As we finish a brief lull in the Ottoneu world – those 2.5 weeks after the end of the regular season and before the start of arbitration – we have a moment to take stock of what works and what doesn’t in our leagues, and think about how we can manage them better. On the Ottoneu community site, a manager asked about a “best practices” document (this was in relation to an Ottoneu basketball draft) and it seemed like now is an ideal time to talk about best practices, for both new leagues being spun up for 2022 and existing leagues that might want to align on some key stuff.

With that in mind, I spoke to a handful of Ottoneu veterans – players who have been in a bunch of leagues, been commissioners of a bunch of leagues, and know the game well. Here are 10 of the best practices they recommended.
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Bold predictions are one of my favorite parts of those last days before the season starts. Nothing is settled, anything is possible, and we get a moment to put a stake in the ground on something outside expectations. This year, my predictions were, as always, a mixed bag.

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Today (Friday, October 1) is the last day in 2021 you can start auctions in an Ottoneu league. The rules are set so that all adds take place before the season ends (that is, you can’t start an auction Sunday, which will end on Tuesday, two days after the end of the regular season). This means that as you are grooming your roster to get ready for the off-season, today is your last opportunity to add guys who might be keepers, might have trade value, or might just sit on your roster until you cut them again in January. To mark this occasion, we’ll look at some widely available players you can still try to pick up.
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This time of year, there tend to be a flurry of veteran players cut as Ottoneu managers either try to grab young upside for the future or dump underperforming veterans to add someone who they think can help them down the stretch. This presents a nice opportunity to find some buy-low candidates before the off-season even starts. Read the rest of this entry »

Things either slow down or heat up this time of year, depending on your league. In playoff leagues, action can be fast and furious, as the remaining teams scramble for streamers, fill-ins and generally anyone who can throw points up on the board. In year-long leagues, sellers have already targeted the most interesting prospects, some teams may have checked out, and the teams at the top may not need to jockey for position much.

But there are still some interesting names popping up in auctions right now, and the four with the most live auctions – Josh Lowe, Frank Schwindel, A.J. Alexy, and Eric Lauer – worth taking a look at before you have to make a call on them in the next 48 hours.
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As we push towards the stretch run, almost every league I am in has a contender desperately pleading for innings on their trade block. Between injuries and underperformance and weird drop-offs in production after the crackdown on sticky stuff, there just does not seem to be enough pitching to go around.

Last week I covered free-agent position players to help you fill your games played; today we look at pitchers rostered in less than 50% of leagues who can help you fill out your innings pitched. Reader beware: If you need starting pitching, the choices are not good.
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Even though it comes from a football coach, the saying, “The best ability is availability” absolutely applies to Ottoneu baseball leagues, particularly points leagues. Having the best players won’t do you much good if you aren’t able to fill out all your games played.

Just as an example, in one of my points leagues, the best offense is putting up 5.72 points per game. The second best is putting up 5.61. For the second-place team, at that scoring rate, a full season of 162 games per position at all 12 positions would be 10,905.84 points. If the team at 5.71 P/G ends the year having left 35 games on the table, that would be enough to fall behind the other team in total offensive points. Put another way, those teams are separated by 138 points right now. Leaving 24 games on the table could make up that difference.

As injuries, COVID cases, and other issues increase, Ottoneu managers should be searching for players they can add to help max out that 162 games player per position. Here are some names that are rostered in less than 50% of leagues who can help you out.
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This is a fun time of year for fantasy prospects. Guys are getting traded left and right, creating conversations about players like Ezequiel Duran who otherwise might have been ignored (0.291% rostered in Ottoneu right now and being auctioned in one league). Those trades are also opening up space for other players to get a shot – might we see Andres Gimenez back in Cleveland soon?

At the same time, the players selected in the draft a few weeks back are starting to sign, making them eligible to be added in Ottoneu leagues. It’s no surprise that the current leader in live auctions right now (he is being added in nearly 60 leagues) is Jack Leiter, who was just added to the Ottoneu player pool Wednesday afternoon. Henry Davis has been added in more than 10% of leagues. Marcelo Mayer has been added in nearly 7% of leagues. The tough call is what to do with these guys if they are free agents or up for auction in your leagues.

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Last week I outlined how I plan for the trade deadline and earlier this week I walked through a points league example. Today, I walk through a roto league example.

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Last week, I wrote about Ottoneu trade deadline preparation and promised I would come back with case studies this week: One about a points league and one about a roto league. Today, I’ll take a look at my team in 90% Mental, league 670, which is a SABR Points league.

My team, Fisher Bunnies, is currently in third place and has some serious ground to make up if I am going to win. Determining how likely I am to make that up and what path I can take to do it will help me set my strategy for the trade deadline.

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