The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 315 – OBP v. AVG Leagues
2/29/16
The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!
Follow us on Twitter
Moves
- Chris Coghlan to Oakland (4:15)
- Ian Desmond to Texas (13:40)
Strategy Section:
- OBP v. AVG Leagues (17:00)
- Preference? (17:28)
- Do we overrated OBP? (21:22)
- Players Who Get a Boost:
- George Springer (26:15)
- Chris Iannetta (27:55)
- Delino DeShields (31:13)
- Lucas Duda (37:55)
- Joc Pederson (41:54)
- Carlos Santana (45:13)
- Sinker Usage & Injury (52:45)
We have a new email address for questions: sleeperpod@gmail.com. Send your fantasy-relevant questions. You can send keeper questions, but those are much better for Twitter. Questions most likely to get selected are those that apply more broadly, as opposed to specific trade or keeper queries. However, if you do ask a league-specific question, please include the league size and categories.
Visit ootpdevelopments.com, click the pre-order banner, and enter SLEEPER17 to get the discount on OOTP17!
Watch T.J. Lauerman and I discuss some Spring Training breakouts and watch some OOTP16.
—
As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed. Please rate & review the show in iTunes letting us know what you think!
Approximately 61 minutes of joyous analysis.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Long time listener, first time commenter. Love the content. Really do. I can’t tell you how much more enjoyable things like commuting to work or snowblowing the driveway have become since I have started listening to this podcast. But alas, there is one thing that I don’t like. I have to request that better microphones be a priority and that some standard volume be set for all participants. The risk of blowing out eardrums while wearing earbuds due to volume differences (which may be due to different or poor mics) on this podcast is real and always lurking in the back of my mind. Now that there are fangraphs subscriptions, maybe there is some extra capital that you can invest in great mics. There is a world of difference in audio quality between listening to This American Life, or Hardcore History, and The Sleeper and the Bust. Other than that, keep up the great work and thanks for the great content.
You’re joking, right? Like, I literally just got a brand new mic and we’ve talked about it.
Personally I think you’ve sounded quite debonair since the new mic debut on Sunday’s pod Paul.
LOL thanks! I’m not mad at MustBunique or anything. I’m just really surprised there are still mic concerns. I thought the last couple sounded v good
Will you guys be doing any OPS targets?
Sorry, I can’t co-sign the idea that “the rules are just the rules”. I want the best teams in the games I spend my time playing to resemble the best teams in real baseball. Sure, it won’t be a perfect comp, so some rule-based shenanigans will occur, but I way prefer keeping those to a minimum, rather than raving about Billy Hamilton, this generation’s Otis Nixon, being an impact player because a hack for the New York Times (Daniel Okrent, for those who don’t get the reference) thought stolen bases were as important as home runs in the early ’80s while goofing with his friends at La Rotisserie.
But sure, I simply don’t play those games. The problem comes into play when there’s *no* adjustment in the discussions among otherwise smart analysts, especially this year when stolen bases have become *so* important in the “traditional” leagues. It’s very difficult for me to wind back analysis of players on fantasy podcasts (and this isn’t just you guys) to account for whether SB is the major (or only) reason they’re being touted.
And it’s pretty much just SB. For me, even though I use OBP instead of AVG, and ignore context stats (the game I play is basically RC, with positional slots), analysis about a player’s hitting ability is easier to adjust, since the discussion is still essentially about whether or not they can hit (you really don’t hear much about “getting the guy in with less than two outs”, thank God), with a smidge of lineup thrown in that I can easily ignore.
Which leads me to ask: Since SB is being used less and less by actual teams, is it possible that SB will be removed as a category from more traditional leagues? To some extent, I have no dog in this fight, since I prefer my league anyway, but I have to think at some point people who play fantasy want there to be *some* minimum level of relationship between their game and real baseball?
Virtually nothing about fantasy correlates to real life in terms of team construction and what it takes to win, so if that’s your goal, you’re playing the wrong game.
Well, no, I’m not playing the wrong game, I’m just not playing your game. But it is still fantasy, despite your assumption (“virtually nothing about fantasy”: Because there’s only one format? Way to keep an open mind), and we are looking at the same players, which is why I listen to your podcast. And, I assume, we have similar curiosity about what makes a good player. That’s what makes the episodes with Eno more ideal for me.
And since the episode was about different formats, this seemed like the appropriate place to point out that “it’s just a game” is flawed for games that use information about the real world. Interest and involvement in fantasy or simulations (sports and otherwise, see the gigantic number of war simulations) clearly has an element of learning about how these systems work in real life. So if the game gives an unrealistic result, while some people like yourself will shrug their shoulders and, like Herm Edwards, simply “Play To Win The Game”, others like me will seek out more realistic versions to wast–er, devote their time to. 🙂
But that doesn’t mean all the information in your podcast becomes useless because of a different format, which is what the rest of my comment was about. With all due respect, Paul, it looks like you only read the first paragraph of what I wrote. Please take a look at the rest, too. Is it really that hard to say “in leagues that don’t use SB, this guy isn’t as important”?
Or just play a WAR-only league. But the rules are the rules is how it is and should be. We’re playing a game.
Until defense is better measured, I respectfully decline. 🙂