So the title has a bit of superlative in it. What was I gonna say, the most kinda good fantasy baseball team? You’ll get over your scoffing, I have faith in you. This is the best 2013 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting from my top 100 for 2013 fantasy baseball and top 400 for 2013 fantasy baseball. Honestly, I could draft another 25 teams from those lists, and they’d all be different, but equally terrific… Well, one of the twenty-five would only be almost terrific, but it would be really hard to tell which one that is. If I took Votto in the 1st round, everything after it would change. For this exercise, I’m taking Swiggy first, because, well, I have him first overall. Until pick 100, I’m taking one guy somewhere in every twelve picks. It would be nice if I was in a league where someone drafted Strasburg, Verlander and Kershaw in the first round and I was able to take Votto in the 2nd round, but since Miggy and him are in my first 10 picks, according to the rules I’ve set up for myself, I can’t take them both. Then, as we all know, once you get into the 100′s, there’s wide gaps between ADP and where players are actually taken. People tend to look at team need over value. So for this exercise, once I get to pick #101, I’m going to pick two players every twenty picks. Finally, because there is so much latitude in the last 200, I gave myself free reign to fill up my team. Throughout the draft, I also gave myself the ability to reach to a lower draft pick, but not reach forward. It should still be my ideal team… Or not. Let’s see, shall we? Bee tee dubya, this team is 5×5, one catcher, 5 OFs, MI, CI, 1 UT, 9 P, 3 Bench, just like the Razzball Commenter Leagues that are signing up still. (Yes, we need commissioners. I’m shooting for 60 leagues, but we need your help! Wow, I just sounded like FDR.) Also, if you’re feeling especially industrious, VinWins started a thread of War Room teams in our fantasy baseball forums. Anyway, here’s the best 2013 fantasy baseball team:
As you can see I used our Fantasy Baseball War Room, but I didn’t add in bench spots. For bench spots, I’d take some closer handcuffs or anyone with huge upside like Wil Myers and Dylan Bundy. You can take a 7th starter if you want, but you’ll probably drop him in most 8 to 12-team leagues. You can switch Estrada out of there for Harvey too, because I love both. As I’ve said in the past, I may not know a damn thing, but I can pick a pitching staff. Seriously, Bumgarner, Morrow, Niese and Hughes were all you needed. Then you throw in the rest of the staff and you have Revenge of the Nerds hairpie at the bottom of a pie tin. It’s pretty funny that the War Room is saying that I’m short on Ks since I’m such a K-whore. Not funny haha, but funny, “Hmm, I’m gonna twirl my mustache and think about that one.” I’m not too worried; when starters have a day off, I usually throw in a middle reliever or two and that pushes me way above on Ks and Wins.
This shows you that you need to really load up on hitters early, because, as much as you like that late-round-flyer in the 18th round for your corner, it’s probably not gonna work out for you. Make sure you have at least two outfielders, a 2nd baseman, 3rd baseman and 1st baseman in the first ten rounds. In my team above, I even reached down for Rutledge in the 9th round because he’s my novio (don’t tell Giancarlo). Also, I tried not to go too wonky with my rankings compared to ADP. I probably could’ve took Yadier Molina at 180-something overall, but he’ll be off the board, so I didn’t cheat and say, “Well, I have him crazy late!” I find myself grabbing quite a few light-power/speed outfielders this year. I think everyone will because there’s just so many of them. We never landed on a term for these guys for the glossary so I think I’m gonna just call them Chipotles. They’re all over the effin’ place and they are a perfectly good option…until you see something better. No one’s getting anything from catcher, so I took a late flyer on Avila. I like him; I am not reaching for him. Finally, I was a bit low on power through 20 rounds, according to the War Room, so I grabbed Carter late. I could’ve grabbed Ludwick or Soriano there instead, but then I would’ve had to walk into traffic on the Boredom Highway where everyone is driving 7 MPH. Whoever you grab for utility, take some upside. In the end, this really is just an exercise. It’s fun though! For me. So what do you think of my fantasy fantasy team? Don’t like it? Go to the top 400 and make up your own fantasy fantasy team and post it in the comments. Or not. Decisions, decisions!
Great Stuff.
@Curt: Thanks!
Question more related to keeper leagues, I’ll ask it your way since Scott doesnt seem to be around right now. What do you think of the flamethrower T Rosenthal for this coming season, got a shot of starting or is he set-up fodder for the forseeable future? Great arm, just wondered what you think they might do with him long term.
@TheNewGuy: Scott will have a post up this afternoon…
Do you know how to clear your War Room team? Maybe its different online, but on my phone I can’t seem to find a “clear” button. Subtracting each player individually seems too cumbersome.
@bossmanjunior: I think there’s an option at top of the page that says Delete Team
@bossmanjunior: Delete Team, right hand corner of War Room…
And would you have enough confidence in Trevor “where is the bomb!” Bauer making the team this team and being effective? Need to decide whether I should promote him this year from my farm team and draft another big arm in our ongoing prospect draft.
Need to check where he ranks on your top 100 pitchers this year, or does he…
@TheNewGuy: He’s in the top 100…
Trevor Bauer wrote a rap song. He is part of the rap duo “consumate4sight.” Bleh.
http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/02/trevor_bauer_downplays_rap_con.html
@Schlitzy: So bad it’s so awesome…
@Schlitzy: good ol Trevor is really gettin recongnized in the rap game i see.. poor guy…
@Schlitzy: I’m not drafting him based on that “effort” alone.
@JoeC: just remember, you don’t know him. Don’t wear a mask to facilitate a task.
When deciding between drafting players of equal or similar value, do you give any impetus to the players with more home games or more games played in the first half of the season in order to spark a faster start?
@ADP: Never crossed my mind…
Need two owners for ONES ARE GOOD RIGHT? RCL…. $50 buy in payed thru leaguesafe, hit me up at youngy_03@yahoo.com
i’ll get back to ya later in the day, first come first serve.
Sorry to hit up the new post with this Grey&Rudy, but haven’t gotten any responses to the RCL page post, maybe put a link reminding some people in the new post each day or ?
No prob, Tony. We like people stumping for RCLs in the comments. We’ll keep mentioning the RCLs (a couple of tweets yesterday) and people keep signing up. I think yours is taking longer because of the $50 – that’s cash money!
@Rudy Gamble: haha yep, but fantasy baseball and gambling go hand in hand right? CASH MONEY!
Have I been so brainwashed by you that I looked at this team and said “man, he sacrificed hitting in order to erect such a polished-looking staff”?
Seriously, is a staff like that legitimately possible? I feel like this team is a bit much to ask for (although I honestly don’t like your OF but that’s personal preference).
@Remember the Kendrick: Rudy and I could’ve had this pitching in a 15 team league, forget a 12 team one:
http://razzball.com/labr-15-team-mixed-expert-draft-team-razzball/
Rudy, Grey and others, I have a question of Strategery…
I won my league last year but had to give up a lot to do it. I’m in a yahoo, H2H, 5×5 keeper league. My keepers are Andrew McCutchen, J-Up and Reyes, rookie Keepers are Shelby Miller, Jesus Montero (or Kenley Jansen).
I dont have a 1st, 2nd or 4th round pick in the draft. At first I wanted to skip the draft entirely and watch old episodes of Three’s Company but then I thought maybe I should give it a shot and go all pitching and speed and look for trades, or maybe go all young and hope for breakouts… Ahhh I’m so confused. How would you approach this?
At least you fared better than commenter Phelps that lost his league after making a bunch of trades.
I think you’re on to something with the pitching/speed idea. I don’t like that strategy for Roto but I like it for H2H in specific cases (like yours).
I’d focus on speed/pitching with your higher picks. For speed guys, try to get guys with good runs/AVG too. You only want to half-punt HR/RBI – not 4 stats. Stick with SPs vs. closers.
Later in draft, you can get some cheap HR/RB late in the draft from guys like Ludwick, Viciedo, Quentin, maybe Alonso? Should be easy to target via Grey’s rankings or my $s. Get some closers and MRs in later rounds too.
Goal is to win SB/R. Do solid in AVG. Win a little in HR/RBI. Dominate non-SV cats. Do okay in SVs.
And, as always, keep your eye on keepers for next year.
@Rudy Gamble: That is a good strategy. Focusing on runs, steals, average, wins and batters fanned has worked for me in head-to-head action.
Even with so-so power you can win the HR and RBI categories often enough to be alright.
Hey not sure if anyone told you yet, but on the front page of league pages on yahoo, above the teams where they tell you info, it says Wil Myers no longer had catcher eligibility. Sad. That is all.
@Hyppie: Yeah, I removed him from the top 20 catcher post…
Grey,
Off topic of your above post, I thought you’d be interested in this article about Medlen, seemed to be very thorough analysis. And while it comes from a Braves blog, the blog tends to play it straight (their most recent post discussed the benefits of trading Kimbrel)
http://capitolavenueclub.com/?p=8464
@Vacation: Wow, Maddux, huh? Big shoes….
@Vacation: Great article! Thanks for sharing. Cool to see how he compares in counts to Scherzer, Verlander and Kershaw. He seems to possess awesome control and command. I think I value him a little more having read this.
@Vacation: If he’s there in the 4th, I’m taking him, snitches!
RCL league, you have been warned!
@Vacation: Great article.Thanks. Here’s to hoping he’s available in the 4th or 5th!
Not sure if anyone has asked this (or if it’s factored in) but, in the War Room, are pitcher’s IP thrown into the equation or are those super low reliever ERAs and WHIPs given equal footing with starters going 200 innings? Could skew the results.
Also, Grey, I like that team a lot, especially your staff (not awkward at all). Gun to your head: Homer Bailey or Phil Hughes?
@exactly: Though I’m not Grey, I’d go Homer Bailey.
@exactly: IPs and ABs are factored in for ratios… Papelbon’s ERA and, say, Aroldis’s ERA are not the same… Gun to my head I’d follow my rankings…
@Grey: No, I meant if you have Romo with a 1.01 WHIP and Hughes with a 1.19, does the War Room avg the two, for example, and give you a 1.10 WHIP when really it’s closer to 1.16 (not using a calculator) because Romo has less innings?
Yeah, I understood… Romo has a lot less innings than Hughes so the War Room knows that and calculates it properly… For instance, Romo’s 1.01 WHIP plus Hughes’s 1.19 is probably around 1.17…
@Grey: Oh, okay, damn confusing words without facial/aural expressions.
@exactly: Hey, we don’t want to hear about your sex life (“aural”)!
But that’s MY pie!?
@Commish Cauda: Ha!
20-team, mixed, H2H-Points League with $70 cap
Michael Young $4 is my current 3B.
I have some depth at RP and I’m weary of Rodney’s deal with the Devil ending badly a la Pistorius.
Trade Rodney $2 and Young $4 FOR Sandoval $5?
@Commish Cauda: I’d take Sandoval…
@Grey:
Thanks….but what about Sandoval $5 or Aramis $4?
Salaries go up $1 every year. Aramis is the better player for $1 less, but he’s 8 years older.
Aramis is only good for 2013 and 2014. While Sandoval has the potential to provide returns for additional years, he would have to be his former studly self to be worth $8 in 2015.
I’d take Sandoval…
@Grey:
thanks again…you with me on my Rodney concern?
Yeah, I have concerns on him…
It’s easy to meet stat benchmarks when you use your own rankings because everyone feels differently about players and if you’re very high on particular guys that others aren’t youll always get them later than your perceived value would have them in comparison to others. Others might night be as high on Rutledge, Hughes, cozart, freeman, etc. I’m sure a lot of people don’t think Hughes will be anywhere near your projections, so he falls late in drafts. Then you scoop him up a slap a 3.69/1.19/184 stat line on him. It’s more useful to use someone else’s projections to see where you stack up. It’ll give give you a more conservative estimate of your team, not your best case scenario. To use an extreme example (no, these aren’t my actual estimates), I could use my rankings and do this excercise and nab M.Scutaro (.310-18-85-115-5), Daniel Murphy (.325-25-85-110-15), Juan Pierre (.335-5-65-115-65), Chris Capuano (3.10/1.25/180), and Dillion Gee (3.45/1.25/170) and put those averages, MY expectations, into my averages and easily meet my category benchmarks. Obviously you should draft who you want based off of your own feelings on players, but using your own projections creates the impossible scenario of you knowing the years end outcome before it starts and finding the values within the draft. Use a respected others projections, draft your team and simply show that according to the consensus your team is middle of the pack, but since you feel so strongly for players XYZ you anticipate being at the top. When I draft, for example, I sometimes use your rankings even though they are often quite different than mine…and this allows me to avoid the ‘glass half full’ syndrome when seeing how well I can draft.
@Sexy Ricky: Your expectations are Daniel Murphy is gonna go 25/15 and Pierre 65 steals?
@Sexy Ricky: what’s the point? You should use whatever projections you think are most accurate.
@AdamH: I can never hop on here without some disciple running to the sites defense. My point is in my post. If you don’t understand, I can’t help you. And no, I also said that those weren’t my expectations for those players. Does anyone read the posts before they respond in disgust of non agreement/a**kissing? From now on I’ll say what everyone else does:
Grey, you da man. Thank you so much for your content. I just finished waxing my stache and was wondering what you thought: I just drafted exactly as you said, reading every article carefully and never ever exercising free thinking. I drafted mr. Peacock with my last pick. Am I awesome? I just followed you lead from last year. Be my friend?
@Sexy Ricky:
The Prophet, is that you?
@Sexy Ricky: damn someone didnt get any lovin on the 14th… Poor guy… Cheer up man im sure theres a couple people who love you.. no? Well go get cat or sumthin.. name it grey…
@Sexy Ricky: Ricky not feeling so sexy, eh?
@Sexy Ricky:
I can see Rickys point tbh…
How do you feel about getting Latos/Moore/Zimmerman at pick 93? 5×5 weekly, 10 team 5 keeper
@Justin Cook: You’d have to feel great about getting any of those 3 there, especially with 5 keepers off the board to start.
@Drexel Hill Dragons: I’m sitting on picks 88 and 93. Was hoping to get one of the 3 at 88, but Lawrie is still on the board. Already have Votto/Beltre, so CI is in good shape, and Bum is my only pitcher. Doubt Lawrie makes it to 93, but probly 1 of 3 pitchers does…
@ Grey or Rudy,
How did you guys determine what numbers to use as goals in the War Room application? Are those the average stats of teams that won a league last year?
@Bill_Buckner: Those are the goal stats, yes… I’ll put up a post next week with them…
Yesterdays first try at a MOCK… Hate that window!!!! But, I will be able to prioritize it a bit for positions on my team pages… That will help … That team search option killed me – I’d forget I was on it… And no queue that I found like on Yahoo for your future picks is horrible… Learning to manipulate the page is so important…No more excuses here goes …
Liked the #8 position for Miyagi Light Method
** (8) Justin Verlander SP My top guy
** (17) Clayton Kershaw SP My #2 guy
** (32) Billy Butler 1B touch early. a BA Anchor…The top of the queue. And he is so cute in his Uniform
** (41) B.J. Upton CF …. It was Cespedes or him… Like his power/speed – BA pairing Butler… Think he likes the launching pad…
** (56) Allen Craig 1B Almost had Cespedes Damn!! … Kinda a panic pick for OF = Power/BA here … But he does the job
** (65) Aroldis Chapman RP Why not take a risk. Halladay had just gone..Darvish? Went right after this..
** (80) Mark Trumbo LF Wanted power in my OF… Gordon was there??.. Old wounds don’t heal… BA???
** (89) Jimmy Rollins SS He was there.. I think he is still solid Bats 2nd is my bet .. Some SBs.. Report of his death have been greatly exaggerated..
** (104) Tim Lincecum SP NO TIME LEFT leap of faith..looking for closers hard to do on basic page.. YIKEs… my stomach turned here… Totally lost on that page…
** (113) Todd Frazier 3B .. Little early .. Was afraid to lose him …Target guy.. 25 plus in the Bag… Still had the jitters
** (128) Addison Reed RP -Total panic returned – the whole time – need to list them for other drafts
** (137) Ernesto Frieri RP I do like him…. think he is the man all year there
** (152) Michael Cuddyer RF This is the year.. mini Power/Ba Was still involved in the RP hunt too.. Head itching on this one. Turns out Aoki woulda shoulda coulda fit better
** (161) Derek Jeter SS . Total Closer induced panic pick..Forgot Aoki and Kendry .. Ya never know?
** (176) Will Middlebrooks 3B Closers = time – great pick here and covers Frazier .. ???s still regarding the lack of a 2nd trip around the circuit yet IMO
** (185) Homer Bailey SP, He..was sitting there and thought Aoki would last.. Wrong!!! … Mistake!?!… Still He fits well
** (200) Lorenzo Cain CF… Aoki just went – bummer and I took option #2..Think he bats 2 not 1 … I was burned last year… I still sorta believe
** (209) Justin Morneau 1B I think, he still has a year in him BA/Power??.. What’s to hurt. DH?… He was OK in 2nd half last year… This is cannon fodder time..
** (224) Tom Wilhelmsen RP …I gave it one more try.. WOW!!! Happy pick.. I like him..
And the fact I was able to find on there him too.. Miracle!!!
** (233) Marco Estrada SP.. 2nd Best Pick..I have a really nice staff.. Esp. if the Doper and Cuban are OK…
** (248) Josh Rutledge SS . Super Shocked. He appeared out of nowhere!. Best Pick!.. He’s my 2B.. Yippee!!! He must have been buried..
** (257) Michael Saunders CF…Tried find another closer – Got lost again OK Ruggi went 2RDs before… Late gem if he moves to #2 or cannon fodder if less than 525 ABs???
** (272) Frank Francisco RP Injury?? Lost couple good ones before before him that I had finally found them as things cleared out and slowed down… He yet might be the OD Closer
** (281) Ryan Doumit C Last decent catcher… Many took 2??? .. Plug in – Plug off.. More ABs for him on a weak team in 13!
** (296) Chris Nelson starting 3B.. Had to take a 2Ber. He might start where he left off in 12?? The numbers in late August and September were eye popping!!! Cannon fodder
Think, I have very good SP .. Closers were a problem all draft = hurt whole team.. Had I found 2 more would have a very Very good Pitching draft IMO… And had not taken ”Lincecum – Doper” I would have been much better .. Alas, he has a great, I-told-you-so-Razzman factor…
Offense has plus BA capabilities..really Good distributed power.. RBI and Runs OK to Middling.. Speed lacking but can be pumped with the puddle later.. Problem is a lack # 3/4 hitters.. Too many #6 hitters… Some of these fellas may find themselves moving closer to the middle
Room for improvement … You must learn these boards… Mock Drafts are great tools
May just do an auto draft to watch flow develop and learn board better…
You are my hero, Mr Gray!!! Sorry, was going to send this as a Valentines Card … Still cleaning up after S.S., the police reports and all..
@t moore:
Your SP is insanely, unneccessarily good. I think you would pay if you drafted this way come time for the real thing – way too many ?’s on offense IMO. You will dominate the pitching categories, but your offense needs a ton of things to break right to even have a shot at finishing middle of the pack…
@t moore: mock drafts are the worst thing you can do
@Jack Full of Hate: I dont think that’s very good advice, mock drafts are an EXCELLENT tool to fantasy baseball. How do you know where the players are at in the rankings? how long you can wait or not wait to get a player you like if you don’t know if he’s ranked #34 or #74?
I agree no real draft will go like your mock, BUT you’ll know the settings, you hopefully won’t panic, you’ll have a feel for the different hosts rankings if you use them…. yahoo, espn, cbs, etc they all work different and mocking is a great asset.
@Tony: I think mock drafting is only useful if the default rankings used in your mock draft are the same ones that are used in your real draft.
Thus, doing a mock draft on mockdraftcentral.com doesn’t do you much good for an RCL league, since the RCLs are on ESPN and their rankings are different. Doing a mock draft on the ESPN site though… I could see how that might be somewhat useful.
@t moore: I won’t send you my Valentine’s Day card then… Your pitching is too strong, which has made your hitting weak…
@Grey:
Gray and Billy: Thanks…. I come from a Yahoo Background … This is my first ESPN…
What I’m concerned about is the MUCH smaller puddle (most FT pos. players will be held)… I have to find out?????… There will still be some pollywogs found in the puddle that turn into princes though… always are
Players play to the mean… Love under performing player pickups in June on … Plug in – Plug off
And the ***unlimited innings** pitched is a real sea changing factor for me… I stream (your guys word) my SPs in the 2nd half a bunch in Yahoo… Here?? – is it made a tactic all year???… I don’t know… Are 4 starters and playing match ups for your others… Again, I don’t know…
If I had understood how to find closers, my pitching would have been even better…
Think 50+ points would have been hoped for with another 2 good closers CHA CHING!!!
I would have enough power in that lineup and BA to massage 50% of the offensive 30+ points IMO… Speed is often found in the puddle in Yahoo… Not here??? Feeding on the soft underbelly of offense in the 2nd as other teams interests wain is my MO This is the key… Staying close for the first half…
Yes, the likes of Craig, Trumbo, Frazier, Middlebrooks, Cuddyer and Morneau must come through.. I think, they would… The power here certainly rivals that in Gray’s lineup above… It is just more spread out…
It has been my experience that most teams suffer from chronic lack of power because of a thirst for speed on drafted team… Those single digit HR slappers that swipe bases can kill ya by June… A HR is a run too – guaranteed – fact!!! In the 2nd half, the slappers are found swimming in pods and packs around puddles everywhere…
OK… I think I have 80 points In a 120 point league… That is a place to work from IMO
Another HUGE PROBLEM – is playing in Razzball leagues… Where some of the players I got late are going to be snapped up based on the Razz-miensters draft-ware folks will be using… And never forgetting the power of Mr. Gray’s Mind-Meld on all here… It is truly scary…
Anyways… I must learn the hard way…
Thanks again… The Miyagi method has long long proven track record in on-line FFB drafting and sailboat racing..
No problem… Remember pitching is deep and there is no good closers… They are just closers…
@Grey:
Good point on Closers… I miss spoke using “good”.. I deserve to be scolded for that…
Live on mid tier types..
Recently the longevity of the lads is the big Q???… Man, is it fleeting these years
Longevity is fleeting… I like that…
@t moore: Yeah, mocks are a joke because if you do get a full one, usually everyone is autopicking after the 7th round or so. I find if you are in a money/competitive league the best mock is to join a public league with a draft a day or two before your real one.
Also – it’s rude not to flush after dropping an IF like that.
@Fungazi:
Fungazi and Jack Full of Hate: I am using my MOCK drafts to learn to manipulate the page… I struggle with this – every year – even in Yahoo … I’m a puter dullard… A dullard in general because of aging..
I won’t be able to load Gray’s tools … Honestly, not certain I want too ..
Not a slap at my new FBB hero – I just don’t want undo influences … I have/will continue to study his fine work to get a feeling where others will be lead…
But, I have my own attic filled with bats and prejudices regarding FBB without stuffing more of both in there… Not an attack here… I have learned a lot from Gray Rudi and the gang of Commenters on here.. It just is overload for me at some point during a draft…,
Fungi: You are right on “most don’t stay the full term of the draft”… No Problem… I’m trying to get comfortable is all.. Funny, I think, yesterday the group mostly stayed… The comments were flying – fun group…
“IF” is a great word in FBB… Like in sport it is better to be lucky than good… We study just to give ourselves an edge… However, over reliance on shit-in shit-out programs is not good either…
Thanks for the imput
Is the War Room going to update to include any other projections, Steamer? It’s such a great tool but it would be even better with a couple of projection systems to compare and even switch back and forth between. I feel really comfortable using yours, Grey, and Steamer – thanks for providing them both on your site.
@Jon: Trying to get the programmer to put in Steamer, but he might have taken a siesta after putting in 3 weeks to build what we have…
@Grey: ha! I would understand if he needed one. Viva la Razzball!
Not sure how this will impact his game but i was reading the local rag this morning and they say Trout has put on 10 pounds this off season.
@Jack Full of Hate: PEDs!
@Grey: thats what I thought, maybe he met up with Braun in so cal, Braun is from mission hills.
Mike Blowfish
@Grey: 10 pounds of muscle in 3 1/2 months, yeah he’s blowin up. I doubt he went to the Billy Butler weight gain program.
Wine coolers and banana pudding? Probably not…
@Grey: I meant the Billy Butler Be a Better Batter Buffet
How can I eat when my tongue’s all twisted?
@Grey: HA! go to the make your own shake section of the buffet.
I made Flank Steak with my own Chimichuri style sauce last night and made them into tacos, why have I never seen this in a restaurant? The baby’s mama liked it so much she actually talked to me last night.
Aw, a real nuclear family! The other day I was actually thinking about how I wanted to try and make chimchuri… Instead, I went out and had it… It’s so good…
@Grey: It so easy. i took a couple recipes and came up with my own, I throw a couple of jalepenos in there, minus most the seeds. makes it delicous.
You use a food processor?
@Grey: yes, if you don’t have one you can use a blender, but processor works best
I figured… It’s such a PITA to clean…
@Grey: isn’t that what the Cougar is for…haha i kid!
I have a small processor and its actually real easy.
Yeah, if I cooked she would clean (seriously), but then I’m cooking and not just pointing her to a recipe to cook for me…
@Grey: I like when someone cooks for me, problem is i’m a better cook than the baby’s mama
Yeah, I have the same problem with Cougs… She gets super flustered… She messed up scrambled eggs the other day…
@Grey: wow, even my dad can cook scrambled eggs and he can’t cook…sorry cougs no disrespect.
I seriously have to make the entire thanksgiving meal every year that includes the bird, 6 sides and usually a dessert.
I had to make stuffing this past Thanksgiving because Mother Cougs wasn’t going to make it… There were no mashed potatoes either… Oh, man, what am I doing?
@Grey: stuffing is my specialty, no mashed potatoes? that’s like sex without the boobs.
you are always welcome at the hate house for thanksgiving
Thanks… Maybe this year…
Grey (or Rudy),
Love yall. Ok, on to fantasy. 12 team keeper (2 arms, 2 bats, 1 flex) entering its 3rd year, 5×5 w/2 Cs, $260 budget. Thanks to some serious value out there (Trout $4, Strasburg $7, etc.), we’re in line for some inflation. Adam Jones $12, Victor Martinez $3 and Kris Medlen $3 are my locks. Need 2 more out of JUpton $32, Greinke $22, Greg Holland $3 and Mike Minor $3. Thoughts? I’m currently leaning towards Greinke and Holland. Almost all closers went for $9-10 last year, so I’m locking in at least $6-7 in value with Holland, despite closers not making great keepers. I love Greinke, but the top pitchers went for $22-30 last year, so I’m not sure how much value I’m getting there (though like I said, there does seem to be more value in keepers this year, skewed by some top guys). Still think it’s more value than Upton, but maybe I’m wrong?
Thanks,
Braves fan with a man crush on Upton and Minor who doesn’t want to upset Greinke
@Curtis: Upton, Greinke…
@Grey: More Braves! That’s fantastic.
So the plan going in will be stud CI(s), and 1 pitcher each from the Cliff Lee and Samardzija tiers? How far can I punt OF after keeping Upton and Jones?
So ready to rebound in this league after struggling to a 4th place finish last year. I couldn’t rebound from losing so many Votto and Longo games.
Thanks Grey.
Sounds like a plan… You’ll need around a 4th OF next since you have two #1′s…
Who would you target with picks 1, 5, 13 and then no picks until the late 3rd? 10 team 6X6 Yahoo keeper. Trout, Cutch, Cargo, Strasburg, Stanton, Bautista, Posey, Hamilton, Wright, Price, Heyward, Edwin, Harper, Castro (+ others that don’t really matter here) all being kept by other teams.
Only 4 keeps per team, based on tiers. I’m keeping Hamels, Bumgarner, Medlen and Ian Desmond.
Braun or Miggy at 1? Thinking Votto at 5 and Pedroia at 13… am I off there?
@Medlenin: Miggy, Votto and Pedroia works for me…
I’ve been playing around with hitting the OF hard in the beginning of the draft and trying for the later gems in the infield. A little risky if someone scoops up the Rutledges and Moustakas of the world too early, but I like stacking a strong position like infield and the 5-stat players you can get there. Using Grey’s criteria and rankings in this article, I came up with the following:
POS R HR RBI SB AVG
C J.P. Arencibia 45 21 73 1 .237
1B Anthony Rizzo 74 24 86 6 .259
2B Brandon Phillips 82 18 75 15 .275
SS Elvis Andrus 91 5 60 35 .285
3B Todd Frazier 72 29 89 5 .268
MI Josh Rutledge 92 17 51 20 .262
CI Mike Moustakas 75 25 92 3 .259
OF Ryan Braun 105 34 116 22 .319
OF Adam Jones 90 34 100 15 .284
OF Matt Holliday 92 26 100 5 .304
OF Alex Gordon 92 27 105 10 .290
OF Carlos Gomez 79 15 52 25 .243
UTIL Alejandro De Aza 88 8 52 30 .284
Total 1077 283 1051 192 .277
Goal 1045 261 1008 189 .267
% Goal 103% 108% 104% 102% 104%
POS W K ERA WHIP SV
P Madison Bumgarner 16 195 3.28 1.08 0
P Sergio Romo 3 69 2.44 1.01 35
P Phil Hughes 15 184 3.69 1.19 0
P Homer Bailey 16 188 3.57 1.20 0
P Josh Beckett 15 165 3.44 1.25 0
P Casey Janssen 3 67 2.78 1.07 37
P Steve Cishek 2 62 2.89 1.19 22
P Marco Estrada 10 175 3.74 1.26 0
P Tommy Hanson 12 169 3.87 1.30 0
Total 92 1274 3.46 1.19 94
Goal 100 1330 3.44 1.24 92
% Goal 92% 96% 99% 104% 102%
@Brewtown: You broke the all time record of 107% HRs! Kidding… Team looks solid, your hitting is pretty stacked and I like your pitching too, except Hanson… I don’t like him…
I did a little piece about using projections for draft strategy and the War Room looks like a good place to practice filling in the gaps you need going into a keeper draft. (kind of like what you did with Carter to get the power you needed) I’m gonna pop a link to it in the article if that’s okay.
@mikeb643: No, it’s not…
ok
@Grey:
apologies. I’m new at this not that it’s not painfully obvious
Any chance of doing another one of these posts but drafting to a standard Yahoo 12 teamer? It’s kind of hard to extrapolate info when us Yahoo folks dont need 5+ OF and CI/MI
PPS-The Return of PS – could you have drafted Mike Fiers on that team of yours?
Yeah, maybe I’ll do one with Yahoo… I like Fiers, yeah…
Your boy Ryu struggled throught basic conditioning drills after reporting. Good thing you don’t need to be an athlete to pitch.
Trout showed up weighing 240! Read that he has a favorite joint in Jersey where goes to eat and his standard order is 6 burgers.
Joel Peralta (of little fantasy interest in most formats) injured his neck getting out of a Camaro going to buy sandwiches.
Best shape of his life updates: Neil Walker (per Neil Huntington), Tim Lincecum (per Bruce Bochy)
Jason Werth says wrist is better but doesn’t expect to have all the strength back in it until after the 2013 seaon.
That’s terrible Werth news… Bleh… Not that I expected much… Really bad when a player concedes he’s not great in February…
@Grey:
He actually says he’s doing ok but just talking about the medical prognosis that it’s an 18 month recovery being pretty consistent with what he’s experiencing. Still feels some weakness.
I’m with Rudy, I don’t like wrist injuries for hitters. I’m staying clear of Bautista this year.
Yeah, could see avoiding Bautista… Nice to avoid as many question marks as possible, especially early…
@Grey: You guys are glossing over the most important part of that post. What burger joint?!?! White Mana? I want to go in and order the Trout Special.
@L-Boogie:
Jim’s Lunch, Millville NJ.
White Castle
@Grey: He said 6 burgers. Not 16. At least that’s MY minimum White Castle order.
Ha! Good point…
Not sure about Casey Jansen being able to hold down the closer spot. Eventually Santos should be able to get the position back given his superiority in the role. All it takes is an injury…
Yeah, could be… At this point, you’re just taking a few closers… Any of them could lose their job, no one’s safe…
@Bakatron:
Not sure I entirely agree with that. Where the general profile of closers has traditioanlly been flame throwers, Janson has a lot in common with the successful closers without power fastballs. He’s had a very good BB rate in his career and was excellent at 1.55. He’s also had a low career fly ball rate in his career at 31%. It climbed to a still respectable 36% last year but that was offset by a career best 9.4 K/9. In the low minors Jansen had a low K rate as starter, but after being switch to full-time relief in 2010 it’s been 8+ since. I saw him pitch last year and I noticed that he was very aggressive, an observation backed up by an excellent 1st strike percentage of 64%, consistent with career averages. So you got a guy that gets ahead, doesn’t give up walks, induces groundballs more than flyballs. And he was 22-25 in the roll last year.
Meanwhile Santos has a terrible BB rate and is a flyball pitcher in a tough home park for flyball guys. Yes he has the power fastball and he might be a worthwhile handcuff. But I actually think Jansen is an excellent saves target for a team that should win a lot of games.
@OaktownSteve:
in the “role” that is. Musta been thinking of hamburgers.
@OaktownSteve: Also Santos is a converted shortstop with limited closer experience. Jansen did well enough to hold down the job and should see more opportunities this year unless the Marlins clusterfuck is a a transboarder phenomenon and they meltdown in toronto and give us all a great laugh.
Hey Grey – great stuff. Question for you. I’m in a league with 30 spots and a couple of keepers, including a “developmental player” keeper who you get to pick in whatever spot you drafted him the year before. So here are my choices along with the round I’d get to take him.
Who do should I pick?
11 Gio
16 Trumbo
20 Aroldis
22 Reddick
Thanks! Aroldis…
Steamer Hitter/Pitcher projections just updated. Includes recent team switches and playing time changes like Bourn to CLE (and a few Indians losing PAs)….
In an Auction 5×5 10 team H2H league. How would below team fair for Offense?
C- Lucroy
1B – Butler
2nd – Rutledge
3B – Longoria
SS – Andrus
OF – McCuthcen
OF Stanton
OF – Upton
UTL – Craig
Bench – Rizzo, Kendrick & Frazier
Looks pretty stacked, not bad at all…
@Walter: What % of your budget do you have left for pitching? Hitters look a little ‘spensive , no?
Will there be a seperate keeper rankings post this year. I could have missed it already.
There won’t be… I decided to do away with keeper posts because there’s no set keeper rankings, it all depends on other factors… Braun’s solid, Braun at $42 is not as solid… Carlos Gomez in the 27th round is great, Gomez in the 10th round is just okay… Gomez in the 10th of a 15 team is better than a 12 team league… Catch my drift?
Hey Grey. Great to see your thinking on this draft. I have to ask about the strategy on the first 5 rounds. rather than taking those position guys( 3b 2b 1b and 2 OF’s) don’t we want to make sure we are drafting the best hitters overall and balancing our teams? I know you say draft who you are targeting. But isn’t what we want the best value at each pick rather than restricting it to a few dudes we could target? I don’t think a 2b is essential at that time especially when guys like Bonifacio and rutledge could be on the board in the last few rounds. I can see saying get your corner guys early and then go for value all the way while balancing your goals until you get to your pitching.
You don’t want the best overall hitter at each pick if it’s a guy you don’t need… Hamilton is there in the 3rd round but you have Bautista in the 2nd… Hamilton’s the best hitter overall but not best for your team…
@Grey: Hmm I guess it’s necessary to point out that the rankings should be adjusted to reflect the league settings. When you have room for more hitters(because of an IF spot and a Utility spot) drafting the best hitter available would make sense, right? I look forward to seeing your Yahoo 12 team mixer draft to see how you go about that. When you do that one, will you be posting the rounds you selected them in to help us see your thinking on the fly. I like T Moores post with his rationale behind the picks. I think we all go through some moments where its the last 10 seconds and we have to bite the bullet. Thanks for you responses man.
How about we just have T Moore write the posts instead? Kidding… (Or am I?) Yeah, I can do it closer to that for Yahoo…
You all caught up on Top Chef? The last episode had the best quote ever. I’m hoping in future seasons they will base a challenge out of it.
I’m caught up… What quote?
@Grey: “Landing on a Glacier, there’s dogs everywhere. I would die for some good reefer.”
Ha… I actually thought of a different challenge when I heard that… Padma, “That’s right, today you’re cooking with dog.”
@Grey: Padma’s not cooking. She’s smokin’.
Ha… True…
@Grey:
top prize is 125 k , and yet they have enough money to fly
wolfgang puck and those other shmoes to alaska ?
the wife used to watch big brother , and those jerks got a half a mil .
life ain’t fair , i tell ya .
This season’s been very weak… You’re not missing anything in Costa Rica…
@costaricanchata: chata! Costa lican chata! Eiii si si!!
@prezii:
how’s the off-season treating you ?
cold where you are ??
@costaricanchata: its been heatin up out here in CA… Finally, cause before the last couple days its been freezing.. and by freezing i mean around 55 degrees.. we got it rough out here! Haha
I did an ESPN 12-team mock earlier, attempting to put together the ultimate “Grey” draft, and here’s how it turned out:
POS R HR RBI SB AVG
C Salvador Perez 62 19 79 0 .312
1B Paul Goldschmidt 84 29 104 12 .274
2B Ian Kinsler 102 25 77 20 .258
SS Elvis Andrus 91 5 60 35 .285
3B Miguel Cabrera 110 39 124 3 .327
MI Josh Rutledge 92 17 51 20 .262
CI Ike Davis 76 34 102 0 .259
OF Adam Jones 90 34 100 15 .284
OF Shin-Soo Choo 108 23 79 20 .296
OF Chris Davis 66 28 82 2 .251
OF Brett Gardner 102 8 45 46 .281
OF Lorenzo Cain 77 17 54 20 .272
UTIL Todd Frazier 72 29 89 5 .268
Total 1132 307 1046 198 .280
Goal 1045 261 1008 189 .267
% Goal 108% 118% 104% 105% 105%
POS W K ERA WHIP SV
P Max Scherzer 15 225 3.30 1.24 0
P Brandon Morrow 16 205 3.20 1.14 0
P Jeff Samardzija 12 195 3.45 1.24 0
P Phil Hughes 15 184 3.69 1.19 0
P Sergio Romo 3 69 2.44 1.01 35
P Tom Wilhelmsen 3 82 2.76 1.13 33
P Casey Janssen 3 67 2.78 1.07 37
P Homer Bailey 16 188 3.57 1.20 0
P Hyun-Jin Ryu 14 165 3.55 1.14 0
Total 97 1380 3.33 1.18 105
Goal 100 1330 3.44 1.24 92
% Goal 97% 104% 103% 105% 114%
Pretty sexy, eh?
Real sexy… I can’t argue with that team at all…
@Grey: Of course not – it’s your ultimate draft! If I posted part 2 of the Giancarlo video that I posted yesterday, your head would probably explode…
Don’t explode my head, thank you.
@Grey: Just don’t click then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QNRen-oDRE
Weekend willpower test!
Why would you do that to me?
@Grey: I said not to click… If you wanna get back at me, you can tell me who wins Top Chef…
Stefan
@Grey: Fine, be that way… if you’re not careful, I’ll contact Josie and tell her that you are a prospective investor in a restaurant for her…
Josie’s restaurant motto: “We don’t have restrooms, here we put the crap on the plate.”
@Big Magoo:
Devil’s advocate…you don’t have a single pitcher who has a decent track record of success. All upside picks but could go completely sideway on you.
I could also see that team finishing middle to low in BA with Chris Davis leading the way down but Rutledge, Ike, Sal Perez, Goldschmidt, Frazier all with liklihood to trend down in BA. As BA goes down, consequently short in R and RBIs.
It’s one of those teams filled with buzz picks for this year that I just don’t love. I’d like to see a little more track record there.
@OaktownSteve: I did this mock using solely Grey’s rankings and projections to draft the best team. I like a lot of these players, but not as high on others… I usually don’t take this much risk, especially where pitchers are concerned. I thought it was a fun exercise though. There’s a lot of time to kill before my real drafts start…
@Big Magoo:
Like I said, just playing devil’s advocate. Part of doing mocks is getting a feel for your own tendencies. I think the team is filled with guys that Grey loves, but even Grey doesn’t just draft guys Grey loves. There’s also some Rudy guys. I would just be wary of the tendency to pick a lot of guys for whom Grey has what I would call his most optimistic projections. There’s like 12 guys on that team with career best numbers projected.
@OaktownSteve:
Hey…I just re-read yours. I get it now. You were just trying to maximize using the rankings, so of course you got all the guys with optimistic rankings…not necessarily your choices. I see now! Cool.
@OaktownSteve: Yeah, just playing around with the war room and early adps. I have my own set of rankings that I do that’s different from Grey’s and point shares. Send me an e-mail if you want to get in a mock sometime.
@Big Magoo:
I’d be up for it. Don’t know how to email you though. You can email me oaktownsteve@gmail.com
Grey, in that LABR mixed draft you did someone took Allen Craig in the 3rd, did that just blow your mind? I have him as a potential keeper, but I’m questioning that cuz you don’t love him, and I don’t love what you don’t love. Doe he have that potential if he doesn’t get hurt?
Also did you have a favorite pick in that draft? By you guys or someone else?
Not sure about a favorite pick… I like our team, didn’t really pay much attention to others… I wanted Moustakas and Dee Gordon then they were taken about one or two picks before us, so that hurt… Craig in the third is terrible, but that’s around his ADP so others don’t think it’s absurd…
@DKohn:
That was Zola. I like that pick by the way.
@Grey and @Rudy: Love the War Room spreadsheet as well as everything else that you guys put out. I have a spreadsheet that I’ve used for many years in the past, and I was able to easily combine it with your War Room sheet starting last year. It has a tab for each team within the league and has your player stat projections that link to each owner’s tab. Within each owner’s tab, it also calculates how many players that team has at a given position so that you can always easily track how the team is managing their draft. Finally, it also includes a “Big Board” tab that has players ranked by position based on your rankings. Each tab that includes player information is formatted so that the players are highlighted in “red” once they’ve been drafted. I’d be happy to share it with the Razzball world, but I wasn’t sure the best way to send it to you guys. Thanks again for all the brilliance you guys offer.
Thanks for the kind words! You can email it to me grey {at} razzball.com
@Grey: Anytime. I sent that over to you via email.
Thanks!
How would you adjust the team goals for leagues with less starters (Yahoo style roster) but a deeper bench? I took the goals and averaged them over 9 starting offensive players, and the averages were 93/23/90/18/.270, which seems pretty steep for a 9 player average.
I know this does not count for the productivity you get from your bench, but how would you account for that while using the WAR room/projecting your needs?
Sorry if this was answered above, I didn’t read through
We’ll be coming out with exact goals soon for leagues… It really doesn’t change much from year to year so you can look at this: http://razzball.com/10-14-16-mixed-league-and-nl-only-al-only-team-averages/
Harper came into camp heavy with muscle too…. 230 lbs! He was at 205 last year.
The juice is loose…
@Snake Hips: I’m speculating that these young guys added extra bulk in order to combat the drain a full MLB season takes on their bodies.
Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn…
http://m.espn.go.com/wireless/story?storyId=8945988
Cut to: MLB twiddles their thumbs…
@Grey: Still no fire, but the smoke is getting thicker…
@Steve:
Does anybody doubt for a second that any player associate with Bosch or the clinic received banned substances? There’s not another reason in the world for a professional athlete to be associated with that place.
@OaktownSteve: Agree 100%. I never believed Braun over that whole FedEx thing and this has done nothing to change my mind.
@Steve: But, purely for fantasy purposes, WHO CARES?!
@JoeC: Anyone who drafts him and then has to watch him serve a 50 game suspension.
Grey I put together this team using 4×4 (no R, no K)12 team keeper league, auction (520 budget)
C Rosario 21$( kept from last yr)
C Brantlly 1$
1B Berkman 1$(keeper)
2B Kendrick 10$
SS Castro 43$ (keeper)
3B Zimmerman 52$
CI Ike 26$
MI aybar 4$
OF Mccutchen 62$(keeper)
OF J Upton 63$
OF Holliday 57$ (keeper)
OF Leonys Martin 1$
OF M Saunders 1$
UTIL Frazier 8$
SP Bumgarner 34$(keeper0
SP Grienke 39$
SP Wainright 38$
SP Ryu 1$
SP BAiley 3$
SP Fister 8$
RP balfour 20$
RP Perkins 21$
RP Cook 1$
515$ total spent ….What do you think
Looks decent, don’t love the back of your outfield and think it might struggle a bit on average… Your pitching looks stronger than it needs to be…
Would you suggest swapping out wainwright for minor and Saunders for a guy like pence. Money should work?
Minor and Saunders for Pence would work…
You should make your own flour tortillas too. Dead easy and so tasty.
How’s that go?
@Grey: I’ll email you.
Bon appetit to me!
If you’re cooking because no one else can/will and nailing it, you’re being King of the World – that’s what you’re doing.
Yeah, nailing it may not be accurate… But we went out last night and she was like I want to make butter, how do you think they do that?… So heart’s in it, but intuition’s a bit off…
@Grey: Re: the scrambled eggs, don’t be too harsh – they’re a bit tricky to get just right. They don’t take long but you can’t rush them y’ know?
Yeah, she had the heat on high and immediately after was like, “Hmm, I think we have to throw out the pan.”
@Grey: I think you need a cow
@Jack Full of Hate: to make the butter
@Steve: I make the best meatballs of any person I know. No seriously, I do!
They put pretty much every meatball I’ve ever eaten in an Italian restaurant to shame. They’re perfectly moist, herb-a-licious with fresh oregano and Italian parsley, and just a bit spicy from the red pepper flakes I add. Chef Boyardee could only dream of such perfection.
Thus, I am king of the world and gettin’ bigger all the time!
@JoeC: They sound real good. This is the kind of thing (eg food talk) that REALLY separates Razzball from the rest.
@JoeC: how many different types of meat?
You have to put three… Pork, veal, beef… It’s the only way…
@Grey: thats what I was fishing for. Its very delicious that way, once I threw a little lamb in too. wow what a crazy combination, its really good that way with the spicy blue jay catcher sauce
Arencibia on anything is good, except a fantasy team most of the year…
@Grey: isnt he on your LABR team?
Unfortunately, I believe so…
@Grey: Would have thought lamb might sneak in there maybe.
@Steve: oh yeah, lamb is very common in Italy
@Steve: lamb mixed with beef for a burger patty is ridiculously good too.
My family doesn’t use lamb…
@Grey: not kosher?
@Grey: Interesting. It’s kind of a big thing round here.
@Grey: Funnily enough, we’re out for dinner at a friends place and I can smell the slow cooked lamb as I type. So good.
Yeah, I love lamb, just don’t put it in my meatballs…
@Grey: this may be one of the wildest convo’s i’ve stumbled into on razzball…. haha
@Tony:
This is nothing compared to what we’ve had…
My league commissioner just replaced saves with NSVH and also TB Allowed in pitching and added FPCT in hitting. Italian guy also says (What to do) Its a h2h league.
I thought about making sure I grab Fieri?
Yuck, what a mess… Fieri seems fine there…
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=foHz-GtxxjY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfoHz-GtxxjY
Wait, is that Trevor Bauer playin long toss with a mic and gold chain in the back?
A’s + Bernie dance x harlem shake = awesomeness! Hope they do it!! Then again were focused on winning not making videos.. sorry douche backs!
Ha… Wait, is Bauer no longer touring with his rap group?
@Grey: guess he said screw his new team and the rap game… He can become a backup dancer for the backs… Obviously he couldnt crack the roataion even in CLE..
Trevor Bauer…Tower of Power…I devour… Terry Francona said knock you out, I’m gonna knock you out!
@Grey: haa nicee! “My flow is like thick fog, terry got us eating hot dogs,said he’d demote me to the pen, if i kept up with my long toss”
HA… Terry was rockin’ beer and chicken in bean town, here we are a chili with no beans town… You feel me?
@Grey: lyrical genius i tell ya! We can do it too, Trevor!! Im intoxicated.. and will leave you with this…
http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/31359.png&w=350&h=254
You’re welcome. Cheers!
That’s Fatt!
I just did my first mock draft on espn and could not figure out how to set it to my (Grey’s rankings). Total Confusion– Here’s the team I ended up with.
Perez–c McCutchen–of Bumgarner–sp Romo(not Tony)–rp
Goldschmidt–1b Hamilton–of Moore–sp Wilhelmsen–rp
K Johnson–2b Jones–of Bailey–sp Janssen–rp
Sandoval–3b Pence–of Hughes–sp
Rutledge–ss Crawford–of Estrada–sp Carter–bn
Segura–mi Frazier–ut Beckett–sp Eaton–bn
I Davis–ci Fiers–sp
Even that post is confusing—try again.
c–perez
1b–goldschmidt
2b–k johnson
3b–sandoval
ss–rutledge
mi–segura
ci–i davis
of–mccutchen
of–hamilton
of–jones
of–pence
of–crawford
ut–frazier
sp–bumgarner
sp–moore
sp–bailey
sp–hughes
sp–estrada
sp–beckett
sp–fiers
rp–romo
rp–wilhelmsen
rp–janssen
bn–carter
bn–eaton
Your middle infield is pretty weak, but the rest of it looks stacked… Nice team overall…
22 team league 4 keepers as I won last year……keeping alan craig, josh Rutledge, Rafial Soriano, but not sure what to to keep aaron Hill at 16$ or Pedro Alvarez at 4$…what would you do?…Thx Matt
Alvarez
Great work Grey…Once again providing the best content of any fake site out there.
Keep up the fantastic job fellas…
Thanks, Fridge!
Grey-son,
your mustache sets the bar, your rankings take my team far…. (cheeeeeeese)
I have matt holliday in the last year of his contract for $20 ( 12 tm nl only dynasty). Would you trade him for Zack Cozart $10, Everth Cabrera $10 and Devin Mesoraco $2. I could keep all of these guys for a few years still.
Thanks! I’d keep Holliday…
Did this based off yahoo 5×5 auction $260 budget. Let me know your thoughts please.
C- Perez
1- Goldshmidt
2- Phillips
ss-Reyes
3b- Zimmerman
of- McCutchen
0f- J Upton
0f- A. Jones
util-Rutlidge
util- Prado I dont have the numbers but my % came out to 107, 107, 106, 102, 106
SP- Grienke
SP- Moore
RP- Rivera
RP-Jansen
P- Soriano
P-Zimmerman
P-Samarja
P-Morrow
BN- Baily
Dont have the % for P, because of the slots available to reach those totals but i liked what i saw in limited sample. I end up having somewhere around the $5-7 was a bit more but i decided to retool and add Greinke… so would prob add another SP like Peavy,Lester, Ryu, Neise or Hughes.
So what are your thoughts? by the way thanks for all the info was very glad to find this site.
What are your thoughts
I like the team a lot… Seems like you’ve been reading my advice… My biggest concern would be WHIP for you, but it’s a mild concern… Real nice offense… No problem, thanks for the kind words!
In a H2H league, are you concerned about having too many players from the same team. I have Zimmerman and Desmond already from the Nats, so that’s one multiple. I’ve been scouting who might fall to me in my re-draft and some possibilities are Pence (I have Posey) and Crawford (I have AGon). I don’t mind having one pair, but 3 seems like a lot. Is that something you’d worry about at all? For example, would it be a reason to take Beltran instead of Pence? In general I’m going to take the best player and not worry too much about it, but I could see it getting annoying.
If they’re on good teams, I don’t mind it… Two guys on the same team isn’t a big deal either way…
Grey – I am debating between two guys for my final keeper. Which do you think is a better value: Bruce for $23 or Butler for $12? ($260 budget)
Butler
What’s up, Grey.
So a couple days ago I asked your thought on what my first-round pick should be in a 12-team H2H OBP keeper.
I’m keeping three top tier SP, Rizzo and CarGo. I was stuck between picking another 1B (Fielder/Votto) at #5 overall or dropping down and reaching for Upton. You suggested the 1B.
Well, turns out the Longo owner may not want to keep him any longer. If Longo is available, would you take him over Votto/Fielder to solidify a 1B/3B combo early?
What if McCutchen were available? Him over Longo and Fielder/Votto?
I’d go the order I have them in my top 20… If McCutchen’s there, he’s my choice…
Look what I made! 12 team yahoo style h2h:
C-Napoli (12)
1B- Goldschmidt (4)
2B- Phillips (6)
3B- Sandoval (5)
SS- Reyes (3)
OF- McCutchen (1)
OF- Stanton (2)
OF- Austin Jackson (8)
UTIL- Pence (11)
UTIL- C. Davis (16)
SP- Moore (7)
SP- Peavy (9)
RP- Holland (13)
RP- Street (14)
P- Samardzija (10)
P- Bailey (15)
P- Ryu (18)
P- Hughes (19)
BN- Kendrys Morales (17)
BN- Hammel (21)
BN-Frazier (20)
BN- Gee (22)
BN- Cashner(23)
Autodrafted the tail end. I would be very happy with this team in a real league. Which is why mocks are terrible, because now I’m just setting myself up for disappointment.
Yeah, terrific team… Like how you were able to sneak a couple of Padres in… In an ESPN draft, I’d be careful about taking two OFs up front and Reyes and McCutchen could spell trouble too if OFs went to 5…
@Grey: I agree about the 2 OFs situation, but I was drafting 8, and both were too hard to resist. Could have gone McCutchen / Longoria but in yahoo there are later 3b options that I’d prefer, and frankly, having Longoria on my team doesn’t excite me as much as Stanton.
@royce!: Who are the later 3B guys in Yahoo that you’re looking at?
@Steve: I just meant Sandoval and Headley, who I think are in the 60s, but Frazier at something like 200 could win a league.
Yeah, I hear ya… It’s up to Longo this year to fix perceptions… Hopefully he does…
Grey- my league has Wins, Losses and CGs
You ranked Roy Halladay @ 98 with a projection of 13-9/3.64/1.15/182
His amazing season with Phils was 19-6/2035/1.04/220
If I think he will do more in between those two, would you say it’s fair for me to rank him as high as 50?
@Hats for Bats: Mind you 1 CG in a week could net you the win in that category, so he has the chance to single-handedly win me like 5 points this season
Sure… I wouldn’t though…
@Grey: http://razzball.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-Fantasy-Baseball-Tiers.html
tiers seem to be right but I hope they arent in order… Not sure why Joey Bats would be placed under JHAM .. as long as Bats is on the field he is going to destroy pitching
.302avg .447obp .608slg 1.056ops – enough said.
Guess we’ll have to see if he stays on the field…
@<a href="#comment-189@Anthony: i call 50-game PED suspension for j bats this year… Hes due to get caught by now… And we all know that power didnt just come from “an improved swing”..
@Anthony:
Nice work, well played.
@Anthony: Like Grey says *every* year when he does his rankings, if two guys are in the same tier, they’re pretty much interchangeable. Bautista might be, from memory 3 spots behind Hamilton in Grey’s overall rankings, but they’re in the same (overall rankings) tier and thus it’s pretty much a matter of personal preference.
iHola! Grey,
I am in a league where you get 1 keeper. No draft pick value associated with them or anything. Just if you keep a guy, you don’t get a first round pick. So, I have Braun and McCutchen, who is the man?
thanks,
anon
Braun
Invisible Horse Riders is now full, Grey!
Celebration?
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=KidXPKv8Brs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKidXPKv8Brs
Noooo… Hahaha… Not that guyy…..
This!!!
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=tJyrIdgneT8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtJyrIdgneT8
Nice! Did you update the spreadsheet?
@Grey: noo im gonna have to do it tomorrow unless ruds can do it for me? It doesnt work on my phone and i wont be home til late night..
Looks like it’s been done… Thanks, Vin!
@VinWins, thanks man! This guy is a sweetheart…
Grey,
12 team, standard 5×5 league, 8 keepers per team. I need to decide on two guys to keep from this group:
Napoli – $5 (already have Posey and Rizzo kept)
Carlos Gomez – $5 (Rios and Aoki are other OFs being kept)
Darvish – $17
Joel Hanrahan – $6
Niese – $7
I guess I’m leaning with Napoli and Niese. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Niese and Gomez…
6×6 with OBP and QS
need 5 keepers between:
Miggy
McCutchen
Holliday
BJ Upton
Brandon Phillips
Price
Moore
Jordan Zimmermann
My thoughts are Miggy, McCutchen, Holliday, Price and Moore as I’d feel more left out if I didn’t get Moore with my pick in the first round. Thoughts?
Sure, take Upton instead…
@Grey ltns! nice ‘stache! Grey, if you were drafting a catcher long-term keeper who would you rather have out of Castillo, Mesoraco, Lavarnway or Flowers? Thanks!
Thanks! Mesoraco…
This guy is fast becoming one of my favourite players.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130217&content_id=41734244&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Oh, and it sounds like Garza hurt himself getting ready to throw BP…
Bummer, I thought the video was gonna be of him doing it…
I decided I don’t want to get in a $30-$40 bidding war for Soriano or Motte..
Would you rather trade for Axford and his $15 2 year contract (would have to keep him going into next year too no matter what role he’s in) NL Only 4×4 12 team keeper $260 cap.. or trade right now for Parnell at $10.. and hope he runs away with the Mess.. err Mets closer.
@Elwood Blues: Or should I just wait until later into Spring training to see where things stand. Nearly all the other likely closers in the league will likely be kept and won’t be available.
Wait until Spring Training…
Ten Team 5×5 Roto with keepers. Can keep 4:
Allen Craig $5
Bryce Harper $6
Max Scherzer $6
Jason Heyward $15
Giancarlo Stanton $25
Who do you let go?
Craig…
A new NY times article has a photo with the caption “Steven Strasburg plans to make this the first of many 200-pitch seasons.” Aiming high!
@royce!: damn, 200 pitches this year? Someone is gonna over pay for those two starts come draft time…
Hopefully he plans on only throwing one pitch per inning…
@Grey: hes so good he could K the side with that one pitch?
I am in a 10 team keeper (10×10 stats) where we get to keep 6 players. I have decided on the first five: Trout, Kemp, Stanton, Reyes, and Pedroia. Should I keep Adam Jones, Lawrie, Bumgarner or Gio as the 6th player. I was thinking about trading Jones for a first baseman such as Goldschmidt or Adrian with another owner if agrees to the trade. You suggested I need a 1st or 3rd baseman within the first ten rounds. Thanks!
Sure, try to trade Jones for Goldy…