Friday, March 16, 2012

The Beeney Plan

In last year's Fantasy Baseball Guide, Alex Patton introduced something called The Beeney Plan.

What is a Beeney Plan you ask?

Alex has a description in the 2010 Guide, but cutting and pasting portions of that description would be as clear as mud, while the entirety of the description would be way too long.

The short answer is that a Beeney Plan is a two-year strategy devised to place you in the middle-of-the-pack in Year One so that you're in a better position to win in the following season. If you're wondering why a middle-of-the-road finish would put you in a better position to win in year two, you're not alone. In most leagues, once you dump it doesn't matter if you finish sixth or twelfth; what matters is that you've put together a kick-ass list of freezes that is the Rotisserie equivalent of the 1998 Yankees.

But in Alex's league, there are a lot of oddball rules, including fewer freezes for teams that finish at or near the bottom. As a result, finishing between 5th and 8th is optimal for the following season.

Categorically, the idea is to win batting average, steals and saves and then spend the rest of your money on future plays. It's kind of/sort of a Sweeney Plan (thus the fun name), but since you're not trying to win ERA/WHIP, you don't have to spend $140-160 on your pitching.

Can you win with this strategy?

It did for Alex; he has now won two years in a row with this plan. However, I would most definitely not recommend it unless your league has oddball rules just like Alex's. The low limit on the maximum number of freezes (eight) keeps inflation down, puts more players into the auction, and makes it a little easier to win with a strategy like this. In leagues like mine: with 12-15 player maximums, long-term contracts, and carryover farm systems, this sounds a lot less like a plan and a lot more like staving off the inevitable dump in June.

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