Bizarre Fantasy Baseball League Ideas

by benzalman on Jan 16, 2009 9:24 PM EST

I'm planning on starting a league with some friends with an odd concept. Im curious if anyone has done something similar or done this specific idea...

The idea is to have an 8 team league and draft letters of the alphabet. Each team will thus have three letters. Say H, P and F. Then there would be an entirely separate player draft The players on your team have to have one of your letters start their first or last name. Here's what this random team could look like (i tried to make it look semi realistic):

C - Jorge Posada

1B - Ryan Howard

2B - Mike Fontenot

3B - Chone Figgins

SS - Rafael Furcal

OF - Hideki Matsui, Josh Hamilton, Matt Holliday

SP - Felix Hernandez, Jake Peavy, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, Hiroki Kuroda,

CL - Frankie Rodriguez, Frank Francisco

You run into some interesting questions like which letter would be the most valueable? J seems like it might be good. Ditto for H

Trades would obviously be difficult, but still possible. Lot of waiver wire action. Might be a better scoresheet type of league with minor leaguers etc.

What do you think?

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I’d join.

by Lt Melmo on Jan 16, 2009 11:11 PM EST reply actions

id hate to be the guy that gets stuck with x,z and q

by wildthang on Jan 17, 2009 12:46 AM EST reply actions

yea

You’d probably have to Snake it. Because the guys with R (Ramirez , Rodriguez, Reyes, Rollings come to mind) should have to get a Z

Remember: baseball guys... baseball...

by JD Sussman on Jan 17, 2009 2:53 AM EST up reply actions

Rollins**

Remember: baseball guys... baseball...

by JD Sussman on Jan 17, 2009 2:53 AM EST up reply actions

X, Z and Q . . .

C – Humberto Quintero – Hou/Gregg Zaun – FA
1B – Robb Quinlan – LAA
2B – Omar Quintanilla – Col
SS – David Xtein (Eckstein) – SD
3B – Ryan Zimmerman – Was
OF – Carlos Quentin – ChW
OF – Ben Zobrist (SS/OF eligible) – Min (?)
OF – Xavier Nady – NYY
SP – Zach Grienke – KC
SP – Carlos Zambrano – ChC
SP – Barry Zito – SF
SP – Zach Miner – Det
RP – Joel Zumaya – Det
RP – Brad Ziegler -Oak
RP – Chad Qualls – Ari

Yeah . . . that’s a rough lineup . . . but it has some bright spots . . . unfortunately there is very little bench left on the draft board

by mestifo on Jan 17, 2009 9:52 AM EST reply actions

If a guy has an H and another team has an R

Who gets preferences over guys like Ryan Howard and Hanley Ramirez??? This seems like a really horrible idea…. the team with R would dominate…. off the top of my head, here’s their roster with one letter…

Hanley Ramirez, Aramis Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano, Alex Rios, Brian Roberts, Mariano Rivera, Rickie Weeks, etc.

That’s 3 of the far and away best SS in baseball on one team.

I've got a McPheever, and only JoJo Reyes can help me!

by Buzz Bissinger on Jan 17, 2009 11:05 AM EST reply actions

if I am reading correctly . . .

there are two drafts . . . a letter draft and a player draft . . . in the player draft you can only draft those players whose 1st or last name starts with one of your drafted letters. It would be interesting, but I think it would lose it’s novelty quickly over all.

by mestifo on Jan 17, 2009 11:22 AM EST up reply actions

answers

The draft would snake. It would likely even have a reversed third round. EG:
Round 1 – Team 1 through 8
Round 2 Team 8 through 1
Round 3 Team 8 through 1

And as far as Ryan Howard or Hanley Ramirez, either team H or R could take them. So while some letters have power, other letters can trump in on them. R would certainly be a top pick…J might be a pretty smart one as well. All of the Jose, Jimmy, John, James, Johnson, Jack etc etc…

by benzalman on Jan 17, 2009 11:28 AM EST up reply actions

Couldn't you

only allow one letter every three rounds? Say you have the letter R, you have lots of possibilities, but you can only use it once every three rounds, instead of every round. That way, everyone has to use each letter they draft equally, limiting the dominance of any one particular letter.

I would totally be up for playing in a league like this, just something for fun and a change of pace.

"So's your mom"-David Sloane

by gatling on Jan 17, 2009 11:55 AM EST reply actions

Trading

You say there would be trading, but that would only happen in theory. You could only trade a player to one team, and therefore there is no market. It is nearly impossible to make a trade when only one team can bid and get a good deal. They would also need comparable players that could come back to you. This seems like a fun idea for one season, but in know way could you keep people interested in it as a dynasty.

by NMUWildcat027 on Jan 17, 2009 12:31 PM EST reply actions

Its only intended for fun and a change of pace

Not a dynasty thing. Trades could happen, but of you had H, you could only trade ryan howard to the team with R. As mentioned above, it’d be a lot more of playing the waiver wire.

It’s certainly a different way to have to plan a draft…

by benzalman on Jan 17, 2009 12:50 PM EST up reply actions

I think you could still have lots of trading options

but you’d be working three team type trades. You could also add a proviso saying each team can have one player only who’s name doesn’t start with one of your three letters, but it must be acquired thru a trade.

"So's your mom"-David Sloane

by gatling on Jan 17, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions

No offense...

But this seems like a silly twist to put on fantasy baseball…there is enough “luck” involved with injuries and what not…just my opinion(whick doesn’t mean much according to my wife!)

"Yesterday Is History, Tomorrow Is A Mystery, Today Is A Gift...That's Why We Call It The Present." Master Oogway (Kung Foo Panda)

by Kenner's Corner on Jan 17, 2009 5:47 PM EST reply actions