Saturday, June 11, 2011

Your League Probably Sucks...

...IF any of these examples are true about the fantasy baseball leagues you're in this season:
  • Eric Hosmer is owned in only 59% of Yahoo! leagues. He has a 5x5 line of .309/18/5/21/2 in 32 games and has been an impact player since being called up on May 6th. He hit home runs in back-to-back games at New York on May 11th and 12th. He should have been 100% owned on May 13th, if not sooner. Check your waiver wire now to validate how much your league probably sucks.
  • There is no reason whatsoever for Manny Ramirez to still be owned in 7.7% of ESPN and 5% of Yahoo! leagues. NONE! WHAT! SO! EVER! Quit sending trade proposals to these owners for any of their players. They gave up caring about your league long ago.
  • Joe Mauer owners are dying to get his bat back into their lineups and there's hope it could happen in as soon as a weeks time. But can you explain to me why he's currently starting in 14% of Yahoo! leagues? Oh, I know why. Because those 14% of owners were so bromantically committed to having Mauer on their team that they no longer had anything to live for when he got injured. If your league hates the DL or has such limited bench spots, I have a formula for you. Lazy owners + crappy league settings - common sense = sucky league.
  • Speaking of catchers: Does your league use a "two catcher" format? If so, it sucks. ESPN's Player Rater ranks just 17 catcher-eligible players with a rating above zero. Now I'm no mathematician but a negative rating on any scale has got to be a bad thing. Oh and one of those 17 players is Mr. Out For The Season Buster Posey, so let's knock that down to 16 players. Jorge Posada is ranked 27th and is owned in 18.4% of ESPN leagues. Nuff said. Quit requiring people to draft crappy hitters, you sadomasochists.
  • Hey...you know that guy in your league who named his team after his favorite real team (most likely the Cubs) and his infield is made up of Carlos Pena, Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro and Aramis Ramirez? And his pitching staff is anchored by Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano with Carlos Marmol as his closer? Yeah? Well that guy sucks as an owner and any league that continues to invite that guy sucks too.
  • Anthony Rizzo and Mike Moustakas were both called up to the majors this week and should see their ownership numbers skyrocket. Wait. What's that? You only get to make changes to your lineup weekly? Oh my. Weekly leagues suck. Plain and simple. This isn't fantasy football. Get involved in daily leagues or don't get involved at all. If fantasy baseball takes too much time and/or effort to manage a team over the course of six months then don't join.
  • Keeper leagues are a lot of fun but why is everyone in your league talking about them in June? I'd rather play to win my league this year owning Johnny Damon than lose while owning Bryce Harper. Quit sucking and play to win now!
I'll continue writing these posts periodically to point out the number one frustration most fantasy baseball players experience in their leagues most years: INACTIVITY! Inactive owners affect the overall value of a league. How many times have you sent a trade proposal to another owner to simply have it ignored or expire?   Does winning a league filled with inactivity really give you any level off satisfaction if no money was involved? Probably not. Does kicking a cat before it can steal your soul feel good? The answer to that will always be yes. ALWAYS!

What experiences have you had which left you pondering whether or not your league(s) sucks?

4 comments:

  1. As a long time participant in a fantasy league, you made some great points. My focus hasn't been as strong in recent years as my personal commitments increased over the years. But I still pay $25 or $30 every year, draft players and then look for better players throughout the year. The group I'm in is a majority of people I know and the core group still comes back year after year. Thx for the post.

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  2. I'm happy to report that for the first time ever, my league has 12/12 active managers this late in the season. It took a lot of rule changes and a lot of shuffling of owners to get a league of 12 attentive managers. I've been at it since 1994 and I'm pretty sure this is a first.

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  3. Two Catcher leagues rule! I'm even in an 11-team two-Catcher AL-Only league. I paid for Wieters and Suzuki, sat back and laughed at everyone . Muahahahahahahahahahha

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  4. Some great points. I agree that daily moves and single catcher leagues are my favorite formats. I also agree that I want to win NOW not next year (that's what the draft is for). However, the number one rule I like to employ in fantasy is to HAVE FUN. That being said, so long as my league sticks to the basics of your article, I will most likely be enjoying myself!!

    Good post!

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