Our league had K/9 and K/BB its first year. The second year we changed to Ks and holds. We also imposed an IP minimum and raised the maximum IP in our Yahoo league to 1350. This helped avoid some of the relief pitcher shenanigans that go on in the average categories, and while holds is not a great stat, it has about as much meaning as saves, while giving some recognition to quality unsung setup men.
Yeah, Holds aren't a category and K/9 should just be K
Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball. ~Jim Murray
k/9 to k for sure. that will eliminate some of the favor to relievers. also, i would combine obp & slg to ops and add bb as a category. and drop holds because it suddenly makes a middle releiver almost as valuable as a closer and we all know that ain't right.
I've used those same 6 hitting categories and it works well for us. I think it's much more accurate with regard to how good a player is in real life. In our league last year, Bonds and Pujols were the big studs, just like in real life. Bonds especially, when you use OBP and SLG. He becomes a monster. I think this is accurate, though, because his last few seasons have been all-time great seasons, up there with Ruth, Williams, Gehrig.
It makes those steals guys much less valuable, which works for me. I mean, MLB.com has Juan Pierre as the #10 fantasy outfielder. Forget fantasy for a second, would anyone say Juan Pierre is the 10th-best outfielder in Major League Baseball? I don't think so.
For pitching, we use Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and Winning Percentage. I'm not thrilled with Winning Percentage as a category, but the other 5 I'm happy with.
Roger Angell: I was talking with Bob Gibson and I said: 'Are you always this competitive?' He said: 'Oh, I think so. I got a three-year old daughter, and I've played about 500 games of tic-tac-toe with her and she hasn't beat me yet.'
You could also separate starting pitchers from RP. THis avoids the overuse of RP in your scoring system, Althogh a few Pitchers quaify as both starters and RP.
jskidder wrote:k/9 to k for sure. that will eliminate some of the favor to relievers. also, i would combine obp & slg to ops and add bb as a category. and drop holds because it suddenly makes a middle releiver almost as valuable as a closer and we all know that ain't right.
I agree with everyone else that K/9 should just be changed to K to put weight back on the starters.
I disagree with the comments about holds. I've gotten on my soapbox several times on this, so search the archives, but here's the Cliff Notes version:
Holds are no more or less arbitrary a pitching category than Wins or Saves.
Middle relievers who collect holds actually save MORE runs and and are more valuable than closers. This is because "holders" come in more often with runners on base, while closers often start an inning with no one on base. Getting one or two guys out with the bases loaded in the 7th or 8th is more critical than getting the last three outs in the 9th.
Holds add a neat dimension to fantasy strategy, from draft day through the end of the season, by bringing set-up guys into the mix. It also makes managers think about pitchers in a way closer to real baseball.
I was definitely against holds when my league started using them. Now that I understand them more, I wouldn't ever drop them.
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by EricF » Fri Jan 30, 2004 3:42 pm 
