NFBC Blurbs

[DOUGHBOYS]

Allow me to vent.
Well, you have no choice anyway, I'm going to vent.
I play NFBC Fantasy. I am among a group that are the best fantasy baseball players in the world. Even had success a time or two.
Why can't we have updates that fit our elite group?

To tell the truth, I am sick to death of rotoblurbs. Their writers don't get it and they certainly don't get us.
A couple of questions...with the answers...
How many OBP leagues exist in comparison to other leagues? Not many.
Do we care about real baseball if not pertaining to our teams? Not much.

Here is an idiotic rotoblurb (among many this year)...

'Yasmani Grandal went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts versus the Rangers on Monday.
Where are the walks? Grandal had an 11-game streak with zero walks last month, and now he has a 12-gamer going at the moment. Both rate as his longest such streaks since the first half of 2018, when he went 15 games in a row without a walk. Grandal's average is up, so he hasn't been dreadful offensively. Still, .253/.319/.394 with a total of 15 runs and 18 RBI in 59 games is pretty unimpressive.'

The first sentence is all we need. It lets us know three things.
He's not hurt.
He played.
He sucked.
That's all we need to know about Grandal for the moment.

This writer wants to know why he isn't walking as much this year.
Why?
I don't know.
Walks only help those in the aforementioned OBP leagues.
A walk from Grandal doesn't help us at all.
When reaching base, he is no stolen base threat.
He is a base clogger who advances one base at a time.
And he'll hardly ever score when hitting near the bottom of the order.

The writer casually mentions that his average is up.. Hey stupid, we care about that!
Grandal has sucked when taking walks and now is proving he can do the same while not taking walks.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...
These blurbs are seemingly written by former Little Leaguers who hit ninth in their lineup.
Their coach and teammates yelling, "A walk is as good as a hit!"
They scream this knowing that the odds of this kid getting a hit is nil.
So when the kid DOES walk, he feels he has helped his team to the fullest extent.
I swear these writers prose these pieces with shouts of, "A WALK IS AS GOOD AS A HIT!" still ringing in their ears.

Unless our player is a good threat to steal, we never cheer a walk in the NFBC.
In most cases, a walk is a missed opportunity.
Better for real baseball than NFBC baseball.
Why can't FANTASY writers get that?
Really, the NFBC has flourished in so many ways, I believe that a platform for rotoblurbs directed towards NFBC should be a thought for the future.
As is, we have to endure 90 percent drivel to derive the 10 percent pertinent information.

I'm just asking for something like this instead of what we got...

"Yasmani Grandal did not help NFBC teams last night going 0-4.
Catchers occasionally are available in NFBC FAAB that may be better bets than Grandal.
This week, the Pirates brought up Henry Davis who is C-eligible even though the Pirates had him in Right Field. He went 1-3 with a double.
The problem being, "Will he stick?"...
Other Catchers available in some leagues are Eric Haase and Matt Thaiss who have similar stats to that of Grandal....(which speaks to how bad Grandal has been this season)'

[DOUGHBOYS]

Look at this latest blurb on Nolan Jones....

'Nolan Jones went 4-for-4 with a homer and stolen base in an 8-6 loss to the Reds on Tuesday.
Nolan Jones has emerged as a viable starting outfielder in fantasy baseball, and we are left wondering why he didn't break camp with the team. The 25-year-old is hitting .354/436/.634 with five homers and five stolen bases across 94 plate appearances.'

Now look at this one from less than a month ago....

'Nolan Jones hit his first homer to give the Rockies their lone run against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
It was a 399-foot shot off Kevin Ginkel. The Rockies are content with their outfield at the moment, so it's likely that Jones will go back to Triple-A once C.J. Cron returns from the IL. Still, it's imperative that the team give the 25-year-old a long look at some point.'

C'mon man.
You can't wonder why a player didn't break camp with a team when less than a month ago, the writer felt that he would go back to AAA ball himself.
Don't try and sound smart.
The first sentence was more than enough information.
Fantasy managers can care less about a writer's opinion from a month ago or today. Both of which in this case....were wrong.
Joe Friday it. Just give us the facts, man.

[DOUGHBOYS]

I feel that the Message Boards have sorta been 'deserted' so I'll piggy back new posts in this thread....

The All-Star break nears meaning we are just about half way through this year.
Congrats to those with good teams and condolensces to those who don't.
Fantasy baseball has changed a bit over the last couple of years in regards to new blood in baseball.
Remember when Trout and Harper were the thing?
Both were thought to be great players, and they have been, especially Trout, but now the uber-athletes have changed our dynamics.
Will these uber-athletes fail or succeed? Too early to tell.
Just during the last two years, we have been struck by Julio Rodriguez, then Oneill Cruz, then again in Spring Training by Jordan Walker, and now again by Elly De La Cruz.
We love our five-tool players and these fellas carry that tool belt.

Our job this coming year will be to place these type of players in a draft slot we like.
We know Julio the best since he has been around the longest. He was a top five pick in drats last year.
He hasn't been the best player in baseball as some had hoped this year,.
At the same time, he hasn't been a failure.
He is one of only five players (Acuna, Witt, Carroll, Tatis) who have a 12-12 season going at less than the half way mark.
The good bet is that all five of these players will be first round picks next year.

Oneill Cruz got hurt last year and this year.
It will be enough to scare away a lot of drafters. if there is a sixth tool for drafters, it is the word, 'AVAILABILITY'.
Cruz was a fifth round pick last year. I imagine he'll be close to that for the coming year.

Walker is tough to gauge. He hasn't taken baseball by storm in the regular season as he did in Spring Training.
In fact, his numbers are similar to that of Chas McCormick.
Walker was selected as high as the fourth round based on Minor league numbers and Spring Training success.
His ADP finished up as a 12th round pick. As of now, he looks like a good bet to be taken between the sixth and 12th rounds next year.

Elly De La Cruz is our current wonder-child.
If drafts were held right now, it would not surprise me to see him drafted as one of our top five picks overall.
He hasn't waned like Julio.
He hasn't gotten hurt like Oneill
He hasn't failed to meet expectatations like Jordan Walker.
If Elly continues playing this way, I can see next years drafts containing two rookies in Elly and Corbin Carroll being top five picks overall.
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)is a bitch. And FOMO will certainly be at play for those two rookies in drafters minds.