Custom DG

[Lion]

CDG says only 13 catchers in my 10-team 2 catcher NL only Roto league have positive value. Is this a flaw or should I avoid having a 2nd active catcher, instead going for a catcher who is not out for the season or out of baseball?

[Howie M]

I would say it depends on your position in counting stats and especially AVG.

a very strong across-the-board offense has no need for a crap 2nd C.

but a high-AVG but low-power squad likely would gain "Standings Points" even if that 2nd C sucks.

[Michael@HQ]

I strongly advocate turning on the Forced Position slider when you run the Custom Draft Guide to reflect the required positional distribution in your league.

It's not a flaw. Some folks (definitely not me) think it's better to not turn on that option. I would at least make it the default.

[JonE]

It's not a flaw. But it doesn't mean there are only 13 catchers who are worth rostering. It means there are only 13 catchers who produce more than a replacement-level non-catcher. You cannot put one of those replacements at catcher, so a $0 value or a negative value isn't automatically disqualifying for a catcher.

When I run the CDG for my 10-team NL-only league (4x4), I see that Yasmani Grandal is on the list of sub-zero catchers in 2024 and also finished with a sub-zero value in 2023. He hit 8 HR and 33 RBI last year, to go along with a .231 BA in 368 AB. Any team would be helped more by a batter with 8 HR and 33 RBI than a batter with 0 HR and 0 RBI. I don't know how badly that BA will hurt a team, but since it's just 368 AB, it can't be that much.

[Lion]

Thanks, Michael and Jon.