If you had been told during the preseason that a lad named Evan Gattis would outearn his teammate Brian McCann and tie for third in home runs among catchers, you would have laughed out loud. Who the heck is Evan Gattis? I’m a Braves fan and even I had limited knowledge of Gattis’ existence (though I admit I’m not much of a prospect follower). Gattis finished 14th among catchers in fantasy value this year, despite recording just 354 at-bats. It might even be an understatement to claim that Gattis rose from obscurity.

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Episode 73
Today’s episode of The Sleeper and the Bust stars yours truly and features RotoGraphs editor Eno Sarris. We discuss a trio of starting pitchers embroiled in playoff baseball and take a first look at the catcher pool.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @mikepodhorzer or @enosarris on Twitter and tweet us any fantasy questions you have that we may answer on our next episode.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed.

Intro by DJ Sinton (no, contrary to popular belief, I do not moonlight as a rap star)

Approximately 47 min of joyous analysis.

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He didn’t accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for the end of season rankings, but Wilson Ramos still finished 16th in overall fantasy value according to CBS, despite just 287 at-bats. Because of time spent on the disabled list once again, it’s easy to miss the fact that he hit 16 home runs with a 27.6% HR/FB rate. That mark would have ranked second in baseball behind Chris Davis if he had qualified and easily led all catchers.

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Back in the preseason, my crystal ball was put to work nonstop. Aside from sharing with me what wacky events might occur and who may league the league in the various fantasy categories, it also suggested which players were undervalued and overvalued heading into the season. I published Pod’s Picks articles for every position, comparing my rank within the position to the RotoGraphs consensus. Let’s see how I did, starting with the catchers. Actual rank will be based on Zach Sanders’ value calculator; if the player did not meet the minimum plate appearance requirement (400) to be included in his values, then I will reference the player’s CBS rank.

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Episode 72
Today’s episode of The Sleeper and the Bust stars yours truly and features RotoGraphs editor Eno Sarris. We discuss a couple of Tigers and the starting pitcher value leaderboard all-stars.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @mikepodhorzer or @enosarris on Twitter and tweet us any fantasy questions you have that we may answer on our next episode.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed.

Intro by DJ Sinton (no, contrary to popular belief, I do not moonlight as a rap star)

Approximately 49 min of joyous analysis.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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When Yuniesky Betancourt earns more fantasy value than you, you know you’ve had a bad season. Or in other terms, if you decided to draft B.J. Upton this year, then you’re gonna have a bad time. According to Zach Sanders’ end of season dollar value calculator, Upton broke the hearts of Braves fans and his fantasy owners by generating negative fantasy value, ranking a sad 461st out of 482 players. When factoring in his ADP of 48, he ranked as the most value-sucking player according to our value leaderboard.

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Raise your hand if you expected Matt Carpenter to lead all of baseball with 126 runs scored (and not just lead, but trounce the next highest total by 17!) and tie for the lead in total hits recorded. Mrs. Carpenter, put your hand down. That’s what I thought, none of you. According to Zach Sanders’ end of season dollar value calculator, Carpenter earned nearly $26, ranking 19th overall. On the value leaderboard, he rated as the second most profitable hitter and ninth most profitable player behind a slew of starting pitchers. By any method you choose, it’s clear that nobody expected this.

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Episode 71
Today’s episode of The Sleeper and the Bust stars yours truly and features RotoGraphs editor Eno Sarris. We discuss playoff heroes and the value-based fantasy all-stars.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @mikepodhorzer or @enosarris on Twitter and tweet us any fantasy questions you have that we may answer on our next episode.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed.

Intro by DJ Sinton (no, contrary to popular belief, I do not moonlight as a rap star)

Approximately 48 min of joyous analysis.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Last week, I reviewed my bold hitter league leader picks from the preseason. Now it’s time to flip the coin and check how I did on the pitching side. For a refresher on my initial thought process for each choice, here is the original post.

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For the second year of its existence, I participated in the LABR mixed draft league. The draft took place in mid-February, way before I would ever normally draft a serious team. At that point, I was still adjusting my player projections and adding players I hadn’t developed a projection for, so it was no surprise that I felt much more confident in my Tout Wars team after drafting it a month later. Although I didn’t fare as well (winning both leagues would have been pretty cool!), I still finished second. Of course, that sounds slightly more impressive than it was, as the gap between second place and seventh place was a mere six points!

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