Coleman's Commentary: To Stream Or Scream A Owners Battle With Ethics

Streaming of pitchers happens in Fantasy Leagues across the country. For those of you who aren't familiar with Streaming, it is the process of adding a pitcher to give yourself a innings advantage. In daily leagues the streaming of pitchers can add a substantial amount of innings pitched to your weekly totals depending on your acquisition limits. The logic behind the increase in innings is the opportunity for W's or QS whichever your leagues score plus with the increase in innings a advantage in K's should be expected. In order for the systemto be a success however the pitchers must pitch effectively. Most leagues play a Head to Head or Roto stlye or scoring. In both formats categories such as ERA, WHIP and K/9 are common areas of scoring. Therefore if you pick up just anyone to add innings and potential K's you can do more harm than good should you pick up duds. So most MGR's often look at potential Starters and who they are facing to find the best matchup for potential success.

We here at the 64/60 play in a daily head to head league. Each Sunday I hear from several owners. I hear how they had a great week on the rubber but thanks to so and so picking up this player and that player they were able to come back and win. The owners who oppose the pitch and release approach claim the system undermined the importance of draft day. They feel the system doesn't reward the team with the best roster instead it often times rewards those owners who have the extra time to spend adjusting rosters.

On the other side of the ledger is those who support and execute the pitch and release approach. These owners feel that their actions are within the rules. They feel that they should be rewarded for the extra dedication. Perhaps the biggest reason for the support of the pitch and release approach is that it's just damn fun to do. It's pretty sweet picking up the Jamie Moyer's of the world and watch them go out and look like the Tim Lincecum's of the world and simply be dominate.

So where do you stand? I myself enjoy the pitch and release approach. I enjoy looking at the matchups and finding those that can be beneficial to my season. I love the thrill of the gem and even the agony of the 2 inning appearance. Even if I opposed of the approach it is extremely hard to prevent the tactic no matter what the format. If you play in a daily league you could move to a weekly league. This may slow the approach somewhat but for those of you who participate in weekly leagues you are all to familiar with the Two Start Pitcher. Each week in FAAB periods substantial amounts of money are spent on marginal players just because they will get two starts during the week thus giving them a edge over their opponents at least from a quantity standpoint. I certainly would not suggest ending all Free Agent or Waiver Pickups this is begging for Non-Participation by ownership which is death to any league. You can attempt to put a roster change limit for the week but owners can simply hold back on the changes until late in the week and apply all finances or transactions towards those pitchers.

In a recent State of the 64/60 Address I stated that perhaps to limit this practice that we would switch to a Weekly League next season. After further review I have decided that although a adjustment needs to be made, you never want to promote less participation. Even though I am a supporter of the practice and even though the majority of ownership use this practice I still need to understand where the detractors are coming from and attempt to meet at some common ground. League harmony is very important and given the constant battles, trash talk, and competitive natures of most participants confrontations are guaranteed to happen. Therefore anytime the Commish can make lives better for all he must somehow find a way to make it happen.