Thank You, Albert Pujols

There is no MLB trade deadline information or secret fantasy baseball advice to be had here.  No sleepers, no breakouts, no rookie names for you to be the first to know.  Today is merely a day of appreciation; a chance to thank one of the greatest baseball players of the new millennium for something which he gets very little credit or notoriety.  Thank you, Albert Pujols, for changing the game of fantasy baseball forever.

Believe it or not, I have never actually owned Pujols in any fantasy league in which I’ve played and yet I have continued to reap the benefits of his presence year in and year out.  For those that don’t remember, the consensus top pick in every fantasy draft for nearly a decade came from virtually out of nowhere.  I still remember looking at the Cardinals spring depth chart a week prior to the 2001 season and reading comments from Tony LaRussa saying that Pujols would begin the season in Triple-A.  But a strong end to the spring and a few banged up veterans later, Pujols was in the lineup on Opening Day.  He cracked his first home run on the fourth game of the season, pulled his average up above .300 on game 5 and the rest is history.  It was from that moment on, that Pujols, unknowingly, changed the game of fantasy baseball.

The easiest comparison to make is to say that Pujols did for fantasy baseball what the movie Rounders (and maybe some increased ESPN coverage) did for poker.  There was always an underground subculture, but upon release of the Matt Damon film, the game went mainstream — big time.  Suddenly every guy in the world was the next Johnny Chan and poker professionals from all over saw their levels of wealth increase exponentially as they feasted on the chip stacks of the would-be hopefuls.  The same can be said of Pujols’ sudden emergence from complete unknown to household name.

The use of the internet, like ESPN’s television coverage of poker, obviously helped usher fantasy baseball further into the limelight.  It made the game easier to play as the stats were now computerized and more manageable.  But the beginning of Pujols’ career marked a point where every newbie fantasy player suddenly became the top scout in America and made it their mission to find the next big thing.  Those of us, who had been playing in dynasty and keeper leagues had learned to scout minor league talent, but the drafting of unproven rookies grew to a level this game had never seen before.

And that’s where the thanks comes in.  With every new fantasy player eager to be the one who discovers the next Pujols, countless veterans with proven fantasy value are being bypassed.  Late round draft selections are being used on players who may or may not be called up while more well-known players slide down the ranks, left to be stolen by the more experienced and patient veteran owners in drafts.

The best part is that a great number of these rookie fantasy owners are more so the casual player of the game.  It’s not like they are crunching the numbers or doing an in-depth analysis of the player.  It’s more of a “pick 4 rookies you read about in a fantasy magazine, draft them all, and see who pans out” type strategy.  Throw it all against the wall and see what sticks, if you will.  So while they are using their final four or five picks on unknown commodities, guys like me are scooping up late round sleepers to be used immediately.

You even see it now during in-season trade negotiations.  While some of these people are overpaying for the potential of what Brett Lawrie may or may not do if/when he gets called up, I’ve bought low on Dan Uggla and am now watching my team climb in the standings thanks to his expected second half surge.  The guys who are waiting for a Lawrie call-up and asking what people expect from him upon his arrival are doing just that….waiting.  I’m boosting my HR and RBI total in July and August while they’re still wondering how much they may get in September.

So thank you, Albert.  Thank you for coming into the baseball world the way you did.  Thank you for giving so many rookie fantasy owners the hope that they too can discover a player of your talent before anyone else.  Thank you for making it look so easy that they keep trying.  And thank you for having a talent so rare that these wannabe scouts miss more than they hit.  Some of my teams have never had it so easy…