Today’s post was supposed to be about the weird keeper position I find myself in my home league. That will have to wait until tomorrow because three owners failed to select their keepers. One of them has yet to pay. I’m grumpy about it, but I decided to put off being really grumpy until tomorrow. I’ve extended the deadline one day.

Some people legitimately enjoy running leagues. I am not one of those people. I commissioned at least one league every year since I was 12, mostly on Yahoo. My so-called home league – which features only three of the original owners including a guy who left and came back – is the only one I run now. I’ve been trying to offload it for years. Every year, my patience for cat herding dwindles.

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On Tuesday, I wrote about a trade offer a buddy of mine received in a dynasty league. He was offered Nolan Arenado and Dallas Keuchel for Andrew Benintendi, Miguel Sano, Rafael Devers, Josh Bell, and a 2018 draft pick. The comments devolved into a discussion of trade negotiation etiquette. Gross, right?

To be clear, I’m a believer in the old adage “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” At least as it applies to getting what you want from other people. If you ever happen to have a fly infestation in your house or apartment, I highly recommend putting a funnel over a cup of vinegar. You will catch ALL of the flies. You could smear a thick layer of honey over an entire counter and not catch one fly. Whoever made up that saying didn’t know anything about flies.

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The best part of dynasty leagues is that trade behavior can mimic real baseball. When you’re in a deep 20 team format, the league splits into contenders and rebuilders. The prices for win-now talent and top prospects often mirror what we observe in reality. It’s fun.

Over the weekend, a buddy of mine asked me about a trade proposal he received in his dynasty league. He covets Nolan Arenado (who doesn’t), and a rival finally made an offer – Arenado and Dallas Keuchel for Andrew Benintendi, Miguel Sano, Rafael Devers, Josh Bell, and a 2018 draft pick.

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A few moments ago, I read a tweet from an old high school nemesis – Sean Doolittle. The topic of the tweet didn’t have anything to do with this post. His comment sent me down a mental rabbit hole, wondering what I’d say to him if we were to meet again. Sean was always an approachable rival, and there were a few occasions when we trained together at an indoor facility (it’s bothering me that I can’t remember the name of it). However, I was awkward, shy, and probably not very memorable. I don’t foresee a budding bromance in our future, even if we were to be re-introduced.

That got me thinking about who I was as a player back in my prime, and what I wish I knew then. I played competitive baseball through college. I attended a D-III school in St. Paul, Minnesota not known for sporting prowess. My recruiting class consisted of me, a lazy catcher, and two walk ons. The others all quit after freshman year. The best I can say about myself is that I contributed. For the first half of my junior season, I was actually quite good. I spent most of my college career pitching through arm injuries. I’m still pitching through those same, slowly worsening injuries.

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The purpose of this post is not to evaluate Tommy Joseph. At least, not in the usual sense. We’re here today to talk about dynasty assets. Specifically, the kinds of assets that are hard to value. Joseph is a great example. Ryan Schimpf is another. If you want, you guys can supply another dozen names in the comments.

Do you know much about Joseph? Let’s explore.

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Over my many years of fantasy experience, I’ve come to recognize two methods of building a roster. Method 1: an owner targets very specific players and fills around those as needed. Usually, the owner aggressively shops those filler players. Method 2: Every player is treated as a generic asset, sorted into classes. Today, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of both approaches.

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Here at RotoGraphs, we mostly write about traditional fantasy leagues. It’s in the name of the site – ‘Roto’ Graphs. Somehow, the term roto has come to stand in for not only a popular scoring method, but all typical fantasy formats. I’ve had the etymology explained to me, and it doesn’t make a damned lick of sense.

We also spend a fair amount of time discussing ottoneu. Surprise! It’s our own personal contribution to the fantasy baseball panoply. At it’s best, ottoneu is more than a keeper league but not as onerous as a true dynasty format. We like it, and we tell you about it. During the season, we’ll also cover Daily Fantasy (aka DFS). Brandon Warne’s known to spill a word or three about scoresheet baseball.

Today, let’s talk about sim leagues.

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Our rankings series is moving a little faster than me. I’ll get back to starting pitcher deviations sometime next week. There’s a lot to parse. Today, let’s focus on first basemen. I was the only ranker to break from the consensus and place Kris Bryant ahead of Paul Goldschmidt. As before, I’m referencing our RotoGraphs February Rankings and my Way Too Early Rankings from November.

Please note, I already wrote about Wil Myers in the outfield edition of this series. I think he will continue to hit for power and steal bases, hence my positive rating. Similarly, I’ve discussed my dislike of Mark Trumbo already.

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Yesterday, I used my Way Too Early rankings and our RotoGraphs outfield rankings to discuss my five biggest deviations from consensus. The comments were just a tad grumpy about my decision to focus on the Mitch Hanigers and Lonnie Chisenhalls of the world. Let it be said that I’m a man of the people. Here are five more deviations from consensus – this time focused on stars*.

*Loosely defined…

To me, these are the interesting players to discuss. I’m so tired of writing about Andrew McCutchen (spoiler, I’ll be writing about McCutchen). I’m going to let somebody else draft McCutchen this year. I’m not inclined to take the risk. My ranking reflects that decision. I can elaborate, but it’ll be tedious. You ready?

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In case you somehow missed it, our RotoGraphs February rankings series has begun with outfielders. I’m here today to discuss my five biggest deviations from the consensus. I’ve disqualified a few players like Avisail Garcia, who I’ve been saying is terrible for the last half decade. Unsurprisingly, I still won’t be picking him.

These five players should be more relevant. I listed my rank, the RotoGraphs consensus, and my Way Too Early Outfielders ranking.

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