This article is part of our The Z Files series.
Yeah, I know. The last thing any of us needs, especially this late in the spring is another league. But hear me out.
What is the main complaint about season-long fantasy baseball leagues with weekly moves? If this were a Fantasy Feud question, the number one answer would be, "Injuries."
As such, many play formats with daily transactions, so at the very least, injured players can be taken out of the active lineup. In addition, there's a large contingent suggesting leagues with daily moves better mimic MLB in terms of strategy.
The problem with leagues of this nature is two-fold. First, not everyone has the time, or desire to attend to their lineup every day. Second, strategy is often confused for common sense. Is it really strategy to activate Lonnie Chisenhall in a matchup against Tanner Roark while sitting Harrison Bader slated to face Max Scherzer? Maybe not all, but the bulk of moves in a daily league are more obvious plays than smart decisions driven by next-level analysis.
Let's turn our attention to DFS. What's the primary beef with DFS? For those not committed to grinding out cash games, it's the long odds for winning a tournament. For some, it's even more basic than that. They play fantasy sports for fun and DFS is largely about the money. Personally, my main issue with tournament DFS is success entails more than just focusing on the baseball aspect. There's a good deal of game theory involved too -- a viable
Yeah, I know. The last thing any of us needs, especially this late in the spring is another league. But hear me out.
What is the main complaint about season-long fantasy baseball leagues with weekly moves? If this were a Fantasy Feud question, the number one answer would be, "Injuries."
As such, many play formats with daily transactions, so at the very least, injured players can be taken out of the active lineup. In addition, there's a large contingent suggesting leagues with daily moves better mimic MLB in terms of strategy.
The problem with leagues of this nature is two-fold. First, not everyone has the time, or desire to attend to their lineup every day. Second, strategy is often confused for common sense. Is it really strategy to activate Lonnie Chisenhall in a matchup against Tanner Roark while sitting Harrison Bader slated to face Max Scherzer? Maybe not all, but the bulk of moves in a daily league are more obvious plays than smart decisions driven by next-level analysis.
Let's turn our attention to DFS. What's the primary beef with DFS? For those not committed to grinding out cash games, it's the long odds for winning a tournament. For some, it's even more basic than that. They play fantasy sports for fun and DFS is largely about the money. Personally, my main issue with tournament DFS is success entails more than just focusing on the baseball aspect. There's a good deal of game theory involved too -- a viable skill, but not one I'm interested in mixing into my fantasy play. Obviously, there's game theory in traditional fantasy play, but it's of a different sort. In season-long play, game theory is more about when to draft pitching or how to handle stolen bases. In DFS, it's about lineup differentiation and efficient construction when playing multiple rosters in the same contest. To be fair, there's a significant aspect of DFS game theory pertaining to correlating players, but that's got more of a baseball basis than gambling feel.
The thing is, on a granular level, building an optimal DFS lineup requires heavy-duty baseball analysis. Even in a single-game scenario, there are salient factors favoring the batter or pitcher. Piecing these individual matchups together while keeping the roster under a salary cap is a challenge. The best part is injured players need not apply. If someone is hurt, don't use them.
Chances are, you see where I'm going with this. I'm a self-admitted zealot for season-long DFS leagues, combining the best of both worlds. They can be played as little as once-a-week, keeping the time commitment reasonable, or slates can be played more frequently. Regardless, scoring is some form of cumulative points over the course of the season. If the DFS site isn't equipped to track results, it's easy enough to set up a Google Doc for the league to follow.
Playing a DFS league severely minimizes the injury influence while rewarding consistency over the course of the long campaign. Sure, there will be weeks where participants hit the nuts, putting together a crushing lineup. However, these will be balanced by slates where their batters couldn't buy a hit. The skills necessary to identify favorable matchups on a steady basis are rewarded. Come season's end, those best at the baseball elements of DFS will finish atop the standings.
Since DFS leagues are single-entry contests, everyone is playing their best roster. No one gains a game-theory advantage by having multiple lineups in the same contest. That said, the league setup can include some nuances to have some participants channel cash-game ideals while others integrate tournament tendencies. This will be discussed in a bit.
The best part, for some, is the format can be played strictly for fun and bragging rights, much the way many play traditional fantasy sports. That said, everyone can still put a few jelly beans into a kitty, with the winners taking home the fruit-flavored, sugary ovular delights.
Some of the DFS sites feign supporting DFS leagues, but there's no money in it for them. Though, if so inclined and in a legal state, there's no reason a DFS league lineup can't be entered into a regular contest. As mentioned earlier, it isn't a big deal for someone with some Excel acumen to capture the results from the DFS site and archive them on a Google Doc, especially since the final contest results can be exported directly to Excel.
What follows is a specific DFS league I helped develop. Since it's a Tout Wars entity, this may seem like a thinly veiled attempt to promote Tout Wars and not a true proclamation of my love for the format. Trust me, I'm a DFS league fanatic. It saddens me they've failed to gain traction the last several seasons. I can only do so much. Administering Tout Wars DFS baseball and football leagues is my way of trying to get the platform some public exposure. So yeah, maybe the rest is a gratuitous plug for Tout Wars Daily, but it's germinated by my passion for the DFS league format.
What we do in Tout Daily is segment the season into five four-week phases. The top three finishers in each period are awarded a Golden Ticket, an invitation into the championship tourney. We play once a week, choosing Tuesday since the main slate is almost always 15 games under the lights.
The allure of five periods is the slate is wiped clean essentially every month. If you miss a week, your chances of earning a Golden Ticket for that segment are obviously slim, but there's four other chances to make the big dance.
Earlier, it was suggested the league setup can be designed to foster elements of cash game and tournament play. This is another benefit of the Tout Daily format. It's the first week of the period, do I play it safe or go for the gusto? It's the final week of the period and I'm in the lead, perhaps a safer cash game approach is best. Or maybe I'm well out of it, and the only way of garnering a top finish is to go contrarian, hoping to separate my team from the leaders. The most difficult decisions can be for those just below the leaders. Playing it safe may not elevate the team into the top three, but taking on too much risk can torpedo your chances if one of the leaders has a poor night.
Adding to the intrigue is we award a wild-card Golden Ticket to the individual with the most points over the entirety of the 20-week season. Those competing for this must take it into consideration when making all their lineups. Is it worth jeopardizing the overall points lead to take chances when vying for a period Golden Ticket?
The Tout Daily Championship is a three-day Survivor Tournament with a twist. Standard Survivor Tournaments cut the field in half each time, with the winner of the final contest taking home the big price. We cut the field in half each of the first two contests. However, the champion is crowned via total points over the three-day contest. As such, the same cash game versus GPP theory discussed above applies to those alive on the final day.
There are some non-discussed nuances such as the number of Golden Tickets an individual can be awarded, and a current proposal for teams in the final tournament to start with their weekly average to reward their season-long finish. It really doesn't matter. The primary point is there are a multitude of options which can cater to your interests. The common denominator is that scoring is conducted on a season-long basis. Tout Wars uses shorter periods, culminating in an overall champion. I've played in leagues where the winner is simply the person with the most points over the whole season. The beauty of it is since you're likely scoring off-line, so to speak, you can come up with any rules you want.
We've come this far, may as well close with a final gratuitous plug. This season, Tout Wars is going to open a public chat room during Tout Daily. The plan is for the participants to congregate and sweat the evening's slate. However, there's no reason we can't answer questions in between our batters stepping up to the plate or our hurlers delivering pitches. Please feel free to join the fun, every Tuesday night, via the Tout Wars web site.
