SubscribeYesterday, I asked if there were any rule changes that would make for a more realistic fantasy game without compromising fun.
For example, many leagues have tried adding extra categories — holds, errors, etc. — in an attempt to create a more realistic game. I’d argue that part of what makes fantasy fun is its simplicity, and going to 6×6 or 7×7 creates a more complicated game. Plus, going beyond 4×4 or 5×5 has a chance to completely alter the game’s balance.
I have one easy proposal for fantasy leagues, one simple change that makes the game more realistic, but does not change the balance of the categories or the ease of gameplay: Replace AVG with OBP.
In real baseball, walks are valuable. It doesn’t matter how a player gets on base, whether he gets a or a walk or is hit by pitch or reaches on an error. A walk is essentially worth the same as a single, but fantasy in its current forms completely misses the value of walks.
Since on-base percentage is functionally equivalent to batting average, I think the best thing to do is to replace BA with OBP. That lets the league keep the same balance of categories. But now your categories are just a little bit more better at matching values in real life.
Right now, I play in some some traditional leagues, but I also play in leagues that have made the switch to OBP. I can definitely say it’s the best change we have made. It’s small enough not to completely distort the game everyone is used to, but it also brings the fantasy game one step closer to the real thing.
Related posts:
Yup, I love the switch from AVG to OBP. When I play in AVG leagues, it’s so disappointing when I have a player go 0-2 with 3 walks and get penalized for it. It’s a switch that totally makes sense.
I think the most reasonable and realistic switches to make are changing AVG to OBP and Wins to Quality Starts.
Completely agree.
We used AVG for 1 season before switching to OBP and everyone loved the change.
We have, however, since changed from OBP to OPS.
I like the Wins to Quality Starts suggestion too.
I know we use an 8×8 scoring system for our H2H league. Hitting includes AVG, OBP, and SLG. Obviously, there’s some redundancy there, but it makes for an interesting roster building situation, with empty average guys having value, sluggers without walks having value, and high OBP guys that are good at both having LOTS of value. We see teams with low power and high power make the playoffs.