"MoneyBall" League? Does it exist?

[kwsikes]

I just finished reading Moneyball (I know, i'm a little bit behind the times) and half way through it I started to piece together the idea of a fantasy league based upon the stats that some of the sabermetrics folks are lauding as more determinative of a teams performance. Stats like On Base Percentage, Slugging and OPS for offense. FIP for pitching and RZR for fielding (not in moneyball, but one of the new stats for determining a fielder's range). Given the general breakdown that a teams performance is 50% offense, 40% pitching and 10% defense, i was wondering if anyone has encountered a fantasy league that uses some of these 'newer' statistics to determine the players performance and if it is weighted according to its 'real world' performance. I've just been calling such a leage a 'moneyball league,' but i find it hard to imagine that there aren't already some dedicated baseball guys who have already created such a league. Anyone?

[RotoFan07]

Yes. There are leagues like this that use a lot of the sabermetric type stat categories. Sometmes they are hard to find leagues that use them for all categories, but a lot of leagues substitute BA for OBA or OPS.

[StlSluggers]

The most singularly sabermetric league I've seen is Mendoza. Their hitting scoring system is great, but I feel their pitching system leaves a lot to be desired given the number of assumptions they make about the value of relievers.

[kwsikes]

Mendoza! Wow, thanks for the link. That is pretty darn close to what i've been looking for. I agree that the offensive stats don't look like they could be any better. But pitching? I wonder why they dont' use FIP? Also, no fielding stats. Yet, it seems incredibly deep. That, of course, would be part of my worry. I'm guessing 20 hours per week just to be competitive. Did you play and how much time did it consume?

[StlSluggers]

Mendoza! Wow, thanks for the link. That is pretty darn close to what i've been looking for. I agree that the offensive stats don't look like they could be any better. But pitching? I wonder why they dont' use FIP? Also, no fielding stats. Yet, it seems incredibly deep. That, of course, would be part of my worry. I'm guessing 20 hours per week just to be competitive. Did you play and how much time did it consume?

I did not play. I took their hitting system and put it in my points league. I should point out that while my system has been very balanced for its entirety, it is not sabermetrical. We do include some team-dependent stats because, frankly, they make the game more fun. Also, I kept everything in half-point increments because that's just easier to conceptualize than .32 for this and .18 for that.

Here's my scoring system...

Hitters
At Bats -0.5
Runs 1
RBIs 1
Hits 2
Doubles 0.5
Triples 1.5
Home Runs 2.5
Stolen Bases 1.5
Caught Stealing -1
Walks 1
Hit By Pitch 1
Hit into Double-Play -1
IBB 1

Pitchers
Wins 3
Losses -3
Saves 5
Hits Allowed -1
Walks Allowed -1
Strikeouts 0.5
Earned Runs -1.5
Complete Games 5
Shutouts 5
Quality Starts 5
No-Hitters 5
Hit Batter -1
Holds 3
Outs 1

In this system...

Hitters are penalized for worthless ABs and rewarded for extra-base hits, particularly with RISP.

Good pitchers are pitchers who go deep into games and keep runners off base by any means. Conversely, the system penalizes pitchers with high WHIPs and low endurance. I might petition to remove the Shutout bonus. The CG bonus is equal to the save bonus because, theoretically, the pitcher just closed your game for you. You shouldn't be penalized if you had that team's starter and closer that night. The shutout bonus serves no real purpose other than to accentuate that the pitcher already had a good night.

We also had to give some points for holds and saves since you want relievers to count for something. We also don't penalize a reliever for a blown save since the WHIP/ERA penalties already kill them (they don't get the IPs to offset). Even with that help, the best relievers still barely manage to crack the top 30 in my league.

That scoring system works perfectly for a 14-team league with 25-man rosters and 2 IR slots. We start C,1B,2B,SS,3B,OF,OF,OF,SP,SP,SP,SP,SP,RP,RP,RP each week and give extra value to rookie and/or long-injured pitchers by making anyone who didn't start 7 games in the prior year eligible to slot in as a RP.

I wouldn't claim for it to work under any other scenario, though I could easily tweak it for any league.