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The majority of fantasy baseball rankings (Grey’s included) are based on a 20 game position eligibility that is used by ESPN, CBSSports, and most other leagues.  Yahoo fantasy baseball, however, uses the threshold of 5 games started or 10 games total at a position. If Yahoo was any more liberal in appointing positions, Ulysses S. Grant might rise from the grave and claim copyright infringement.

Strained and obscure US political jokes aside, Yahoo fantasy baseball is popular among our readers.  We want to stay popular among our readers.  Therefore, following up on last year’s post on Yahoo fantasy baseball draft strategy, this post looks to answer two questions:

  1. How should I adjust standard rankings and $ estimates to reflect this position eligibility difference?
  2. Which players of note have a significant change in value in Yahoo fantasy baseball vs ESPN/CBSSports fantasy baseball because of position eligibility?

How To Adjust Rankings/$ Estimates Based on Position Eligibility Differences

I took the stats of the projected average hitter for a Yahoo! 12-team league’s roster through my auction value estimator and got the following values + overall ranks (which include pitchers).  The average of $14 is based on taking a budget of $260 and spending 58% on hitting (about+3% more than you’d get if you took the number of rostered hitters (10) and divided  it into the sum of hitters + pitchers (18)).

Value of Average Hitter In Yahoo! 12-team Leagues
Pos $  Rank
C $23.0 36
SS $15.3 76
2B $14.0 90
Average $14.0  90
3B $13.7 100
OF $11.6 116
1B $8.1 153
DH $5.4 184

This ‘average’ adjustment factor for $ / Rank will typically increase the lower a player is valued/ranked and decrease the higher a player is ranked.  This will be clear when we get to the case of Adrian Gonzalez in the next section.

To calculate the adjustment for a player using the above chart, you take the difference of their ’20 game’ most valuable position and their ‘Yahoo’ most valuable position and apply to the $ or ranking.  So if Victor Martinez was a DH in one format and a C in another, you should add about $18 to his auction value ($23-$5.4) and boost him 148 spots in the rankings (184-36).

In the case of players who gain additional position eligibility but that position is less valuable based on the above chart, I would say there is some nominal value to this.  For a player like Everth Cabrera who has 2B/SS eligibility in Yahoo (SS-only in 20 game leagues), this certainly provides some roster flexibility in case of injuries or on an off day for your starting 2B.  I could see maybe bidding an extra $1 if a player had eligibility in another position that was close to their most valuable position (SS with 2B, 2B with 3B, OF with 1B, etc.).  In a case like Dustin Ackley’s 1B eligibility in Yahoo, I’d value that at about $0.00 (rounded to the closest cent).

Players With A Positive Change In Value Thanks To Yahoo’s Liberal Position Eligibility Rules 

Below is a list of all notable players whose value increases in Yahoo! because of a change in their most valuable position (‘MV Pos’).

Given that Adrian Gonzalez’s rank boost (37) is greater than Grey’s ranking (20), it’s probably best to audible versus give him a ranking of negative 17.  Personally, I think Grey’s ranking of 20 is too high to begin with given Adrian’s 2 year power outage so I definitely wouldn’t draft him any earlier because of the OF eligibility.

In two catcher or very deep Yahoo! leagues, keep an eye on Wil Myers and Jordan Pacheco.  Yahoo credits Pacheco at catcher as he made 5 starts their in 2013.  I have Pacheco projected as only getting about 300 PAs this year but he could hit 20 HRs if he could win the Rockie 1B or 3B job at some point this season.  Wil Myers was drafted as a catcher but has not played it in the minors since 2010 – no idea why Yahoo still has him there but he could be a huge bargain in the 2nd half if you could afford to stash him on your bench. (Obviously influenced by this post, Yahoo! has decided to remove Wil Myers’ C-eligibility for 2013)

Notable Players With Different ‘Most Valuable Positions’ In 2013 Yahoo Fantasy Baseball
Name Team 20 G Pos Yahoo Pos MV Pos Switch Razzball 12 Team $ Est. $ Boost from Position Grey’s Ranking Rank Boost
Adrian Gonzalez LAD 1B 1B,OF 1B -> OF $21 $3.5 20 37
Martin Prado ARI 3B,OF 2B,SS,3B,OF 3B -> SS $12 $1.6 123 24
Adam Dunn CHA 1B 1B,OF 1B -> OF $4 $3.5 186 37
David Ortiz BOS DH 1B DH -> 1B $4 $2.7 104 31
Mark Trumbo LAA 1B,OF 1B,3B,OF OF -> 3B $4 $2.1 79 16
Michael Young PHI 1B,3B 1B,2B,3B 3B -> 2B $3 $0.3 199 10
Kyle Seager SEA 3B 2B,3B 3B -> 2B $0 $0.3 120 10
Logan Forsythe SD 2B 2B,SS 2B -> SS -$1 $1.3 298 14
Mark Reynolds CLE 1B 1B,3B 1B -> 3B -$4 $5.6 185 53
Brett Wallace HOU 1B 1B,3B 1B -> 3B -$6 $5.6 225 53
Donovan Solano MIA 2B 2B,SS,3B,OF 2B -> SS -$14 $1.3 325 14
Jordan Pacheco COL 1B,3B C,1B,3B 3B -> C -$15 $9.3 402+ 64
Justin Turner NYN 2B 1B,2B,SS,3B 2B -> SS -$16 $1.3 402+ 14
Emilio Bonifacio TOR OF 2B,OF OF -> 2B -$17 $2.4 116 26
Luke Scott TB DH 1B DH -> 1B -$18 $2.7 402+ 31
Chris Parmelee MIN 1B 1B,OF 1B -> OF -$20 $3.5 356 37
Pedro Ciriaco BOS 3B 2B,SS,3B,OF 3B -> SS -$25 $1.6 365 24
Matt Carpenter STL 1B,3B,OF 1B,2B,3B,OF 3B -> 2B -$25 $0.3 351 10