Every year, a group of some of the finest fantasy baseball analysts get together for a weekend of auctions in New York City. However, due to recent events, the weekend itself was cancelled, but Tout Wars happened in virtual form.  This was my second year in the NL Only league and I was none too thrilled to be doing the draft online.

I love being in Tout Wars, but I am not a fan of doing online auctions. I feel like there are things lost when you are not face-to-face. There is no ability to read the room. I also typically use draft software and paper simultaneously which become harder to do while also managing online draft software. Of course, I made it even more difficult on myself by live streaming all five and a half hours of the auction. That being said, I feel good about the team I drafted.  Read the rest of this entry »

Right around this time each year, I gush about the wonderful weekend devoted to Tout Wars, including our party at Foley’s, mingling with friends and industry folk, and, of course, participating in the AL-Only auction. I then share my team, my strategy going in, and my thought process in purchasing the players ultimately finding their way onto my roster. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has changed everything. Initially, the plan was to keep the weekend events as scheduled. That plan then (rightfully) changed pretty quickly, with all auctions/drafts moving online, and live activities canceled. Then last Thursday, the remainder of Spring Training was canceled and the start of the regular season was to be delayed by at least two weeks. We now had no idea when the season would begin, which makes valuing players even more challenging. Although the season was to be delayed indefinitely, the Tout Wars league auctions/drafts were held.

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As of this writing, we are on pick 430 in the Tout Wars Draft and Hold league. You can follow along with the rationalization of all of me 29 (to date) picks here. Highlights include:

Eaton… yawn.

And

Chooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

There are 14 other owners in the league, all industry giants who know how to run a deep league draft. So let’s shine the spotlight on some of the players going in the late-300s to early-400s. While I can’t prise open their skulls to raid their mind grapes, I can probably puzzle out why certain guys were targeted. Remember, this is an OBP league with no trading or in-season waiver moves and weekly lineups.

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Season Two of Tout Wars: Draft and Hold kicked off earlier this afternoon. It is a 15-team league comprised of various industry bigwigs and heavyweights. This article will present an ongoing narrative of my attempts to improve upon my debut performance of fifth place.

The Draft and Hold format is designed to limit in-season management. We have no trades or waivers. Instead, we select 50 players throughout the course of Spring Training to fill a standard deep roster (2C, 5OF, CI, MI, UTIL). Our only resources are what we pick now. We can make weekly edits to our lineups.

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In Tout Wars this year, have been graced with four suspect closers but they’ve caused me to ponder how to handle the “riches”. The issue is that they are not stable and I’d not be surprised if all four were out of a job next month. I polled my Twitter followers to see which one they had the most faith in.

I have the following four closers in @ToutWars. Who do you think will have the most Saves at your season's end?

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) April 24, 2019

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I’m headed back from a weekend in New York City after participating in the 15-team Tout Wars mixed auction and a NFBC Main Event league. It was great catching up with everyone and meeting some new faces such as our first president. The weekend didn’t completely consisit of bagels and beers. I had work to do and compiled a couple of teams. Here are my thoughts which other fantasy owners may find helpful.

Pre-weekend thoughts (written before either event).

• Historically the Tout Wars hitter/pitcher split has been a steady 70%/30%. With pitchers being taken earlier and earlier this season, I wonder if this split will change. I’m creating my values with the 70/30 split but know I may need to adjust the split on the fly. Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend was Tour Wars weekend in New York City. The committee extended me an invitation, likely by mistake, into its head-to-head points league auction. I’ll take a moment to self-indulge and say it’s pretty surreal to finally, like, reach the pinnacle, in a sense. I appreciate and am endlessly grateful for the kind words folks have extended my way in the past few weeks and months and years.

Rudy Gamble, of Razzball fame and a delightful human being whom I finally met in person Friday night, passed along to me positive feedback about my recent draft recaps (NFBC, TGFBI, Rotoballer mock), which seem to have been a helpful prep tool this preseason for some folks. I endeavor to provide a recap that goes beyond a simple list and self-aggrandizement — it would fundamentally misrepresent my rampant self-doubt. Besides, I think it’s helpful to articulate a plan and, when a plan falls apart, how a plan changes mid-draft.

This draft review differs from previous reviews in that the Tout Wars head-to-head points league spawns from an auction draft and not a snake. (A classic auction, each of the 12 teams was allocated $260 to fill 24-man rosters.) Thus, the structure will vary and may be a bit rough around the edges. Still, let’s give this a shot.

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3/18/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

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Notable transactions

• Jung Ho Kang wins 3B
• Carlos Gonzalez to CLE

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Mistakes and regrets are a nearly inevitable part of auctions (at least in my experience), and so is the waiting to make up for those missteps in the following year’s auction. On Saturday, my chance to improve on my 2018 Tout Wars mixed league auction finally arrived.

So it was disconcerting to spend a total of $82 in the early going on three players who all enter 2019 with major concerns. My biggest bid in the entire auction went towards Chris Sale, who cost me $36. The Red Sox’s ace was bogged down by shoulder fatigue late last season, and his fastball velocity is still a bit down from where it was early in 2018. Then I spent another $30 on Francisco Lindor (calf), who is in danger of missing the beginning of the season, and $16 on Luis Severino (shoulder), who is out until at least the beginning of May.
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On Saturday, I participated in my sixth Tout Wars AL-Only auction and seventh Tout Wars league. I was coming off a disappointing sixth place performance last year, after winning and setting four records (including most total points and margin of victory) in 2017.

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