The 2014 Dynasty League Rankings and Beyond
Hello, all. Hope I’ve gotten many questions over the course of the last couple of months as to when the 2014 dynasty ranks are coming out, and now that the plan is firmly in place, it’s time to map out the road ahead. It’s going to be a little different than last season, but the information available to dynasty league owners is going to be more robust. Instead of just my rankings, which were featured on the site last year, the TDG rankings in 2014 are of the consensus variety–meaning that everyone on staff has a say in the final product. However, if you are looking for my specific rankings, do not fear. Those will be published this pre-season at Baseball Prospectus, as we roll out our positional focus series. If you’re not a BP subscriber, I highly recommend it (of course I do) as we’ve built up a great staff and have big things planned. Plus it’s cheaper for a full season than the lunch my wife and I had at the Cheesecake Factory this past weekend (with dessert!).
Now let’s go into the nuts and bolts of how we created the rankings this year. Around mid-December, I began soliciting individual position lists from everyone on staff here at TDG and I consolidated them into what is considered the “first draft” of the rankings. At that point, I sent the list out to the entire staff and opened it up for debate–which has been fantastic to be a part of. Everyone is putting a lot of time and thought, not only into the lists themselves but in fighting for “their guys”. In the end, changes to the draft lists are made by the Executive Rankings Committee, made up of myself, Ben Carsley and Craig Goldstein. At that point, the ranks are final and the blurbs can start to be supplemented.
Now the disclaimers. First of all, these rankings all are based on a standard keep-forever dynasty format with no contracts/salaries. And as far as the assumed league size/type of these rankings, here is the explanation from the primer before last year’s lists came out:
“One important thing to note about the way the rankings were set up, is that I had to assume some level of standard league type and depth in order to place the minor leaguers in the right places. For these purposes, I used approximately a 14-16 team rotisserie league as the baseline. So if you’re in a 10-team dynasty league, then the values of the minor leaguers on both the individual and positional lists should be higher for your league’s purposes, and vice versa. If I’m in a 15-team league, I’d rather have Matt Joyce than Tyler Austin, but if I’m in a 10-team league, I’d rather have Austin because Joyce is closer to replacement level, while Austin still has the same upside. On the other end of the spectrum, prospects with a lower ceiling and higher probability have more value when you’re looking through the lens of a 20-team league – so for a league like that I might bump Rob Brantly a little higher up my catcher list, or Kyle Gibson a little higher on my pitcher list, for example.”
The names may have changed, but the story remains the same. And here is the schedule of when all of the lists you’ve been looking forward to will be coming out:
January 21, 2014: Catchers, #1-20
January 22, 2014: Catchers, #21-50
January 23, 2014: First Basemen, #1-20
January 24, 2014: First Basemen, #21-50
January 27, 2014: Second Basemen, #1-20
January 28, 2014: Second Basemen, #21-50
January 29, 2014: Shortstops, #1-20
January 30, 2014: Shortstops, #21-50
January 31, 2014: Third Basemen, #1-20
February 3, 2014: Third Basemen, #21-50
February 4, 2014: Outfielders, #1-20
February 5, 2014: Outfielders, #21-40
February 6, 2014: Outfielders, #41-75
February 7, 2014: Outfielders, #76-125
February 10, 2014: Starting Pitchers, #1-20
February 11, 2014: Starting Pitchers, #21-40
February 12, 2014: Starting Pitchers, #41-75
February 13, 2014: Starting Pitchers, #76-125
February 14, 2014: Starting Pitchers, #126-200
February 18, 2014: Relievers, #1-25
February 19, 2014: Relievers, #26-75
February 20, 2014: Top 500 Overall
The rankings are not the only exciting thing happening at the site prior to the 2014 season. This year will mark Year One of the Official Dynasty Guru Experts League. In this league, all writers at the site, along with experts from other websites, will be competing in a single league with an emphasis on transparency that will allow you to get unique insight into the thought process of the people you’ve been enjoying reading. We will be drafting both major league and minor league rosters in late February/early March and covering it all in depth here at TDG. And that’s not even close to where the fun ends.
During the season, we will be covering the league inside and out. There will be a transactions report posted weekly that will review all adds/drops with comments from the actual owners who made them (when appropriate/necessary). On top of that, there will be write-ups for every trade that happens–and both owners will provide their reasoning for making the deal.
Finally, as an important reminder, The Dynasty Guru is not a subscription site and does not intend to become one. We really hope that you find the content provided within these pages helpful in the day-to-day management of your fantasy team(s). And if you do, we hope that you will make a donation to show appreciation for the content you’ve seen here at the Dynasty Guru. You can do that through this link, or by clicking the “Donate” button on the top-right corner of the homepage. All donations are truly appreciated.
The Author
10 Comments
Will there be a top 150 Dynasty League Prospects list this year?
I will be doing a top prospects list, but it will be running at Baseball Prospectus. Because its also going to be part of our Futures Guide, I’m not sure ill be able to have it at TDG–but if it’s possible, I will.
In addition to what Mark asked… Will you also have a first year player ranking like you did last year? I’m a huge fan of the prospect list but getting that in depth look at the international free agents and previous year’s MLB draftee’s was a huge help for me last year. As always keep up the great work guys. This is one of the primary sights i use and the last three seasons i’ve managed to finish as runner up (2011), runner up (2012), and champion (2013). I feel i owe you guys a big thank you for the information you put out.
Thanks, Jeff!
I am actually putting the finishing touches on that list right now and it will be running at BP tomorrow. That should follow here right around the time the series starts.
Hi,
I’m putting together a Start-up dynasty league this year. I’ve done them in football for many years, but this will be my first dynasty baseball league. I want to have each team have a minor league roster (was thinking 10 guys, all have to actually be in the minor leagues). I have no idea how this typically works, so I guess that’s my question. What is the best way to handle a minor league roster for a dynasty league.
In my mind, I’m thinking they’ll be a part of the initial draft…can take them anywhere you want. Once they’re on your minor league roster they can stay there until they are actually called up to the major leagues. Upon call-up, I was thinking the owner has to put them on their active roster or release them by the end of the week they’re called up in (unless it’s a September call-up). Does that seem logical? Also, if they do move someone up, what’s the best way to fill that minor league spot? Can they fill that spot? Sorry…lots of questions. I hope they make sense. Any and all help or ideas are appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Brandon
One thing to be careful with a rule like that Brandon is that come the end of the year some guys may have to get kicked to the curb due to September call ups. We implemented a rule for our second year that’s worked wonders ever since. During the season if a guy get’s called up he has to get moved to your bench, but when it comes to keeping players as the season has concluded we use MLB standards,,, 130 at bats or less over their career and they can be kept as a minor leaguer. 50 innings pitched or less and they can be kept as a minor leaguer. That avoids losing someone like say… Bogaerts who got called up towards the end but its still very much rookie eligible. I’ve always tried to convince my league to do a rookie draft but it gets shot down each and every year for some reason. In theory it helps me out and any other owner who values prospects mor ethen others do. While they’re busy filling out a bench or plugging a hole at closer i can essentially snag 1 or 2 higher ranked prospects that i might not have been able to land. Hope that all helps.
~Jeff
Brandon, here is an excerpt from our league’s constitution that may help you with your minor league situation.
Any batter, having played either 50 minor league games in the current season or having never been to the major leagues before, who is called up to the major league level on or after September 1st of the current season, is eligible to stay in a minor league slot through the end of the season. Any pitcher, having either played 15 minor league games in the current season or having never been called up to the major leagues before, who is called up to the major league level on or after September 1st of the current season, is eligible to stay in a minor’s slot through the end of the season. But, those players would need to be in the active roster in order to receive points from them. The eligibility for being reserved from one year to the next in the minor league slot is based on having played more games in the minors than the majors during the previous year. But, at the beginning of the year, if a minor league keeper starts in the majors, the owner has one week to put them on their active roster or bench or drop them from their team.
We allow owners to add and drop minor leaguers freely just like free agents. After the MLB has their 1st year player draft in June, we have a minor league draft after the signing date which i believe now is around July 15th. At the draft we assign picks from the previous years win/loss record. If the team wishes to draft a player, they must drop a player from their minor league squad to add another. Teams who do not want to draft a player can simply say “pass” and not draft a player.
Hope this helps.
Derek
See my post below if interested…
Brandon – When the 12 team dynasty league I am in started up and was being constructed we just decided to add more roster spots to each team and allow any and all owners to have as many minors they wanted. Only a couple owners took advantage because they had been heavy into baseball leagues vs some who had never played fantast baseball. Now in year 6-7 we have half or so of the owners with a bunch of top 100 prospects and some with a few or maybe 1. They have decent veteran teams and have made runs but will struggle when the Torii Hunter’s of the world retire… It has worked out so far without any roster limit issues, etc throughout the year and it does make the waiver wire pretty important. If they are in the player pool already then it’s a free for all… We have 25 cats (13/12) so lots of variables. This format also has no years or dollar values and my 35 guys (3 DLs) are mine until they are no longer wanted/needed… Good luck with whatever you do just keep in mind the brain damage as the commish you can develop when getting too much to manage. All else I can say is Dynasty Fantasy Baseball is the BEST, and guys I meet all year around would love to join our league after explaining it… Just saying! Enjoy… Chad
Does anyone out there have some basic settings for startup dynasty leagues?
ie- how to setup contracts vs auctions vs draft and keep forever. Some owners want a traditional auction where values go up $2/yr for major leaguers and stay frozen for minor leaguers. Some just want a draft and keep them forever. Not sure of how contracts could be best setup.
Starting a dynasty league that is either 10 or 12 owners and NL only.
Thanks
Davin