People of a certain age will remember a Brady Bunch episode in which Mike and Carol’s middle son Peter was dealing with his voice changing. The children managed to use his unique, cracking voice in a song. I hate change, change of any kind—a new job, a new house, new experiences…pretty much anything new.
But sometimes, change is necessary and needs to be embraced. Often is the case in Fantasy Baseball. After a championship in 2021, followed by a couple of second-place finishes, I ended 2024 with my worst season in two decades.
I often say that you can’t win a league at the draft, but you can lose one. Such was the case last year in my longest, continuous keeper league, which is an AL-only 10-team league. In the three seasons prior to last year, the three owners who won couldn’t have had three more different styles and approaches.
I tend to stay fairly balanced, with a slight focus on offense. I try to stay fiscally responsible, without overpaying for anyone; and making sure I have some left at the end for the players I want. I do my best to spend all my money. As the draft winds down, it’s not uncommon to see me sitting with something like five players left to draft and $22 left to spend.
One of the other champions during that time loves to spend his money early. It isn’t uncommon for him to shoot his wad early and be sitting with 11 players left to draft and $13 to spend. He is the biggest proponent of “stars and scrubs” that I’ve ever seen.
And then there is the third owner. He is a fairly new owner who joined the league in 2021. In his first season, he left over $30 on the table. We all thought he badly mismanaged his salary. But he ended up with a respectable season. Then the next year, he did it again…and again, he had a nice season. Long story short…it turns out this is his strategy in all of his leagues, all the time. He says he simply drafts the players he thinks will give him the best chance to win, money be damned.
Since he’s been in the league, he has one championship under his belt, with the other years all in the top half, including a couple of other top-three finishes. Having someone in the league with this hugely unorthodox strategy can be unnerving, and last year completely threw me off. Holding so much back in the early part of the draft, allows him to basically pick off any player he wants in the middle and end of the draft. He snaked me on just about every second-tier guy I was targeting, leaving me in an awful position. I can’t remember the last time I was that out-maneuvered.
It was so bad that I felt compelled to change my team name. For the better part of three decades, all of my teams have been named The Rounders, named after the 1998 poker movie with Matt Damon and Ed Norton, (since I also consider myself a poker aficionado too). I am now The Reapers in that league. Hopefully, it will change my mojo. Along with the name change, I am contemplating a new strategy this season, out of necessity.
Along with having a lousy team last year, I didn’t put together a great group of keepers either. I will literally enter the draft with no starters, but I do have two middle-of-the-road closers: Detroit’s Jason Foley and Kansas City’s Carlos Estevez. And, based on the way contracts fell, a ton of closers will hit the draft this year. Devin Williams, Andres Munoz, Jhoan Duran, and Kenley Jansen will be sitting there.
They say never to chase saves. Normally, with two closers, I’d pass on the four available in the draft. But sometimes, it’s necessary to zig when everyone else zags. I’m planning on taking at least two of these available closers and possibly three. I want to overload the stat to build a hefty lead in saves while helping my WHIP and ERA. And then, trade off one or two closers to help me where I need.
I’m taking on this unorthodox strategy for two reasons. One team owner has put together a dominant grouping of starters entering the draft. He has Michael Wacha, Tanner Bibbee, Seth Lugo, Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Marcus Stroman, and Jack Flaherty. Seven starters for only a total of $36 is awfully tough to overcome. One high-end starter will cost that. Being impossible to make up that many wins and strikeouts, I’ve decided not even to try. Let him dominate in those categories; I’ll focus on the saves and ratios.
The second reason is that even though closers are more scarce than starters, they never go for as much money as premier starters. I can grab three closers for about $50, while three equivalent starters will cost me at least $75. That extra money will allow me to spend more on the bats I desire.
No two seasons are the same, and no two drafts are the same. Instead of being afraid of change, I am going to embrace it. Let the reign of The Reapers begin!!!
