Bubs Latzke

[bubs (Bubs, OAK)]

Hello!

What is your name, age and general location?
Jim "Bubs" Latzke
44
St Louis, MO


What is your email address?
[e-mail]


Which is your favourite real life team? How did you end up following them?
The Cubbies
I was born in Chicago and grew up watching my favorite player, Andre Dawson on WGN TV.  I adopted the Lovable Losers as my team, even though my father was a White Sox fan.  I had the pleasure of taking my mother to Game 1 of the 2016 World Series in Cleveland (the only one my team lost in Believeland), but the experience of seeing not only the first WS game for the team in my lifetime, but my mother's as well, was priceless.


How did you find this league?
I was referred the O's GM, Andy.  He and I are in another league together and have been very active partners in trading this past year.




Please give a brief overview of your fantasy baseball experience. How many other leagues are you currently a member of, and what format are they (ie H2H, roto, redraft, keeper, auction etc)?
I played fantasy baseball nearly 20 years ago, but lost interest as it was merely a family league of a now prior relationship, where I was an outsider.  After a break from the fantasy sports world, I got into fantasy football for six years in the late 2000's-mid-2010s.  In six seasons in a 20 team league, I finished 1st, 4th, 11th (top 3 RBs had season ending injuries), 1st, 2nd, & 1st.
I announced that I was stepping down prior to my final year - mainly because I was wanting a bigger challenge.  The trifecta of the following - my overall love for baseball (being much more than that for football or any other sport), my favorite team being competitive again, and my work schedule better offering the flexibility to be active daily - led me to looking back into fantasy baseball again.  I tried other platforms that were more familiar to me in the past, but since I found Fantrax in 2019, I was hooked.
Currently, I am assigned to four other leagues (though one may not be around much longer).  I am really a fan of the dynasty (or at least keeper) format, as all of my leagues are dynasties.  I play both Roto & H2H leagues, love the auction format, and enjoy salary cap challenges.


How often will you be available to be contacted by fellow owners in this league?


I am available most every day, especially on weekdays, and check in year-round, as other leagues are active - at least in some capacity off and on - even in the offseason.

This is a league with 30 teams in it, and as such it can be expected that there will be a rather large number of teams that will not contend every season. Would you be content with building for the future? Do you need to always be in competition in order to remain interested in the league?
I place high expectations on myself, and personally strive to make the playoffs on a yearly basis - regardless of my team's current composition.  That is not to say that I would shy away from a setup where I will not be as competitive.  However, my goal is to always achieve a better record than is initially expected of my team and to constantly look for ways to improve my current team for the future at any time of the year.


Is there any other information you think we as a league should know in order to best determine your eligibility?
I believe that transparency and communication are key to the success of most things in life, including fantasy sports leagues.  Once I am familiarized with a league that I am in, I will proactively look for ways to make positive changes - if needed, of course.  I also love wheelin' & dealin', so I will initiate many trade offers.  I know that some people are not as interested in participating in trades that often & people value players differently, so I appreciate the candid feedback I get and look to modify, or even limit, counteroffers accordingly.  Finally, I am interested in competing in a challenging league.  If this is a league that will be competitive and provide a good challenge, I am all in.  If, however, this league will basically be 30 owners avoiding one another and playing independently, I may well not be a good fit.  I enjoy some good, clean fun and certainly hope that the members of this league are like-minded in that perspective.


Please post links to any other leagues you participate in.
LS Dynasty (Bubs' Bryzzo Brothers) - www.fantrax.com/fantasy/league/z3wgw8d3kupkaw6s/home
MLB Roto (Astros) - www.fantrax.com/fantasy/league/9kefa1zdkv3wqkfr/home
Corruption (Chicago Pale Hose) - www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/treasurerPayment.go?leagueId=iu1355xfkucobuf8&deadlinePassed=true (commish needs to fix renewal setup)
Realistic Salary Cap League (Chicago Cubs) - www.fantrax.com/fantasy/league/l8dtqmgdku5ne29i/home


Thanks in advance for your consideration!

-Bubs

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

Hi Bubs,

Thank you for your application.

We currently only have once vacancy. Would you be interested in applying for the Athletics? If so, I will send you the secondary questionnaire.
If we have multiple applicants for the same position, the strongest applicant will be selected based on the answers provided.

All the best,
Stephen

[bubs (Bubs, OAK)]

Hello Stephen,

I welcome the challenge as well as the potential opportunity to be the next Billy Beane!

-Bubs

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

Secondary questionnaire sent via PM.

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

Congratulations Bubs! The Oakland Athletics are proud to welcome you as their new general manager. A fun and rewarding future awaits as you chart the course of your franchise!

What are the next steps to be taken to get started on the right foot?

1) Post your own roster page in your team folder. For continuity your first roster should contain the exact same players as the previous team roster. If you wish to make changes to your roster (by protecting/unprotecting players) then these should be posted on the Roster Transactions board. You should also check that the arbitration contracts of all of your players are accurate - you don't want to be unnecessarily overpaying anyone! The format of the roster page is open for customisation by each owner, but please bear in mind that it should be easy to read and well maintained. You may find the FAQ page helpful. mlbbaseballleague.proboards.com/thread/636/league-faqs-new-owner

2) Notify the commissioner if there is a player on a multi-year guaranteed contract whose contract length you would like to reduce (rule 2.13).
If you are taking over a team that has recently been unowned during free agency, notify one of the commissioners if there are any automatically signed players who you would like to drop (rule 5.9.5).

3) Check your real life team's major and minor league rosters to see if you can protect any arbitration players of value that your predecessor missed.

4) Check your email for an invitation to Fantrax. (Consult with the commissioner if there are any difficulties or delays.)

5) Check your Fantrax roster. It should match your Proboards roster and only include players receiving a salary on your team.

6) Post a trade block. You can't agree to a trade until your trade block has been posted for a week.

Make good use of your trade block, player evaluation advice, and the one week acclimatization period. The “trade block guidance” page is your friend. Please do not overlook this valuable tool. It is required reading. mlbbaseballleague.proboards.com/thread/732/trade-block-guidance

7) Protect a player (see Section VII of the rules). You won't be allowed to trade until this step is taken as a demonstration of understanding the procedure.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. You can post it publicly under “General Chat”, or ask any experienced league member. We’re here to help.

From all of your fellow friends and competitors, welcome to our league!