Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Feb 3, 2012, 7:09 pm

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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 6, 2012, 11:58 pm
Over at The Hardball Times, Nick Fleder posted an article ranking his and two other writers' top 25 under age 25 Dynasty League Players. Several readers commented their surprise that all three writers had placed Stephen Strasburg ahead of Clayton Kershaw. The writer argued that Strasburg's upside wa...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Dec 25, 2011, 8:48 pm
Michael Cuddyer is one of those baseball players that is really easy to love. He always seems genuinely happy to be at the ballpark. He works hard. He does not care which position he is asked to play. He gets that when you make millions a year to play a game invented for kids you really have little ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Dec 22, 2011, 2:41 pm
For Yankee fans, we are pretty far into the off-season. We're used to out team striking quickly and grabbing the best guys available. Or at the very least we're exhausted by rumors that we're going to get this guy or that guy. Instead the Yankees are patiently waiting out the market and could go int...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Oct 24, 2011, 7:39 pm
This is the official ballot of the Fantasy Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Associations' vote for the Stan Musial Award which recognizes the Top Player in both the American League and the National League. American League Jose BautistaJacoby EllsburyMiguel CabreraDustin PedroiaCurtis GrandersonJusti...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Oct 19, 2011, 6:03 am
This is the official ballot of the Fantasy Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Association's Walter Johnson Award, given to each season's best pitcher. National League: 1. Roy Halladay 2. Clayton Kershaw 3. Cliff Lee 4. Cole Hamels 5. Madison Bumgarner American League: 1. Justin Verlander 2. C.C. Sabat...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Oct 13, 2011, 5:38 am
This is the official ballot of the Fantasy Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Association for the Willie Mays award, given to the best rookie in each league. National League 1. Craig Kimbrel 2. Freddie Freeman 3. Cory Luebke American League 1. Eric Hosmer 2. Jeremy Hellickson 3. Ivan Nova You can see...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Oct 10, 2011, 6:30 am
The official Connie Mack Ballot of the Fantasy Chapter of the BBA reads as follows: American League: 1. Joe Maddon 2. Ron Washington 3. Jim Leyland National League: 1. Kirk Gibson 2. Ron Roenicke 3. Bruce Bochy You can find our member opinions here: Dear Mr. Fantasy The Sporting Hippeaux
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Sep 5, 2011, 1:16 pm
Hanley Ramirez's injured shoulder needs surgery. He could potentially miss up to six months which makes it possible he will not be available to start the 2012 season. Hardball Talk According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, the Marlins’ medical staff has recommended surgery for shortstop Han...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Aug 4, 2011, 8:32 pm
If this is true, grab him... Trayvon Robinson will replace Greg Halman on the Mariners roster, Ryan Divish of The News Tribune tweeted Thursday. Divish cited two “well-placed and well-informed” sources in a later blog post. The team optioned outfielder Greg Halman to Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jul 31, 2011, 11:40 am
I've read a few smart people this morning say the Indians made a mistake trading for Ubaldo Jimenez yesterday. Their arguments are sound, mostly based on Ubaldo not being the pitcher he seemed to be in the first half of the 2010 season, and the Indians' mediocre record since their fantastic start to...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jun 27, 2011, 10:13 am
The Baseball Bloggers Association annually select their own All-Stars. They've been popping up all over the internet the last couple of weeks. Here are links to a couple of fantasy blogs and my own picks. Dear Mr. Fantasy - National League Dear Mr. Fantasy - American League Colorado Springs Fanta...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 28, 2011, 12:23 pm
Not a lot of time to discuss things this week, but there have been a couple of recent moves that have probably created a surplus of stolen bases on your league's waiver wire. Angel Pagan has just been activated by the Mets and already has a stolen base to his credit; and Eric Young has been recalle...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 22, 2011, 11:06 am
Wow. Last night Jose Bautista hit his 17th and 18th homeruns of the season. His fantastic start to this season has kicked off (ouch, sorry Football Fans) a debate not on whether he is for real (no longer much doubt about that) but if Bautista might be the best player in MLB! I'm not quiteready ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 20, 2011, 10:55 am
I’m sure I’m not the only one in this situation: I have lost Pablo Sandoval (or Ryan Zimmerman or David Wright or David Freese…you get the idea), and the landscape of replacement third basemen is TERRIBLE! This couldn’t be more true for my mixed league team. I lost Sandoval, and my only thi...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 15, 2011, 12:31 am
I heartily concur with Pauly's Picks this week, but there are a few other players I'm looking at as potential free agent pickups, so in the spirit of sharing, here they are: Jamey Wright - Depending upon the structure of your league and how liberal the free agent policy is, Wright may be worth a bid...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 14, 2011, 7:49 pm
Hey I was searching google for fantasy baseball trade analyzers and ran across your article: http://www.advancedfantasybaseball.com/2009/05/ten-fantasy-baseball-trade-secrets.html. It said email you, so whether you still are around to help, we will see. I give: kershaw and ellsburyI get: hanson a...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - May 13, 2011, 12:54 pm
This just in fantasy baseball managers: Ian Stewart SUCKS!! And so does Jose Lopez!! And that's why Ty Wigginton is a great pickup right now. Unless you are playing in a 20-man league, or your league has unlimited DL spots, or you are in a deep NL league, odds are that Mr. Wigginton is available. He...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 29, 2011, 10:00 am
I am drinking the Kool Aid. I am a believer. This is a storybook kind of player. His name is Ryan Roberts. While the Diamondbacks were desperately looking for a third baseman in the offseason, and settled with an aging (to put it kindly) Melvin Mora...little did they know that there was a home-grown...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 28, 2011, 11:36 am
Whither Clay Buchholz’s Fastball? Something is clearly off with Buchholz if he is seeing nearly a three mph drop from the end of last year, but last year’s velocity increase throughout the season is encouraging news for anyone concerned that his fastball is gone and never coming back. Frank McCo...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 27, 2011, 8:44 am
It has been a great season so far. Maybe, they all seem great to me. But I'm having fun watching the game this year. Really enjoying baseball. The Boston Red Sox are fighting their way back to a .500 winning percentage, a feat never accomplished by a team starting 0-6. But we all knew they were bett...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 15, 2011, 11:20 am
OK I may be a tiny bit biased about this one, but here's my case. Back on draft day, I put Hundley up for auction as my second nominee at my 10-team NL-only auction. I put him up for a dollar, since I only bid $1 for catchers, just to see what would happen. Would it become a nightmare when low-ranke...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 11, 2011, 3:08 pm
For all of you who missed out on the Jordan Walden sweepstakes, here are a couple of guys to keep a close eye on (and potentially make a move). I understand that everyone's league is different, but my pickups of the week should apply to your standard 12-team formats. And if last week's recommendatio...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Apr 1, 2011, 9:43 am
Time to throw out those multi-sheet projections (better yet, recycle them)....it was opening day yesterday, which means it's time to start going on some real numbers. When you have 6 total MLB games to go on, the player pool for the first pickup of the week is rather thin, but thanks to Ramon Hernan...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 31, 2011, 10:21 am
Today is the day we rest. Well, first we set our lineups, (it's a long week one in some leagues, not ending until April 10th for some) then we sit down crack open a few beers (after we call in sick) and just chill (after we take the kids to school) and watch the games, one after the other. Opening D...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 29, 2011, 11:03 pm
Draft Inflation is one of the least understood concepts in all of fantasy baseball. Some people try to ignore it, which is about as practical as ignoring gravity...you do so at your own peril. A fantasy auction is not, as some claim, an example of a free market. Demand is fixed. We can have no mo...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 25, 2011, 10:37 am
Pauly's Pickups of the Week We all know that the four-headed monster in Philadelphia is awesome, that Ubaldo was unbelievable last season and Lincecum can compete for the Cy Young every year. What many drafters don’t know are the pitchers you can get on the cheap in the end-game who can help solid...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 23, 2011, 11:42 am
This coming weekend marks the deadline for a lot of keeper leagues to turn in their freeze lists. This deadline is often accompanied by a profusion of trade activity, in addition to owner anguish over whether to keep this hitter or that pitcher as the last freeze. Many of these are as simple as kn...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 22, 2011, 10:36 am
The idea of sleepers is an out-dated one. However, it is a tremendous amount of fun for fantasy owners to come up with players that seem under-rated based on a wide variety of circumstances. If you split those collectively thought as sleepers into groups based on what makes them interesting, you mig...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 20, 2011, 2:31 pm
He has received much attention since defecting to the United States but he was a star in Cuba and could advance to the Major League Red Sox in a hurry. He had a very good Arizona Fall League season and followed that with a nice Spring Training. He's a nice sleeper for your minor league draft but has...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 17, 2011, 12:18 pm
Are you looking for sleepers for your fantasy league draft? You've come to the right place. Today I present (yes, as a tease) just the first of the eight teams of sleepers in the annual All Sleeper Teams article. The rest should be up tonight (please please please...) Let the name of the team be you...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 17, 2011, 12:14 pm
Just to re-introduce myself to the blog, my name is Pauly…I infrequently contributed to Advanced Fantasy Baseball during last season. This year, I am planning a weekly feature, “Pauly’s Pickup of the Week,” which will highlight one hitter and one pitcher each week who should (or will become)...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 15, 2011, 11:24 pm
This week I'm offering up an idea to help get those last minute trades rolling, plus a look at how to make your post-auction reserve draft a success. Tentative Freeze Lists. This is an exercise I always try to initiate in any league I am in, at least two to three weeks before freezes are due. You ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 15, 2011, 10:32 am
The LIMA (Low Investment Mound Aces) Plan became extremely popular for a while. However, it soon became a less effective strategy for some because the most recommended LIMA pitchers were so hotly desired that they quickly became too expensive to fit within the plan. We zig when they zag, so many of...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 14, 2011, 6:10 am
Stars and Scrubs is a strategy that a lot of owners use. Essentially an owner will use his available budget to acquire as many star level players as possible. It make s some sense, these arew the players that can often carry a fantasy team for long stretches. The remaining players are the scrubs, ve...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 8, 2011, 12:00 am
This is the time during my auction prep when I typically begin work on my budgets. On the surface, this might seem a fairly simple matter. You have $260. You need 23 players. Pretty straightforward, right? Maybe not. Planning and executing auction budgets seem to be areas which create problems...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Mar 2, 2011, 10:04 am
Mitch Talbot has been around. I don't mean to make him sound that half-full container of sour cream in the back of your refrigerator. Just that he has seems to have been floating around baseball for a while before landing with the Indians in 2010. He isn't exactly old, he'll turn 28 at the end of th...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 30, 2011, 8:20 pm
When I first discovered Out Of the Park it ruined an entire week of plans. You know why? Because it is an awesome game. If you like baseball and playing GM, and as a fantasy owner, I know you do. This game gives you some of what you can't get from more basic versions of fantasy baseball. You get en...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 25, 2011, 5:11 pm
I thought it would be interesting to see the best pitchers over the last three years according to FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). Not too many surprises. Name W L IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP LOB% GB% ERA FIP Tim Lincecum 49 22 664.2 10.25 3.09 0.53 0.299 0.77 ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 24, 2011, 4:57 pm
Ubaldo Jimenez was a Fantasy Baseball Stud in 2010. But more than a few analysts have questioned his ability to repeat his performance in 2011. What do you think? Blog Polls
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 20, 2011, 3:08 am
At first glance, it doesn't appear that Jeff Francis has ever been a desired fantasy starter. Before you look at his stats you know that he's spent his entire major league career pitching at Coor Field. Coors Field, the longtime bane of fantasy owners everywhere when it comes to pitching, has made m...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 18, 2011, 4:50 pm
The New York Mets and many of their fans have been bitching about Luis Castillo and his unsuitability to be their starting second baseman almost since he arrived in New York. It's probably a little unreasonable in intensity... Fortunately, for those New Yorkers and the Mets, the pain is almost over....
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 13, 2011, 2:45 pm
Around here the wait for Spring Training to start can be excruciating. We scour ESPN.com looking for news to hold us over. But it is January and we end up reading about Rex Ryan and his quest to unseat Bill Belichick as the greatest coach in the land and looking at Superbowl predictions. Fortunately...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 12, 2011, 7:53 pm
The above graphic was created by Doug Gray of RedsMinorleagues.com and is used with permission. I present it here because it is always nice to know where the talent will be coming from.
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 10, 2011, 5:57 pm

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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 10, 2011, 4:45 pm
There is already a lot of debate on message boards about Jose Bautista's place in fantasy drafts going into the 2011 season. So far, drafters seem to be betting on a repeat of 2010's homer barrage. As a third round pick Bautista needs to return a value around $20 to $25 in standard AL-only leagues. ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 10, 2011, 2:31 pm
Last week the New York Mets acquired Chris Capuano, the former Brewers pitcher. Capuano missed the 2008 season and most of the 2009 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. In 66 innings with the Milwaukee Brewers last season he seemed to have regained most of his command and effectiveness. He po...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 6, 2011, 8:49 pm
UPDATE: All Set, hopefully that's a little cleaner, a little less clunky, and faster loading. Working out some design problems, I'm slow and ponderous but I should be done later tonight, so please excuse the very temporary changes.
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Jan 6, 2011, 4:44 pm
I hope you had a great Holiday Season. Time to get back to work. Only six weeks until spring training! There are different classes of fantasy sports enthusiasts. That isn't meant to belittle anyone but nevertheless I believe it to be true. One of the more common classes I like to call skimmers. The ...
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Jon Williams posted an article on Advanced Fantasy Baseball - Dec 29, 2010, 9:27 am
The Trades The Toronto Blue Jays traded RHP Shaun Marcum to the Milwaukee Brewers for 2B Brett Lawrie. We knew that the Blue Jays were planning to deal some of their surplus of starting pitching. Our mistake was believing they would deal prospects rather than arguably their best starter. Shawn Mar...
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