David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.

27 Comments
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Kevin Wilson
15 years ago

Oh man, I signed up at 6:15, this post goes up at 6:25… will I be the winner of a shiny $10 bill soon?

Kevin Wilson
15 years ago
Reply to  David Appelman

Sweet! Thanks Dave. Cool new league, free. I like it.

BirdStackMember since 2026
15 years ago
Reply to  Kevin Wilson

damn i hesitated cause i didnt know if i wanted to pay 10 bucks should have just done it and gotten a team. Oh well you guys deserve the 10 bucks anyway. Or whatever split you see lol

brocean
15 years ago

Woohoo!

Didn’t think I’d make it considering I read it really long after the fact. Thanks for offering something that’s been on m mind this whole offseason.

youngid
15 years ago

yargh, teach me to work late. I need to find a way around websense.

My echo and bunnymen
15 years ago

If I knew a post would come up soon after the original article I would have invested in the league.

Scott G
15 years ago

Met Niv Shah at First Pitch AZ. Good Product

Carson CistulliMember
15 years ago
Reply to  Scott G

This makes it seem like Niv, himself, is a good product. And I’m inclined to believe that it’s entirely the case.

nivshahMember since 2020
15 years ago
Reply to  Scott G

Thanks Scott!

Jesse
15 years ago

As someone that plays fantasy baseball competitively in pay-leagues every season, while I am happy to see fangraphs launch its own version I think not introducing even some basic prizes at the onset for a pay-league is a missed opportunity. Not only does it drive more to sign-up (like myself), but it also can be structured in such a way as to keep as many players playing competitively as possible ALL season long, which is good for everyone.

Just my two cents, league looks great, but I want to be able to win my money back and then some…

jaywrong
15 years ago
Reply to  Jesse

i have some kudos here if you win.

Jesse
15 years ago
Reply to  Jesse

Or better yet, the top player(s) get to become fangraphs staff members!

nivshahMember since 2020
15 years ago
Reply to  Jesse

I’ll write more about this (I am saying that a lot in comments today) but we are very interested in adding prize tiers in the future. However, legal issues prevented us from launching with prize tiers. If this is something you’d want, please contact us at help@ottoneu.com and let us know!

Jeffrey Gross
15 years ago

This will be interesting to try out and play with.

TdotStandup
15 years ago

should be free….

Doctor
15 years ago

How do you sign up ? I go to join a league and nothing shows up.

Mark
15 years ago

Am I missing something? This Ottoneu seems alot like the original Rotisserie Style leagues… auction, farm system, keepers…

hunterfan
15 years ago

The only fantasy baseball I’ve played has been on free (i.e. ESPN) sites. What would something like this site have over ESPN that would justify the cost?

Doctor_Teh
15 years ago
Reply to  hunterfan

I think the idea is that the leagues are made up of like minded individuals who read this site, but in my opinion, this could almost as easily be accomplished in an ESPN league?

I guess the integration with this site sounds awesome, but no prizes, as noted by many above kind of is a buzzkill (but I understand that there are legal issues preventing it, so I guess one can’t really complain about that.)

jpjazzman
15 years ago
Reply to  Doctor_Teh

Seems to me from the original post that just a few of the key differentiators are:
-Depth of players available (minor leagues, international, etc.)
-Year-round management
-FG-friendly SABR scoring
-Integration with FG leaderboards (which appears mindblowing)

In my opinion, though there seemingly can’t be prizes for now, a small fee of some type is a necessity in building a serious keeper league so managers are incentivized to build a team for years and not just for one season to put it all on the line, fail and then abandon the league. I’ve had too many keeper league experiences where you end up with half the league dropping after Year 1. I think this is a good step to combat that from happening.

Doctor_Teh
15 years ago
Reply to  Doctor_Teh

Well, from what I gathered, the fee is for one year only, so if someone enters the league and blows it and end sup with a terrible team, what is to stop them from dropping after year 1 since they feel they have no chance? I may just be misinterpreting what you mean or how the league works though.

hunterfan
15 years ago
Reply to  Doctor_Teh

Yeah, is a one time $10 fee really a big enough hit to stop people from dropping in keeper leagues?

Doctor_Teh
15 years ago
Reply to  Doctor_Teh

My point is that a yearly fee with no prize payout would seemingly make it less likely for people to stay in it, since they will have to pay for the pleasure of getting demolished if they lose interest or make poor moves the first year. If these people are dedicated enough to overcome those things, they wouldn’t need a fee in the first place I would presume.

sgolder06
15 years ago

So I signed up for and paid for a team yesterday, but the league was disbanded today, and now I don’t have any league or team. How will I be able to join another league without paying for another team?

sgolder06
15 years ago
Reply to  sgolder06

Also, in case anyone is wondering, that’s Don Wakamatsu’s prom picture.

nivshahMember since 2020
15 years ago
Reply to  sgolder06

First, awesome avatar. Second, if leagues are disbanded before the season starts, the teams in them will get refunded their fees for the upcoming season. Please email me at help@ottoneu.com with your league name and team name so I can ensure that you get this refund.

Thanks!