Come See Tout Wars Auction, at City Crab!

Details are being wrapped up, SiriusXM and City Crab have worked hard to make this happen, but you can count on this:

city-crab-logoWe have a new venue! The Tout Wars auctions (and Tout X draft) are being hosted at City Crab, a restaurant on the corner of 19th Street and Park Avenue South in New York City.

Get more details about City Crab at their website.

The Tout AL, NL and Mixed Auctions (with Tout X coverage) will be covered live, on site, by SiriusXM radio.

The Tout Mixed Draft Auction will be covered by Colton and the Wolfman on SiriusXM, Tuesday, March 10, from 8pm until Midnight!

We will also have our live draft spreadsheet and blog from the draft room. Look for details at ToutWars.com.

The official schedule of Tout Wars events

Tuesday 8pm (March 10): Tout Wars Mixed Draft, Online link to come. Radio by Colton and the Wolfman/SiriusXM.

Friday 8pm (March 20): Party with the touts at the Playwright Celtic Pub, 732 Eighth Ave. (near 47th Street).

Saturday 9am (March 21): Tout Wars AL Auction, City Crab

Saturday 3pm (March 21): Tout Wars Mixed Auction, City Crab

Saturday 4pm (March 21): Tout Wars X draft/auction, City Crab

Saturday 8pm (March 21): Party at Foleys! (18 West 33rd Street, NY)

Sunday 10am (March 22): Tout Wars NL Auction, City Crab

Also, unofficial events

We’re working on a Friday night meetup. Details to follow.

Come see us, ya here!

 

Tout Wars Mixed Draft 2015 Draft Order is Announced

Tout Wars mandates that each year’s draft order is determined by last year’s finish. Since draft picks are not necessarily valued in the order they come, owners are polled for their preferences of pick. The following is draft order they’ve selected:

Tim McLeod (100) 2014 Champion
Brent Hershey (100)
Perry Van Hook (100) Explains why he moved down one spot.
Adam Ronis (100)
Tom Kessenich (100)
Rick Wilton (100) Returning. Last result was ninth place finish in Tout AL in 2010.
Grey Albright (89)
Ray Murphy (100)
Eno Sarris (85)
Greg Ambrosius (83)
Paul Sporer (93)
Rudy Gamble (100) New to Tout Wars.
Paul Greco (99)
Charlie Wiegert (95)
Anthony Perri (100)

The number in parentheses is the amount of FAAB each team has to start the season. Tout Mixed teams are penalized $1 FAAB for each point they fall below 75 points.

Tout Wars Mixed Draft Update!

Rudy Gamble joins the Tout Wars Mixed Draft League. See the complete roster here.

Mixed Draft owners are currently selecting their draft position for the March 10 draft, which will begin at 8pm ET, and be carried by SiriusXM. The list will be reordered once their selections are finished.

The Tout Wars X 2015 Roster of Team Owners!

Ten new Tout Wars owners join the ranks for this year’s inaugural Tout Wars X league. They are:

Andrea LaMont
Bret Sayre
Michael Beller
Tim McCullough
Patrick Mayo
Stephania Bell
Craig Mish
Doug Anderson
Jeff Boggis
Jake Ciely

Welcome aboard, we’re glad to have you! And we’ll see you in New York on March 21st!

Please check out the league constitution for all the rules of this year’s Tout Wars X game.

We also heartily thank the applicants we could not fit this year. All we can say is, stick with it and your day will come. We wish we had more seats!

Introducing Tout Wars X

toutwarsXlogoThere is a new league in town, and we’re calling it Tout Wars X. The X is for Experimental.

One of the missions of Tout Wars has been not only to reflect the way fantasy baseball is played out in the wild, but also to push the wild to play fantasy baseball a better way. That was the impetus behind our recent move to replace Batting Average as a category with On Base Percentage. It was also the reason we were the first experts league to move from 4×4 to 5×5, and the reason we allow $0 bids and use the Vickrey auction system for our FAAB bidding. It’s the reason we adopted FAAB reclaims for players out for the season, and then liberalized the rule so that FAAB can be reclaimed for any player who goes on the DL. Each of these changes improves our game, we think, and while not everyone else agrees, many leagues have taken advantage of our innovations (or offered up their own) to improve the rules of the games we play.

But not all innovation and experimental ideas are suitable for leagues that are run to showcase expert talent playing classic fantasy baseball formats. That’s where Tout Wars X comes in.

Each year we’re going to introduce a new fantasy baseball game and invite Touts to play. Each year the game will be different. The goal is to try out different methods of drafting and auctioning, different transaction dates, different categories and different roster sizes. Sometimes we’ll change it all up at once. All of us have visceral reactions to these types of rules and game structures, but until we actual play by them, how will be ever know how they really work. Tout Wars X is for test drives.

This year we’re keeping it simple. Ron Shandler is introducing a yearlong version of his Shandler Park Monthly Games. Different categories, monthly rosters, no trades, one champion.

Ten teams will convene in New York City on Tout Weekend for a hybrid draft/auction in which they will draft players using the Shandler Park prices, staying under $280 salary cap for all 32 of their players. Then, every four weeks after, they will compile a Salary Capped team the way players at Shandler Park do. For the complete rules visit the Tout Wars X page.

Another reason we’re starting a new league is to create more slots for Touts. We have a long waiting list of Tout talent, and we hope Tout Wars is a fun way to open some more slots. This year 10 more fantasy baseball writers or broadcasters will be able to compete against one another. If you meet the Tout Wars eligibility criteria and want to give it a shot, get more details on the Tout Wars X page.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR TOUTS:

– Must have a minimum five years experience playing fantasy baseball.

– Must have a minimum three years experience contributing to a baseball or fantasy baseball publication, website or information service.

– Must promote the Tout Wars league in their information service via banners, links or original content. These links must be accessible from March through September, at minimum.

– Must be able to travel to travel to New York for draft weekend.

Tout Wars 2015: This Year’s Mixed Draft Lineup

toutwarslogo-newsmallThe 2015 Mixed Draft will take place in early March, date and time to be announced soon. We’re working to coordinate SiriusXM coverage of the draft, if possible.

There is one new rule for the Tout Wars Mixed Leagues. The reserve list will expand from four to six players this year.

This year’s owners, in order of last year’s finish, adjusted for new members Wilton and Gamble. The number in parenthesis is the amount of FAAB each team starts with. Draft order and FAAB budget are based on Tout Wars rules. Draft order will be announced later.

Tim McLeod (100) 2014 Champion
Perry Van Hook (100)
Brent Hershey (100)
Ray Murphy (100)
Adam Ronis (100)
Tom Kessenich (100)
Anthony Perri (100)
Paul Greco (99)
Rick Wilton (100) Returning. Last result was ninth place finish in Tout AL in 2010.
Charlie Wiegert (95)
Paul Sporer (93)
Grey Albright (89)
Eno Sarris (85)
Greg Ambrosius (83)
Rudy Gamble (100) New to Tout Wars.

Tout Wars 2015: National League Lineup Is Announced

toutwarslogo-newsmallThe 2015 National League auction will take place on March 22 at 10am in New York City. The location will be announced later this month. The draft will be carried live by SiriusXM radio.

This year’s owners, in order of reserve round pick. The number in parenthesis is the amount of FAAB each team starts with. Reserve order and FAAB budget are based on Tout Wars rules.

Tristan Cockcroft (100) 2012, 2013, 2014 Champion
Steve Gardner (100)
Phil Hertz (100)
Mike Gianella (100)
Derek Carty (100)
Ray Guilfoyle (100) Transfer from Mixed Auction
Lenny Melnick (100)
Todd Zola (93)
Brian Walton (93)
Peter Kreutzer (92)
Scott Wilderman (89)
Gene McCaffrey (86)

Tout Wars 2015: American League Owners Are Announced

toutwarslogo-newsmallThe 2015 American League Auction will take place on March 21 at 9am in New York City. The location will be announced later this month. The draft will be carried live by SiriusXM radio.

This year’s owners, in order of reserve round pick. The number in parenthesis is the amount of FAAB each team starts with. Reserve order and FAAB budget is based on Tout Wars rules.

Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton (100) 2014 Champions
Rob Leibowitz (100)
Lawr Michaels (100)
Jeff Erickson (100)
Seth Trachtman (100) transfer from NL
Ron Shandler (100)
Larry Shechter (100)
Steve Moyer (90)
Jason Collette (90)
Mike Podhorzer (87)
Andy Behrens (76)
Chris Liss (68)