JotCast | Brad Johnson Baseball Chat: 12-11-2018

Brad Johnson Baseball Chat: 12-11-2018

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Matt W

4:47

I was mostly joking when I told my wife this the other night, but part of me is convinced that Brodie got the job because he dazzled Jeff Wilpon who wanted a cool, slick friend. Brodie being the smooth operator that he is realized he could exploit the desperate rich kid, and here we are.

Brad Johnson

4:48

As good a theory as any :)

the54effect

4:48

Loved the constitution. I want to drop a friend out of my football league for being very bad (under .500% 6years in a row) and cherry on top, making an egregiously (though, I am trusting, not collusively) bad trade with his BFF. Kicking him out will be fine, but I feel like I should have his replacement vetted and lined up BEFORE pulling the trigger, otherwise it will come off as personal instead of merely competitive. We're all 30 y/o men. Uh, insight?

Will Smith's Brother

4:48

Did you know Ricky Nolasco used to sneak around eating pizza at 3am before starts?

Brad Johnson

4:48

Wait wha?

4:49

This feels like some sort of beer and fried chicken story

Krang Bang

4:49

Mondesi $4 for Khris Davis $20 OBP dynasty, which side?

Brad Johnson

4:49

Depends on league depth

Very shallow, Davis

All others, Mondesi

And if picking Davis, that assumes you need serious HR help and have plenty of SB to spare

Not Chris Smith

4:50

Very helpful, actually! I had Cole + Blackmon penciled in as well as the final two, with the same thoughts as you on the others. In 12 teamers there’s so much turnover in your last ~10 plus spots, that I’d rather spend more of my budget to keep pricey below market studs + settle for a bunch of $1-$3 back end guys in the draft than find myself stuck hunting for an ace or big bat at auction. Seems easier to find the next Tim Anderson than rely on him and let a guy like Blackmon loose.

Brad Johnson

4:51

Agreed - usually. You know better than me what $25-$30 can buy in your draft. Typically, these sorts of keeper leagues push Blackmon-quality players up to the $40 range on draft day. There might be a value or three on big names, but I don't like putting my eggs in that basket

4:52

I'd rather just curse the draft room

and know what I have to work with pre-auction

Matt

4:52

Does "deep" and "shallow" leagues refer to the pool of non-rostered players available, or the pool of rostered players?

Brad Johnson

4:52

Pool of rostered players. So 10-team is shallow, 20-team is deep

Will Smith's Brother

4:52

David Samson has come out with some great tidbits since his contract finally ended w/Miami. He also called Barry Bonds the worst hitting coach he ever worked with. And the infield coach used to call up to the official scorer mid-game to get errors changed to hits to make his infielders look better

Brad Johnson

4:53

Barry Bonds' understanding of hitting is notoriously terrible

4:54

Paraphrasing an anecdote I only half remember, he was a big believer in keeping the bat head above the ball. Or to put it another way, chopping down on the ball. When somebody pointed out to him that his bat head was actually under the ball (like every hitter), he didn't believe it. Then when he saw the video, he thought he just took a bad swing

4:55

Basically every drill he used to do has been since proven to be bad for hitting

Guy was just some kind of mutant

Francona

4:55

With the lack of 200 + inning starters, how much of a premium is there on the few that are left in roto leagues?

Brad Johnson

4:55

This is the greatest challenge of 2019

4:56

And the decision to choose to overpay for old school elite SP or try to go cheap is going decide a LOT of leagues

But here's the thing, they're damned pitchers. Even if you pick the right strategy, you can still choose the wrong individuals.

4:57

Which is why I'll probably go with the hitter approach in most leagues

Looks like I'll be doing upwards of 20 so I'll be sure to mix in some SP heavy ones too

Matt

4:57

Think Dereck Rodriguez can keep it up? Probably won't have much in terms of Ks, but a solid innings option to help out ratios is all I need out of him.

Brad Johnson

4:58

I think you can probably ask that of him. Helps that he's in SFG. Hurts that he won't get wins.

Legitimately looks like he MIGHT be one of those guys who outperforms his FIP

the54effect

4:58

I just feel like kicking a guy out of a league for not being competitive and making bad trades comes off as less personal if I have a more adept owner lined up to replace him. Like if my girlfriend left me with a plan for a better future or a more successful man or whatever, aw shucks I guess I get it? But if she left me with no plan, no where to sleep and a long winter coming up, it'd be like DAMN SHE PREFERRED ANYTHING TO ANOTHER DAY WITH ME. I don't want to be like "YOU MY FRIEND ARE A HORRIBLE FANTASY FOOTBALL MANAGER AND ANY RIFF RAFF OFF THE STREET WOULD BE A HUGE UPGRADE OVER YOU." Even though it's true.

Brad Johnson

4:59

I forgot to answer this one didn't I

Suffered a moment of "ooh shiny"

Here's the thing about this, sounds like you're basically in a league of buddies

5:00

You should probably just good-naturedly rag on the guy when you meet up for drinks

Most of the leagues I play are meant to be some version of "competitive"

So this idea of pushing people out to make the league better holds more water

friend leagues tend to be sloppy

5:01

If you want a competitive league, I would hunt for one with semi-strangers