We’re now onto the fourth installment of our Keep or Cut decisions series. Jake has offered up his tough choices at CI/C and MI, I covered CI/C last week so now it is my turn to discuss MI. Usually, I make a point of looking at names Jake didn’t look at, but this week, I am going to start by (quickly) rehashing one of the players he covered with a slightly different take.
Jake Mailhot kicked off our series of articles reviewing our toughest keep or cut decisions on Monday, looking at some tough calls at C and CI. Today, I’ll follow his lead and go over my toughest calls at those spots, looking at one tough call each at 1B, 3B, and C. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week, I asked you what you wanted to see from my rankings this winter, and the results were pretty interesting. I got a ton of comments, messages on Slack, etc. It was great to hear how much those value those rankings provide (except to the one dude who clearly hates rankings; sorry to you and the anti-rankings community for any harm I cause you with my rankings this off-season) and how much people appreciate the one-line comments on each player. But there were some other pieces of feedback worth noting, and those have all shaped my plan for rankings this year.
With arbitration behind us, trade season upon us, and cut decisions looming, it is rankings season for your favorite team of Ottoneu writers. The last couple of seasons, you have gotten tiered rankings for Ottoneu FanGraphs points leagues both from Jake Mailhot and from me. We’ve focused on FanGraphs Points because it is the most popular Ottoneu format, and because the combination of our rankings and 5×5 rankings from other writers are enough to create a decent set of rankings for 4×4, 5×5 and SABR Points Ottoneu leagues. But you know what we haven’t done? Asked you what you want?
Last week, with Ottoneu Arbitration complete, we looked at where and how dollars were allocated, who was voted off, and more in an arbitration recap. Today, we’ll go deeper in another area, looking at arbitration by position.
How many Ottoneu managers out there woke up Saturday morning to sadly see their favorite players suddenly more expensive? Or maybe you stayed up Friday night to check in, despite the risk of nightmares caused by seeing your $5 Nick Kurtz now voted off your roster? Yes, Ottoneu Arbitration has come to an end and all those dollars are locked and all those vote offs are complete. The good news is, that also means the off-season is really underway and you can start making trades. But before we walk away from arbitration, let’s take a look at what happened.
Since the end of the season, I have been looking at players whose first– and second-halves were starkly different based on either points per game or points per inning pitched. We’ve covered one pitcher going each direction and a hitter who fell off a cliff, so today we turn our attention to a bat that broke out in the second half: Daylen Lile.
Calling people losers seems unkind, but they did, in fact, lose positional eligibility. Is there a better word to use? Position Eligibility Forfeiters? Decliners? I dunno. I am rolling with losers. It was just yesterday that we looked at players who gained positions in 2025; today we turn our attention to players who lost eligibility.
Every year, some player gains or loses eligibility and I totally miss it. Sometimes it’s because I didn’t have that player on any of my rosters and so I never noticed when they gained a new position. Sometimes it’s because I had a guy locked into a position this year and didn’t realize they weren’t playing their for their real team. To make sure I am caught up, I spend a little time pulling a positional eligibility change report – a list of all players who gained or lost a position (or both) in 2025.
Over the course of the season, I wrote 17 Ottoneu Hot or Cold Right Now articles. These articles, which Lucas Kelly and I tried to get out weekly, cover players who are being added, being dropped, being auctioned or just performing particularly well or particularly poorly. The goal is to analyze why the player is Hot or Cold at the moment and offer advice on what you should do. I have been writing these for a number of years now, but have never written a recap. That changes today.
