Stat Categories in Fantasy Baseball

[Guest]

I should start by saying I'm a huge fan of Baseball Prospectus (and Bill James and Billy Beane, etc.) and could be considered a "stathead."

I've been the commish for leagues the last couple years and I've made the switch from using Batting Average as a category to using On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage as categories, or OPS (On-Base + Slugging). In my opinion, OPS is a much better stat to judge a hitter on than Batting Average as a general rule, and I really like using both OBP and SLG as categories.

Last season, we used Runs, HR, RBI, SB, OBP, and SLG. At the end of the year, Barry Bonds was the most valuable player in our league. I think this is as it should be. If we would have used AVG instead of OBP and SLG, he would have dropped.

What do others think? I see more and more mainstream media types using OBP and SLG, and even OPS, instead of Batting Average, so shouldn't the fantasy world make the switch?

How many people out there use OPS instead of AVG?

[wrveres]

I much prefer OBP over AVG. But I also prefer 5x5 over 6x6 or 7x7 or 8x8 .. Keep it as simple as possible. When have to start ranking, BBs and QSs then it s gets a little old. 5x5 is perfect. 6x6 is fun, anything else is redundent. By the way what are the 6 Picthing Cats...???

[DieHardCubbie]

I much prefer OBP over AVG. .. Keep it as simple as possible.

I agree on both counts....but that is why I like OPS.....

[Madison]

OPS or average. Either way is fine with me.

[swingaway]

OPS or average. Either way is fine with me.

me 2

[trevisc]

OPS or average. Either way is fine with me.

yeah..i'm fine with either

[Mookie4ever]

I should start by saying I'm a huge fan of Baseball Prospectus (and Bill James and Billy Beane, etc.) and could be considered a "stathead."

I've been the commish for leagues the last couple years and I've made the switch from using Batting Average as a category to using On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage as categories, or OPS (On-Base + Slugging). In my opinion, OPS is a much better stat to judge a hitter on than Batting Average as a general rule, and I really like using both OBP and SLG as categories.

Last season, we used Runs, HR, RBI, SB, OBP, and SLG. At the end of the year, Barry Bonds was the most valuable player in our league. I think this is as it should be. If we would have used AVG instead of OBP and SLG, he would have dropped.

What do others think? I see more and more mainstream media types using OBP and SLG, and even OPS, instead of Batting Average, so shouldn't the fantasy world make the switch?

How many people out there use OPS instead of AVG?

Since your league already counts HR and RBI it seems as if it already rewards for power and theoretically the higher your on base percentage the more runs you will score also.

If Bonds drops because you only use BA then somebody else must go up.

I prefer using BA. If you are so good (or so much better than your teammates) that you are getting pitched aroung (Bonds) then you suffer in realityand you should also suffer in fantasy sports. I don't even like it when you get a point in H2H for a BB.

Baseball is after all a team game. We should know who plays on a loaded lineup and who plays with stiffs and adjust our opinions of a player accordingly. This makes fantasy sports a bit more tied to the real world and makes it more fun (even though we all end up owning everybody in the Yankee lineup) IMO.

[Arlo]

I like both obp (including walks isn't a bad thing) and avg (baseball is a game of tradition, after all) as roto categories; I'm not a big fan of ops, though...

[HOOTIE]

I prefer using BA. If you are so good (or so much better than your teammates) that you are getting pitched aroung (Bonds) then you suffer in realityand you should also suffer in fantasy sports. I don't even like it when you get a point in H2H for a BB.

Baseball is after all a team game. We should know who plays on a loaded lineup and who plays with stiffs and adjust our opinions of a player accordingly.

Walking isn't really suffering. Bonds is by far the best offensive player in bb.
Bonds 15.11 runs per 27
Pujols 10.79 runs per 27

By not using walks or oba in fantasy, you are taking a big part of real bb out of fantasy. If roto was more realistic, Bonds would be a top 3 pick easy.

[HOOTIE]

I'm not a big fan of ops, though...

Are you talking roto or real life?