One of the interesting challenges with a 40-man roster in Ottoneu is figuring out the best way to use that depth. Having 18 bench spots means you can carry a deep roster of MLB talent, a bunch of upside players, or anything in between. Which means that you, almost inevitably, have players on your roster that you just aren’t using.

Ottoneu’s Team Production page is a great way to figure out who you aren’t using and start to make some decisions about how to handle those players.

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Monday afternoon, Niv Shah announced a new feature on Ottoneu’s Six Picks: The Big Board. This is a super fun feature and it is a good excuse to do something I haven’t done since last April: Write about Six Picks.

When I wrote about Six Picks last year, I noted that it is “free, simple and fun” and that I don’t exactly play to win – I play to have fun. But there is a second reason (and one which the Big Board helps) I play and look at Six Picks daily: I think it makes me a better fantasy player.

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Cold Right Now (CRN) is a weekly Ottoneu feature focused on players being dropped or who should be dropped in Ottoneu leagues. In this feature we will break down players into three sections:

1. Roster Cuts: Analysis of players who have been cut in a high percentage of leagues.
2. Recent Injuries: A look at the implications of recent injuries (not all, just some high-profile ones).
3. Cold Performers: Players with a low P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

This article will typically run once per week and will help fantasy managers keep track of players that need to be given extra attention to improve rosters.

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I wanted to refer to the Format Wars in this article, but they aren’t really wars. They are barely skirmishes. They are mostly friendly debates.

But there is debate! Head-to-Head vs. Seaon-long? Roto vs. points? If you pick roto, are you into 4×4 or 5×5? For points, do you go SABR or FanGraphs? I am happy to weigh in on all of these questions, but today we have a prime opportunity to discuss the two points formats and what makes them unique, so we are going to do that.

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The season is going full speed ahead and while it is still too soon to draw any grand conclusions from early performances, that won’t stop us from trying to find an edge here or there. Being quick to grab a potential breakout performance comes with risk. You have to make a cut to add that player. You have to spend budget.

But acting fast also comes with upside. A guy who looks risky now and therefore only costs $1-$2 may look less risky in a couple of weeks and cost you $5 or more. And so we, our first truly in-season Hot Right Now of 2024. Read the rest of this entry »

Honestly, I feel bad writing this. It’s been a day. Actually, not even a day – I am at my laptop hours before the first pitch of the first games of the year (yeah, Seoul Series, whatever, today is Opening Day) and I am already reporting on players who are being cut? Ouch.

But, whether we like it or not, players are being cut, and it is my duty to report on those players.

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It’s Opening Day! I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, “No, Opening Day was last week in Seoul.” Or maybe you are thinking, “No, Opening Day is tomorrow.”

But you are wrong because today is Opening Day…for Ottoneu Hot/Cold Right now. Yes, we are bringing back everyone’s favorite twice-weekly series, looking at the movers and shakers of the Ottoneu universe. Who is getting cut? Who is being added? Who should I bid on? Who is tearing the cover off the ball? This is where you find out.

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My wife asked me recently how much time I put into Ottoneu and I realized that a) I didn’t know and b) I didn’t want to tell her. So I took a few minutes to think through what I do each day and how long it takes me and realized that sharing my routine might help others think about how they manage their Ottoneu teams.

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It depends. Thank you for reading my article, I hope you enjoyed it.

Ok, snarky intro aside, this question is coming up a lot lately and it is a good question and one worth considering. Gerrit Cole is, unquestionably, one of the best pitchers on earth. He is a bit better for 5×5 than he is for Ottoneu Points or 4×4 because he can be a bit homer-prone (he wasn’t in 2023, but HR/FB rate is noisy and I expect his will come back up), but that’s beside the point.

He is a legit ace, one of very few reliable aces in the game, and people paid accordingly. And now he is hurt. So what do you do?

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For the fourth straight year, I spent some time once my drafts concluded compiling my rosters to see what players I roster the most. This year, I again have seven Ottoneu leagues, but only 12 total leagues (down two from last year thanks to cutting out NFBC), and for today’s article I’ll focus on the players I roster most in Ottoneu leagues.

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