Remember to look for whether the roster flag is “Y” or “N” when you look at MORPS projections. The plate appearances for hitters and batters faced for pitchers were adjusted to reflect expected roles when the player flag is “Y”. This also adjusts all other projected stat categories. Players with a “N” flag have not been adjusted because they did not have a defined role on the team at this point.

Managers competing in baseball manager leagues can use the RC column to evaluate their hitters and ERA or OERV to evaluate pitchers. Roto managers can use the ROTO column to evaluate both hitters and pitchers.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here. Since this is the final MORPS update, I have also included both sets of projections at the bottom of this post.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

MORPS20120404Batters

MORPS20120404Pitchers

Managers competing in baseball manager leagues can use the RC column to evaluate their hitters and ERA or OERV to evaluate pitchers. Roto managers can use the ROTO column to evaluate both hitters and pitchers.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here. Since this is the final MORPS update, I have also included both sets of projections at the bottom of this post.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

MORPS20120331Batters

MORPS20120331Pitchers

I was amazed at the number of times projected rosters changed during the course of Spring Training.  Between free agent acquisitions, injuries, and changes based on performance; MORPS projections were and still are continually changing as we approach the beginning of the year.  The purpose of the updated team analysis was to determine how much these changes were going to impact team performance heading into the season. 

The teams that were projected to make the playoffs in the American League (New York, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles and Texas) stayed the same.  I guess that shouldn’t have surprised me since those five teams are clearly the class of the American League this year.  Each of them is projected to win over 90 games.  The closest team behind them is Tampa Bay with 84 wins.  The only other team with a winning record is Toronto.  The American League is truly the haves and the have-nots.  

The National League update is a bit different.  Philadelphia, Miami and San Francisco are still projected to make the playoffs.  Milwaukee is now projected to win the central division while Atlanta, Saint Louis and Cincinnati will have to fight it out for the last wild card slot.  The National League has only one team projected to win over 90 games.  The equity in the National League should make for much more playoff excitement down the stretch.  This is highlighted by the fact that nine (9) of sixteen (16) teams are projected to have winning records.   

For those that want to read the original projection posts, feel free to click the links below.

American League East                    American League Central             American League West

National League East                      National League Central                National League West

Those that want more information on the projection methodology can  click here.

As always, feel free to post your comments.

As has been the case for the last several weeks, MORPS includes 700+ hitters and 700+ pitchers. The players designated as “roster” have their projected stats updated to reflected anticipated team roles. Projections for players designated as “non roster” are based exclusively on historical data. Use “non roster” player projections at your own risk. Roster versus non-roster is determined from data at MLBDEPTHCHARTS.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

As has been the case for the last several weeks, MORPS includes 700+ hitters and 700+ pitchers. The players designated as “roster” have their projected stats updated to reflected anticipated team roles. Projections for players designated as “non roster” are based exclusively on historical data. Use “non roster” player projections at your own risk. Roster versus non-roster is determined from data at MLBDEPTHCHARTS.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

What sites use the “dynamic value draft” format? The only site that I have found that still uses the “dynamic value draft” format is Baseball Manager (BBM). This site has been in operation since the early 1990s and touts itself as the longest running fantasy baseball game on the Internet.

Why was the name “dynamic value” used to describe this draft format? One of the unique things about this draft format is that the managers for an individual league determine the salary of each player by a sequentially ordered draft list. It is “dynamic” because the values are not known prior to the draft. The draft engine determines the salaries of each player based upon their collective ranking by the league managers. The draft engine then processes the draft using those same draft lists. I have seen some very interesting draft strategies that both influence player value(s) and the subsequent drafts. See the draft strategy question below for more details.

Your article said that players are drafted one position at a time. How exactly does that work? Each league drafts starting pitchers followed by outfielders, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops, third basemen, catchers, and relief pitchers. Most leagues choose to spread these individual position drafts over the course of eight (8) nights. This allows managers to adjust their strategies in between each positional draft based on factors like draft order, remaining budget, anticipated player values, team needs, etc. Many BBM managers refer to the mornings of draft week as the “eight (8) days of fantasy baseball Christmas”. It is like unwrapping presents each morning. Although most managers apply strategies to narrow the possible list of players they will draft, you really don’t know until you look at the draft results the next day. Sometimes you “get your guy”. Sometimes another manager uses a strategy you weren’t expecting and you end up with a player you weren’t expecting. At the beginning of the draft, every manager has an opportunity to target any player. Your ranking of players and positional budgets, combined with anticipating the actions of other managers, will ultimately decide whether you truly “get your guy”.

How many players are drafted at each position? Six (6) starting pitchers, relief pitchers and outfielders are drafted. Two (2) first basemen, second basemen, shortstops, third basemen and catchers are drafted. Drafting multiple players at each position each night creates some interesting strategy opportunities. See the draft strategy question below for more details.

How is draft order determined? For the first positional draft, starting pitchers, the draft order is determined randomly. Total remaining budget determines the draft order for the other position drafts. The team with the most budget remaining always picks first. An interesting twist that makes the dynamic value draft much different from a traditional snake draft is that draft order is reset after each team selects a player. For example, let’s say that team A picks first because they have the most money remaining prior to the outfield draft. Team B picks second with one million dollars less than team A. Thus, team A will get the first pick and team B will pick second. If team A picks a player that is more than one million dollars more expensive than the player that team B picked, they jump in front of team A when the draft engine picks the second player for each team in the outfield draft. You’ll notice that I didn’t say that team B has first pick for the second player because it is possible for one of the other eight teams to jump ahead of them if they drafted an even cheaper player that resulted in their total money remaining to be greater than team B. The ordering of a manager’s draft list not only impacts player values and their draft picks, it also impacts draft order for each positional draft and within each positional draft.

How are player salaries determined? As stated above, the managers within a league dynamically determine player values based upon player draft order. Each league has ten (10) managers. If Tulowitzky is ranked first by every manager for the shortstop draft, he would be valued at 5 million dollars ($500,000 x 10). If he was ranked second by every manager, he would be valued at 4.5 million dollars ($450,000 x 10). Each position lower in the rankings subtracts $50,000 from the value of the player. The combination of the values of each player for all ten (10) managers determines a player’s salary. The minimum salary for any player is $100,000 ($10,000 x 10). Any player ranked outside of a manager’s top 10 is given a salary of $10,000 from that manager. Let’s look at a typical scenario in a first base NL draft for a player like Helton from Colorado. Five (5) managers ranked him 9th while the five (5) other managers ranked him 5th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 13th. We would add $20,000 ($10,000 x 2) to his salary for the 11th and 13th rankings, $300,000 for 5th, $200,000 for 7th, $150,000 for 8th and $500,000 ($100,000 x 5) for the five (5) rankings of 9th. His total salary would be set at $1,170,000 for whatever manager ended up drafting him. The salary valuation method outlined above is used for all the infield positions (1B, 2B, SS, 3B) and catcher. Starting Pitchers and outfielders are similar. The difference is that the top 25 players are awarded a salary over $10,000 from each manager. Instead of reducing player salaries by $50,000 for each reduction in ranking, player salaries are reduced by $20,000. Thus a pitcher ranked 2nd by all 10 managers would have a salary of $4,800,000 ($480,000 x 10). An outfielder ranked 19th by all 10 managers would have a salary of $1,400,000 ($140,000 x 10). Relief pitchers are the same as starting pitchers and outfielders in the sense that 25 players are assigned a salary over $10,000. The difference for relievers is that the max salary for any reliever is $2,500,000 ($250,000 x 10). Each reduction on a managers draft list reduces a reliever’s salary by $10,000. Thus, a reliever that is ranked 2nd by all 10 managers would have a salary of $2,400,000 ($240,000 x 10).

How does the draft engine decide who gets which player? Once player salaries and draft order is determined, the draft engines drafts a player for each manager based upon their ordered draft list and their positional budget. For example, let’s say that Manager A set his second base budget at 2.5 million. The draft engine would look for the highest ranked available player on their draft list that has a salary of 2.4 million or less. Why 2.4 million you might ask? Because $100,000 is always reserved for future picks within each position. Since two players are selected in the second base draft, $100,000 is reserved for the second pick and 2.4 million is available for the first pick. If Jeter is the highest ranked player on Manger A’s list that is under 2.4 million dollars, he is selected. If his dynamic salary was 2.1 million, Manager A will have $400,000 available for his second pick.

What are some of the draft strategies that veteran managers use to draft their team using a dynamic value draft format? I asked this question on Baseball Manager’s discussion board. I have highlighted several strategies that managers use below.

• Use a minimum position budget (3.5 million) for Starting Pitchers – The Poolboy stated “the trend has been to minimum budget SPs and position for a balanced offense with a top 3 or top 5 pick among position players” (remember that remaining budget determines future round draft order). UMP stated “low ball the SP round so not to be picking near the bottom of the key offensive rounds.”
• Remove as many free agents as possible – Bruno stated “if the majority of the league goes with min caps, don’t be afraid to spend on hitters. Remove as many potential free agents as possible”. Any player that is not drafted by a manager during the draft is available to managers after the draft as free agents with a minimum salary of the dynamic value that was set for that player during the draft.
• Try to draft a key offensive player – Adam Shaw stated “A good strategy in AL used to be to go for A-rod but this year everyone will probably be gunning for Pujols/Fielder/A-gon & a great 2B, 3B.” Managers tend to use minimum salaries for starting pitching and outfield if they want to have the most remaining money for the first base draft.
• Maximize the production you get for the money you spend – Humin’bird stated “in some cases it’s prudent to spend money on a top 3 player at a position, but you’ll wind up with a weak backup probably. If you can get two reasonably productive players for the same money as a top 3 player with a weak backup then you might come out a bit better. One of your two reasonably productive players might have a career year, whereas the top player might get hurt and leave you with nothing”.
• Use sleeper picks to spread out your draft dollars for SP, OF and RP - Many managers choose to move one or two players up their draft list as “sleepers”. If the manager used a budget of 3.5 million for starting pitchers, a sleeper may allow them to spread their dollars between more than just a few top 25 players. Assuming that one manager’s rankings are similar to another, a straight draft list is more likely to result in the selection of a player that barely fits within their established budget. Subsequently, the next players will need to be very cheap to fit within the remaining budget. A sleeper allows a manager to select someone at a lower dollar value which will leave more money for later picks. Three 1 million dollar pitchers may give you better results than one 3 million dollar pitcher and a bunch of $100,000 guys.

The strategies that managers use in this draft format are only limited by their imagination and courage on draft day. If they mess up, they could end up with a team that needs serious help in free agency to compete. If they do well in the draft, they could start the year in a very strong position.

As has been the case for the last two weeks, MORPS includes 700+ hitters and 700+ pitchers. The players designated as “roster” have their projected stats updated to reflected anticipated team roles. Projections for players designated as “non roster” are based exclusively on historical data. Use “non roster” player projections at your own risk. Roster versus non-roster is determined from data at MLBDEPTHCHARTS.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

As was the case last week, MORPS includes 700+ hitters and 700+ pitchers. The players designated as “roster” have their projected stats updated to reflected anticipated team roles. Projections for players designated as “non roster” are based exclusively on historical data. Use “non roster” player projections at your own risk. Roster versus non-roster is determined from data at MLBDEPTHCHARTS.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.

How do I decide?

This is the second piece in a series focused on equipping fantasy managers with the tools they need to pick their optimal fantasy baseball league. The first article was titled “What fantasy baseball game should I play?” It focused on choosing a fantasy format based upon personal interests and format characteristics. The next step is to choose the type of draft you want. Five questions will be presented to guide you to a draft format best suited to your interests. Before we get to the questions, I need to give a brief history of the different draft formats. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the types of fantasy drafts available, strengths of each and also the weaknesses.

The oldest, and most common, fantasy draft is a serpentine draft. You may also hear it called a snake draft. Each manager is assigned a draft position (1 to X). The person in the first position picks the first player in the first round and the last player in the second round. The last manager chooses the last player in the first round and the first player in the second round. This back and forth selection of players occurs until all rosters are filled. The first fantasy baseball serpentine drafts were conducted using pen and paper in the early 1980s. Computer based software automated the process in the 1990s. Most serpentine drafts today use web based draft rooms. All rotisserie and most point leagues offer the serpentine draft format. With time limits on individual draft selections, serpentine drafts tend to take the least amount of time to complete compared to other draft formats. They also tend to be the easiest from a preparation perspective. Some managers can simply load their draft lists into the web draft room along with some basic position draft rules and let the system select their players. The negatives of a serpentine system are that draft order significantly influences player selection and it just isn’t all that exciting.

In the early 1990s, dynamic value drafts were introduced. You may also hear them called contract drafts. Each manager ranks the players on positional draft lists. The system asynchronously processes the draft lists, typically one position each night. Player salaries are set dynamically based upon manager rankings and players are selected for each manager based upon their draft list ranks /salary cap. The order that players are selected is determined by the amount of money remaining for each manager. For example, six starting pitchers may be selected on one night. At the beginning of the first SP selection, Manager A has the most money remaining. Thus, he picks first from his draft list. If the first player on his list has a value (based upon the ranking from all manager lists) that fits within his established position cap, the system selects that player for his team. After all managers have picked their first SP, the selection order is determined for the second SP based upon the updated order of most money remaining. After all SPs have been selected, the draft results are delivered to each manager within a draft results web page. The only site that uses this draft format today is the simulation league Baseball Manager. The negative of this format is the asynchronous/daily nature of the draft. The positives are the unique challenge of managing dynamic player valuations, a positional/global salary cap and multiple positional drafts over the course of a week. Another positive is that a manager is not tied to a specific draft order. If they want to get in a better draft position for the third base draft, they can choose to spend fewer dollars on players at second base and shortstop to bring their draft order up since it is based on remaining budget.

Over the last 10 years, auction drafts have become extremely popular. In an auction, each manager has a certain imaginary cap they can spend (i.e. $260) on a certain number of players (i.e. 26). Each manager nominates or introduces a certain number of players within a given timeframe or order. Once a player is introduced, all managers can bid or make offers on a player. The highest bidder signs the player to their roster. Most rotisserie and point leagues offer auction drafts in addition to their standard serpentine draft formats. However, auction drafts come in many flavors. Real time auctions typically resolve bidding one player at a time. Extended auctions resolve bidding X hours after the last bid on that player. Regardless, auctions will always take longer than a traditional serpentine draft. There is also a much greater chance that the competitive balance within an auction league will not be as consistent due to the complexity and strategy that each manager must employee. An auction draft does tend to be more exciting than a serpentine draft and does require more preparation and strategy. That being said, an auction draft also allows you to go after any player you want. Everyone has a chance to sign the number one overall player.

So…, without further delay, the questions that you need to ask yourself when you want to choose a fantasy draft format are as follows:

1. What fantasy format have you chosen to play?
a. Rotisserie – You can choose between serpentine and auction.
b. Simulation League – Dynamic Value Draft @ Baseball Manager.
c. Head –to-Head point league – You can choose between serpentine and auction.

2. Do you want to draft real time or extended over a period of days?
a. Real Time – You can choose between serpentine and auction.
b. Extended – You can choose between serpentine, auction or dynamic value

3. What is more important to you – simplicity or access to all players
a. Simplicity – Choose a serpentine draft
b. Access to All Players – Choose an auction or dynamic value draft

4. How important is strategy to you within a draft?
a. Shut up and Just let me pick my players – Serpentine draft
b. Strategy is Important – Choose an auction or dynamic value draft

5. What is more exciting to you?
a. Finishing the Draft – Choose a serpentine draft.
b. Hand to Hand Conflict for your player – Choose an auction draft.
c. Opening up Christmas presents for 8 days – Choose a dynamic value draft.

Hopefully these questions have helped you choose the fantasy draft format that best fits your needs. Feel free to offer comments if there are other things that you found important when making your choice of draft formats.

Updated MORPS projections are located within their original hitting and pitching posts. The links are as follows: Hitting Projections Click Here & Pitching Projections Click Here.

Please send comments if you have questions or suggestions.