2015 NFBC Cutline Scoring Totals

[Greg Ambrosius]

In 2016 the NFBC is going to introduce a new national contest called the NFBC Cutline Championship. It will be:

* An optimal scoring lineup contest where the computer picks your best scoring lineup from Sunday to Monday.
* A points based scoring system similar to DFS
* A 10-team league format, with a 30-round draft for a quick, easy draft every night
* An expanded roster format through four FAAB periods: Increasing to 35 players before Opening Day, then 40 players by Week 5 and 45 players by Week 45. There's a lot of unique strategy centered around the expanding rosters.
* Only four FAAB periods: Before Weeks 1, 5, 9 and 12.
* No FAAB pickups or roster moves needed during the Championship Rounds. All rosters are set by the All-Star break and the post-season plays out. It's the easiest way to enjoy a national contest.
* The key is surviving the Cutline and being among the last 20 teams from Aug. 29-Sept. 18. It's during that time that you could turn $125 into $40,000.

Quick drafts every night, limited FAAB, optimal scoring setup, DFS points style, and prizes within league and overall.

Here's the scoring system for the NFBC Cutline Championship:

Teams will compete in a points-based system with the computer picking your optimal scoring lineup each week (Monday through Sunday) from the required 23 starting positions. Categories include:
For Hitters
1B = 1 point
2B = 2 points
3B = 3 points
HR = 4 points
RBI = 1 point
R = 1 point
BB = 1 point
SB = 2 points
HBP = 1 point
Out (calculated as at bats - hits) = -.25pt

For Pitchers
W = 4 points
Save = 5 points
ER = -1 point
SO = 1 point
IP = 1 point; 0.34 point per 1/3rd inning*

*1 IP = 1.02 points (.34 + .34 + .34 = 1.02)

Scoring to come next:

[Greg Ambrosius]

From Todd Zola, here are some of the top scorers from 2015 using this scoring format:

Bryce Harper 608.75
Paul Goldschmidt 601.75
Josh Donaldson 579
Mike Trout 556.25
Clayton Kershaw 547.32034
Joey Votto 546.5
Jose Bautista 542.25
Anthony Rizzo 531.25
Chris Davis 529.25
A.J. Pollock 518.75
Nolan Arenado 513.25
Jake Arrieta 512.58
Manny Machado 507
Edwin Encarnacion 495.5
Andrew McCutchen 494.75
Max Scherzer 494.24034
Yoenis Cespedes 488.75
Nelson Cruz 484
J.D. Martinez 471
Kris Bryant 469.75
Dallas Keuchel 468.64
Matt Carpenter 465.5
Charlie Blackmon 462.5
Zack Greinke 462.12034
David Price 461.73966
Chris Sale 459.84034
Madison Bumgarner 457.69966
David Ortiz 454
Jose Altuve 453.5
Lorenzo Cain 445.5
Curtis Granderson 445.5
Jose Abreu 442.25
Todd Frazier 440.75
Chris Archer 440.24
Mookie Betts 439.25
Eric Hosmer 438.75
Ryan Braun 438.5
Carlos Gonzalez 433
Dee Gordon 431.5
Shin-Soo Choo 431.5
Gerrit Cole 430.16
Brian Dozier 429
Prince Fielder 428.5
Kendrys Morales 428
Starling Marte 424.75
Alex Rodriguez 423
Corey Kluber 421.44
Albert Pujols 421.25
Justin Upton 420.5
Adam Eaton 416.25
Dexter Fowler 410.25
Michael Brantley 406.75
Adrian Gonzalez 404.5
Matt Kemp 402.5
Jacob deGrom 401.82
Carlos Santana 401.25
Buster Posey 399
Cole Hamels 397.57966
Kyle Seager 396.75
Brett Gardner 396.25
Ian Kinsler 390.25
Felix Hernandez 389.70034
Mark Melancon 388.20034
James Shields 386.37966
Jason Heyward 386.25
Carlos Carrasco 385.34034
Trevor Rosenthal 385.04034
Jason Kipnis 384.5
Jon Lester 384.1
John Lackey 382.36
Tyson Ross 380.92
Miguel Cabrera 380
Robinson Cano 377.75
Jay Bruce 376.75
Matt Harvey 376.11966
Sonny Gray 374.16
Xander Bogaerts 373.75
Francisco Liriano 373.40034
Mike Moustakas 372.75
Jeurys Familia 372.56
Danny Salazar 368.7
Adrian Beltre 368
Kole Calhoun 367.75
Logan Forsythe 367
Collin McHugh 366.74034
David Peralta 366.5
Adam Lind 366.25
Brandon Belt 365.5
DJ LeMahieu 363.5
Garrett Richards 363.47966
Carlos Martinez 363.26034
Evan Longoria 362.75
Gregory Polanco 360.75
Lucas Duda 360
Trevor Plouffe 358.75
Matt Duffy 357
Johnny Cueto 355.24
Josh Reddick 353.25
Adam Jones 353.25
Aroldis Chapman 352.65966
Brandon Crawford 350.75
Mark Teixeira 347
Jose Quintana 346.45966
Ben Revere 345.25
Gerardo Parra 345
Brandon Phillips 344.25
Kevin Pillar 343.25
Evan Gattis 342.25
Andrew Miller 341.90034
Craig Kimbrel 341.51966
Russell Martin 340.25
Jordan Zimmermann 339.70034
Brian McCann 338.75
Michael Wacha 337.95966
Shelby Miller 335.43966
Joc Pederson 335.25
Lance Lynn 334.83966
Brad Boxberger 333.26
Neil Walker 332.75
Edinson Volquez 332.33966
Elvis Andrus 331.5
Julio Teheran 329.68034
Melky Cabrera 328.75
Zach Britton 327.98034
Ben Zobrist 326.5
Nick Markakis 325.25
Kolten Wong 325.25
Jhonny Peralta 325
Shawn Tolleson 324.77966
Cody Allen 324.71966
Joe Mauer 323.25
Wei-Yin Chen 321.15966
David Robertson 320.59966
Ubaldo Jimenez 319.68
Troy Tulowitzki 319.5
Mitch Moreland 319
Yunel Escobar 318.25
Gio Gonzalez 318.18034
Mike Fiers 317.93966
Freddie Freeman 317.75
Carlos Correa 317.25
Ian Desmond 317.25
Jason Hammel 315.08034
Pedro Alvarez 313.25
Colby Lewis 312.76034
Ender Inciarte 312.75
Huston Street 310.57966
Cameron Maybin 310.5
Hector Santiago 310.28034
Carlos Beltran 309.5
Santiago Casilla 309.16
A.J. Ramos 308.73966
Billy Burns 308.25
Kenley Jansen 307.37966
Jeff Samardzija 307.28
Torii Hunter 307
Scott Kazmir 306.66
Delino Deshields 306.5
Marco Estrada 304.62
Kyle Gibson 304.56034
Trevor Bauer 304.52
Colby Rasmus 303.75
Kyle Hendricks 303.6
Christian Yelich 302.75
Stephen Vogt 301.75
Marlon Byrd 301.75
Ian Kennedy 301.69966
J.A. Happ 301.44
Hector Rondon 301.4
Khris Davis 301.25
Noah Syndergaard 301
Yordano Ventura 300.59966
Bartolo Colon 300.56034
Chase Headley 300.5
Chris Coghlan 300.5
Rubby de la Rosa 300.44034
Daniel Murphy 300.25
Francisco Rodriguez 300.14
Alex Wood 299.46034
Asdrubal Cabrera 299.25
George Springer 297.75
Yangervis Solarte 297
Marcus Semien 296.75
Mark Trumbo 296.25
Billy Butler 296.25
Jake Odorizzi 295.71966
R.A. Dickey 295.61966
Justin Turner 295
Odubel Herrera 293
Wade Miley 292.54034
Anthony DeSclafani 292.36034
Chris Heston 292.22034
Dan Haren 292.07966
Jung-ho Kang 292
Brett Lawrie 292
Jimmy Nelson 291.87966
Mark Canha 291.75
Yovani Gallardo 291.01966
Michael Pineda 289.88034
Andrew Cashner 288.36034
A.J. Burnett 288.28
Taijuan Walker 288.06034
Derek Norris 287.5
Tom Koehler 287.07966
Carlos Gomez 286
Masahiro Tanaka 284.08
Rougned Odor 283.25
Luke Gregerson 283.22
Kevin Kiermaier 283
Nick Castellanos 282.75
Avisail Garcia 282.25
Luis Valbuena 281.75
Anthony Gose 280.5
Alexei Ramirez 280.5
Andre Ethier 280.25
Stephen Strasburg 279.87966
Mike Leake 279.84
Ryan Howard 279
Jose Reyes 278.75
Danny Valencia 276.75
Giancarlo Stanton 275.75
Francisco Lindor 274
Alcides Escobar 273.25
Eddie Rosario 272
Dellin Betances 271.68
Justin Bour 271.5
Erick Aybar 270
Mark Buehrle 269.64034
Austin Jackson 269
Salvador Perez 268.75
Erasmo Ramirez 268.59966
Chris Carter 267.75
Aramis Ramirez 267.5
Howie Kendrick 267.25
Martin Prado 267
Jace Peterson 266.5
Rick Porcello 266.44
Billy Hamilton 266.25
Brett Anderson 265.93966
Jimmy Rollins 264.75
Didi Gregorius 264.5
Glen Perkins 263.14
Nate Karns 262.94
Nathan Eovaldi 262.41966
Addison Russell 262
Starlin Castro 261.5
Jean Segura 260
Brad Miller 259.75
Brandon Moss 259.25
Carlos Rodon 259.11966
Michael Taylor 258
Wade Davis 256.67966
Francisco Cervelli 256.5
Brock Holt 256.25
Jesse Chavez 256.14
Drew Storen 255.1
Freddy Galvis 255
Jacoby Ellsbury 255
Alfredo Simon 254.74
Chris Colabello 254.5
Logan Morrison 254.5
Joe Panik 253.25
David Freese 253.25
Jorge de la Rosa 252.98
Anibal Sanchez 251.14
Miguel Sano 251
Mike Napoli 251
Steven Souza 250.75
Jeff Locke 248.69966
Randal Grichuk 248.5
Jon Niese 248.20034
Ryan Zimmerman 248
Seth Smith 247.75
Greg Holland 247.56034
Eduardo Escobar 246.5
Joakim Soria 246.02034
Wilmer Flores 245
Hanley Ramirez 244.75
Chris Tillman 244.46
CC Sabathia 243.67966
Alex Gordon 243.5
Ken Giles 243.4
Andrelton Simmons 241.75
Jonathan Papelbon 241.59966
Brad Ziegler 241.36
Drew Hutchison 241.33966
John Danks 240.22034
Cesar Hernandez 239.25
Lance McCullers 236.18034
Jaime Garcia 234.26034
John Axford 233.78034
Rajai Davis 232.75
Dustin Pedroia 232.5
Adeiny Hechavarria 232.5
Yasmani Grandal 232
Jeremy Hellickson 230.92
J.T. Realmuto 230.25
Roberto Osuna 230.06034
Gregor Blanco 230
Tyler Clippard 228.42
Hisashi Iwakuma 228.26034
Chris Owings 227.5
Nick Hundley 227
Johnny Giavotella 225.5
Danny Espinosa 225.25
Angel Pagan 224.5
Brandon Guyer 224
Maikel Franco 223.25
Adam Warren 222.95966
Miguel Montero 220.75
Phil Hughes 220.43966
Welington Castillo 219.75
C.J. Wilson 219.64
Josh Harrison 219.5
Robbie Ray 219.22034
Marcell Ozuna 219
Victor Martinez 219
Justin Verlander 218.99966
Chris Young 218.5
Carson Smith 218.4
Jake Marisnick 218.25
Chase Anderson 217.72034
Travis Wood 217.68034
Aaron Hicks 217.5
Eugenio Suarez 217
A.J. Pierzynski 216.75
Justin Smoak 215.75
Matt Shoemaker 215.03966
Joe Kelly 215.01966
Yadier Molina 215
Aaron Harang 214.77966
Taylor Jungmann 214.71966
Miguel Gonzalez 213.56034
Mark Reynolds 213.5
Alejandro De Aza 213
Danny Duffy 212.40034
C.J. Cron 212.25
Ryan Vogelsong 211.7
Koji Uehara 211.13966
Chris Young 210.79966
Jedd Gyorko 210.75
Kyle Schwarber 210.25
Eduardo Rodriguez 210.10034
Jonathan Lucroy 209.75
Clay Buchholz 209.59966
Ben Paulsen 209.25
Wilson Ramos 208.5
Trevor May 207.96034
Tommy Milone 207.24034
Yasmany Tomas 206.25
Kevin Siegrist 206.16034
Juan Uribe 205.75
Jorge Soler 205.5
Pablo Sandoval 205.25
Nori Aoki 203.75
Ryan Goins 203.5
Yonder Alonso 201.5
Jose Iglesias 201.25
Jason Grilli 200.34034
Jimmy Paredes 200.25
Will Venable 200
Mike Pelfrey 199.96034
Cody Asche 199.75
Kevin Jepsen 199.06034
Adam LaRoche 199
Juan Lagares 198.25
Jered Weaver 198.18
Fernando Rodney 196.92034
Jayson Werth 196.5
David Murphy 196.25
Marwin Gonzalez 195
Clint Robinson 194.75
Michael Cuddyer 194.75
Charlie Morton 194.58
Stephen Drew 194.5
Kyle Lohse 194.37966
Chad Bettis 193.3
Darren O'Day 191.63966
Jackie Bradley Jr. 190.5
Nick Ahmed 190.5
Kelly Johnson 190
Mike Bolsinger 189.51966
Michael Bourn 188
Matt Garza 186.64034
Jake Lamb 185.5
Alex Colome 183.86034
Jonathan Schoop 182
Caleb Joseph 181.75
Roenis Elias 181.63966
Kevin Gausman 180.57966
Steve Pearce 180.5
Chase Utley 180.5
Jake Peavy 178.88034
Nick Martinez 177.5
Kurt Suzuki 175.75
Jose Ramirez 175.5
Lonnie Chisenhall 175.25
Yan Gomes 175.25
Alex Rios 174.25
Tom Wilhelmsen 174.24
Jeff Francoeur 173.5
James McCann 173.25
Cory Spangenberg 172.75
Yasiel Puig 172.5
Ervin Santana 172.16
Travis d'Arnaud 171.25
Denard Span 171
Brad Brach 170.91966
Mat Latos 170.65966
Joe Blanton 170.52
Ruben Tejada 170.5
Drew Pomeranz 169.72
Jeremy Guthrie 169.29966
Devon Travis 169.25
Raisel Iglesias 169.23966
Andrew Heaney 168.78034
Stephen Piscotty 167.5
Kendall Graveman 166.98034
Chris Rusin 166.30034
Blake Swihart 165.75
Anthony Rendon 165.75
Derek Dietrich 165.5
Preston Tucker 165.25
Aaron Hill 164.75
Will Smith 164.59966
Williams Perez 163.00034
Scooter Gennett 163
Tim Hudson 161.14034
Wil Myers 161
Matt Holliday 160.75
Jason Castro 160.5
Andres Blanco 159.75
Matthew Wisler 158.18
Jarrod Dyson 157.5
Randall Delgado 157.44
Robinson Chirinos 157.25
Travis Shaw 157
Eric Sogard 157
Darin Ruf 156.75
Josh Collmenter 156.42
Sam Dyson 155.83966
Hunter Pence 155.5
Will Harris 155.42
Brett Cecil 155.41966
Franklin Gutierrez 154.75
Patrick Corbin 154.7
Jordy Mercer 154.5
Ichiro Suzuki 153.25
Kyle Kendrick 153.17966
Zach McAllister 152.38
Corey Dickerson 152

Thoughts? Does this closely resemble Roto or no comparison? Or does it even matter?

[ToddZ]

For me something between closely related and no comparison -- and frankly don't care. I respect the opinions of those that desire the two to really correlate but for me, the more one needs to understand the nuances of a particular format, the more I like it.

[KJ Duke]

For hitters it favors batting high in lineup, playing for productive team. For pitchers, getting deep into games. Also health plays larger role than usual. Volume, volume, volume. More luck, less skill. Bleh.

No-manage aspect is appealing so it should get some play, but much better with original roto-style point conversion than copying DFS scoring.

[BK METS]

For hitters it favors batting high in lineup, playing for productive team. For pitchers, getting deep into games. Also health plays larger role than usual. Volume, volume, volume. More luck, less skill. Bleh.

No-manage aspect is appealing so it should get some play, but much better with original roto-style point conversion than copying DFS scoring.

I do not like the new scoring format. I am with you KJ. I think what you had proposed was great and kept within what the NFBC has been since its inception, as close as possible. I especially do not like getting 2 points for a double and 3 points for a triple. For me, the guy who has a single with 2 RBIs should get more points than the guy who gets a triple, when it means nothing. This supports your "higher in the lineup" argument, which is a good one. Plus no consideration for WHIP at all.

I wont be playing this game, for the mere fact that I will be playing many other NFBC games and I dont plan on having 2 different ranking lists.

[Red Sox Nation-]

Agree with BK Mets here.

Billy Hamilton ranked #238 in cutline scoring. Billy Hamilton ranked #32 in NFBC roto 5 x5. I just don't have the time to prep two separate ranking lists. I'm sure you'll find a market for it though. Just my opinion. Hope it does well for you.

Jason

[Deadheadz]

Agree with BK Mets here.

Billy Hamilton ranked #238 in cutline scoring. Billy Hamilton ranked #32 in NFBC roto 5 x5. I just don't have the time to prep two separate ranking lists. I'm sure you'll find a market for it though. Just my opinion. Hope it does well for you.

Jason

BK Mets, KJ and Jason all share an opinion that I too agree with, roto scoring all the way.
I may try one team in Cutline but will be focus mainly on the traditional NFBC 15-team roto leagues.

[mdecav]

Is it assumed you need to at least draft the typical lineup, 14 hitters (2 catchers, 5 OF, etc.) and 9 pitchers, etc. etc. ?

[Atlas]

I'm missing something and its obviously just me...

If we're doing daily drafts...why is there a FAAB period?

I'm confused.

[ToddZ]

Is it assumed you need to at least draft the typical lineup, 14 hitters (2 catchers, 5 OF, etc.) and 9 pitchers, etc. etc. ?

Yes

[ToddZ]

I'm missing something and its obviously just me...

If we're doing daily drafts...why is there a FAAB period?

I'm confused.

Just one draft, they're not daily.

[Atlas]

In 2016 the NFBC is going to introduce a new national contest called the NFBC Cutline Championship. It will be:


Quick drafts every night, limited FAAB, optimal scoring setup, DFS points style, and prizes within league and overall.

Okay...I guess this is what confused me.

[Atlas]

In 2016 the NFBC is going to introduce a new national contest called the NFBC Cutline Championship. It will be:

** A 10-team league format, with a 30-round draft for a quick, easy draft every night

And this

[ToddZ]

Greg's just saying the drafts should be very quick and reasonably priced thus anticipates at least one league being drafted every night.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Is it assumed you need to at least draft the typical lineup, 14 hitters (2 catchers, 5 OF, etc.) and 9 pitchers, etc. etc. ?

Yes, you must have a legal lineup after the initial 30-round draft. You can draft your second Catcher in Round 30, but just like any other NFBC draft you must have a legal lineup of 23 starters after the draft.

That being said, you get to add 5 players before Opening Day for a roster of 35 players heading into Week 1. You can add some key players to that expanded roster before scoring starts. Hope that makes sense.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I appreciate all of the comments on the scoring of the NFBC Cutline Championship and I understand the sentiments. We have plenty of Roto games in the NFBC and this one will NOT exactly replicate 5x5 Roto scoring with the DFS-style scoring system.

That being said, these are 10-team leagues and anyone who understands the player pool can put together a winning lineup. Yes, we include scoring for doubles, triples and walks, and yes a guy like Billy Hamilton is less valuable here than in a game where Steals are more valuable, but astute fantasy owners should easily be able to adjust in an initial draft with only 300 players.

But if not, then we'll understand. This is a game that we're trying to attract first-time players with a scoring format that people have certainly learned to adjust to in DFS, while also making it easy enough to transition for our die-hard players. The drafts are intended to be quick, easy and fun, while the optimal-scoring format allows for minimal work during the season. Four FAAB periods are designed to create less stress in managing the roster, even though there will be a lot of strategy tied to those four free agent pickups. It's going to be a deep free agent pool, so how you manage that $1,000 FAAB period is going to be critical. You will need to save enough to win enough free agents to get to 45 good players for the playoff rounds.

Again, thanks for the feedback and keep it coming. This is a game we will continue to tweak from year to year and hopefully it's one that players will easily adjust to and enjoy.

[mdecav]

Will there be a summary of rules, prize money, etc.? I realize we had a similar post from last year, but was curious if anything has changed.

[JohnP]

There is little doubt that this new game oozes with strategy decisions. I am just not sure how willing everyone is to invest the time into figuring out how to best rank / project / draft the players. It is different than daily and totally different than the "regular" season-long leagues. My initial reaction is that I hope it brings a whole bunch of new players, that it succeeds, that 50% of the field isn't owned by Berg Cocktails, Inc. but seems like too much work changing my brain to think about player stat accumulation in a totally different way. Your pitch is that this is an "easier" format. I don't see it as easy. Sure...there is less frequent FAAB periods so I suppose in that sense on certain weeks this will be easier. I mean...how do I get myself to think that a player like Ubaldo Jimenez is ranked the same as a Cody Allen or Torii Hunter is ranked the same as a Billy Burns? I suppose I can look at last year's rankings and then look at some projected rankings like I am sure Zola will produce but that sort of takes the fun out of it. I would rather look at that data and also incorporate my own thoughts about that player and apply more SBs, less power, etc. and come up with "my projection" and assemble a team accordingly. I'm not real sure I want to think along the lines of "oh boy, Bernie Brewer had 37 doubles last year and if he stretches 5 of those to triples, that will equal 17.6 more points...." Maybe that doesn't even make sense - just giving an example. If it were a Brewer he would get thrown out at third anyways. I love the idea of bringing something new to the table, love the idea of trying to appeal to new people, love the idea of trying to make in-season less stressful, but I don't think this one is for me. I also can't help but think that this will take some considerable IT resources to make this all work and it would be a shame if some of the stuff that has been suggested for a very long time now is delayed as a result. Maybe the IT part is already all done. Just giving you feedback per your request.

After this dreadful week in fantasy football....who isn't ready for some baseball?!

What about limited FAAB DCs? Obviously they would have to be stand-alone leagues or be combined with other limited FAAB DC leagues but that surely would have some appeal?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Will there be a summary of rules, prize money, etc.? I realize we had a similar post from last year, but was curious if anything has changed.

Yes, will post soon.

[Greg Ambrosius]

There is little doubt that this new game oozes with strategy decisions. I am just not sure how willing everyone is to invest the time into figuring out how to best rank / project / draft the players. It is different than daily and totally different than the "regular" season-long leagues. My initial reaction is that I hope it brings a whole bunch of new players, that it succeeds, that 50% of the field isn't owned by Berg Cocktails, Inc. but seems like too much work changing my brain to think about player stat accumulation in a totally different way. Your pitch is that this is an "easier" format. I don't see it as easy. Sure...there is less frequent FAAB periods so I suppose in that sense on certain weeks this will be easier. I mean...how do I get myself to think that a player like Ubaldo Jimenez is ranked the same as a Cody Allen or Torii Hunter is ranked the same as a Billy Burns? I suppose I can look at last year's rankings and then look at some projected rankings like I am sure Zola will produce but that sort of takes the fun out of it. I would rather look at that data and also incorporate my own thoughts about that player and apply more SBs, less power, etc. and come up with "my projection" and assemble a team accordingly. I'm not real sure I want to think along the lines of "oh boy, Bernie Brewer had 37 doubles last year and if he stretches 5 of those to triples, that will equal 17.6 more points...." Maybe that doesn't even make sense - just giving an example. If it were a Brewer he would get thrown out at third anyways. I love the idea of bringing something new to the table, love the idea of trying to appeal to new people, love the idea of trying to make in-season less stressful, but I don't think this one is for me. I also can't help but think that this will take some considerable IT resources to make this all work and it would be a shame if some of the stuff that has been suggested for a very long time now is delayed as a result. Maybe the IT part is already all done. Just giving you feedback per your request.

After this dreadful week in fantasy football....who isn't ready for some baseball?!

What about limited FAAB DCs? Obviously they would have to be stand-alone leagues or be combined with other limited FAAB DC leagues but that surely would have some appeal?

After a great Packers' win I was hoping you'd be more cheerful. Thanks for the feedback.

No on the DCs with limited FAAB.

[DOUGHBOYS]

There is little doubt that this new game oozes with strategy decisions. I am just not sure how willing everyone is to invest the time into figuring out how to best rank / project / draft the players. It is different than daily and totally different than the "regular" season-long leagues. My initial reaction is that I hope it brings a whole bunch of new players, that it succeeds, that 50% of the field isn't owned by Berg Cocktails, Inc. but seems like too much work changing my brain to think about player stat accumulation in a totally different way. Your pitch is that this is an "easier" format. I don't see it as easy. Sure...there is less frequent FAAB periods so I suppose in that sense on certain weeks this will be easier. I mean...how do I get myself to think that a player like Ubaldo Jimenez is ranked the same as a Cody Allen or Torii Hunter is ranked the same as a Billy Burns? I suppose I can look at last year's rankings and then look at some projected rankings like I am sure Zola will produce but that sort of takes the fun out of it. I would rather look at that data and also incorporate my own thoughts about that player and apply more SBs, less power, etc. and come up with "my projection" and assemble a team accordingly. I'm not real sure I want to think along the lines of "oh boy, Bernie Brewer had 37 doubles last year and if he stretches 5 of those to triples, that will equal 17.6 more points...." Maybe that doesn't even make sense - just giving an example. If it were a Brewer he would get thrown out at third anyways. I love the idea of bringing something new to the table, love the idea of trying to appeal to new people, love the idea of trying to make in-season less stressful, but I don't think this one is for me. I also can't help but think that this will take some considerable IT resources to make this all work and it would be a shame if some of the stuff that has been suggested for a very long time now is delayed as a result. Maybe the IT part is already all done. Just giving you feedback per your request.

After this dreadful week in fantasy football....who isn't ready for some baseball?!

What about limited FAAB DCs? Obviously they would have to be stand-alone leagues or be combined with other limited FAAB DC leagues but that surely would have some appeal?

Agreed.
This game screams to be in the 50 round DC format.
'Only' 500 players drafted.
Draft And forget.

Even with four faab periods, it is still a DAMN team (Draft And Manage)
DAFT teams are easier on time.

[ToddZ]

I don't feel the transition from roto to points is as drastic as some perceive. The allure for me is some up front prep work, the rush of doing a draft and the minimal in-season attention.

I'll indeed convert my numbers into projected cutline points as well as offering a series of strategy essays as pertains to the format.

1. Properly ranking across positions in a points league
2. Thoughts about how to maximize points in a best-ball format
3. Thoughts about roster construction with an increasing number of roster spots as the season progresses

FWIW -- I am in process of tweaking a couple of the standard tools to make them even more NFBC-friendly, especially for those that like to massage the numbers.

[KJ Duke]

There is little doubt that this new game oozes with strategy decisions. I am just not sure how willing everyone is to invest the time into figuring out how to best rank / project / draft the players. It is different than daily and totally different than the "regular" season-long leagues. My initial reaction is that I hope it brings a whole bunch of new players, that it succeeds, that 50% of the field isn't owned by Berg Cocktails, Inc. but seems like too much work changing my brain to think about player stat accumulation in a totally different way. Your pitch is that this is an "easier" format. I don't see it as easy. Sure...there is less frequent FAAB periods so I suppose in that sense on certain weeks this will be easier. I mean...how do I get myself to think that a player like Ubaldo Jimenez is ranked the same as a Cody Allen or Torii Hunter is ranked the same as a Billy Burns? I suppose I can look at last year's rankings and then look at some projected rankings like I am sure Zola will produce but that sort of takes the fun out of it. I would rather look at that data and also incorporate my own thoughts about that player and apply more SBs, less power, etc. and come up with "my projection" and assemble a team accordingly. I'm not real sure I want to think along the lines of "oh boy, Bernie Brewer had 37 doubles last year and if he stretches 5 of those to triples, that will equal 17.6 more points...." Maybe that doesn't even make sense - just giving an example. If it were a Brewer he would get thrown out at third anyways. I love the idea of bringing something new to the table, love the idea of trying to appeal to new people, love the idea of trying to make in-season less stressful, but I don't think this one is for me. I also can't help but think that this will take some considerable IT resources to make this all work and it would be a shame if some of the stuff that has been suggested for a very long time now is delayed as a result. Maybe the IT part is already all done. Just giving you feedback per your request.

After this dreadful week in fantasy football....who isn't ready for some baseball?!

What about limited FAAB DCs? Obviously they would have to be stand-alone leagues or be combined with other limited FAAB DC leagues but that surely would have some appeal?

The DCs have been a huge success in part because they are preparation for the other, generally bigger NFBC events. Even with slightly different components of the different contests - league size, faab or not, etc - relative player values are reasonably consistent because the 5x5 roto scoring is consistent.

For a no-lineup concept such as the Cutline, roto category scoring needed to give way to a fungible point-based system. And so, a scoring system was developed that took the relative individual value of each 5x5 statistic and converted them to points. That is what we saw in last year's proposed cutline format, which I thought that was a critical component of the Cutline contest in that it valued players as closely as possible to all NFBC roto contests for which we are doing prep. For that reason, I hated to see the change that was sprung upon us this year using DFS scoring.

Even though Todd is among the best there is in projection methodology, I (like many) still like to develop and tweak my own projections/expectations, for the 5x5 roto categories. Playing this contest as originally envisioned required no extra projecting work - critical in my mind - for what is supposed to be a low-cost, low time-consumption contest. However, now requiring the projection of additional categories (extra base hits, BB/HBP) and eliminating the value of projections related to BA and WHIP while requiring an entire re-ranking system based on a meaningful shift in the relative value of different stats ... well, that just kills the concept in my opinion.

No sooner than one Primetime debacle was fixed, another was created. The Primetime "fix", by the way, is exactly what several of us vets suggested at least a year or two ago. Maybe a year or two from now the cutline concept can be fixed too, because I would put the odds of it being successful as presented as very low. And as seen by this thread, I'm not the only long-time player expressing these same concerns. In fact, the only support for DFS scoring seems to be coming from the guy who is over-flowing with data and peddling it. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that I think you are mis-judging the market here and dooming what could be a good ancillary contest. The lack of support for DFS scoring in this thread seems to agree with that.

[KJ Duke]

This is a game that we're trying to attract first-time players with a scoring format that people have certainly learned to adjust to in DFS ....

Just an addendum to my previous post. I think you are vastly over-rating the appeal/importance of DFS scoring for the DFS player. I'd bet that if you survey 1000 DFS players on the most important things, the scoring system would barely register as a blip. Very high on the list would be playing for the action, the lottery upside and instant gratification and payout. Trying to cater this game to them by offering DFS-scoring is simply missing the entire appeal of DFS.

Virtually all of your customers for this concept are going to come from season-long players, and using DFS scoring which season-long players actually DO care about, unlike DFS players is going to eliminate a lot of them from playing.

[Teufel Hunden]

This is a game that we're trying to attract first-time players with a scoring format that people have certainly learned to adjust to in DFS ....

Just an addendum to my previous post. I think you are vastly over-rating the appeal/importance of DFS scoring for the DFS player. I'd bet that if you survey 1000 DFS players on the most important things, the scoring system would barely register as a blip. Very high on the list would be playing for the action, the lottery upside and instant gratification and payout. Trying to cater this game to them by offering DFS-scoring is simply missing the entire appeal of DFS.

Virtually all of your customers for this concept are going to come from season-long players, and using DFS scoring which season-long players actually DO care about, unlike DFS players is going to eliminate a lot of them from playing.

+1

Seems like there are a couple problems. 1) Lots of other great options for league types in NFBC. 2) Going to require a lot of work to prep. IMO owners are going to stick with what they know.

Maybe it has been addressed before. Why not just expand the auction format on this site?