The Real Fantasy League
Ever wonder how the actual MLB clubs would fare if they played each other in a 30 team 5×5 fantasy league? I did, and decided to go through the long process of figuring it all out. Using the team stats from the 2008 regular season, I went ahead and assigned roto point values for each of the five hitting and five pitching categories. How different are these fantasy standings from the real ones? Are the standard 10 categories accurate measures in explaining a team’s performance on the field? Below you’ll find the end of season fantasy standings broken down by division along with the roto point totals. I’ve also attached the Excel spreadsheet so you can see all the raw data.
Team by team Rotisserie Stats.xls
AL East
Red Sox 249.5
Rays 230.5
Yankees 208
Blue Jays 179.5
Orioles 112
AL Central
White Sox 198
Twins 187.5
Tigers 138.5
Indians 134
Royals 119
AL West
Angels 214.5
Rangers 160
Athletics 99.5
Mariners 85
NL East
Phillies 218
Mets 209.5
Marlins 150
Braves 103.5
Nationals 54.5
NL Central
Cubs 258
Brewers 200
Astros 166
Cardinals 164.5
Reds 115
Pirates 65
NL West
Dodgers 174
D-Backs 152
Rockies 126
Giants 111.5
Padres 67
I expected it to be close, but not quite to this extent! The only differences that have postseason implications is the Red Sox winning the AL East over the Rays with Tampa being the wildcard and the Mets edging out the Brewers for the NL wildcard. Also, the 100-win Angels are far from the best team in baseball, trailing the Red Sox, Rays, and Phillies while barely squeaking by the Yankees and Mets. Instead, the Cubbies take home the title.
While there are certainly other fantasy relevant stats that could serve as more effective predictors, these 10 seem to do just fine. However, there’s one pretty obvious problem. The playoffs aren’t included here, so the “Curse of the Billy Goat” doesn’t apply! Only in fantasy can the Cubs actually win a championship.
Feel free to post your feedback. Looking forward to hearing from all of 411 Nation.
Zach Steinhorn
mlbtstufantasy411
Nice job Zach, thank you.
Zack-Philly
Hey Zach;
Very nice. It just shows that fantasy baseball is not that far removed from the real game.
Jeff in Minny
That is friggin awesome! Nice work, a very interesting way to look at things.
Charlie S
Zach – you are the man! Thanks very much for this.
Mike at the beach
Zach, you have too much time on your hands. Still, good job.
gys0023, when you’re really determined to learn something, you make the time! Well worth it.
Zach