Fantasy Baseball Manager of the Year
MOTY Talk
Two Weeks to Go. $11.99 to Sign Up. What’s the Point?
September 19, 2005 — Fair question — if, that is, you’re 20 points out of first place, legally changing your name to “cellar dweller,” burning your baseball card collection and moving to a remote island off Sri Lanka to take up spear fishing.
Otherwise, there are a couple of reasons to subscribe to MOTY now.
First of all, if you plan to play fantasy baseball in 2006, there’s no penalty for subscribing before Oct. 4, 2005 — you’ll get 2006 free AND you’ll have member access to the site all off-season when tools like the Trade Evaluator become available. Besides, you’ll get to use the MOTY Scope for the next couple of weeks, find some late season gems and at least finish higher in the standings than that jerk in your league who’s been talking trash all season long (doesn’t it seem like every league has one of those guys?).
“Fine, Mr. Wizard, but who trades during the off-season?”
Keeper leagues. You know who you are, stand tall, stand proud.
Of course, the main reason to sign up with MOTY now is if you’re in a neck-and-neck, down-to-the-wire pennant race, seesawing between 1st and 2nd (or even 3rd in a really tight race) every morning when you check the standings.
It happens – is happening – in a lot of leagues. A couple of sb’s here, a few wins there, a series of strong starts to help era or whip, even a little bounce in batting average can determine the winner of your league.
The MOTY System can help you gain the slight edge you need to finish strong. To finish on top.
Pretty bold claim, we know. You probably want some proof. Fine, here’s the pudding, mixed-league flavor:
Batters |
||
|---|---|---|
| Player | ||
| Varitek, Jason | BOS | c |
| Saenz, Olmedo | LAD | 1b |
| Sorlano, Alfonso | TEX | 2b |
| Beltre, Adrian | SEA | 3b |
| Barmes, Clint | COL | ss |
| Hermida, Jeremy | FLA | of |
| Wilson, Preston | WAS | of |
| Everett, Carl | SWS | of |
| Francoeur, Jeff | ATL | of |
| Gonzales, Luis | ARI | of |
| Walker, Todd | CHC | 2b/ss |
| Casey, Sean | CIN | 1b/3b |
| Pierzynski, A.J. | SWS | util |
Pitchers |
||
|---|---|---|
| Player | ||
| Trachsel, Steve | NYM | sp |
| Maholm, Paul | PIT | sp |
| Hernandez, Paul | SEA | sp |
| Silva, Carlos | MIN | sp |
| Baker, Scott | MIN | sp |
| Wagner, Billy | PHI | cl |
| Benitez, Armando | SF | ciw |
| Lopez, Aquilino | TOR | mr |
| Wheeler, Dan | HOU | mr |
Not a great fantasy roster, but not terrible, right? Has some definite holes, especially the starting pitching, but there are some valuable players on this team. Maybe you even drafted some of these guys. Or traded for them during the season.
Guess what — they weren’t valuable at all in Week 23. In fact, the MOTY System tells us they were the least valuable at their respective positions last week (or among the five worst for outfielders or starting pitchers).
Least valuable. As in “dead last in their position rankings.”
On the other hand, these guys were putting up numbers. Not only that, they were the most valuable at their respective positions during Week 23. Some – Pujols, Andruw, Cabrera – not surprising at all. Some, like the starting pitchers, very eye opening:
Batters |
||
|---|---|---|
| Player | ||
| Buck, John | KC | c |
| Pujols, Albert | STL | 1b |
| Polanco, Placido | DET | 2b |
| Glaus, Troy | ARI | 3b |
| Young, Michael | TEX | ss |
| Jones, Andruw | ATL | of |
| Crisp, Coco | CLE | of |
| Cabrera, Miguel | FLA | of |
| Sizemore, Grady | CLE | of |
| Bay, Jason | PIT | of |
| Uribe, Juan | SWS | 2b/ss |
| Telxeira, Mark | TEX | 1b/3b |
| Konerko, Paul | SWS | util |
Pitchers |
||
|---|---|---|
| Player | ||
| Cain, Matt | SF | sp |
| Elarton, Scott | CLE | sp |
| McCarthy, Brandon | CWS | sp |
| Pettitte, Andy | HOU | sp |
| Cook, Aaron | COL | sp |
| Dempster, Ryan | CHC | cl |
| Valverde, Jose | ARI | ciw |
| Liriano, Francisco | MIN | mr |
| Atchison, Scott | HOU | mr |
Now, this isn’t to say you should drop Jason Varitek, Alfonso Soriano, Felix Hernandez or Billy Wagner. Just that you ought to consider benching them for hotter players until they right the ship. Like Juan Uribe, John Buck, Scott Elarton or Jose Valverde.
Scott Elarton?!
You damn skippy. In Week 23, Elarton started 2 games (14.33 ip) and won them both posting a 1.26 era and .91 whip, with 7 strike outs. Realizing he plays for the red hot Cleveland team, you’d have to figure him to be a good spot starter, especially if you’re streaming pitchers … and at this point, who isn’t? So what’d he do Friday night (9/16) against Kansas City?
7.667 ip, 4 K, 1.17 era, .91 whip and the win.
Now who wouldn’t like a start like that coming down the stretch — when quality starts are oh so valuable. Better yet, who wouldn’t have known to take a flyer on Elarton?
Anyone without a MOTY subscription.
