In this super-sized episode of OttoGraphs, Tom and Justin discuss some of the many lessons we’ve learned this season, including our thoughts about infield depth, managing injuries, and accounting for inflation in the annual auctions. Plus, we play a few rounds of “guess the player,” alternating between some recent standouts and some of 2016’s worst performers.

As a reminder, OttoGraphs is now available on iTunes! Subscribe using this link or the one below, and if you like what you hear, we’d happily accept ratings or reviews to help us reach new listeners, and potentially recruit some new Ottoneu players! Plus, don’t forget to check out the new Ottoneu Community, where discussions are starting to pick up! Feel free as always to comment with any questions or suggestions you may have about this episode or future topics. We can be reached individually on Twitter:

@OttoneuTrades

@JustinVibber

@TomHasOpinions

@Fazeorange

Lastly, special thanks to Treemen who provided our intro and outro music. If you like what you hear, please check out their other work at http://treemen.bandcamp.com/

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I’m no artist, but as we enter August let me paint a picture of what I see happening in many fantasy leagues:

“My team started fast and I was optimistic in May, but since then I’ve fallen out of the race and am now looking only towards next season.”

“My league’s title chase appeared to be close in June, but just a month or so later it now looks like it’s really over – it’s a one (maybe two) horse race.”

“Our league trade deadline is still 30 days away but no one is really buying at this point.  It makes for a tough sell.”

“A lot of the owners in my league seem like they’ve checked out for the summer.  There’s just not a lot of activity from those teams lower in the standings.”

Familiar? Of course I’m using very broad brush strokes here but you get the point: it’s rare to find a fantasy league that has a hot race involving half your league’s teams in August (and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in September).  But this isn’t really surprising, is it? Still, if you’ve ever won a fantasy league then you know the only thing better than winning is winning a competitive fantasy league.  We all want to win among the best, don’t we? That’s what bragging rights are all about.

My original intent for this article was to debate whether or not it’s possible to legislate competitiveness within your fantasy league, but we’ll just skip to the conclusion and say “it’s not”. This fact is probably obvious to you but in 20 years of being a fantasy commissioner I can tell you I’ve tried many times to drive competition up and down the standings each season, but in the end there’s no secret sauce.  Instead, I’ve come to the conclusion that attempting to build an active league is far better than trying to manufacture a competitive one, so today I’ll leave you with a few ideas that might help increase engagement in your league, and also ask for your feedback on what else might be working for you.

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FanGraphs presents on its pages a few different projection systems (Steamer/ZiPS/Depth Charts-which is a combination of the prior two) and shows preseason projections for each system, rest of season projections, and update projections (which is simply actual year to date performance plus rest of season projections). One of the more unique versions, and the one I will be looking at today, is the Steamer600 projections. These simply take the Steamer projections and assumes every player has the same playing time (600 PA/200 IP for SP/65 IP for RP). The Steamer600 Update projections (found here) incorporate the up to date Steamer RoS projections, so I like to look at them from time to time to get a sense of how Steamer is estimating true talent level regardless of playing time (due to injury, a bench role, or being in the minor leagues). I have taken those Steamer600 Update projections and applied ottoneu FGPTs scoring to find some interesting and surprising names that might be underappreciated as potential keepers.

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In this episode of OttoGraphs, Tom, Joe, and Trey discuss a hotly debated topic across Ottoneu leagues this summer (and seemingly every summer): veto votes. We break the issue down into three main areas: how to judge a deal you may feel is unfair; what to do if you truly think a deal deserves to be vetoed; and what steps leagues can take to improve communication and help avoid veto trouble before it begins.

As a reminder, OttoGraphs is now available on iTunes! Subscribe using this link or the one below, and if you like what you hear, we’d happily accept ratings or reviews to help us reach new listeners, and potentially recruit some new Ottoneu players! Plus, don’t forget to check out the new Ottoneu Community. A bunch of owners are already on the community discussing Ottoneu strategy, rules, and more, and we’d love to keep growing our numbers! Feel free as always to comment with any questions or suggestions you may have about this episode or future topics. We can be reached individually on Twitter:

@OttoneuTrades

@JustinVibber

@TomHasOpinions

@Fazeorange

Lastly, special thanks to Treemen who provided our intro and outro music. If you like what you hear, please check out their other work at http://treemen.bandcamp.com/

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With just over 2 months left in the season, it’s likely that your Ottoneu league has started to have some separation at the top of the standings. In reality, this has probably been happening for a while.  Typically races do not stay “close” for this long and (since Ottoneu has no playoff structure) you have probably been faced with the opportunity to start rebuilding in some aspect. A lot of advice could be given on the type of moves you should consider if you’re rebuilding – which trades you should make, players you should claim, which breakouts players are for real, etc. – but instead of commenting on that specifically, today I want talk about a tool that can help you have perspective as you plan toward 2017.

If you’ve played Ottoneu for more than a season, you are probably familiar with the Roster Organizer. If you’re new to Ottoneu, you may not have noticed its existence in season. In the offseason, the roster organizer replaces the lineups page as your offseason planning tool. However, it still can still be accessed in season from your team’s lineup page (boxed in red). The Roster Organizer can be located from your team page as well. The link is in the same place on that page.

From this link you will be able to access the Roster Organizer. Clicking the link will take you to a page nearly identical to the Lineups page but with additional slots for cuts, disabled lists, and minor leagues. Note that any player can be put into these three categories, and listing a player as a “cut” does not actually cut them from your squad. However, it reduces the player’s salary from your current cap penalty. This can be useful when trying to determine which of your current players you can build around for next year. I’d highly recommend looking at your squad and seeing where you stand. By doing this, you can get a better idea of players you want to hold on to going into next year, as well as the financial implication of keeping that player. Maybe you have a lot of players you like, but will have trouble meeting the salary cap if you keep all of them. The Roster Organizer can be helpful in realizing this – and can help you organize the players you have who may be worth trading in season. But what about players you want to target? Is there a way to plan for acquiring players? Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past 7 days, the most added player in Ottoneu is Yulieski Gurriel. Over the past 30 days, the most added player in Ottoneu is Yulieski Gurriel. That’s a lot of Gurriel auctions! Here’s quick glance at the most added players in Ottoneu over a 7 and 30 day split:

This post is not so much about Gurriel, but rather a larger Ottoneu topic. What do you do with free agent top prospects during the season? How do you bid? (In this sense, the term prospect can be broadened to mean any player added to the player pool midseason). If you don’t see Gurriel as a pertinent example, consider the likes of Kyle Lewis, Corey Ray, Nick Senzel, Lazaritos, or any other of the recent draftees or international free agents. While the same premise should hold for any of them, Gurriel is an exaggerated example.

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In this episode of OttoGraphs, Tom, and Trey continue last week’s discussion about Ottoneu All Stars, this time hitting some of the first half’s most valuable pitchers, including Drew Pomeranz, Rich Hill, Tanner Roark, and elite setup man Dellin Betances. Plus, we make a quick pitch for the new Ottoneu Community, recently debuted by Ottoneu creator Niv Shah – check it out and let us know what you think!

As a reminder, OttoGraphs is now available on iTunes! Subscribe using this link or the one below, and if you like what you hear, we’d happily accept ratings or reviews to help us reach new listeners, and potentially recruit some new Ottoneu players! Feel free as always to comment with any questions or suggestions you may have about this episode or future topics. We can be reached individually on Twitter:

@OttoneuTrades

@JustinVibber

@TomHasOpinions

@Fazeorange

Lastly, special thanks to Treemen who provided our intro and outro music. If you like what you hear, please check out their other work at http://treemen.bandcamp.com/

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Everybody’s doing it, so I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way.  However, I will admit I’m now quite embarrassed by these laughably bad predictions.  They are so bad that forcing you to read them again might be considered insulting.  You deserve more, so the least I can do is leave you with some classic real insults (courtesy of the interwebs) for your own repertoire.  Here goes:

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Almost three years ago, Ryan Braun was suspended and he got cut in a number of ottoneu leagues. I wrote about the chain reaction that occurs when a guy like Braun becomes a free agent.

Just this week, an arguably more interesting scenario played out in the FanGraphs Staff League Two, when a $62 Giancarlo Stanton was kicked to the curb, and a there are a number of lessons to learn from it.
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As I sit watching some of the game’s best players battle between commercials in the one July game that really “counts” I’m reminded that the All-Star break is the natural rest period set aside to catch up on the baseball stats and facts that I’ve otherwise overlooked all season.  For instance:

Did you know that Ian Desmond entered the break as both a top five fantasy shortstop (#2) and top five outfielder (#5)?

Did you know that Dellin Betances has a lower xFIP (1.15) than FIP (1.20), and that if you added his xFIP to that of his lanky teammate Andrew Miller (1.09), you’d only find five other relievers in MLB with a better xFIP (one of which is also a teammate) than their combined 2.24?

Did you know there is a backstop on the Angels named Jett Bandy?

Did you know that the Diamondback’s new road gray uniform includes a snake biting a baseball on the sleeve?

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