yahoo! Fantasy Baseball has been delayed. A post to the Twitter account for Yahoo! Fantasy Sports relayed the bad news on February 2. According to the tweet, it could be a while before fantasy owners are able to access their teams or leagues. This came as surprising news, as leagues have usually been available by this time.
The post reads, “Yahoo Fantasy Baseball players, we hear you. We are working to make our product ready for another fantastic season. Fantasy Baseball will be opening in the next 2 weeks.
Thank you for your patience.[sic]”
When is fantasy baseball usually opened?
Last year, Yahoo! had its fantasy baseball portal open on January 26. It has become the expectation of fans to see some action before the Super Bowl each year, so many people expected that to take place this year as well. Even as the days have ticked off the calendar, people have held out hope that Yahoo! was ready to make a surprise announcement. What wasn’t expected, though, was the announcement of another delay in the system.
Using the phrase “in the next two weeks” could mean a lot of things. It could mean tomorrow or it could mean 14 days from now. It’s a very ambiguous statement that allows Yahoo! a huge window to release the updated portal.
It will also keep people on the edge of their seats, as there is nothing that players can do but sulk and wait for the site to get its act together this year. Either way, the natives are going to get very restless waiting to renew leagues or start up new ones. Fantasy baseball is a great way to deal with the downtime of football and a Super Bowl a lot of people aren’t interested in watching.
What will the leagues bring fans this season?
One of the interesting pieces of information about this the 2018 fantasy baseball season, is that rookie pitcher Shohei Ohtani will actually be two players in the game. He is a pitcher who can hit, so Yahoo! is adding him as a hitter and a pitcher in the system. It means that fans of the Los Angeles Angels will need to draft him twice to get his full stat lines this season.
It’s an interesting wrinkle in the system that might be the cause of some of these update delays.
Teams like the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers are also making a lot of moves, suggesting a lot of players from both could be selected higher in drafts this year. The Mariners added Dee Gordon in a trade with the Miami Marlins, while the Brewers signed free-agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain. Could the Mariners and Brewers be true contenders for the first time in a while? And will that lead to a lot of fantasy baseball success for owners drafting those players?