By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
I had the privilege of participating in the Podcasters’ Expert Mock Draft on Sunday night. I ended up pinch-hitting for the Sports Prospect Miner himself, Darryl Houston Smith, and had a blast competing against the likes of, fellow Mafia members, Evan “The Censor” Dickens and “Big” Tony Cincotta, as well as Mike Siano of the MLB.com Fantasy 411! How did I do? See for yourself!
By Tim Collins
A week ago, I mapped out a strategy for setting draft day goals for each Rotisserie League category. At the time, I used a specific procedure and reported my findings. Since then, I’ve analyzed the final statistics for last year’s Mafia leagues and established baseline goals using that original method. For details on the process I used, please refer to my earlier article. In the meantime, for Mafia-style leagues, I came up with the following goals:
By Terry Mahoney
It is an annual rite of winter.
Sometime after the last pitch of the Series, we begin anew the Red Sox-Yankees debate. It begins broadly, which team is better? Then takes on the inane, who sells the better dog? Before eventually settling into an endless barrage of ESPN-delivered on-site coverage of every Steinbrenner fire or Epstein hire. And this article is no different! But instead of hot dogs, we are comparing prospects … Clay Buchholz and Joba Chamberlain.
By Pete in
Living out here in the
By David Gignilliat
Keeper League 10
Off the top of your head, name an exclusive baseball milestone. 500 homers. Check. 300 wins. Check. 4,000 strikeouts. Check. Seven no-hitters. Check. But what about the 40-40 club?
Of all the baseball milestones and benchmarks that are religiously celebrated by baseball fans, the 40-40 club should rank among the most exclusive. Yet, for some strange reason, it’s not nearly as high among the pantheon of great individual baseball achievements as its difficulty merits.
If there ever was a ‘Members Only’ club in baseball, the 40-40 club would be it. And it should come with a complimentary ‘Members Only’ jacket.
The number of players that occupy this exclusive penthouse wouldn’t even get you a five-finger discount at your local bodega. Who fills this elite list?
By Darryl Houston Smith
League 4
League 10
Editor’s Note: The Prospect Miner™, Darryl Houston Smith, winds up his Top 100 in this final edition. Here are his Top 81 – 100 Prospects. For earlier editions of this column, please check out the Archives. –Bob in Cleveland, Senior Editor
By Chad in DC
Hello, Hello! With only one more NFL game on the slate [sorry—the Pro Bowl doesn’t count, folks], it’s time to start giving some serious thought to our fast approaching Mafia drafts. I’ve been a fantasy baseball addict for seven years now; and over these blessed years, I’ve refined a draft preparation strategy that has allowed me to fly my fair share of flags. Since we’re all Family here, I thought I’d offer up some of these principles which have treated me so well. So without further ado, it’s time to bring the pain…uh, I mean the insight.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
So how do I get keeper trades going in my leagues?
About this time of year, most Mafia leagues are pretty dormant, but that’s not how it has to be. A league is only as good as how active it is, and it’s up to you, as an owner, to help make your league a Hot Stove year-round. It’s never too early to start thinking about keepers. Off-season trading is a great way to improve your team before the draft and position yourself for a 2008 championship run.
Be sure to run all agreed-upon trades through your commissioner. He or she can guide you from there and make sure that the deal goes down clean … without anyone waking up with a horse’s head in their bed.
By Tim Collins
My goal, before starting this process, was to come up with a quick and easy way to set draft day goals for all categories in a rotisserie league. We use many different formats, and if you can find the data, this process works for them all. More »
By Darryl Houston Smith