Fifteen years ago today Weird Al’s “Running With Scissors” was released worldwide. Perhaps his best known track from it is The Saga Begins, a tale of the Star Wars prequels. Not related to Running With Scissors, but Al’s latest album titled “Mandatory Fun” hit number one on Billboard’s top albums this past week. The song Word Crimes from it is outstanding.

On today’s agenda:
1. Billy Burns gets the call
2. Another strong outing from Chase Anderson
3. Welcome back, James Paxton
4. The daily five

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Agenda

1. Lineup Performance by Handedness
2. Daily DFS
3. Tuesday Picks
4. Table

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Unless you live under a rock, you’re likely aware that DraftStreet was recently bought out by DraftKings. Given that this time slot was previously designated for the discussion of daily strategy for Draftstreet contests, I’ve got to come up with some new material. But I’m going to milk the DraftStreet cow for all it’s worth and draw on it as a source of material for one more week. Because you can no longer play on Draftstreet, I want to take a look at how the scoring systems differ on the two sites you most likely transferred your money to, DraftKings and FanDuel. Today we’ll look at how the differing scoring systems affect hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

Today is s the 15th anniversary of Destiny’s Child “The Writing’s on the Wall” album being released here in the United States. The track Say My Name is a personal favorite song of mine from the era and is something I’m not too shy to admit I belt out whenever I hear it. To ago along with this middle school nostalgia, I have some thoughts on several middle infielders today.

On today’s agenda:
1. A big day for Josh Harrison
2. Platooning DJ LeMahieu
3. Tommy La Stella is still hitting, still available
4. Jedd Gyorko to be activated today
5. The daily five

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Agenda

1. Think Strategically
2. Daily DFS
3. Sunday Picks
4. Table

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Seven years ago today “The Simpsons Movie” launched internationally. I won’t touch on too much Simpsons stuff, that is Paul Swydan’s territory, but I will say I enjoyed the film.

On today’s agenda:
1. Wilson Ramos continues to rake
2. A strong start from Drew Smyly
3. A comparison with Zack Wheeler
4. The daily five

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Agenda

1. Keeper Trade Advice
2. Daily DFS
3. Saturday Picks
4. Table

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Today marks the 17th anniversary of the film “Air Force One.” Linked is the hijacking scene, one of the most intense action sequences nine-year-old me had ever seen. My parents never would have let me watch this at such a young age, but I have a pretty cool uncle.

On today’s agenda:
1. They see em Stroman, they waiting
2. Jesse Hahn to start today
3. Shane Victorino is hitting
4. The daily five

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Agenda

1. DFS Bullpens
2. Daily DFS
3. Friday Picks
4. Table

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Sunday in this space, we outlined some of the hitters who gain the most and the least in the switch from DraftStreet scoring to DraftKings scoring, where strikeouts no longer hurt a hitter. On Monday, we did the same for pitchers.

If you haven’t yet, by the way, you can transfer your account here.

Today, as a final wrap on the “transition” period, we’re going to look at how scarce total points are in each format, so you can begin to re-calibrate your “dollar per point” perception (though we don’t have comparative data on the relative payout differences between the two). There’s not really a “clean” way to do this, so I’ll all do is compare the total budget and the points earned by hitter/pitcher (I excluded relievers because, while it may be instructive in some ways, they are entirely out of the decision set now).
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