I posit that some acronyms are ridiculous. For example, BATNA engenders images of the very worst of the Batman series. You know, like little inexplicable gremlins playing ice hockey with a giant diamond in a bank while Arnold Schwarzenegger rampages. Why doesn’t my bank have massive diamonds sitting out in the open?

However, BATNA can play a useful role in our ongoing discussion about spying and negotiating. It stands for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement, which sort of defines itself. For fantasy baseball purposes, it means: “what will I do if I don’t make this trade.”

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Yesterday, we discussed how to be a spymaster in your league. It’s a role that’s both fun and rewarding. As usual, we had a good chat session in the comments. I was also emailed a reminder of a previous life – an article titled “Negotiation is not the same as haggling.”

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Last week, I wrote about collusion. The comments are a reminder that collusion is mostly a straw man. When it does occur, it’s usually a league conspiring against an individual rather than two owners working out a lopsided traded. Those seemingly one-sided swaps happen because somebody has divergent opinions from the fantasy norm. Either they really like a player who isn’t drawing much attention, or they’re eager to sell high on an established veteran who they think is due for a flop.

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If you’re reading this, there is a good chance you are familiar with my weekly ottoneu content. I base my advice and observations on my experiences in the league FanGraphs Staff Two. As a Twitter discussion recently highlighted, the league is not representative of all ottoneu leagues. This post will explore the idea of a player’s relative value based on league preferences.

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Last week, fellow RotoGraphist Mike Podhorzer reviewed a $9 fictional pitching staff he created earlier in the year. I did something similar in my home league and the industry league Blog Wars. The success of the strategy was mixed, so let’s delve into the details.

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It’s become trendy in recent years to resolve stuff on January first. This totally new trend probably has something to do with Harry Potter or the one with the vampires.

It’s with this young tradition in mind that I resolve to slay mine foes. Not only is the statement cool in a German kind of way, but it’s also badass to slay things. Plus we just finished singing slaying songs whilst jingling bells. It has me in the mood.

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Collusion is a topic I’ve wandered into a few times in the past. I tend to test the fringes of the fantasy equivalent of treason. Just yesterday, I wrote about selling my fellow owners on a strategy. If everything went according to plan, I’d get to dump some of my back-roster assets, and I’d get a shot at some elite talent after the draft. If I just change how the idea is presented, it can come across as an attempt to solicit collusion.

This topic is important because many leagues have anti-collusion rules. However, a widely held sentiment is that collusion is impossible to prove. The corollary: owners think collusion is occurring right under their noses, they just can’t prove it. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I wrote about ottoneu trinkets and gobbledygooks. Specifically, I wondered what you, the reader, do with them? I also hinted that I had a plan, it’s not a great plan, but “great” isn’t really on the table when we’re talking about a $3 Alex Rodriguez. We’ll talk about said plan today. First, the comments.

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One of the things I absolutely love about writing for RotoGraphs is the high value interactions in the comments. I’ve found that by posting certain types of content, I can iron out the wrinkles for my own use, provide teachable moments for everybody involved, and learn about my own shortcomings as a writer/analyst. I probably learn as much from you as you learn from me.

It’s with this in mind that I re-revisit my ranking of Adam Jones, which first appeared on Christmas day.

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Since I released my initial, flawed roto rankings on Tuesday, we’ve been discussing my most unusual choices. Wednesday was Carlos Carrasco day, and yesterday was Adam Jones‘ turn to shine (in the sense that he was a featured part of the article).  Today I’ll focus on highlighting a class of player who could be misrepresented. You may not believe it, but I haven’t conducted advanced analysis on every player. Shocking, I know. While I have an idea of an embarrassing quantity of player values, some of those are based more upon impression than science or scouting.

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