I’m sure you’re sitting there thinking that you do not have these types of fantasies. Not me, you say. I have no desires such as Socrates, Plato and the scholars of the church. Well, my fellow points-leaguers, you partake every day from April until October. In points leagues, you need not follow roto rules to fill out all your categories. Every category becomes as important as the next. All you need is points… points. Points is all you need.
There seems to be a lot of variance in scoring systems for points leagues, so the most important thing you can do in a points league is to find the categories that carry a higher or lower point total potential and use that to your advantage. Because you’re scoring system is customized, there is very little material out there on it. As such, a great majority of points league players still look to 5×5 analysis for help. Take advantage of your foolish compadres using the name recognition of guys who are touted in category leagues to trade or drop, for a player more useful to your scoring format.
Here are some guys that I see gaining value for the rest of the season compared to their perceived value now in points leagues…
Henderson Alvarez – Unless your league dishes out points for K’s, like Draftkings, or doesn’t reward IPs, Alvarez is a great low-end option. He’s shown an affinity for going deep into games when he’s on. (He has 3 complete game shutouts in his last 25 starts dating back to last season.) No, he doesn’t punch a lot of guys out, but he’s young and still learning how to pitch. He plays his home games in a cavernous field with great defense behind him. He’s also an Aries from Venezuela, who likes pastels, which makes him a perfect fit for the Marlins.
Gavin Floyd – The Braves have already proven that the way they teach guys to pitch is far superior with Aaron Harang being OWNABLE! for the first time in at least half a decade. There’s also an example every year… With Floyd, there will likely be two this year. Floyd was actually a pretty decent pitcher with the White Sox for years. He kinda hung on the cusp of “ownable in all formats” and kept barely slipping off the edge. He’s been a guy that many ‘perts have picked as a breakout candidate multiple times in recent history. He missed all of April, so he probably slipped through the cracks of your league so far. I’ve never been that high on him, but the Braves work in mysterious ways. It’s alright to buy Gavin. It’s alright.
Yasiel Puig – If Puig can harness his rambunctiousness, I see him being on par with Paul Goldschmidt for points leagues. He’s a stellar power and contact hitter with speed. The knock on him (besides loving to run into walls) is that he’s far too aggressive and, thus, foolish at the plate. Still with less than a full season of the show under his belt, Puig has improved his BB% to 11.4% compared to last year’s 8.6%. There are typically two ways that hitters drastically improve their value in points leagues (1) improving BB/K rate dramatically and (2) moving to the heart of a dominant batting lineup. Puig seems to now have both of those things working in his favor. Unless you think he’s going to run his career into outfield walls, I seriously recommend buying Puig.
Andrelton Simmons and Jean Segura both had surprisingly productive rookie years. It’s not too surprising to see them not immediately build off of those stellar campaigns. Both of these guys have been very unlucky to start the season in terms of their BABIP, as beautifully highlighted in yesterday’s post by the beautiful and talented Dano: Getting STATy With It: Expected (x)BABIP and the Guarantee Fairy. If you didn’t check out his piece you should do it now. Ya’ll are so dirty. I meant read his article. Leave his schmecker alone. Segura is widely considered a better offensive prospect, but Simmons does a great job of not striking out and his 50 XBH last year bodes well in points league formats (Segura only had 42 XBH).
May is a good time to make moves in your league so be aggressive with your moves now if it makes sense. Just remember, above all else:
POINTS ARE POINTS. SELL THE NAME TO WIN THE GAME.
Hit me in the comments ya’ll.
