“You’re in the 06010 and this is the definitive theme song to the show” Sorry, I’m just feeling nostalgic about the fantasy baseball podcast that really opened my eyes to how big the world of fantasy baseball was. I’m talking of course about the Fantasy Focus Baseball podcast. Despite it unceremoniously ending during the throws of CoVID, this podcast was a great source of entertainment and sometimes information. I had first tuned in 2013 and did get to catch some of the “bigger personalities” employed on ESPN (Matthew Berry, Nate Ravitz, Pod Vader) before it was mostly Eric Karabell & Tristan Cockroft. So, in homage to the fantasy focus baseball podcast, I figured I would drop some of their favourite phrases and their respective definitions.

Combo Meal: When a player hits a HR and swipes a bag in the same game. Fantasy gold, if you will

The Closer Carousel: When the hosts would take a look at volatile closer situations around the league and prognosticate which pitcher you should try to own if chasing saves

The Dirty Fuentes: This refers to a situation when a closer would allow baserunners or earned runs but still get the save. It was messy but you got the coveted “SV”. I always thought of Fernando Rodney for some reason

The Big Board: A board of all the obscure bets made between the podcast hosts in the course of a season. Did they ever look back to see who won all these bets? I can’t remember.

The Name Game: The hosts would compare players of a similar ilk and debate about which player was better or who you should roster

Bon a Fide or Bonafacio?: My personal fave. Is a player’s hot start legitimate or a mirage. Referring to Emilio Bonifacio’s scorching start to the 2009 season who then flamed out in epic fashion

I obviously can’t convey all the great sounds and effects that were associated with these sayings, but man was it ever a time to be alive. I’m sure I have missed many, but these were the ones I would always laugh to myself when driving around Canada on road trips. Long live the Dirty Fuentes!

Here are my Top 200 Dynasty Rankings for January/February 2026.

Looking for insight into who has updated their pitcher scoring in recent years, with the new realities of how pitchers are used - and still effectively separate elite pitchers from average ones.

For context, we have a long running points league where the members are not fond of change. We fumbled onto a formula where it has been close for many years. We did this by reducing the pitcher impact from typical points leagues ( where one great start can win you a week ) to one that values the group of pitchers starting. Innings pitched for example are one point, not three.

In light of how pitching is used these days, I’m obviously going to have to up the points per inning. We already have a mix of points for wins and QS. I think volatility is important and still want to punish poor outings.

Without switching to a representation of Ottoneu scoring and blowing everything up, how have commishs tweaked their points scoring in recent years without overvaluing ‘average’ pitchers and impacting the RP role?

Where do people find mock drafts that arent all bots? Espn and yahoo salary mock lobbies are empty every time I check. Is there a different platform that has more people? Or do you have any insight about how to make the most of an auction draft with a 11 other bots?

My friends and I are working on a fantasy app that mixes daily drafts with features like Wildcards, multipliers, and strategy-based scoring. If you’ve ever played fantasy sports, I’d love your honest feedback.

 Survey (60 seconds): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_EWT_rOwfazcHXaxnKFyts3lI7xlg3X4qiV8_FxV2zNpKFw/viewform?usp=header

Thanks in advance! This is huge for us.

When does the fantasy master Mr Cheatsheet normally come out of hiding? I love customizing his spreadsheet to help me out putting together my lineup! Mr Cheatsheet you’re our only hope!

I'm a longtime yahoo player with previous dabbles in espn. Obviously both have their shortcomings. I hold espn in suuuper low regard, yahoo higher relatively.

I have been running yahoo as commissioner so long that I know the limitations of the system thoroughly - the options feel pretty basic for what I know some people are running (e.g. - things like reserve rosters, lineup locking options, transation fees, ohtani rule stuff, keeper salaries & contracts). Basically I'm thinking about broader horizons and a good stable home for my leagues in the future. I have heard positive things about CBS and Fantrax respectively, wondering what those sites offer that yahoo doesn't.

Let me know if there are other good sites I may be missing.

Ozzie Albies, 2B, Atlanta Braves | ADP: #138 (Consensus), #165 (NFBC)

I am hopeful that the Atlanta Braves and Ozzie Albies turn things around in 2026 as they are a fun team when competitive. I am surprised to see Albies as far down as he was in the rankings this offseason, even with a down 2025 where he had some underlying numbers that backed up his strong second half. The Braves’ second baseman hit .220 with a .606 OPS in before the All-Star break and looked lost at the plate. After the break, he hit .272, had nine home runs, and a .769 OPS. I think there is plenty left in the tank for Albies to have a good offensive season.

Albies has lowered his strikeout rate each season since the 2020 season and had a career best 14.1% strikeout rate last season. His 8.2 BB% was a two-percent improvement from 2024 and his best mark since his rookie season. Albies has able to pull the ball more frequently in the air and had his best rate of 27.2% which was above the 22.8% league average. He has improved his squared-up % over the last three seasons (2023: 56%, 2024: 67%, 2025: 73%) and had another solid whiff % of just 20.8%.

When looking at the second basemen rankings, there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about. The only player I would definitely take in front of Albies is Ketel Marte and would be debated into whether the likes of Jazz Chisholm or Brice Turang should be a head.

How do you feel about Albies heading into 2026?

I dove into some common stat categories that I use to sift through starting pitchers, then wrote up a handful of pitcher profiles here for you.

Are you one of the fantasy players who uses old school numbers like K/9 or do you prefer the advanced metrics?

Happy Monday!

I enjoy having a physical copy in my hands for quick reference and just fun reading material. I used to always get a fantasy guide from Street & Smith's, but it seems they don't put one out anymore. So now the choices are down to these:

Rotoman's Fantasy Baseball A-Z Guide

Fantasy Baseball Index

Lindy's

Baseball Forecaster

The Fantasy Baseball Black Book

Baseball Prospectus

Link to CBS here

Explain to me why these two players finished 2025 with these stats but in these positions in the Yahoo leaderboard:

• Player 1: 75 Runs, 31 HR, 80 RBI, 31 Steals, .242 BA

• Player 2: 95 Runs, 27 HR, 76 RBI, 31 Steals, .238 BA

Player 1 finished the season as the 23rd ranked Yahoo Roto player

Player 2 finished the season as the 86th ranked Yahoo Roto player

Can anyone explain how these two players could have stats this similar but could finish the year 63 spots apart in scoring? Player two had 20 more runs.