An Example

Almost 14 months ago, I wrote here about Ambrose's DiamondMind auction/contract league. Of course, this was a sort of meandering post that touched on a lot of things. It's DiamondMind, so it uses last year's stats--hence there isn't a lot of waiver wire scrounging. Also, rosters are 40 players and there are 28ish teams. It's a pretty deep league that, also, has its own website along with its own constitution.

For in-season purposes (for obvious reasons), Ambrose's league is totally useless. But the auction and salary structure is sort of interesting, and I'm providing it here ONLY AS AN EXAMPLE. (I'm dividing all the numbers by 100k):

• Players have salaries in increments of $1. The minimum salary for any player is $1.

• All players have initial salaries that are determined in an auction held in February/March, with the highest bidding team acquiring rights to that player. The player's salary remains the same for the duration of the season, unless they are released back to the Free Agent Pool, but all players have a minimum salary of $1.

• On January 31, teams must decide which players they will retain for the coming season. Players who are retained automatically receive a 10% raise. However, there are minimum salaries for players who have been out of the free agent pool for 3 years ($10), 5 years ($50) or 7 years ($100).
  

EG: A player is drafted at $3
Year 1: $3
Year 2: $4 (10% increase, but $1 increments)
Year 3: $5 (10% increase, but $1 increments)
Year 4: $10 (10% increase, but $10 minimum)
Year 5: $11 (10% increase)
Year 6: $500 (10% increase, but $50 minimum)
Year 7: $55 (10% increase)
Year 8: $100 (10% increase, but $100 minimum)
Year 9: $110 (10% increase)
Year 10: $121 (10% increase)
Year 11: $133 (10% increase ... and so on)

• On February 1, all teams receive their funds for the new season, based on their performance the previous season, which is added to any funds they have retained from past seasons. The monetary distribution can be seen HERE.
• On February 1, all players retained on your roster are paid in full for the season. The remaining money in your bank account may be used to bid on Free Agents at auction, as added value in trades, or rolled over to the following season, EXCEPT ...
• All teams are required to keep at least $10 in a lockbox for the beginning of the season. Each team will have $5 released to them once season play commences. The remaining $5 is released after the trade deadline.
• On April 1, the total payroll of each team will be noted. Teams are then restricted to a salary cap no greater than 40% above the sum of their salaries as of that date. For example, if the sum of your team salaries at season's start is $500, that sum may not, through trade or auction acquisitions, exceed $700 during the course of the season.

Auction / Contract Life Cycle

This is a sort of dumb post, but I think that it should be clear that this proposal is built of three stages during the course of the year:

1. Auction. The Auction begins with the release of all unkept players into the FA pool and ends [I know not how]. Kept players during the course of the auction have their costs increased. FAs are auctioned by teams following a forthcoming set of auction rules.
2. Season. This is the period that begins after the auction and ends when stats stop accumulating.
3. Off-season. I don't see how this period is different in any way from the regular season, considering players remain under contract. Still, because there are no stats, etc., some level of distinction from the regular season must be included.
   

Fantasy baseball first principles and mission statement

(I'm going to start assembling an auction / contract rule set here over the next few weeks. Please help with suggestions, etc., but first, I want to establish a mission statement, a sort of guiding light.)

Fantasy baseball is:

1. Fun. We should have fun. This should mean balanced, so that our interests get kept during the year as well as during the off-season. But this also means rewarding, so we're not content with just idling by.

2. Simple. The basic rules should be explicable to anyone in short sentences (save math equations).

3. Not arbitrary. There are some things that will always be arbitrary: positions, roster size, DL slots, stats. These are things we agree to because of general consensus--"two DL slots feels right." Where possible, we should avoid this outside of the above mentioned wrinkles, which are rules passed down to us by yahoo!, not god.

4. Rewarding to the finder of the diamond in the rough. This encourages us to be our own truffle sows. We are dorks who value that sort of thing, so that value is reflected in our having a keeper/contract league.

5. But not apotheosizing of him. Being smart/lucky once and riding it to senility is not something we want to reward. We want to encourage continued truffle snuffling. As such, keepers/contracts are limited in some way.

As such, the auction should be fun, simple, not arbitrary, rewarding to the finder of the diamond in the rough, but not making him king of men.

Is Einar Diaz in hibernation?

Are we moving to the Yahoo board completely or will we stay here?

that any good in a drink?

RIP Keith Foulke's career. Who retires on the second day after pitchers and catchers report? What a bitch. Here's to Joe Borowski, your 2007 Indians Rolaids Relief fireman of the year.

I'm already itching for a season preview. Here's what I'm thinking, keeper-wise. Please remember this is just rampant speculation before posting shitty comments.
Projected keepers (round):

Carter
Wright 1
Berkman 4
Dunn 6
Kazmir 16
Verlander 21
Capuano 24
J. Sowers FA

+: decent offensive and starting pitching core. Good value on four young starters.
-: total lack of speed, no closers, wright a bit of a reach in the first round. Kazmir is delicate.

Saud
A-Rod 1
Ichiro 2
Carpenter 4
Konerko 8
Dye 18
Harang FA

+: ichiro might be due for a comeback year, especially with the move to CF activating his samurai killer instinct. A-rod probably will justify the keep, even in an off year. Dye is a steal at 18th round, even if he goes back to normal. Lots of draft picks.
-: unlike real baseball, chris carpenter and some triple-A garbage-ballers can’t win you the pitching title in this league.

Moacir
M. Cabrera 1
BJ ryan 7
Bonderman 13
Granderson 22
Kendrick FA

+: cabrera’s a beast at third and hasn’t even peaked yet. Granderson’s strikeouts don’t hurt you in league; kendrick should be a ROY candidate.
-: could be hard pressed to add big bats to support cabrera, even with the pile of early picks moacir has.

Czap
Santana 1
Zambrano 3
Nathan 7
Weeks 11
Andre Ethier FA
Markakis FA
Josh Johnson FA

+: pitching will be nasty, again. markakis should be a nice value as a FA keeper.
-: see last year’s 4th place finish in re what happens when you just have good pitching. Also, as we all know, czap is always one rickie weeks injury away from dead last in all hitting categories

Pete
Oswalt 4
F. Lopez 8
Howard 10
Holliday 13
Cain 14
McCann 17
HanRam 23
Swisher FA

+: offense is like baseball LSD. addition of 2nd-best catcher in 17th round will cause everyone else in league to beshit themselves all year long. Reigning HP diaspora ROY HanRam abides and is the future president of the dominican republic.
-: matt cain is not a pitching staff.

Bench
Utley 2
Mauer 4
Webb 6
Prince Fielder 14
Delmon Young 18
Cano 19
Zimmermann 20
C.M. Wang FA

+: bench has serious younglegs roX0rs in rounds 14-20. webb is a deal in the 6th if he can stays in cy young contention. Mauer is by far best offensive catcher. Delmon Young is so good no one cares if he puts an ump in a wheelchair.
-: no speed, needs to acquire pitching staff (liriano would have been nice here)

Omar:
Teixeira 1
Beltran 3
Halladay 5
Thome 16
Atkins 22
Dave Bush? FA

+: not overcommitted. Halladay is nice to have around. Teixeria should rebound, although he kind of has to, to justify keeping him at 1.
-: beltran needs to repeat his season from last year to be worth it. thome’s spine might collapse.

Mcard:
D. Ortiz 1
Crawford 2
Bay 3
Hafner 4
Reyes 5
Papelbon 20
Teahen FA
Rich Hill FA

+: even if he drafted scrubs to fill in the rest of the spots, mcard’s offense will finish in top 3. teahen will have one last year of 3B eligibility.
-: will have to repeat last year’s pitching dumpster dive to complete stunning 3-peat. Has no picks before round 6.

ALM
Pujols 1
Soriano 3
Sizemore 4
Wells 10
Baldelli 19
Morneau 22
Otsuka FA

+: top four keepers are strong. Morneau in the 22nd round is retarded, unless he gets ulcerative colitis again.
-: rocco baldelli is like typhoid mary. Just bad luck.

Whet
Manny 1
Derrek Lee 2
Tejada 3
King Felix 4
Sheets 5
An. LaRoche FA
Barfield FA

+: at worst, will do OK in power hitting categories with thee guys. Andy laroche is my sleeper pick for 2007 NL MVP.
-: overpaying for keepers.


Having gone through this, some predictions:

:: There’s going to be a run on middle infielders early in the draft. The first few rounds will be weird, as some people draft to fill priority holes, and others draft for value.

:: Pitchers should go higher than in previous years, since everyone except for Czap will most likely keep offense over defense. I could be misreading that.

:: almost no closers will be kept. Only the bona fide ace closers (nathan, rivera, ryan) have good enough rate stats to be worth expending a lot of value.

:: next year’s keepers will be interesting, when guys who are hugely useful in rounds 2-5 have to be kept at the highest remaining pick. Mcard’s strategy is still good, but this year he could pay the price for missing out on top round draft picks.

snot boognish

I think we're all too shaken up by how close we came to blowing it on the "guy wire" question in round 5, only to stuff our latest challengers in the overtime round. Guy wire was not a good trivia question, i have to say, but i still overruled a correct answer from team captain czap. i doubt many teams have posted the kind of run we have (four weeks, four wins, despite one 'disputed' victory three weeks ago). the thing is, i don't think we can lose when we're at full strength. when we tied team mute, it was only because at least two complete bullshit questions, the singapore thing and the "shipping containers" question, that would have made a 2 pt difference if they'd shaken out in our favor. we had a terrible game, blew one easy point and everyone else got gifted a free point except for us (on shipping), and we still tied for first. QED, we can't be stopped with conventional weapons. we'll be at half-strength again this upcoming week with mcard and bench on the shelf. if we post another outright win, i think they'll probably have to just induct us into the HOF even before the mandatory 7-yr wait.

Silent Spring

What is this spiritual DDT that has stilled the siren song of Snot Boogie? I'd like to hear some bragging after we extended our domination this quarter. With a two-person handicap. Surely this streak is the best of all-time? Those of you who know the organizing collective: what is the record? Because it's going to fall.

Indiana - joining the 19th century

Soon to be illegal in Indiana - Sex with Animals


My favorite part

"She cited one case in which the stepfather of an 8-year-old girl pledged to kill the girl's puppy in front of her if she told anyone about abuse in the home.

''This poor little girl was just crying,'' Weaver said. ''She knew she was going to lose her puppy.''

The abuse was eventually reported, and the dog was moved to another home, Weaver said."

The DOG needed to be protected. Once the dog was gone, the step-father was free to abuse his step-daughter in peace.

Ted Lilly brought to you by ...

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!

i guess the money had to come from somewhere.

House of 41 flavors

All of our wings are offered grilled or traditionally made and tossed in lemon pepper, fajita, ghetto, orange burst, jerk, japanese spicy chili sauce or teri-que, among many, many more!

stats

I'm just trying to remember the stats. I think they are:

hitters - H, R, SB, RBI, BB, TB
pitchers - ERA, WHIP, K, W, S, TB

Is that right? Also, my impression - and I agree - is that we have a rough consensus that these stats will not change, at least this year. Any dissent?

Finally, it looks like I will be fine for the March 24 draft date.

On the trading block

Sigh

"He deserves it. He does. But that's the one thing I have from a long season. I hit .216. It was a tough year. I didn't earn much else, but I have that ball."

Yadier Molina, not as thugged out as I was hoping. YOU EARNED OUR HEARTS, YADIER.

I post now

I am trying to weasel my way into professional blogging, or at least blogging as an extension of my job, so I figure I better practice. And weigh in on fantasy league business, although as usual I am typically apathetic about the rules and regulations.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out anything to post about, other than that the Cubs just traded the dude who killed an osprey for someone named Gregor Reinhard who apparently doesn't exist in baseball form.

It is not as good a name as "T-Bob Hebert," but I'll take it.


T-Bob Hebert

20 years from now all white southern men will be named T-Bob. Including all of my offspring.

UPDATE: If you look for "Greg Reinhard" you find that he was a pitcher for the UW-Whitewater Warhawks. I think someone at the Sun-Times is just going crazy, which makes sense.

What about Joe?

Its been 24 hours and i haven't seen a Joe Mauer posting. How much longer was he arbitration eligible? This is a huge signing for the twins (in my opinion) because now they have him for atleast 4 years and if he stays healthy, not a day longer. When they lose Santana and Morneau in the next couple years, atleast they will have a hitting catcher to anchor their team. Santana's next contract - over under is set at 200 million over 7 years. With baseball inflation going at 10% and Barry Zito being 30-40% the pitcher Santana is, i dont think thats crazy.

The sox are going to lose Dye, Crede, Buehrle and Vasquez next year so i can't say much about the future.

Thank god I got rid of Ortiz

Since I now know who my first-rounder will be. I knew about the ad, of course, but the hulabaloo--we need a hero like that to stir shit in the clubhouse to make the reporters not pay attn to the place in the table.

PS: Pete, get hard.

PPS: I love how Simmons has apparently stopped writing columns (because of ESPN: the Conversation?), and is just writing his blog now, which is supposed to be all about basketball. Yet today's post is his running diary of the Grammys. This is fricken page 3 material by now.

Omar, how does this make you feel?

My weekly onion post

Porn Viewed By Young

This was just too easy. I cant decide which one of the first two is better.

Am I the only one?

So, I think that the scene in Singles (1992) where Steve is lying on the floor of his trashed apartment listening to jazz and staring up at the ceiling is a direct quote from the scene in Mo Better Blues (1990) when Denzel loses his ability to play jazz ands is doing the same. Can someone confirm or deny this?

No More Dirtbags

“It’s sort of lost that dirtbag appeal,” said Isabelle Tihanyi, who with her twin, Caroline, started Surf Diva...“Now you see more yuppies in the water with a brand-new board and a brand-new S.U.V. — all the latest technical gear.”

What portion of the population likes things MORE when there IS a dirtbag appeal? I want a NYTimes article that reports on things that yuppies WON'T do still so I know what to be more interested in. I'm gonna write a controversial, David Brooks-style-book called, "Cultural Gentrification: Where Have All The Dirtbags Gone?" Who wants to help? Skateboarding, surfing, punk rock, drinking cheap beer, wearing hooded sweatshirts, car racing, house shows, fireworks, painting, backpacking through Europe, Bukowski novels, hamburgers....all of these things used to be the domain of the dirtbag and all of them have now been co-opted. I'm sure that the NYTimes style section has done a "hey, I bet you didn't know about this...well, now we just ruined it" article on every one of these subjects.

Stupid American capitalism. At least we have fantasy baseball.