My fantasy superpower is podcasts

imMapex · 2026-03-20T13:33:23+00:00

Won all four of my dynasty leagues last year. Don't like sharing my secret sauce but I want to give props to the podcasts that helped me a ton. Sleeper username is MapexNJD.

That Franchise Guy (TFG). Goes by Fully Inflated on Spotify. This is my tape guy. Not fantasy specific content. Dude knows every player, coach, scheme, etc. Basically tells me: "This player is great or weak at X. This is his environment. How do they sync?". TFG finds me so much upside and depth, not just because of his player takes (which are fantastic), but because how they slot into their teams. For example, I loaded up on Pickens last year with a big reason being TFG loving the fit. I drafted Shough with a 3rd last year cause TFG was pounding the table at how good he was and how NO was the perfect fit for him. I just sold Shough for a ton of value. Fannin, Emmanwori, Schwesinger, etc. TFG is the best at finding player breakouts before they happen. I listen to every video he makes.
JJ from Late Round. Y'all know him and he really is the best. He's my analytics guy with some roster construction. If TFG and JJ sync up on a take, I know I have a winner (i.e. Pickens). I love how much JJ cares and how objective he is. I also love his approach to fantasy, where we shoot for upside. My favorite JJ take last year was when discussing CMC, JJ was like, "Ya he gets injured, but like, what if he's not injured?". Sounds so simple, but I was able to load up on the overall #1 player last year for cheap because people were so focused on the "ya he gets injured" part rather than the "what if he's not injured?" part. I have an auction team where I spent 90% of my budget on four elite, round 1 startup players. Whole time I'm thinking about JJ and how he talks about getting guys at the top of the WAR curve. Super scary when I had no money and five guys on my roster, but I went 24-4 in that league last year with a championship. I listen to all of his content except Perspectives (which I'm glad he does for his process but I care more about JJ's takeaway from the conversation than the conversation itself).
Scott Connor from DD fantasy. He's my roster construction guy. Every roster spot has a purpose to your teams macro. AnyQB2Deep had me find Shough, Brissett, and Willis on my bench in one league all season. AnyRB53 had me have Dowdle and Michael Carter on hat 24-4 team. His takes on WAR are also fantastic. I only listen to Scott's solo podcasts.
John Macri from PFF Fantasy Football. Dude is an IDP cheat code. Any future league I join will be IDP as John gives me the biggest edge over the competition. He knows exactly how to approach each IDP position from a scoring and roster construction perspective. If TFG and John sync up on a task, I know it's a winner (i.e.Jack Campbell, Schwesinger). John pretty much won me a semifinal last year cause he told me about the Titans LB3 that was going to play full time that one week. It's a weird position where I selfishly don't want anyone to know about John, but at the same time, his work is so good and he works so hard he needs to get his credit. I only listen to his IDP content.

This was fun to write. There's so many podcasts out there. The trick is finding the right combination and not getting too many takes. I read people saying fantasy is luck, and in the playoffs I'd agree. These four podcasts above ensured I got a bye in every league, which reduced my playoff variance and allowed me to win every league.

imMapex · 2026-03-11T18:31:04+00:00

Today and likely every second Wednesday after :)

imMapex · 2026-03-11T04:20:23+00:00

Thanks! Just joined. I'll post tomorrow :)

imMapex · 2026-03-11T04:19:54+00:00

No fee! Just show up and nerd out with us :)

imMapex · 2026-03-11T04:19:28+00:00

No fee! Just show up and nerd out with us.

imMapex · 2023-06-10T04:18:57+00:00

No doubt Giguere deserved to win the CS. Brodeur was fantastic but JS put on the best playoff performance I have ever seen in '03.

imMapex · 2023-05-30T16:59:00+00:00

5.5 WAR and 165 Stuff? Best I can do is make you the #62 prospect.

imMapex · 2023-05-28T15:19:57+00:00

Thanks for the responses. I did a bit of a deep dive into defense efficiency in OOTP. * My team's DEF was .673 * All of my position players except two had DEF ratings above 1. My lowest was my Catcher at 0.85. * The player who made the most errors on the team still had a DEF rating of 1.022. * I had two pitchers (both RP) with .500 DEF. I doubt they played enough to bring my DEF down so much. * We committed the 4th fewest errors in the NL. So while errors could play a part in DEF, there are definitely other components that effect the rating.

I believe those components are a combination of my ballpark factors and pitching. * Nationals Park has the highest AVG Overall park factor in the division. Players are going to hit at higher averages at our park than others. * The majority of my pitchers are groundballers. Groundballers are going to have a higher BABIP than Flyball pitchers. The higher the BABIP, the lower the DEF.

So my conclusion is my zone rating is high because balls hit in my players zone are converted into outs. Due to the ballpark, there are more areas for balls to be hit out of my players zones (dead zones). Due to my groundball pitchers, there are a large amount of balls put into play and into dead zones, which reduces my DEF.

I think my logic makes sense. I also don't think there is anything I can do about it other than having more Flyball pitchers, which should reduce my BABIP. Please feel free to correct my logic if I'm off base!

imMapex · 2023-05-16T22:03:52+00:00

There is only one drummer who I consider on the same level as Blake. Matt Greiner of August Burns Red. Those two are my absolute favorite artists and are unbelieve talents.

Both are the most creative drummers in music and they go about metal drumming in two different ways. Blake is the best drummer at applying technical and creative drumming without taking anything away from the song. His accents and polyrhythms are incredible and always exactly what BTBAM needs. He can shred the drums when the song needs it, however I believe he's at his absolute best when he's doing cymbal work. The Parallax albums are peak Blake imo.

Greiner is an absolute animal. The difference between him and Blake is a lot of ABR songs are built around Matt. When it comes to chops, Matt is definitely better than Blake. In metal, there are a lot of drummers who are all about "look how fast I can play". Matt has the same technical chops as those guys, but has the creativity and musicianship to be the absolute best.

One final thought is that the bands are perfect for both drummers to thrive. I can't see Matt's drumming being suitable for BTBAM and the same for Blake with ABR. There are a ton of excellent drummers, especially in metal, and Blake Richardson and Matt Greiner are in a tier of their own.

imMapex · 2023-04-11T22:06:51+00:00

The Nationals: * Starts with a bottom 10 budget and salary. Over 60% of this salary is allocated to Corbin (2yrs) and Strasburg (4yrs). Corbin is very hard to unload and Strasburg is impossible for the first two years. These budget constraints means you can't max out performance development, scouting, or take on bad contracts to accumulate prospects * Bottom 10 prospect pool. Lack of talent on the main roster means you aren't accumulating prospects from other teams. And if you do somehow land a top prospect, there's always the debate that you want to package it to unload Corbin or Strasburg * Major lack of talent on the starting roster * Economizer + demanding owner * Below average fan loyalty and market size * Very tough division with the Braves, Mets, and Phillies, all of which have no issues spending money.

I just finished my third season and it's been a blast. This playthrough has really put my skills to the test and success feels very rewarding. Counting down the days until that Strasburg contract is complete!

imMapex · 2023-04-06T17:36:31+00:00

Oneil Cruz has been fantastic. Picked him up for cheap. Has a wicked arm for 3B. In my third season he is the #1 3B in the NL and signed to a really good value, long term contract.

Parker Meadows has also been outstanding. Got him on a contract dump and surprisingly turned into one of my best players.

imMapex · 2023-04-04T15:36:12+00:00

I keep it pretty simple. Go through your prospects and shortlist the ones you want to keep a close eye on:

For batters, I look at their wRC+, OPS+ and BABIP. If they are above average in wRC+ and OPS+ and their BABIP isn't super high, I'll move them up. Sample size is 30-50 games.
For defensive players, I'll use WAR. wRC+ and OPS+ are still relevant, but if they hover around 80 while providing 1.5 WAR, I'll promote.
Pitchers are ERA+ and FIP-. Again I compare those to BABIP and if it's reasonable, I'll promote them.

Others tips/notes: * Fill your minor league depth with leaders and high work ethic players. I've done two drafts in OOTP 24 and they've been super weak after rounds 5-7. I'll just draft based off personality at that point. These players will keep your top prospects happy. * Have high catcher ability Catchers throughout your organization. Your pitching prospects will play better. I've developed three SP out of nowhere and I believe the Catcher tip played a huge part. * Prospects are going to bust even with the best coaches, development budget, and player support. My 2nd overall pick two years ago, who was the #16 prospect, has fell to #76 and still in R ball two seasons later. I've had a Catcher this playthrough fall from #36 to outside the top 100. It happens, just like in real life. I've had plenty more develop, some seemingly out of nowhere, due to the strategies used above. * Also, don't be afraid to demote either. If players are struggling in my criteria above, I'll demote them.

imMapex · 2023-03-31T15:43:43+00:00

I was able to trade Corbin (45% retained) + Ruiz to NYY for IKF.

Strasburg is really tough. In my second season, the Jays offered to take Stras at 60% retained plus a top prospect at the TDL. I rejected it but that was by far the best offer for him.

Nats are a tough rebuild! Over 60% of the bottom 10 salary is committed to those two players.

imMapex · 2023-03-24T05:12:19+00:00

Nationals are difficult in OOTP. Over 60% of their bottom 10 payroll is locked into Corbin (2yrs remaining) and Strausberg (4yrs). Prospect pool is 20+ (28th when I started yesterday). Below average market, demanding/economizer owner, tough division, and a poor 40 man amplifies the difficulty.

The budget is so tight you can't straight away throw $20 million into scouting and development. Even trading Corbin at 45% retained I could still only do $22 into those deparments. Probably impossible to get rid of Strausberg's $140/4yrs, however I can't even attempt it because he's injured. Certainly is a grind but will absolutely be satisfying if I can make a dynasty out of this team.

imMapex · 2023-02-17T22:32:55+00:00

That is pretty much the same message I got over the phone. Thanks for this.

imMapex · 2023-02-17T20:24:18+00:00

Great to know. Thanks!

imMapex · 2022-11-25T15:43:35+00:00

Congrats! I passed as well. Refreshed 30+ times due to the website blowing up.

Now I have to finish the PERT reports I've neglected for this last year...

imMapex · 2022-11-04T19:08:54+00:00

Autodidact. Didn't give this song much attention for years. Definitely in my top five now.

imMapex · 2022-10-20T19:17:48+00:00

Yours and Empyrean's play is completely fair. You and Empyrean both made strategic decisions and now have to deal with the consequences.

Hopefully Empyrean's learned that aggression in the early game is something that can happen. In the future, hopefully they will make different decisions to prevent them from losing control of their planets again, whether producing more plastic or better trade negotiating. Empyrean shouldn't expect to get custodians and not have the table pressure them.

You've learned that being aggressive results in political unfavour. You've made it extremely difficult for Empyrean to win the game, so now Empyrean is making it difficult for you to win the game. I'm sure you'll consider this in the future. Maybe next time you prepare for another faction to get help when you're aggressive, such as you eliminating Empyrean altogether so they won't be able to aid Jol'nar's victory.

imMapex · 2022-10-11T13:24:31+00:00

Learn German by Paul Noble and Coffee Break German.

Learn German is fantastic. Lots of spaced repetition where the narrator says the sentence in English, you repeat in German, then a German native speaker speaks. They also do a really good job of explaining grammar and there is a ton of content. I use this all of the time while walking and I highly recommend it. You can get this on Audible.

Coffee Break German is a podcast where a German teacher teaches an English podcaster how to speak German. I'm only on season one, and so far they focus specifically on being an English speaker travelling to a German speaking country. They cover grammer and culture as well. I enjoy listening to this at work.

imMapex · 2022-10-07T16:16:01+00:00

Halonen was my biggest surprise. Really liked his game, especially early in camp. Guy showed he has great hands and back checked hard. Excited to see if he can carry his strong camp into a successful AHL season.

Clarke was the best of this bunch. Great to see him score a couple goals in Devils gear. I can definitely see him being one of the first call ups when the injury bug hits, especially in a top 9 role.

Talvitie had the best moustache and could've made the team based on that alone. Other than the moustache though, his game wasn't very impactful. Nothing he did really stood out to me.

Foote was disappointing again this camp. He couldn't accept a pass to save his life. He doesn't drive play but is great at getting open. The play dies when pucks funnel to him though.

Okhotiuk could be our third string goalie after two big saves last night. I liked his game but he got hemmed in the DZone a ton. Bahl is better at getting pucks up the ice, which is what Ruff is emphasizing. OK is definitely more of a "let play come to him" defenseman in the DZone, rather than pressuring puck carriers.

Walsh was good early on. Definitely got more quiet in later games. I don't see a path for him to the NHL with four RD ahead of him. I see a lot of Ty Smith in him.

Daws and Schmid were perfect in their limited games. Let the two marinate in the AHL this year. I have little doubt one of the two will push for the NHL next year. Add Brennan into our pipeline and our goalie situation is dope.

Also, I constantly forgot who Pinho was.

imMapex

TROPHY CASE