Last Player Picked

It’s Friday, which means it’s time to look at an assortment of sites and articles that caught my eye this week:

• RotoAuthority posted some reader-submitted SGPs for Pitching. SGP stands for Standings Gained Points, an idea developed by Alex Patton about two decades ago, and recently popularized by the re-release of Art McGee’s How to Value Players For Rotisserie Baseball. I should probably write a critique of the SGP method at some point, by I can summarize here: If you take the time to customize them for your league, they work pretty well (i.e. about as well as the Price Guide). For anything else, my evaluation shows the Price Guide giving much more accurate rankings/dollar values.

• I have been quite caught up with AGP this week, so of course it was interesting to see Crooked Pitch‘s analysis of risers and fallers in the ADP Report. I think that some of the movement might just be noise, but it’s also amazing at how quickly drafters react to various bits of news.

• In the last couple of years, fantasy players have been watching for a dramatic increase in IP as a warning sign for pitcher injuries (i.e. the Verducci Effect). Razzball has examined several different factors to come up with 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009. A rise in workload is considered, but Rudy also finds risk in pitchers who throw a high ratio of curves to sliders. (Yesterday’s topic of discussion, Javier Vazquez, is featured on the list.)

• Last but not least was THT‘s look at designing a perfect keeper league. Michael does an excellent job discussing how a keeper system should reward good decisions, but avoid being frustrating for others.

  I play in several keeper leagues, each with different rules. Although I like the long-term strategy it adds, I have also witnessed how much luck can be involved in getting good keepers. I actually think I’m becoming a greater fan of redraft leagues.

Related posts:

• Worth Reading This Week: Up and Down
• Worth Reading: The First Pick
• Worth Reading This Week
• Worth Reading: Mastersball
• Worth Reading: Thoughts on Matt Holliday