How do we get Taylor Swift into fantasy baseball? Your 2024 ILX Fantasy Thread! (also, there is an opening for a new manger!)

Def playing the long game, drafting Lawlar last year!

giolito injury news has made this lineup for giolito shuffle a lock:

Adley Rutschmann (26)
Emmanual Clase (26)
Luis Robert (26)
Ke’Bryan Hayes (27)
TJ Friedl (28)

have we forgotten about the opening series in Korea on March 20th? seems like we might want to conduct the draft earlier.

i had, yes. ugh. the sunday 17th is not doable for me. would have to be Sat 16th, or in the evening Mon/Tuesday. i don't want to push it too far up incase someone doesn't see the date change in time.

looking at the probable starters, Yamamoto and Glasnow(?) vs Darvish and Musgrove probably? I'd feel bad about anyone missing a start with one of their SP keepers, but that doesn't look likely. for the hitters it's not so bad to miss two games out of 162, but maybe some LA/SD owners can weigh in on preference

Literally any weekday evening works way better for me than the proposed draft day in the OP.

looks like i can make the games count retroactively (tho i cannot find how to do this in my commish tools right now):
https://ca.help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN6317.html

xpost. noted.

Also I'm still finalizing my last 2 keepers. Need to monitor some spring training data before I make that call tho...

i'm completely ok with the 16th, it would just feel weird to me to conduct the draft with a couple of games already in the can, even if we can retroactively count the stats. idk how much it matters to anyone else obv.

This happened before (maybe when I was commish?) and there was a mid-tier player who went off in an exhib game played internationally played before the draft and they ended up going a couple rounds earlier than anticipated. Seeing as this is rotisserie (ie, not points or H2H), I don't think those games are enough to move the needle.

I’m fine with the retroactive stats solution, but if it gets moved my preference is Saturday > Monday > Tuesday. I’m pretty open that week.

lets see if this works...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JPSW77D

i only just now noticed the spelling mistake in the thread title

(and now do you finally get my youtube ref?)

also more importantly are you replacing 2B with another offensive stat?

as much as i would like to, nothing else looks all that great to use in it's place; and i'd like to keep the amount of stats the way they are for balance between pitching and hitting

What was the argument for 2Bs instead of XBHs? Overvalues HRs but undervalues 3Bs?

Or a negative OFF stat? Ks is a nice equalizer.

(I think I used GIDPs one year as well lol)

more or less. i think a few people thought home runs were just too overpowered with xbh

xpost

GIDP was kiboshed because it punished cleanup type hitters with lead foots hitting a head of them

Yeah my rationale was that guys who hit with runners on get more RBI chances so GIDPs a nice way to balance that out for guys who play on weaker teams who do not have the luxury of RBI opps.

I also remember a year where we drafted after Opening Day in Japan one of those years, and it didn't really make a difference? But I'm fine with moving up the draft by a week.

sorry i've been not as attentive as i should be! i am in full on winging it mode, but i need to get my list of keepers. also i submitted to surveymonkey (bow down to the one you serve) for the draft dates, i'll do my best to make whichever date so i don't get autodrafted!

we're at 9 answers so far and it's weirdly very interesting lol

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

speaking from experience, get off of Jack Flaherty's wild ride asap

I’m smelling a comeback player of the year award for amed rosario!

smell the rosarios!

formerly A Moon-Shaped Pujols, now obviously:

Honey Nut Chouri◎s
20 CHOURIO
26 LODOLO
26 HOERNER
29 AROZARENA
29 HELSLEY

ok - 11 respondents. think it's safe to call this one...

9 vs 2 in terms of picking a new date.
Most preferred date was a tie between the Sat 16th and Tues 18th; and a tie between Tues 18th and the OG date for what most people found workable.
Highest rage score, after the "none" option: Sat 16th.

So looks like our new date will be Tuesday the 18th starting at 7:30 est. apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

I will change the league setting shortly; and anyone with outstanding picks, please get them in my mid week next week.
i should prolly get a mod to edit the initial post as well.

Tues the 19th?

FFS. yes. Tuesday the 19th. sorry about that.

trying to do too much this morning.

apologies to the two managers that had that date as their least favourite option.

if i finish in last again this season i'm going to blame it on this!! ;) ;)

no worries, and there's a chance i could join for at least part of it (aka do the draft in the background of a band practice lol)

could always do a little pre-ranking (esp if there are young guys you'd like to target) and then join in part way to fix whatever mess the auto draft left you with.

i was the other person who ranked that at as my least favorite option but it's OK, should still be able to join

appreciate all efforts made to accommodate the rescheduled draft

good news - looks like Votto No Get Enemy will live on under the stewardship of clemenza! i think this might be his first foray into fantasy nerdball?

That spreadsheet looks like hieroglyphics to me, but I'll tentatively give it go. No guarantee I'll last. Thanks for the invitation.

baseball fans, tell me what to do. i am faced with an agonizing choice for my 27+ keepers.

one of them is cody bellinger, who is definitely going to be MVP in 2024, chance of regression = 0.0000000001%
the other? JACK FLAHERTY OR AMED ROSARIO
goddammit

on the other side, i will obviously keep Eury Perez. then, i must pick 2 of francisco alvarez, lars nootbaar, hunter greene, and everybody's favorite little big guy who runs fast, alejandro kirk. i'm going with lars nootbaar just because i like to root for the home team, and i've seen him do some very athletic things so i believer in his potential. so
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ OR HUNTER GREENE

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

fuck, oops, sorry for including that text at the top! i meant to delete before posting my keepers:

EURY PEREZ
HUNTER GREENE
FRANCISO ALVAREZ
AMED "MVP" ROSARIO
CODY BELLINGER

lars nootbaar has fractured his ribs. i am sorry lars.

clemenza, i predict that you'll have a great time doing this, if you participate! and if nothing else you can race me for the cellar

Stumbling along blindly here, will help from Thermo, but these will be my keepers:

Grayson Rodriguez (24, P)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (25, 1B)
Bryson Scott (26, 2B)
Corey Seager (29, SS)
Sean Murphy (29, C)

I'll change my team name as soon as I think of a good Ball Four connection.

Grant BallFour?!

Ok, since i don't think we are in danger of adding or losing any more managers, i am going to lock the league and will post the draft order later today.

i think there is just one last manager that needs to get their selects in and then i can start plugging those bad boys in.

Lets try to get final keep selects in by the 14th.

Is this still valid or out-of-date?

(I would like to see a larger sample of more than 2IP of ST pitching before I lock in a keeper lol)

14th is still good. I’ll probably enter the picks over the weekend - I just want managers to have some time to double check I got everything right.

Billy Childish Bambino:

Juan Soto (25)
Spencer Strider (25)
Triston McKenzie (26)
Kyle Tucker (27)
Willy Adames (28)

i was worried i'd get hit with a rash of injuries after Royce Lewis went 2 for 2 with a HR and promptly injured himself AGAIN***, but my team has been shockingly healthy. and yet aside from a couple SPs everyone i drafted is really underperforming.

***https://memeguy.com/photos/images/well-ok-then-283717.jpg

♪♫ For ACL or torn hammy, call Jacob Emrani. Call Jacob! ♫

^ this rules, I would also submit a modified version as:


♪♫ For broken wrist or John that’s Tommy, call Jacob deGrommy . Call Jacob! ♫

Lol very good. I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to experience one of LA's finest ear worms, that omar so thoughtfully reinserted in my ear.

i use "charming" in the relative sense but Jacob is probably the most charming of the billboard lawyers (a million miles better than Sweet James)

he recruited LeBron to come to L.A.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rPmwPMof3hs/maxresdefault.jpg

Jacob is the great guy who helped us through our collective trauma after the bitter Cellino & Barnes divorce. He's family.

(sorry for crashing fantasy thread)

I went to check who had Paul Skenes, and I see he has his own team now!

7 man SP rotation - Spencer Strider (25), Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Shane Bieber (28), Nathan Eovaldi, Triston McKenzie (26), Nestor Cortes (29)

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, March 19, 2024 6:37 PM (two months ago)

Only 3 of the 7 SPs I drafted are currently healthy (Fried, Cortes & McKenzie). 2 of the 4 on the IL will be out not just this season but a substantial part of next season as well (Strider & Bieber).

This must be how the Dodgers GM feels like, it's insane.

Forgot to switch Danny Jansen back into my lineup this morning: 3 hits, HR, 5 RBI.

Wait till that day when you make a calculated decision to sit someone and play someone else and the guy on your bench goes off for two or three home runs

Right up there with dropping a struggling player who immediately it's a hot streak, and then you somehow manage to pick them back up and they immediately go cold again. One of the closer approximations of how the owner of Michigan J Frog must have felt.

Fried, Cortes & McKenzie

And all these guy pretty much have one foot on a banana peel

Yup, you know you're fucked when Cortes is your best pitcher.

Mired forever in 7th-8th-9th place, I forget to check in this morning (possibly the first time) and left Berrios on the bench for his (very good) start today.

haha my team was finally starting to turn the corner

finally got my IL down to four players, but my offense is dogshit right now, and i don't have much hope that getting ke'bryan hayes or tj friedl back off the IL is going to help. if anyone wants to trade me (Naked Ragans) a reliable source of offensive power (especially at 1B but i'm open to other positions as well), i have some decent SP/RP/keeper options available.

Ridiculous--three catchers on my roster, and all are sitting today.

(xpost: I dropped Cedric Mullins today to make room for Sean Murphy's return--you're obviously after more than the numbers he's putting up this year, but maybe as a stopgap?)

NA- I sent you a chat msg via the y! mobile app. Not sure if that made it to ya...

Clem- Clearly the solution is you need to roster a 4th catcher.

I was thinking of going all-catcher.

It's a new variation on the Jays' all-utility strategy.

i was going to say, if i was advising you'd i'd get even further into the pocket of Big Catcher

the cousin of the Padres' all-shortstop strategy

Big gloves & bad knees... my kind of team!

Clem, I sent you a msg on the fantasy page

Sorry, francis, didn't see that till now.

Real-talk question:

If a ~seasoned~ manager doesn't even recognize the name of one of his players, that player should automatically be traded (y/n)

lol my bad, for some reason i thought you thought i had jared jones. i think i can be forgiven for forgetting about nolan jones, given his impact so far this season

Bro, he's like the 3rd or 4th best "Nolan" to ever play the game!

~33% of the season status report:

I am almost trailing the league in Wins with 24. My IRL MLB team equivalent would be the Cincinnati Reds, owners of last place in the dismal NL Central.

Offensively my 289 runs scored puts me ahead of LAD yet behind the mighty PHI out of all MLB teams.

I feel out of the running but my foolish optimism think I'm close enough to harbor a top 3 finish?

Not ready for a fire-sale but could be open to SELL-MODE by the ASB.

I remember when I used to remember he names of every mediocre set up guy I ever had on my teams. Now I’m constantly forgetting the names of my current middle relievers. Nolan Jones tho was a gem for me last season, will always be in my heart.

i entered this season feeling thoroughly set at OF and decided to go all-in on pitching, and while my pitching has been vv solid, my best hitters are two free agent pickups, the completely decent Christian Walker, and the poor man's Corbin Carroll in Jarren Duran (Corbin Carroll for me being the destitute man's Jarren Duran this season.)

Yordan and Tatis = extremely mid!

The Autodraft bungled my SP (by not bothering to draft anybody who wasn't injured or NA). That's been the story of my season. My offense should continue to be good if most guys are healthy, but grabbing Ranger Suarez off the scrap heap the day after the draft basically saved my ass. A few more decent SP pickups here and there have kept in contention, but I don't suppose anyone wants to trade me a front line SP?

Have kept *me* in contention . .

just noticed you have the top two hitters and the top SP!

the top SP rankings is a really weird mix