Episode 88- Podopolooza Segment 1 Darius Austin, Peter Pratt, and Jamie Steed join Justin Mason in the first segment of a 12-hour live stream to raise money for Meals on Wheels. Topics: How popular is baseball in the UK? Do you think the UK could support an MLB Franchise? Living in the UK, how did you pick the teams you root for? How do you watch games with the time change? How do you even get enough people for fantasy baseball leagues?
Apr 29, 2020•32 min
Episode 87- Prospects Episode Guest – James Anderson COVID-19 Discussion General Circumstances Current MLB Plans Likelihood of a Season Strategy Section Effect of COVID-19 Team Which major league teams are most/least affected by the COVID pandemic for 2020? How does expanded rosters affect teams as far as their youth/prospects in 2020? What will happen with the minor leagues? In terms of prospects from a long-term perspective, which major league teams are most affected by the COVID pandemic? Pro...
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Episode 86- Pricing Episode Guest – Tristan H. Cockcroft TGFBI Discussion Strategy Section Handling Speed in Auctions/Drafts How do you tackle speed in auctions? Roster construction Auction Values How do you tackle speed in roto drafts? Pricing Risk How do you price injury risk? Examples: Chris Sale (3 weeks ago), Justin Verlander, Carlos Carrasco How do you price uncertain injury return time? Examples: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Alex Verdugo How do you price age risk? Examples: Max Scherze...
Mar 27, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Episode 85- Auction Strategy Episode Guest – Larry Schechter Coronavirus Discussion When will MLB start? Draft now or postpone your home leagues? How does the postponement of MLB affect player valuation? Players that will increase in value Players that will decrease in value Strategy Section - Auction Strategy General Strategy Aggressive Auctions Hitter vs. Pitcher Split In-Draft Inflation Nomination Strategies Bidding Starting Bids Freezing the Room Jump Bids Money Management Pacing The Hammer ...
Mar 17, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Episode 84- Starting Pitcher Episode Guest – Nick Pollack LABR Mixed Discussion Strategy Section - Streaming pitchers What is streaming? When should you start streaming pitchers? 2-start pitchers. How do you spot breakout pitchers? Pitcher injuries Durability vs. mileage ATC Player Discussion - Charlie Morton Carlos Carrasco Max Fried David Price Kyle Hendricks Jose Urquidy Lance McCullers German Marquez Jon Gray Mailbag – The team answers Twitter comments and questions. Injury Update – Reuven g...
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 38 min
Episode 83- Catcher Episode Guest – Mike Kurland TGFBI Discussion Strategy Section - Team construction in Roto snake drafts. Not Being a Slave to ADP. Closers value this year. Does spring training results affect the way you draft? Do you take into account the players who you play against? ATC Player Discussion - Yasmani Grandal Christain Vazquez Wilson Ramos Will Smith Carson Kelly Kurt Suzuki Mailbag – The team answers Twitter comments and questions. Injury Update – Reuven gives us the injury u...
Feb 28, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Episode 82- 2020 Kickoff Special Host: Michael Alexander @Roto_Wan Guests: Justin Mason @JustinMasonFWFB Todd Zola @ToddZola Greg Smith @gregsauce Sammy Reid @SammyReidFI Alex Chamberlain @DolphHauldhagen Ryan Bloomfield @RyanBHQ Randy Haines @randyhaines22 Eric Samulski @SamskiNYC Matt Thompson @mdthompFWFB Mike Kurland @Mike_Kurland Colin Weatherwax @CWeatherwax13 Andrew Dewhirst @andrewkdewhirst Matt Williams @MattWi77iams Matt Kupferle @MKupferle Vlad Sedler @RotoGut Matt Davis @_mattywood_ ...
Feb 25, 2020•2 hr 22 min
Episode 81- Bullpen Episode Guest – Mike Gianella Strategy Section - Keeper Inflation Mailbag Question: How does inflation from keepers affect values and auction strategy? The Case for An Ace What does your research show? Middle relievers Should you be drafting? If so, who? Does it depend on the league format? Closers Which NL East closer will have the most saves in 2020? Which closer / former closer is most likely to bounce back - Kimbrel, Diaz, Trienen or someone else? Which is closer is the m...
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Episode 80- Outfield Episode 2 Guest – Adam Aizer Strategy Section - Football vs Baseball How does playing fantasy football help with fantasy baseball? What principles can be learned across both sports? Daily Grind - How does that help you as a fantasy player? Is it sometimes more helpful not to take such a constant look at everything? KDS - Kentucky Derby Style - What are your preferences for slots to draft from this year? Top 8 - Discussing the top 8 players you would take in 2020 drafts. ATC ...
Feb 07, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Episode 79- Outfield Episode 1 Guest – Bobby Sylvester Strategy Section - Format Differences - When drafting, what changes or what do you do differently? Trading leagues vs. Non-trading leagues Roto leagues vs. Points leagues Deeper leagues (15 teams+) vs Shallow Leagues (10 teams) 3 Bench spots vs. 7 Bench spots Having IL spots vs. no IL spots Daily Lineups vs. Weekly lineups Keeper leagues vs. Redraft leagues ATC Player Discussion - Eddie Rosario Thomas Pham Michael Brantley Yasiel Puig Adam E...
Feb 05, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Episode 78- Middle Infield Episode Guest – Toby Guevin (BatFlip Crazy) Strategy Section - Unorthodox Drafting Strategies Pocket Aces Strategy (Start with 2 aces) Marmol Strategy (Focus on High Skilled MRs) Labadini Plan (9 $1 pitchers) Reverse Labadini Plan (Start draft with 7-9 Pitchers) ATC Player Discussion - Tim Anderson Jorge Polanco Luis Arraez Paul deJong Jean Segura Didi Gregorious Kevin Newman Rougned Odor Jonathan Schoop Mauricio Dubon Mailbag – The team answers Twitter comments and qu...
Jan 31, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Episode 77- Corner Infield Episode Guest – Joe Pisapia Black Book Strategy Section - RPV What is it? How does it work? Auctions Why you prefer auctions to drafts? How the preparation for an auction differs from that of a draft. Why do you suggest - “Never nominate a player you want! Ever!” ?? ATC Projections What are the ATC Projections? Why does it work? How to use them. ATC Player Discussion - Yuli Gurruel Carlos Santana Eric Hosmer Brian Anderson Joey Votto CJ Cron Renato Nunez Starlin Castro...
Jan 22, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Episode 76- Midwest Episode Guest – Brent Hershey First Pitch Florida Strategy Section - Astros Scandal General Thoughts How would 2020 Astros projections be affected? Prospects What do you look for in prospects? What skills are more immediately translatable from the minors upon reaching the majors? How can we best determine playing time / when they are called up? Team Section - White Sox Luis Robert Nick Madrigal Expectations for the White Sox in 2020. Cubs Who has the better chance to return t...
Jan 17, 2020•1 hr 22 min
Episode 75- Central Episode Guest – Jeff Zimmerman Strategy Section - Positional Scarcity Myth of positional adjustment. What to do for catchers. How to deal with multi-positional eligibility in valuation. Starters vs. relievers How to handle role in valuation. How to handle innings caps. Draft Strategy Closers - Market is pricing now less than the theoretical values. Will that change? Steals - Do we dump them going into drafts in 2020? Billy Hamilton in 2016 vs. Mallex Smith in 2020. Team Secti...
Jan 10, 2020•1 hr 13 min
Episode 74- West Episode Guest – Meg Rowley Team Section - Mariners Who closes in 2020? Is Tom Murphy for real? Who will be more productive - Dee Gordon or Justus Sheffield? Jared Kelenic’s ETA for the majors, and expectations? Giants How much longer will Buster Posey block Joey Bart? Closing situation? Most likely player to be traded mid-season? Expectations for Johnny Cueto? Dodgers Which rookie or sophomore will have the biggest impact? IL for pitchers is now 15 days. Ryu and Hill are gone. H...
Jan 03, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Episode 73- Southwest Episode Guest – Rudy Gamble Strategy Section - Projections Razzball How do you come up with your projections? How do you address playing time? Other sports (NFL/NBA) - How do you come up with projections for other sports? Catcher Valuation Is this the only position that needs a positional scarcity adjustment? How do you alter valuation to account for catchers? Streaming Catchers Draft Slot Drafting from the #1 slot. How do you manage team balance while at the wheel? Pros an...
Dec 20, 2019•1 hr 24 min
Episode 72: Risk Episode Guest – Ron Shandler Strategy Section - Risk / BABS Riskiness of players and how it affects price. How to alter what you should/would account for risk associated with a specific player? Risk Adjusted Pricing BABS System - What it is, how it handles risk and team construct. How to know what to pay for a player. What risk should we be most concerned with? Build the most value, or lose the least value? ADP/AAV What is the best way to use ADP/AAV (the best current representa...
Dec 12, 2019•59 min
Episode 71- Hot Stove Episode Guest – Danielle McCartan (WFAN) New York Section Mets Thoughts on Beltran as the new manager Michael Conforto Bounceback Candidates: Brandon Nimmo, Noah Syndergaard, Robinson Cano Potential signings Yankees Didi Gregorious / SS Situation Offseason targets 1B Situation Hot Stove Section Key Free Agents, Possible landing spots Cole Strasburg Rendon Donaldson AL East Section Red Sox / Rays / AL East Will Mookie Betts be traded? Thoughts on Rays Expectations for the AL...
Dec 07, 2019•45 min
Episode 70: NL East Episode Guest – Ellen Adair Strategy Section - Draft / Auction Strategy General draft strategy Does it change year to year? Does it change draft to draft within the same year? Auction nominations / bids Do you nominate players you want to bid on, or players you do not want to buy? Do you / should you bid on every player? Should you price enforce? Hometown leagues Do players in hometown leagues cost more in drafts/auctions? Do you purchase hometown/favorites, or stay away from...
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 17 min
Justin Mason (@JustinMasonFWFB) talks with Todd Zola (@ToddZola) of Mastersball and Rotowire about how he won The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. Todd's Drafted Team: Opening Day CWilson Ramos (Rd. 9) CYadier Molina (Rd. 10) 1BYuli Gurriel (Rd. 17) 2BJonathan Schoop (Rd. 11) SSTrea Turner (Rd. 1) 3BAsdrubal Cabrera (Rd. 14) OFCody Bellinger (Rd. 3) OFMarcell Ozuna (Rd. 5) OFMitch Haniger (Rd. 6) OFDaniel Palka (Rd. 23) OFAdam Jones (Rd. 26) CIBrian Anderson (Rd. 21) MIMarcus Semien (Rd. 15)...
Nov 20, 2019•59 min
Episode 68: NFBC Episode Guest – Vlad Sedler Strategy Section - FAAB How to allocate / when to spend on FAAB? Spend early vs. save vs budget for every week Is it worth it to spend big FAAB on prospects? vs. Closers / Hot players / Team needs etc. Risk How do you price uncertain players? Players with uncertain skill level. Players with an uncertain injury return time. Players who have not signed with a team yet. Mixed vs. Mono leagues Twitter Question: When should the focus in drafts switch from ...
Nov 18, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Episode 67- Home League Episode Guests – Michael Simione @SPStreamer & Daniel Ebbin Strategy Section - Beat the Shift Home League Experience in the Beat the Shift League. Difference between players in the industry / experts vs. others? Do you / should you alter your strategy in an experts league? 2019 to 2020 Keys to success in 2019. What adjustments do we need to make for 2020? What will you be researching or diving into more for the 2020 season? World Series Section World Series / MLB Play...
Nov 09, 2019•40 min
Episode 66: Fantasy MVP Episode Guests – The Birchwood Brothers Strategy Section - TGFBI What went right, what went wrong, what we can learn from 2019 Drafting vs. FAAB management vs. Luck Correlation between expected finish and actual finish Correlation between starting draft position and actual finish ATC Projections How and why they work. How successful were they? What the best way to you use them? Fantasy MVP Section Hitter MVP Pitcher MVP Biggest Hitter Bust Biggest Pitcher Bust Mailbag – T...
Nov 01, 2019•1 hr 32 min
Episode 65- End of Season Episode Guest – Justin Mason Strategy Section - Strategies for the last week of the season What did we learn about FAAB from the 2019 season? 2Early Mocks - Notable Findings End of Season Section Best & Worst Calls of the season Listener Comments Thank yous to this season’s guests Favorite Episodes & Guests of TGFBI Beat the Shift this season Waiver Wire – The team talks about a few potential waiver wire pickups. Pitcher Preview – The team highlights the coming ...
Sep 20, 2019•1 hr
Episode 64 MVP Episode Guest – Derek VanRiper Strategy Section - What are the takeaways from the 2019 season and how will that affect your approach in 2020? Hitting - Power & Speed Pitching - Starters & Closers How does the juiced ball affect how you will draft or valuate players in 2020? Stolen Bases How many bases will Mike Trout steal in 2020? Who will steal more bases in 2020 - Trout or Altuve? MVP Section AL & NL MVP AL & NL Cy Young AL & NL Rookie of the Year Waiver Wir...
Sep 16, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Episode 63: Hot and Cold Episode Guest – Van Lee Strategy Section - How do you know when not to trust someone down the stretch? How do you decide to play hot and cold hitters in the last month of the season? What do you do with players that were hot in the first half but cold in the 2nd half? What do you do with strong pitchers that suffers a blow-up outing? How can you detect when pitchers have corrected something? September Call-Ups Notable and fantasy relevant September call-ups Waiver Wire –...
Sep 09, 2019•47 min
Episode 62: Crunch Time & Hall of Fame Episode Guests – Bogman & The Welsh (Chris Welsh & Scott Bogman) Strategy Section - When to drop injured players? How do you plan for players being shut down? At what point do you throw in as many 2-start pitchers as you can? Leagues with playoffs - quality vs. quantity Hall of Fame Section Which current players are shoe ins for Hall of Fame if they retired now? Which current players are HOF if they continue pace? Which youngsters have a shot at...
Aug 31, 2019•49 min
Episode 61- The Keeper Episode Guest – Ryan Bloomfield Josh Bell Strategy Section - Keepers How do you determine if you should hold players as possible keepers In the money vs. way out of the money? Hitters vs. Pitchers - Are pitchers safe to hold as keepers? Closers? Keep injured players? 2020 First Round Who are your top 6 hitters? Who are your top 6 pitchers? Will and should pitchers be drafted as early as they were last year? Undervalued players going into 2020 drafts. Waiver Wire – The team...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Episode 60- The TGFBI Overall Episode Guest – Clay Link Strategy Section - Draft Biggest successes drafting this year? How to allocate pitching. ? Top heavy, Middle middle, or spread around. What to reach for, or let values fall to you. Waiver Wire Most important in-season pickups, and what to pay for them in FAAB. Largest FAAB spends this season. How to manage FAAB budget rest of season. The Overall Competition Play more Middle relievers now? Notable September call-ups that might make a fantasy...
Aug 19, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Episode 59- Prospect Episode Guest – Shelly Verougstraete Strategy Section - Top prospects Play them right away? When do you sit them? When do you drop a cold or underperforming prospect? When to pick a prospect up? Prospect Section - Review of key traded prospects Jazz Chisholm, SS from ARI to MIA (Gallen trade) Zac Gallen, RHP from MIA to ARI (Chisholm trade) Simeon Woods-Richardson & Anthony Kay from NYM to TOR (Stroman trade) Taylor Trammell, LF from CIN to SDP (Bauer trade) Greinke trad...
Aug 11, 2019•55 min
