Revision 67406734 of "Fantasy 411" on enwiki

== The Fantasy 411 ==
The Fantasy 411 is an [[MLB]] [[radio]] [[broadcast]] on MLB.com.  The hosts are primarily Mike Siano and Cory Schwartz, with occasional contributions from Vinny Micucci and Jeffrey Ma.  The show airs Monday through Friday during the MLB [[season]].  The show's main focus is [[fantasy baseball]], although listeners often like to tell [[Chuck Norris Facts]].  Mike and Cory answer [[fans]] questions through [[telephone call|calls]], [[e-mails]] or [[instant messages]].  In the [[offseason]] the Fantasy 411 airs once a week until the end of February, after which it airs twice a week.  The show can be downloaded as a [[podcast]] through MLB.com or [[iTunes]].  The [[archives]] of the Fantasy 411 are available through MLB.com.

==The Hosts==

Mike Siano and Cory Schwartz both live in [[New York City]] and they both vehemently support the [[New York Yankees|Evil Empire]]

===Cory Schwartz===

Schwartz is host that is more inclined toward statistical analysis and [[sabermetrics]], especially since he is a member of the [[Society for American Baseball Research]] (SABR).  Schwartz is also responsible for providing insight on the [[Minor league baseball|minor leagues]] and upcoming prospects.  In May 2006, Schwartz questioned the strategy and went [[emo (slang)|emo]] after poor performances from [[Ian Snell]] and [[Juan Cruz (baseball)|Juan Cruz]] but has since retracted his doubts.  Schwartz's signature topics are his National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) team and, why the  [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim]] should promote [[Howie Kendrick]] (Kendrick was promoted in July 2006).  Schwartz's signature phrase is "DTM" which is an acronym for "Dead To Me." Schwartz uses the phrase during the [[Help:Section#Section_linking|Pitch and Ditch]] segment of the show for pitchers who have not performed well while on his fantasy team, such as [[Ted Lilly]], [[Jeff Suppan]] and [[Ian Snell]].  Some of Schwartz's favorite players include [[Vladimir Guerrero]], [[Howie Kendrick]], [[Cole Hamels]], [[Brandon Webb]] and [[Jeremy Bonderman]].

===Mike Siano===

Siano is the host who believes more in veteran players with proven peformanceSiano is most recognized on the show for his quote "As frustrating and aggrevating as chasing [[saves]] is, you have to admit, is kind of fun" which is played in the shows opening everyday.  Siano's signature fantasy play is to avoid oft-injured pitchers, such as [[Mark Prior]], [[AJ Burnett]], [[Ben Sheets]], [[Rich Harden]] and [[Kerry Wood]], citing that these pitchers cause more [[headaches]] than they are worth.  Some of Siano's favorite players are [[Derek Jeter]], [[Mariano Rivera]], [[Jon Garland]], [[Justin Verlander]] and [[Miguel Tejada]].

==The Fantasy 411 Philosophy==
The Fantasy 411 Philosophy is a strategy for creating a successful fantasy baseball team.  The strategy is to use early [[draft (sports)|draft]] picks on good [[Batting (baseball)|hitters]] and [[closer (baseball)|closers]] rather than starting [[pitchers]].  This strategy is also useful in [[auction ]] leagues, where more money should be spent on hitters and closers rather than starting pitchers.  The reason for the Fantasy 411 Philosophy is that hitting performance is much more predictable than pitching performance, and that good hitting is much harder to find than good pitching.  The merits of the Fantasy 411 Philosophy have been proven true in 2006, as many high-profile starting pitchers who were taken early in fantasy drafts, such as [[Jake Peavy]], [[Andy Pettitte]], [[Mark Buehrle]] and [[Randy Johnson]] have performed poorly, and others, such as [[Mark Prior]], [[Rich Harden]] and [[Ben Sheets]] have succumbed to injury.  Some Fantasy 411 favorites for 2006 are [[Brandon Webb]], [[Danny Haren]], [[Jeremy Bonderman]] and [[John Lackey]], all of whom are enjoying great success in 2006 and were taken much later in most fantasy drafts than more recognized, less successful stars.

==Strategies and Sayings==

Mike and Cory use many original strategies and sayings in their show as part of the Fantasy 411 Philosophy.

===List of 12===  
A list of [[pitchers]] that Schwartz comes up with at the start of the season, with the theory being that once pitchers reach a certain level of experience, usually around 500 [[innings]] pitched, they tend to improve significantly.  This year's list included [[Brandon Webb]], [[Jeremy Bonderman]], [[Aaron Harang,]] and [[Bronson Arroyo]].

===Hitters Hit=== 
Siano and Schwartz use the phrase "hitters hit" when referring to the idea that good hitters tend to balance out poor hitting with good hitting and that performance for hitters is much easier to project than pitching performance.

===Pitch and Ditch=== 
A [[strategy]] that Siano and Schwartz use based on the theory that good pitching is plentiful.  The main components of the strategy are to find pitchers who are avaliable on the waiver wire, watch the matchups and pick up pitchers accordingly.  The benefit of the strategy is that it allows a fantasy player to maximize points in counting [[statistics]] (such as [[wins]] and [[strikeouts]]), provides good roster flexibility and increases the likelihood of finding suprise breakthrough performers such as [[Cliff Lee]] and [[Chris Capuano]] in 2005 and [[Erik Bedard]] and [[Josh Johnson]] in 2006.  Pitch and Ditch can be considered a risky strategy because it increases the likelihood of having a very poor performance, which can severly hurt a fantasy team.  

===Don't Chase Wins=== 
A strategy that is tied in with Pitch and Ditch. [[Statistical analysis]] shows that the number of wins, a fundamental [[statistic]] in [[fantasy baseball]], that a pitcher earns are not consistent and that the number of wins that a pitcher earns is not a good reflection of his true skill. Thus, Mike and Cory tell the listeners to focus on improving other pitching statistics, such as [[saves]], [[strikeouts]], [[ERA]], and [[WHIP]] and that accumulating wins requires patience.

===Buy Low, Sell High===
A strategy for trading where the optimal scenario is to trade away players who are outperforming their projected performance or are getting lucky and to acquire players who are underperforming and can be reasonably expected to perform better.  An essential part of the strategy is to make sure to acquire a player who is more skilled than the one being traded away.  Buying low and selling high is not useful if the players are of equal value or the one being acquired is less skillfull.

===Flags Fly Forever===
In reference to keeper leagues, Siano and Schwartz always recommend to try and win in the present if possible.  Often listeners are too concerned with the future and with their kepper lists when competing in keeper leagues, but Siano and Schwartz always remind the audience that winning championships is the ultimate goal because "flags fly forever." (See: [[Pennant]])

==External Links==
*http://fantasy411.mlblogs.com/mlbcoms_fantasy_411/
*http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/audio/podcast/index.jsp