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I looked at Bryan Vogel's Online team that is second Overall in the competition...
No Acuna.
No Acuna!
There are two ways Bryan can look at this....
1. I can win without drafting the player closest to my heart.

and 2....

I would be killing this had I drafted Acuna!

Craig Biggio won the Silver Slugger Award in 1989.
As a Catcher!

How many times have deGrom owners cussed at the Mets lack of offense and crappy bullpen resulting in a dozen Wins vanishing?
64,394,252,012,854
And counting...

There was a post about cutting off September baseball for fantasy.
Why?
Sure, it's a watered down game from the April-August version. I get that.
But it offers so many different challenges!
You really have to have a pulse on what each club and Manager is thinking in who to start.
Also, some players pack it in...
Chris Davis has one rbi in 53 September at bats.
While others have something to prove...
Adalberto Mondesi has six homers and 10 stolen bases
(Trea Turner over drafters just perked their ears)

Hardly any contender has Joey Votto on their roster.
BUT, he still got his 100 walks and has the third highest on base percentage in baseball, phew!!!
In the mean time...
Two players in baseball have more homers than Votto's total of 41 extra base hits.
His 12 homers tie that of fellow power man, Charlie Culberson.
Some may say that is an unfair comparison.
It is.
Culberson's slugging percentage is .481, Votto's, .420


Stan Kaye is a good friend of mine in the NFBC.
I need friends like Stan because there is hardly anybody older than myself in the NFBC.
Stan began his NFBC season as most of us do, drafting in the Draft Champions.
At 79, the Draft Champions drafts provide Stan with a good time-passer. The drafts last three weeks, and he doesn't have to be online continuously to follow these drafts.
After drafting season was over, Sam fell upon some bad luck.
He had two heart attacks and surgery.
Needless to say, it wasn't the best of Summer's for Stan.
It was only this week that he drew his attention back on the teams he had drafted.
When not even looking at a DC team for five months, Stan expected the worse.
But there, standing out among a few teams that sunk to the bottom, was a team near the top.
Second place!
And only four points from first.
If Stan, somehow, wins first place in this league, he will come out money ahead for the season.
And possibly, a new way to 'manage' his teams during the coming years.

How much do Major League Managers care about stolen bases?
Very little if the other parts of your game do not match up.
Michael Taylor led baseball with 24 stolen bases at one time.
Taylor, the fourth outfielder, achieved most of these stolen bases while Adam Eaton was out with injury.
He is the ultimate fourth outfielder.
When Eaton came back, he lost his starting gig.
Now with Eaton in and out of the lineup, Victor Robles gets the playing time.
The only folks that care about his stolen bases are fantasy owners.
And Taylor has been kicked to the curb by them as well.
Taylor has not stolen a base in two months. Not one base since leading the league. Speed slowed to a stop.
With Robles taking Bryce Harper's spot in the Nationals outfield, Taylor looks, again, to be late draft fodder in DC's.

This will be the first year since 2012 that a player did not have 50 home runs or 50 stolen bases.
Miguel Cabrera had 44 homers that year. Mike Trout had 49 stolen bases.
This year, Khris Davis has 47 homers. Trea Turner with 43 thefts.

Getting back to that September baseball thing...
I love it when April-August nobodies become players that carry teams.
Ryan O'Hearn, Luke Voit, Adalberto Mondesi, Framber Valdez, etc
They've all become difference makers.
Trolling NFBC FAAB players makes the time worthwhile when we hit on these players.

I don't know Stan the person. I've drafted against Stan the nfbc player in a few DCs and I think in the premature league too. Great to hear that he has gotten back managing his DC teams. Hope you are doing better, Stan.

September baseball... Franmil Reyes, Melky Cabrera, Jeff McNeil, Tyler Austin, Ryan O'Hearn, Tyler White, Ramon Laureano, and even a catcher "upgrade" like Danny Jansen can make a difference. Getting Trevor Story back healthy for a 7 game week at Coors can make a difference. Getting a 2 start week from someone like Dylan Covey can make a difference. I love that our leagues here at then nfbc last until the season is over.

September Baseball --- Do Fantasy Football leagues count Week #17?

The defense rests your honor!

I get the argument. Baseball is watered down in September. Some teams rests players. Others are benched frequently to look at prospects.
I get it.
BUT, if cutting off an ass, every other part of the body is effected.
Fantasy baseball would not be the same.
Fantasy football cuts off six percent in week 17. The proposal here would cut off a month. A sixth of the season!
They have one tight end, we have two catchers.
Football has a measly practice squad. Baseball has a minor league system.
Football is football. Baseball is baseball.
The two cannot be equated. They are apples and oranges.

September fantasy baseball is part of the long grind of the season. It offers different challenges, not seen in the first five months of the season.
With dwindling reserves of FAAB, we have to figure out which players will offer more of an impact over a shorter period of time.
This is the opposite of April when we are flush with money and looking for long term results from players.
Whether it's Max Muncy for six months or whether it is Adalberto Mondesi for September, both are integral parts in our quest to win league Championships.
Sure, September is not the same as July.
Most don't care.
It is all part of this wonderful game.
I wouldn't change a thing.


Edit-
I got an e-mail asking about a potential playoff game on Monday...
This is where I think the NFBC misses the mark.
Their stance is that every MLB game should count.
Again (at least to me), this is apples and oranges.
MLB is playing another game to determine a playoff spot. This has nothing to do with fantasy play.
We play from Opening Day to Sunday, September 30.
THAT is our mindset.
An extra game benefits just a few players, while others don't get a benefit, simply because of the teams on the field.
It is simply, not right.
If anything needs to be changed, I believe that our fantasy season should end with the original baseball schedule.

Yep, make up game that is part of the 162 game season is fine but these tiebreaker games extending the season I would not include.

All the best to Stanley Kaye. We heard that he had heart surgery this season, but we didn't realize he had two heart surgeries. Best of luck Stan and hopefully you are feeling much better.

Stan might be 79, but in 2004 he flew from Frisco, Texas with his son and competed in the NFBC Chicago Main Event. And they won an NFBC Main Event league title that year. We love our Charter Members because without those 195 owners who trusted in us with their $1,250 entry fees we wouldn't be here today. Never forget those Charter Members.

We wish you good health Stan. Oh, and best of luck with that Draft Champions team that obviously was well drafted!!