Hi. My name is Dave McDonald. Some of you may know me from Twitter (@RunDMcD), others by my team name and Twitter display name (Less than Dave), and maybe even some will be familiar with my work in Michael (@SPStreamer) Simione’s Draft Guide where I wrote a very in-depth strategy section. Many of you won’t know me at all yet – and that’s fine too. I’m a high stakes fantasy baseball player – specifically the 5×5 standard rotisserie (roto) game.

How do you define “high stakes” you ask? No one really knows. My friend John Laghezza (@MLBMovingAvg) attempted to find out the answer to this question awhile back.

How do you define a high stakes fantasy league?

— John Laghezza MLB / NFL Moving Averages (@JohnLaghezza) March 13, 2021

The poll was decidedly undecided on the topic. Also, John’s poll didn’t include higher options above a $1,000 entry fee. I know some people would classify high stakes as $2,500+ (which is actually how NFBC defines it as their “high stakes” leagues are $2,500-$15,000 entry fee leagues). So while I don’t exactly know how to define “high stakes,” I can say with certainty that I am a high stakes player.

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This past weekend, the NFBC held their Second Chance Memorial Day leagues that have a season running from yesterday – Memorial Day – through the end of the season. Of course, you do not get the stats accumulated to this point, but the first two months absolutely play a huge role in the draft. Let’s look at some of the biggest moves when comparing these leagues with the Rotowire Online Championship leagues the NFBC also runs. Both are 12-team 5×5 setups so it makes the comparisons easy.

There were 48 guys who moved up at least 120 picks (10 rounds). More than half of those still landed outside the top 10 rounds while the remaining 21 looks like a who’s-who of the hottest players to start the season.

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5/28/21

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

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• @sporer – Host/Producer
• @rotogut – Guest: Vlad Sedler

VLAD SEDLER INTERVIEW

• League Check-In (1:35)
• Early-to-Midseason Mgmt (8:26)
• FantasyGuru Content (24:00)
• Memorial Day Leagues (40:48)
  • Carlos Rodón/Anthony Rendon

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The NL Central Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Sara Sanchez

Strategy Section

• Injured List roster slots in fantasy baseball
  • Do they add or remove “luck” to the game?
  • Do they take away “decisions” that fantasy owners have to make?
  • Is 2021 different than other seasons with regard to its use?
  • The use of a Limited IL slot for high value / undropable players.

Chicago Cubs

• Closer situation
  • Will Craig Kimbrel still close if traded?
  • Who is next in line for saves?
• Anthony Rizzo & Kris Bryant
  • Contract status
  • Who is more likely to be traded?
  • Who is more likely to be a Cub in 2022?
• Javier Baez outlook rest of season
  • Who would you rather have ROS – Baez or Lindor?
• Kyle Hendricks outlook rest of season
  • HR/FB rates and when FIP differs greatly from xFIP
• Prospects that may have an impact in 2021
  • Keegan Thompson
  • Miguel Amaya
  • Brailyn Marquez
• Underperforming players worth considering in fantasy
  • Ian Happ
  • Joc Pederson
  • Matt Duffy

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The FAAB Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Vlad Sedler

Strategy Section

• Waiver Wire
  • Weekly Process
  • Distribution of waiver wire pickups
  • When to drop a player
  • How to look for players to stream
  • Two-start pitchers
• FAAB Bidding
  • How format and league size affects bidding
    • Difference between $1 and $0 minimum bid
    • Difference between $100 and $1000 season budget
  • General approach to a FAAB budget
  • Keeping your ROI high
  • “Keep honest” bids
  • What to be mindful of while bidding during the season

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With drafts beginning to ramp up, it is important to monitor where players are being drafted on a regular basis. Throughout draft season, I will be doing that work for you with regular updates on the Average Draft Position on NFBC up until Opening Day. You can find all the pieces in this series here.

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The NFBC runs all kinds of contests ranging anywhere from $50 to $5000. Two of their main contests are Online Championships which are mainly $350 (qualifiers are available) and their Main Event which is a $1700 buy-in. The attractiveness of the NFBC is that there is an overall prize meaning you can win your league and try to beat everyone else in all of the other leagues for a huge score.

As a fun exercise below, I took the ADP since March 1st for both the Online Championships and the Main Event to compare the two. It’s worth noting that historically the Main Event always pushes up starting pitching. More importantly in Main Events, participants aren’t afraid to get “their” guys. Meaning they will jump ADP by a few rounds to make sure they get a player they love. Here are some players who have taken a noticeable jump between the two leagues. 

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With draft season upon us, it is important to monitor where players are being drafted on a regular basis. Throughout draft season, I have been doing that work for you with regular updates on the Average Draft Position on NFBC up until Opening Day. You can find all the pieces in this series here. Read the rest of this entry »

With draft season upon us, it is important to monitor where players are being drafted on a regular basis. Throughout draft season, I have been doing that work for you with regular updates on the Average Draft Position on NFBC up until Opening Day. You can find all the pieces in this series here. Read the rest of this entry »

With draft season upon us, it is important to monitor where players are being drafted on a regular basis. Throughout draft season, I have been doing that work for you with regular updates on the Average Draft Position on NFBC up until Opening Day. You can find all the pieces in this series here.

Read the rest of this entry »