Fantasy Baseball 2021

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

Fantasy Baseball 2021

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Fri May 15, 2020 9:07 am

What happens to drafts in 2021 if there is no 2020? Nobody really wants to look at that possibility. It feels like giving up on this season.
BUT, we are fantasy baseball players and like to plan for any eventuality.
A LOT of things will have happened before we draft in 2021.
The decision on this year will have been made.
Players and owners will have ratified a new agreement.
And many other decisions wlll have to be made such as how 2020 counts or does not count.
The Dodgers traded Alex Verdugo for Mookie Betts.
Does Betts play in 2021 for the Dodgers or is he a free agent with the one year left on his contract, expired?
Would Verdugo go back to the Dodgers?
Does Francisco Lindor have two years left with the Indians or one?
Many logistical things for baseball to hammer out.

I expect that we have seen the last of pitchers being in starting lineups.
This will be more fun for fantasy.
No longer will NL pitchers be a little more appealing facing the opposing pitcher in lineups.
It will also be a boon for older players who are hanging on in the NL like Votto, Braun, McCutchen, Posey, Carpenter, etc
It is sad to see baseball traditions die.
I like the nuance about pinch hitting for a great starter or letting him hit.
But we all knew this was coming with the N.L. being one of the few leagues in organized baseball to have the starting pitcher in the lineup.

Prospects are gypped out of a year of showing their wares.
Does that mean prospects like Luis Robert will maintain their high status from this years drafts?
I don't know.
We don't even know how deep the White Sox lineup will be.
Does Encarnacion stay with a one year contract or is he a free agent?
He'll also be another year older.
So will Nelson Cruz. So will Miguel Cabrera. And so will dozens of other players who are seeing the end of the baseball tunnel.

For us, without knowing the answers to these questions now, will 2021 drafts mirror 2020 drafts if no baseball is played this year.
At this time, I'd say they would be very similar.
There's been no play to change our minds. And no news with the transactions ban from baseball.
Folks who drafted the three S's early, Sale, Severino, and Syndergaard will get a pardon.
If liking our drafts and a little pissed that 2020 wasn't played, we may try to replicate those teams for 2021.

If there is no baseball in 2020, I believe we should make a big deal about 2021.
I can start the PreMature drafts going in August or early September. Before a real football game is played (if they are played)
In no year was the PreMature draft, indeed premature, than this year!
2021 will be different for that as well as we will already have an idea about ADP.

I also believe that Greg, Tom, Darik and the NFBC should not close down the draft room.
What would be the point?
There will be few new players or prospects to add.
Let's say that MLB calls it quits on this season in July.
The draft room is not shut down. Instead, it is closed for a month.
Drafters take a month off from fantasy baseball drafting and begin in earnest in late August or September.
This gives football folks a free and clear way to study for their game (If there is a season)
If we were on a record pace for Draft Champions drafts in 2020, imagine the pace with an early opening in 2021.
I can't wait already.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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