Chronicles of ottoneu: FanGraphs Experts League, Year Two

by
April 5, 2012

Last year, Eno Sarris gathered a group of fantasy experts from around the internets and formed the FanGraphs Experts league – an ottoneu league using traditional 5×5 roto scoring – pitting some of the best fantasy minds around (and me) against each other in a battle royale.

This year, we resume the battle.

The lineup has changed ever-so-slightly this year, so let me reintroduce you to your gladiators:

Andy Behrens (Yahoo – Roto Arcade)
Mike Newman (FanGraphs, Scouting the Sally)
Jeff Erickson / Peter Schoenke (RotoWire)
Andrew Fiorentino (RotoWire)
Tim Heaney (KFFL)
Andy Andres (Tufts University)
Neil FitzGerald (BaseballHQ)
Tom Keppy (BaseballHQ)
James Quintong (ESPN)
Jack Moore (RotoHardball, FanGraphs)
Eno Sarris (FanGraphs)
Chad Young (ottoneu, FanGraphs)

We’ll be providing updates here throughout the season, but I thought I would start by offering up my projections for final standings.

Team Pitching Pts Hitting Pts Total Pts
KFFL 41 52 93
Team RotoWire 44 33 77
Earl Webb 48 24 72
Eno’s Slaughter 34 37 71
Veteran Presents 41 29 70
Andy Behrens 27 41 68
Dyersville Nine 44 20 64
Fiorentino (RW) 31 27 58
ESPN Quintong 29 26 55
Amateur Hour 28 25 53
Scouting the Sally 17 34 51
BIG BOPPERS 6 42 48

Those numbers are based on taking a weighted average of a few projection systems (ZiPS, PECOTA, CHONE, and OLIVER) and piecing together each team’s lineup. I include starters and, where necessary, reserves.

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And based on those numbers, Heaney comes out as a CLEAR favorite. However, I think there are some question marks here. His rotation projects well, but has a number of question marks (Daniel Bard, Neftali Feliz, Max Scherzer, Jake Peavy, among others) who will have to play crucial roles. And while his stars on offense shine bright (Albert Pujols, Curtis Granderson, Evan Longoria, and more) the back half of his lineup isn’t nearly as strong, and his bench is a bit thin – injuries could take a toll.

The co-owned RotoWire team, on the other hand, has a stout top of the rotation (Roy Halladay, Zack Greinke, C.J. Wilson) and finds themselves holding newly minted closers Joel Peralta and Alfredo Aceves.

On the other end, almost at the bottom, you will find my Amateur Hour squad. A ragtag bunch of no-good players hoping that their chemistry as a team and chipper optimism can carry them all the way to the top. Their manager, on the other hand, feels he is perilously close to falling off the deep end. Those numbers are inflated by a deep but shaky bullpen (Joe Nathan, Brett Myers, Matt Capps, Javy Guerra) that could fall apart at any moment.

Lucky for you, Eno will probably provide some updates around here, so you will get to hear about this league from someone who is fighting to finish in the money. But if I had to guess, most of my updates are going to focus on how to best prepare for 2013.

Although maybe not just yet…after all, it’s only April – anything can happen!





 

A long-time fantasy baseball veteran and one of the creators of ottoneu, Chad Young's writes for RotoGraphs and PitcherList, and can be heard on the ottobot podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @chadyoung.

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EarlWebb
13 years ago

Interesting stuff Chad. Of interest, my predictions have Rotowire being the early favorite with your team very near 4th place. Time will tell. Go Earl Webb!

PS – my twitter is nfitzgerald1970

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