Matt Joyce & Mitch Garver: Deep League Wire
August 23, 2017
Do you like M&M’s? Of course you do! Here are two hitter M&M’s for your pleasure.
Author Archive
Your Last Chance Home Run Buy List
August 22, 2017
We’re running out of time to improve our teams, so let’s use my xHR/FB rate equation (unadjusted for home park) to identify a handful of hitters potentially due for a home run spike over the remaining month-plus of the season.
Performing a Standings Analysis
August 21, 2017
This is an updated version of an article originally posted in 2013 and then reposted in 2015.
As we get closer to our league trade deadlines (if it hasn’t passed already!) and the final month of the season, and the effect any individual player will have on our place in the standings gradually diminishes, this time of year represents one of the final chances to improve our teams. It probably doesn’t need to be stated, but it’s important to reiterate for those still clinging to preseason values (I usually cling to them far longer than most, but even I know to give them up at this point!) — you need to essentially throw player values out the window and trade for needs based on your position in the various statistical categories. Don’t worry about overpaying if you still expect the trade to net you positive points. Obviously, you want to make a trade that brings back the greatest value in return and gain you the most standings points; but if the best return available to you is a so-called $15 player for your $25 player, it’s still easily worth accepting if you expect that it gains you points.
Danny Salazar is Back
August 17, 2017
I wasn’t a fan of Danny Salazar heading into the season. In fact, I foolishly made the bold prediction that Jaime Garcia would outearn him. HA! It wasn’t due to doubts about the quality of his stuff, obviously. It was concerns about the health of his arm paired with a walk rate that spiked in 2016. And I was right to question his health, though last year it was his elbow which worried me, this time he landed on the DL for his shoulder. And before hitting the DL, his ERA swelled to 5.40. But after missing over a month and a half, Salazar has returned to make five starts and has absolutely dominated like a completely new man. Or maybe just the man we always dreamed he could be.
Juan Minaya & Boog Powell: Deep League Wire
August 16, 2017
It’s time to speculate and to latch on to a new starter that could provide a boost to your counting stats.
A First Stab at Projecting Yoan Moncada
August 15, 2017
Yesterday, I shared with you a trade I made in the keeper league in which I took over for an inactive team a couple of months ago. It was a classic dump deal, with me acquiring who I considered one of the top two keepers in the league — super prospect Yoan Moncada. We’re still in the middle of August, so we’ll have another month and a half worth of Major League stats with which to evaluate Moncada and put together a 2018 projection. But I don’t want to wait a month and a half and you probably don’t either. So let’s take a stab at an early 2018 projection, along with a dollar value for that stat line.
Keeper League Dump Trades and League Integrity
August 14, 2017
About two months ago, I was asked by a member of the local league I commish to replace an inactive owner in the league he commishes. I replied that I don’t have the time to monitor another team, but if all I’m asked to do is respond to trade offers and ensure I maintain a healthy active lineup (I totally failed at that task), then sure, I’ll take over the team. This is a keeper league in its inaugural year that I was actually asked to join before the season began, but declined for several irrelevant reasons. The league rules are relatively standard, with mixed rosters, 14 teams, and a limit of three keepers. An auction was conducted to roster players and keepers could only be selected from players acquired via the auction, with a salary $5 above their auction price.
Bridwell, Blackburn, & Pruitt, Oh My — New AL SP Faces
August 10, 2017
As we march toward the final month of the season, we will continue to see many new faces in starting pitching rotations. Let’s discuss a trip of such in the American League.
Matt Olson & Nick Delmonico: Deep League Wire
August 9, 2017
If you’re fishing in the bottom of the ocean, or even the middle layer, you might uncover these hidden gems…
Last 30 Day Power Surgers
August 8, 2017
While we feel like pitchers change far more quickly than hitters, that doesn’t mean that hitters never adjust, regress, or improve during the season, moving their true talent level to another level. So let’s take a look at some of the more interesting names on the HR/FB rate leaderboard over the last 30 days.