The weather's warming up. Flowers are blooming. Corks are popping off white wines. And Pujols is now an Angel.

The wine.woot baseball league is back! Pit your mad managing skills against your fellow wine-loving baseball aficionados. We have all you need: weekly Head to Head format, autodraft, witty repartee (aka smack), and wine to help celebrate your victories or forget your defeats. We're going to keep it simple and fun.

So if you need something to do until football season starts, sign up now.
Yahoo Fantasy Baseball
League ID is 159739
Password is winewoot1

Scoring starts March 28 if we've completed the draft by then. If not, we'll begin scoring in week 2 on April 9.

Post all your comments, questions, suggestions and epithets here.

merbill wrote:The weather's warming up. Flowers are blooming. Corks are popping off white wines. And Pujols is now an Angel.

The wine.woot baseball league is back! Pit your mad managing skills against your fellow wine-loving baseball aficionados. We have all you need: weekly Head to Head format, autodraft, witty repartee (aka smack), and wine to help celebrate your victories or forget your defeats. We're going to keep it simple and fun.

So if you need something to do until football season starts, sign up now.
Yahoo Fantasy Baseball
League ID is 159739
Password is winewoot1

Scoring starts March 28 if we've completed the draft by then. If not, we'll begin scoring in week 2 on April 9.

Post all your comments, questions, suggestions and epithets here.

I see it says auto-draft, so no live draft at all? Either way I am still in, only have one league going so far this year.

Not a big deal either way, but are any of the other settings (roster of scoring) up for debate?

North316 wrote:I see it says auto-draft, so no live draft at all? Either way I am still in, only have one league going so far this year.

Not a big deal either way, but are any of the other settings (roster of scoring) up for debate?

We're doing autodraft because 1) its hard to coordinate a nationwide time that works, 2) its getting pretty close to the season start, and 3) autodrafts are friendlier for newer players. This is a fun league, all experience levels are welcome.

Some settings can and probably will be changed. Put your suggestions on the message board after you sign up.

I'm totally in. Been a Cubs fan for almost 35 years. I've never participated in fantasy sport leagues before.

But what could be better than good wine and good baseball ;)

In for one!

merbill wrote:We're doing autodraft because 1) its hard to coordinate a nationwide time that works, 2) its getting pretty close to the season start, and 3) autodrafts are friendlier for newer players. This is a fun league, all experience levels are welcome.

Some settings can and probably will be changed. Put your suggestions on the message board after you sign up.

Have you decided on a draft date?

Thanks..

mschauber wrote:Have you decided on a draft date?

Thanks..

It is an auto-draft, which I am not a fan of, but oh' well. If you are not aware of what that is, basically once everyone is signed up for the league it just gets set to auto-draft and the site picks everyone's team's for them.

I get why the choice of autodraft, but I don't see why we can't just set a live draft and anyone who can't make it can still rank their draft anyway.

Two scoring changes that I'd love to see changed from last year.

Last year: Perfect games for pitchers and Hitting for the Cycle for batters.

This year, how about no hitters and Grand Slams? I don't think anyone got any points from the other settings last year.

javadrinker wrote:Two scoring changes that I'd love to see changed from last year.

Last year: Perfect games for pitchers and Hitting for the Cycle for batters.

This year, how about no hitters and Grand Slams? I don't think anyone got any points from the other settings last year.

As you wish.

Actually, I did Grand Slams and Shutouts for the 6th categories. There were probably 50+ grandslams but only 3 NH's last year. The number of shutouts pitched more closely matches (and probably exceeds) the number of grandslams in a season. I believe Yahoo only counts complete game shutouts, not those with multiple pitchers, but we'll see. At least those categories will see some action this year.

North316 wrote:It is an auto-draft, which I am not a fan of, but oh' well. If you are not aware of what that is, basically once everyone is signed up for the league it just gets set to auto-draft and the site picks everyone's team's for them.

I get why the choice of autodraft, but I don't see why we can't just set a live draft and anyone who can't make it can still rank their draft anyway.

I prefer live drafts too, and I'm open to it if we get massive buy-in from the league. But coordinating a time is a headache and there's always some people who are unhappy. I want a happy league.

Right now we have 8 teams, which is good because a head to head league needs an even amount of teams. I could close it tomorrow and set the draft to ready and we'd probably have the teams stocked in time for week 1, which runs from March 28 thru April 8, but I don't think that gives people enough time to set their pre-draft rankings. Or we can wait and see if we get any more teams (I'd like 10 or 12, but 8 is OK), and begin on week 2. Feel free to invite other players to join if you think they'll fit in.

merbill wrote:I prefer live drafts too, and I'm open to it if we get massive buy-in from the league. But coordinating a time is a headache and there's always some people who are unhappy. I want a happy league.

Right now we have 8 teams, which is good because a head to head league needs an even amount of teams. I could close it tomorrow and set the draft to ready and we'd probably have the teams stocked in time for week 1, which runs from March 28 thru April 8, but I don't think that gives people enough time to set their pre-draft rankings. Or we can wait and see if we get any more teams (I'd like 10 or 12, but 8 is OK), and begin on week 2. Feel free to invite other players to join if you think they'll fit in.

You'd probably get more teams if you post on the daily deal forum, similar to when they post the tastings schedule.

My personal vote, especially since it is an auto draft, would be to start with the true beginning of the season. But just one mans opinion.

mschauber wrote:You'd probably get more teams if you post on the daily deal forum, similar to when they post the tastings schedule.

My personal vote, especially since it is an auto draft, would be to start with the true beginning of the season. But just one mans opinion.

We now have 9 teams - looking for at least 1 more.

That first week is an odd bird. 2 games in Japan on Mar 28/29, then nothing until 1 game on Wed Apr 4, then a half schedule of games on the next 2 days, then finally a full schedule for the Sat/Sun games. Week 2 starts Mon Apr 9 with a normal slate. So even tho week 1 is 12 days long, it has less than a normal amount of games.

Even without it we'll have 21 weeks of regular season and 3 weeks of playoffs, so I don't think we'll miss it. Also, with almost 2 weeks until week 2 starts, we'll have plenty of time to complete our pre-draft research and lists, conduct the draft (maybe even a live one), adjust your roster for surprise final cuts and call ups, propose trades, and otherwise be fully ready for start of the season.

Autodraft info from Yahoo:

The Auto-pick Draft is a popular option for beginners as well as experienced fantasy managers who are unable to arrive at a draft time that suits all league managers.

When utilizing the auto-pick system, our computer system will make intelligent choices for you. This will happen if you signed up for an Auto-pick Draft or are not present for all or part of your Live Draft.

The auto-pick system looks at both a player's position and ranking before making a selection. The computer looks to see which starting positions you need to fill, then selects the highest-rated player—based on either our default ranking or your own custom player ranking—to fill one of those positions.

It is wise for all managers to custom-rank players prior to the draft. To do this, just go to your team page or Draft Central and select Edit Pre-Draft Rankings.

Pre-Draft Ranking info from Yahoo:

Yahoo! Sports creates a default ranking of all players based on their stats from prior seasons and analysis of their expected performance in the upcoming season.

You may make your draft selections based on this ranking, or you may create a custom ranking order based on your individual preferences. If you are happy with the default order, you do not need to custom-rank players.

Most managers typically rank the first 25 or so players. Any players left unranked will be added to the end of your list according to the default rankings. So, if you rank 25 players, player 26 will be the top-ranked player remaining based on the default rankings, player 27 the second best, etc.

All players that are not drafted are subject to the waiver rules established in your league. If they are not claimed by a team in your league, they will become free agents after the initial waiver period ends.

We recommend that all managers take advantage of our pre-draft ranking feature. If you are signed up for a live draft, it is still a good idea to use this custom-rank feature, as these rankings will be used to pick players if you cannot make it to part or all of your draft.

When you do rank, it is important to remember that you Let's go fly a kite, where it's clear and bright... to rank players position by position. If you were to do this (e.g., all first basemen, then all shortstops, etc.), you will end up filling your starting roster and then drafting as many first basemen as your bench will allow before ever selecting a shortstop—or any other position. The goal, rather, is to set up one master list of all the players in the league. With this master list, you will select your top-rated player as long as he is available and you have an open roster spot.

Additionally, you may prevent any player from ever being drafted to your team by placing him on your Exclude List. Just remember to be careful as any player on this list will never get drafted onto your roster. You should place a player on this list only when you are 100 percent sure you Let's go fly a kite, where it's clear and bright... to draft him—because of injury, performance concerns, personal preference, etc.

It is not possible to tell our autopick system to draft a shortstop in the first round, a relief pitcher in the second round, and an outfielder in the third round. Each round, the autopick system will select your highest-ranked available player, assuming there is an open starting roster position for that player. All starting roster positions, including the utility position, will be filled before any bench players are selected.

You can use our drag-and-drop feature to easily move players onto your ranking list. Click on a player's name and hold down the mouse button. Once highlighted, you will be able to drag that player into your custom-rankings.

merbill wrote:Pre-Draft Ranking info from Yahoo:

Where did you find this info? The woot censors have made parts of it indistinguishable from baby talk, lol..

EDIT: I have been able to find a few part of it, but not the whole thing.

mschauber wrote:Where did you find this info? The woot censors have made parts of it indistinguishable from baby talk, lol..

EDIT: I have been able to find a few part of it, but not the whole thing.

Let's go fly a kite, where it is clear and bright... = d*o*n*'*t w*a*n*t

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Help Topics

merbill wrote:Let's go fly a kite, where it is clear and bright... = d*o*n*'*t w*a*n*t

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Help Topics

LOL, thank you. That makes A LOT more sense now ;)

Ah, I tried joining and was 11th team so deleted to keep it even. If someone else wants to play though let me know and I'll sign up again.

tenuki wrote:Ah, I tried joining and was 11th team so deleted to keep it even. If someone else wants to play though let me know and I'll sign up again.

I'm interested in joining if that will get the number up to 12.

chukon99 wrote:I'm interested in joining if that will get the number up to 12.

Cool, I'll try signing up again then.

edit: Okay, I'm 11th team again, Two Buck Chuck.

tenuki wrote:Cool, I'll try signing up again then.

edit: Okay, I'm 11th team again, Two Buck Chuck.

And I'm in with Brains or Braun?

Ok, so now that the league is full and we're all set to go, I have a serious questions for everyone...

Draft..... Strategy for a live draft is clear. But how do you strategize pre-draft ranking for an auto-draft when you can't know who's going to already be selected and you can't select a position at a time?

I'm probably missing something, being this is my first fantasy sports league and all, so be gentle, I have a glass of wine in my hand ;)

chukon99 wrote:And I'm in with Brains or Braun?

And that makes 12. Welcome.

I've locked the league. Do your research and set your pre-draft rankings on your team page. I will set the league to "ready to draft" about April 3-4, and we'll easily be ready to go for week 2 scoring on April 9.

We're starting with week 2 because head to head leagues like ours need to be finished drafting by tomorrow night, and even if I set it to ready right now (which wouldn't be fair to the new managers), Yahoo would not guarantee the league would be drafted in time.

We can debate live vs. autodraft on the league message boards, along with any other suggestions you may have.

Gah - a day late to be last one in!

Have fun this year, folks.

sdilullo wrote:Gah - a day late to be last one in!

Have fun this year, folks.

Unless they're willing to go with 14 teams? I'm a huge fantasy baseball nerd and would love to join.

I say let em in, 14 is better than 12, makes the team management more important

I honestly haven't played in quite a few years (have been sticking with football) but thought it would be fun to get back into it.

More importantly, I'll probably want to nurse a nice bottle of wine if I'm doing terribly... and what better crowd than this to understand that sentiment?

North316 wrote:I say let em in, 14 is better than 12, makes the team management more important

I've opened the league back up and set it for 14 teams. First 2 sign-ups are in. See info in first post for directions.

I'll probably cut the roster down a place or 2 to accommodate the larger league.

merbill wrote:I've opened the league back up and set it for 14 teams. First 2 sign-ups are in. See info in first post for directions.

I'll probably cut the roster down a place or 2 to accommodate the larger league.

Great, the more the merrier.

Being a fantasy league foal, I'm wondering why you'd want to reduce the size of the rosters simply because there are more teams?

Thanks.

merbill wrote:I've opened the league back up and set it for 14 teams. First 2 sign-ups are in. See info in first post for directions.

I'll probably cut the roster down a place or 2 to accommodate the larger league.

I say leave the rosters as they are. The deeper the teams the better

mschauber wrote:Great, the more the merrier.

Being a fantasy league foal, I'm wondering why you'd want to reduce the size of the rosters simply because there are more teams?

Thanks.

It's mainly because there are a limited number of good players to be distributed. If the rosters are too big, you end up scraping the barrel just to fill out your team. Then it becomes a season-long struggle to figure out what to do with the dead weight. As one of my friends in another league put it, "At least this means more A's players will wind up on people's teams."

mschauber wrote:Great, the more the merrier.

Being a fantasy league foal, I'm wondering why you'd want to reduce the size of the rosters simply because there are more teams?

Thanks.

In my experience, I've found that when you go over 300 players rostered, the FA pool becomes too shallow (filled with part timers and bad players) and trades are harder to complete. I think the game is more fun for everybody when you have heard of all the players likely to be needed. Nobody really wants to have to know who Yuniesky Betancourt is (KC's starting SS). This is not meant to be a "hard-core" league.

We currently have 12 teams with 23 roster spots (DL doesn't count), for a total of 276 rostered players. When you go to 14 teams, that's 46 more rostered players for a total of 322. Taking the roster down to 22 reduces the overall draft to 308, a number I'm comfortable with.

This also gives me a chance to fix something that bothered me. In a snake draft (which is how autopick does it), early drafters have an additional - though slight - advantage when there is an odd number of rounds. Taking the rosters from 23 to 22 fixes that.

The open question is whether to take Util down from 2 to 1, or reduce the Bench from 5 to 4. Thoughts?

sdilullo wrote:I honestly haven't played in quite a few years (have been sticking with football) but thought it would be fun to get back into it.

More importantly, I'll probably want to nurse a nice bottle of wine if I'm doing terribly... and what better crowd than this to understand that sentiment?

chipgreen's in - now we need you to "giterdone"

I'm in as the Cellar Dwellers. Just got a msg from sdilullo and he is on his way home, will be signing up shortly.

As for the roster cut, if we're going with one less player I'd say drop a Util spot instead of a Bench spot. That makes it easier to fill in for hitters on their off-days. It also increases the need for multi-position eligible players which should add to the number of viable f/a pickups.

In! Team is I'd Rather Be Flying.

Thanks for upping to 14 - should be a fun year.

merbill wrote:In my experience, I've found that when you go over 300 players rostered, the FA pool becomes too shallow (filled with part timers and bad players) and trades are harder to complete. I think the game is more fun for everybody when you have heard of all the players likely to be needed. Nobody really wants to have to know who Yuniesky Betancourt is (KC's starting SS). This is not meant to be a "hard-core" league.

We currently have 12 teams with 23 roster spots (DL doesn't count), for a total of 276 rostered players. When you go to 14 teams, that's 46 more rostered players for a total of 322. Taking the roster down to 22 reduces the overall draft to 308, a number I'm comfortable with.

This also gives me a chance to fix something that bothered me. In a snake draft (which is how autopick does it), early drafters have an additional - though slight - advantage when there is an odd number of rounds. Taking the rosters from 23 to 22 fixes that.

The open question is whether to take Util down from 2 to 1, or reduce the Bench from 5 to 4. Thoughts?

I could be wrong, but I think Yuni is playing 3rd this year.

North316 wrote:I could be wrong, but I think Yuni is playing 3rd this year.

Just looked at the Yahoo KC Royals page (just like me to do the research AFTER I've written the report). Moustakas is at 3rd, Alcides Escobar is at SS, and Yuni & Getz are splitting 2B.

This still makes my point - Moustakas is promising, but I don't really want to have to know about the rest of that infield - Escobar, Yuni, & Getz (since Johnny Giavotello was sent down unexpectedly, its been quite a tizzy there).

Where are Abbott and Costello when you really need them?

When is the draft?

tytiger58 wrote:When is the draft?

Scoring starts on April 9, so we have a lot of time left. My preference is that it will happen sometime between April 1 and 5. We're discussing live vs. autopick on the message board now.

merbill wrote:In my experience, I've found that when you go over 300 players rostered, the FA pool becomes too shallow (filled with part timers and bad players) and trades are harder to complete. I think the game is more fun for everybody when you have heard of all the players likely to be needed. Nobody really wants to have to know who Yuniesky Betancourt is (KC's starting SS). This is not meant to be a "hard-core" league.

We currently have 12 teams with 23 roster spots (DL doesn't count), for a total of 276 rostered players. When you go to 14 teams, that's 46 more rostered players for a total of 322. Taking the roster down to 22 reduces the overall draft to 308, a number I'm comfortable with.

This also gives me a chance to fix something that bothered me. In a snake draft (which is how autopick does it), early drafters have an additional - though slight - advantage when there is an odd number of rounds. Taking the rosters from 23 to 22 fixes that.

The open question is whether to take Util down from 2 to 1, or reduce the Bench from 5 to 4. Thoughts?

If you're going to reduce one, reduce the bench. Too many good utility players out there and limiting to one doesn't seem right.

EDIT: PS, thanks for your explanation