My 2019 Portfolio
When you play a lot of leagues, things start to blend and you might forget who you have and where you have them. For the last several years, I’ve put together my portfolio to keep track of who I have in my leagues. Over the last few years, I’ve scaled back my league load. Now when I say this number, some of you will still faint, but I promise it’s a major cutback. There are 13 leagues accounted for in my portfolio and only 10 of those require regular work (daily/weekly lineups and FAAB). I think the first time I made a portfolio, it was for 20 leagues.
One aspect to remember when doing this exercise is that the top guys are never going to be the studs from the first couple of rounds unless you get lucky enough to pick in nearly the same spot throughout the leagues. Drafts start to open up after pick 75 so that’s often when you start accumulating your multiple shares of players, often because you comfortable taking them ahead of their ADP since you believe in them. This is even more true of pitching specifically.
That said, my top two guys are hitters this year!
The Dynamic Duo
I actually got two guys in over 50% of the 13 leagues, coming in at seven times apiece. Do you want a second to guess who they are silently to yourself… or you can yell their names at your computer, I don’t care.
Creating.
A.
Spoiler-free.
Zone.
My top two guys for 2019 are Garrett Hampson and Ryan O’Hearn. Hey, at least I put my money where my mouth is as I didn’t stop talking about either of them all year. Hampson is still battling for playing time, seemingly even after the Daniel Murphy injury thanks to Mark freakin’ Reynolds while O’Hearn has played 4 of 5 games for the Royals at 1B or DH. He’s a regular for sure.
4-5 Shares
Pitching takes centerstage in this section which gets back to what I mentioned earlier regarding the pitching pool opening up mid-draft. It’s essentially The Glob™ theory at play. There’s a vast group of pitchers where the differences in true talent aren’t that significant, so identify your favorites and get those guys. Whether you’re projecting a leap, using soft factors like team context, or just finding the same 2-3 guys available when you’re taking pitching, it’s easy to start accumulating shares in The Glob™. Personally, I targeted these guys and I’m really happy that the 11 pitchers in this group of 18 players are on 4 or 5 of my teams:
| PLAYER | POS | COUNT |
|---|---|---|
| Ross Stripling | P | 5 |
| Kenta Maeda | P | 5 |
| Brandon Woodruff | P | 5 |
| Gerrit Cole | P | 4 |
| Noah Syndergaard | P | 4 |
| Jameson Taillon | P | 4 |
| Brad Peacock | P | 4 |
| Joe Musgrove | P | 4 |
| Pedro Strop | P | 4 |
| Aaron Sanchez | P | 4 |
| Seth Lugo | P | 4 |
| Austin Barnes | C | 4 |
| Max Muncy | 1B, 3B | 4 |
| Justin Bour | 1B | 4 |
| Ozzie Albies | 2B | 4 |
| Andrew McCutchen | OF | 4 |
| David Dahl | OF | 4 |
| Jesse Winker | OF | 4 |
This is another group of names you should recognize if you listened to the podcast this winter. I understand the trepidation with Dodgers pitchers and their innings, but I love the skills and felt that both Stripling and Maeda were nicely priced, especially Stripling before the injuries started to pile up in the rotation clearing his path.
Woodruff was my choice in the battle for the fifth starter role with Corbin Burnes, but then both won roles (as did Freddy Peralta) as Milwaukee truly went with their most talented instead of just favoring tenure. I ranked Thor and Taillon over the industry standard at 5 and 12, respectively. Even still, I was happy and somewhat surprised to get them as frequently as I did. Two of my Cole shares were keepers.
Musgrove is someone I see real breakout potential in for this year. Peacock is similar to my Stripling/Maeda love where I just want to invest in Houston pitchers and kinda let the playing time figure itself out. I was targeting Strop as a second closer as I think he can take hold of the job and just keep it even after Brandon Morrow returns. Lugo should already be in the rotation over Jason Vargas, though his outing yesterday doesn’t help matters. Either way, he’s cheap enough to take the shot and see how it plays out. Sanchez was just dirt-cheap, and I can’t quit his filthy stuff.
Albies and Barnes are buybacks from last year. Despite falling off after his fast start, Albies still had a great season so it’s not like he’s a buyback on a flop, but Barnes absolutely is that. He was brutal in the little playing time he got while Yasmani Grandal ran away with the job. Grandal’s now in Milwaukee and Barnes is getting a full chance to shine. I love Cutch’s price and thought he was somewhat slept on in that insane lineup.
The 20 (3+ leagues)
| PLAYER | POS | COUNT |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Trout | OF | 3 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | 3 |
| Aaron Judge | OF | 3 |
| Matt Chapman | 3B | 3 |
| Corey Seager | SS | 3 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 1B | 3 |
| Eloy Jimenez | OF | 3 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | P | 3 |
| Ramon Laureano | OF | 3 |
| Matt Olson | 1B | 3 |
| Danny Jansen | C | 3 |
| Adam Eaton | OF | 3 |
| Jordan Hicks | P | 3 |
| Jung Ho Kang | 3B | 3 |
| Marcus Semien | SS | 3 |
| Zach Eflin | P | 3 |
| Matt Barnes | P | 3 |
| Kolten Wong | 2B | 3 |
| Hunter Dozier | 1B | 3 |
| Martin Perez | P | 3 |
I’m pleased with the studs in this group of 3-leaguers. Obviously I was blessed to nab Trout thrice, all with the first pick of the draft which I only point out because there were some drafts where he went second to either Mookie Betts or Max Scherzer. I got two of my absolute favorite players in this group with Chapman and Laureano. I wish Olson wouldn’t have gotten hurt so I could complete my Oakland triumvirate. Or maybe I could’ve gotten one more share of Chad Pinder to complete it in Olson’s stead.
Having three of Miggy and Jimenez is leaning on each of the spectrum in hopes of a similarly strong result: the proven superstar looking to rebound and the rookie who couldn’t be less proven with zero MLB playing time coming into the season. Speaking of rebounds, I took the discount on Seager and felt good about it. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that two of the Wong shares were pickups. I can’t pretend I drafted him or even considered doing so all that often despite a cheap price.
The Rest
I got 69 guys at least twice which is just so, so nice. My favorites in that group include the aforementioned Pinder, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers (at least the Sox are super-awesome so far!), Blake Snell, Jacob deGrom, Anthony Rendon, Victor Robles (and just missed on two more!), Luis Castillo, Zack Wheeler, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Rhys Hoskins, Joey Votto, Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, Jimmy Nelson, Kirby Yates, Marco Gonzales, and Matt Strahm (eek!). In a perfect world, I’d have gotten more of several of these guys, even the ones off to slow starts, but drafts don’t always break your way.
I have 134 guys just once. There is no doubt some in that group that I’d have liked more of, too, but it’s a lot harder to complain about it when I had 13 chances (well, 11 since there are two keeper leagues). If I really wanted them – especially those outside of the top 50 or so – I should’ve made a more concerted effort to get it done.
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If you’re a multi-leaguer, who are your most-rostered guys? Who are your biggest regrets on the short end (non-obvious like 1st-3rd rounders)?
Is anyone a one-leaguer? I’m always fascinated by that as I’m fairly certain I’ll never be that again. I like the idea of just getting your guys and those 23 are yours for the summer. Of course, if you had 3-4 of major injury guys so far this year, that’d make pretty sad to be a one-leaguer.
I have Khris Davis and Joey Gallo in every league and I’m ecstatic about it. Unfortunately I also had Scooter and Matt Olson in every league too.
Also ended up with Moustakas in every league, not even intentionally. He just happened to always be there right when I needed him to be. Must have been fate.
As a single-leaguer in a non-baseballing, opposite-side-of-the-world 12 team league, keeping up to date with current happenings and late scratchings from the lineup can be difficult, so this article is sweet for those who are less invested, but still want to win.
The league itself is extremely fun, however that enjoyment is dulled when two of your first six picks are Trea Turner and Daniel Murphy (all aboard the Coors Field, batting title hype train).
I just wanted to say thanks for making fantasy baseball a little easier.
Single leaguer here. NL Only, 10 teams. We’ve had the same league for 30 years. We even have our weekly transactions on Tuesday, because NL stats used to come out in USA Today then.
There is a risk of being out of it early, but about 20 years ago we made it a keeper league (auction) so you always have some teams playing for next year, just like in the big leagues.
We just celebrated year 20 in our league. Kinda crazy.
My first ever league was an AL-only 10 teamer that ran its stats based on the USAToday, too!! It ran from 89 until just 2 years ago.
When being commish was true dedication reading that small print, tabulating totals and snail mailing out results. Ans then getting heckled if you were a day late or week behind!
I have played as many as three leagues before but the past two years I’m down to one, a 10 team daily H2H dynasty. It runs deeper than a 10 teamer should for SP which I like, and we have a separate draft for 50 prospects as well. It also doesn’t hurt that I always win money. I’ve been in the finals 5 years in a row, although with just one Championship.
As a guy with two young kids now, a lot of my old hobbies have fallen by the wayside: motorcycling, beer brewing, metalworking and so on, so I’m glad I can still do one league and stay up on baseball.
Any guys you made a concerted effort to avoid in every one of your leagues?
Bumgarner aka Batting Practice
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/10-top-100-fades/ a lot of these guys unless their price came waaay off the ADP
Paul, what players who were drafted in every league you’re in do you have zero shares?
I have a metric ton of Musgroves and Martes (Ketel). I have lots of A Cab in points best ball leagues with a relatively short bench so multi position is extra helpful. Moustakas was going too late all season. I’ll always be a partisan for Rendon (future MVP if he stays in NL?), Gallo (once saw him hit a ball from AZ to I assume NM), and Luis Castillo. Alex Reyes the second he is shown healthy. And just a total K/HR prostitute in 5×5 H2H in general. I really like Reyes Montoya but I don’t think the Giants do.
It can be hard to strike a balance between your preferences and hedging against your biases (believe the projections…unless drafting him will just stubbornly annoy you?).
That’s Reyes *Moronta*. Derp. 50/50 phone autocorrect vs. personal being a dummy.
The giants like him now after he won a dang game for them the other night. Love the guy, though they arguably have three versions of him with Black and Beede, too.
I’m a one leaguer. It’s a 30 team contract-based dynasty league, so not your normal league.
We’re somewhere between 10 and 15 years strong, though.
I probably have a bit too much Tyler white. Not sure what’s going on with the Houston lineups, outside of them not hitting much
Two leagues, ended up with Rizzo, Murphy, and Edwin Diaz in both.
6 leagues-have 6 shares of McMahon, paddock, Gallo, Robles. 5 shares of Realmuto, Doolittle, and kershaw.
I have all of the Odor…And Gallo. All of it.
I play only one league. The incremental time to manage more than one team isn’t the problem, I just like having one set of ‘my guys’ that I can root for when I watch games. I find that each additional league dilutes my attachment to any individual team, so I end up caring less about fantasy baseball as a whole.
It helps that it’s a keeper league and approx 15 years running.
I also have a really important share of Rowdy Tellez, but it was a speculative add in my Idaho Fall Parks and Rec men’s softball league; so I’m counting on Billy Butler, player/manager of Pharmgrade, to make a mid-season trade for Tellez, thereby forming the Mash Brothers.
What a lucky year. Trout first pick 3 out of 13. Basic probability would be a touch over 1 in 13 for only twelve team leagues. Or less than one in only 15 team leagues.
To ensure those precious down votes, I’m sure you will f it up.
Most impressed with “The Rest” statistic. Very nice indeed.
Made a statement this year in a very shallow 8 team league auction draft. First bid for Trout $1. Next bid (mine) $69. He’s now mine for the season.
The podcast slays, Paul. More Mark Reynolds motivated cursing please.
Just started NFBC this year after twenty years on the home league/yahoo circuit. Meant to do 1 auction and one DC. Ended up with 3 auction, 4 DC, 1 cutline, and 1 online champ giving me…
9 teams!
Including…
7 K. Marte
5 Renfroe (c’mon PT)
4 Alvarado
4 Boyd
4 Peraza
4 A. Rosario
3 Bauers
3 Stripling
3 M. Smith
1 Trout (first time-thanks auction format)
I got Hyun Jin Ryu in 5/7 leagues….why can’t he just get some damn mainstream respect already?? Also, adam eaton in 5 leagues as well as Joe Musgrove in 4 and dont let me forget OBP legend carlos santana for my OBP leagues
I’m in like 80 leagues, ha. Without running the exact numbers I had first pick a disproportionate amount of times so ended up with a lot of Trout (not complaining), as well as A’s Olson, Chapman, Davis. I picked Acuna the majority of the time in the first round anywhere after 3, so I have a lot of Acuna as well. Suarez also ended up on a lot of my teams, as did Buxton before his hot spring. Started doing most the fantrax drafts in like November, so early on I got a lot of shares of Mondesi as he was a lot cheaper, but less shares as time progressed. Pitcher wise I’ve usually hit wire hard in 12 teams, so most my closers were adp 150 or after, which has gone well so far this year. Also targeted upside arms and closed out most my rosters with Urias and Reyes.
I’m not in a ton of leagues (3) but I own Ketel Marte in each and I paid a 200ish ADP to get him. Super athletic, and the projections liked him at an above-average level compared to his 2B and SS peers. That, along with the dual eligibility (and probably OF coming up) make him like a supercharged Marcus Semien with upside. I’ll take that around pick 200 any day of the week
Single leaguer here. Starting our 19th season in a keep 5 forever. I used to play a couple of other leagues but I found myself rooting against my other teams in favor of my main one, so I figured why even bother? Also, winning the only league you’re in is pretty sweet.
Got most of my guys (Brantley, Winker, Hampson, Marte, and the crown jewel A Stud!!) and I have tons of eligibility on my bench.
I’m a notorious closer hoarder so I’m still leading in saves despite losing Knebel.
I slept SP completely, not drafting my first until round 20. I’m getting quality innings with a bunch of RP and low volume guys like Lucchese and Caleb Smith, but I have yet to record my first QS (both W and QS count). That Strahm stinker hurt though.
I got Rendon on all 3 of my teams. His plate skills keep getting better and I don’t think an MVP season is that far-fetched.
I’m one of those one-leaguer monogamists. Actually, I’m “born-again” one-league monogamist, as I stopped playing in multiple baseball leagues just two seasons ago. Since then, I won my first championship (in that league, 2017) and last year (2018) I tied the now-champ in our proverbial World Series.
That tie needed sufficient breaking however, because “co-champions” doesn’t have the same ring. So, after two regular-season matchups, I mean, relentless drubbings sustained by yours truly and given to yours truly by our eventual champion, my reign on the top truly was shorter than leprechauns. A 5-5 tie. The reason it was 5-5 and not 6-4 or 4-6 is even more cruel. We tied 5-5 because he beat me in strikeouts on our final day, by one gd k, making it 5-5 instead of 6-4 me.
The last time I missed the playoffs (in that league) truthfully eludes me. After 13 years, my newfound philosophy of monogamy isn’t the sole constituent of my fantasy baseball success (because I was “successful” before winning and taking second, but then again, doesn’t “success” depend upon your definition of “success?”). I digress. Regardless, I believe my newfound religion has indeed played a major part in my team’s recently heightened success. In leagues that reward places 1-3, it’s winning money vs. not winning money (i.e., placing or not placing) that definitively changed my definition of “success.”
I wasn’t happy with simply “making the playoffs.” I wanted to win, dammit. I used to think that having two-plus leagues was an advantage. Eventually I discovered that (for me) the only advantage came when I went to make FA pickups. The vast majority of my big FA acquisitions throughout the years were (in comparison with one another) weighted heavily in one direction only, toward the league with decidedly less active and adamant owners. Eventually I felt as-if I was somehow cheapening the experience of playing fantasy baseball. Worse even, I wasn’t gaining any ground in the league that I wanted to gain ground in. The more adamant and active owners were/are in the league that I remain in now.
In actuality I was hampering my own talent and/or abilities by conforming with the norm. Instead of trusting my own instincts and research, I’d find myself willing to submit to ADP lists, add-rates, and general group-thought complacency. ADP’s and cheatsheets (etc.) are great tools when used appropriately and not as universal truths.
Playing in only one league forced me to stop using a group mentality and start trusting my instincts. For example, I embraced instinctual drafting/managing during this season’s draft. Practically every pick was fueled by a combination of players I’d noticed throughout the spring who I had questions about going into this season, FOMO, and gut instinct. Upon realizing that my final rosters (in 2017 and 2018) were drastically different from the rosters I actually drafted, I decided to go for players who I’d love to watch, love to roster, players I actually believe in and those who I didn’t want to go into the season without. I think “gutsy” is the one word I’m looking for. Instead of settling for the “guaranteed value/consensus pick” for immediate “value,” I looked toward the playoffs, i.e., who’s liable to catch fire after the break, who’s ready to explode after patiently waiting in the background, who’s going to breakout? Absolutely nothing is guaranteed in baseball other than there’s 9 innings and even that’s false when it goes into extras or there’s a delay and a subsequent PPD. For example, I took Joey Votto last season in the first round, nuff said.
Before I give my roster I want to point out a couple of things. We keep a max of three players each year. Those three can be kept for a total of three seasons (cut-off for “season” is the real-life trade deadline). Wherever the keeper is initially acquired is where and/or what the keeper will cost for the next two years (if indeed he was acquired before the deadline in his first season with you). For example: if I decided to keep Joey Votto this year, he would’ve cost me a 1st round draft pick this season (no thanks). If I kept a FA player this year, he’d cost me my last pick. If I kept two FA’s, my last two picks, and so-on. 12 teams, 2 utility spots, 5 bench, 2 DL, 1 NA. OPS and QS (in lieu of L’s), and H2H categories.
I kept Ronald Acuña Jr. after I picked him up two years ago decidedly before the deadline. This is my last season with him. I kept Patrick Corbin who I took in the 20th round last season. Lastly, I kept Matt Chapman who happened to fall to the FA pool last year. Therefore, I only “lost” my 20th, 23rd, and 24th round picks (I use the quotes because in actuality those picks are occupied by none-other than M. Chapman, R. Acuña Jr., and P. Corbin).
Going for back-to-back titles last year and, in hopes of spurring some second-half mojo, I gradually traded away my first 6 rounds of this year’s draft which, effectively, made my “first round draft pick” my 7th round round draft pick. Yahoo requires a requisite round for any/all pick trades. Therefore, I acquired two 8th rounds, two 9ths, four 10ths, two 11ths, and two 12ths.
A couple of weeks before this season’s draft, I managed to trade Cody Bellinger for a 6th round draft pick, effectively my new “first rounder.” I took Victor Robles. In summation that’s: 6th rounder, 7th, 2 8’s, 2 9’s, 4 10’s, 2 11’s, 2 12’s, and one (or none, I think I somehow missed my 13th and 16th rounds) for the rest of the draft except for 20, 23, and 24 (my keepers).
Here we go (I’ll put the rounds in parentheses)
C: Francisco Mejía (10)
1B: Edwin Encarnación (9)
2B: Yoán Moncada (8)
3B: Matt Chapman (23)
SS: Elvis Andrus (9)
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr. (24)
OF: Victor Robles (6)
OF: Byron Buxton (11)
UTIL: Franmil Reyes (12)
UTIL: Nomar Mazara (10)
BN: Maikel Franco (10) (*was Jurickson Profar)
BN: Kyle Schwarber (10)
BN: Ryan McMahon (17)
SP: Patrick Corbin (20)
SP: Yusei Kikuchi (12)
RP: Alex Colomé (15)
RP: Dakota Hudson (14) (*was Corey Knebel)
P: Shane Bieber (8)
P: Jonathan Loaisiga (16)
P: Domingo Germán (18)
P: Nick Pivetta (11)
BN: Lucas Giolito (19) (*was Kyle Wright)
BN: Matt Strahm (21)
BN: Aaron Sanchez ((*added after placing Luzardo (7) in the NA spot))
NA: Jesus Luzardo (7)
There she is, love it or leave it. I felt great after taking Luzardo in the 7th. Of course the draft took place before his shoulder problem but regardless, I still love the pick. Yahoo allows (if your commish allows) an NA spot (multiple spots if necessary) which enables a manager to stash a minor leaguer away until he’s ready, exactly like a DL (or IL now, smh) except an injury isn’t required. In Luzardo’s case, that last caveat is painfully ironic. He’s young, however and hopefully recovers quickly. As you can probably tell, I‘m pretty high on Luzardo, i.e., my second overall pick!
After waiting 72 (2 min long) draft picks before I could take anyone, I decided to go with Victor Robles with my first pick. If anything, that pick sent a message to the rest of the league that, playtime is over kids, time to really get down to business. You could feel the reverberations throughout the interwebbed draft after that pick. No one commented, a subtle silence fell upon the rabid owners, and as fast as they were silenced, the expletives thundered aloud once again.
After sitting out the first 5 rounds and obtaining multiple middle round picks, I laid still as a sniper throughout the draft, methodically keeping track of the players still available. As it neared my round, the anticipation closing in was boarding upon unbearable. Still I remained calm, unnerved, and before they knew what hit em, I started picking them off, one by one. Victor Robles BOOM! Shane Bieber BOOM! Yoán Moncada BOOM!
Nomar Mazara (BOOM!) was one of my four 10th rounders. This was a particularly fun snipe because I’ve waited 3 years to draft him while another manager desperately clutched onto Mazara strong, like a childless mother, for three long years. His power should come to fruition fully in 2019. He’s melted two thus far, I certainly expect more to come.
Before the 12th round I only had two pitchers (Luzardo and Pivetta). Yusei Kikuchi was an excellent 12th round pick especially for my team and especially the circumstances I found myself in at that time. Yusei appeared on my queue list like a broken piece of wood as I floated amongst the aftermath of a shipwreck. I latched onto Yusei Kikuchi with the same desperation as Leo from Titanic.
A breath of eased fears came immediately after I realized that I may’ve just drafted the best version of Yusei Kikuchi the MLB may ever see, before they finally figure him out in the same manner as the rest of the Japanese imports. There’s a trend, a one-year learning curve for the hitters in the bigs when approaching Japanese pitchers for the first time, or any new pitcher for that matter. Even some rookies don’t get touched up for at least a few games, until there’s enough tape to construct a game plan. Hopefully this’ll fall into one of those years for Kikuchi.
Perhaps my favorite pick was Moncada in the 8th. After only acquiring Robles and Luzardo (with Acuña, Chapman, and Corbin already rostered) I knew I needed to make a big splash. I needed someone who already possessed talent but hadn’t yet put it all together. Yoán Moncada in the 8th is, of course a reach. That didn’t matter though. As soon as I hit “draft” a wave of satisfaction fell over me. No buyer’s remorse, no last second what-ifs, only contentment and excitement. I just wanted the regular season to start immediately.
I watched Moncada play at the 2016 SiriusXM Futures Game in San Diego while he was still a member of the Red Sox organization. That game and Moncada’s performance have been forever etched into my mind. There is no bigger stage (the Futures Game) in a prospect’s life. Moncada was undoubtedly the biggest and brightest star there. In a game that included a bevy of now-MLB-proven studs, such as, Gary Sanchez, Alex Bregman, and Andrew Benintendi, it was Yoán Moncada who shined through.
He effortlessly stood-out amongst a crowded diamond filled with thoroughbreds. Like a prized rooster before a cock-fight, his strut glistened with confidence. His oversized gold chain gleamed ever-so often as he took grounders. Laughing with teammates while exuding a self-awareness that only the true studs can truly pull-off, Moncada, either fully aware of the moment or completely ignorant to it, breezed with ease during batting practice and drills. We had great seats only a few rows behind home plate. As we took our seats and peered upon Petco’s glory, I remember seeing Moncada first, like a flashbulb was attached to him, immediately. He stood out like a glowing ember in a heap of black coal. I consciously thought to myself “damn, this kid is a stallion.” All the while, mere moments before being thrusted into the limelight for the very first time and via a very grandiose stage, Moncada was simply magnanimous.
Paths travel differently with time. It’s obvious that not everyone learns baseball and/or matures with the same momentum. Not everyone becomes a star at click of a button. After a couple of lackluster years with the White Sox, Moncada‘s projections (IMO) were shooting entirely too low, as if everyone had forgot about the “former” #1 prospect, like his ship had already sailed because of one season where he struck out a ton. Well, hitting a baseball is pretty hard. If it only takes him one season of endless k’s to come out on the other end as the monster I believe he is, I’d say it’s well worth the price of admission.
The main difference between one league and many is the emphasis we should place upon each pick. No mailing it in, no cheat sheets, no omnipotent ADP’s to live by, we should draft with purpose, direction, and belief. As my friend (our current champ) said to me the other night, “It’s all a fantasy, predicting what hasn’t happened yet,” I couldn’t agree more.
Whittling down my leagues to just one has pushed all of that pressure I used to feel from multiple leagues all the way down, into one concise square that I can focus on without getting too overwhelmed. This is important because focusing upon one thing and one thing only is typically something I have trouble with. Pressure can make diamonds or pressure can bust pipes, which one are you?
Lastly and most importantly, having only one league forces us to draft and therefore run our only team “harder, better, faster, stronger” because, quite simply, it’s the only child we have. What typically happens to only-children? They’re constantly spoiled, they get their way, and they know it. And this is not a bad thing whatsoever, especially in the fantasy baseball context. In our example your team is your child, when you spoil your team that means that (amongst other things) you’re paying the most attention to it, all of your attention, you’re making sure it’s happy (winning), and you’ll always want it to stay that way. I suppose that monogamy and child-rearing really do go hand-in-hand.
This is incredible!