Yesterday, I introduced you to Six Picks and, based on a big jump in the number of entries, it seems like there is some interest in Ottoneu’s free, simple, and fun daily fantasy game. And that means that there is probably some interest in my thoughts on strategy for Six Picks. Plus, I might have mentioned yesterday that I would share thoughts on how I play, so I guess I should do that.
Most of the Ottoneu coverage in this space is dedicated to your standard, 12-team leagues, whether they are head-to-head or season-long. We occasionally dabble in Ottoneu Prestige League, as well. But I don’t know that we have ever covered Ottoneu’s third baseball game – Six Picks. Today, that changes.
The 2023 version of Ottoneu Hot Right Now will include three different sections:
The FanGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.
The 2023 version of Ottoneu Hot Right Now will include three different sections:
The FanGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.
The majority of MLB starting pitchers have still made just one start, but in your Ottoneu leagues (actually, in all your leagues), managers are making decisions about who to speculate on. Is that first great start a sign of the next Kyle Wright breakout? Or another Kyle Gibson (9.51 P/IP in his first start; 3.35 the rest of the way)? With just one start, it is hard to know who you can trust, but if you wait until you are sure, someone else will have grabbed these arms already. Who should you bid on and who should you pass?
Much like Hot Right Now, Cold Right Now will be a weekly Ottoneu feature, primarily written by either me or Lucas Kelly, with a focus on players who are being dropped or who maybe should be dropped in Ottoneu leagues. Hot Right Now will focus on players up for auction, players recently added, and players generally performing well. Cold Right Now will have parallel two of those three sections:
There won’t be a corresponding section to Current Auctions because, well, there is nothing in cuts that correspond to current auctions.
It’s an annual tradition to sit down to write this and feel like every prediction is either too bold or not bold enough, at which point I adjust them all and then they flip – the “too bolds” becoming too tepid and vice versa. This year I am just sticking to my initial predictions and living with the consequences. So enjoy my ten bold predictions – and feel free to share more in the comments!
This is the third installment of this annual Ottoneu tradition. In 2021, I broke the 12 players I rostered most into six buckets of types of players I look for. In 2022, I covered the five players I rostered in more than half of my Ottoneu leagues. This year will look more like last year – the 2021 piece still basically holds true, even if the names have changed, so no need to rehash it.
I’ve been vocal about this in the past and I’ve been asked to explain why I am so adamant about not price enforcing. The simple reason is because the risk isn’t worth the reward. But I can offer more detail than that.
Sometimes in this game of ours, you make a mistake and it comes back to bite you almost immediately. The pitcher you should have benched who gives up a first-inning HR. The trade you make for the injury-prone pitcher who hits the IL the next day.
Sometimes, however, those mistakes are a slower boil, taking their time to show you what you did wrong. This is a story of one of that kind of mistake – with the advice that you just can’t worry about it.