Every year, fantasy analysts from around the country gather for a collection of leagues called Tout Wars. This year was the 26th season of Tout Wars and the first time we have been able to do these auction leagues live since COVID-19 shut things down prior to the auctions in 2020. This year, I was in the 15-team mixed auction league.
This past Saturday, I hopped on the F train in NYC for the quick trip to Hotel Edison to participate in the first Tout Wars live auctions since 2019. After several Covid-induced online auctions, it was great to enjoy one of the best days of the year in person once again.
My 10th season as an AL Tout Wars participant has concluded and although I failed to take home my second championship, a second place finish was a decent consolation prize. It was also validation of my auction, which was the epitome of high risk and high reward. For those of you who want to refresh your memories with some background information on my auction, check out my initial recap. Let’s start with the standings.
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 don’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. Over the next few weeks I will deep dive into each team in a series of articles to examine what went wrong and what the common threads were. This is my 2022 Apology Tour.
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The Mock Draft Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.
Guest: Chris Welsh
Tout Wars Head to Head Recap
Strategy Section
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For the 10th year, I had the honor of being part of the Tout Wars family of auctions and drafts this past Saturday morning. To ensure the safety and health of all members, we held our auction online for the third straight year. Here’s to hoping that we’re finally all back together in person in 2023! Last year, you might recall that I totally screwed up, making an error during a sudden bout of confusion because of the workaround we needed to create in the auction room to accommodate the “Swingman” role. Thankfully, I did not make such an error this time and I won’t have a stupid regret for the rest of the year!
On Friday, Tout Wars’ mixed salary cap (auction) league completed its draft. It’s a 15-team league that uses a 5-by-5 rotisserie scoring convention, except it replaces batting average (AVG) with on-base percentage (OBP). I transitioned into this league last year—and got absolutely eviscerated (I finished 14th of 15). I can make excuses—it was my first time playing in an OBP league and also my first time participating in a 15-team salary cap draft—but at the end of the day, the blame falls at my own feet. I planned very poorly for last year’s draft. In fact, I planned very poorly for all my drafts last year. I was a new stay-at-home/work-from-home father navigating parenthood and a pandemic. I was burned out! Fantasy baseball was not the reprieve it should’ve been; it felt like a chore.
I am rejuvenated this year. I didn’t want to embarrass myself again. I studied and wrote unique comments for more nearly 350 players (I wish I could have done more in time). I recalibrated my internal encyclopedia of player knowledge to better understand players’ OBP tendencies rather than their AVG tendencies. I was as prepared as I could possibly be given the limitations and constraints of daily life.
I will say up front: my draft went OK. I feel a lot better about it than I did last year, but I’m still not thrilled. I think that is a side-effect of drafting in a 15-team league. The pool of worthwhile players exhausts itself at just the right time in a 12-team league. In a 15-team league, you feel like you’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels… not great!
An eternal pessimist, I may be underselling the quality of my team to myself, not allowing me to get my hopes up, lest I implode gloriously for a second year. ATC projections like my team, and I drafted guys I like because I think they are projected accurately or even slightly bearishly, allowing for upside. I didn’t really draft anyone who left a bad taste in my mouth. That’s a minor victory in and of itself. Of course, if my team sucks, then maybe the lesson learned is not that my team didn’t leave a bad taste, but that I simply have bad taste.
The Format Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.
Guest: Frank Stampfl
Tout Wars Congratulations
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The Is It Too Early Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.
Guest: Ian Kahn
Strategy Section
Hot / Cold Starts
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For the ninth year, I had the honor of being part of the Tout Wars family of auctions and drafts this past Saturday. From winning the inaugural mixed league draft back in 2013, to moving into the AL auction in 2014 and competing there ever since, including a win in 2017, my history suggests that I would never make the mistake I just did that ruined my entire day. Before I share what happened that led to an embarrassing performance, let me remind you what this league is all about.
