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TGIF: The Ethics of Streaming Pitchers

If you are a veteran of the fantasy baseball circuit then you already know what I am talking about. The strategy of “streaming” has been known to cause polar opposite reactions in owners. Some approve of the idea while others will simply turn red at the very utterance of the word. Those who do oppose feel that this simple act of constant adding and dropping undermines the purity of the game.

Depending on the situation, this means of competing is seen as acceptable. Nine times out of ten, you will find the majority of the members of your league pissed off and wanting blood.

To those new to fantasy baseball (streaming is possible in any fantasy sport), “streaming” is the act of adding and dropping players every single day in order to maximize your team’s overall stats. In baseball, the pitchers are the ones who are seen flying in and out of free agency the most.

In your standard 5×5 league, an owner who has already made his/her decision to adopt the streaming strategy will decide this before their draft. That being said, that person’s goal will then be too draft a dominant offense with a mixed bag of decent closers. Since they are streaming pitchers and are going to compile a less than stellar team ERA, they don’t have to concern themselves with top tier closers in the draft room.

The issue that non-streaming owners have with this is that they want everything to be equal among all the teams. Streaming is seen as an easy way out of having to strategically play fantasy baseball and instead of analyzing matchups and proving you know your stuff. Streaming can allow any idiot to outshine the competition. Basically, anti-streamers claim that this strategy takes away the most important element of the game: fun.

Do I personally condone streaming? Yes I do. That isn’t to say that I personally take part in it. If you are in a league that allows you to do so then I say go ahead. The default 5×5 leagues are ideal for this strategy and these are the leagues that most anti-streamers complain about. The most common way of not having to deal with those pesky streamers is to join a league with more categories. In a league I have been in since 2004, we have a 12×12 format. Streaming pitchers can’t work here because with streaming, you will only get the innings pitched, strikeouts, and saves (assuming you remembered to draft closers) categories. With this, you lose 9 pitching categories most of the time except for when you get lucky with ERA and/or WHIP.

SoB’s Dan has had his own 7×7 league for two years. SoB’s KC quickly figured out that streaming would guarantee him four out of seven categories each week. So, KC streamed all season and ended up making the championship game. Last season, I employed the same strategy and also not only made the championship game but, led the league in almost all offensive categories. How did I lose? My opponent streamed his pitching staff for our two-week championship. However, he got up everyday at the exact time you can add/drop pitchers for the next day’s games (in Yahoo! leagues it is 3:00 AM EST) and as a result, got the first crack at the best pitchers. My dedication to this game runs deep, but not deep enough to wake up at 3:00 AM everyday just to win a fantasy baseball championship.

Even though I have no problem with streamers, I did feel that it took the fun out of my research for draft day and that is something I love doing most with this game. So like most everything else in life, it has shades of grey. 

In conclusion, if you can get away with streaming, then more power to you. To those who complain about it, just remember, you can easily do the same. If the league settings allow it to happen then it is not cheating. Don’t spend too much time complaining and fretting about it. It is a game. Games are supposed to be fun.

Tags: Fantasy, Streaming, TGIF