Open Chat With Greg, Tom & Darik

[Greg Ambrosius]

We have a lot of threads on these Message Boards to promote upcoming drafts or draft results or even to call each other Titmouses!! But we don't have enough threads to talk about baseball or even our NFBC live events. So let's create an Open Chat right here where you can ask the questions and we'll provide the answers. Hell, we'd even love it if you provided the questions AND the answers!!

Anyway, we need an Open Chat thread just to talk about the Astros' situation, the upcoming MLB season, player projections, player rankings and our live events. Any and all questions will be answered here even if we have to make up the answers.

Darik and I are running our FSGA team that is drafting now and will gladly talk about that team here. Darik being a Twins' fan has our team loaded up with Twins already: Miguel Sano, Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton, while limiting us to only one Brewer (Josh Hader). What's up with that?

As for the NFBC, let's just say we are on pace for another record year in 2020. Every single year since we started the NFBC in 2004 we've grown in participants and grown in revenue. Last year we paid almost $3.6 million in prize money as we topped $4 million in revenue and we'd love to move even closer to the $4 million mark in prize money this year. In 2004, we had 195 teams in the Main Event, 48 Auction teams and we barely topped $300,000 in total revenue. We've grown from a toddler to a full-grown adult during the last 17 years.

And we've had more fun along the way. This year New York and Las Vegas are really shaping up as fun, fun live events. Tout Wars is back at the Stewart Hotel on the same weekend as the NFBC, bringing more industry writers to the same location as our NFBC drafts. Auction Leagues are filling up in all three venues and the Main Event is 50+ signups ahead of last year's pace at this time. We expect to sell out of all 600 spots and then some. Las Vegas will have five full Main Event leagues shortly for Saturday, March 21st at 11 am PT and as you know we have room for 7 leagues in that Park MGM ballroom. Jump in soon if you want to be guaranteed a spot in that Las Vegas Main Event.

The love for the Draft Champions leagues amaze even me. They are filling up more quickly than ever before and finishing more quickly than ever before. The upgrade in the draft software is the key, but getting away from 8-hour drafts is just as important. We are filling up 4-hour, 2-hour and 1-hour drafts regularly now as people are getting into leagues at the pace they want more frequently. Thanks to all the feedback from our owners and kudos to the IT team for adding features that make the drafting experience more enjoyable.

And we've even added BestBall10s to our mix of company contests if you know of something who wants to try baseball but at a more entry-level point. These are BestBall leagues at $10 per team with a shot of joining a Pay Top 3 format or a Pay Top 2 format where the top team wins $100. These are 12-team leagues and easy to draft with no work after Draft Day. www.bestball10s.com

Okay, let's talk some baseball. Bring on your thoughts and questions and we'll keep a running dialogue here throughout the season. Thanks all.

[Thurman15]

Here are some of my thoughts and questions that you may answer or comment on......

I've been going to Vegas for auctions for 4 years, and like many others, I love it. This year I'm going to New York in addition to Vegas, and from what I know, New York is also popular and fun. But my question is why does Chicago not attract more participants ? I can't understand it. It is after all, Chicago !! They have 2 major league teams, a huge population, and hundreds of thousands visit the city every year. I'm Canadian, but I've been to Chicago 4 times. What is your take on why Chicago is not more popular ?

Next question which I will answer myself is do you notice that the quicker drafts are becoming more and more popular. Now please, no offence to the guys that like slow drafts. I'm not suggesting we get rid of them. But the quicker drafts seem to fill up much faster. Personally it would be torture for me to go in a 4 hour draft. I'd go insane. And I rarely go in a 2 hour draft either. Way too much time checking to see if certain guys have made their pick. But maybe there should be more 1 hour or even 1 minute drafts. I mean MTM can fill a draft in just a few hours, sometimes quicker. I will always go in Mike's drafts. I see 2 reasons. First Mike knows and has the respect of a very large group of guys. And rightly so. But part of the reason is he enforces a quick draft. Take a veteran of these boards....whoever...that might know a ton of guys. Now he announces he is doing a 4 hour draft. You know that league is not going to fill anywhere near the timeframe Mike fills his. I am just suggesting that over the years guys ( not all) are more interested in a short draft. And I believe you should have more of them.

Lastly, and this is a good problem if it happens, but what would be the plan if the NFBC grew another, say, 30% for live events. Would you cut it off, would you add more staff to administer all the live events, would we have to change venues in Vegas if the Park MGM could not accomodate ? Not sure if this would be great for you guys, or cause too many headaches. Either way, thanks for the work. A lot of people have an awful lot of fun being part of the NFBC.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here are some of my thoughts and questions that you may answer or comment on......

I've been going to Vegas for auctions for 4 years, and like many others, I love it. This year I'm going to New York in addition to Vegas, and from what I know, New York is also popular and fun. But my question is why does Chicago not attract more participants ? I can't understand it. It is after all, Chicago !! They have 2 major league teams, a huge population, and hundreds of thousands visit the city every year. I'm Canadian, but I've been to Chicago 4 times. What is your take on why Chicago is not more popular ?

Next question which I will answer myself is do you notice that the quicker drafts are becoming more and more popular. Now please, no offence to the guys that like slow drafts. I'm not suggesting we get rid of them. But the quicker drafts seem to fill up much faster. Personally it would be torture for me to go in a 4 hour draft. I'd go insane. And I rarely go in a 2 hour draft either. Way too much time checking to see if certain guys have made their pick. But maybe there should be more 1 hour or even 1 minute drafts. I mean MTM can fill a draft in just a few hours, sometimes quicker. I will always go in Mike's drafts. I see 2 reasons. First Mike knows and has the respect of a very large group of guys. And rightly so. But part of the reason is he enforces a quick draft. Take a veteran of these boards....whoever...that might know a ton of guys. Now he announces he is doing a 4 hour draft. You know that league is not going to fill anywhere near the timeframe Mike fills his. I am just suggesting that over the years guys ( not all) are more interested in a short draft. And I believe you should have more of them.

Lastly, and this is a good problem if it happens, but what would be the plan if the NFBC grew another, say, 30% for live events. Would you cut it off, would you add more staff to administer all the live events, would we have to change venues in Vegas if the Park MGM could not accomodate ? Not sure if this would be great for you guys, or cause too many headaches. Either way, thanks for the work. A lot of people have an awful lot of fun being part of the NFBC.

Thanks for all of this Al.

We've found through the years that people like destination sites for the live events. We once thought we could host our live events in any major city and were quickly discouraged after hosting in Boston, Dallas, Tampa and other major cities. Chicago has a huge population base to draw from, but we get more people from that area coming to Las Vegas than going to Chicago. We understand that.

We are the ONLY high-stakes contest to offer live events in cities outside of Las Vegas and we understand why. Not everyone wants just a local venue, they want a destination site. And Las Vegas is the best destination site for these customers.

Yes, the quicker drafts are getting more interest and we expect the DC Express leagues to do very well this year as we head into February and March. We would love to do more quicker drafts and hell we could create Sit 'n Go drafts at 1 minute per pick that would start as soon as they filled if that's what people want. But at $150 per team, that might be a bit much to chew off. But if anyone wants to create a thread that has a 1 Hour DC where everyone knows we're hoping to finish in 2 or 3 days, we'll set them up and monitor as needed.

We can easily grow another 30% and handle everything in Las Vegas or New York. I mean the key is securing enough space, while not securing too much space. We pay to use all of this space that they reserve for us. We have enough ballroom space right now at Park MGM to grow 30% if needed and we certainly have the personnel to handle that growth. Park MGM has given us a lot of space on Friday through Sunday, so let's keep filling up these leagues. We can handle it.

We love hosting these live events and are glad that everyone loves them. This year will be a great, great live event season. Thanks.

[Ando]

Kind of a negative topic here, but one I have thought about concerning my relationship with the NFBC and this hobby, so I am sure you have thought about it too.

Are worried about a potential work stoppage/strike? Have you guys prepared for this? If one occurs are you folks dead and gone if baseball misses a year or at least enough to where your "handle" is half of what you expect it to be? Or have you laid out a contingency plan to stomach a stoppage and a potential missed year?

I took a 5 year hiatus from Vegas for kids/family/new home/etc reasons. Giese laid out a path of wine bottles from Central IL to Vegas last year, so I figured out a way to make it out there. This year, I'm leaving my family in AZ on Spring Break a day early to head north and draft---the main reason being my fear this option won't be available to me in 2022, so I better take a bite out of the apple while it's still bearing fruit.

[Packman]

Greg and Tom,

As I sit here nervously awaiting the Packers game tomorrow evening, I'd like to get my mind off of it for a few minutes and ask about the Brewers. I'm pretty disappointed with the off-season so far. Coming off back-to-back playoff appearances with 96 and then 89 wins, respectively, I was really hoping they'd try and keep that momentum going and bring in some free agent(s) of consequence. Replacing Grandal with Narvaez is an obvious downgrade, but at least they did something there to try and soften the blow. But I am nonplussed with the other moves. Jedd Gyorko, Justin Smoak, Eric Sogard, Ryon Healy? Come on. I"m okay with the Avisail Garcia signing. And the lineup as a whole should still be pretty good. I guess what I'm most disappointed about is that they didn't make a move to get a good SP to help Woodruff anchor our rotation. Eric Lauer and Brett Anderson don't do it for me. As good as the 2018 season was, they were a SP short that year too. And then they doubled down with the same pitching approach last year, won 7 less games, and got bounced in the Wild Card game right away. According to this article (https://www.brewcrewball.com/2020/1/18/ ... n-update-3), the payroll last year was ~$123M. It currently sits at ~$99M, with some arbitration cases likely to up that some, but not $20+M. Why are they cutting payroll after back-to-back playoff appearances? I'd rather they used the $8.5M they will be paying for Sogard and Smoak and at least some of that $20M payroll savings over last year to go get a big SP. I sure hope they prove me wrong, or maybe still have some moves yet to come. But I was hoping for more. I know Counsell loves SPs to go 4-5 IP and then turn it over to the bullpen. And past Woodruff, that's going to be the whole rest of the rotation. That has been shown it can work for stretches, even long stretches sometimes, but it is sure asking a lot out of your bullpen all year long to do that. What are your guys' thoughts on the Brewers' off-season, and prospects for 2020? Am I being too critical?

[Edwards Kings]

I like the questions above and will add some of my own, though I feel Milwaukee has been one of the more active teams in the division (Urias, Garcia, Lauer). Will Braun play first with Cain, Yelich and Garcia getting most OF PA's? And don't forget Lindblom in the rotation ( ). Seriously, the Brew Crew has done real well (i.e. competitive/playoffs) without (many) marquee arms as starters, but I do wonder at this starting staff that seems a little behind Pittsburgh in starter depth. Whispers of trades pending or will the magic waters of Milwaukee be able to get more out of these arms than expected?

Actually, it is almost as if most of the NL Central Division is standing pat or contemplating subtractions. I wonder why? Will the Cubbies trade Bryant/Contreras just to get under the cap? The Pirates have some young talent making noise (Reynolds, Newman, Keller) but will they really trade Marte? Even if St. Louis brings back Ozuna, that would be basically standing pat from 2019 (hoping for a little more health maybe). Are they just banking of the lack of divisional activity and a prayer of health to keep them competitive? Even the Reds seem to have made most of their strategic moves last year, but still brought in Akiyama and Moustakas. Do you think the Reds are the team to beat in the Central? Seems strange to feel the Reds have the deepest pitching staff in the division.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Kind of a negative topic here, but one I have thought about concerning my relationship with the NFBC and this hobby, so I am sure you have thought about it too.

Are worried about a potential work stoppage/strike? Have you guys prepared for this? If one occurs are you folks dead and gone if baseball misses a year or at least enough to where your "handle" is half of what you expect it to be? Or have you laid out a contingency plan to stomach a stoppage and a potential missed year?

I took a 5 year hiatus from Vegas for kids/family/new home/etc reasons. Giese laid out a path of wine bottles from Central IL to Vegas last year, so I figured out a way to make it out there. This year, I'm leaving my family in AZ on Spring Break a day early to head north and draft---the main reason being my fear this option won't be available to me in 2022, so I better take a bite out of the apple while it's still bearing fruit.

Thanks for the questions Matt.

We are facing a potential work stoppage in baseball and football in the next two years as the NFL labor agreement ends after the 2020 season. However, there is hope that the NFL will agree to a new labor deal before March as the two sides are closer than ever to an agreement. Baseball certainly seems more acrimonious with an acrimonious new commissioner flexing his muscles, but does Major League Baseball really think it can afford a work stoppage after this latest sign stealing scandal?

Here's how we're approaching both labor deals: It's business as usual. We were in this same situation in 2011 when the NFL had a lockout into training camps before settling. We continued with Draft Champions leagues and we had hotel deals in Las Vegas and New York City for the live drafts even though there was a lockout. It just seemed at the time that there was too much at stake to have a real work stoppage, so we forged ahead as planned and hoped for the best. With even more on the line now, we believe both sides will work things out in the NFL and MLB, as well.

I mean, if baseball or football had a work stoppage that included a full season of play we'd be hurting just like every other company that depends on the games to survive. Fortunately we don't rely on just one sport as we run baseball, football, basketball and hockey games, as do our sister companies in CDM and Fanball. We'd be able to weather the storm if just one of the sports shut down. Would we be hurting? Absolutely. As would everyone else. But I just don't see baseball or football walking away from $10+ billion by skipping an entire season and have their fan bases move onto another sport or just something else entirely.

I'm confident this option will be available in 2022. I'm confident the NFFC option will be available in 2021. I'm confident because even the owners can't be that stupid. They just can't be.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg and Tom,

As I sit here nervously awaiting the Packers game tomorrow evening, I'd like to get my mind off of it for a few minutes and ask about the Brewers. I'm pretty disappointed with the off-season so far. Coming off back-to-back playoff appearances with 96 and then 89 wins, respectively, I was really hoping they'd try and keep that momentum going and bring in some free agent(s) of consequence. Replacing Grandal with Narvaez is an obvious downgrade, but at least they did something there to try and soften the blow. But I am nonplussed with the other moves. Jedd Gyorko, Justin Smoak, Eric Sogard, Ryon Healy? Come on. I"m okay with the Avisail Garcia signing. And the lineup as a whole should still be pretty good. I guess what I'm most disappointed about is that they didn't make a move to get a good SP to help Woodruff anchor our rotation. Eric Lauer and Brett Anderson don't do it for me. As good as the 2018 season was, they were a SP short that year too. And then they doubled down with the same pitching approach last year, won 7 less games, and got bounced in the Wild Card game right away. According to this article (https://www.brewcrewball.com/2020/1/18/ ... n-update-3), the payroll last year was ~$123M. It currently sits at ~$99M, with some arbitration cases likely to up that some, but not $20+M. Why are they cutting payroll after back-to-back playoff appearances? I'd rather they used the $8.5M they will be paying for Sogard and Smoak and at least some of that $20M payroll savings over last year to go get a big SP. I sure hope they prove me wrong, or maybe still have some moves yet to come. But I was hoping for more. I know Counsel loves SPs to go 4-5 IP and then turn it over to the bullpen. And past Woodruff, that's going to be the whole rest of the rotation. That has been shown it can work for stretches, even long stretches sometimes, but it is sure asking a lot out of your bullpen all year long to do that. What are your guys' thoughts on the Brewers' off-season, and prospects for 2020? I am being too critical?

Michael,

Go Pack Go!! I was at Lambeau Field on Sunday night for a FANTASTIC night of football and a FANTASTIC win. I'm not sure I've had more fun there in my 50+ years of going to Packer games. It was a special night for sure. Tonight will be tough, but in ARod we trust.

There's a lot of rumblings around here involving the Brewers' off-season. Remember, while they are a small market team they finished 8th in MLB in home attendance with 2,923,333 fans, averaging over 36,000 per home game. This is NOT the time to cut player payroll when the fan base is hungry and the team has come so close the last two years. There's a lot of trust in David Stearns and the Brewers' management, but they've lost some key parts of these last two years and there's some uneasiness around here.

That being said, there was no way the Brewers would/could pay Mike Moustakas $64 million over 4 years like the Reds did. They got two great years out of him for a bargain salary and now it's time to move on. They also wouldn't/couldn't pay Yasmani Grandal $73 million over 4 years like the White Sox did. They got him cheap last year, but now it's time to move on. Same with Drew Pomeranz and his $34 million 4-year deal with the Padres. Move on.

Stearns has done a great job finding useful veterans and getting them to play for a new contract and the hope is that he hits on one of these veterans this year. To me, the worry is that he keeps putting all his hopes on their young starting pitchers rather than getting an ace via free agency or a trade and taking some of the pressure off the other starters. No idea if Lauer or Anderson makes them better with Woodruff, but I'm positive their starting pitching still needs help.

It sure seems like they've fallen behind St. Louis, Chicago and even Cincinnati right now. He still has more moves to make, so I'll stay optimistic. But right now you'd have to question if this is more than a .500 team in a tough division. But let's give Stearns some time and trust because I think there's more work to be done. But you're not alone in the skepticism; just follow Tom Haudricourt on Twitter and you'll see all the angst from Brewer fans. Go Crew.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I like the questions above and will add some of my own, though I feel Milwaukee has been one of the more active teams in the division (Urias, Garcia, Lauer). Will Braun play first with Cain, Yelich and Garcia getting most OF PA's? And don't forget Lindblom in the rotation ( ). Seriously, the Brew Crew has done real well (i.e. competitive/playoffs) without (many) marquee arms as starters, but I do wonder at this starting staff that seems a little behind Pittsburgh in starter depth. Whispers of trades pending or will the magic waters of Milwaukee be able to get more out of these arms than expected?

Actually, it is almost as if most of the NL Central Division is standing pat or contemplating subtractions. I wonder why? Will the Cubbies trade Bryant/Contreras just to get under the cap? The Pirates have some young talent making noise (Reynolds, Newman, Keller) but will they really trade Marte? Even if St. Louis brings back Ozuna, that would be basically standing pat from 2019 (hoping for a little more health maybe). Are they just banking of the lack of divisional activity and a prayer of health to keep them competitive? Even the Reds seem to have made most of their strategic moves last year, but still brought in Akiyama and Moustakas. Do you think the Reds are the team to beat in the Central? Seems strange to feel the Reds have the deepest pitching staff in the division.

Wayne,

They've said that the plan is for Braun to still play LF, but expect him to play some at first base. It would be the right move and it's not like he's unfamiliar with the infield, having been drafted as a shortstop and then moving to third base. He can handle first base.

As I said above, yes there's concern about this starting rotation. I don't think they're done making deals yet, but Woodruff, Lauer, Anderson and Lindbloom looks to be the top four. I'm not sure it's enough to compete in this division.

Yeah, the Cubs are taking some heat for their inactivity, too. They had CubsFest this weekend and Ricketts was booed as he talked about the new Marquee TV network that won't even be shown in every area of Chicago. It's not your dad's Cubs' franchise anymore.

I think the Cards are the team to beat and the Cubs still have a great nucleus of talent. Cincinnati has improved the most in this division, but let's see if they can put it together quickly. I've talked to Reds fans and even they are being cautiously optimistic. Nobody worries about Pittsburgh because year in and year out they make dumb decisions. Trading Marte would be another dumb decision.

Having the Brewers in the playoffs the last two years has been fun. Hopefully we can make it three in a row, but Counsell will have to work miracles to do that, something he certainly did last September.

[Darik B]

I'll simply answer questions about Greg and/or Tom, all things Twins (love the Donaldson signing...at least for 2020), boot hockey, frozen pizzas, and why Mike Zimmer is a terrible coach

[Yah Mule]

I'll simply answer questions about Greg and/or Tom, all things Twins (love the Donaldson signing...at least for 2020), boot hockey, frozen pizzas, and why Mike Zimmer is a terrible coach

Zimmer deserves everything he gets for being a jerk to Kyle Sloter.

[Yah Mule]

We are facing a potential work stoppage in baseball and football in the next two years as the NFL labor agreement ends after the 2020 season. However, there is hope that the NFL will agree to a new labor deal before March as the two sides are closer than ever to an agreement. Baseball certainly seems more acrimonious with an acrimonious new commissioner flexing his muscles, but does Major League Baseball really think it can afford a work stoppage after this latest sign stealing scandal?

I would hope both sides learned some lessons from 1994, but we can't rule out anything with a baseball commissioner who seems to openly dislike the sport itself.

The NFLPA always buckles.

[Edwards Kings]

I'll simply answer questions about Greg and/or Tom, all things Twins (love the Donaldson signing...at least for 2020), boot hockey, frozen pizzas, and why Mike Zimmer is a terrible coach

Darik, I am wondering why the Twinkies went all in on Donaldson...even without him they would have no problem generating offense. Why not grab a starter other than the Bailey's and Hills of the world?

[Darik B]

I'll simply answer questions about Greg and/or Tom, all things Twins (love the Donaldson signing...at least for 2020), boot hockey, frozen pizzas, and why Mike Zimmer is a terrible coach

Darik, I am wondering why the Twinkies went all in on Donaldson...even without him they would have no problem generating offense. Why not grab a starter other than the Bailey's and Hills of the world?

Rumblings are that they simply wanted Sano to concentrate on hitting and move to 1B. Cruz likely on last year (but who knows?), and I think they view Donaldson as a stop-gap at 3B, and likely a DH, maybe as soon as next season if Cruz isn't with the team. I think they would have loved to get another SP, but the market was just not there as the big guys were off the board...and many simply won't come here. Last season's success with the bats I'm sure in part led to bringing Donaldson aboard...the more offense the better. They'll try to get into the tourney again based off that, and figure out the P when they get there.

A step up from Berrios, similar years from Odorizzi and Pineda, and contributions from Bailey, Hill, et al might be enough. Graterol is the real deal and my hope is they have him humming as an SP come September. 100+ healhty innings from Hill, used properly, will really help. It also won't be a shock if Eddie Rosario gets moved for some pitching..keep hearing about Pabo Lopez of MIA. Twins have enough versatility (Arraez) and help coming (Kiriloff, Lewis, even Larnach) to do this deal, or something like it.....we'll see what happens

[Edwards Kings]

I'll simply answer questions about Greg and/or Tom, all things Twins (love the Donaldson signing...at least for 2020), boot hockey, frozen pizzas, and why Mike Zimmer is a terrible coach

Darik, I am wondering why the Twinkies went all in on Donaldson...even without him they would have no problem generating offense. Why not grab a starter other than the Bailey's and Hills of the world?

Rumblings are that they simply wanted Sano to concentrate on hitting and move to 1B. Cruz likely on last year (but who knows?), and I think they view Donaldson as a stop-gap at 3B, and likely a DH, maybe as soon as next season if Cruz isn't with the team. I think they would have loved to get another SP, but the market was just not there as the big guys were off the board...and many simply won't come here. Last season's success with the bats I'm sure in part led to bringing Donaldson aboard...the more offense the better. They'll try to get into the tourney again based off that, and figure out the P when they get there.

A step up from Berrios, similar years from Odorizzi and Pineda, and contributions from Bailey, Hill, et al might be enough. Graterol is the real deal and my hope is they have him humming as an SP come September. 100+ healhty innings from Hill, used properly, will really help. It also won't be a shock if Eddie Rosario gets moved for some pitching..keep hearing about Pabo Lopez of MIA. Twins have enough versatility (Arraez) and help coming (Kiriloff, Lewis, even Larnach) to do this deal, or something like it.....we'll see what happens

Nice. Thanks Darik.

[Yah Mule]

Settle a bet for me. The Kwang-hyun Kim listed in the database as a FA is also the Kwang-hyun Kim who was signed by St Louis.

[Darik B]

Settle a bet for me. The Kwang-hyun Kim listed in the database as a FA is also the Kwang-hyun Kim who was signed by St Louis.

They are indeed one-in-the-same. We'll merge them. We originally added him early in DC drafting season and then we received him in our stats feed ID upgrade as well. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We topped 300 Main Event signups yesterday on our way to hopefully 600 teams in 2020. The 300 number is still a magic number to me because in 2004 when we debuted the contest the $100,000 grand prize was based on that number. League prizes were much lower than they were now, but to get that grand prize to $100,000 we needed 300 teams in 2004.

Of course, as most of you know, we finished with only 195 teams and took a pretty big loss that year. Beyond the Main Event, we had only four AL-only or NL-only auction leagues to go with that, so there was no other revenue to make up for the miss in the Main Event. But we hit our goal of 300 teams in 2005 and the Main Event has sold out for 15 straight years. We sure hope to sell out this year as well and at this pace we should do just that.

We are ahead of last year's pace in the Main Event when we finished with 570 teams, so secure your teams when you are ready. The live events are filling nicely -- we're working on our 6th Main Event league in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 21st at 11 am PT -- and Online Mains are filling nicely as well. Secure your spot so that you're not left out of the industry's premiere contest.

Thanks for all the support everyone and get ready for a record year in the NFBC. Single-season baseball contests are alive and well as you can see in the NFBC!!

[Edwards Kings]

Heees Baaaaack! So what do you think about the Astros bringing on Crusty Baker? I hear he already has the team running....

[Yah Mule]

I think it's a pretty solid hire. I know people will worry the analytics side will suffer, but they need a people person right now. Those players are going to catch tons of shit on the road and maybe some at home, too. Dusty is as solid a choice as any to steer them out of this mess.

[mdecav]

Any updates with my suggested mobile UI/UX fixes I've posted previously on these boards?

Also, I noticed you added position in the History page to accommodate the Will Smith issue. FYI... the positions are not always correct there. For example you have Miguel Cabrera at utility. Can't you just list the position(s) they qualify for?

[Thurman15]

Oh man.....I'm not keen on the Dusty Baker signing. True, they need an experienced guy to take them through the road games, where they will be abused badly, but Dusty is too old and living in the past for me. You can't win now if you don't believe in analytics. I'm not sure what Dusty would say about that, but regardless, I can't see him really believing in that. I'm a huge Yankees fan, but when they let Girardi go and hired Aaron Boone I was completely on board with it. Girardi is a mix....he understands analytics somewhat, but not enough. The best "Manager in waiting" , in my opinion, is Eduardo Perez. His understanding of the game is excellent. The game is changing. Experience is not as valuable as some think. And just for the record, I'm an old school guy, but I can understand the analytics.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Any updates with my suggested mobile UI/UX fixes I've posted previously on these boards?

Also, I noticed you added position in the History page to accommodate the Will Smith issue. FYI... the positions are not always correct there. For example you have Miguel Cabrera at utility. Can't you just list the position(s) they qualify for?

The History isn't designed to show every eligible position for every player. There is limited space there. It shows that in other places. It shows his most played position, which in Cabrera's case is UT. I'm glad we added it and it solves one issue that will help everyone. Thanks for noticing.

[Greg Ambrosius]

This is specifically for Steve Jupinka: The lost year of 2010 has been found and is now available for viewing!!

We just added the 2010 results to all of your Historical Teams pages and it is now part of the Historical overall standings. Just go to My Teams and pull down to My Historical Teams. Then click on Baseball and pull down to Overall Standings. Then pull All Years to 2010. It is labeled as Classic right now, but we'll change that to Main Event. Auction Championship and the Online Championship is also listed there.

We are still trying to convert 2017 there and have released the Career Standings without that year. More details on that shortly.

[Greg Ambrosius]

First of all, thanks to everyone who has jumped into the Draft Champions leagues so far. We just topped 2,000 teams today among the $150, $400 and $1,000 entry levels, so thanks very much and enjoy your leagues.

Secondly, thanks to everyone who is competing and keeping these drafts moving. In years past, these message boards were filled with people complaining about the DCs and the slow pace of them. While they always could be faster, I'm watching several DCs that get done between 7 and 14 days, some even sooner. There's one that started on Tuesday that is in Round 28 today.

Thirdly, thanks to everyone who pushed us to improve the DCs through the years, from moving the 8 hour clock to 4 hours. From adding 2 hour and even 1 hour DCs. To easily sign up 15 for a "fast" league that is smooth and painless. From moving the clock after Round 30 in half. From adding auto for every single round and separate queues for every single round. Heck, from suggesting that DCs should be 50 rounds instead of 45 rounds (they were 45 rounds the first year). All have been positive changes.

Everyone said that they loved the DC concept when we first introduced it a decade ago. Everyone said they would likely do more if they were more enjoyable and could be done quicker. We worked with IT to make this possible and right now these are running very smoothly.

And we are on pace for a record season of Draft Champions teams and leagues. It's amazing how many leagues are drafting at once, so enjoy everyone. But know that we are very THANKFUL for all the input from everyone here because your help made these more timely and more enjoyable. Onward and upward with this great, great format.