http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=mergler/090623

Thanks for your support here and I’ll let everyone know if/when I come  back.  In the meantime, if you want to hear my thoughts on fantasy baseball, I’m still contributing each week to the Roundtable feature that runs Wednesdays on MLB.com’s main fantasy site.

Thanks again for reading and I hope you’ll continue as I write on other platforms.

 - Toby

We are now a third of the way through the MLB season, enough
time for me to dust off my favorite gimmick – The Toby Awards! (Previous
editions here and here).  Let’s get right
to it.

Punch-Out Award for
Most Anticipated Arrival

When news broke that the classic Nintendo game “Punch-Out”
was being resurrected and adapted for the Wii, I was giddy.  Outside of maybe Tecmo Bowl, there isn’t a
more iconic title that had yet to be updated. 
I couldn’t wait for release day so I could reunite with Little Mac and
recreate his slightly racist rise to glory (even a Larry the Cable Guy show
isn’t as chalked full of stereotypes).

And The Toby Goes To – Matt Wieters:
As much as I pined for Punch-Out, it didn’t begin to compare to how hard the
fantasy community sweated out Wieters’ arrival. 
It was amazing that following the announcement, a ton of writers
wrote similar apocryphal stories from 25 years in the future describing all of
his accomplishments.  If I had been hit
upon the head and knocked out, I might actually thought I’d been in a two
decade long coma and have taken them as fact. 
How else could you explain everyone writing the same thing?

New York Skyline
Award

I moved out of New York City five years ago this month and I
must say I don’t really miss living there anymore.  But every time I come back to visit, I
cherish that first look of the Manhattan skyline.  No matter how many times you see it, it never
gets old.

And The Toby Goes To – Raul Ibanez:  Speaking of refusing to age (and tenuous
transitions), Raul Ibanez numbers are absolutely stunning so far this year and
is going to end up on a lot of championship teams (hopefully mine).  Seeing him rake this season has been like
owning a stock for several years that has provided consistent, but low-level
returns that suddenly explodes for no real reason.  Please, oh please let this hypothetical
investment not be in an HGH company.

Rock and Roll Ain’t
Noise Pollution Award for Perfect Beginning

You know on your IPod how if you just press play without
making a selection or choosing shuffle, the same song always comes on?  On mine, it’s ACDC’s “Rock and Roll Ain’t
Noise Pollution,” so I’ve heard the beginning of this song many, many
times.  And you know what?  The first 20 seconds are absolutely
perfect.   It’s a slow, clean guitar riff
with the lead singer lighting a butt and taking a puff in the background.  It’s exactly how a rock song should
start. 

And The Toby Goes To – Zack Greinke:  The start to Greinke’s season has been just
as perfect and just like starting up the IPod, each time he takes the hill
seems to turn out the same way.  He
hasn’t just beaten hitters this year, he’s demoralized them.  Beginning the season with four consecutive
shutouts was particularly inspired.  We
haven’t seen a Zach perform at this high of level since the Five Aces
doowhop’d all over the Bayside High sock hop. (You knew a “Saved
by the Bell” joke was coming, but probably not that one.  It happened during the Tori Senior Year,
which even the show disavowed ever happened).

LeBron James Award
for Best Performance Without a Supporting Cast

If you watched the Eastern Conference finals then this award
needs no further explanation.  If it was
a reality show, it could have been called “Lebron the Great Plus Eight.”  While King James gave the performance of a
lifetime, his eight teammates in the rotation ran around helplessly, causing
havoc and doing more harm than good.

Winner – And The Toby Goes To:  Gonzo is wasting a career
year in San Diego, as his offensive teammates have been absolutely
terrible.  He’s nearly doubled up his
next closest teammate in Runs, RBIs, and Home Runs.  Click this link,
you’ll see the same face staring back at you everywhere.  Kinda creepy (mainly because he looks like a
player from “Backyard Baseball” came to life), but a fitting tribute to his
season.

Big Whiskey and the
Groogrux King Award for Most Disappointing Hometown Performance

Growing up in Virginia and going to school in
Charlottesville, the day the Dave Matthews Band released a new album was among
the most highly anticipated of the year. 
I remember popping in “Before These Crowded Streets” and driving
aimlessly around my hometown for an hour while listening and then rushing home
so I could play it again.  But their
latest release is bland, uninspired and terrible.  It sounds like someone doing a Dave Matthews
impression and doing it poorly.  If a
band called “Lie in our Graves” played this album at a local coffeehouse, they
would be booed out of the overly-pretentious building.

Winner -And The Toby Goes To:  Here is what you really need to know about
the Nats bullpen – the team is going to score 200 more runs than they did last
year, the starting pitching has been roughly equivalent, and they are still
going to lose over 100 games.  At this
point, I’d rather see the British Army enter Washington than a Nats reliever.  I hate them.

See you Monday.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090603&content_id=5121268&vkey=fantasy&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I will have a post up tomorrow.  See you then.

Welcome
back to another week of Marry, Bury, Date — the childhood game I’ve hijacked
to provide the framework for my initial foray into providing expert fantasy
baseball advice.

The
premise of the game is simple.  Three names
are thrown out and the participants must pick which one they would Marry (ie
commit to long-term), Bury (get rid of forever), or Date (could be fun in the
short-term).  When considering trade offers or waiver wire
pick-ups, fantasy players are faced with these same three decisions all the
time, so in an effort to help aid these choices, I’ll name one player who I
like for the rest of the season, one player who I think could help in the
short-term, and one guy I wouldn’t touch in this space each week.

After
I’m done, if you want to whisper to the player that I “like ‘em, like
‘em” that’s up to you.  If you do, I
look forward to the awkwardness that ensues all the way through the Junior High
Prom.  Maybe I’ll get my courage up and ask them to
dance during Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

This
week’s picks are below.

Marry

Edwin Jackson – Earlier this year in the expert league,
Edwin Jackson was actually dropped.  I
debated for two days whether I should burn my number one priority to pick him
up (literally, I set up podiums and everything. 
Got two sock puppet — one representing Lincoln, the other Douglas –
and hashed it out.  It got weird).  In the end, I passed, which was a bad choice.

After
74.1 innings pitched on the year, Jackson has a 1.04 WHIP and a 2.34 ERA.  Unless you are playing one-on-one fantasy,
there is no way these numbers belong on the waiver wire.  But somehow Jackson remains unowned in a
substantial number of leagues.  Make sure
he is not in yours.  Even if he is owned,
make an offer to the owner that just picked him up who might believe he’s
selling high.  He’s not, Jackson is
legit.

Bury

Daisuke Matsuzaka – How do you say “thank you Ricky Nolasco” in
Japanese?  If it wasn’t for the Marlins ace’s
struggles, everyone would be talking about how Dice-K is the biggest bust in
fantasy this year.  He’s always been a
WHIP killer, but his current number (2.33) is out of control.  It’s never good when a player’s WHIP is where
you wish a pitchers ERA was and his ERA would make an excellent K/9 (8.82).

It’s
not just that Matsuzaka has been bad, he’s been consistently bad and has shown
no real signs of turning it around.  Because
of all the hype surrounding his arrival and because he plays for the Red Sox,
Dice still has some name-brand recognition. 
If you own him, you should try to capitalize on it while you still
can.  May I suggest offering to trade him
for Edwin Jackson?  I’d much rather own
the Tigers young hurler for the rest of the year.

Date

Brett
Gardner – People discuss the Yankees center field position with such reverence,
you would think the pearly gates were located at the edge of the warning
track.  But lately it’s been more Indian burial
ground than hallowed ground as the Yanks have struggled to find a player worthy
of his predecessors.  I’m not convinced
Gardner is that guy, but he does have the gig for right now and is currently
tearing up the base paths.  As long as he’s
playing, he’ll provide you a solid boost in stolen bases without really hurting
you anywhere.  Since he’s free to pick up
in most leagues, he’s worth a flyer to see if he can continue to perform well
enough to keep his high-profile job.

This past week my team drew the hot hand, losing to Jon
Williams and his endless cavalcade of two-start pitchers 7-3.  Overall, my squad didn’t perform that poorly,
they just got outplayed in one given week and when that happens, you shake
hands and move on (unless you are Lebron James, then you storm out to show your
“competitiveness.”  I hope they make a commercial
immediately where puppet Lebron refuses to shake hands after Kobe beats
him.  Though to be fair, I probably
wouldn’t shake hands with Kobe unless I just saw him wash them.  Never know where they’ve been.  Even the puppet version.)  Besides, it’s hard to get that upset when you
are in first place and your lead in the standings actually grew despite suffering
through your own beatdown.

What’s of greater interest is the number of fairly big names
that have ended up on the waiver wire recently in this league of experts.  As we explore each week in Marry, Bury, Date,
there comes a time when it’s necessary to completely give up on a guy.  For several ballplayers who received plenty
of preseason hype, that time has apparently come.  Even in a league where 350 players are
rostered, an expert thought they were no longer worth owning. 

Here is a list of guys who have been dropped so far in this
expert league and a couple of brief thoughts on each.

Kevin Gregg
(dropped 5/22) – After one owner decided to completely punt saves, he sent
Gregg packing.  I thought this was the
most shocking drop on the list, given the huge premium closers went for in the
initial draft.  I know he’s had a few
blow-ups, but he still is the number one 9^th inning option for a
contending team.  I actually burned the
number one waiver priority to pick him up. 
I think he’ll be worth it in a league this deep.

B.J. Ryan
(dropped 5/22) – Apparently this was moving day for disappointing relief
pitchers.  Ryan has been a disaster this
year and is now borderline unownable in leagues that don’t count holds.  I say borderline because I picked him
up.  With six bench spots, he’s worth a
flyer to see if he turns it around.

Garrett Atkins
(dropped 5/20) – The big Colorado Rocky has been trending downward for several
years, but might see a bounce from the recent managerial change in the Mile
High city.  His new skipper immediately
announced that Atkins would be his clean-up hitter and would no longer be
losing at-bats to Ian Stewart.  The new
found stability could help Atkins regain his stroke and makes him worth owning
in virtually all formats to see if he turns the corner in the month of June.

Ricky Nolasco
(dropped 5/26) – He’s got to be the first opening day starter to be demoted
before the calendar turned to June, right? 
I mean, has this ever happened before? 
It’s like if you started dating Miss America and then she became a leper
three weeks into the relationship.  I was
a big fan of Nolasco in the preseason, so I’m as guilty as buying into the hype
as anyone.  I’m still not over it — I
picked up Nolasco to try to fill the hole in my rotation caused by Brett Myers
hip injury, which is fitting since the parallels between the two pitchers are
so strong.  I can only hope Nolasco comes
back from the minors with the same vengeance Myers did last season.

Jeff Francoeur
(dropped 5/23) – Many of my friends are Braves fans and I can say this without
hesitation — they absolutely hate Jeff Francoeur.  I get calls once a week to talk about how bad
he is playing.  I’ve long been a
Francoeur defender, but after his terrible 2008 campaign and a month of May
that saw him take exactly one walk en route to posting a .243 on-base
percentage (nearly 100 points below the league average), I’ve thrown in the
towel.  I look forward to the day when he
changes teams and transforms into Carlos Quintin, but for now, he’s far too
frustrating to roster.

Other players dropped worth mentioning – Carlos Guillen, Gavin Floyd, Travis Snider
(stunning when you consider he was traded for Matt Holliday in April), Huston Street, Hideki Matsui.

Hope this helps you decide whether to fish or cut bait with
your own disappointing stars.  If you
choose the latter option, at least can be confident you’ll be in good
company.  See you tomorrow for a new
edition of Mary, Bury, Date.

Welcome back to the newest installment in our series of
interviews aimed at giving readers insight into the minds and backgrounds of
those fantasy writers and pundits who have reached the level of
“expert.” It seems there has been an explosion in the number of
people claiming the title in the last few years, but no one seems to know where
they come from. These interviews aim to change all that, while also giving
aspiring “experts” (such as myself) some advice on both how to break
into the industry and ways to improve your fantasy skills.

Our guest this week is Geoff Stein, the operations manager
for Mock Draft Central.

In
your opinion, what makes you a fantasy expert? (basically the polite way of
asking – why should people listen to you?)
 
I don’t think people should listen to me.  I like to point things out and
allow people to make their own choices/decisions.  I’m not a “do this”/”don’t
do that” type of writer;  instead I
focus on producing an original, entertaining piece that makes people
think/informs.

You were recently
elected to the board of directors of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.  What do you hope to accomplish during your
term?
 
It was an honor to be elected to the board by my peers, and I look forward to
representing every member of the FSTA. My main goal is to make sure that
everyone’s — regardless of the size of their company or standing in the
industry — voice is heard. I love ESPN, Yahoo and CBS, and love the work they
do, but it’s my goal to make sure the guy writing a blog in his mom’s basement
feels just as welcome in the FSTA and that their voice is heard and taken
seriously.

As a member of the
board, you get to help shape the future of the industry. What changes do you
think are coming over the next few years?
 
I worry a lot about the line between fantasy games and gambling. The industry
has already stood up to lawsuits from MLB and the NFLPA, but we’re a board
congressman away from some real challenges – especially with the anti-gambling
laws the government has established over the past few years.

How many years have
you been playing fantasy?
 
11 years
 
How many years have you been writing?
 
4.5
 
How did you get your start?
 
Replied to an ad on my college’s website looking for a part-time Fantasy Sports
writer.  I worked hard, and it’s now my full-time job.
 
What made you want to get into the
industry?
 
Always wanted to do something with sports — whether Fantasy or not.  Have come to love the industry, and wouldn’t
trade it for the world.

What advice
would you have specific for people who want to break into the
industry?
 
Be different, do your own thing — make yourself stick out.
 

Favorite team?
 
None

Favorite player?
 
Cecil Fielder
 
Favorite fantasy memory/moment?
 
My first draft/article to appear in a preview magazine.
 
What advice would you have for
people who are playing in their first season?
 
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
 
Who is your single favorite fantasy
writer at a site other than your own?
 
Not a huge fan of reading others’ work.  There’s plenty of good stuff out
there, but I prefer to remain neutral, to try and keep my writings original.
 
Do you enjoy fantasy sports more or less
since you entered the industry (as opposed to when you just played them)?
 
Less, for sure.  I’m extremely blessed to work full-time in the industry,
but I need a break away from it every now and then.  That doesn’t happen
very much now-a-days; that’s not a bad thing, though.
 
Do you enjoy sports more or less?
 
Less, again.  I love my job, but a lot of times, people think it defines
who I am.  I still love sports, but a good chunk of it is still a job to
me.

Mock Draft Central
has become an absolute must-use tool for fantasy players. Anything new coming
down the pike over there that will help owners prepare for upcoming seasons?
 
We’re always looking for ways to improve the site, and do have some ideas.
That’s as much as I can let out of the bag right now
 
Given that your site practically
invented the term, do you stick strictly to Average Draft Position when selecting
your own teams or do you deviate from it quite a bit?
 
Personally, I think people take ADP too seriously — it’s a guide, not a bible.
I liken drafts to snowflakes, no two are the same, and all that it takes is one
crazy pick to make an ADP list a little less useful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a
valuable tool, but it’s not the be-all/end-all that many make it out to be.

This past weekend, I traveled to Arkansas for a
wedding.  It was a great one.  You know how you go to a ballgame or stay out
too late one night and when you wake up the next day you’ve lost your
voice?  It almost always means you had a
good time the day before.  Well I took
that to the next level.  When I woke up on
Monday, I had lost my hearing.  Couldn’t
hear out of my left ear.  Spent most of
the recap lunch staring at my plate wishing the food would disappear without me
actually having to eat it and pretending to follow the conversation around
me.  Guess that means I had an awesome
time on Sunday.

Because of the weekend events, I didn’t follow my expert
league match-up at all.  Even forgot to
set my lineup for the weekend before I left on Friday.  You know what?  Didn’t matter.  The results didn’t change a bit.  I won 5-4-1, the exact same result that would
have occurred had I scoured the wire for last second free agent fill-ins and stared at
the scoreboard all weekend.

Like many fantasy players, I can get caught up in the
obsession and pay too much attention to every at-bat, pitch, and play.  It’s too bad “time spent hoping” isn’t a
fantasy category, as I would clean up. 
While I usually enjoy following my players extremely closely, it’s still
nice to see that you can step away for a few days without consequence.  Fantasy baseball isn’t like the Hatch in “Lost.”  You don’t have to push the button every 108
minutes to prevent the end of the world, even though it often feels that way.

Someday I might forget to put a pitcher in and it will cost
me a few categories.  But today I take
comfort in knowing that even in an intense expert league, it’s possible to step
back for a few days without changing a thing. 
Gives me time to focus on other matters. 
Like getting my hearing back.

I’ll be back tomorrow with an interview featuring Mock Draft
Central’s Geoff Stein.  Until then.

Dear Internet Man Who
Lives in My Computer,
I have a question. This is the time in the fantasy baseball season when I have
trouble staying motivated. I start going away on weekends to go to weddings or
bachelor parties or the beach or, more likely, the office, and fantasy baseball
isn’t always the top item on my list of things to catch up on during the week.
Plus, especially in my points league, the status quo seems to be sorting stuff
out so I feel like I’m destined to finish in 4th to 7th place no matter what I
do. Nobody good is available on waivers, at least anybody who will make a real
difference in my performance, and I’m too lazy to trade with anybody but the
guy who low-balls me four times a day. Any advice about how to keep my interest
up and make a move?
Sincerely,
metsfankrod
PS – okay, maybe more like 6th to 9th place.

Hey, good to hear from you again Krod Mandoon.  How is your epic quest to ruin television
going?  From what I hear, you are almost
there.  Congrats.

Losing interest as the season goes on is a common problem,
though one not always caused by “my life is too awesome to care” syndrome,
which you seem to possess.  If I was
traveling every weekend to hang out with my friends or go to the beach, I’d
probably lose interest too.  Sounds pretty
nice.  Your office is probably on a
boat.  Jerk.

If you are still fielding trade offers and checking the
waiver wire, it sounds like you are not quite a lost cause yet, which is
terrific.  There is nothing worse than
being in a league where guys completely check out in May (Ok, maybe a couple
things are worse – plague, famine, Coldplay). 
I hope no matter how much you stop caring, you always log-in at least
once a week for 30 seconds to set your lineup. 
If you can’t do that, you should give up fantasy baseball as a hobby
because such behavior can ruin it for everyone. 
Now please put your hands up everyone, the only way I exit my soap box
is through crowd-surfing.

But since you seem to care a little about fantasy
baseball (you are reading this blog after all), here are four suggestions on
how to jumpstart your interest.

Blast Trade Email
- I find trade talks to be the best aspect of fantasy, but you say you’re too
lazy to deal with anyone but the guy who lowballs you.  It sounds to me that you mainly just don’t
want to think of trades yourself and merely want to react to those offered to
you.  Fair enough.  Take the time to send out a quick email to
everyone in the league naming specific people on your team you are looking to
trade.  Make sure the list includes at
least half of the ten best players on your team.  Once you bait the hook with top notch talent,
you’ll get offers back.  You can then
evaluate trades being brought to you and not have to think of your own from
scratch.  Maximum fun, minimal effort.  Perfect for a guy like you.

Acquire Guys You Like
- Fantasy baseball almost always makes you watch more of the real version.  Therefore use my first suggestion to trade
for as many guys you love to watch play as possible, even if you have to overpay.  If you are convinced you are not going to win
anyways, you might as well like your team. 
So go trade for a couple of Mets or pursue a mancrush on guys like Ian
Kinsler, Justin Verlander, Adam Dunn, or others who are a ton of fun to watch.

Irrational Feuds
- Another enjoyable aspect of fantasy sports is the trash talk that occurs on
the message board and over email.  I
suggest you pick one guy in the league (doesn’t really matter where they are in
the standings) and just start talking a mountain of trash about their
teams.  What you say doesn’t even have to
be true; as long as it is funny no one will care.  Pick on the guy over and over again.  An irrational feud will develop and as long
as the attacks don’t become personal, good times will ensue.  This only works in leagues among friends
though.  Strangers tend to either ignore
these attacks (normal, balanced behavior) or respond with tons of cursing,
threats, and misspellings (hello psychos). 
Either way, it’s not as much fun.

Side Bets -Sounds
like part of your problem is that no matter what you do, you lack the belief you can win the league.  While that
may be true over the course of the entire season, you can always win over
shorter periods of time if the slate is wiped clean.  Find other people who are bored and start
placing side wagers over specific amounts of time like a month, a week, even a
day.  Use the standings to create
odds.  If the two teams are not within 2
places of each other in the standings, the higher placed team has to give an
extra 25% in odds (ie the 1^st place team would have to give the 4^th
place team 5/4 and the 5^th place team 3/2).  Winner gets as many units of pride as were
wagered.

This method is perfect for points leagues.  Simply record the standings on the day the
bet starts and subtract it from the standings the day the bet ends.  You don’t have to keep track of all the
various stats in between, just the point totals.  You’ll regain the thrill of competition with
hardly any extra work.  Gives you more
time to hang out on your boat.  Jerk.

Welcome back to another week of Marry, Bury, Date — the
childhood game I’ve hijacked to provide the framework for my initial foray into
providing expert fantasy baseball advice.

The premise of the game is simple.  Three names are thrown out and the participants
must pick which one they would Marry (ie commit to long-term), Bury (get rid of
forever), or Date (could be fun in the short-term).  When considering trade offers or waiver wire
pick-ups, fantasy players are faced with these same three decisions all the
time, so in an effort to help aid these choices, I’ll name one player who I
like for the rest of the season, one player who I think could help in the
short-term, and one guy I wouldn’t touch in this space each week.

After I’m done, if you want to whisper to the player that I
“like ‘em, like ‘em” that’s up to you. 
If you do, I look forward to the awkwardness that ensues all the way
through the Junior High Prom.  Maybe I’ll
get my courage up and ask them to dance during Oasis’s “Wonderwall.”

This week’s picks are below.

Marry

Ben Zobrist – Turns
out I was right when I said a Tampa Bay Ray would be the best Rickie Weeks
replacement out there, I just got the wrong guy (but I was right about him
sounding like a villain.  While Iwamura
could be the name of the next bad guy on “Heroes,” Zobrist sounds more like an old-school
comic-book criminal mastermind.  Most
names that start with the letter Z have that feel though.  I’m pretty sure it’s the evilest of all
letters.) 

Now that Iwamura is out for the season, Zobrist’s value
skyrockets.  He’s going to play every day
and will qualify all over the field.  He’s
already eligible at SS and OF in most leagues and will be available at 2B
soon.  That kind of flexibility is
invaluable in deeper leagues.  He looks
like he’ll be this year’s version of Ryan Theriot:  A midseason pick-up that will help you fill
holes all over your roster as the season wears on and injuries pile up.  Additionally, while he won’t keep hitting
homers at his current pace, now that he’ll threaten to get 475 at-bats on the
year, he’s got a shot at hitting 23-25 long balls while maintaining his current
.289 average.  Put all this together and
he’ll be a great guy to own in 12 team or deeper leagues the rest of the year.

Bury

Kosuke Fukudome -
When I got home from traveling last night and started looking at guys to
consider in this space, I was shocked to see Fukudome’s ownership rate was so
high.  This might be the first time I’ve
seen male immaturity directly affect a player’s fantasy value in a significant
manner.  A considerable number of people
who are starting him have to be doing so only because of the team name factor.

While Fukudome has decent numbers right now, his splits from
last year casts serious doubt upon whether he will continue to contribute to
fantasy teams for the rest of the season. 
His batting average got worse every single month last season as he hit
.305 during the month of April before falling all the way down to .178 during
September.  This year he hit .338 in
April with four homers and 15 RBIs.  He’s
currently hitting .271 with zero homers and 3 RBIs in May.  This does not end well.  Trade him for whatever you can get before it
is too late.

Date

Michael Cuddyer -
Thanks to a recent power surge, Cuddyer is among the hottest names in fantasy
and has seen his ownership percentage quadruple.  He’s earned it, hitting .337 with seven
homers so far this month.  Chances are
pretty decent that he’s already been picked up in your league, but if he hasn’t
you should grab him now.

However, I would not be hopeful that his recent tear
continues.  There is nothing in his past
that indicates he can keep this up, as he’s had below average power numbers for
a Major League outfielder for most of his career.  He did have a nice season in 2006 when he hit
24 dingers and drove in 109 runs, but he’s been trending downward ever
since.  If you own Cuddyer, you should be
shopping him, marketing his recent hot streak as part of a two for one that
might net you back a top-25 outfielder. Otherwise, like so many other “date”
candidates, just enjoy the torrid hot streak while it lasts and be prepared to
dump him when he reverts back to form. 

Thanks for reading, tomorrow is the mailbag, so leave any
questions you may have in the comments below.

Welcome
back to the newest installment in our series of interviews aimed at giving
readers insight into the minds and backgrounds of those fantasy writers and
pundits who have reached the level of “expert.” It seems there
has been an explosion in the number of people claiming the title in the last
few years, but no one seems to know where they come from. These interviews
aim to change all that, while also giving aspiring “experts” (such as
myself) some advice on both how to break into the industry and ways to improve
your fantasy skills.

Our guest this week is Todd Farino, the founder of Fantasy
Baseball Search and the creator of our Expert League.

In your opinion, what makes you a fantasy expert?
(basically the polite way of asking – why should people listen to you?)

I don’t really like to call
myself an expert.  I’ll leave that to the readers.  I love to analyze
baseball from a strategy POV.  I think the reason why I have success and
hopefully why people should listen to me is I don’t beat around the bush. 
I tell it like it is.  Some analysts won’t risk their reputation on tough
calls, but I will.  I have a history of winning, playing tough
competitors, and backing up everything I say.  If people want to take
advantage of skills that I have built over the past 18+ years the more to
them.  I still feel I have alot of growth left to do and I’m constantly
revising my strategies every season.  The key to winning is to stay
ahead of everyone else.  I do that the pretty well so far and I don’t
succumb to the pressures of the industry.  I’m very raw in that sense.

In addition to the traditional columns
and blogs, what is it that your website does?  Specifically,
what is the “search” aspect?

The search aspect was created
years ago when Google and Yahoo weren’t as refined as they are today. 
Currently, we only allow fantasy baseball sites oriented into our index. 
The bonus is, we give the site an initial rating based on certain parameters,
then we allow the users to rate the sites based on their own experience. 
We also will update our ranking at the sites request.  We also focus on
customer service.  We enjoy chatting with the customers, so I try to do as
much as I can to interact with fellow fantasy baseball fans. 

How many years have you been playing fantasy?

I’ve been playing fantasy
baseball since 1991-92.  Back then me and my friends Aaron and Rusty
carried around a purple spiral notebook with all the point totals for everyday
of the season.  Eventually I wrote a MS Basic program to tabulate the
totals, but data entry wasn’t any easier.  It was fun to play, but the
internet has definitely made it easier.  Nobody with a sane head could
play in more than one league before the internet.

How many years have you been writing?

I’ve been writing fantasy sports
for about 3 years now.  I’ve been actually writing since high school for
the newspaper and as well as a reporter at UNLV while I was in college. 
I’ve written lots of other stuff as well.  So you can say I’ve written off
and on for about 18 years. 

How did you get your start?

My start in fantasy sports was
simple.  I ran a web design company that I started in college and decided
to launch a search engine for fantasy football and baseball.  Back in 2003
the search engines were really bad about clarifying what was fantasy sports and
what was porn.

What made you want to get into the industry?

At first I wasn’t that
interested in getting into the industry, but fantasy sports is the wild west of
sports right now.  Nobody really has a firm grip on it, so I threw my hat
in with the hopes that when the dust settles I’ll find success.  So far it’s
going pretty good.

What advice would you have specific for people
who want to break into the industry?

If you want to break into the
industry, stick to your guns and what made you successful.  Don’t change
anything just because someone says negative things about
your advice.  Once you change, you’ve sold out like many of the
fantasy baseball guys out there.

Speaking from a programmer’s perspective, do you think
there are further technical innovations coming to the fantasy industry or are
the commissioner programs as good as they are going to get?
 

I think there are big strides
that can be made in fantasy programming.  There is so much that can be
done with player stats that the commissioner programs haven’t even gotten into
yet.  Yahoo! does some good things and so does CBS, but neither has
perfected it.  I think the job will be done when all the users stop
saying, I wish I could do this. 

What would you like to see improved?

I’d like to see the all around
format improved.  For example in CBS, I’d like to see who my lineup is
facing each day.  I’d like to know probable pitchers, and I like split
stats to be worked into the overall stats.  Now if they can only force
teams to accept bad trades the work would be done.

I’d also love to see league
systems have the programming capability to allow managers to swap out injured
players during the game just like it would happen in real life.  As
long as both players were still playing that day, you designate backups for
your starters and if they go down, your guy goes in.  That is something
that needs to happen.  Roster changes on the fly.  Same thing if
players sit, but you don’t get to your lineup in time.  Have a designated
back up to start.

Time for a round of favorites.  Team?

My favorite team since 1989 has
been the Boston Red Sox.  Before then I followed Fred Lynn around.

Player?

Growing up, my favorite player
was Fred Lynn.  I don’t really have a
favorite active player, but if I did I’d say David Ortiz or Jon Lester.

Fantasy memory/moment?

My favorite fantasy moment was
beating my brother Chris Farino (www.profantasybaseball.com) for the first time in 2006 in his
own PROFESSIONAL league.  He always had my number and as an expert
himself he is quite the challenge.  He hasn’t beaten me at baseball since.

Who is your single favorite fantasy
writer at a site other than your own?

Right now I love Scott Engel from
Rotoexperts.com.  I swear we are lost brothers from a bad
hospital.  His philosophies and style are nearly identical to me, so I
love reading his work. 

What advice would you have for
people who are playing in their first season?

Read my fantasy baseball bible
at www.fantasybaseballbible.com.
It gives you a heads up if you are new to fantasy baseball.

Do you enjoy fantasy sports more or less
since you entered the industry (as opposed to when you just played them)?

I have to admit that I enjoy it
less.  There is a pressure to do well and sometimes playing great just
isn’t in my control.  I find myself far more frustrated when I have a bad
week then I use too.

Do you enjoy sports more or less?

I love sports just the same as I
use too.  Sports is one of the most important aspects of my life.  I
don’t know where I’d be without it.  My family comes first, but sports is
right behind.  I’m the guy at the wedding checking scores on my
Iphone.  My family understands and accepts it!

Do you enjoy podcasting more than
writing?  You seem to have a good time on the air.

Podcasting is a ton of
fun.  I can’t say I love it more than my closer report, but I do love
it.  My passion for fantasy baseball is strategy, so I get to scream about
that for a couple of hours a week on the podcast.  The writing is great as
well.  Right now I’m focused on building the most complete
closer report on the web and so far I’m doing that. Check out www.thecloserreport.com. 
Both are a joy, but the real kick is talking to the listeners in the chat room
or answering emails about closers.  Its always a joy to talk
baseball.  Frankly, I wouldn’t have met my hero Cory Schwartz and you
Toby if I didn’t do the podcast, so it also helps create strong
relationships. 

You are the commissioner of our
league.  Do you think there is any extra challenge in being a commissioner
in an expert league as opposed to a home league?

Not at all.  In an
expert league there is really no work at all.  As you can see the league is
fun and quiet.  Experts don’t talk much, but they are very active
with their teams.  Regular leagues talk more and that can lead to
hurt egos, plus you have more bad trades and problems.  Overall,
there is no need for a commissioner in a expert league.  At least
mine.  However, if you don’t stop winning, I’ll have to pull out the
“rookie can’t win” clause and take away wins.  Back off
Mergler, maybe next year.

 Thanks to Todd for taking the time to answer these questions.  On a quick programming note, I’ll be taking
Memorial Day off and will be back with Marry, Bury, Date on Tuesday.  Have a great holiday weekend everyone.