Rudy is the co-founder of Razzball and the wizard behind the Player Rater, Stream-o-nator, and most other statty things on the site.
We have now posted the 2009 Point Shares for 12-team MLB leagues.
For those unfamiliar, Point Shares are our home-grown methodology (inspired by Bill James’ Win Shares) for rating fantasy players. They represent the estimated difference in an average fantasy team’s points if they were to substitute a given player for the average player at his position.
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s the beginning of a new year. Time to reflect on the year that has passed. Time to make resolutions in the new year. Time to hope the Baseball Hall of Fame voters make a resolution to vote better.
Last year’s nomination was a mixed bag for us. Only one of our 5 nominations made it in (Rickey – the other four were Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines, Mark McGwire, and Tommy John) and one of our ‘nays’ made it in (Jim Rice). For those who missed our HOF analysis from last year, we do our best to create objective parameters for measuring success at a specific position/role. Rather than focus on just a player or just those that are on the ballot, we look at all players that filled a specific type of role and analyze everyone outside the Hall of Fame to unearth any perceived injustices. Last year’s analyses were on (with returning nominees in parentheses):
Starting Pitchers (Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris)
Leadoff Hitters (Tim Raines)
Middle of the Lineup Hitters (Mark McGwire, Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker)
This entry is going to focus on middle infielders since there are two prominent middle infielders that are on the ballot for the first time (Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin) and one returnee for review (Alan Trammell). We’ll review Fred McGriff and Edgar Martinez at another time (betting they’re not going to make it this year).
Please, blog, may I have some more?Note: Besides providing advice and news on fantasy baseball, we at Razzball created and sponsor a fantasy baseball variation where the goal is to manage the worst team possible. These Historical Spotlights honor those players who would’ve excelled in such a format.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Yovani Gallardo (IP count, young arm), Ross Ohlendorf (ditto) & Michael Young (hamstring) are the latest players being ‘shut down’ as teams outside the pennant race start playing for 2010. Don’t they realize that every player is part of at least thousands of fantasy baseball pennant races? For the 99% of you in non-keeper leagues, dump these guys for someone who might actually compile some stats this next 10 days or so. Some other (hopefully slightly less obvious) observations…
Kevin Correia – While most Dodger, Giant, and (surprisingly) Rockie starters lived up to the fantasy SP adage of “When they’ve drafted the best, go NL West”, San Diego pitchers have been big disappointments this year. Peavy, Cristal (Chris-Tall) Young, Chad Gaudin, etc. The one pitcher who lived up to the adage has been SF discard Kevin Correja who threw 7 shutout innings yesterday and has a respectable 4.08 ERA, 11 Wins, and 130+ K’s for the year. Imagine how much better his stats would be if he got to face the Padres!
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’d like to dedicate this opening paragraph to one of our 2008 faves Mark ‘Mini-Donkey’ Reynolds as he reached 200 Ks and is poised to shatter the previous record of 205 Ks set by the very same Mark Reynolds last year. (Luckily, he’s also shattering his record for Runs, HRs, RBIs, and SBs too.) We are tempted to call up MLB to ask how much it would cost to sponsor a Razzball Windmill of the Year Award. It’s got to be hard to fail that much and still have the overall success that Reynolds is having this year. It’s like that guy in the bar who comes onto 10 girls out of his league and then scores with the 11th. You have to be impressed with his triumph but the 10 failures are, in their own way, more impressive. Anyway, kudos to the Grand Diamondhack and onto the rest of what’s going on…
Derek Lowe - D-Lowe forfeited a favorable start tonight when he left after two innings (and 3 ER) with a blister on his ring finger. Luckily the blister isn’t on his little finger or his thumb or he’d really be in dire straits.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Homestretch time in the Razzball Commenter and Fantasy Razzball Leagues. Here is the latest…
In the Razzball Commenter League, Mowses (Home Plate Security) and Mil Mascaras (Tequila Two Step) are separated by a mere .46 points at the top. This looks like a two person race at this point as 3rd place PWNightmare is 9 points behind but crazier things have happened (see Lou Pinella benching Jake Fox to f*** my NL-only team).
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s been a while since we checked in on our Razzball Commenter League and Fantasy Razzball League – mainly because I’ve been either on vacation or working like a dog for the past month. Here it goes…
There’s been a big shakeup in the RCL Standings as previous leader Cruz Control (commenter Anthony) has dropped all the way to 7th as his Gorditas Supreme divisionmate Tijuana Two Step salsas into first. The new leader – helmed by an unidentified manager whom we’d like to think is ex-WWF star Mil Mascaras – has a whopping 113 points (out of a possible 120) and actually has potential to gain a couple points in the last month. A look at the masked manager’s Active Stats show that top teams don’t have to get every top draft pick right as Grady Sizemore, Matt Holliday, and David Ortiz are all relative disappointments. Killer picks like A-Gonz, Joe Mauer, and a three-ace staff of Wainwright, Vazquez, and Beckett definitely helped as did key FA pickups like Kendry Morales, Andrew McCutchen, Ubaldo Jiminez, and Tommy Hanson.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This week’s Fantasy Roundtable is hosted by Adam Ronis at Strong Island’s most awesome paper - Newsday.com.
THE TOPIC: Where would you draft David Wright in a mid-season league and why?
I veered toward the most bearish in the group – saying I’d take him somewhere in picks 20-30. Grey put him at #14 in his midseason fantasy baseball rankings. Click on the link above to see what some other Fantasy Bloggers thought…
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’re a little over the halfway mark in baseball so why not check in on our leagues…
First up, the Fantasy Razzball League. Jay – a Razzball commenter – is ahead of a pack which includes 30 bloggers and 50 other participants.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This week’s Fantasy Roundtable is hosted by phonetically fetishy friends at Fantasy Phenoms.
THE TOPIC: Three pitchers who have exceeded expectations so far are Jon Lester, Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander. Owners of these pitchers have been relying on them as weekly starters who play an intricate role for their fantasy teams.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
