Vol. VI,
Issue #1 - February 2018
**
SOM Baseball & MLB World News **
(
a new periodic column for 2018 where we share special news
linked to the SOM Baseball Game and MLB .... stay tuned!! )
Notes from the Wolfman:
- Welcome to 2018, as this new year begins, there are a few
traditions which happen at the beginning of the year that we will be briefly
reporting. In January, Strat-o-matic made available their
special Ratings Report, which shows for the new card set coming
(of course at this time, based upon the 2017 MLB season) the
full card stats and ratings along with the chances (how many
chances on the cards) to get hits or walks or strikeouts, etc...
for the hitters and how much is given up by the pitchers.
Then of course, February 16th
was "Opening Day" where people went to the Game Company and
picked up any new orders of printed cards. On February
20th, the new strat-o-matic computer baseball game was ready for
download and new orders by mail started to be shipped. Via
some of our videos on the Ultimate Strat Baseball Youtube
Channel, we showed a view of the few 2018 cards from that set.
Within this news update, we share a full summary of all the new
baseball products that SOM is releasing this month (but not
their mobile apps which last year they introduced one that you
can view the players cards from past seasons on your mobile
phone).
Next, we add another interesting report that Baseball Info
Solutions put out in December, about the best defensive new
prospects we could see in the MLB 2018 season (this is via John
Dewan, a SOM game player and owner of the company also linked
with Bill James). And finally, just a brief
mention of the new 2018 USN Essential Draft Guide we released
this month, what its all about and how it can help our members
who are in Keeper Leagues waiting to do their league drafts with
the new 2018 card set. So sit back, enjoy your favorite
beverage and read on ...
FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: Did you get your Baseball Rating Guide for the 2018 Card
Set last month - What is all new in the world of Strat-o-matic
Baseball coming out this month - Did you order any of the new
card sets or computer rosters? What about Baseball Daily?
What did they add new in the baseball computer game?
Well just as the MLB Teams are meeting for Spring Training and
to prepare for there series of exhibition games, Strat Baseball
Gamers in the world are now preparing to receive soon (or have
already) the new cards and computer rosters they require for
their replays or leagues. Of course, the 2018 version of
the baseball computer game has some great new improvements,
Baseball 365 continues to join an on-line league or tournament
and some of us will play with our favorite team using Baseball
Daily.
On the Strat-o-matic website I
found a direct webpage which lists all of their new baseball
products you may wish to go to. It is located at:
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/products/new-products
So here is a quick summary of
what you will find on this page with a brief description:
2018 Strat-o-matic Computer Baseball Game for Windows
(see below for a discussion of the new features in this game)
2018 Card Set based
on 2017 MLB Season (in cards and computer roster)
1968 MLB Season (cards and computer roster)
1871 Baseball Season Rosters (computer)
2018 Hall of Fame Roster (Computer)
2017 Career Historal Roster (Computer)
(every player who ever played baseball - 14,000 players)
1969, 2017 Japanese Baseball League Rosters (computer)
1916, 1936, 1949 Negro Baseball League Rosters (computer)
2018 Baseball Daily (extension to computer game)
2017 Baseball Ratings (book and download)
Also on the website the Baseball Card Viewer (is paid by a
monthly rental) is available for your mobile phone - last year
we discussed a mobile app also to play your games in Baseball
365 but I couldn't find anything on SOM's website if this is
available or was made available last year.
Another pieces of news we
learned about at "Opening Day" is that SOM has hired an
interesting couple called the "Strat Mats" who are the host for
new Youtube videos they created for their video channel there.
OK here is a quick summary of
the updates for the 2018 edition of the
Strat-o-matic Computer Baseball Game (go to the game
company website for more details):
Extreme Batter Pitcher
Matchups - A new
optional feature has been added that accounts for extreme
batter-pitcher matchups. Using a proprietary method
Strat-O-Matic has identified certain batter-pitcher real-life
matchups as statistically significant enough to warrant an
adjustment in the game engine. This will only effect the
outcomes of those matchups that are clearly significant and so
we have titled this feature "Extreme" Batter-Pitcher Matchups.
There is also a new Team Report that identifies which players on
your team have extreme advantages/disadvantages.
Free Cloud Hosting of
League Files - Sharing
files with other league members can be a hassle sometimes. If
your league utilizes Game Result Files then you'll want to check
out our free Cloud Hosting feature. This feature makes it easier
for you to transmit your computer managers and game results to
the league commissioner. And it makes running a league easier as
some of the commissioner tasks are automated.
Monthly League Leaders
- The League Statistics report has been improved to allow you to
display league leaders by month. If you select the option to
have the statistics package save Monthly Automatic Subset Stats
you can now view league leaders for each month.
10-Day Injury List
- Support has been added for the 10-Day Injury List. This
replaced the 15-Day Injury List for the 2017 Major League
Baseball seasons.
Batch Import of
Computer Managers -
League commissioners will be happy to hear that we have added
the ability to import an entire batch of computer managers with
the click of a button.
Pitchers Breakdowns
Improved - The Player
Detail Report for pitchers has been improved to display wins,
losses, innings pitched, and E.R.A. for the various breakdown
categories such as Starter, Reliever, and all the subsets that
you are saving. This information is available for all subsets.
These options can be found on the Autoplay/Boxscore Options
dialog.
Starter Pitcher
Schedule - If you have
assigned starting pitchers to particular games with the Update
Computer Manager function they will now display on the Pre-Game
Schedule dialog after selecting the New Scheduled Game menu
item.
WAR - Wins Above
Replacement (WAR) has
been added to the Player Notebooksfor both batters and pitchers.
WAR is an estimated measure of the number of wins a player
contributes to his team. Our version of WAR is a combination of
a player's wRAA, rWAR, and dWAR and attempts to value a player's
total contribution in one number.
So there you have all the latest
products coming from Strat-o-matic this month to keep us
quite happy for our version of playing baseball with all the
seasons of MLB, Negro and Japanese professional ball players in 2018. We have all
been through this before so you know what to do. Enjoy and
to another great year of game playing with SOM!!
FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: A quick report about the Championship
Tournament held by the Strat Tournament Players Club (STPC)
known as the "WORLDS" - Congratulations to Bryan
Albins, and his victory last month in Dallas
(hope to interview Bryan at some point ...)
To learn more about the multiple tournaments that the Strat
Tournament Players Club has planned for 2018 (face-to-face,
netplay and via skype) feel free to visit the club's web page
at:
http://www.strattpc.com/
FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: Here are the lastest report I received
issued by Baseball Info Solutions that discusses the best
defensive players coming up from the minors (prospects) who we
might see appear in the 2018 Major League Season ....
|
2017 Top Minor League Defenders
December
22,
2017
While
minor
league
prospects
are
often
evaluated
on
their
long-term
outlook
at
the
plate,
their
performance
in
the
field
can
often
make
a
more
immediate
impact
upon
their
promotion
to
the
major
leagues.
With
that
in
mind,
let's
take
a
look
at
the
top
performing
defensive
minor
leaguers
ranked
by
Defensive
Runs
Saved
(DRS)
in
2017.
Please
note
minor
league
DRS
figures
are
calculated
relative
to
the
major
league
average
at
each
position
for
ease
of
comparability.
| 2017 Minor League DRS Leaders |
|
Player, Organization |
Primary Position |
DRS |
|
Eric Stamets, Cle |
SS |
24 |
|
Josh Fuentes, Col |
3B |
23 |
|
Ramon Laureano, Hou |
RF |
22 |
|
Braxton Lee, TB/Mia |
CF |
20 |
|
Scott Kingery, Phi |
2B |
20 |
|
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tex |
3B |
20 |
Eric
Stamets,
a
shortstop
who
spent
much
of
the
year
at
Triple-A
Columbus
in
the
Indians
farm
system,
led
all
minor
leaguers
with
24
Runs
Saved. Third
base
was
the
deepest
position
defensively,
as
four
separate
third
basemen
saved
at
least
16
runs.
Since
minor
leaguers
vary
in
both
age
and
ability,
let's
examine
the
defensive
abilities
among
minor
leaguers
within
three
different
age
groups:
21
years
old
and
under,
between
22
and
24
years
old,
and
25
years
and
older.
Top Defensive Minor Leaguers
—Age 21 and Under |
|
Player, Organization |
Primary Position |
DRS |
|
Carlos Tocci, Phi |
CF |
12 |
|
Riley Unroe, TB |
2B |
12 |
|
Willy Adames, TB |
SS |
8 |
|
Justin Williams, TB |
RF |
8 |
The
Rangers
recently
acquired
Carlos
Tocci
via
the
Rule
5
Draft.
They
clearly
view
him
at
minimum
as a
useful
fourth
outfielder,
and
possibly
as a
future
everyday
center
fielder
if
his
bat
can
catch
up
with
his
glove.
Additionally
second
baseman
Riley
Unroe
also
changed
teams
via
the
Rule
5
draft,
as
the
Angels
selected
him
from
the
Rays
in
the
minor
league
portion.
I
wouldn't
worry
too
much
about
Tampa
Bay's
future
defense
though,
both
Adames
and
Williams
have
the
potential
to
be
impact
defenders
at
premium
positions
upon
their
arrival
to
the
big
leagues.
Top Defensive Minor Leaguers
—Ages 22 to 24 |
|
Player, Organization |
Primary Position |
DRS |
| Josh Fuentes, Col |
3B |
23 |
| Ramon Laureano, Hou |
RF |
22 |
| Braxton Lee, TB/Mia |
CF |
20 |
| Scott Kingery, Phi |
2B |
20 |
| Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tex |
3B |
20 |
All
of
the
top
defensive
minor
leaguers
between
the
ages
of
22
and
24
are
also
listed
on
the
overall
minor
league
DRS
leaderboard.
Two
of
these
players
(Ramon
Laureano
and
Braxton
Lee)
have
been
traded
from
the
organizations
that
drafted
them
within
the
past
six
months,
as
Lee
went
from
Tampa
Bay
to
Miami
in
June,
while
Laureano
was
traded
from
Houston
to
Oakland
this
offseason.
It's
worth
monitoring
how
this
change
of
scenery
affects
Laureano
and
Lee
defensively
in
the
upcoming
2018
season.
Top Defensive Minor Leaguers
—Age 25 and Older |
|
Player, Organization |
Primary Position |
DRS |
| Eric Stamets, Cle |
SS |
24 |
|
Jon Berti, Tor |
2B |
14 |
|
Rocky Gale, SD |
C |
12 |
|
Joey Wendle, Oak |
2B |
12 |
|
Dusty Coleman, SD |
SS |
12 |
|
Benji Gonzalez, Min |
SS |
12 |
While
he
could
immediately
contribute
defensively
at
the
major
league
level,
Eric
Stamets
is
blocked
by
All-Stars
Francisco
Lindor,
Jose
Ramirez,
and
Jason
Kipnis
at
their
respective
infield
positions
for
the
foreseeable
future.
It
will
be
interesting
to
see
what
role
the
Indians
see
Stamets
playing
for
them
at
the
major
league
level
in
2018.
The
organization
valued
Stamets
enough
to
add
him
to
their
40-man
roster
to
protect
him
from
being
selected
in
this
past
month's
Rule
5
Draft,
so
it's
very
possible
that Stamets
will
be
up
with
the
Indians
this
upcoming
season.
Berti
and
Gale
are
both
former
late
round
draft
picks
who,
to
their
credit,
provide
enough
value
defensively
to
get
to
the
Triple-A
level.
However,
Berti
and
Gale
had
on-base
plus
slugging
rates
of
.584
and
.693
respectively
in
2017.
In
order
for
their
careers
to
take
the
next
step,
these
two,
like
the
rest
of
the
minor
leaguers
on
this
particular
leaderboard
(i.e.
Wendle,
Coleman,
and
Gonzalez),
need
their
performance
at
the
plate
to
become
somewhat
passable.
|
|
Copyright © 2017 by John Dewan.
Permission to reprint or broadcast this
information is granted only if used in
conjunction with the following citation:
"Used with permission from
John Dewan's Stat
of the Week®,
www.statoftheweek.com."
If you are not already subscribing to John
Dewan's Stat of the Week® and would like to
start receiving it e-mailed free to your
inbox each week,
click
here.
|
FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: Have you checked out the "2018 USBN
Essential Draft Guide" yet? Our 2nd Year to provide for the
SOM Community one of the most Powerful Strat Baseball
Tools out there to help our members in their Keeper
League(s) with their upcoming draft of the 2018 card set.
311 players are ranked and evaluated who are receiving their
first strat card (printed or computer image) - read more here
...
2nd Yearly Edition -
February 2018
We invite you to take a peek
at this easy to use draft guide ranking all the new players who
will be available for the 1st time in your upcoming Keeper
League's draft with the 2018 card set. The guide is
created in MS Excel and uses many built in functions to make it
easy to use and find those players you need on your team with
special sorts. All players are ranked in five categories
with the person who evaluated that specific playes
also sharing notes on their capabilities and future potentials.
Then you will find the guide sorted by
highest ranked player to lowest as well as extra spreadsheets
which view the players by positions and ranks. Also within
the guide it shows which players are part of the covetted Top
100 2018 Prospect, part of the Top 300 Prospects for their
respective MLB team who owns them or if they are ranked in the
top 10 as a prospect by position.
The list of
players also included those who have received a computer card
image before and now in the new set have a printed card, or those
young players who were brought up at the end of the 2017 season
and just have a computer image.
To read more about this
amazing drafting tool, (which we
believe when
used in combination with the SOM Baseball Rating Guide,
should give you all you need to find those gems in your draft
), then head over to:
http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/2018USBN-Essential-Draft-Guide.htm
On the main page above which fully describes
what this valuable draft guide is all about, we have also included comments from of the people who
used our 1st version of the guide last year. Here are a few more
comments we
received last year from other who used our guide to help build
their team:
This guide has been a
HUGE
aide to me. My free time for scouting is very limited; so being
able to get a concise report on these prospects at a reasonable
cost is exactly what I needed. Thanks for all you and the guys
have done. --
Howie B
The 2017 USBN
Draft guide has everything you need to win your draft! --
Derek T.
Hope you enjoyed
this edition of the SOM Baseball and MLB news, till the next
time ...
Wolfman
Note:
-- if you have a new story you think our readers might enjoy
linked to Strat-o-matic please feel free to email us your story
by contacting Wolfman at:
wolfman@ultimatestatbaseball.com
|
Support the Cause
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the content and information our newsletter shares with you, why
not support us with your helpful donation for our minor expenses
and time?
|
Contained inside this exciting issue of
the Ultimate Strat
Baseball Newsletter:
(to view the various interviews, articles, columns and special
sections click on the links {underlined} and this will take you
to the appropriate webpage)
♦
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
♦
INTERVIEW with
RON SHANDLER - PART I,
In the first part of Mr. Shandler's interview we have a chance
to meet Mr. Shandler and learn about his background and
projects. Then he shares with about his latest fantasy draft system
called BABS which is like no other system you have heard of.
♦
STRAT WISE with MARC WASSERMAN
commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues
his new column
by giving us a complete report about his experiences at 2018
Strat-o-matic Opening Day along with the videos we have
available on our Youtube USBN channel from interviews taken
on this day.
♦
INTERVIEW with DEREK BAIN, Baseball Author, Stat Analytics Researcher,
Derek is a fantasy baseball gamer who has tried many of the
simulated baseball games out including Strat-o-matic
Baseball. Also he has written his own book and loves
baseball analytics and stats in every form. He offers
in this interview some amazing insights in the game of
baseball.
♦
SOM BASEBALL LEAGUE REPORT with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO
--
the editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA
Champion, turns his attention to talk to members of various
face-to-face
Strat-o-matic
Baseball Leagues that he has discovered through the league
registry service offered
on the Strat-o-matric
website. This month we follow up on the "Winter Need a
Life League" by speaking to their 2017 champion. To read the interview
for this month, click on the link below:
INTERVIEW with
STEPHEN KAHN,Winter Need a Life League Champion from
their
2017 season (Netplay)
♦
RECOMMEND
ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES
--
On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites
that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve
your game play
that we strongly recommend. In most cases, we have had personal contact with
these sources who agree with the idea and key principle about working together
to help promote each other.
♦
BOOKS TO
DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU
-- This page
is
specifically about special books we are finding that either will
expand your insights about the game of Baseball, help you in the
creation of your current league teams or with your replays and
learn more about the Strat-o-matic
Baseball Game and Game Company's
history. We
have a special arrangement with Acta Sports, who is a publisher
of a number of great baseball books (including Bill James
Handbooks) to offer for our members
a 10% discount. We will continue to add more books to this page in the future
as we uncover other gems our members should know about.
|
