Bizarro League: Open Slots Available

The bizarro fantasy baseball league "Worst League Ever" -- where poor play is rewarded -- is set to begin its draft in the coming week. If you missed the previous post of this league, you can find it here. Simply put, you seek to roster a team with the weakest everyday players such as Julio Lugo and Jason Varitek (no, the fact that they are both Red Sox is not a coincidence) score the most points. Cheer along as Carlos Silva gives up a homer, Huston Street blows another saves, and Derek Jeter boots a ball,then hits into a double play. (How's that for even-handed blogging?) Let me know if you would like to join this low-stakes, high-fun league.

Bizarro fantasy league: Worst League Ever

No, this is not a Benchwarmer Baseball post, but instead a post about a bizarro fantasy baseball league that I run called "Worst League Ever". Last year was the inaugural season of WLE and was run on the Yahoo site as a points league with 9 teams. Points are awarded for futility, with the following values:

Offensive categories:

GIDP / 10 points
Caught Stealing / 5 points
Error / 3 points
Strike Out / 1 point
Total bases / -1 point (this filters players that are actually productive sluggers)

Pitching catergories:

Blown Save / 10 points
Loss / 5 points
Home Run issued / 3 points
BB issued / 1 point
Strike out / -1 point

David Schaffer was the 2008 champion, employing a strategy that rostered players named in the Mitchell Report, rather than statistical analysis. It worked. Eric Gagne was particularly valuable as he blew saves by the bunches while he held the closer position in Milwaukee. After losing that role, his value plummeted. The ideal players are those that are not very productive (or, even better, counter-productive), but still manage to hold a major league starting role.

We are now signing up teams for the 2009 season and expect most of the original 9 back for another fun year. Let me know if you want to join.