I am fascinated to see how boogerlips' team will end up doing. You will note that he is near the bottom on OPS# and in ERC#. He drafted a sh*t load of triples and so his offense will probably underachieve less than the teams with HR hitters. And obviously, playing in Mile High will only help those triples hitters. He also spent a lot of defense so that can only help his pitching. He ranks third in most lefty/switch hitters in his lineup.

This is a great test team for my ranking formulas...This will test just how much defense matters to a weaker pitching staff and how much lefty/switch hitting teams can make a weaker offense look better.

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 9:35:00 AM (view original):
My defensive formula isn't perfect. I basically have a score for each position for range and fielding% (weighted by playing time). For example, an A/B+ fielder is assigned 8.5 points while a player at the same position with a defensive rating of C-/A is assigned 6 points. Range is weighted a bit higher than fielding%, and catcher's throwing arm has more weight than his range/fielding ratings. Sadly, my formula cannot differentiate from a normal A+ vs A+++ range guys, although the assumption is that if you are spending on A+ range, it's more likely to be an A+++ range, and that rating gets a bonus.

In a normal $100M league, a good team fielding score is in the low 50's and the average team is in the mid 40's. Obviously, with a lot more salary to spend, most people drafted a strong defense in this theme. Here are the defensive scores for the 160M league.
.

Owner__________	Division_____	Defense
jfranco77	AL Central	67
boogerlips	NL West	61
mpitt76	AL West	59
_JJP_	AL East	59
mildnhazy	NL West	59
hebdomad	AL Central	58
tigerrott	NL Central	57
schwarze	NL East	55
beauchamp	NL East	54
jbohrman	NL Central	54
adsmith182	NL East	54
discodemo	AL East	53
Fsmiley	NL Central	52
justinlee_24	AL Central	51
ledfoot	AL Central	50
magicdreamer	AL East	47
duhbigcat	NL West	47
ronthegenius	NL East	46
buddhagamer	NL West	46
redcped	AL West	45
mjkrunner	AL West	42
Bill_James47	AL West	42
barracuda3	NL Central	40
toysboys	AL East	35
Average		51.3

I’m curious how this will play out. Of my 7 guys out in the field, 5 are A or A+ in range and 2 are A++. But they also are all basically C in Fld%. I obviously valued range higher and I wanted their bats even at that trade off. I guess I’ll find out how costly errors are compared with the gain from plus plays.

Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 1:58:00 PM (view original):
Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

I’m not sure how much Anson will hurt on defense. Base stealing shouldn’t be too big an issue, but he might make a couple extra errors and PB. Not using him before made him a small risk.

But otherwise yeah I accepted average defense at 1B where I think it’s less likely to cause issues and in LF, where I will probably play Heath over Jackson but I expect a few minus plays. I felt it was worth the offensive boosts, but I might have erred there.

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 9:46:00 AM (view original):
Regarding this last table, I was shocked I wasn't ranked first. My only RH batter is my 2B platoon of Nap Lajoie / Doc Farrell. I guess I could have gone with Frankie Frisch (like justinlee_24).

I was one pick away from having drafted Snuffy Stirnweiss instead... I went with Frankie Frisch after he got picked just ahead of me.

So there's a bit of luck involved with me happening to have more LHB/SWH than you.

One comment that I should have made about the aggregate team pitching stats. These stats assume all the (non mop-up) pitchers pitch the number of innings relative to their team total. A 400-inning pitcher will get 25% weight if their team total is 1600. 375-inning pitcher will get 25% weight if their team total is 1500.

In other words, teams with more innings will generally be ranked lower than teams with fewer innings. A team that only drafted 1550 of the best innings and did not supplement their staff with some lesser innings will look really good.

In a normal 120M league, my formula would only include a team's best 1400 innings to calculate the aggregate pitching numbers. But with the number of innings for each team all over the map, I wasn't sure how else to account for this. I could take the best 1650 innings, but what about teams with fewer? Do I apply a penalty?

Anyway, your ERC# might not look good (relative to the other teams), but if you drafted a lot of innings, you might be better off than a team that has a very good ERC# but didn't draft a lot of innings.

You don't want to be a team with a relatively poor ERC# combined with a low inning total and poor defense. That could be problematic.

Here is a list of all players selected at least 3 times. I didn't worry about if the year was different.
.

Player____________	NL East__	NL Central	NL West__	AL East__	AL Central	AL West__	Drafted	Avg Pick
Ruth, Babe	3	3	10	1	2	1	6	3.3
Wagner, Honus	2	5	6	8	7	4	6	5.3
Johnson, Walter	9	2	8	5	5	6	6	5.8
Walsh, Ed	7	9	2	11	1	7	6	6.2
Connor, Roger	4	1	4	4	4	22	6	6.5
Cobb, Ty	13	10	1	3	10	5	6	7.0
Speaker, Tris	5	8	12	7	11	15	6	9.7
Delahanty, Ed	8	12	14	2	15	17	6	11.3
Hornsby, Rogers	6	7	13	27	9	16	6	13.0
Anson, Cap	1	4	24	47	26	34	6	22.7
DeGrom, Jacob	16	21	51	12	17	27	6	24.0
Brown, Mordecai	23	20	23	17	29	50	6	27.0
Gonsolin, Tony	19	34	45	19	35	12	6	27.3
Lajoie, Nap	41	48	15	28	38	31	6	33.5
Jackson, Joe	53	38	38	10	25	43	6	34.5
Cravath, Gavvy	28	72	85	76	27	35	6	53.8
.
Baker, Frank		11	9	20	3	13	5	11.2
Williams, Ted	11	14	20	6	14		5	13.0
Kershaw, Clayton	20	13		15	18	25	5	18.2
Lamet, Dinelson	49	17		23	12	21	5	24.4
Mathewson, Christy	18	18	7		34	53	5	26.0
Hendrix, Claude	25		29	24	32	47	5	31.4
Martinez, Pedro	22	22	44		44	26	5	31.6
Ramsey, Toad		47	37	21	31	38	5	34.8
Bieber, Shane	69	15		34	45	29	5	38.4
Tulowitzki, Troy		44	66	56	19	10	5	39.0
Joyce, Bill	33	56		26	64	73	5	50.4
Musial, Stan	97		21	13	87	49	5	53.4
Williams, Ken	26	32		93	62	60	5	54.6
Sherriff, Ryan	44	80	59		66	97	5	69.2
.
Alexander, Pete		6		14	21	2	4	10.8
Maddux, Greg		25	3	18	6		4	13.0
Clements, Jack	15		17		22	19	4	18.3
Brouthers, Dan		23	27	42	13		4	26.3
Milligan, Jocko	12	29			23	45	4	27.3
Kelly, King	47	16	5		48		4	29.0
Stirnweiss, Snuffy	27		22		24	74	4	36.8
Clase, Emmanuel	35	55		40	52		4	45.5
Sale, Chris	45	61		35	42		4	45.8
Adams, Babe	51	52	43		41		4	46.8
Pollet, Howie	55			71	77	36	4	59.8
Caminiti, Ken	93		30	51	76		4	62.5
Maddox, Nick			52	84	90	42	4	67.0
Treinen, Blake	82	97		67	54		4	75.0
.
Jennings, Hughie			18		8	11	3	12.3
Cicotte, Eddie	10		26	22			3	19.3
Davis, George	29	24	16				3	23.0
Hamilton, Billy	24	31			16		3	23.7
Simmons, Al		19			37	28	3	28.0
Boggs, Wade	39	41				24	3	34.7
Niggeling, Johnny		35	50			30	3	38.3
Gonzalez, Victor				50	46	20	3	38.7
Schupp, Ferdie	21	28			81		3	43.3
Bernhard, Bill	40	57	34				3	43.7
Thompson, Sam		27			39	70	3	45.3
Rojas, Miguel	30	33			74		3	45.7
Hayes, Ke'Bryan	54	37			56		3	49.0
Hendriks, Liam		51		36		67	3	51.3
Foxx, Jimmie	59	26				76	3	53.7
Kolarek, Adam		71		52	50		3	57.7
Green, Chad		59		66	51		3	58.7
McQuillan, George		64	57		61		3	60.7
Quinn, Jack			56	70	63		3	63.0
Sanders, Ken	62			65		62	3	63.0
Rasmussen, Dennis	61	84	47				3	64.0
Verlander, Justin	71	53			73		3	65.7
Madson, Ryan				64	58	88	3	70.0
Hill, Rich	79				82	57	3	72.7

Posted by redcped on 8/30/2023 2:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 1:58:00 PM (view original):
Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

I’m not sure how much Anson will hurt on defense. Base stealing shouldn’t be too big an issue, but he might make a couple extra errors and PB. Not using him before made him a small risk.

But otherwise yeah I accepted average defense at 1B where I think it’s less likely to cause issues and in LF, where I will probably play Heath over Jackson but I expect a few minus plays. I felt it was worth the offensive boosts, but I might have erred there.

There was an 86 Anson in my $255M Rd 1 league. He had 50-something passed balls in a 120 or so games at C. It looks like he platooned at DH vs lefties. So in a 162 games, you're looking at 60-70 passed balls. A D fielding catcher should only have about 10-15 all season. But that team finished first place, so perhaps it's not a big deal. When i saw Anson was being drafted so prolifically, I had to look him up. Passed balls don't show up in "performance history".

Just for fun, these were the earliest players drafted only once.
.

Player________________	NL East__	NL Central	NL West__	AL East__	AL Central	AL West__	Drafted	Avg Pick
Leonard, Dutch						3	1	3
Zimmerman, Heinie				16			1	16
Roush, Edd					28		1	28
Walker, Larry			28				1	28
Reulbach, Ed			31				1	31
Schmidt, Mike	31						1	31
Klein, Chuck						32	1	32
Seymour, Cy					33		1	33
Bonds, Barry			35				1	35
Browning, Pete					36		1	36
Wilson, Chief			36				1	36
Bailey, Andrew						37	1	37
Aurilia, Rich				39			1	39
Hand, Brad						39	1	39
Soto, Juan		39					1	39
Steele, Elmer			40				1	40

Posted by toysboys on 8/30/2023 4:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by redcped on 8/30/2023 2:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 1:58:00 PM (view original):
Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

I’m not sure how much Anson will hurt on defense. Base stealing shouldn’t be too big an issue, but he might make a couple extra errors and PB. Not using him before made him a small risk.

But otherwise yeah I accepted average defense at 1B where I think it’s less likely to cause issues and in LF, where I will probably play Heath over Jackson but I expect a few minus plays. I felt it was worth the offensive boosts, but I might have erred there.

There was an 86 Anson in my $255M Rd 1 league. He had 50-something passed balls in a 120 or so games at C. It looks like he platooned at DH vs lefties. So in a 162 games, you're looking at 60-70 passed balls. A D fielding catcher should only have about 10-15 all season. But that team finished first place, so perhaps it's not a big deal. When i saw Anson was being drafted so prolifically, I had to look him up. Passed balls don't show up in "performance history".

Yuck. I was kind of afraid of that. But I saw someone took him first overall, and I think he went in every draft or close to it. So we might all pay the price. I used a Buck Ewing season once where he committed a ridiculous number of PB, and I swore never again. Ah well ...

Posted by redcped on 8/30/2023 2:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 1:58:00 PM (view original):
Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

I’m not sure how much Anson will hurt on defense. Base stealing shouldn’t be too big an issue, but he might make a couple extra errors and PB. Not using him before made him a small risk.

But otherwise yeah I accepted average defense at 1B where I think it’s less likely to cause issues and in LF, where I will probably play Heath over Jackson but I expect a few minus plays. I felt it was worth the offensive boosts, but I might have erred there.

Interesting to see Anson was selected in all six drafts. I wonder if it was by six people who have never used him at catcher? Yes, he has extremely good normalized hitting and will make an excellent DH or first baseman.
But, speaking from experience of having used him at catcher, you will find he is a passed ball
machine. Imagine a real life Gary Sanchez with his arms amputated playing behind the plate.
And he’s not going to be a great influence on the club house either….

Sorry. Toysboys beat me to that analysis.

And I didn’t even draft a defensive replacement for him.

Posted by toysboys on 8/30/2023 4:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by redcped on 8/30/2023 2:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by schwarze on 8/30/2023 1:58:00 PM (view original):
Your catcher (Anson), first base (Sisler) & outfielder (Joe Jackson) hurt your fielding score.

Comparing your fielding scores to mine, just counting your 2B, 3B, SS, top 2 OF, you're 2 points better than me. But counting just C, 1B and third OF, I'm 12 points ahead of you.

I’m not sure how much Anson will hurt on defense. Base stealing shouldn’t be too big an issue, but he might make a couple extra errors and PB. Not using him before made him a small risk.

But otherwise yeah I accepted average defense at 1B where I think it’s less likely to cause issues and in LF, where I will probably play Heath over Jackson but I expect a few minus plays. I felt it was worth the offensive boosts, but I might have erred there.

There was an 86 Anson in my $255M Rd 1 league. He had 50-something passed balls in a 120 or so games at C. It looks like he platooned at DH vs lefties. So in a 162 games, you're looking at 60-70 passed balls. A D fielding catcher should only have about 10-15 all season. But that team finished first place, so perhaps it's not a big deal. When i saw Anson was being drafted so prolifically, I had to look him up. Passed balls don't show up in "performance history".

I took Anson in the last two $200M DEAL league drafts and had some success. I also had 86 and 87 passed balls. I knew what I was getting in to and, in the DEAL leagues, his offense made up for it. That said, it's rough losing a late lead due to a passed ball and it's not uncommon with Anson.

I will confirm that ledfoot’s Anson team not only swept my league leading squad out of the playoffs but also went on to win yet another DEAL championship. So my criticism is duly mitigated.