How do we get Taylor Swift into fantasy baseball? Your 2024 ILX Fantasy Thread! (also, there is an opening for a new manger!)

I’m fine with the retroactive stats solution, but if it gets moved my preference is Saturday > Monday > Tuesday. I’m pretty open that week.

lets see if this works...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JPSW77D

i only just now noticed the spelling mistake in the thread title

(and now do you finally get my youtube ref?)

also more importantly are you replacing 2B with another offensive stat?

as much as i would like to, nothing else looks all that great to use in it's place; and i'd like to keep the amount of stats the way they are for balance between pitching and hitting

What was the argument for 2Bs instead of XBHs? Overvalues HRs but undervalues 3Bs?

Or a negative OFF stat? Ks is a nice equalizer.

(I think I used GIDPs one year as well lol)

more or less. i think a few people thought home runs were just too overpowered with xbh

xpost

GIDP was kiboshed because it punished cleanup type hitters with lead foots hitting a head of them

Yeah my rationale was that guys who hit with runners on get more RBI chances so GIDPs a nice way to balance that out for guys who play on weaker teams who do not have the luxury of RBI opps.

I also remember a year where we drafted after Opening Day in Japan one of those years, and it didn't really make a difference? But I'm fine with moving up the draft by a week.

sorry i've been not as attentive as i should be! i am in full on winging it mode, but i need to get my list of keepers. also i submitted to surveymonkey (bow down to the one you serve) for the draft dates, i'll do my best to make whichever date so i don't get autodrafted!

we're at 9 answers so far and it's weirdly very interesting lol

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

speaking from experience, get off of Jack Flaherty's wild ride asap

I’m smelling a comeback player of the year award for amed rosario!

smell the rosarios!

formerly A Moon-Shaped Pujols, now obviously:

Honey Nut Chouri◎s
20 CHOURIO
26 LODOLO
26 HOERNER
29 AROZARENA
29 HELSLEY

ok - 11 respondents. think it's safe to call this one...

9 vs 2 in terms of picking a new date.
Most preferred date was a tie between the Sat 16th and Tues 18th; and a tie between Tues 18th and the OG date for what most people found workable.
Highest rage score, after the "none" option: Sat 16th.

So looks like our new date will be Tuesday the 18th starting at 7:30 est. apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

I will change the league setting shortly; and anyone with outstanding picks, please get them in my mid week next week.
i should prolly get a mod to edit the initial post as well.

Tues the 19th?

FFS. yes. Tuesday the 19th. sorry about that.

trying to do too much this morning.

apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

if i finish in last again this season i'm going to blame it on this!! ;) ;)

no worries, and there's a chance i could join for at least part of it (aka do the draft in the background of a band practice lol)

could always do a little pre-ranking (esp if there are young guys you'd like to target) and then join in part way to fix whatever mess the auto draft left you with.

i was the other person who ranked that at as my least favorite option but it's OK, should still be able to join

appreciate all efforts made to accommodate the rescheduled draft

good news - looks like Votto No Get Enemy will live on under the stewardship of clemenza! i think this might be his first foray into fantasy nerdball?

That spreadsheet looks like hieroglyphics to me, but I'll tentatively give it go. No guarantee I'll last. Thanks for the invitation.

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

fuck, oops, sorry for including that text at the top! i meant to delete before posting my keepers:

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

lars nootbaar has fractured his ribs. i am sorry lars.

clemenza, i predict that you'll have a great time doing this, if you participate! and if nothing else you can race me for the cellar

Stumbling along blindly here, will help from Thermo, but these will be my keepers:

Grayson Rodriguez (24, P)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (25, 1B)
Bryson Scott (26, 2B)
Corey Seager (29, SS)
Sean Murphy (29, C)

I'll change my team name as soon as I think of a good Ball Four connection.

Grant BallFour?!

Ok, since i don't think we are in danger of adding or losing any more managers, i am going to lock the league and will post the draft order later today.

i think there is just one last manager that needs to get their selects in and then i can start plugging those bad boys in.

Lets try to get final keep selects in by the 14th.

Is this still valid or out-of-date?

(I would like to see a larger sample of more than 2IP of ST pitching before I lock in a keeper lol)

14th is still good. I’ll probably enter the picks over the weekend - I just want managers to have some time to double check I got everything right.

Billy Childish Bambino:

Juan Soto (25)
Spencer Strider (25)
Triston McKenzie (26)
Kyle Tucker (27)
Willy Adames (28)

Mind blowing that Soto is only 25

ok. draft order is set:

1 Giolito Shuffle
2 Satanic Frelick in the Attic
3 The Worst Players in Baseball
4 The Guns of Buxton
5 Newcombes On de Blok
6 A Moon-Shaped Pujols
7 Votto No Get Enemy
8 Send Nootbaar
9 Ohtani Dancer in my Hand
10 Dascenzo Corbusier
11 Corbin Burnesen
12 Billy Childish Bambino
13 Morning Alonso!

oh man the pressure of the #1 pick (and back-to-back picks after that). not that i'm complaining.

Changed my team name to Steve Barber and a Cast of Thousands (rendered a bit differently on Yahoo to fit the 30-character maximum). Bob Locker, Ball Four: "Boys, today it looks like Steve Barber and a cast of thousands."

I love these team names, have fun everyone. Whoever gets the most dodgers, let me know so I can root for you

So do we have 2B again as an off cat or ... ?

Not really a lot of input on that front - so same as last year.

Einstürzende Baumgarten fka Dascenzo Corbusier

Julio Rodriguez (23)
Jarred Kelenic (24)
William Contreras (26)
Rafael Devers (27)
Zac Gallen (28)

He lives!

However, almost 30 years after throwing my last pitch, I have developed a torn rotator cuff, delaying my return to the field another season.

I just noticed that Sale start this morning, when I was checking into Reynaldo Lopez...think I'll write a book called Baseball Is a Funny Game.

Def quite the haul for sale.

Sale was NL pitcher of the month for May. Is there anyone clearly better?

The start vs Oakland is just one start (hopefully).

There is always a higher injury risk with pitchers (and Sale missed most of two years due to injury) but Judge has had his share of injuries too.

The main point is that I don't have the pitching to win this year. If Sale can give me 100 dominant innings then I have a chance. On offense I have some options to offset the loss of Judge. But my pitching is a clusterf***.

Wondering what I could get for Imanaga now…

a great comparison, given that he also has an innings limit this season and had a very bad start last time up. but i would still be happy to have him on my team, personally.

i'm not going to weigh in on what i thought was a reasonably fair trade offer, except to say that i think a lot of times people look at the trades by comparing the individual players, but without looking at the needs of each team involved in the trade (as NTBT alluded to). when i'm looking to set up a trade, i look for what i can offer and then i look at which owner NEEDS what i can offer and is in a position where the trade would make a difference to their success. then i look at what they have that i want.

Not sure of the etiquette, I tried to jump in with my own offer for Judge this morning. As the rest of you know, can't do that while the trade's on the table.

The replacement level for pitchers is so much lower. Crochet and Reynaldo Lopez have a higher fWAR than Sale, and I picked them off the scrap heap. Far less likely that I sign someone who beats out a healthy Judge this year.

well, when we see the trade, it's already been accepted and done - and generally they always go through (you're only supposed to vote against trades if you think something is amiss, but since our league is a little weird sometimes managers will vote against one sided trades). if you really want Judge you'll have to try and get it from Naked Ragans after the trade, but good luck with that!

xpost

I can throw in some cash, though, right?

cumulative bWAR/fWAR 2020-2024

Chris Sale: 4.2/5.0
Aaron Judge: 26.1/26.4

As of today, Judge's fantasy value in our league this season is 160% of Sale's (who isn't as valuable as even someone like Skubal who is keeper-eligible and will be pitching in Aug/Sep).

Will bookmark this post for a ~mind-bending~ post-season analysis.

But seriously I really do believe we need to add a negative stat for offensive players (Ks instead of 2Bs?) to make the equity of batters vs. pitchers a bit more even. Right now there are only 2 pitchers in the our league's top 10 players (Suarez & Skubal)...

(...Sale is currently rated #20 overall)

whoops wrong league, in ours Sale is rated #14th overall

If it were me, I would trade Judge for ~minimum~ a top 30 <26yo player if I thought I was in contention.

And FULL DISCLOSURE, I was offered Sale for the very lukewarm (31yo) Teoscar Hernandez a couple weeks ago and passed on him because I'd prefer a player that's gonna be playing after the ASB (god willing)...

The fact that NTBT landed Judge is a showcase for his sales techniques and ability to close the deal. Kudos!

who is a top 30 <26 player who would have dramatically improved NTBT's pitching numbers (ie what he needs to improve to contend)? paul skenes, who likely also has an innings limit and whose arm will probably explode in the next six months?

Obvs most of us feel Sale is too much of a health risk, but I hope notime doesn’t feel over dunked on here. I also hope he’ll enjoy all the trade offers he’s about to get!

As noted in my earlier post, I'd have tried to land Skubal:

26yo, #2 pitcher overall in our league (will probably be #1 by Sunday), #7 player overall.

skubal is 27, turning 28 this year
also the team with skubal is only four points behind NTBT in the rankings, so you'd have to really think about the value in aiding close competition. fair enough though.

i'm trying to be chill about this, but this is at least the second time that Steve Shasta has claimed that a trade i made was dramatically uneven in my favor, and at a certain point it starts to feel like i'm being accused of something and/or other players are being dissuaded from trading with me, which i don't love

~just a bit of fun, so lets be cool~

I'm heading out of town for ~3 weeks with sporadic internet access so feel free to enjoy a Steve-Shasta-free board in my absence, alas I will not be available to Judge any fire-Sale trades.

Also apologies for my multiple inaccuracies today, a natural by-product of wrapping up work projects and packing. ✌️✌️

I quote Ball Four way too often, I know, but this is all reminding me (will have to reconstruct from memory) of Bouton asking someone for the latest gossip, and the response is something like "Just the usual Norm-Miller-for-anybody-in-the-league rumours."

ok i will be cool

I'm last in saves and have (I think) a surplus of starting pitching...open to a trade!

(saves + holds)

Those too, yes...I'm also good in HR/RBI/OBP but last in doubles (which doesn't really make sense to me--doubles and HR often go together) and SB; open to something there, too.

No offense taken Shasta! I know I'm assuming a larger risk in this deal. It's not a real-life trade (obviously it doesn't happen in real life). It's a fantasy trade that attempts to fix the most obvious weakness of my team -- starting pitching. I didn't need a keeper in return, I need to win now. And if it doesn't work out, I haven't mortgaged my future, Judge isn't a keeper.

I'm usually risk-averse with trades and since people understandably value their keepers a lot in our league, complicated trades involving keepers usually don't happen. And if I waited too long, I'll be too far behind in the key pitching stats for it to matter.

The last big trade I made in our league was in 2021 -- Vlad Jr for Freddie Freeman, Hyun Jin Ryu, and Kendall Graveman. Vlad had seven more years of keeper eligibility ... but, I won the league. From the time the trade was made until the end of the season, he and Freeman had almost the same level of (MVP-level) production. Ryu and Graveman gave me the pitching depth I didn't have at the time (subtract Ryu's wins and QS's and Graveman's holds and I don't win) and Vlad hasn't turned out to be a generational player. Can't say I regret that trade either.

it's a landmark day, i actually have an open IL slot

that will not last. trust me.

i did intend to bump the IL spots down to three post covid, but wow are injuries ever high right now.