Fantasy Baseball

Closers are the most overrated players in fantasy baseball. The good ones deliver strong contributions to one category, but generally pitch less than five innings per week.

During drafts, I usually ignore the position until the late rounds. Despite this strategy, my teams are usually very strong in the saves category. In fact, my teams have finished first, first, and second in saves over the last three seasons in my 10-team roto keeper league.

How is this possible, you ask? It’s simple really. Let me run some numbers by you…

Battle of the Blogs is set to begin. For those of you that do not know what I am talking about, read my article about the baseball league I have started.

How many leagues are you joining this year?

Last year I loosely participated in no fewer than 26 fantasy leagues. I’ve played on ESPN, Sporting News, Fox, and CBS Sports.

Up until this point, we at Baseball Professor have done a lot of talking about BABIP and its value in determining whether or not a player should maintain a certain level of performance. This is great when analyzing batters, but it's only part of the picture when looking at pitchers.

Today, we’ll examine xFIP.

2009 was a remarkable year for the most elite pitchers in baseball, as four hurlers posted a sub-2.50 ERA. While this fact is incredible enough, so too is the reality that exactly zero pitchers accomplished this feat in the three years previous to ‘09.

From 2000 to 2005, there were 11 instances of a pitcher posting an ERA under 2.50 with a minimum of 150 innings. This irregularity, when compared to the three-year drought from 2006 to 2008, is somewhat puzzling, though essentially meaningless to fantasy owners.

Let's cut to the chase...

Bleacher Report and CBS Sports are offering a unique shot at a learning and competitive experience through Fantasy Baseball Commissioner and its 50 percent discount for Bleacher Creatures like you and me.

I am currently setting up one of these leagues...

The Minneapolis Star Tribune  is reporting Twins’ closer Joe Nathan will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

While this season-ending outcome has been speculated for the last few weeks, the official announcement came after Nathan played catch with Twins’ pitching coach Rick Anderson Sunday morning.

Ray Tannock is the Managing Editor for Fantasyknuckleheads.com , and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Ah, Fantasy Baseball! So many leagues to choose from, so little time, which is exactly why I am bringing you this short little tidbit about a league I have available for all to join.

As a fantasy baseball manager since 2003, I have experienced moderate success.

With the 15 teams I have managed, I have won the championship twice, while finishing in the top—three five other times. Both championship victories I have both came last season, because it was then I realized what the secret was.

Ah, fantasy baseball. Where real life combines with make belief in a beautiful fusion of mixed allegiances and sporting know-how with bragging rights on the line.

It's just 15 sleeps to Opening Day, and if you want to pit your baseball wits against some of the best in the business, here's your chance.

Over the next six months, I'll be running my own fantasy baseball league, providing weekly updates here on Bleacher Report with all the results, news, and notes you need to fully immerse yourself in one of the nation's favorite pastimes.