| PLAYER NAME | OWNED % | ADD % CHANGE (7 DAYS) |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Vogelbach | 84.72% | 42.36% |
| Jason Heyward | 78.82% | 38.54% |
| Richard Lovelady | 38.19% | 37.50% |
| Nick Anderson | 59.03% | 37.15% |
| Freddy Galvis | 59.38% | 34.72% |
| Alex Gordon | 47.22% | 30.21% |
| J.D. Davis | 68.4% | 28.47% |
| J.B. Wendelken | 46.53% | 27.43% |
| Nick Margevicius | 36.11% | 23.26% |
| Brandon Brennan | 25.35% | 21.53% |
The fantasy baseball season has closed, but the game of Ottoneu continues long into the off-season (one of the hallmarks of its year-round appeal). Following Justin’s take on what happened with some of the best teams in Ottoneu this year, I’ll focus today on how one team mastered this game, presenting you with an interview from the of the 2016 Ottoneu Champions League winner, Brent Daily.
As mentioned in the past, Ottoneu is a deep but enjoyable game of fantasy baseball economics perfectly suited for the FanGraphs reader. However, the learning curve in year one can be steep, so consider this point a primer on how “loans” work in Ottoneu leagues.
All Ottoneu teams, regardless of the format (5×5, 4×4, FGPTS, SABR) are bound by both a 40 player roster cap and a $400 salary cap applied between the annual league player auction and the end of the MLB regular season (these caps do not apply in the off-season). Exceeding either of these caps will result in a “frozen” roster thereby preventing the owner from bidding on players, making trades, or even setting lineups until the issue is resolved, per Rule 1b. In other words, your only option when faced with an illegal (“over-cap”) roster is to cut players until you get to 40 or fewer players or $400 or less in total salary. For new Ottoneu players, keep in mind you should never willingly exceed these limits (per Rule 1c), and each of your 40 roster spots inherently costs $1 each, so you really only have $360 in “free” roster salary to play with (see Rule 1bi) at any given time (including during the annual auction).
This post requires some “class participation”, so if you’re reading along I would really appreciate you weighing in on what has become a highly active debate within Ottoneu leagues. Even if you don’t play Ottoneu, the concept of ambiguous fantasy league rules applies to all, and today I’m looking for potential (creative) solutions on how to enforce the following rule:
Rule 1a: Each team should maintain at all times a roster of 22 major-league players that can fill out a starting lineup. The remaining 18 roster spots can be used for reserves, consisting of both major and minor leaguers.
Regardless of whether you’ve been playing Ottoneu for several years or just a few short weeks, you’ve probably realized that a healthy community of saber-minded owners is just as much of a feature of the growing fantasy sports platform as 40-man rosters and annual player arbitration. That feeling of “community” was strengthened this week with the launch of the “official” Ottoneu Fantasy Sports Community (on Discourse) by game designer Niv Shah.
You’ve just signed up to play Ottoneu – now what?
Ottoneu is growing, and while you’re going to see a lot of ink spilled here on RotoGraphs about this premier fantasy game, the learning curve for rookies can be a little steep. Below are ten critical tips you should consider when embarking on your first Ottoneu fantasy baseball season. What follows is based on the assumption that you’ve either joined an existing Ottoneu league or are creating a new league and are now preparing to draft in your first spring auction.
1) Join the Ottoneu Community
One of the best aspects of Ottoneu is the massive contingent of game players discussing all things baseball (and football) 24/7/365. You can find the most active Ottoneu gamers on the official community site and on Slack. Complementing the already feature-rich platform, the Ottoneu community brings all owners together in one place to crowdsource player information, trade feedback, auction tips, keep/cut decisions, enhanced league communications, and a forum for recruiting new league owners. Even if you don’t play Ottoneu (yet), the community is a goldmine of daily baseball dialogue, strategy, and advice, and it also the perfect place to dip your toe in if you have any interest in learning more about playing and joining Ottoneu. When you do play Ottoneu, you’ll want to get acquainted with the community as soon as possible, as it is an excellent resource for new Ottoneu players.
Ottoneu is a smarter, better brand of fantasy baseball. By design, it’s a fantasy platform engineered for the hardcore baseball fan that doesn’t enjoy the term “off season”. Ottoneu is the perfect fit for FanGraphs readers looking to join a competitive fantasy baseball league with a lot of cool features, a sabermetric-economy, and a massive community of raving fans.
You can read first-year feedback from Ottoneu players here. You can also learn a lot more about the game from the FAQ, but here are the top 10 reasons you should consider joining or moving your fantasy baseball league to Ottoneu this year: