One thing we’ve failed to maintain in these leagues is continuity. Years ago we tried instituting a relegation system, but that requires far too much management. We’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that these leagues are one-year deals. We make ‘em and them scrap ‘em. So know that coming in.

Last year we had plenty of interest in RAB-based leagues; there were around a dozen total. We’re going for something similar this year. We’ve started the first two leagues, but we’re going to create many, many more. Here’s the procedure.

1) Click here to join the RAB fantasy league. We have two leagues set up right now, RAB League 1 (ID# 39765) and RAB League 2 (ID# 40171). I’m the commissioner of the first league, Mike is the commissioner for the second league. The password for both leagues is salbograntlanny, and both drafts are scheduled for Monday March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Update (1:09 p.m.): We have a new league: RAB League of Champs; ID: 41028; Password: Yankees#1 click here to sign up.

Update (1:36 p.m.): Another league: RAB New England Yankees Fans; ID: 41247; pw: salbograntlanny click here to sign up.

Update: RAB League of Leagues; ID: 41280; pw: nyy baseball click here to sign up.

Update: RAB Ballad of Mariano; ID: 41337; pw: Mariano42 click here to sign up.

Update: RAB The Grandyman Can; ID: 41619; pw: salbograntlanny click here to sign up.

Update: RAB Flags Fly; ID: 41209; pw: salbograntlanny click here to sign up.

2) Once those leagues fill up, it’s time to create a new RAB fantasy league. If you want to be commissioner, click here to create a new league. Name it whatever you want, but make sure to make the first word RAB.

3) Email me — joseph p (at) riveraveblues (dot) com — and let me know the league details (name and password). I’ll then update the post accordingly.

We’ll keep doing this until there is no longer any interest.

I’d like the leagues to have uniform rules, so we can compete among the leagues. That is, while your primary competition will be with the teams in your specific league, I’d also like to do some comparisons among the leagues. In fact, we’re going to give away a prize to the team with the highest winning percentage during the season. I’m not sure what the prize is yet, since we’re months away. But it’ll be something good: a bit of memorabilia or a book.

Here’s what we’ve created in the first fantasy leagues.

• 12-team league. I think this will work a bit better, and be easier to manage, than the 20-team leagues from last year.
• Offensive categories: Runs, RBI, OBP, Total Bases, Net Stolen Bases (stolen bases minus caught stealing).
• Pitching categories: Innings Pitched, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, WHIP.

And we’ll use the following position distributions. It’s only a small change from the default settings:

C: 1
1B: 1
2B: 1
3B: 1
SS: 1
OF: 3
UTIL: 1
SP: 2
RP: 2
P: 4
DL: 1
Bench: 5

Also, I recommend turning on the feature that locks eliminated teams. There’s no reason for an eliminated team to be making a trade, since it cannot benefit them in any way. It’s totally bush league to fire sale anyway, but this is just some insurance against it. Everything else, from what I can tell, goes along with the default league settings.

That’s all I have for now. Again, sign up using the links above, or the spot below. If you have any questions, email me or hit us up using the submit a tip box.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The 2012 RAB fantasy baseball leagues

Tuesday: Just a heads up for all you fantasy baseball players out there, I created an official RAB Ottoneu Pick Six group for everyone to join. What the hell is Pick Six? It’s a daily fantasy game held a FanGraphs where you get $120 a day (fake money, in case it wasn’t obvious) to buy one catcher, one corner infielder, one middle infielder, one outfielder, one starting pitcher, and one reliever, and then whoever has the most points at the end of the day wins. It’s simple. The scoring is explained here, achievements here. There are no prizes, just daily bragging rights. It takes two minutes a day and is highly addictive, you are forewarned.

All you have to do to join the group is log in with your FanGraphs user id (create one here), click join groups, then look for River Ave. Blues. The password is simply: riveraveblues. There are 100 total spots in the group (that’s the max) and one is me, so 99 are up for grabs. It’s a lot of fun and the game itself is great, so I recommend playing even if you don’t join the RAB group. (thanks to former weekend site ruiner writer Steve H. for the idea)

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The RAB Ottoneu Pick Six Group

Let’s give everyone a chance to accept the invites before we start filing empty spots, so check back in next Monday for another update.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The RAB Fantasy Baseball League(s)

League ID: 423467 442039
Password: loubrown riveraveblues

Happy drafting. (Update: My bad, posted the wrong league info)

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Two openings in the fourth fifth RAB fantasy Baseball League

C: John Baker (17th round, 322nd overall)
1B: Todd Helton (9, 162)
2B: Robbie Cano (3, 42)
SS: Hanley Ramirez (1, 2)
3B: Casey Blake (8, 159)
OF: Jayson Werth (2, 39)
OF: Carlos Gonzalez (6, 119)
OF: Brad Hawpe (7, 122)
UTIL: David Ortiz (10, 199)

SP: Wandy Rodriguez (4, 79)
SP: Cole Hamels (5, 82)
RP: C.J. Wilson (19, 362)
RP:
P: Ben Sheets (11, 202)
P: Brian Matusz (13, 242)
P: Dallas Braden (16, 319)

Bench: Jhonny Peralta (12, 239)
Bench: Carlos Santana (14, 279)
Bench: Josh Willingham (15, 282)
Bench: Edinson Volquez (18, 359)
Bench: Matt Diaz (20, 399)
Bench: Ronnie Belliard (21, 402)
Bench: Jonathan Niese (22, 439)

Obviously, I completely punted the saves category. I figured I was better off grabbing as many starters as possible since they’re much tougher to come by mid-season. Volquez was a straight DL stash with an eye towards midseason. I already slid him into a DL spot and grabbed Luke Gregerson for that empty RP spot. I was hoping to do the same with Erik Bedard, but he went before I got the chance. Santana is another guy I’m stashing on bench, hoping the Indians call up the game’s 10th best prospect sooner rather than later.

Our league counts OBP (and quality starts), so the Helton, Werth, Hawpe and (to a lesser extent) Blake picks are really going to help there. Ortiz was toiling away in the 10th round, and there was really no one else on the board with a realistic chance of 30-100, so I took the bait. Even if he gives me 20-80, I can’t complain. Hopefully Gonzalez’s second half breakout (.320-.384-.608, 12 HR, 11 SB in his last 62 games) is a sign of things to come, and maybe Belliard beats out Blake Dewitt for the Dodgers second base job. He, along with Peralta have multi-position eligibility all over the infield. Diaz could be useful if I’m smart and only play him against lefties, who he annihilates.

I thought my Wandy and Hamels picks were sneaky good in the 4th and 5th rounds of a league that deep. Wandy is on par fantasy-wise with Johan Santana, who went 25 picks earlier. Hamels’ peripherals in 2009 were nearly identical to what they were in 2008, yet his ERA was more than a full run higher, so I’m hopefully that corrects itself. Sheets was a total roll of the dice, but I figured his upside was worth a shot in the 11th round when guys like Kevin Correia and Kevin Slowey and Randy Wells went one round earlier. The idea of a rookie starter in the AL East scares me, but Matusz isn’t like most rookies. Braden, Wilson, and Niese … let’s see what you got.

The one guy I was really hoping to get with my second pick was Ben Zobrist because a) he can rake, and b) he was eligible at the two middle infield spots plus the outfield, and I heart flexibility. He went with the last pick of the first round, so I didn’t even had a chance to get my hopes up. Part of me wishes I took CC Sabathia over Cano in the third round, but the second base market was pretty shallow, and I’m hopefully Robbie breaks out in the fifth spot this year.

Once you’re done laughing at my team, go ahead and use this as your open thread. The Devils are the only local team in action tonight, but there’s a new episode of 24 on, and in case you haven’t heard, this will be the final season because the show’s been canceled. It sure was fun while it lasted…

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: My RAB Fantasy Baseball League Team

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the RAB 140™!

You are part of the inaugural season of one of the most interesting and exciting ventures in all of fantasy sports.  The RAB 140™ is a system of 7 linked, tiered permanent fantasy baseball leagues of 20 teams each, with year-over-year keepers and team promotion/relegation.

Most of you are fantasy regulars, so there’s no need to go over basics.  Please remember to read the roster rules and the scoring setup on your league page (all leagues’ settings are the same). Instead, let’s discuss the specifics of the tiers and the relegation and keeper formats.

Leagues of The RAB 140™

There are seven tiered leagues in the system.

1.) The RAB Premier League™
2.) The RAB Championship League™
3.) The RAB Baseball League One™
4.) The RAB Baseball League Two™
5.) The RAB Conference American League™
6.) The RAB Conference North League™
7.) The RAB Conference South League™

Relegation

All seven leagues play head-to-head seasons.  At the end of each year’s play, the 20 teams in each league are ranked from #1 through #20, based on their final standings (including playoff victories).

The top four teams in Tiers 2-7 (i.e., the league champion, runner up, and two semifinalists) are promoted to the tier above the one they played in that season.

The bottom four teams in Tiers 1-6 are relegated to the tier below the one they played in that season.

The middle 12 teams in each Tier remain where they are.

Keepers

At the conclusion of the fantasy year, all team rosters for all 140 teams in The RAB 140™ will be frozen.  At a date (to be determined in 2011), once the new team/league arrangements (post-relegation and promotion) have been announced in accordance with the above relegation structure, all teams will decide on THREE (3) players that they would like to keep on their roster for the new season.

These three keepers will be the team’s first three draft selections in the new season’s draft.  If a team decides to have only one keeper, that keeper will be the team’s 1st round pick; if a team decides to have only two keepers, those keepers will be the team’s 1st and 2nd round picks.

Since the promotion and relegation system will result in some player overlap (i.e., a player being owned on two different teams in the same league), teams will choose their keepers in an ordered First-Second-Third-Fourth priority structure as follows:

1.) The RAB Premier League™
FIRST PRIORITY: The top 16 teams
SECOND PRIORITY: The 4 teams promoted from The RAB Championship League™

2.) The RAB Championship League™
3.) The RAB Baseball League One™
4.) The RAB Baseball League Two™
5.) The RAB Conference American League™
6.) The RAB Conference North League™
FIRST PRIORITY: The four teams relegated (demoted) from a higher league
SECOND PRIORITY: The #1 team promoted from a lower league
THIRD PRIORITY: The middle 12 teams (league holdovers)
FOURTH PRIORITY: The #2, #3, and #4 teams promoted from a lower league

7.) The RAB Conference South League™
FIRST PRIORITY: The four teams relegated (demoted) from The RAB
Conference North League™
SECOND PRIORITY: The sixteen league holdovers

Once a player in selected as a keeper on one team, he cannot be a keeper for another team.

Important note: similar to how there will be some players in a given league who are owned by two or three teams, there will also be some players in a league who are owned by nobody.  After the promotion/relegation is complete, but before teams select their keepers, all team owners will be provided with a list of noteworthy players in their league who are unowned and thus draft eligible by default.  Owners should use this information wisely; it may be beneficial to choose fewer (or no) keepers in order to retain a higher draft slot to select certain players you have an eye on.

After the selection of keepers is complete, all non-retained players are returned to the draft pool.

That should cover it for now; we’ll continue to work out any kinks as they arise (with your input, of course). Welcome aboard, and happy drafting!

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The RAB 140™

League ID: 500175
Password: riveraveblues

Also, someone dropped out of the fifth league, so if someone wants to sign up for that one, the ID is 442039, and the password is riveraveblues.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The RAB Fantasy Baseball League (Part Seven)

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The 7th RAB Fantasy Baseball League

11:00am: Okay, we put together a seventh league. I’ll post the sign up info at 6:30pm ET today, so check back then if you haven’t gotten into one of our other leagues.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The last RAB fantasy Baseball League (I mean it this time)

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

RAB Fantasy Baseball League (Part Six)