkoff, picking on Adam Plutko, numerous weather warnings, Freddy Galvis and the numerous bad hitters with plenty of homers, comparing Matt Kemp to Jermaine Dye to Yasmany Tomas, Carlos Gomez’s resurgence with the Rangers, Enrique Hernandez’s track record vs. Madison Bumgarner, bad lineups on fan appreciation day, and The Daily Grind Invitational.

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The Daily Grind: DFS, Streaming, and More for September 30

Agenda

  1. My Ballots
  2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard
  3. Daily DFS
  4. SaberSim Observations
  5. Tomorrow’s Targets
  6. Factor Grid

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A Minor Review of 2016: Texas Rangers

Welcome to the annual series that provides both a review of your favorite teams’ 2016 season, as well as a early look toward 2017. It also serves as a helpful guide for keeper and dynasty leagues.

Texas Rangers

The Graduate: Nomar Mazara (OF): Just 21 when the season began, Mazara had a breakout 2015 season and reached triple-A. He appeared in just a handful of minor league games in ’16 before getting called up to the Majors to fill in for injured players. When the players healed, the rookie remained. Not surprisingly given his limited experience, Mazara still has holes in his game (BB-K of 37-107) but he looks like a future star after slugging 20 home runs and flashing a potentially-plus hit tool in his debut season. Look for him to slug in the middle of the Rangers lineup for years to come.

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Roto Riteup: September 30, 2016

Well, this is it, folks. This is my final Roto Riteup of the regular season (I’m still figuring if I’ll do playoff editions or just switch into offseason mode right away). It’s been a trip, and I appreciate you reading and rolling with my advice on the news each morning, if you’ve done so. Zach and Justin are great dudes to work with, Eno a great dude to work under, and it’s resulted in a really fun year. So thank you.

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MASH Report: Turf Field Aging Curve

Andre Dawson became a free agent after the summer of 1986 and he had just one request, his new home field must have grass. After 10 years of playing on Montreal’s artificial turf, Dawson’s knees were destroyed forcing him to move to from center field to a corner outfield spot. I saw him in the 2012 All-Star celebrity softball game and it was painful to watch him move. No one knows for sure how much production was sapped from Dawson by the turf, but I will try to find out. Today, I am going to look into the past and possibly future on playing on how turf ages a player.

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Paul Sporer’s Last Chat of the Regular Season!

Chat will start just after 2 PM central.

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The Daily Grind: DFS, Streaming, and More for September 29

Agenda

  1. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard
  2. Daily DFS
  3. SaberSim Observations
  4. Tomorrow’s Targets
  5. Factor Grid

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Field of Streams: Episode 249 – We Have Punctuation

Episode 249 – We Have Punctuation

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss the last show together of the year, Robin Ventura’s nebulous future in Chicago, Green Day, Gary Sanchez improving against lefties, Austin Hedges’ career arc so far, another Hernan Iribarren reference, Dylan being wrong on Ryon Healy’s splits, Matt Kemp’s fantasy season, Tyler Chatwood being awesome, Dylan dropping Tyler Jankowski, and revisiting the preseason bold predictions.

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