Fantasy Baseball 2010

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Fantasy baseball registration for 2010 has begun and I'm on a mission to make my league better than ever. I'm going to experiment with a mix of settings, roster positions and stat categories that should cover all the bases (that's me trying to be funny).

Size Matters
I'm hoping to foreshadow my FFL's size and playoff structure with this year's FBL settings. I'm shooting for 16 total teams, 4 divisions, 6 in the playoffs (comprised of the 4 division leaders and 2 wildcards).

Rosters
I'm primarily sticking with the Yahoo default roster; individual infield positions, 3 common outfield, 6 pitchers and 4 bench. The batting lineup will be 8 deep. The pitching staff will allow for any mix of starters, relievers and closers; but will entice managers to have a few more pitchers from the bullpen than ever before.

Scoring
The scoring structure is always what I spend the most time contemplating on. As always, it's a H2H league. I usually start off brainstorming on new ideas for scoring each match up, then back-out at the last minute and revert to the Yahoo default. This year I'm sticking with my game plan and there are several new stat categories that I think will make this FBL better than the ones before.

Total Bases
Not to be confused with Stolen Bases. Total Bases can only be scored as a result of a Hit. I replace Home Runs with this stat with the idea that there is usually never any reward for a player to hit for multiple bases. Players who hit Doubles and Triples didn't help your team out in my past FBLs. Total Bases covers both multiple hits and Home Runs, it refers to how many bases a player gained as a result of a hit. This is how it works: TB=1B+(2x2B)+(3x3B)+(4xHR). All the top home run hitter do well in this category and I think it will be good to finally include those hitters who hit for multiple bases as top priorities for your line-up.

Putouts & Assists
I once experimented with the Fielding Percentage stat in hopes to include fielding into my FBL. It proved to be a boring stat and pretty much irrelevant to what having a good team should be. I still feel a desire to include fielding in my FBL. Fielding is too important to leave out. Putouts and Assists will award points to those players who matter most in the MLB and its inclusion into this FBL will give manager more to think about and make it more fun. Here is what a Putout and Assist are:
A Putout is recorder when: tagging a runner with the ball, tagging a base, catching a 3rd strike, and catching a fly ball.
An Assist is recorded when: a player touches the ball prior to a Putout.
Interesting fact: Albert Pujols recorded the most Putouts with 1473. Aaron Hill had the most Assists followed by Miguel Tejada.

Holds
The final new stat category to mention are Holds. In my previous FBL there was not much need for relief pitchers aside from a closer. Even stocking up on quality bullpen players like Hideki Okajima, for strikeouts, would let you down because you would likely sacrifice too many Wins and Saves by having him on your team. Having a category for Holds requires managers to think more about their pitching staff. I'm hoping the result is that manager will construct a realistic pitching staff on their team. Here is the definition of a hold:
A Hold is recorded when a reviler gives way to another reviler without giving up the lead in a Save situation. That pitcher must also record 1 out.
So if the O's are up 3-1, Gutherie is pulled for Johnson, who is then pulled for Ray, who earns a save with a O's 3-2 win; Johnson would earn a Hold.