Cleveland rocks!

If you didn’t watch the Indians Fantasy Summit live, bad jobby you. And in that case, you should have checked out the archive by now. And if
you haven’t even done THAT yet, well, then let me paraphrase Robert DeNiro in Copland: "You blew it!!"

Fortunately though, it’s not too late to check it out and I
highly encourage you all to do so, here’s the link.

Aejauese
As Siano said during the show, Mark Shapiro and Chris
Antonetti might not have known it, but they gave out some killer fantasy
advice. And as I mentioned during the event, I counted about 20 valuable lessons
they put forth that have direct relevance and importance to the fantasy owner,
from offseason prep to draft strategy to in-season roster management. Check out
the archive and draw your own conclusions, but here’s what I took away from it
(in no particular order):

Have a system and a strategy in place and put as much data as possible into it, but crave flexibility and have
alternatives
Be able to "adjust on the fly" and take
advantage of opportunities as they arise
Focus first on maximizing talent rather
than reacting to the competition
Be aggressive about looking for undervalued properties to build competitive advantages
Remember to balance risk vs. reward when evaluating long-term value… focus on ability first and foremost!
Don’t underestimate the importance off offseason preparation and inseason focus
Make sure to build depth to support star players (beyond lineup as well)
Base decisions on all available information: stats, scouting reports, medical reports, personalities, trends, etc.
Emphasize track record when evaluating performance
Focus on what players CAN do, not what they can’t do
Be honest when evaluating your roster
and don’t get fooled by small sample sizes or more situation-dependent stats (RBI, wins, etc.)
Don’t just trust results, trust "stuff" and skills
Be aware of players who might be options in the future if not in the present
If there’s a guy who can help you, make room for him!
Recognize the interaction of run support, starting pitchers and bullpens
Remember to adjust for league transitions and park effects
Remember the importance of infield defense to pitching
Focus on pitchers’ ability to make adjustments… college pitchers are more likely to adjust faster because development is tougher at the Major League level
Pay attention to the cumulative effects of pitch counts… not all pitch counts are equal!
Direct quote: "Emotion and momentum will lead you to a bad decision… in this game, patience is usually rewarded"
Don’t confuse the outcome with the decision!

Go back and listen to the archive because it was a great
experience to be a part of. We’ll be out in Arizona in two weeks for the Diamondbacks FanFest, and I don’t know what we’ll be doing
but it will be hard pressed to top this. Hopefully other clubs will check this
out and we’ll be able to do more of these in the future!

Finally, special thanks to GP in Cincy, Bob in Cleveland and Al from Queens, all of whom came to the event and joined us for some after-event socialization. Cleveland rocks!

–CS