There are three new owners to the JimmyJam League and four in the last two years.
Last year's new owner led his team to the World Series where he fell short, losing to the Gameday Gamblers (I know the feeling).
So this isn't our normal new owners who are just going to set the lineups (maybe) and give up in June. We have three new guys — David Walter, Brian Walter (both Gina's cousins and Vandelay Industries brothers) and our good old friend Buck Robbins. All three are baseball guys and they are excited to be a part of this League.
To the new owners: I understand that coming into the League with a roster filled with players already is not the greatest, but the biggest reason why I don't RESET and start over is because a large majority of us have been building our teams for five years and I think it would be rough for us to start over.
Some of us have made trades three years ago that are benefiting us now and some of us have made excellent draft and waiver moves that are paying off now, ala my drafting of Andrew McCutchen three years ago when he wasn't even in the major leagues. That has led me to have a franchise keeping center fielder.
That's just one example, all be it an example from my team, but there are others like that all around the League.
That being said, the teams you three guys are taking over vary in where they finished last year. Two were middle of the pack, and maybe could have been higher with some maintenance, and the other made the playoffs.
Each team has some excellent keepers, while at some spots there are some holes, but I'm sure you guys will be able to build your franchise to your liking.
First of all, there is the keeper system: This is explained at the top of the keeper page and on the blog (linked below), but we have a major keeper league/minor league system set up. It allows you to keep the core of your team while building the future. You don't necessarily have to partake in the minor league program, but you can if you want. The reason I implemented this system is so that way you can have the feeling of being a GM and building your own dynasty, kind of like what the Gamblers have going right now.
If you guys have any questions with this system, e-mail me. I'll explain it better for you.
Secondly: If you look at your squad right now and you feel like you need some more franchise players, there's always the chance to trade. In the JimmyJam League, we do have draft-picking trading going on — it turned on the day I set the draft date — and there are several teams that have too many players to keep that you might be able to steal away via trade rather than take your chances trying to grab them in the draft. Or you can turn one of your superstars in for a group of players, but that may be a July move when the deadline is approaching.
Plus: The two squads that didn't make the playoffs have the No. 3 and 4 picks in the draft, so that should give you guys a nice boost.
So in closing: I'm glad to have you three guys in the League. I know it will be fun and I hope you guys enjoy the challenge of building your franchises. I look forward to a more competitive fantasy baseball league. We've gone from having about six dedicated players to eight to now 12. This is an exciting day as we enter our fifth year of play. We encourage you guys to get involved in baseball discussions on the message board. I will do my best to keep stuff lively with blog writeups during the season. So good luck to you all.
Welcome back everyone!
You wouldn't know it with all the ice and snow, but it's time for baseball.
A few quick notes to start of 2011.
I changed up two things. Only one roster/scoring change and that is there is finally a "minimum" on pitching starts which is all I've asked for over the last five years. I've set it at five starts so you have to have your starters make five starts, otherwise, you'll lose all your pitching categories.
The other thing, which will be more noticeable, is the divisions. Instead of 12 teams split in two Leagues, I've made four divisions of three teams in each. To make it easy to distinguish everything, I was boring and went with baseball names for our Leagues and divisions.
It's simple. There's the National League and the American League. Each League is split up into an East and West Division. Everyone is still paired with the same five teams they were paired with last year. I split each former league up into two divisions.
The American League East includes the three Yankees fans: N.J. Bombers, Sex Panthers and Bad News Bears.
The American League West has new owner, Team John Tantric, and the Gameday Gamblers and the Stankinator.
The National League East has the Slammers, Industries and a new team, which will be Industries' brother taking over for my brother.
The National League West will have Team Suck, Backward Ks and Ronald Duncan.
The playoffs will have the same format (6 teams, two byes). The only difference will be that the division winners will all earn automatic bids to the playoffs. One wild-card team will come out of the American League and one will come out of the National League. The No. 1 seed in each League will get the BYE week in the first round of the playoffs and the other division winner and wild card will meet each other in the first round.
The schedule will change, too, to reflect the new divisions.
You will play the two other teams in your division four times, equaling eight total matchups. You'll play the other three teams in your League twice, totaling six more matchups. And you play each team in the opposite League (interleague play) once. This will total 20 weeks of fantasy baseball, which is one less than we normally have.
I think that covers everything. You can start selecting keepers. If you have any questions on keepers, contact me or refer to the blog: www.jimmysjargon.blogspot.com.
http://jimmysjargon.blogspot.com/2010/03/minor-leagues.html
Last year's new owner led his team to the World Series where he fell short, losing to the Gameday Gamblers (I know the feeling).
So this isn't our normal new owners who are just going to set the lineups (maybe) and give up in June. We have three new guys — David Walter, Brian Walter (both Gina's cousins and Vandelay Industries brothers) and our good old friend Buck Robbins. All three are baseball guys and they are excited to be a part of this League.
To the new owners: I understand that coming into the League with a roster filled with players already is not the greatest, but the biggest reason why I don't RESET and start over is because a large majority of us have been building our teams for five years and I think it would be rough for us to start over.
Some of us have made trades three years ago that are benefiting us now and some of us have made excellent draft and waiver moves that are paying off now, ala my drafting of Andrew McCutchen three years ago when he wasn't even in the major leagues. That has led me to have a franchise keeping center fielder.
That's just one example, all be it an example from my team, but there are others like that all around the League.
That being said, the teams you three guys are taking over vary in where they finished last year. Two were middle of the pack, and maybe could have been higher with some maintenance, and the other made the playoffs.
Each team has some excellent keepers, while at some spots there are some holes, but I'm sure you guys will be able to build your franchise to your liking.
First of all, there is the keeper system: This is explained at the top of the keeper page and on the blog (linked below), but we have a major keeper league/minor league system set up. It allows you to keep the core of your team while building the future. You don't necessarily have to partake in the minor league program, but you can if you want. The reason I implemented this system is so that way you can have the feeling of being a GM and building your own dynasty, kind of like what the Gamblers have going right now.
If you guys have any questions with this system, e-mail me. I'll explain it better for you.
Secondly: If you look at your squad right now and you feel like you need some more franchise players, there's always the chance to trade. In the JimmyJam League, we do have draft-picking trading going on — it turned on the day I set the draft date — and there are several teams that have too many players to keep that you might be able to steal away via trade rather than take your chances trying to grab them in the draft. Or you can turn one of your superstars in for a group of players, but that may be a July move when the deadline is approaching.
Plus: The two squads that didn't make the playoffs have the No. 3 and 4 picks in the draft, so that should give you guys a nice boost.
So in closing: I'm glad to have you three guys in the League. I know it will be fun and I hope you guys enjoy the challenge of building your franchises. I look forward to a more competitive fantasy baseball league. We've gone from having about six dedicated players to eight to now 12. This is an exciting day as we enter our fifth year of play. We encourage you guys to get involved in baseball discussions on the message board. I will do my best to keep stuff lively with blog writeups during the season. So good luck to you all.
Welcome back everyone!
You wouldn't know it with all the ice and snow, but it's time for baseball.
A few quick notes to start of 2011.
I changed up two things. Only one roster/scoring change and that is there is finally a "minimum" on pitching starts which is all I've asked for over the last five years. I've set it at five starts so you have to have your starters make five starts, otherwise, you'll lose all your pitching categories.
The other thing, which will be more noticeable, is the divisions. Instead of 12 teams split in two Leagues, I've made four divisions of three teams in each. To make it easy to distinguish everything, I was boring and went with baseball names for our Leagues and divisions.
It's simple. There's the National League and the American League. Each League is split up into an East and West Division. Everyone is still paired with the same five teams they were paired with last year. I split each former league up into two divisions.
The American League East includes the three Yankees fans: N.J. Bombers, Sex Panthers and Bad News Bears.
The American League West has new owner, Team John Tantric, and the Gameday Gamblers and the Stankinator.
The National League East has the Slammers, Industries and a new team, which will be Industries' brother taking over for my brother.
The National League West will have Team Suck, Backward Ks and Ronald Duncan.
The playoffs will have the same format (6 teams, two byes). The only difference will be that the division winners will all earn automatic bids to the playoffs. One wild-card team will come out of the American League and one will come out of the National League. The No. 1 seed in each League will get the BYE week in the first round of the playoffs and the other division winner and wild card will meet each other in the first round.
The schedule will change, too, to reflect the new divisions.
You will play the two other teams in your division four times, equaling eight total matchups. You'll play the other three teams in your League twice, totaling six more matchups. And you play each team in the opposite League (interleague play) once. This will total 20 weeks of fantasy baseball, which is one less than we normally have.
I think that covers everything. You can start selecting keepers. If you have any questions on keepers, contact me or refer to the blog: www.jimmysjargon.blogspot.com.
http://jimmysjargon.blogspot.com/2010/03/minor-leagues.html
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