Fantasy football season is only days away. FantasySP has been beefed up for this year’s fantasy season to help you win games. What you see below is an overview of changes for this fantasy football season, but more changes and updates will be planned throughout the season.
Fantasy Assistant for NFL now supports categories for waiver wire suggestions ranging from passing yards to receiving targets. A dozen different categories to choose from.
Who knows if and when Alex Rodriguez will be suspended for PED use, but we do know he is on fire right now.
Analysis: Rodriguez has homered in back to back games and now has 4 home runs in 20 games played. He’s also put together a four game hitting streak and has his batting average up to .284 with a sustainable BABIP. Among third baseman with at least 50 at bats Alex has a top ten OBP, wOBA and OPS. Alex also has 2 stolen bases to his credit. Over the last two weeks Alex has been a top ten fantasy third baseman and as long as he isn’t suspended he will produce enough to merit a pick up.
I can understand why many fantasy owners are hesitant to acquire A-Rod. But… he’s getting on base, getting tons of at bats and his power seems to be resurfacing. Shockingly, Rodriguez is available in 30-40% of fantasy leagues. Third base isn’t necessarily thin this year but David Wright is banged up and Ryan Zimmerman and Kung Fu Panda are underperforming.
It doesn’t hurt to consider the thirty-eight year old and unlike A-Rod there isn’t anything to lose.
Roy Halladay made his first start in over three months Sunday as he returned from a shoulder injury.
Analysis: Halladay pitched 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He only K’d two batters which is cause for concern considering he was striking out nine batters per nine innings prior to his stint on the disabled list. Overall it was a solid performance but can he be trusted in roto leagues not to blow up your ratios?
Who knows what the rest of the season will hold for Doc Halladay but we do know he is playing for a new contract since the Phillies will not pick up his $20 million 2014 option. It is unclear if Halladay can be trusted considering his velocity is still down and it’s unlikely that he will go deep into games going forward. Perhaps the best move is to use the “wait and see” approach. If you can pick him up and stash him… that isn’t a bad option either.
Halladay is available in 35-80% of fantasy leagues.
Jose Quintana is quietly having a solid fantasy season in his second year in the majors after a sub 4.00 ERA rookie season.
Analysis: Quintana is only twenty-four years old but he’s the 58th best fantasy starter thus far this year. The future is bright for the lefty as he continues to be a model of consistency on the mound. Quintana has allowed more than three earned runs just once over his last ten starts. He’s struck out at least five batters in nine of his last ten starts and has four wins in that span. His 3.67 ERA is 45th in baseball, his 1.22 WHIP is 36th. He produces and is consistent, so why is he available in 40-85% of fantasy leagues?
We will know the answer to that question when someone can explain why Bruce Chen is owned in more fantasy leagues than Jose Quintana. People seem to love Chen’s 2.20 ERA through seven starts and some relief work but his xFIP this year is 4.84. Chen has had an xFIP north of 4.40 in each of his last ten seasons. Quintana’s first two years in terms of xFIP is better than Bruce Chen’s best year.
Our suite of fantasy sports tools have been extremely popular over the last several years. Many of you have been asking us if a mobile version of the trade analyzer or start sit tool would ever be available. Well, we have great news for you! As of today our optimized mobile versions are live on the mobile site. They offer the same great content and functionality, but in a smaller package. What better way to celebrate the fantasy football start or sit tool‘s first birthday!
For the rest of you, let’s quickly go over a few details so you guys can learn about what they look like, how to access them, and tips.
Mobile Start or Sit Tool
Just by looking at the picture to the right, you’ll notice that the tools have been completely redesigned from the ground up for your mobile phones. I wanted to make sure that the experience would be as fluid as possible and a lot of time and effort went into making sure they fit and look good on a variety of mobile phones and load fast. Things will work as expected and look great whether you have an Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or Windows phone.
The start or sit tools work exactly like the desktop version and showcases 7 categories to help decide who to sit or start in a given week or day. A decision on who to start or sit is shown at the very bottom of each decision with a percentage of certainty. We also provide trending trades or trending start decisions right underneath the main tool so you can see what everyone else is searching.
The trade analyzers look a lot different than the desktop version, but still offer the same in depth analysis and news. When a trade is processed you will notice that each player is listed under Team 1 or Team 2 vertically. A trade will have a stronger side or a weaker side. The goal is to be on the stronger side of a trade. Each player has their own interactive row that can be expanded to reveal their fantasy graph, stats, analysis, and latest player news.
So the real question is, how do you access them?
You will notice that our mobile site has a new footer at the bottom of every page for quick access. However, the majority of users won’t even have to do anything different and will automatically be shown the proper version of the start or sit tool or trade analyzer depending what device you use.
We will continue to push the envelope on our fantasy tools in 2013 and beyond. Keep an eye out for another major update coming soon to the trade analyzer.
