This article is part of our The Z Files series.
I'll admit, this season's trade deadline crushed me. I don't think it's a secret I keep my own projections and updates. My routine is to spend Thursday and Friday reviewing playing time.
Normally come trade deadline, I'm able to get a head start during the week, updating as deals are announced. However, this season the reporting of deals coincided with my updates, so I wasn't able to get ahead, plus it took way longer to go through all 30 teams' hitting and pitching grids than usual.
File this next one under my problem, not yours, but last week I pinch hit for friend and colleague Tristan Cockcroft on the ESPN Forecaster and the 10-day planner updates. After handing the keys back to him Monday, I took a deep breath and was looking forward to a day without seeing any spreadsheets.
Then it hit me. I completely spaced on last week's Z Files. I've been doing this since January of 2016 and sure, I've asked for a week off here and there, but I have never simply forgotten to do it.
Unfortunately, I did not have a worthy topic, so I decided to sleep on it.
Sometimes the answer is just staring you in the face.
I just spent the better part of a week scrubbing playing time to generate rest of the season rankings. Do I have it right? Heck no. Did I miss a move or two? Yeah, probably. Even so, It struck me sharing my rankings would make
I'll admit, this season's trade deadline crushed me. I don't think it's a secret I keep my own projections and updates. My routine is to spend Thursday and Friday reviewing playing time.
Normally come trade deadline, I'm able to get a head start during the week, updating as deals are announced. However, this season the reporting of deals coincided with my updates, so I wasn't able to get ahead, plus it took way longer to go through all 30 teams' hitting and pitching grids than usual.
File this next one under my problem, not yours, but last week I pinch hit for friend and colleague Tristan Cockcroft on the ESPN Forecaster and the 10-day planner updates. After handing the keys back to him Monday, I took a deep breath and was looking forward to a day without seeing any spreadsheets.
Then it hit me. I completely spaced on last week's Z Files. I've been doing this since January of 2016 and sure, I've asked for a week off here and there, but I have never simply forgotten to do it.
Unfortunately, I did not have a worthy topic, so I decided to sleep on it.
Sometimes the answer is just staring you in the face.
I just spent the better part of a week scrubbing playing time to generate rest of the season rankings. Do I have it right? Heck no. Did I miss a move or two? Yeah, probably. Even so, It struck me sharing my rankings would make a nice makeup column.
So here we go. Today I'll reveal my top-350 batters through the rest of the season, and later in the week I'll post my top-200 pitchers.
It's important to note these are different than the site's ROS rankings. That said, differences can be instructive, especially since I'll happily address questions in the comments below.
These are based on 15-team, standard 5x5 roto scoring. The playing time adjustments were done manually and match up logically with each player's remaining schedule and my best guess at how much they'll play.
As is the case with any rankings, everything needs to be taken in context. It is poor form to "take one off the top" of draft rankings, since that ignores reading the room and roster construction. Here, team needs and place in the standings dictate the better player for your roster. If you're trying to make up ground, a lower-ranked player with a higher ceiling may be a better choice than someone ranked higher, but with limited upside.
Finally, these rankings are refreshed through Sunday's games.
Here you go. Again, please feel free to ask for clarification below.
