Frequently
asked questions
Thank you.
Where do you get your information?
From a variety of reliable sources around the internet. Click on "About Sandlot Shrink" for a short biography on each of our staff.
How often do you update the site?
We update the web site everyday during the regular season and several times a day during training camps. We also update all the depth charts year round as well as off-season notes.
How often do you update the
Projections and Cheat Sheets?
Baseball: Almost every day through the first week of the regular season. Football: Almost every day up to the regular season openers.
What time of day do you upload new information?
We usually have everything in place by late morning or early afternoon but if a late-breaking story hits, we post it as soon as possible. Also, we post extra news late in the evening. During training camps, we upload new information several times a day. Get into the habit of hitting your refresh/reload button often before signing off to get the latest info.
How soon can I expect a password after I sign up?
If your charge card clears, you can expect to receive your User Name and Password within 24 hours (usually same day). You can also email sandlot3@gmail.com or call the customer service line at 602-903-7068 for quicker service. DO NOT use the cox email as that has a slower response time.
Where do I enter my password?
When you click on a password-protected area, a little window will pop up asking for User Name and Password. Carefully type these in (one per line) using lowercase letters.
How often do you change the passwords?
Twice a year for each sport – generally a couple of weeks before training camps open as well as a couple of weeks after training camps end. Note: AOL sometimes treats our emails as “spam” to go into your email account and designate Sandlot Shrink as a preferred email sender.
When are the Automatic Renewal customers charged and can I change my
order?
Yes you can. We process all auto-renewals in January so if you need to adjust or cancel your order, call or e-mail us before the first of each year.
Do you take PayPal?
Yes…
- Log in to your PayPal account.
- Click Send Money.
- Enter sandlot3@gmail.com and the amount you want to pay.
- Make your selection, then choose the reason for the payment.
- Click Continue.
- Review the amount, the payment method, and shipping address.
- Add a message (if you want to), then click Send Money.
To get the discounts, do I have to sign up for both sports at the same
time?
Yes – unless you are on
auto-renewal. Then the discount would kick in as soon as you add another sport.
When I click on a password-protected area, I get an error code saying
access denied. What do I do now?
Try typing in the user name and password in small letters. Otherwise, you’re using the wrong password or your subscription has run out. Or you might be clicking on the link for the book or vice versa. Or you might be clicking on a different sport.
When I click on a password-protected area, I get an error code saying
unauthorized access. What do I do now?
This is sometimes a problem with AOL subscribers. It usually means you have to upgrade your web browser, which you can do right off the AOL home page at no extra charge. First though, back out and try again (hit the back button at the top of your screen). If that doesn't work…
Can I download your projections into my own spreadsheet?
Yes. Simply highlight whatever you want to use and copy it (right click and copy, or go up to edit and copy). Open up excel and right click in the first box (cell) and choose ‘paste special’ then click on “text” and then click on “ok”.
Older versions of Excel:
Office 97: The frame can be saved as an HTML file and opened directly from excel.
Office 95: 1- Select (highlight) area and copy (Ctrl + C). 2-Open a blank WORD document and paste (Ctrl + V). 3- From the WORD select all(Ctrl + A). 4- From the WORD menu select TABLE... CONVERT TEXT TO TABLE. 5-From the popup menu Select (Separate Text At) Paragraphs (Radio Button) &enter (Number of Columns). 6- Click OK. 7- Copy the new table (Ctrl + C). 8-Open an Excel sheet and paste in the first cell (Ctrl + V).
Non-Excel users: 1) Highlight the text in Netscape or Internet Explorer. 2) Use the edit menu on the toolbar to copy the text. 3) Open spreadsheet and paste or 3) open notepad and paste. You will need to do some formatting but a lot less than removing the entire HTML.
When all else fails: open notepad and copy the data from the browser to notepad using edit/copy and paste. Save the file. Open Excel. Open the file you saved from notepad, which should put you in the import wizard. Select 'fixed width' and move the field delimiters to the left of each field. Import. This should give you a 'stair step' file - a1, b2, c3, d4, e1... and soon. Now go to the top of each column and delete enough cells to line up the date with the column(s) to the left. You could place everything after 'open excel’ into a macro.
My screen freezes up sometimes. What should I do?
Hit refresh or reload at the top of your screen. If that doesn't help, signoff and reboot your computer (Ctrl + Alt + Delete to reboot) or press the reset button. This is a typical problem we all face from time to time on the Internet.
I tried to get into the web page and was unsuccessful. When I finally
did, it did not even ask for a password ("authorization denied").
Again, Internet related. Occasionally, weird things happen with routers throughout the country and it affects different sites in different ways. Don’t worry about it unless the problem persists more than 24 hours. Then contact your Internet provider. Otherwise, reboot and try again.
Why can I only access old information when you are uploading new stuff to
the site every day?
This is another problem that crops up from time to time. Your computer is accessing old info so here are some options:
1. Try another computer or devise
2. Delete your Sandlot Shrink bookmark and manually create another
3. Try another browser or upgrade existing browser
4. Clean out your cache and reboot
The cache is a temporary storage site for the Internet pages you visit the
most and helps you access them faster. When the cache becomes full, the memory
brings up the last page at the address you are trying to load, which is usually
an older page.
To clean out the cache in Microsoft Explore: Click on View, then Options, then Navigation, and then Clear History Folder. Then set the number of days to one and then click Apply. You should be all set. Be sure to reboot before going back on-line.
To clean out the cache in Netscape: Click on Edit, then click on Preferences, then double click on Advanced, then click on Cache, then click on Clear Disk cache. Make sure your default is set on once per session. Be sure to reboot before going back on-line.
AOL customers can also try this: Click on members. Click on preferences. Click on www icon. Click the Advanced tab. In the box marked” Temporary Internet Files," click on Settings. Then click on “Empty Folder." Click on Yes, then click OK twice. Be sure to reboot before going back on-line. Note: AOL sometimes treats our emails as “spam” to go into your email account and designate Sandlot Shrink as a preferred email sender.
When are the books published and are they
available on-line?
The Fantasy Baseball Insider and the Fantasy Football Insider go to press the last weeks of February and July respectively, which guarantees up-to-date information. They are available on-line with updates to the cheat sheets and projections. They are mailed out the first day of the following month, but only to subscribers without computers. The books are not available in stores.
Why do your ‘Cheat Sheet’ values differ from your ‘projections’ values?
The values listed in the individual positional rankings reflect the actual raw worth of each player's stats generated by our projections. The cheat sheet takes these values and changes them into bidding values. That is, the maximum bid for each player under normal auction conditions. A brand new 12-team draft with a $260 cap or a keeper league with basically average money to spend constitutes normal conditions. Keep in mind that these values are merely a draft day "guide". The same applies to football and basketball.
We also take into consideration perceived draft day value of the player (if we think a player will go higher or lower than he is worth), position scarcity, and other nuances. For instance, if a player’s projection = $30 but we think it would take more to get him, he might reflect equal or more value on the cheat sheet. If a player’s projection = $30 but we think he might be worth less (an injury-prone player, a player whose stats have been vastly inconsistent over the years, or a case of position overload), he might reflect less value on the cheat sheet. Keep in mind that these values will be continuously tweaked throughout training camps.
Important Note: The official Rotisserie rulebook for NL drafts has 25-man rosters (1 additional pitcher and 1 additional utility hitter) and a salary cap of $280. Our values are still based on the 23-man roster with a $260 cap although it makes no difference to us. These values are to be used as a guide only since many leagues across the country play with many variations on the rules. These drafts are different as well considering various money situations, roster sizes and keeper stipulations.
But my league does not use an auction. Are the dollar values then
meaningless?
Not at all. The dollar values can help you identify a distinct drop-off in talent. For example, say the best catcher in the NL is $25 but the next few players, even though distinctly ranked in order, are very similar ($16-20). The values help identify the different blocks of talent at a glance helping to identify each player's worth in relation his position and other positions as well. Click on the player rankings essay for further clarification.
How about leagues that draft from the combined
AL and NL with no bidding required. What is the best way to use your
cheat sheets according to this style?
Simply use the values to represent the best value for each position. The cheat sheet values give the relative order of selection (blocks of talent). The players will be selected close to the values in the first two rounds. Download the two sheets to an excel spreadsheet and you can put the AL and NL together. Later rounds the order seems to change based on what the team needs. Same type of strategies can be used as far as positions with a few strong players, bracket the splits in the dollar values and draft those positions first. Keep the 5x5 stats for each player and use the stats on the detail sheets to target saves or steals to round out the team. Depending on where you are in the snake draft order the selection changes as to what positions to focus on. For example at the end of the order you get two picks, do you select one pitcher and one hitter or a closer and starter. Know the draft order before the draft is always a plus, then you can work out the strategy. If you do not know the order work out the first three rounds for high 1-3 middle 5-8 and end 9-13. The script can be made based on the cheat sheet values.
Why don't you publish mixed league dollar values for baseball?
Partially because that could be misleading. It's tough because some leagues utilize 10-12-14-16 teams with a variety of different categories, roster size, salary caps and other rules. Generally speaking, the top players should always be worth the top money but the mid-to-late rounders should be adjusted downwards by 20-50% as per the number of teams in the league, draft day money situation etc. See the Strategy Section for more draft day tips on mixed leagues…
