Today's Fantasy Rx

A reader suggested we check out the games at ultimatefs.com, so we headed on over. Before I review the offerings, I just want to mention that this site has definite appearance problems. The editing is quite poor compared to the other reviewed contests, and we also don't agree with most of their "Top 10 Reasons to Play Fantasy Baseball with Ultimate Fantasy Sports."

I've never really discussed this prior to now, so I'll mention that most of our general beliefs about mixed leagues were set in stone when I first read Rotisserie League Baseball well over a decade ago. I'll defer to Founding Fathers Glen Waggoner and Robert Sklar, and their summary from the 1989 edition:

II. TEAMS

There are ten teams in a duly constituted Rotisserie League composed of National League players, 12 if composed of American League players.

NOTE: It is possible to play with fewer teams. If you do, be sure to make necessary adjustments so that you acquire approximately 80% of all available players at your auction draft. You could have a six-team league using American League players, for example, and draft only from the AL-East or AL-West (or your seven favorite teams, whatever their division). Unless you reduce the available player pool proportionately to reflect a reduced number of teams, you'll never learn to appreciate the value of Daves Bergman and Anderson, which is to say you'll never grasp the importance of a good bench.

Note: Do not mix the two leagues. Bryant Gumbel does, and he's got a job that requires him to get up at 4:30 in the morning, for Jane Pauley's sake! It's unrealistic and silly, it's not the way the big leagues do it, it means you end up using only All-Stars and established regulars, and it's fattening.

Now I fully realize that since this printing, four teams have been added to the NL, one to the AL, the big leagues now mix leagues all the time, and Bryant Gumbel still hasn't found a job with decent hours. Of course, former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger reportedly held his league's drafts in the White House Situation Room, so rotisserie has been slightly mainstreamed during the intervening dozen years.

All this is a rather circuitous way of saying that we really don't like mixed leagues. Salary cap challenges are different since they still require you to be aware of almost every player in the majors, but something like an 8-team, mixed-league format holds little appeal for us.

However, we also recognize that more casual baseball fans comprise the next great fantasy market, and everyone can appreciate the opportunity to cherry-pick established regulars. Despite our personal league choices, we're trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Therefore we'll make every attempt to broaden our horizons by familiarizing ourselves with mixed leagues.

Internet Fantasy Baseball Contest Review of:

Ultimate Fantasy Sports 2002 Fantasy Baseball

I've decided to quote somewhat liberally from the rules, as I might not believe some of these rules if I was reading this article somewhere else on-line, so I'll let Ultimate Fantasy Sports "speak for themselves".

Cost: $225/team for a conference call draft; $195/team for either an AOL chat draft or an e-mail draft. Thirty dollar discount for first time UFS customers in one-year leagues; $30 off each additional one-year team.

Prizes: $400/1st place; $100/2nd place. They also pay from $150 down to $50 for finishing in the top 10 for Ultimate Leagues, and they pay from $100 down to $25 for finishing in the top 5 in one-year leagues.

Draft Options: All drafts are 25-round snake drafts.
Conference call draft where everyone calls an #800 number and has 30 seconds/pick.

AOL chat draft where everyone logs into a private chat room; you also only have 30 seconds/pick. This option is not available for lifetime leagues.

E-mail draft where everyone makes one picks every 8 hours; if you're not available, you must submit a list of picks. They claim it will take 7-10 days, but from someone who's been in leagues via e-mail draft for the last few years, you don't want to tie yourself into that 8 hours window. You'd be far better off with a private league.

Style: All leagues are ML 5x5 H2H with 16 teams and use a points system for scoring, described as follows:

Scoring:
For hitters:
4 points for a HR
3 points for a triple
2 points for a double
1 point for each single, run, RBI, and stolen base

Note: You only score points in games your hitters start. Even if they enter a game in the top of the 1st, if they didn't start it, you receive no points under this ridiculous rule.

For starting pitchers:
15 points for a win
2 points for each IP
-2 points for each earned run
50 points for a complete game no-hitter win, although no other points count from that start.
Also, a starter can never earn negative points for a start; they can only earn zero or better points.

For relief pitchers:
9 points for a win or save
-2 points for each ER in a win/save situation

Schedule note: "The UFS playoffs are held from Aug 28-Sept 24...The final MLB week is not used for UFS purposes."

Line-up deadline: Monday at 10AM Pacific. Free agent, waiver, and trade transactions are submitted on Thursday and processed through Friday. DL/ML switches are also available at the end of the week.

Roster breakdown: 25-man rosters, not including 10 optional DL spots and either 2 or 4 minor league slots depending on your league. UFS assigns "designated positions" for every player, although any hitter can DH. A player can only be listed at a single position in a given weak. You can draft any combination of positions but you have to field a complete starting lineup, which includes 9 hitters (1 at each position), 6 back-ups, and 6 pitchers).

If any starter doesn't start in seven games, then his backup will be used for the other games. You assign a backup catcher, a backup DH, a backup INF#1 (basically a COR), a backup INF#2 (MIF), and two OF backups. "The use of backups is not to be manipulated in any way that is not consistent with normal baseball. i.e. No sandbagging the LF position just because you have Juan Gonzalez and Manny Ramirez. This will result in a score of zero for each LF position game needed as a backup."

While you can roster as many relievers as you want, you have to only use 5 starters and one reliever each week. "Common sense will dictate which pitchers are starters or relievers."

Since when does common sense enter into a fantasy system that gives steals equal weight with almost every other stat despite their relative uselessness towards winning games?

"UFS reserves the right to take any action necessary to field a proper lineup for neglected teams."

"Ultimate" leagues are lifetime leagues where you keep your entire roster from year to year. "Owners are expected to field the best lineup possible every week and owners neglecting their team(s) will have them taken over and operated by UFS without refund." Apparently totalitarianism is alive and well in Ultimate Fantasy Sports land.

Ultimate Fantasy Sports offers a voice mail system for use when you can't access your computer.

The only way to make trades is to call them in via voice mail; apparently the UFS computers can't process secure trade transactions like every other fantasy game operator that we've visited. "The UFS Commissioner has the power TO VETO any trade deemed too one-sided or not in the best interest of the league. Trades between friends and between contending and non-contending teams are very closely scrutinized. A non-contending team trading its best or better players for players of lesser value will decide no UFS league. In One-year leagues, no trades will be approved between contending and non-contending teams. This means that owners that have no realistic chance of becoming the last playoff seed can't make trades. Any player on MLB DL can not be traded."

I think that covers all the basics. As you may have guessed from some of my comments, I would only recommend this league to owners who I wanted to stop playing fantasy games altogether. We've been involved in some rather codified leagues, and we've seen significantly more specific and detailed constitutions. Despite these past experiences, I can't remember a private league that ever proffered this degree of scrutiny as a feature of their operation.

I'll be happy to offer you advice via e-mail on a case-by-case basis if you either already own a UFS team or are still considering a purchase. However, I see no reason to waste most of my readers' time by posting any specific strategies other than "find a game at another website to join instead of those at ultimatefs.com".

Today's Fantasy Rx: I'll likely spend a day or two on both the AL and NL LABR drafts. You've been kind enough to send in a couple comments on the AL; now its time for the senior circuit.

Please go look at the NL LABR rosters when you have a chance. If you see anything of interest, please drop me a note with your comments.