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| Curveball: Fantasy Speak 101: Speaking in Tongues 3/3/2007 |
Fantasy Speak 101: Speaking in Tongues
By David Wysocky, Staff Writer
You’ll certainly notice a very roto specific use of lingo at BaseballInsights and for those keeping score at home we’d like to shed some light on our fantasy vocabulary. Here goes:
Endgame pickup – Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Much as in Ferris Bueller, there should be little opposition at the draft table when you pickup $1 or near zero value players in the hope that you can catch lightning in a bottle or a rebound pitcher for ’08 (keeper leagues, listen up!). Endgame pickups are those players left on the draftboard that dream of finding a home on your roster... think of fantasy baseball’s version of the “Island of Misfit Toys”.... hey, there are some kids that can enjoy a pitcher with a 1.40 WHIP!!!
Draft Value vs. Predicted Value – Ahhhh, we haven’t seen this anywhere else, although we tend to like our own cooking. It basically gives you two gauges from which to assess what you should pay at the pump...er, what you should pay for a player at the draft. One value is based on what we expect a player to achieve in ’07 based on a 5x5 league format and the other is a more subjective value based on the "brand" name of the player as well as other factors that may add or subtract to the draft amount. We use the difference between the two values to help identify "target" candidates in the ’07 draft which are not to be confused with Sleepers – most of our targets are already "awake" and have been so for some time.
Stock Market Lingo – You’ll see references to players as "issues", "bears", "bulls", "go long", etc. and this comes from our unhealthy obsession with our own stock portfolios. We’ll be tracking player values throughout the season in this fashion and hope to hear your feedback as often as possible at askus@baseballinsights.com.
"Fourthoutfielderville" – one word, self-explanatory.
Drafting Angle – like you, we’re constantly trying to figure out what buttons to press during the draft to curry favor with the masses. It’s like a gratifying political campaign in that you get to see the immediate fruits of your labor. Can I drive up Jason Bay’s value by throwing out his OPS or second half stats? Can I depress John Patterson’s value by talking up his achy forearm? Can I neutralize my primary competitors by calling a player I know they need on their rosters? Find the angle and watch the draft board light up like a Christmas tree!
Powerbid – Bidding technique that provides more draft excitement than the guy who passes out after his 10th beer at 10:30 AM. Involves unnecessarily bidding several dollars more than the last owner after a player is already at or near value. It’s like bidding $43 for Pujols when the last bid was $39.... why? Because we’re roto owners and we like to "throw it down" when the mood strikes us.... oh yeah, that and the fictitious $260 budget!
Don’t understand a damn word we’re saying... let us know!
askus@baseballinsights.com
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