NFBC Weekly Profile - Dave Potts
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:41 am
With more than four months of the baseball season in the books, Chad Schroeder is chasing NFBC history. Attempting to be the first person to win the Main Event and NFBC XII in the same season, Schroeder has solidifed himself as the team to beat in both national events the rest of the way.
But Schroeder is not the only pursuing NFBC immortality and the $75,000 bonus that comes with winning both of those national events. As July closes in on August, Dave Potts has also positioned himself as a team with a legitimate chance to make fantasy baseball history.
Entering play on Tuesday, Potts was in fifth place in the Main Event and second behind Schroeder in the NFBC XII. It's clearly been a season to remember thus far for Potts as well.
"Both teams have been relatively healthy, which is always important," he said. "On my Main Event team, the two biggest keys were on Draft Day - getting Miguel Cabrera at five and getting David Wright in the fifth round. Wright was dropping on the first weekened because of the injury concern and getting that kind of production out of a fifth-round pick is huge. I have also avoided pitching disasters for the most part. I don't have great pitching, but nobody has really hurt me either.
"The key to the success of the XII team is just how well the draft fell together for me. Sometimes it's just dumb luck. I had no plans to draft Adam Jones, David Ortiz or Alex Rios, but they all just fell into my lap. That draft just unfoled perfectly for me. Every single one of my Top 20 picks have produced. That's the good thing about drafting 20-plus teams - one of them is bound to work out."
As a long-time fantasy baseball player and five-year NFBC veteran, Potts definitely owes his success this season to more than simple good luck. Identifying and landing some value picks late in the draft and making prudent moves on the Waiver Wire has also proven to be critical factors in his teams' success.
In the Main Event, for example, Potts was able to land Allen Craig and Dayan Viciedo in
Rounds 21 and 22. Both have provided solid production. He also snared A.J. Burnett off the Waiver Wire in Week 2 for a mere $20. Potts also picked up Burnett and Tom Wilhelmsen off the Waiver Wire on his NFBC XII team.
The race to the finish line and an NFBC title is always intense. But it's going to be even more so for Potts with his top Main Event team because he's not the only one in his league chasing the overall title this year.
In fact, Potts isn't even in first place in his league. The tag team of Andrew Nolan and Christopher Stephenson are pacing that Las Vegas league and currently third overall in the Main Event.
"They have a fantastic team," Potts said. "There are another five teams in that league with over 90 points that could easily pass me, managed by great players like Will Tyrer and Shawn Childs."
When the 37-year-old Potts isn't busy trying to fortify his NFBC teams, you can find him working on his music at www.davepotts.com. He's also married with two children.
Needless to say, if he's able to put it all together and make a run at the Main Event and NFBC XII championships that will be one of the finest fantasy sonnets he's ever composed.
"I feel like my hitting on the Main Event team is very solid and should continue to produce barring injury," he said. "The pitching is sort of hanging on and could go either way. My guess is my pitching won't be strong enough to win the league (so) I will be thrilled if it can hang on enough for a Top 10 finish in the overall. I finished 11th overall last year and I think it would sound way cooler to be able to say Top 10.
"The XII team is in a similar situation. The hitting is going strong and should be OK. I think I have enough solid starters to mix and match but to have a shot to win the overall I would need a couple of my starters to really pitch over their head for a couple months."
But Schroeder is not the only pursuing NFBC immortality and the $75,000 bonus that comes with winning both of those national events. As July closes in on August, Dave Potts has also positioned himself as a team with a legitimate chance to make fantasy baseball history.
Entering play on Tuesday, Potts was in fifth place in the Main Event and second behind Schroeder in the NFBC XII. It's clearly been a season to remember thus far for Potts as well.
"Both teams have been relatively healthy, which is always important," he said. "On my Main Event team, the two biggest keys were on Draft Day - getting Miguel Cabrera at five and getting David Wright in the fifth round. Wright was dropping on the first weekened because of the injury concern and getting that kind of production out of a fifth-round pick is huge. I have also avoided pitching disasters for the most part. I don't have great pitching, but nobody has really hurt me either.
"The key to the success of the XII team is just how well the draft fell together for me. Sometimes it's just dumb luck. I had no plans to draft Adam Jones, David Ortiz or Alex Rios, but they all just fell into my lap. That draft just unfoled perfectly for me. Every single one of my Top 20 picks have produced. That's the good thing about drafting 20-plus teams - one of them is bound to work out."
As a long-time fantasy baseball player and five-year NFBC veteran, Potts definitely owes his success this season to more than simple good luck. Identifying and landing some value picks late in the draft and making prudent moves on the Waiver Wire has also proven to be critical factors in his teams' success.
In the Main Event, for example, Potts was able to land Allen Craig and Dayan Viciedo in
Rounds 21 and 22. Both have provided solid production. He also snared A.J. Burnett off the Waiver Wire in Week 2 for a mere $20. Potts also picked up Burnett and Tom Wilhelmsen off the Waiver Wire on his NFBC XII team.
The race to the finish line and an NFBC title is always intense. But it's going to be even more so for Potts with his top Main Event team because he's not the only one in his league chasing the overall title this year.
In fact, Potts isn't even in first place in his league. The tag team of Andrew Nolan and Christopher Stephenson are pacing that Las Vegas league and currently third overall in the Main Event.
"They have a fantastic team," Potts said. "There are another five teams in that league with over 90 points that could easily pass me, managed by great players like Will Tyrer and Shawn Childs."
When the 37-year-old Potts isn't busy trying to fortify his NFBC teams, you can find him working on his music at www.davepotts.com. He's also married with two children.
Needless to say, if he's able to put it all together and make a run at the Main Event and NFBC XII championships that will be one of the finest fantasy sonnets he's ever composed.
"I feel like my hitting on the Main Event team is very solid and should continue to produce barring injury," he said. "The pitching is sort of hanging on and could go either way. My guess is my pitching won't be strong enough to win the league (so) I will be thrilled if it can hang on enough for a Top 10 finish in the overall. I finished 11th overall last year and I think it would sound way cooler to be able to say Top 10.
"The XII team is in a similar situation. The hitting is going strong and should be OK. I think I have enough solid starters to mix and match but to have a shot to win the overall I would need a couple of my starters to really pitch over their head for a couple months."
And you know I say that in a loving way Dave!!