$ Value Discrepancies

[Lion]

There are significant discrepancies on Playerlink $ values. For example, Joey Ortiz is listed at $9 for Actual to Date 5x5 $ value, but looking at the Playerlink Historical tab, his 5x5 $ value for 2024 is $0 (zero dollars). When I run the Custom Draft Guide (CDG) for a 12-team 5x5 NL league, Ortiz is listed at $10.15.*

I understand what the CDG $ values represent, but what do the Playerlink $s represent, including both the "Actual to Date" and "Historical" tab for 2024? And why the discrepancy? Is one value for only-leagues, while the other is for mixed leagues? What size leagues?

(Inquiring minds want to know.This is not just about Ortiz, because there are divergent values listed for *every player* with these different measures. And this is no idle question, because I use both types of Playerlink values to help make keeper decisions for the next season and trade decisions, as I am sure many readers do.)

The Actual to Date value of $9 and the CDG value of $10.15 are very close, so shall subscribers assume the Actual to Date values are for 12-team only-leagues? Thanks in advance for any BHQ advice.

*My CDG settings are NL-only, 5x5, 12-team, 68% Offense, 2-catchers, Balanced Valuations, Forced Positions and Catcher as a scarce position.

[RAY@HQ]

I wrote something about this in a site update back in the spring... I should put it somewhere more prominent because it comes up all the time. Anyway, here's the explanation:

Dollar value standardization

Even before this year’s site transition, we’ve always had some confusion about how to distinguish the various dollar values around the site. Then, in building the new site, we admittedly got a little sloppy about what dollar values we were showing where. (Truth be told, just as it was confusing for readers over the years, in the transition the tech team got confused as well.)

We have that sorted out now, and here’s the definitive “what dollar values are shown in which place” guide:

• The values on the General tab in Playerlink are 12-team AL or NL-only values (depending on the player's league). R$ is 4x4 and 5x5 is (of course) 5x5 values. Those values should match the AL or NL-only projection files if you download those.
• The values on the Historical tab in Playerlink are the mixed-league 4x4 and 5x5 values. Two reasons for this: we don’t keep historical record of a player’s team/league for each season, and those historical dollar values are best for player-to-player comparison and multi-year trending. Mixed-league values are best for those purposes.
• The mixed league projection files show 12- and 15-team mixed league 5x5 values. AL-only and NL-only projection files show the AL-only and NL-only 4x4 and 5x5 values. (Those match the General tab from Playerlink).
• The 2024 Projections datatable shows the 12- and 15-team mixed 5x5 values as well.
  Important: it still shows mixed-league values even if you change the filter on that projections page to AL-only or NL-only.
• Finally, the Custom Draft Guide is always available to give you values that are tailored to your specific league format.

Hopefully, this explanation provides some clarity moving forward.

[Lion]

Thanks, Ray, this is exactly what I was looking for!

I agree with you, it would be useful to put it somewhere more prominent. Perhaps on each player's Playerlink page, just a note such as "$ and 5x5 reflect 12-team -only league values; mixed league 15-team are on the Historical tab."