2022 was the worst year I have ever had as a fantasy player. I played in 16 leagues and did not cash in a single one. The hard part is that I didn’t  even know what went wrong. I had teams I really liked coming out of the draft and some that were doing very well throughout the season. I could have easily brushed it off as a bad season or beaten myself up over it. However, I worked my butt off to get better. 

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10/21/24

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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2024 FALLERS (leaderboard for the whole group)

TEX with 4 of the top 11 biggest drop offs

• Jonah Heim -35 pts of wRC+ to 70
• Adolis García -34 to 92
• Corey Seager -31 to 140
• Marcus Semien -27 to 99

ATL had 4, too!

• Matt Olson -44 to 117
• Ozzie Albies -29 to 95
• Orlando Arcia -28 to 72
• Jarred Kelenic -23 to 86

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MLB.com has a unique news section where each team updates their injuries and transactions. I’ve found this information useful but it’s unique. Each team’s webpage (not an article) is in flux with information constantly appearing and disappearing. I plan to check for updates (each blurb is dated) and report any information. I’ll quote the page to preserve the information. The information disappears into the abyss so quoting the source is the only way to keep it.

I won’t report headline news but will try to dig a little deeper. Additionally, I want this article to be a quick reference so don’t expect a certain word count. I’ll provide the useful info and then fantasy managers can figure out how best to utilize it.

The last edition was on October 11th, so any news was taken after that date.

Mining the News Archive
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With Mining the News and post-season crowdsourcing done, it’s time to start looking at deep league starting pitchers. With one NFBC draft done, I have some ADP to use. I’ll skip anyone who remains in the playoffs and will return to them once their season is over.

Jesús Luzardo (302 ADP)

After throwing a career-high 178 IP in 2023, the 27-year-old lefty again dealt with injuries (elbow and back) and threw just 66 IP in 12 starts. Even before going on the IL in late April for the elbow injury, he struggled with a 4.5 BB/9 and 6.58 ERA (4.51 xFIP). His command and results improved once off the IL with a 2.0 BB/9 and 3.98 ERA (4.05 xFIP). His fastball velocity dropped from an average of 95.9 mph to 94.5 mph and his strikeout rate from 9.4 K/9 to 6.9 K/9. After those struggles, he went on the IL for a back injury and never pitches again in 2024. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Mariners

• Jorge Polanco had knee surgery.

Seattle Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee and expects to be ready for the beginning of spring training, sources told ESPN. Read the rest of this entry »

MLB.com has a unique news section where each team updates their injuries and transactions. I’ve found this information useful but it’s unique. Each team’s webpage (not an article) is in flux with information constantly appearing and disappearing. I plan to check for updates (each blurb is dated) and report any information. I’ll quote the page to preserve the information. The information disappears into the abyss so quoting the source is the only way to keep it.

I won’t report headline news but will try to dig a little deeper. Additionally, I want this article to be a quick reference so don’t expect a certain word count. I’ll provide the useful info and then fantasy managers can figure out how best to utilize it.

The last edition was on October 4th, so any news was taken on or after that date.

Mining the News Archive
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For several seasons I’ve attempted to collect the hitters who have played through an injury. These banged-up guys underperformed their projection by ~20 points of OPS the next season. That works out to a 5% drop in production. What I need is help trying to collect all the possible batters while this season is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Here are the names I have so far:

Does anyone know of any others and I’d love to have a link to verify? I’ll assemble a complete list with the links in a future article. Thanks.

Going back in time can be rough. You hop in your DeLorean full of excitement and hop out shocked to see how you looked just a few months ago. What am I wearing? Did I really think that looked ok? Or, in a more relevant use of time travel judgment, did I really think Brett Baty would win the third-base job over Mark Vientos?! In this hypothetical return to the past, there I sit, pushing the buttons of my laptop late at night, typing out the following portion of my preseason third base ranks: Read the rest of this entry »

Free Agents

• José Abreu hopes to increase his value by playing winter ball.

Sources: José Abreu signed with the Senadores of San Juan in Puerto Rico’s winter ball.

Abreu will begin his journey toward an MLB comeback in 2025.

He will soon report to the Senadores for the winter season, which starts in early November. pic.twitter.com/XNwG3RiwvV

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) October 9, 2024

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After a 2023 blip where some trends started reverse, everything Saves-wise is back to normal in 2024.  This past season is close to the results of 2021 and 2022 with no noticeable changes. The only item of note in all the tables is that only four closers were able to keep their jobs (with the same team) through the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Read the rest of this entry »