Hey all! We’ve got an opening in The Finer Things Club, a $20 Fangraphs Points league that’s set to draft on March 3rd. The squad is in solid shape finishing 2nd last year, making it OPL eligible. You can check out the squad here:
https://ottoneu.fangraphs.com/1231/team?team=8518
Come join us!
The squad is available on the Claim a Team page here: Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball
Team Name: Big Gabby Style
League Name: The Finer Things Club
I would like to claim this team…However I did not see it on the claim list…If it’s still available, how do I actually sign up to be it’s manager…Scotty Mac
That’s great! It is still available. To claim the team you just need to log in to Ottoneu and head to this page: Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball
The team is under the “Expired Teams” listing at Big Gibby Style. You can click on “Name” on the header bar and it will alphabetically sort the names. You’ll have to pay the entry fee then you’ll get one round of free cuts to get the roster legal and ready to draft. Feel free to post any other questions!
Totally new to Ottoneu…How do we cut players and how many players are we allowed to have on roster? Is this a dynasty league?
Oh man, welcome to the best fantasy baseball game out there. I would start by exploring this article: What is Ottoneu? | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball and going from there. Check it out before you dive in. There are a ton of other great articles and resources out there too.
I would describe Ottoneu as a modified dynasty league. You are able to maintain a 40 man roster with a $400 salary cap. Every year a player’s salary increases by two dollars if they played in the major leagues the previous year. There is also an end of season arbitration process where teams can assign specific players an additional salary increase. You can keep a player for as long as you want, so long as you can afford him.
Right now everyone’s roster is frozen as they prepare for the draft. Normally during the off-season you are allowed to trade players with other teams up until the January 31 roster cut deadline. By January 31 all teams must cut players down to a legal roster. A legal roster is one with 40 or fewer players at or below the $400 salary cap. Every open roster spot and every open dollar below those numbers is what you have available to draft. Since you are taking over this team after that January 31 deadline, you will be permitted to cut any players you want from your roster to get legal. Note that you’ll need to cut all the players you want at once.
With this team in particular, it is currently at a salary of $552 with 43 players rostered. That means you need to cut at least three players and clear at least $152 worth of salary cap. In practice, you will want to cut more players than that and more money than that so that you are able to participate in the draft. In the draft any players not currently rostered by a team is available. So, for example, if you cut down to a roster of 20 players at a salary cap of $250, you would be able to draft 20 players and spend $150 to do so.
I’d be happy to answer any other questions you have. There’s a bit of an initial learning curve, but it’s very worth it.
Am I able to change the name once I claim it? Also, this league format is similar to rotisserie where there is no head to head playing right? Just everyone trying to compile as many points to finish near top of league right?
You are able and encouraged to change the team name. And that’s correct - you’re just looking to accumulate as many points as possible. No head to head matchups. On the offensive side you have a game cap of 162 games for 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, five OF, MI, and UTIL. You have 163 catcher games, but two spots by which to achieve it. So it is not a standard two catcher league. You have 1500 innings cap on the pitching side.
Valuing players is pretty different here from your standard leagues. Chad Young has a series of values for 2023 that are worth checking out: Chad Young’s 2023 Ottoneu SP Rankings | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball
Those are the SP rankings, but there are links to all the other positions.
Be sure to review that before you put in your round of cuts!
Ok I was added to your league…After I cut players, am I able to reach out to other teams to make trades, or do I have to wait till after the draft to do that?
No trades until after the draft I’m afraid. So right now you just need to cut and plan for the draft. If you want to run your cuts by me feel free to do so. I’d recommend playing around with your roster organizer, which you can find here: Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball - home - The Finer Things Club
You can move players around to your lineup or bench, or you can mark them as cut and it’ll give you an idea of what your roster and cap space will look like if you cut those guys.