Still in need of a team name for your fantasy baseball league?
Look no further than this list of 10 well suited nicknames for Cubbies fans.
Feel free to use, at your own risk of course!
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When it comes to TV numbers, NFL is king. According to cable.tv, all 17 weeks of the NFL regular season, the highest-rated game of that day was also the highest-rated of any show in its time slot. The NFL does so well in TV, in fact, that even a Sunday Night Football can top a competing World Series matchup.
The same applies to fantasy, too. According to Hollywood Reporter, fantasy football is a billion-dollar business consisting of 27 million players each year. Compare that against the 11 million that play fantasy baseball and it’s not even close. Most of the unbalance is due to the NFL’s popularity, but a large portion falls on the heavy statistics behind the game of baseball. "Knocked Up" famously poked fun at the sport with the line, "it’s just a bunch of nerds playing fantasy baseball," but it turns out that those who rely on math alone may be getting it all wrong.
If I flipped a quarter 10 times in a row and landed heads each time, what would you bet for the next flip? Gambler’s law states that, while you might think the quarter is destined to land on heads just one more time, the previous outcome weighs no bearing on future outcomes. If a running back finishes a season with more than 2,000 yards rushing, they’ll likely be the No. 1 pick in most drafts the next year (though Chris Johnson makes us think twice about that now).
But in baseball, you can’t rely on consistency as a determining factor when making selections. For example, throughout the past four seasons, only one player scored 100 runs and also drove in another 100 in each of those seasons – Ryan Braun. Justin Upton’s highest career batting average at any field is Chase, where he hit .307. His second highest is .293 at Turner field where he’ll be giving run support to the Braves instead of hitting against them. So those "variables" have to be considered when looking at past statistics.
NFL draft orders are like clockwork. Given enough mock drafts and a league consisting of players who know what they’re doing, you could almost predict each pick and they’re falling in line. With baseball, it’s chaos. No amount of mock drafts can prepare you (completely) for the randomness of a fantasy baseball draft. Two keys factors with this: injuries and the farm system. Injuries in baseball are more sporadic and random than most sports, and the farm system pushes players into the available position that were never considered in a mock draft the previous week.
Mike Trout’s rookie season was one of the most unique in baseball history with a .326 average, 129 runs, 30 home runs and 83 RBIs. Oh, and add almost 50 stolen bases to that lineup. ESPN’s 2013 predictions are realistically lowered as no rookie in the history of baseball has repeated like that in his sophomore season, but it’s still likely that Trout will go number one in most drafts this year.
Not saying he isn’t worth it, but if you’re lucky enough to have that first pick— remember Chris Johnson.
Guest post by Craig Wolf; a TV and sports writer
My fantasy baseball playing career is no more.
It’s been 7 or 8 years since I last filled out a lineup card.
One league was free, and I finished in first place.
A second league was pay-to-play, and I finished dead last.
Losing money seemed to put the damper on my fantasy enthusiasm.
However, I understand fantasy baseball is more popular than ever.
And there’s probably a large number of you who still play.
Which is why I’m re-posting MLB.com’s fantasy player rankings.
The showing for Cubs players isn’t pretty, aside from Starlin.
But if you’re the kind of person who must have a Cubbie or two on your roster…at least know plenty should be available later in the draft.
(847 total players ranked from most to least valuable)
33 – Starlin Castro
117 – Jeff Samardzija
186 – Matt Garza
189 – Alfonso Soriano
209 – Anthony Rizzo
250 – Carlos Marmol
253 – Travis Wood
316 – Scott Feldman
360 – Scott Hairston
368 – Darwin Barney
391 – Kyuji Fujikawa
440 – James Russell
454 – David DeJesus
476 – Welington Castillo
498 – Carlos Villanueva
528 – Shawn Camp
585 – Brett Jackson
698 – Ian Stewart
716 – Luis Valbuena
796 – Brian Bogusevic
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Things have come full circle for Dontrelle Willis, as he has signed a minor league deal with the team that took a chance on him back in 2000 in the 8th round of the MLB draft.
The lefty has experienced plenty of highs and lows since then, and now it’s a question of whether he can find a spot on the Cubs’ 2013 roster, or your fantasy baseball team.
It’s obviously a low risk, high reward deal for the Cubs to give Willis, still just 31-years-old, one last chance to resurrect his career.
In recent seasons Willis has been far from the dominate starter we saw with the Marlins. His deceptive delivery that once worked so well for him as seemingly worked against him since the trade that sent he and Miguel Cabrera from Miami to Detroit during the winter of 2007.
Following the trade Willis’ walk rate, in particular, climbed to unsightly levels as he averaged nearly one walk per inning since his first full season with the Tigers. It’s unquestionably contributed to an ERA hovering right around 5.00 during the same time frame.
This spring he’ll work closely with the Cubs’ coaching staff to fine tune the mechanical flaws that have derailed his once bright future.
It’s worth noting the D-Train hasn’t pitched in the majors since a brief stint with the Reds in 2011, which resulted in a (1-6) record and a 5.00 ERA in 13 starts.
He later signed with the Phillies but was released last March before the start of the season. Willis then caught on with Baltimore, but again struggled allowing eight runs in just 6.1 innings at Triple-A. That led to his voluntary retirement on July 2 last year.
The good fortune of being left-handed, however, has presented Willis with perhaps his final opportunity to pitch in the major leagues.
If he’s able to regain his old form this spring it’s likely Willis could stick with the Cubs, who are in need of another left-handed reliever. And if Willis makes it to Opening Day he could prove a sneaky good fantasy pick.
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