This is something I've noticed has changed a bit this year and I wanted to make mention of it and see if anyone else had seen the same thing.
A few years ago, the typical FA/WW replacement players that I could find for my leagues (deeper leagues - 12 team NL, 18-team mixed, etc) were all empty AVG guys. Call it the Orlando Palmeiro/Mark Sweeney era. When your starting OF got hurt, the guy you'd be getting as a replacement would most likely be an empty .280 hitter.
After that, we moved into the Joey Gathright era, where the most common thing you'd find was a guy who would steal a couple of bases in a week but wouldn't give you anything else.
Now, it seems like we're moving into the Andruw Jones/Marcus Thames era, where the guys sitting on the WW are the guys who only play once or twice a week but have power as their most prominent skill.
Back when the replacements were Orlando Palmiero types, I used to worry a little bit less about AVG, figuring that I'd get a slight boost if I played some FAs. I'm starting to wonder if the trend isn't shifting a bit, where you should focus on speed and AVG and assume you're most likely to get power from your fill-in players.
This obviously doesn't apply to shallow leagues, where you could probably pick up a speed OR a power OR an empty AVG guy to replace whatever you need.
And even in deeper leagues, you have to take the most productive fill-in, regardless of categories. But if you can plan a little bit for what you might get, there might be an opportunity to hedge a bit in the other directions when building your team.
A few years ago, the typical FA/WW replacement players that I could find for my leagues (deeper leagues - 12 team NL, 18-team mixed, etc) were all empty AVG guys. Call it the Orlando Palmeiro/Mark Sweeney era. When your starting OF got hurt, the guy you'd be getting as a replacement would most likely be an empty .280 hitter.
After that, we moved into the Joey Gathright era, where the most common thing you'd find was a guy who would steal a couple of bases in a week but wouldn't give you anything else.
Now, it seems like we're moving into the Andruw Jones/Marcus Thames era, where the guys sitting on the WW are the guys who only play once or twice a week but have power as their most prominent skill.
Back when the replacements were Orlando Palmiero types, I used to worry a little bit less about AVG, figuring that I'd get a slight boost if I played some FAs. I'm starting to wonder if the trend isn't shifting a bit, where you should focus on speed and AVG and assume you're most likely to get power from your fill-in players.
This obviously doesn't apply to shallow leagues, where you could probably pick up a speed OR a power OR an empty AVG guy to replace whatever you need.
And even in deeper leagues, you have to take the most productive fill-in, regardless of categories. But if you can plan a little bit for what you might get, there might be an opportunity to hedge a bit in the other directions when building your team.
Comment