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Every fantasy analyst or expert's goal should be to provide insight and help to those in need. It can come in many different forms: some strive to open minds to our game's unexplored territories, others want to supply managers with information in order assist their team-building efforts. While there are many that are very good in either regard, often those with the loudest voice can be the most distracting and least helpful, and should be avoided.
I'm speaking specifically of the big three providers: Yahoo!, CBS and ESPN. I can't find market share numbers, but I'd wager a guess that at least 70% of all leagues are confined to these three platforms. All three employ year-round "experts" providing you with easy to find content when you log in to your league, and all three also employ some of the worst "experts" this side of Fox News. I don't want to call anyone out or name names, so rather than tell you who to avoid, I'll tell you who in my experience is most worthy of your time should you decide to click on those little links on your league pages during the season. (With the hope that by process of elimination, you'll also know who sucks and I won't get banned from playing at these places).
In my opinion, the goal is not to be "right" the most, but rather to show your work. Look, I also hated that phrase in high school. But anyone can tell you that the undrafted guy with 12 homers in 100 at-bats is worth looking at. What we want/need to know is whether or not he can sustain those numbers, if they're fluky, or if we should have seen this coming for miles. With that said, here are three guys -- one from each of the three mega-providers -- that do these things better and more consistently than any of their colleagues. Of course you'll still likely find more of what you're looking for here at the Hurler and similar sites, but if you must:
Yahoo!: Andy Behrens. Behrens can be a refreshing breeze in the deserted analysis wasteland that is Yahoo! Fantasy Sports. Often clever and eye-opening, his articles and twitter feed are light-years ahead of his colleagues. While others are busy pounding out the same lifeless nonsense or screaming at the top of their lungs for effect, Behrens remains calm and collected, infuses a little humor here and there, and employs advanced metrics in his analysis. The one solid thing that Yahoo! has done in the last few years with their writers is push the nonsensical guys back a bit and let Behrens handle more.
ESPN: Jason Grey. The Worldwide Leader is home to likely the most prolific of all fantasy experts, a guy who all of us owe at least some gratitude to for making writing about fantasy sports a viable Internet commodity. However, lurking in his ever-present shadow among many mostly unqualified fantasy scribes you'll find Jason Grey, a guy with a scouting background applying his talents to our corner of the sporting world. Grey doesn't have the large following or nerdy spectacles others on his site enjoy, but he may be the smartest of them all. He tends to focus solely on the next generation of fantasy stars, and as many of us have seen this can be a great edge to have. Adding to this fact is that the guy actually has real-life experience in what he's writing on, which is a whole lot more than can be said about almost anyone in this industry.
CBS: Scott White. CBS might be home to the most deficient writers in the fantasy world, save for Yahoo!. It was tough to even pick out White, who actually does shine in comparison to the others who post there regularly. (Hey, at least CBS is also home to How I Met Your Mother; how many occasionally funny, middling sitcoms do you have Yahoo!? That's right, none!) White doesn't deviate from the script all that often, mostly churning out stuff in the cookie-cutter "post of the week" format. But he does employ much better analysis than his counterparts, utilizing advanced stats wisely and in a helpful - if somewhat dumbed-down - fashion.
I haven't seen their W2's, but I'd wager my pay-stub that the guys above collect a check for what they do. Most of these three main sites have the equivalent of a roster full of Barry Zitos who are stealing money, but at least the three above can pull a Giambi and scrape out a respectable showing. Either way I'd say you'll get better quality here or on similar sites, but again, if you can't resist the shiny nearby links, you're better off with these guys than their co-workers.
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