There's a dual meaning to the title of this post. Change of address refers to the new Fantasy Sports Thief website, which is officially up and running. I changed the address on the site so you're going to need to change your bookmarks to reflect the new address. This site will stay up for a few months, but this will be the last post on this site. All new posts will be published on the new site. You're also going to need to sign up for a subscription there too. Sorry for the hassle, but it was necessary.
You'll instantly notice some nice new upgrades. A sleek and professional look courtesy of my programmer Mike Erickson. He did a really great job from drop down menus in the Nav bar to implementing the Analyzer as a web app. Very neat stuff. As of now only the Fantasy Baseball Analyzer is up and running. Mike and I will work to get the Baseball Trade Analyzer up prior to the season starting. The Basketball Analyzers won't be included until next season, since 90% of league will have passed their trade deadlines by March 4th.
The other meaning of the title to this post has to do with me personally. You know, embarking on this project and answering questions all season has made me realize that professionally, my skills are best suited towards trading. As such, I accepted a new position with a new firm slated to begin May 1st, to go back to being a trader (as opposed to being an analyst like I am now). I'm pretty pumped about the change. This won't affect my ability to keep this site running one bit. I'll still be here, still be playing, still be fielding questions.
So bear with me while you and I both become accustomed to the new site. I'm hopeful the transition will be seamless. In the meantime, after a long day of working to get the new site up and running, I'm gonna kick back, relax, enjoy a nice fresh Sam Adams bought for me by reader Equawn, and catch up on all your comments!
The Funnest Way to Prep for a New Season
We're always looking for an edge, wherever we can find one. Sure, this site is a great place to start, but it's not enough. For those of us who are true competitors, it's all about going the extra mile. Today's post is about the funnest extra mile you can take: playing video games.
Just prior to each season I like to go out and get the latest version of that years top sports game. For Fantasy Football, it's been Madden for as long as I can remember. For Basketball, it's either NBA2K or NBALive. For baseball, it depends on which platform you play on, since the best game out there MLB The Show is only available on the PS3.
I don't know what kind of gamers you are, I don't know if you're even gamers at all, but trust me, you will get a lot of information from video games. For starters, just thinking about the amount of money that goes into production on a video game to make it as realistic and make the players true to form is mind blowing. The virtual studios these game makers set up where players come in, don a bunch of electronic hookups and computers track their every movement is sick.
But it's more than that. It's the details of different coaching strategies, the cohesiveness of a team, or even the weather patterns. Video games place a value on rookies like no one can. They recreate parks down to the smallest detail, and even player injury probability is accounted for. In just this most recent season, I can tell you I 'discovered' my decision to select Lou Williams in the draft purely due to the way he worked the floor on NBA2k, and where they had him relatively ranked.
So with that, I present to you the impending release of this years MLB video game franchises. I've narrowed this down to PS3 and everyone else. If you have a PS3, you need to get MLB The Show. If you have an Xbox, it's 2k for you. You can reserve your copy through amazon by clicking the links below (Release Date is March 2nd). What's even better, buying through the links below (while not costing you anything extra) earns me a small fee paid from Amazon, which I promise to pump right back into making this website all the better!
And for those of you wondering, I don't have a PS3, just an XBox, I'll be getting 2K myself, and yes I'm ALWAYS down to compete online. Bring it!
Just prior to each season I like to go out and get the latest version of that years top sports game. For Fantasy Football, it's been Madden for as long as I can remember. For Basketball, it's either NBA2K or NBALive. For baseball, it depends on which platform you play on, since the best game out there MLB The Show is only available on the PS3.
I don't know what kind of gamers you are, I don't know if you're even gamers at all, but trust me, you will get a lot of information from video games. For starters, just thinking about the amount of money that goes into production on a video game to make it as realistic and make the players true to form is mind blowing. The virtual studios these game makers set up where players come in, don a bunch of electronic hookups and computers track their every movement is sick.
But it's more than that. It's the details of different coaching strategies, the cohesiveness of a team, or even the weather patterns. Video games place a value on rookies like no one can. They recreate parks down to the smallest detail, and even player injury probability is accounted for. In just this most recent season, I can tell you I 'discovered' my decision to select Lou Williams in the draft purely due to the way he worked the floor on NBA2k, and where they had him relatively ranked.
So with that, I present to you the impending release of this years MLB video game franchises. I've narrowed this down to PS3 and everyone else. If you have a PS3, you need to get MLB The Show. If you have an Xbox, it's 2k for you. You can reserve your copy through amazon by clicking the links below (Release Date is March 2nd). What's even better, buying through the links below (while not costing you anything extra) earns me a small fee paid from Amazon, which I promise to pump right back into making this website all the better!
And for those of you wondering, I don't have a PS3, just an XBox, I'll be getting 2K myself, and yes I'm ALWAYS down to compete online. Bring it!
Run Producing Teams
Basketball might seem more like a team sport and baseball might seem more like an individual sport, but in Fantasy, it’s the exact opposite. You can have a superstar player on a terrible basketball team, and he might produce better numbers than if his team had more talent. However take any baseball player and put them on a terrible team and all of a sudden the numbers drop. There’s no one to hit you home, no one on base to hit home, and most importantly, no one to score runs so a pitcher can take the win.
For this reason it’s important to factor total team offense into your drafting decisions. Generally, towards the top of the rankings lists, this is actually already taken into account. Fact is, Mark Texeira and Alex Rodriguez are both second tier players because they can rely on each others production along with the rest of the Yankees lineup. However the line begins to blur the further down the rankings sheet you go as it becomes tougher for the projections to factor everything in. This is where our preparedness comes into play, not only during the draft but well into the season.
BUY LOW - SELL HIGH: These might be our last opportunities!
Alright, I dug deep into my treasure chest to pull up two ripe Buy Lows and two ripe Sell Highs for your fantasy squad. As the trade deadline inches ever so closer, these could easily be our last best shots. Remember to use the deadline to your advantage in proposals. Tell your opponent your sending him this great offer to avoid a drawn out negotiation. After all, there's just not enough time left to dither!
On to the targets!!
BUY LOW: Caron Butler - F - Dallas Mavericks
WHOA! Didn't expect that one did ya? Do I think Butler is going to return to fantasy dominance? Nope. Do I think he's going to be effective in Dallas? Nope. Do I think he'll keep up the 1.5 steals per game average? YUP. That's a key stat at a point in the season where you'll have a tough time finding help. Butler's line of 17 points and 6.5 boards won't hurt your averages, and in fact he's not bad elsewhere save for FG%. That has it's ups and downs. It'll hurt you, but if he can shoot at a better clip, both the FG% and the scoring will reflect it. Most importantly, everyone is down on Butler right now. True, it's with good reason, he stinks relative to his past. But like a wise old trader likes to say to me 'It's like picking up a cigarette butt someone tossed on the ground and taking that last puff'. Need some steals? Try moving a TMac, or Blatche or even a Peja Stojakovich for him.
On to the targets!!
BUY LOW: Caron Butler - F - Dallas Mavericks
WHOA! Didn't expect that one did ya? Do I think Butler is going to return to fantasy dominance? Nope. Do I think he's going to be effective in Dallas? Nope. Do I think he'll keep up the 1.5 steals per game average? YUP. That's a key stat at a point in the season where you'll have a tough time finding help. Butler's line of 17 points and 6.5 boards won't hurt your averages, and in fact he's not bad elsewhere save for FG%. That has it's ups and downs. It'll hurt you, but if he can shoot at a better clip, both the FG% and the scoring will reflect it. Most importantly, everyone is down on Butler right now. True, it's with good reason, he stinks relative to his past. But like a wise old trader likes to say to me 'It's like picking up a cigarette butt someone tossed on the ground and taking that last puff'. Need some steals? Try moving a TMac, or Blatche or even a Peja Stojakovich for him.
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