Author: Ariel Cohen | Page 3 | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Beat the Shift Podcast – Middle Infield Episode w/ Mike Gianella

by Ariel Cohen

February 4, 2025

The Middle Infield episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Mike Gianella

Strategy Section

3rd & 4th Rounds
- Should you continue to avoid [downside] risk in the 3rd and 4th rounds?
- Is it too early to take a closer in rounds 3 & 4?
When should you shift your emphasis from being risk averse to risk indifferent to risk seeking?
- Health Risk vs. Performance Risk vs. Playing Time Risk
How to handle position runs mid-draft?
- Are position runs a factor in pre-draft KDS selections?
Middle Infield strategy
- Player pool
- Which position gets a bigger replacement level / positional scarcity bump – 2B, SS or 3B?

ATC Undervalued Players

Middle Infielders
- Luis Arraez 1B/2B
- Luis Garcia 2B
- Xavier Edwards SS
- Jeremy Pena SS
- Zach Neto SS
- Bryson Stott 2B
- Gleyber Torres 2B
- Tyler Fitzgerald 2B*/SS
- Brendan Donovan 2B/OF

Injury Update

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Corner Infield Episode w/ Frank Stampfl

by Ariel Cohen

January 28, 2025

The Corner Infield episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Frank Stampfl

Strategy Section

1st & 2nd Rounds
- What should you accomplish in the 1st two rounds?
- Do you need to draft a starting pitcher in the first few rounds of drafts?
- Overvalued players
  - Should you draft catchers in the first two rounds?
  - Ohtani at 1.1 ?
- Undervalued players
  - Freddie Freeman’s consistency
- Players drafted outside the first two rounds, but should be drafted earlier.
- The Top 3
  - Why Elly De La Cruz should and shouldn’t be considered to be drafted just outside the top 3.
The ATC Volatility Metrics
Corner Infield strategy
- Player pool

ATC Undervalued Players

Corner Infielders
- - Vinnie Pasquantino 1B
  - Alec Bohm 3B
  - Yandy Díaz 1B
  - Luis Rengifo 2B/3B
  - Nolan Arenado 3B
  - Andrew Vaughn 1B
  - Michael Busch 1B
  - Ryan McMahon 3B

Injury Update

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Catcher Episode w/ Erik Halterman

by Ariel Cohen

January 22, 2025

The Catcher episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Erik Halterman

Strategy Section

Snake Drafts
- How to generally prepare
- How has preparation changed over the past five years?
- Drafting “naked”
- Drafting early in the season (January) vs. drafting late in the season (March)
- Create a do not draft list?
- Draft risky pitchers?
- Proactive vs. Relative approach
  - ADP Chicken
- How to use ADP
- How to handle risk?
  - In the aggregate
  - Per player
    - Risk-adjusted pricing
  - Power drafters (playing in multiple leagues)
  - Binary risks
    - Free agents in mono leagues
Catcher strategy
- Player pool
- The value of catchers
  - Catcher bump

ATC Undervalued Players

Catchers
- - Salvador Perez
    - Is Perez worthy of the Hall of Fame?
  - Logan O’Hoppe
  - Gabriel Moreno
  - Austin Wells
  - Luis Campusano

Mailbag

Injury Update

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Auction Strategy Episode w/ Marc Winokur – Part 2

by Ariel Cohen

January 16, 2025

The Auction Strategy (Part 2) episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Marc Winokur

Auction Strategy Section

Hitter vs. Pitcher split
- For valuations
- For allocations
Money management in an auction
In-draft inflation
- Calculate or feel it?
- Keeper league inflation
Endgame
- How many $1 players should you look to acquire?
- Is it good to have the hammer?
Nominations
- Multi-round plan
- Nominations are very important
- Tips
Bidding
- Timing, frequency & speed
- NFBC’s Max Bid button
Scouting players

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Auction Strategy Episode w/ Marc Winokur – Part 1

by Ariel Cohen

January 10, 2025

The Auction Strategy (Part 1) episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Marc Winokur

Auction Strategy Section

Differences between auctions and snake drafts
- Benefits of auctions
- Difference in preparation
Advice for new auction players
The most important items to keep track of during an auction
Working with a partner
How online auctions differ from in-person auctions
How to construct market values
- What to do for non-standard formats
How to construct player values
How to construct strike prices for buying players

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Episode w/ Gary Sheffield Jr.

by Ariel Cohen

January 3, 2025

The Gary Sheffield Jr. episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Gary Sheffield Jr.

Mets & Yankees

Juan Soto signing
Who will be playing the corners for the Mets & Yankees in 2025?
How do the Mets bridge the contract gap with Pete Alonso?
- Current 1B Market
Which New York bullpen is currently better?
Will the Yankees sign more hitters in the offseason?
What will Marcus Stroman’s role be on the Yankees?
Will Clay Holmes make it as a starter for the Mets?
Are the Mets done acquiring starting pitching?
Will the Mets trade a few of their young prospects to fill needed holes for 2025?

Injury Guru’s Trivia of the Week

Gary Sheffield’s homeruns

Personal Stories

Stealing bases in the majors
Hitting batting practice off of Rickey Henderson
Becoming a Yankees fan
- George Steinbrenner’s influence
Becoming a podcaster
Favorite team growing up

Sleeper MLB team picks for 2025

Where will Roki Sasaki sign?

Injury Update

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Beat the Shift Podcast – First Pitch Arizona 2024 LIVE!

by Ariel Cohen

November 11, 2024

The First Pitch Arizona 2024 LIVE! episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guests: Chris Towers & Sara Sanchez

Strategy Section

Projections
- Are projections getting more accurate?
- Are projections more important to use than ever?
- What blindspots of projections do we adjust for well?
- Which blindspots do we still not take into account properly?
  - Park factors
- Prospects – Should we take into account (good) playoff performances?
Mark Vientos
- 2025 Ranking
In-Season
- When should we pick up “hot” players off of the waiver wire?
- When should we drop “cold” players off of our rosters?
- FAAB Spending
  - How to distribute FAAB dollars throughout the season.
Stolen bases
- Will the current stolen base landscape / levels continue in 2025?
Elly De La Cruz
- Many of us took the “L” on not drafting him in 2024. Was this the right process to pass on him?
- Was 2024 his ceiling?
- What kind of regression will he exhibit in 2025?
- Where should we draft him in 2025 drafts?
Agree or disagree
- Luis Arraez will win another batting title in his career.
- Shohei Ohtani won’t be able to replicate his projdction in 2024.
  - Will pitching hurt his offensive production?
- Juan Soto will get at least $700m in free agency.

2025 First Round

Who is a player that will be drafted in the first round of 2025 that is overvalued?
Who is a player that will not be drafted in the first round of 2025 that should be?

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Final Two Weeks w/ Ray Murphy

by Ariel Cohen

September 13, 2024

The Final Two Weeks episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Ray Murphy

First Pitch Arizona

League Updates

Strategy Section

Final Two Weeks of the Season
- Is there a limit to who you might sit in the final two weeks of the season?
- How much should you churn your roster?
- How much should real life MLB team standings / playoff pushes factor into your roster decisions?
- Should you take a chance on stashing a returning injured player for the final week?
- What is the bar for dropping injured or underperforming players?
- How much should playing decisions be based on year to date stats vs. last 30 days stats vs. projected stats?
- Gaining points vs. defending points
  - What and when should you emphasize each?
- FAAB
  - How to allocate your FAAB spending for the final two weeks of the season?
- Multi-position eligible players
  - How important are they in the final weeks of the season?
  - How to best utilize your roster to take account of them