Fantasy Baseball Manager of the Year

MOTY Update: Multiple Position Eligibility

June 6, 2006 — Alfonso Soriano, Chone Figgins, Lance Berkman, Josh Willingham … from now on, you’ll notice a little something different about these players — an asterisk. It’s a little update that will be a big help managing your fantasy baseball team.

MOTY now tells you which players are eligible at more than one position. Even better, each player with multiple position eligibility (MPE) appears in every position ranking and table for which he qualifies.

Starting with MOTY’s Week 9 weeklies, you’ll find Soriano in the 2b rankings (#1) AND the outfielder rankings (also #1). Berkman shows up with 1b (#8) AND of (#14). Figgins: 2b (#13), 3b (#22) AND of (#48) … hope you’re starting him at 2b.

How it works

In the MOTY rankings, every player’s position designation is based on his “primary position,” determined by most gp in 2006. A player qualifies for a second position once he’s played it 20 or more games this season. (Or if he qualified at another position in the ’06 MOTY projections, which were determined by 2005 gp and position scarcity).

Again, a guy with MPE shows up in every position pool for which he’s eligible — but always carries his primary position designation no matter where he appears. Though you will notice an asterisk (*) next to his listed position, telling you — “Aha!” — he qualifies at a second position (or more).

For example, as you sort through the 3b MOTY rankings, you’ll notice guys with “1b*” position designations (i.e. Kevin Youkilis and Shea Hillenbrand). This simply means their primary position is 1b, but they qualify at another position (obviously, in this case, 3b … possibly others). Where they show up in the 3b rankings tells you how they stack up in terms of overall fantasy value (MOTY#) against other guys at the hot corner. Realizing this, you can determine which position a player is the most valuable at compared to other guys on your roster, and start each of them accordingly.

Trade Evaluator and My Rosters

Being aware of MPE is especially helpful when examining trades or reviewing watch lists and rosters. Not a problem — the MOTY Trade Evaluator and My Rosters have been updated to reflect MPE designations as well. From now on, they’ll show up in all your saved trade scenarios, personal rosters and custom watch lists.

One last nifty bit of insight — for a player with MPE, hold your cursor over his listed position for a second or two and a small pop-up will list his complete position eligibility status for you … again using the 20 gp qualifier.

Got a question? Comment? Or a cool way you've discovered to use the MOTY system? Drop us an email.