Rudy Gamble

Author: Rudy Gamble

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.

Read some of Rudy Gamble's 271 posts

2008 Fantasy Razzball – Player Rater and League Update

| 2008, Nick Punto Is Ford Tough (Fantasy Razzball League), Player Raters, Razzball: The Game, Rudy Gamble | 6 Comments

We’ve got 8 of 10 slots filled in for our inaugural Fantasy Razzball league – where the basic objective is to compile the worst roster of MLB players. That’s right – the worst team.

The blogs set to participate are:
Razzball.com (Rudy Gamble)
Razzball.com (Grey Albright)
RotoProfessor.com
Greener on the Other Side
Mop Up Duty
Herb Urban
Cards in the Attic
Lou Poulas (Fantasy Insider Online, Sweet Lou’s Baseball Lab, Razzball.com)

We need two more participants so if you’re interested in joining, please e-mail us at info@razzball.com.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Don’t Meddle With Middling Middle Infielders in the Middle Rounds

| Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Rudy Gamble, Second Basemen, Shortstops, Strategy | 8 Comments

That title make you tongue-tied? Well that’s nothing compared to how tongue-tied most fantasy players get about middle infielders. No positions have fewer bargains in the draft. This post is to make sure you don’t pay scalper rates.

Below is a comparison of middle infielder value comparing Average Draft Position (ADP) on MockDraftCentral.com vs our Point Share rank (+ means # of picks above estimated value, – means picked lower).

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Groaning at Bad Punditry – When To Draft Closers

| Closers, Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Rudy Gamble, Strategy | 6 Comments

Matthew Berry at ESPN is on a ‘fantasy jihad’ to make sure you don’t pay for saves come draft day. No word on whether resisting this temptation will be paid off with 72 virgins.

While this is auction draft advice, I’m going to assume that Mr.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Groaning at Bad Punditry – Drafting Starting Pitchers In The First 3 Rounds

| Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Rudy Gamble, Strategy | 14 Comments

As a fantasy baseball fanatic, sometimes you have to sit back and give thanks to the Internet and the free online league. I remember back in high school being the commissioner of a league where I had to punch stats from the newspaper into a Lotus123 spreadsheet and then curse the kid who kept dropping and picking up Luis Polonia like he was Luis Polonia dropping and picking up underage girls.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Insights, Oversights, and Musings from the 2008 Fantasy Baseball Writers League Draft

| Fantasy Baseball Writers League (Brock4Broglio), Rudy Gamble | 9 Comments

There are only three dates that matter to anyone remotely affiliated with baseball prior to Opening Day:  1) The day that pitchers & catchers report, 2) The day that hitters report, and 3) The day of your first fantasy draft (I did say remotely affiliated).

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2008 Fantasy Baseball Player Rater – “Point Shares”

| 2008, Rudy Gamble | 22 Comments

Like a Scotch drinker, I’ve found my taste for baseball projections has matured over the years.  Where my initial taste was weaned on Dewar’s-quality projections like ESPN, Yahoo!, or some $4.95 magazine off the newsstand, I now hold out for premium, single-malt varieties like PECOTA/Baseball Prospectus and Ron Shandler. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Who Were The Least Valuable Fantasy Baseball Players of 2007?

| 2007, Razzball: The Game, Rudy Gamble | 6 Comments

In a previous article, I set forth the basic rules and strategy behind Razzball – a fantasy baseball game where the aim is to compile the worst roster of MLB players. Here we will explore the game further by analyzing the results of our Razzball Player Rater.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Birth of Razzball

| Razzball: The Game, Rudy Gamble, What is Razzball? | 10 Comments

One of the greater joys of fantasy baseball is the satisfaction of properly valuing a player – e.g., selecting the right 1st round pick, getting a ‘steal’ in a later round, avoiding a guy who you know is going to have a bad year, trading a guy right before he tanks, etc.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

How Do You Value Fantasy Baseball Hitters?

| 2007, Rudy Gamble | 7 Comments

Part 3 of How Valid is the ESPN Player Rater?

In two previous articles (part 1 and part 2), we’ve laid out alternative views for judging the most valuable player in 2007 5×5 MLB fantasy baseball (we say Peavy) and for pitchers – using and abusing the ESPN Player Rater in the process.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Are Fantasy Baseball Pitchers Correctly Valued In Player Raters?

| 2007, Rudy Gamble | 2 Comments

(Part 2 of How Valid Is the ESPN Player Rater?)

If you’ve ever seen the ESPN Player Rater (or, for that matter, other quantitative player rankings for fantasy baseball), you’ve likely asked yourself:

How could there be so many starting pitchers at the top?

Please, blog, may I have some more?