Streaming pitchers... fair game?

[OneLoveBoomer]

Consistent, every day streaming is a bit silly ... what's the point of playing if this is the way it goes? However, the occasional or semi-regular use of a spot start or two off the waiver wire is fair and in fact sound play

[Matthias]

Why are there always threads railing against streaming?

A better question is why there are always threads defending it. It's cheap, it's unoriginal, it takes no talent, it takes no preparation, it takes no player evaluation, it takes no risk, it takes no patience, it takes no interaction with other managers, it takes nothing other than the mere willingness to hover over the waiver wire every night and act indignant if anyone ever questions your "strategy".

You knew what the league settings were before you joined. You knew what the league settings were before you drafted. You know the mechanics of the game, i.e. you have rosters and you can add and drop players.

What if there was a rule for the league that the commissioner had the power to fix any oversights mid-season? Is that still fair since you knew the rules before you joined?

I can definitely see how people think it's cheap - they're thinking of their fantasy team as an actual baseball team. But it's not. If I want to use one or two of my bench spots to continually bring up pitchers from the FA list the way no MLB team does, so what?

I think it has to do with the "baseball" part of "fantasy baseball" that streaming has no part of... but that's just a hunch.

The game allows for that, and if you don't like it play in leagues that have settings that make it a worse strategy. The AL has the DH rule. Is that cheap? Should teams refuse to play a DH and bat the pitcher? They could do that. But they have the option to bat a much better offensive player instead of a pitcher, so every single team does it, because it's the best strategy.

Actually, I think the best strategy might be slipping a mickey into the opposing team's water supply or at least beaning their top slugger in the head during his first at bat, but people might consider that, "bad sportsmanship" and so don't do it. Using a DH instead of a pitcher is just showing you have some semblence of sanity (which is why Dusty Baker stays in the NL so he won't be forced to choose).

Now I'm not saying that streaming is the best strategy,

Actually, it's not any kind of strategy whatsoever.

If something is viable, people will use it. And if they do, either figure out how to beat them, start using the strategy yourself, or shut the hell up. Don't come over here (or worse, post on your league boards) and whine about it.

I guess I'd just say the same to you.

Just also don't make the mistake of thinking that streaming, because it's allowed and because someone can't be bothered to pull the same level of crap, gives you any sort of anything positive. If you think there's some sort of merit or value in winning that way, then just put yourself into a league of pre-K kids because you can get the same sort of satisfaction winning there.

[Yoda]

Fantasy baseball is about accurately assessing baseball players skills and their future performance. There is no skill involved in picking up as many random pitchers as you possibly can.

[swyck]

Fantasy baseball is about accurately assessing baseball players skills and their future performance. There is no skill involved in picking up as many random pitchers as you possibly can.

Unless they're not just random pitchers but are based on evaluating the matchups?

Me I don't believe that streamers "automatically" just win unless there are extra positive counting cats that push things over the edge. Like having QS but not K/BB or L to offset that.

[OneLoveBoomer]

The flip side of streaming is pulling your pitchers. I'm pulling my pitchers in one league this week. Check it out:

Settings: R HR RBI SB OBP AVG SLG (7 hitting) W L K SV HR ERA WHIP (7 pitching). I had Ervin Santana last night, so I'm guaranteed to win the L, HR (homeruns given up), ERA, and WHIP categories, which = 4 out of the 7 pitching categories. The catch is that this particular league has the standard 7IP minimum setting (H2H league). So if I win just 3/7 offensive categories, I score a tie. Anything over that is gravy.

[brock middlebrook]

personally, i think every league should hava rule where stats accumulate for the first 7 starts, and after that, everything from the starters gets pro-rated to 7 starts

[Yoda]

Fantasy baseball is about accurately assessing baseball players skills and their future performance. There is no skill involved in picking up as many random pitchers as you possibly can.

Unless they're not just random pitchers but are based on evaluating the matchups?

Me I don't believe that streamers "automatically" just win unless there are extra positive counting cats that push things over the edge. Like having QS but not K/BB or L to offset that.

Well clearly the OP is asking based on his league format if it is cheap to stream pitchers and the answer is clearly yes.

[phatty]

alls fair in love and fantasy baseball =)

[moochman]

Fantasy baseball is about accurately assessing baseball players skills and their future performance. There is no skill involved in picking up as many random pitchers as you possibly can.

I don't know that streaming eliminates skill. You still have to evaluate match-ups and trends. Especially as the season wears on and the better more consistant pitchers have been picked-up by other teams. That is wear streaming loses steam-when there isn't anybody worth playing.
Nah, streaming is okay in my book. It is simply another strategy to use. Hey, I think I might even try a streaming strategy for my draft and early season in a league next year. It would allow me to concentrate on drafting bats and closers, then allow me to pick-up early seasons flavors of the week. That could lead to a stable staff for the rest of the season. This year I could have built a post-draft staff of:
Cliff Lee, Edinson Volquez, Jar-Jar Jurgins, Dana Eveland, Armando Galarraga, Greg Smith. Sure some, if not most, of these guys will fade into black...but there is the chance that a winning staff can be assembled.

Hmmm. I might just try it and see how it rolls.

[Yoda]

Fantasy baseball is about accurately assessing baseball players skills and their future performance. There is no skill involved in picking up as many random pitchers as you possibly can.

I don't know that streaming eliminates skill. You still have to evaluate match-ups and trends. Especially as the season wears on and the better more consistant pitchers have been picked-up by other teams. That is wear streaming loses steam-when there isn't anybody worth playing.
Nah, streaming is okay in my book. It is simply another strategy to use. Hey, I think I might even try a streaming strategy for my draft and early season in a league next year. It would allow me to concentrate on drafting bats and closers, then allow me to pick-up early seasons flavors of the week. That could lead to a stable staff for the rest of the season. Hmmm. I might just try it and see how it rolls.

It does eliminate skill. You are constantly picking up below replacement level pitchers in order to rack up countable stats while taking a big hit on ERA/WHIP. Anyone can go and pick up random pitchers that have favorable match ups.