Was it sheer stupidity my exposing Zengine in all its nakedness to the readers of this column when I announced that I blindly relied on Zengine for my KFFL Expert league draft (refer to Grab Bag article “KFFL Expert Draft” of March 25)?
After all, the guys who play in the KFFL Expert League are not your typical first-timers who have not made the mental leap from a player’s popularity to a player’s fantasy worth; and, you know those guys from your own leagues. KFFL Expert League is played by reporters from respected fantasy baseball publications and web sites.
So, was using the Zengine a guileless risk? Knowing that the probability of failing in the KFFL Expert league is high, I wondered if I have subjected Zengine to a task that is better if kept under cover?
Well, as of April 13, two weeks into the season, the standings are (points in parens):
- CreativeSports-92
- Baseball America-88
- KFFL (Minnix)-78
- Fantasy Auctioneer-73.5
- FOX Sports-66
- Yahoo!-63
- Mock Draft Central-63
- RotoNation.com-57.5
- KFFL (Heaney)-56
- USA TODAY-55.5
- Mellnick & Greco.com-46.5
- Baseball HQ-4
Some of you more cynical readers may say “wait ‘till the end of the season”. I beg to disagree. All I ask from a draft is a competitive team. The quality of the draft, which is a key element of fantasy baseball, has the highest weight the first few weeks of the season. The two other components, unexpected injuries and manager’s attentiveness gain weight as the season progresses. Granted, Zengine ratings take into consideration players’ propensity to being injured, but it cannot do anything about a manager’s ability.
Mine is a strong team in all but one Roto category, stolen bases. That answers a question that has bounced around my head since my first Roto 5X5: “is it better to have a team that is balanced in all Roto categories or a team that has surrendered one category for the purpose of acquiring strength everywhere else?"
Obviously, we will see not only the answer to that question, but how the Zengine actually thinks about these issues as the season wears on. That is because I use Zengine rating to tweak my team during transaction periods.
Now, how that plays over the aggregate is to be seen. Rest assured I will be tracking and writing and letting you know as the season progresses.