Ottoneu Offseason: Maintain A Full Roster
The ottoneu offseason is great simply because it’s an actual offseason. All other popular fantasy platforms fall into a winter coma unless the commissioner moves the league to a spreadsheet. While other leagues are snoozing, ottoneu arbitration season is over and trade season has just begun. Today’s lesson isn’t about the trade market, it’s an exhortation to avoid an ottoneu faux pas.
Every year, I see people making cuts in October and November when there is no penalty to exceeding payroll or roster size. As of tomorrow, my roster will have about $440 and 44 players. And I don’t plan to cut anybody.
With the conclusion of arbitration, FanGraphs Staff Two saw about 25 players cut by three clubs (one owner cut just one guy, Josh Willingham). My question: why? I can only assume some owners are compelled to tidy their rosters just as they keep their personal spaces neat and orderly. There’s nothing to gain with roster tidiness. There might be something to lose.
Perhaps it seems like I’m making a fuss over nothing. Did anybody want a shot at a $28 Joe Mauer? No, probably not. Only one player I considered a sure-fire keeper was cut. Put another way, somebody cut a player I would have kept! It’s not like I would have traded Paul Goldschmidt for the player, but I would have offered a choice of cheap role players. Perhaps the owner in question would have liked one of them.
There were other players in the bundle who could be viewed as keepable to the right owner. Am I interested in a $40 Jason Heyward? Nope, but I can picture another owner swapping a tidbit for the opportunity to think it over. I understand some owners don’t want to spend time negotiating a trade for a “tidbit,” but for me, that defeats the purpose of the ottoneu offseason. Overall, about half of the players cut were within $5 of the upper limit on my projected valuation. That’s close enough to at least ask around before clicking “cut.”
So what should you do if you find yourself eager to cut a player. First, ask yourself if there is any scenario where the player can be kept. For example, I have a $49 Dustin Pedroia. Nobody is giving me anything keepable for him; I could cut him today without regret. If you decide a player might be viewed favorably by another owner, it doesn’t hurt to ask. While using the message board gives leverage to your rivals, we’re talking about players you planned to cut. Even if they are an asset for another owner, they’ll probably qualify as low value.
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Looking for an ottoneu team? Ottoneu allows commissioners to list abandoned teams as available. You can view the full list of claimable teams here. Below, I’ve highlighted a few that jumped out.
League: Hall of Fame
Team: The Rite of George Springer
This is a well-built team with plenty of surplus value, prospects, and a strong pitching staff. Position players are a current weakness with the club. The league itself is competitive with a few recognizable owners like Montezuma’s Revenge.
League: GUDASS VORP
Team: Punch Drunk
The team has a number of affordable, high quality position players. Overall depth isn’t great, but you’ll have plenty of money to address problems in the draft. The league uses SABR points, which differs slightly from the oft-discussed FanGraphs points style. Judging from the message board, there may be some unrest among the owners. You’ll want to learn more before committing.
League: Black Dog Baseball
Team: The Freak Show
This league appears poised for some owner turnover, but the core group appears active. The roster in question has a star, some affordable mid-tier guys, and some low cost contributors. It’s not a dream boat, but it’ll float.
Advice when claiming a team: You still have to pay the entrance fee, so make sure the league is active before claiming a team. Generally, a league with three or more available rosters is a red flag, although you can examine the league history to see if the turnover is a one-time thing.
You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam
Rite of George Springer was formerly my team, but I decided to leave the league to focus on the ottoneu Champions League – five leagues would have been too big a commitment for me. Hope somebody can give it a good home!
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Awesome. Someone claimed the Rite of George Springer, presumably because they saw it in this article, and then immediately proceeded to cut a bunch of players.
The irony is staggering.
Upon further review, a couple of the players cut even had a non-zero chance of having value. Sure, it was mostly dead wood and marginal-at-best assets, but as Brad says, you lose nothing by keeping them around until you’re forced to make a decision.
I was excited at first, but yeah, this takes the fun out of trading at this stage…
I think you always have to wait for the deadline to cut those players because you never know what will happen. What if Heyward gets traded to the Rockies? This is likely a 1 in million chance, but why give up that chance for nothing.
Hewyward is Cardinal now. I can predict the future. 🙂
I hear ya, Brad. I cut some guys before the deadline last year I thought were easy cuts, but then I was stunned at some guys who got traded and kept by their new teams that I thought were way, way overpriced. I’m not going to be cutting anyone early this time around.
I cut a few players because I would have had trouble even trying to make a valid trade case for them. I like to cut some initial players ($20 Headley…$10 Burnett…$4 Olt) to get the ball rolling and see if others will cut their players so I can start making some plans around the offseason without having to guess what people will do. Held on to my $42 Kemp for now—though was considering dropping him to show a big name out their for FA.
I just traded a guy who I would have cut, for a guy who I will cut, just to stick the other team with what I consider a bad contract.
This is a favorite strategy of mine. In practice, I’ve noticed that both players get cut most of the time.
For what it is worthy, my league hosted on ESPN is active year-round except for the one to two week period in late January, early February when they do the ‘reset’.
I am new to the Hall of Fame league by taking over and abandoned team and I must say that the owners there are smart, care and I look forward to next year. I think its an excellent league!
Darn it Brad… Your article came out 24 hours after I cut Jason Heyward and Carlos Santana. They were both at the high-end of their potential value, but your article reminded me that other owners might have valued them differently and may have been willing to give up something… I saw other owners shedding their dead weight and I couldn’t resist. But I think I acted prematurely. I will hold on to the rest of my team for a while longer to shop them around.
The only guys who have been cut in my league are guys who have said they are retiring (Dunn) or guys who have exited the player universe due to unfortunate circumstances (taveras).
That said, cutting a player notifies other owners of activity and sometimes spurs the market a bit. I prefer the slow drip until January, saving the most borderline cuts for last minute.
I’m the guy who cut Willingham (which Brad knows), and I did it as a sort of psychological purging. I do something similar in most of my leagues. I’m aware of the benefits of cutting no one, especially in a format like ottoneu, but in that fantasy baseball is a kind of a religion for me, I do some irrational things that “enhance the experience” for me, too. I can’t defend it on a rational or tactical level; I just did it.
Cutting no one before the keeper deadline, I mean.
I’ve cut guys in the past who I wanted to keep but thought I could get back in the draft for a smaller salary.
This was my first full season in ottoneu and I just found the average values sheet for players. Is there any other helpful tools like that that are hidden? Thanks for the articles Brad!