Fantasy Sports Strategies

NBA Trade Deadline: The ‘No One Told the Celtics’ Edition « CBS Boston

2012-03-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

NBA Trade Deadline: The ‘No One Told the Celtics’ Edition « CBS Boston

Mock Drafts and Mock Auctions

2012-01-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

I have found a couple of places to practice our craft:

CBS and Mock Draft Central.

CBS is totally free and you can do as many as you like. MDC is free, if you want to do one a day, but pay-per for more.

Try both:

http://mockdraft.1.baseball.cbssports.com/mockdraft/standard?ttag=fbbmd10_on_all_cspt_fbn_mb_0001

http://www.mockdraftcentral.com/index.jsp

Are You Ready for Baseball?

2011-12-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

Time to start thinking about baseball...I mean, hockey and basketball are nice, but really, baseball is the King of fantasy sports, with football a very close second.

My strategy last year worked to a T and I won my 12 man cash league.

In addition, through various other leagues (non-cash), I was second in a couple of other ESPN leagues.

CBS...not so well...and I learned that my strategy for my 12 team league does not work for 10 team CBS leagues.

So...I will be reviewing what worked and what did not...reviewing the fine print in the rules of various leagues...and seeing where I can leverage my knowledge to take advantage of those rules.

Kenny Britt, Cedric Benson, Vernon Davis and Reggie Bush

2011-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Reggie Bush is going to be great for you, until he gets hurt.

Considering it is a PPR league, Benson is somewhat of a risk, but he is still going to get you 80 yards and a TD.

Britt is going to be monster this year.

Dallas gives up a lot to opposing TE's. So go with Davis.

Why you should ignore the Top 15 RB's

2011-09-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

I was already leaning toward a WR-friendly team this season in my auction draft (everyone holds over RB's and Top QB's in our league), leaving a lot of value in WR's.

One would notice that all of the RB's that are often mentioned going in rounds 3 to 7 do not have obvious handcuffs. I say this is a good thing! If your guy goes down, it is more likely that his backup is not on anyone's roster. Here you can see a list of the top 13 backs and their handcuffs.

Here is a solid argument for this strategy:

http://www.tpsradio.net/?p=2366

How a Fantasy Auction is Like a Black Jack Hand

2011-09-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

The goal in blackjack is to get as much money on the table when the dealer is showing a weak card (4, 5, or 6). So you double down or split whenever possible and/or prudent. Thus, getting more money on the table and hoping for the dealer bust.

In auction formats of any fantasy sport, be it football, baseball, hockey, basketball or Caribbean cricket, you want to nominate players early that you do not want, bid them up to value that you can live with, then get out of the way.

You see? You are getting more money on the table and out of people's pockets early so you can scoop up bargains later.

Do this in your first 5 or 6 rounds when it is your turn to nominate.

3rd Year WR's - Short list of Breakout WR's

2011-08-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

1	7	Darrius Heyward-Bey	WR	Maryland	Oakland Raiders
1	10	Michael Crabtree	WR	Texas Tech	San Francisco 49ers
1	19	Jeremy Maclin	WR	Missouri	Philadelphia Eagles
1	22	Percy Harvin	WR	Florida	Minnesota Vikings
1	29	Hakeem Nicks	WR	North Carolina	New York Giants
1	30	Kenny Britt	WR	Rutgers	Tennessee Titans
2	36	Brian Robiskie	WR	Ohio State	Cleveland Browns
2	50	Mohamed Massaquoi	WR	Georgia	Cleveland Browns
3	82	Derrick Williams	WR	Penn State	Detroit Lions
3	83	Brandon Tate	WR	North Carolina	New England Patriots
3	84	Mike Wallace	WR	Mississippi	Pittsburgh Steelers
3	85	Ramses Barden	WR	Cal Poly-S.L.O.	New York Giants
3	87	Patrick Turner	WR	USC	Miami Dolphins
3	91	Deon Butler	WR	Penn State	Seattle Seahawks
3	99	Juaquin Iglesias	WR	Oklahoma	Chicago Bears
4	107	Mike Thomas	WR	Arizona	Jacksonville Jaguars
4	108	Brian Hartline	WR	Ohio State	Miami Dolphins
4	124	Louis Murphy	WR	Florida	Oakland Raiders
4	127	Austin Collie	WR	Brigham Young	Indianapolis Colts
5	140	Johnny Knox	WR	Abilene Christian	Chicago Bears
5	141	Kenny McKinley	WR	South Carolina	Denver Broncos
5	144	Jarett Dillard	WR	Rice	Jacksonville Jaguars
5	160	Brooks Foster	WR	North Carolina	St. Louis Rams
6	175	Quinten Lawrence	WR	McNeese State	Kansas City Chiefs
6	194	Brandon Gibson	WR	Washington State	Philadelphia Eagles
6	206	Dominique Edison	WR	Stephen F. Austin St.	Tennessee Titans
7	224	Demetrius Byrd	WR	Louisiana State	San Diego Chargers
7	229	Manuel Johnson	WR	Oklahoma	Dallas Cowboys
7	232	Julian Edelman	WR	Kent State	New England Patriots
7	233	Sammie Stroughter	WR	Oregon State	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7	243	Marko Mitchell	WR	Nevada-Reno	Washington Redskins
7	251	Derek Kinder	WR	Pittsburgh	Chicago Bears
7	252	Freddie Brown	WR	Utah	Cincinnati Bengals
7	253	Tiquan Underwood	WR	Rutgers	Jacksonville Jaguars

Fantasy Football Auction Strategy Number 2 - Throw out Throw ups early and often

2011-08-06T04:33:00.001-07:00

In any auction where there is a limited budget, you want to get the most money out of your fellow owners as quickly as possible. The best way to do that is to nominate players that you have absolutely no interest in.

For instance, say you think that Michael Vick played way over his head last year and he is destined for ruin. Or at least miss 4 to 6 games due to injury because of his playing style.

Nominate him ASAP. And put a price tag out there that is 15 to 20 percent less than his value. Sit back and watch the feeding frenzy. You may have to throw another bid in there to keep the ball rolling, but be careful not to go over 88 to 90 percent of projected value.

So, then...the idea is to nominate players that you don't like, but play up like you do like them somewhat. Go into your auction with a list of 10 names that you despise with what you think your league will value them at and another annotation with a 15% discount.

I say 10, because by that time, 100 to 120 players have been nominated, and roughly 75% of the auction dollars are spent. This is the time where you start making hay. You may have to pay 10% more on a $10 guy...but in a whole dollar sense, that is exactly one whole dollar.

Think of it this way. If you had to spend 10% more on your $50 guy...that would be $5. Cheaper to keeper and pay up on the lower end and build depth. With bye weeks and injuries, this is very important.

Have a second list of $5 to $10 players that you would be willing to go up a buck or two to land.

Good luck and happy bidding.

Fantasy Football Auction Strategy Number 1 - Get Two Big Backs

2011-07-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

Wide receivers come and go, QB's get hurt more often than not, TE's...well, they are TE's and only one or two each season differentiate themselves.

Get Two Top Ten Running Backs. There. I said it. Caveat: Don't get two guys with the same bye week.

Svinky's Low Whip/No Wins Strategy for Baseball

2011-07-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems to be working.

My strategy in rotisserie baseball this season was to blow off starting pitching entirely. Since our league does not have a minimum innings pitched criteria and we are a 12 team league (standard 5x5), I figured that the eighth inning guys (Daniel Bard, Mike Adams, Koji Uehara) would bring a lot of value to me. And only me.

In addition, they are easily replaced. For instance, if Uehara goes into a rut, then a guy like Antonio Bastardo was available.

That said, timing is important, too. Being able to pick up a Bastardo when Madson went down, would give me not only a solid ERA and WHIP guy, but another handful of Saves.