By Bob in Cleveland
League 4
Greetings, fellow Mafia members!
I trust that you’ve all had a fabulously successful draft season and have put yourself in the proverbial ‘driver’s seats’ in all of your leagues by following some of the great podcast and written content provided by FantasyBaseballMafia.com. Remember … we’re here to help you win!
With our help, surely, all of your leagues will ‘quiver and quake’ at your every trade and transaction this year.
Being gluttons for punishment, ourselves, the Mafia Writing Staff has banded together to create, what can only be called, a ‘super league’ of participants. In the coming months, we’ll share our exploits with you in the hope that you can learn from some of our triumphs and tribulations.
What are the rules? Who are the combatants?
By Pete in Jordan
League 6
Man-crush Drafting
Happy Opening Day, mafiosos!
Now that drafting season is over, it is not hard to figure out who you have a ‘man-crush’ on. If you have multiple teams, and certain guys are on all of them, then you, my friends, have a ‘man-crush’.
This is because it is unlikely for you to get the same player on all your teams unless you value that player a bit higher than everyone else. Let me show you my ‘man-crushes’ for this year …
By Terry Mahoney
Cappo, League 13
Power rankings are a popular way to track team strength throughout a year, and these were constructed to lay out the upcoming 2008 baseball season.
First, I have to start with a disclaimer–these rankings are my subjective opinion. No personal statistical analysis went into the construction of this list. Instead, I have done a fair bit of research in order to help me form my own opinions.
During the season, these rankings will be updated according to past performance–and, mostly, in line with my expectations of future success. For instance, just because they are on a ‘hot’ streak, a flash in the pan team will not jump to number one during a given two or three week period. A team must show sustained growth or decline in order to move significantly in the rankings.
So, who has got the juice this year? Who will win each division? The AL and NL? The World Series?
By David Gignilliat
League 10
The key to any Atlanta resurgence in 2008 will be a return to form of Atlanta’s trademark, consistent starting pitching. And if the Braves do return to the playoffs this season, they will need a strong comeback season from oft-injured, left-handed starting pitcher Mike Hampton.
By The Jersey Hitman
League 6
League 17
This week, I am really ready for the start of the baseball season. Games played here in America, home of the free, land of the normal start times for ball games.
Sunday night, the season gets kicked off with the Nationals opening their new home park. Fantasy Baseball Mafia Live! and The Wire Tap will be doing live podcasts during the game, and whilst I badly want to participate, my son has other plans for me.
Chad in DC
Cappo, League 16
You know how the saying goes … every team thinks they’ve got a shot to win the pennant on Opening Day. In a similar vein, every one of my 2008 MLB predictions has a chance to be spot-on as of Opening Day.
I’m a realist, however, and the reality is that, come September, my predictions might be as ‘busted’ as my NCAA bracket was after the 2nd round this year. So, I’ll be following up this prediction column with an “actuals” column in late September. That’s when I’ll compare my award-winning predictions with what actually transpired during this baseball campaign. So here goes nothing …
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
EARLY SEASON TRADING ADVICE
Drafts are over, and the 2008 Major League Baseball season is finally underway. In some leagues, the trade offers are already starting to fly. We’re already getting early reports of deals going down in smoky Mafia back rooms across the world.
Don’t you people ever rest? The paint on the new Rays’ logo isn’t even dry! The Nationals haven’t broken in their new park yet! Rich Harden and Ben Sheets have yet to spend time at their vacation homes in DL-Ville!
Seriously, it’s never too early to think about ways to improve your team. Don’t be afraid to get started early. There’s no such thing as too early of a trade.
By Richard Schortemeyer III
In this “Opening Day 2008″ issue of ‘On the Record’, I’m going to focus on two players; one surprising — the Orioles’ proposed cleanup hitter, Kevin Millar, and one not-so-surprising — “Bad Luck” B.J. Ryan.
Chad in DC
Cappo, League 16
So, do closers on decent teams rack up significantly more saves than firemen on teams that can only dream of reaching the .500 mark?
As you read this rhetorical question, you may think to yourself, of course they do. Well I say, not so fast, fellow fantasy baseball enthusiasts! I come armed with evidence that contradicts this commonly held, but seemingly inaccurate, perception.
By Pete in Jordan
League 6
Previously, on Peteinjordan’s ‘Man-crush Monologues’ …
Last week, before my 12 team 5X5 vanilla Mafia draft, I outlined my strategy for picking in the 12th spot. I wrote: