We already went over what it took to win your fantasy baseball league for 12 teams. Don’t believe me? Click this. Sucker! You got Rick Schroder rolled! Or not because you read this part before you clicked it. I know, 2002 called, they want their internet meme back. Okay, here’s what it takes to win your 12 team fantasy baseball league. Now here we have what it takes to win a 10, 14, 15 and 16 team mixed leagues with 12 thrown in for a reference point. This year we separated what it took to win your ESPN leagues and your Y! leagues, due to our differences between ESPN and Y! post. We use ESPN for our RCL, but if you use Y!, I think I get a thousand dollars for every time someone signs up. Or maybe that’s one thousandth of a dollar. Either way, use this link.
The numbers you see in the chart (which was made by Rudy — thanks, Rudy!) are the 75th percentile for each league. So that means in a 10 team ESPN league 1,083 runs gets you a 7.5, 270 homers gets you a 7.5 and so on. Then in a 14 team Y! league, 817 Runs gets you a 10.5 in the standings. For those slow on the uptake, just take 75% of the team count and you have the points. These are all for one catcher leagues. If you have two catcher leagues, the counting stats go up a little bit and down a little on average. Anyway, here’s what it takes to win a 10, 14, 15 and 16 2012 fantasy baseball league:
| 10 Team | 12 Team | 14 Team | 15 Team | 16 Team | ||||||
| ESPN | Y! | ESPN | Y! | ESPN | Y! | ESPN | Y! | ESPN | Y! | |
| R | 1,083 | 856 | 1,045 | 838 | 1,014 | 817 | 999 | 805 | 982 | 794 |
| HR | 270 | 220 | 261 | 211 | 253 | 202 | 247 | 200 | 240 | 198 |
| RBI | 1,034 | 827 | 1,008 | 804 | 979 | 783 | 961 | 774 | 941 | 765 |
| SB | 212 | 175 | 189 | 163 | 176 | 154 | 171 | 148 | 169 | 143 |
| AVG | 0.269 | 0.272 | 0.267 | 0.270 | 0.265 | 0.269 | 0.264 | 0.268 | 0.264 | 0.267 |
| W | 103 | 103 | 100 | 100 | 98 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 96 | 96 |
| SV | 105 | 105 | 92 | 92 | 81 | 81 | 72 | 76 | 73 | 73 |
| ERA | 3.37 | 3.37 | 3.44 | 3.44 | 3.49 | 3.49 | 3.51 | 3.57 | 3.54 | 3.54 |
| WHIP | 1.23 | 1.23 | 1.24 | 1.24 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.25 | 1.26 | 1.26 |
| K | 1,261 | 1,261 | 1,330 | 1,330 | 1,188 | 1,188 | 1,170 | 1,170 | 1,158 | 1,158 |
You ever consider posting keeper rankings? Just read that 74% of fantasy leagues have some sort of “keeper” element, whether they’re keep 1 or 2 players or dynasty leagues.
i searched around for keeper rankings and found some espn ones. what you think of the top 10?
http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k12_keeperranks
(sorry for posting an espn link on the site, but at least it wasn’t matt berry, right?)
@Random Collmenter, Found this the other day when I was searching for the same thing:
http://fantasybaseball365.com/2012-articles/february/2012-top-100-keeper-rankings-hitters.html
It’s hitters only, but gives you some ideas. I’m joining a keeper league this year where we are allowed to keep 1 guy year to year. I have one of the first shots after all the returning guys pick there keeper, so I’m trying to figure out some strategy. Do I go ahead and draft Trout in the first round so I can keep him forever? Or just draft like normal to win this year and pick the best guy at the end of the season. I’m planning to seek opinions in the forums once I know who’s off the board and exactly what pick I have (March 1st deadline). Just another strategy wrinkle to think about!
@MattTruss223, I knew that list was questionable when it had tulo at #1, my questions were confirmed when it had Mike Trout at #2… C’MON MANNN!! I understand keeper leagues, but you want a player who can contribute now as well, who in their right mind would select Mike Trout 2nd overall in any format?!?!? Ridiculous.
and then he doesnt even have Bryce Harper or any other prospects in the top 100 ???
Just sayin if Mike Trout is #2 he needs to have Bryce in his top 10 to remain consistent… albeit consistently inaccurate, but consistent nonetheless
@begs, Yeah, that list isn’t so good.
in my 14 team yahoo league , the Plucky Kiwis team took clear 1st
in the Saves category with 121 …. a full 15 Saves ahead of his nearest
competitor .
even @ 75 % , your Saves goal of 140 would have made our Saves
Champion look like a patzer .
cust (gone) .
@chata,
to score 75% in the category , you would have needed to set
your goal for 94 Saves , in our league .
in the previous two years , 98-100 Saves would have scored in the
75%ile .
@chata, I think your league might be an outlier. The takeaway then is to know your league’s tendencies and preferences as well as scoring format and adjust accordingly.
@Former skeptic, I,
i think some of our league members are outlaws .
@chata, is your league 5×5 or do you have other categories? this assumes 5×5 and teams using every possible closer
@Rudy Gamble,
yes
@chata, Pity the standings in our league can’t be recalculated.
@Steve,
funny , as usual .
particularly coming from you …(see my response to Former Skeptic ,I, … above) .
@chata, Yeah, I screwed up the calculation hence the inflated save total. Reposted it…my calculation for 75th percentile / 12 team league / Saves is 92. Not far off from 94
@Grey The totals for a 12 team league (ESPN) really increased from the previous post/linky thing. Guess I’d better giddyup!
@Howard, I’m curious too about the increase from the previous post. There’s an increase of 150 runs and 130 RBIs from there to here. Should we ignore the previous “what it takes to win a 12 team league” post and aim for these numbers? What’s up with the difference there gents?
@MattTruss223, It’s b/c I screwed up. The numbers should look more in line now.
@Rudy Gamble, Thanks Rudy!
Hey guys
Thanks for this info. Very handy.
I’m trying to come up with good expectations for NFBCs 15 team, 2 catcher requirements. ESPNs roster is virtually identical to NFBC – just off by one catcher. I modified the ESPN requirements by adding 50 R, 60 RBI, 3 SB and 15 HR to the 15 team ESPN total. My totals for NFBC hitting are:
R 1151
HR 300
RBI 1125
SB 227
AVG .275
That sound about right to you?
@Hawk, Is this for average, to win the league, or something else?
@Rudy Gamble,
That would be to win an individual NFBC league. I imagine the Overall would take another 20-25% of each stat tacked on or off as the case may be (i.e. an extra 25-30 R, 40 HR etc…)
@Rudy Gamble,
I just saw your re-ran numbers and have adjusted my NFBC numbers accordingly. Here’s what they’d be now:
R 1050
HR 260
RBI 1020
SB 175
AVG 0.265
@Hawk, That’s not too far off from what I’ve got. Thanks for sending!
looking at my espn 5 by 5 leagues from last year these numbers look massively high – other than in era and whip the 75th percentile here would have won almost every category in every league easily. they also seem out of whack with your previous figures. are you sure these are correct?
@ahg, also … average numbers for 3rd place(80th percentile) standard 10 team espn leagues for the last 3 years(which will admittedly include a lot of terrible leagues) –
1099 runs
280 hr
1064 rbi
187 sb
278 ba
102 w’s
1343 k’s
134 saves
3.46 era
1.22 whip.
@ahg, Yup – you were right. I screwed up my calculations. Reposted and looks a lot closer to your league #s.
I’m in a 12 team NL only league, and it is my first season. I’m taking over a kind of helpless team. Are you planning on publishing NL-only numbers like these? Would be very helpful to me as I try to think of a plan to be competitive.
If not, how should I adjust the 12-team NL numbers you published before last season?
@Sweeney, Not sure if we’re publishing AL/NL #s (didn’t see a lot of demand for it in the recent poll) but here are the projected 75th percentile #s for a 2012 12-team NL league.
R 953
HR 216
RBI 908
SB 170
AVG 0.258
W 91
SV 59
ERA 3.61
WHIP 1.28
K 1,105
@Rudy Gamble, i was going to search for something like this – thanks.
Hey all – Just reposted the calculations – after a couple of your comments, I looked into the calculation and there was an error in it. Sorry about that!
Brett Myers is Houston’s new closer… lol!
@joe from point pleasant, Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Wished we drafted him in one of our earlier drafts!
Thanks, I do this for my 12 team league, but this helps a lot for my other leagues (instead of just guessing a little higher or lower…) Also, I found it’s really helpful to find out roughly what you need by player, then you can simply multiply that by how many roster spots you have. 4 example
I think a standard yahoo league has 9 hitter spots so each hitter needs to avg. 93-23-89-18-.270. Then just multiply those numbers by the number of hitters in your league. Now you can adjust for any league size or roster size (obviously the more roster spots the averages come down slightly…) Thoughts???
Well, every league format has a different ‘average player’ as # of teams and roster spots drive the available player pool. So you can’t use that average outside of that specific league format…
Dynasty league question – I have Zimmerman, Aramis, and Moustakas as 3B so I want to move one for a 2B (currently have Walker). I have a Moustakas for H. Kendrick offer and Moustakas for Utley offers on the table. Would you do either of those? Or since we keep 20 each year, should I hold onto Mouse for his upside and look to trade Aramis instead?
@Benny, Definitely trade Aramis. But Moose for Kendrick isn’t a bad trade.
@Rudy Gamble, Do you think I’d be giving up too much by offering Aramis for Kendrick? Also, what is your opinion on Hart vs Gordon? They may end up with comparable stats (especially since Braun is there for a full year now). In a vacuum, which would you want? Gordon’s BABIP makes me nervous he’ll come back to earth.
@Benny, Aramis for Kendrick in a keeper league would be great. I have Hart and Gordon nearly identical in value for 2012. I feel more comfortable with Hart just b/c Gordon had disappointed all those years prior.
Grey or Rudy, thoughts on my 12 team keeper league situation so far?
Posey
Fielder
R Weeks
HanRam
D Gordon
Stanton
Crawford
Morse
Chisenhall
Greinke
Bumgarner
Pineda
B Wilson
Storen
Cant decide on my next pick, I think I need another bat and the Giants homer in me was thinking Cabrera or Belt, but I wanted to get your thoughts……
@TualatinTwoStep, Without a roster or who is available, answer could be dozens of people. Belt…
@Grey,
BPA’s by position
C
Arencebia
Ramos
I think I am good at 1B with Fielder and Morse, but Carlos Pena or Carlos Lee are available, the latter has OF eligibility too obviously
2B – Hill, J Weeks, K Johnson
SS – Desmond, Jeter
3B – Prado, Freese
OF – Cabrera, Belt, Swisher, D Stubbs, Pagan, Crisp, Kubel, Hunter, and a host of other uninspiring names
SP – Morrow would help my K’s, but I think I can wait on SP’s with the 3 I have
RP’s – I think I am good for a while, yeah? Street is about the BPA
@TualatinTwoStep, Still have no idea about your roster… Morrow…
@Grey,
C
1B
2B
SS
3B
OF
OF
OF
UTIL
UTIL
SP
SP
RP
RP
P
P
P
Standard ESPN scoring
how many players per roster is this assuming?
@jared, its a 25 man roster
Rudy or Grey,
I’ve got a keeper question for you. In my 12 team keeper league (w/ CI, MI, 5 OF) you keep a guy in the round he was drafted last year minus 2 rounds. With that in mind which of these guys seem like the best keepers?
Keeping for sure (round it will cost):
J. Upton (2)
Andrus (6)
Lawrie (16)
Pick 2 of these (round it will cost):
Marcum (7)
Gardner (9)
D. Hudson (11)
Kimbrel (14)
Moustakas (15)
@A Hill O’ Beans, Sorry that’s supposed to be (w/ CI, MI, 3 OF)
@A Hill O’ Beans, Lawrie… Moose, Hudson…
Gray, just a quick question. What happened to Dom Brown? How did a decent enough rookie campaign turn him from over-hyped to nonexistent?
@cubbies299, Phils are a bit of a crowded mess for ABs. We have him down for 280 ABs.
I am in a 20 team h2h dynasty league. This is the 4th year I am in this league. I think I have a pretty solid squad but I am open to shaking things up this year. By the looks of my team, where do I need improvement? Is there anyone on my team I should try to move?
c jp arencibia
1b miguel cabrera
2b neil walker
ss yunel escobar
3b evan longoria
inf jose bautista
lf carl crawford
cf peter bourjos
rf justin upton
of carlos lee
util vernon wells
util jerry sands
bn ryan lavernway
sp clayton kershaw
sp cliff lee
sp ubaldo jiminez
sp josh beckett
rp jason motte
rp matt throton
rp rex brothers
rp matt capps
p scott downs
p brad lincolm
p brad peacock
aaron harang
bn scott downs
bn garrett richards
bn blake beaven
@Ryan, I like the squad a lot. Pretty impressive for a 20 team league though it is one of the shallower ones I’ve seen. Your pitching is pretty incredible if Beckett performs well. You shouldn’t be moving anyone at this point.
@Grey, Shallower ones? What do you mean?
@Ryan, It’s shallow for a 20 team league…
@Grey, So do you think I should trade for depth then?
@Ryan, No
Judging by above I seem alright, but what do you all see?
Yahoo, 12 team, h2h, 5×5 standard
C- M. Montero
1B – Votto
2B- Kendrick
3B- Zimmerman
SS- Andrus
OF- BJ Upton
OF- Bruce
OF- Bourn
UTL- Werth
UTL- Bourjos
BENCH – Rios / Aviles
SP- Grienke
SP- Bumgarner
RP- Madson
RP- Jansen
P- Zimmerman
P- E. Santana
P- Chacin
P- Roberson
BENCH- Minor, Peacock, Rauch
Thanks for the critique in advance!!
@RealMcCoy, You have Upton, Andrus, Bourn and Bourjos… You think you’re all right with power and not too heavy in speed?
@Grey, Well, I see my team at about 930R / 195 HR / 765RBI / .270Ave / 230SB
I don’t see that as being “All right” in power and above average in speed.
@RealMcCoy, You’re not, you’re low. And way too high in speed.
@RealMcCoy, Sorry….I see that is Alright in power and winning in speed
Any projections for Balfour?
Do you think Pestano runs with the job?
@not Steve, I don’t think Pestano runs with the job, but it’s conceivable. Balfour is the setup man right now…
@not Steve, Oh, I see… The A’s are now saying it could be Balfour or Fuentes. Yeah, Balfour would be a better option, I’m not sure they go with the better option though. Bit of a mess right now. Give Balfour 20 saves and Fuentes 10.
12 team league i pick 10th. Targeting Longo (knowing my league-mates i should get him). assuming i get him should I pair him with Tex in the 2nd(reach)? I was leaning towards grabbing Reyes or Hanram instead.
@captainpyper, http://razzball.com/2012-fantasy-baseball-draft-prep-pairings/
@Grey, oh ya. i forgot. forgive me, im a little slow…lol
@Grey, with Brett Myers being an SP/RP eligible closer, what does that do for his value? PS getting a response from you is like having Peyton Manning hit me up on Twitter.
@Hats For Bats, Ha… It gives him value, for sure. Give him 25ish saves.
@ Grey :
my 12 team keeper league has roster spots for 12 hitters (only 1 C , and
4 OF’s and 1 Util) .
further , it has roster spots for : 2 SPs , 2 RP’s and 4 P’s and 5 Bench .
knowing that I like the security of having at least two bench bats ,
what would you recommend for my breakdown of SP’s vs RP’s ?
should i have 7 SP’s and 4 RP’s ?? 6 and 5 ???
@chata,
IP limit is 1650 , but i can always drop one on my back-up bats ,
later , for another pitcher , if that matters .
@chata, 7, 4 sounds about right…
Grey. I’m in a tough 2 keeper league, 12 teams, ESPN roto format snake draft. I have Kemp, but my choices for a second keeper are A-Rod, Holliday, or Weaver. I will have a second or third choice pick in the draft and there a several sexy names available, but none are 1b or 3b and most are OF. Any suggestions?
@Rick, Not great choices… A-Rod…
From the “sexy names” post… So in my 3keeper league, im keeping Braun and Miggy …. for my 3rd, are you saying instead of keeping Uggla, I should keep Jennings? (10 team H2H points KEEPER league).
@sam bam, Where am I saying that?
@Grey, because Uggla has an ugly name.
@sam bam, You already have an outfielder, go Uggla.
have 5th pick in NL-only KEEPER draft. what you think of my top 5 rankings? thanks!
1. Braun
2. Votto
3. Kemp
4. Tulo
5. Jupton
@Random Collmenter, I’d go Upton over Tulo.
@Rudy or @ Grey do you have an OBP target for Yahoo 10-teamer and 12 teamer. I play in a few that are OBP instead of Avg.
@Big Mike, I don’t, but league average, uh, average is .255 and .270 is what you need in those leagues. Now league average OBP is .320, so I’m gonna roughly say .340. Keep in mind this is a rough goal.
@Big Mike, Rudy says he has it on a spreadsheet at home and right now he’s out… So stay tuned.
Grey in a vacuum, please give me a handful of starters that you would target if your starting 3 are KF, Dream Weaver and Marcum, oh and upside Jarred Parker is the 4th.
I was thinking of targeting a couple from – Jon Sanchez, Juan Nicasio, Fat Chad Billingsley, Scott Baker, Eddy Volquez, anyone else strike your fancy pants?
@ashtonkorver, http://razzball.com/2012-fantasy-baseball-rankings/ and http://razzball.com/i-drafted-the-best-sp-rotation-how-ya-like-them-apples/
@ Grey ALWAYS standing by! Thanks
Just 2nding the NL/AL only request. I understand if the demand isn’t there, then it doesn’t make sense for you guys to waste resources on it though. I’m actually quite surprised there’s not more of us. Or maybe it’s a bit self-fulfilling. There’s fewer of us in your readership because of the lack of league-specific content. Don’t want this to be construed as a gripe though, just a vote cast for more AL/NL only stuff. Thanks for your work.
@Shippity, As of right now, we’re supposed to post the AL/NL numbers too.
Keeper league question, standard 5X5. I’m taking over a horrible team and my keepers are: longoria, teixeiria, storen. I need two more from this group: mccann, putz, valverde, rollins, victorino, jeter, cuddyer, utley. Draft starts in 6th round after the 5 keepers.
@Chuck Norris, McCann, Utley…
NL Only keeper league 4×4:
better trade return: Chacin $10 and Jay $1.. or Cueto at $10 and Jansen at $10.
@elwood blues, Chacin…
Are these 12 Team Yahoo stats that you provided optimized for the standard yahoo public leagues:
Here’s the typical yahoo 12 man standard public league:
C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util Util
5 bench
and 9 pitching slots.
@chuckiT, Yup
@Grey, thanks, this is exactly what i was looking for, and you delivered. BTW i am quite familiar with your site (back when u started on blogspot) looks like you’ve grown into one of the more popular baseball sites on the net. congrats on your success!
@chuckiT, Wow, that does go back. Thanks!
Freeman dislocated knee cap?? Thought injuries like that on the Braves only happen to Chipper.
@elwood blues, Ha… Glad I didn’t like him anyway…
Potential trade in a keeper league
I get Pedroia and Sandoval and give up Longoria and a future 11th round pick
Should I pull the trigger?
@chuck96, Nope, but it’s fair.
Apologies if this has been covered already, but deep-ish AL-Only leaguers might be interested to know that Scott Sizemore is done for the year with a torn ACL.
I must be going soft in my old age, but I can’t conceive of how crushing it must be to have something like this happen to you and I feel really sorry for him and Zumaya. Maybe I just need to HTFU (emoticon)
@Steve, Aw, Steve’s emoting.
@Grey, Sniff.
@Gray
Hey Gray. My settings are nearly identical to your 14 team yahoo listing but with one less UTIL position. Do you have a good idea for evening out the difference?
I was thinking –> find the average batter’s totals and subtract that from each total (since it’s one less batter) but that’s not really accurate since the second UTIL would more than likely have numbers worse than the average.
@Alex, Yeah, that’s actually the way I would handle it, subtracting an average hitter.
What are your thoughts on my h2h mixed team.
C – Ramos
1B – Lance Berkman
2B – Kinsler
3B – David Wright
SS – Dee Gordon
OF – Justin Upton
OF – Kendrick
OF – Gardner
DH – Ike Davis
Greinke
Bumgarner
Zimmerman
Niese
Santana
@Tom, You look like on power and a bit high on speed.
@Grey, How about pitching?
@Tom, It looks fine, I guess. No idea how many teams. But I’m guessing there would be waiver wire guys to switch in and out.
@Grey, Sorry theres 12
@Grey: I get three keepers in a 12 team H2H with OBP instead of AVG.
I’m keeping Tulo and Cano and have the first pick of the draft. Pick two others: Ellsbury, J Upton, Stanton.
@SwaggerJackers, Upton
@Grey, Upton + who? He could be my third keeper then with my first pick should I take Ells or Stanton?
@SwaggerJackers, Oops, sorry… Stanton…
grey – im in a 12 team h2h auction league, im thinking of trading alex gordon ($10) for bumgarner ($12) or matt moore ($10). you like the deal for me, if so, bumgarner or moore? no limit on # of yrs a guy can be kept, 20% yearly increase
keepers below
trout $10
desmond jennings $10
pence $21
andrus $18
gordon $10
carlos santana $20 or mccann $17
rios $10
stanton $28
thanks
@jaw, Yeah… Bum…
Ok, so it’s almost time to finalize my keepers in my 16 Team H2H. This is what I’ve got:
1) Tulo
2) Lawrie
3) Stanton
4) Lester
5) ???
Of my remaining players, I can keep one of the following: Moose, Konerko, Kimbrel, Kennedy, LoMo.
I could also swing a deal for Moore (swapping middle round picks). Or a deal for Haren (swapping my 5th-ish rounder for his 8th-ish). And the guy with MadBum has said he’s on the block, but hasn’t responded to my email about him.
What do you think is the route I should go with this? Thanks!
@Wilsonian, Grab Moore or Bum for a pick if you can…
I really like Fangraphs, but if you want to see the essential difference between them and Razzball, check out the piece on Adam Jones over there. In the comments, a dry as dust discussion about his peripherals.
Over here, we’d be making fun of his player profile headshot. I know what I’d rather be reading (smiley face).
@Steve, Aw, thanks, Steve… Yeah, their comments are dusty.
What are your thoughts on Brett Myers Getting the closer role?
@Tom, Gray loves the Movie Halloween and he is in love with cheap closers – It will be Halloween part 9
@Tom, Just thinking the same thing. He’s still a douchebag but might he blossom into a donkeycorn? He’s my kind of late round pick to fill my 3 RP slot.
@3FingersBrown, If not one wants him late in the draft – I would put a claim into him until he loses his job and he will lose his job
Is it just me or does anyone feel like grabbing Jason Bay in the 22 23rd round is a HUGE steal? He had a great September and the walls are coming in he can easily sneak in a be a 80 – 17 – 85 – 275 – 10 guy – thoughts?
@Tom, Do not draft Jason Bay. Step away from your computer. Repeat. Do not draft Jason Bay.
1. One of your reasonings for having Braun as your top ranked player you state “Pujols is a Latin 32. The 1st base eligibility is nice, but outfield isn’t exactly stacked in 5 outfielder leagues.” My question is would you still take Braun 1st overall in a 3 outfielder league (10 team, H2H)?
2. I absolutely love your site. It is my #1 source for fantasy advice (advise?). You have amused and enlightened me for a couple years now. I visit on a daily basis looking for that next new article for laughs and knowledge. I just wanted to share my appreciation for all you do! Keep up the great work!