As we mentioned earlier this month, we created an ‘expert’ league that follows the same rules as the Razzball Commenter League and will be included in the master standings. Will the Expert League reign supreme (Iron ChefTM) in competitive index or will several RCL leagues put the experts in their place? We shall see…
Here are the participants in the first annual Razzball ‘Expert’ League (links if they posted a draft review):
Razzball – Grey Albright
Razzball – Rudy Gamble
Yahoo! – Brandon Funston
Yahoo! – Scott Pianowski
Yahoo! – Andy Behrens
FanGraphs – Eno Sarris
Hardball Times – Jonathan Halket
MLBTradeRumors.com/RotoAuthority – Tim Dierkes
Mastersball – Ryan Carey
Rotowire – Dalton Del Don
SI.com – Eric Mack
Steamer Projections – Dash Davidson
Here’s a link to the entire Draft Recap:
Grey:
As mentioned in our 2nd podcast, ESPN screwed me for messing with them for the last five years. Right before my 1st pick, my computer crashed. Here’s me during the draft. “Hey, I have the 7th pick. Awesome. I’m gonna have a 1st baseman. I might even get Votto. I wonder who that lady is watering her lawn across the street. Maybe I’ll stand up carefully to make sure I don’t knock over my coffee and get a better look–NOOOOOO! Crap, mother-effin’, son-of-a-motherless-goat! Reboot! Reboot! Reboot! Okay, it’s rebooting… I have a minute and thirty seconds… Reboot! DAH! I drafted Robinson Cano!” And then that dictated just about all my other hitter picks. Since I had Cano, I couldn’t grab Kinsler, didn’t want a shortstop and the only 1st baseman or 3rd baseman within the vicinity was Tex and I wasn’t drafting him with my 18th pick. So I took Giancarlo. Then I really felt like I needed to make sure I had some sorta corner man so I reached for Zimmerman. Not feeling totally comfortable with Zimmerman as my 3rd baseman, I reached for Hosmer for my other corner. Then I felt like if Zimmerman got hurt again, I should have another 3rd baseman, so I grabbed Aramis, then I realized later on that Aramis wasn’t a clean bill of health either so I grabbed Chisenhall. Then I dropped Chisenhall when he was demoted and grabbed Smoak for the two game Japaning Day, then, when those games ended, I grabbed Eric Thames.
I may have 5 aces when it’s all said and done. I wouldn’t even need Gio on this staff, but he fell so far down that I wasn’t going to let him go. I’m not worried about saves, even if my closers are little iffy. SAGNOF! Since I had Cano and Hosmer, I took some guys that may be average drains, but should give steals and power. Though, I do think average will be one of my biggest concerns. In true Grey fashion (I love to pick up and drop players and talk about myself in third person), I’ve already made a few moves on pitching too. Dropped Fuentes (right after Balfour became the closer) and grabbed Bourgeois. Bourgeois is the kinda of guy that if he sneaks into a large playing role or if I switch him in only when he plays, he could get me 30 cheap steals. SAGNOF! I dropped Stauffer and grabbed Lidge when Storen was hurting (Clippard was drafted) and dropped Crain for Henry Rodriguez. It’s a bit of a shizzshow, but, in some ways, I like to be able to juggle my last roster spots so I don’t care I wasted a pick on Chisenhall, Fuentes, etc. Rudy gets a lot more tied to his drafts than I do. In the end, I think I still have a solid team. By the time you read this, I may have made three more pick-ups and drops.
| Grey’s RCL Draft | ||
| Position | Player | Round/Pick |
| C | Geovany Soto | R23 Pick 271 |
| 1B | Eric Hosmer | R4 Pick 42 |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | R1 Pick 7 |
| SS | Zack Cozart | R17 Pick 199 |
| 3B | Ryan Zimmerman | R3 Pick 31 |
| OF | Giancarlo Stanton | R2 Pick 18 |
| OF | Brett Gardner | R6 Pick 66 |
| OF | Krispie Young | R7 Pick 79 |
| OF | Alex Rios | R14 Pick 162 |
| OF | Peter Bourjos | R19 Pick 223 |
| 1B/3B | Aramis Ramirez | R8 Pick 90 |
| 2B/SS | Aaron Hill | R16 Pick 186 |
| UTIL | Lonnie Chisenhall | R24 Pick 282 |
| SP | Madison Bumgarner | R5 Pick 55 |
| SP | Mat Latos | R9 Pick 103 |
| SP | Anibal Sanchez | R11 Pick 127 |
| SP | Gio Gonzalez | R12 Pick 138 |
| SP | Mike Minor | R15 Pick 175 |
| SP | Jake Peavy | R20 Pick 234 |
| RP | Jose Valverde | R10 Pick 114 |
| RP | Huston Street | R13 Pick 151 |
| RP | Matt Capps | R18 Pick 210 |
| Bench RP | Brian Fuentes | R21 Pick 247 |
| Bench RP | Jesse Crain | R22 Pick 258 |
| Bench SP | Tim Stauffer | R25 Pick 295 |
Rudy:
At this point in the draft season, I’m starting to get predictable in my early round draft behavior. I was really happy picking 10th with the confidence that either Joey Votto or (more likely) Adrian Gonzalez would fall to me and I wouldn’t have to worry about overpaying for a 1B later in the draft. As luck should have it, Grey’s computer crashed and he auto-picked Robinson Cano vs. his preferred Joey Votto pick who came gift-wrapped to me at #10. Longoria was an easy choice at #15 as I figured there would still be top SPs on the board by the time I picked next at #34. The experts were more aggressive than I figured at drafting SPs however as Halladay, Kershaw, Verlander, Lee, F-Her, and Lincecum were all off the board. Luckily, I liked Greinke slightly more than F-Her and Lincecum. But I also liked Jay Bruce for this pick and, in retrospect, probably should’ve gamed Greinke was the more likely of the two to make it me at pick #39. Hunter Pence was the consolation prize.
I spread out my SP selections and seemed to have a lot of success nabbing K-friendly pitchers (Lester, Beachy, Morrow). I specifically drafted Lewis and Nolasco in later rounds because of their solid WHIPs (which help balance out Morrow). For the first time in years, I drafted the first closer off the board (Kimbrel – 6th round/63rd pick) as the value was too great given his obscene K-rate. Marmol and Putz came at decent values at Rounds 11/12 and I was glad to be done with closers before a closer run occurred (10 closers went in the next 33 picks after Putz).
As for offense, I just drafted for value and was able to avoid inadvertently punting AVG or SBs. I reached for Jose Altuve whom I think has 30 SB upside with solid AVG and, like several of my teams this year, got solid R/RBI value out of my other MI spots (Alexei Ramirez, Neil Walker).
All in all, this was about as good of a draft as I could’ve hoped for. I don’t think my team has any major weaknesses and hopefully my team has good injury karma. It’ll be interesting to see how well I do in this type of format (12 team, daily changes) – especially without Grey as co-manager
| Rudy’s RCL Draft | ||
| Position | Player | Round/Pick |
| C | J.P. Arencibia | R23 Pick 274 |
| 1B | Joey Votto | R1 Pick 10 |
| 2B | Jose Altuve | R13 Pick 154 |
| SS | Alexei Ramirez | R10 Pick 111 |
| 3B | Evan Longoria | R2 Pick 15 |
| OF | Hunter Pence | R4 Pick 39 |
| OF | Shin-Soo Choo | R7 Pick 82 |
| OF | Drew Stubbs | R8 Pick 87 |
| OF | Jeff Francoeur | R16 Pick 183 |
| OF | Colby Rasmus | R18 Pick 207 |
| 1B/3B | Gaby Sanchez | R17 Pick 202 |
| 2B/SS | Neil Walker | R14 Pick 159 |
| UTIL | J.D. Martinez | R20 Pick 231 |
| SP | Zack Greinke | R3 Pick 34 |
| SP | Jon Lester | R5 Pick 58 |
| SP | Brandon Beachy | R9 Pick 106 |
| SP | Brandon Morrow | R15 Pick 178 |
| SP | Colby Lewis | R20 Pick 226 |
| SP | Ricky Nolasco | R21 Pick 250 |
| RP | Craig Kimbrel | R6 Pick 63 |
| RP | Carlos Marmol | R11 Pick 130 |
| RP | J.J. Putz | R12 Pick 135 |
| Bench RP | Mike Adams | R22 Pick 255 |
| Bench RP | David Hernandez | R24 Pick 279 |
| Bench OF | Denard Span | R25 Pick 298 |
If Lo Mo can’t go, which OF would you pick up, Reimold, Duda, Stubbs? H2h total points league. Thanks!
Stubbs
Why would you roster LoMo over Stubbs to begin with?
@Murph, It’s a weekly points league where high ops guys are worth more than high steal guys. Also hitter K’s are -1 pt. Morrison had 54 xbh last year to Stubbs 40, also his 205 K’s suck his value.
And now Rudy taunts me with the 1B + Longo combo. Will it never end?
@Steve, Ha
@Grey, It’s an interesting point you make about your last few draft spots, and the different approaches you and Rudy have.
I know you want to get the most out of each and every pick (which Rudy uses PS to do, I guess), but it’s always good to have a player or two that you absolutely don’t mind dropping to pick up the hot hand.
I’m assuming Rudy adds/drops less during the season than you do?
@Steve, He adds and drops less… I already made 6 add/drops and we’re not even a full slate of games in….
Hey Grey…..love the podcasts, and as always love print version here as well. Just finished my draft for an 11 team 5×5 Roto league that I happened to win last year. Was hoping to trouble you for any thoughts you had:
C Arencibia
1B Votto
2B Espinosa
3B Lawrie
SS Reyes
CI Konerko
MI Dee Gordon
OF McCutcheon
OF Bruce
OF D. Jennings
OF Cespedes
UTIL Youklis
P Lester
P M. Bumgarner
P Scherzer
P Chacin
P N. Feliz
P Mike Minor
P Bud Norris (obviosly the Rudy’d risky post has me nervous)
P Valverde
P Motte
P Holland
BN Alex Rios
BN Tabata
BN Ike Davis
*Brandon Phillips and Kendrick got drafted right before I was gonna take them, which was how I ended up kinda weak at 2B. Same thing for Jordan Zimmermann
**A few Razzball favorites still on the wire, Boesch, Bryce Harper, Cozart, Jonathonn Niese, and David Hernandez….How’d I do? I feel speed heavy and power light, which is why I rounded off with Espinosa and Arencibia late.
@AP, Thanks! You’re high on speed and low on power… Reyes, Gordon, McCutchen, Jennings… It’s a bit much. Your pitching is better than it needs to be, but is risky on the back end… Norris and Feliz…
@Grey, thanks grey that’s about what I figured. Looks like I will need to flip some speed for the power later in the season. Thanks again!
No problem…
Teams look about what I would expect. Rudy’s is a K factory with stronger pitching than hitting (“not always a great thing” per Grey) while Grey has great balance for counting stats with AVG and WHIP issues, but a sick pitching staff if they all pan out.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, Yup
Would you guys mind some feedback on my RCL team? I would say it looks a bit like Rudy’s, but he has better pitching (particularly the ‘pen).
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Paul Konerko
2B: Ian Kinsler
SS: Tulo
3B: Freese
OF: Hamilton
OF: Alex Gordon
OF: Choo
OF: Stubbs
OF: Franceour
CI: Ike Davis
MI: Alcides Escobar
UTIL: Kendry Morales
SP: Gallardo
SP: Ian Kennedy
SP: Matt Moore
SP: Shaun Marcum
SP: Chacin
SP: Bartolo Colon (streamed today)
SP: Jair Jurrjens (next cut with Colon)
RP: Jordan Walden
RP: Joe Nathan
RP: Frank Frank
RP: Lidge
RP: Arod Chapman
I will probably have about 300 games lost to the DL; I wanted to see what kind of team I could build with a elite middle infield combo. Big regret was not getting Aramis or ARod for 3B.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, Yeah, Rudy would probably like your team more than I do… Don’t like Freese and Konerko at two big spots in your lineup where you need big production… Not a huge Gordon fan either… Or Frenchy… Or Morales…
Hey Grey & All – long time lurker, first time poster. Hoping your talented fantasy minds would weigh-in on my team’s weaknesses. Feeling a bit light on speed…:
10 team, H2H 7×7 (Walks, XBH, CG, SHO)
C Molina (20)
1B Fielder (2)
2B Uggla (5)
SS A. Ramirez (15)
3B Longoria (1)
OF Pence (6)
OF Berkman (8)
OF Victorino (9)
Util A. Jones (10)
Util Reynolds (12)
BN Tabata (21)
BN Espinoso (22)
BN L. Cain (23)
SP Lincecum (3)
SP F. Hernandex (4)
SP Gallardo (7)
SP A. Sanchez (13)
SP Cueto (17)
RP Valverde (11)
RP Marmol (14)
RP Street (16)
RP Francisco (18)
RP Jansen (19)
@Seymour, Hey, long time/first timer, The hitting looks solid if a bit light on speed, which I don’t mind in H2H… Your pitching is insane…
Thoughts on David Murphy? I’m reading a few rumblings that Hamilton may shift back to full-time CF and Murphy would be the starting LF…can you rank these 4 guys in a 14-team H2H (6×6 categories) – David Murphy, Smoak, LaHair, Parmelee?
@nick m., He’s a solid if low five category guy… I like the best there, but has lowest upside…
Posted this in the previous thread:
“Better UTIL bat to replace Felatio when he hits the DL:
Moose, D. Young, Rios, Freeman, Bourjos, Morales, Boneface?
Categories: H, R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OBPS”
You said: Rios
Would you change your mind at all with this lineup:
C – Avila
1B – Fielder
2B – Phillips
3B – Longo
SS – Tulo
OF – Kemp
OF – JUp
OF – Bruce
UTIL – Lind/Ichiro
UTIL – ??
DL – BUp
Thanks.
@Wilsonian, Rios
@Grey, haha…thanks. What an exercise in futility. Emoticon.
Any chance the overall RCL winner will be able to compete in this league next year? Makes sense if they get included in the overall standings. Not that Llama themed teams will make it this year, but as Ron Washington says “that’s the way baseball go”
It’s under advisement.
3 espn drafts and got booted from all 3 at least once. Luckily it wasn’t when I was picking. Their draft software is horrible.
Yup, it sucks…
Come on, which one of the ‘perts didn’t show up and autodrafted? There’s always one, who was it? My money is on Funston.
Everyone showed…
With BJ Upton on the dl…..do I roll with Bourjos as his replacement (on my roster) or drop Bourjos for Rios, Span, Jay….or David Murphy?
@golfnut, Man, I am seeing a lot of leagues where Rios wasn’t even drafted. I say stick for Bourjos for now; games haven’t even started yet. Bourjos bats 9th, but he is only leadoff-cleanup away from Pujols.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, yeah, he was pick 219 in my 16 team league. He’s still available in my 8 team league. He’s going CRAZY late, and apparently still available even in some 12 team leagues.
Grey – $260, 10 team Auction Draft with a stars/scrubs approach trying to go without paying more than $15 for any pitcher (R, HR, RBI, SB, OBP, SLG x IP, QS, S, ERA, WHIP, K/9). Here’s what I ended up with:
C – Jesus Montero $4
1B – Billy Buter $4
2B – Ian Kinsler $29
SS – Hanley Ramirez $34
3B – Miguel Cabrera $50
MI – Howie Kendrick $14
CI – Mike Moustakas $1
OF – Ryan Braun $42
OF – BJ Upton $13
OF – Logan Morrison $5
OF – Chris Young $5
OF – Yoenis Cespedes $4
UTIL – Kendrys Morales $2
P – Madison Bumgarner $13
P – Mat Latos $8
P – Brandon Beachy $8
P – Anibal Sanchez $5
P – Cory Luebke $2
P – Max Scherzer $1
P – Brandon League $2
P – Jason Motte $2
P – Joe Nathan $4 (last pick of draft, just spent all I had left)
BN – Kyle Farnsworth $2
BN – Dustin Ackley $2
BN – Peter Bourjos $2
At ~$100 left (about 30 min. into 3 hour 30 min. draft, ha!) I just sat back, nominated Aces and Catchers, and waited till I was wielding the hammer. Thoughts? Thanks!
@James, H2H Daily League.
@James, Your hitting is insane. Pitching isnt terrible either. I bet you compete for the top spot. I cant believe some of the prices you got players at. Wow!
@James, Agree with Tom.
Grey: Last keeper….Bumgarner@$14 or Jennings at $6? I cant decide!!! Thanks!
Or anyone for that matter…
@Tom, Jennings
@Grey, Thanks bud!
14 team auction league 5×5. All closers went for $10+ and I refused to pay that much. One team has 4 closers and another has 5. They either want someone like Wainright/Strasburg or Sandoval/Zimmerman for a closer (their batters and pitching are generally bad). I’ve offered Gio, but no luck there. My plan is to stand pat and try again during the season. Thoughts? (Most of the setup guys close to saves are rostered–e.g., Pastano, H. Rodriquez, Jensen, etc.; however, guys like Rex Brothers and Cashner are available). Q2: do I drop a bench guy for Cozart (if so, which one)?
C: Arencibia
C: Lucroy
1B: Pujols
2B: N. Walker
3B: P. Sandoval
SS: D. Gordon
MI: B. Phillips
CI: R. Zimmerman
OF: J. Francoeur
OF: B. Gardner
OF: A. Jones
OF: L. Morrison
OF: A. Presley
DH: I. Davis
BENCH: A. LaRoche
BENCH: A. Craig
BENCH: C. Quentin
P: S. Strasburg
P: A. Wainright
P: Y. Gallardo
P: G. Gonzalez
P: U. Jimenez
P: D. Robertson
P: D. Carpenter
P: G. Perkins
P: A. Chapman
BENCH: L. Lynn
BENCH: E. Volquez
@EC, Quentin… Or wait until he’s Dl’d. Your team is light on power and heavy on speed. Your pitching is stronger than it needs to be. You should have a closer too.
@Grey, see above re: attempts to trade for a closer.
@EC, I saw them… You shouldn’t trade for a top closer ever.
Just found your site great stuff..need thought on my team 12 team 5×5 roto mixed league
C y Molina
1 votto
2 b Phillips
3 prado
Ss jeter
Ci freese
Mi Neil walker
Of Stanton
Of stubbs
Of eithier
Of Carlos Gonzalez
Of d span
Utl
@Mike, Thanks! Your hitting is a bit weak with low power and average… Don’t love Pena and Stubbs on the same team either. Your pitching is far too good.
@Grey, Have a deal on table with another owner..giving stubbs and farnsworth getting bourne and trumbo should I pull the trigger? Little worried about trumbos playing time.
@Mike, Hold
Can I get some feedback on my RCL team?
I was shocked little Upton fell to me at 15, but confused in the midrounds went people started flying off the board a lot earlier than I expected them too. I also got suckered into David Wright, who was free falling.
C – Buster Posey (111)
1B – Joey Votto (10)
2B – Rickie Weeks (82)
SS – Erick Aybar (135)
3B – David Wright (39)
MI – Jason Kipnis (159)
CI – Ike Davis (183)
OF – Justin Upton (15)
OF – Shane Victorino (63)
OF – Chris Young (106)
OF – Nick Swisher (154)
OF – Matt Joyce (226)
UTIL – Mat Gamel (202)
BN – Mike Aviles (274)
BN – Eric Thames (279)
SP – Zack Greinke (34)
SP – David Price (58)
SP – Daniel Hudson (87)
SP – Mike Minor (178)
SP – Tommy Milone (250)
SP – Drew Pomeranz (298)
RP – Joel Hanrahan (130)
RP – Frank Francisco (207)
RP – Tyler Clippard (231)
RP – Mike Adams (255)
Thanks!
@Bob, I like your team better than mine, so there’s that… Looks like a very solid team…
Sorry post cont….
Utl Carlos Pena
Sp lincecom
Kershaw
Ubaldo Jimenez
Volquez
Jonathan Sanchez
Shields James
Rp
Farnsworth Balfour Marshall and j Johnson
@Mike, Above…
would love to hear the excuses that the other ‘experts’ have ,
but not enough to figure out who they are ,
nor to track them down .
maybe you could invite them to post (en masse) here .
@chata, Doubt that happens…
Which non razz team do you like from the other “experts”? Aka most likely for third place?
@Bourne, Didn’t really look…
I know I’m in the minority here, I much prefer the ESPN game.
It looks like Rudy got cut off there, “…without Grey as co-manager, dragging me down.”
@VinWins, Ha! No, there’s just a period missing there, thank you! I prefer ESPN in-season a bit better with moving players back and forth… I prefer CBS’s software for auctioning the best… Both kinda have pluses and minuses.
Interesting to see the experts at work.
It’s a little late to realize this, but it seems that, unless you are at the turn or others in your league are a few cards short of a deck, if you pick an OF in the first round, you are very unlikely to get a top 1B and will get stuck drafting Teixeira or taking a flyer later. Here, Secret Treasure Loaf (Behrens) got lucky that Fielder was available so late, you passed on Teix in the second, and Carey took him at 22. Braun fell to me at 9 in a 14 teamer, so I couldn’t pass him up, but I didn’t want Teix in the 2d or Konerko in the 3d, so I ended up drafting Berkman at 76 (which might work out, b/c OBP and XBH count).
But it could be worse- you could have Carlos Lee as your 1B. (Poor Steamer Dome… has he already thrown in the towel? Losing Madson and Soria has gotta hurt.)
HBT Halket seems to be trying to disprove the SAGNOF theory- and in a Razzball league, no less!- by drafting Bourn at 38 and Maybin at 107 (which I would think would make Revere unnecessary, but whatevs).
I like drafting for upside, but Behrens kinda went bonkers. Lawrie, Gordon (at 65!), Heyward, Dunn…could be great or horrid. Should be fun to follow, from a distance.
Pianowski’s team’s success seems to depend on Ichiro’s return form, but I’m not sure that he and Miggy can balance out rostering Reynolds, Hardy, Uggla, BJ Upton, Espinosa and Werth. Should get solid power and steals, though.
A bit surprised that Cespedes didn’t end up on either Razzball team- Rudy even drafted Frenchy before him! I thought you guys had a rule that he had to be on all of your teams!
So… fun stuff! Thanks for sharing!
@royce!, No problem… I think we both had Cespedes on so many teams that we both zigged here. I kinda liked this team because I have quite a few guys here that I don’t have elsewhere, which will ever be the death of this team or of all my others… Yay! Yahoo guys usually draft upside very early, I think that’s why Gordon is impossible to get in Yahoo drafts. If Hosmer and Zimmerman are great and Cano is his usual self, my team is gonna be tough… Rudy has less question marks, I think.
@Grey, Yep, I could see your team excelling if those pieces fall into place. A full year of Zimmerman, or even like 150 games, would probably put him in the second round, value wise, and Hosmer’s killing it in ST (I know, it doesn’t mean shizz, but 23 RBI? That’s got to mean something).
Makes sense that yahoo guys draft upside early; it explains Gordon’s default rank being so high there.
Rudy’s team does look solid, and less dependent on a couple of guys, but his OF seems a little iffy to me. I guess that’s what happens when you get a 1B and 3B early and also draft a SP in the 3d.
I’m definitely not one to criticize any of these teams. My RCL team is a mess, which I like to blame on autodrafting for the first 5 rounds, but that can’t explain the subsequent 20.
@royce!, You’re also unlikely to get a top 1B if you miss the start of the draft (emoticon)
@Steve, Too soon, man. Let the wound heal a little more before showering it in salt.
Wait, at least I’m not starting Lind! (because you drafted him before I could pick him up at 98 as I had intended). I’m starting Dunn! He’s already bouncing back- he’s hitting .220 in ST!
@royce!, Yeah, that was a bit cold – sorry! Now I’m feeling guilty I didn’t email you sooner…
@Steve, Aw, don’t feel guilty, I was joking, it was totally my fault, and I wasn’t checking my email anyway. That and I like my team- it should at least make things interesting. I’m also liking the 3 HR I’ve recorded thus far. HRAGNOF!
@royce!, I agree about 1B. I was too chicken-shizz to not take a 1B in the first round in all but 1 league this year. That was my Yahoo! public league where I went in with the strategy of having a great OF and stockpiling pitching. I ended up with Morse as my 1B there. Not too too bad. (If I may peacock a bit, my OF in that league is: Braun, Giancarlo, McCutch, Bruce. I had the 5th pick of 12.)
@MattTruss223, Yeah, that’s an insane OF. But who you gonna have to play in Morse’s stead? Hopefully he’ll be fine.
Beats my RCL- didn’t show up until pick 73 and now have a shizzton of 1B flyers- Belt, Dunn, Cuddyer, and Ike. Yeesh.
@royce!, Got Mark Reynolds, gonna move him to 1B and grab Morel or Valencia for 3B, hopefully only for a week or so.
Ugh, was listening to Giants ST game the other day and the announcers were both saying they thought the Giants would send Belt down again to get him regular ABs until Huff started to struggle. They gotta stop dicking that kid around.
That’s pretty rough though man, hopefully someone sticks.
@Grey and Rudy. Unless you plan a future post dedicated to it, could you guys share your drafted rosters from the Fantasy Razzball League too (you know, the league in which the crappiest team wins, whatever that’s called)?
By the way, loved the latest podcast. I am thinking about sharing it with my students tomorrow (i.e., the part about Grey taking Spanish during all 8 semesters of his college life). Too funny!
@Yep, I said it!, Ha, thanks! We did this RCL league this year and not the Fantasy Razzball league. Mixed it up…
Just a pretty messed up story about Pavano, so I thought I’d share.
http://www.rotoinfo.com/comments-2012_03_09_03_37_pm__Carl_Pavano_P-118832.html
@Wilsonian, Wow
@Grey, yeah, guess you can chalk that up to weird shit that only happens to you when you’re rich as hell.
@Wilsonian, Funny that the guy wanted an apology, though. Maybe some flowers, too?
@royce!, I suppose plenty of people have tried to extort a car out of someone else, but I doubt if many of them have specified an upholstery colour.
@Steve, Yeah, but how bummed would you be if the person you were extorting opted for something ridiculous like, god forbid, grey leather in a dark blue SUV? You’d be like, “stupid, stupid, stupid! Dad was right, I can’t do anything right!” And then set it on fire.
@royce!, I wonder what he said. “I won’t write this book if you apologize in the form of an Escalade, with tan leather interior. Please. C’mon, I said ‘please’!” That whole situation is messed up.
@Wilsonian, Actually, he said, “The only way [Pavano] is getting out of this… is with a heart-felt apology and a navy Range Rover with tan leather.”
Seriously.
http://www.myrecordjournal.com/southington/article_20b75814-793c-11e1-943e-0019bb2963f4.html
Would’ve been great if Pavano did apologize and the extorter insisted that it wasn’t “heart-felt.” “Say it like you mean it, Carl.”
@royce!, Wow. That’s insane. You can’t make this stuff up.
The Royals are pounding poor Eric Hurley from the California Angels.
Announcers said Cain has earned the leadoff spot? That would help me as a Gordon owner to put him a better RBI spot. Something like Cain, Gordon, Hosmer, Butler, Frenchie I am guessing?
Morales just absolutely crushed one out of the stadium as I type.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, Nice… Cain…Sugar!
@Grey, After Morales, Trumbo and Conger go just as deep. Then they throw at my boy Petey Bourjos! Could carry over to a regular season game between KC and LAA; Sciosia don’t play that.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, Damn, only if the Angels had three more DH spots…
Lorenzo Cain is available. I cockblocked others from drafting Harper to their farm system by drafting him in the last round. Now I need to make a big decision. Drop him so i free up a roster spot and risk losing him altogether or keep him and play the patient game. i have good swiss army knives in kendrick and bonifacio which makes me want to hold. What would you do razzballers? Something tells me Cain is gonna be great this year. My other option is to drop frenchy for him. Any and all input appreciated.
@paddyman, Doesn’t sound like your league is deep enough to be sitting on Harper.
@Grey, Thanks for the reply. It’s 12 teams mixed H2H. I’m guessing a drop would be the way to go.
In a H2H with TB added as a 6th cat, I went power-heavy. I’m light on speed, which I don’t really care about in this format, but I also have some AVG risk (Uggla, Bruce, Swisher). Given that, at the end of the draft when I needed a SS, I went for Y. Escobar over Cozart. I like Cozart, but given my AVG risk, is Yunel a better fit?
@Steve Stevenson, No
Everett Teaford may want to go and hide in Broxton’s pants leg (yeah, I realise how that sounds).
Just gave up three straight donks, then hits the next batter.
@Steve, Ha!
Is it a keeper league? If not, isn’t a full season of Cain better than a partial season of Harper? I now Grey hates Frenchy, but I would not drop him outright. KC offense is looking good, and he will be in a run-producing spot and chip in 10-20 steals.
@DonSlaughtOnslaught, Reply to paddyman, sorry.
Hey, Grey. Here’s my second team. 5×5 Snake Roto 12-team Yahoo “Pro League”. I’m posting it here because I got caught with the 8th pick and nobody slipped so I ended up with Robinson Cano, too. Let me know where you think I could improve…
$250MillionMercenary
1. (8) Robinson Cano (NYY – 2B)
2. (17) Justin Upton (Ari – OF)
3. (32) Ryan Zimmerman (Was – 3B)
4. (41) Nelson Cruz (Tex – OF)
5. (56) Matt Cain (SF – SP)
6. (65) Shin-Soo Choo (Cle – OF)
7. (80) Madison Bumgarner (SF – SP)
8. (89) Matt Moore (TB – RP)
9. (104) Matt Wieters (Bal – C)
10. (113) Brandon Beachy (Atl – SP)
11. (128) Billy Butler (KC – 1B)
12. (137) Freddie Freeman (Atl – 1B)
13. (152) Huston Street (SD – RP)
14. (161) Brandon League (Sea – RP)
15. (176) Melky Cabrera (SF – OF)
16. (185) Frank Francisco (NYM – RP)
17. (200) Justin Masterson (Cle – SP)
18. (209) Brennan Boesch (Det – OF)
19. (224) Ian Desmond (Was – SS)
20. (233) Tyler Clippard (Was – RP)
21. (248) Chris Heisey (Cin – OF)
22. (257) Ryan Roberts (Ari – 2B,3B)
23. (272) Chris Capuano (LAD – SP)
I’ve since dropped Heisey and Capuano for Scutaro and David Robertson. By my calculations, I should finish 2nd with this roster. Any advice to patch some holes? SS needs work, I know.
Adam/$252MillionMercenary
@S250 Million Mercenary, Right now, I don’t think there’s anything you should do. I like the team, nice mix of power and some speed… Your speed is a little dependent on Melky working, but it’s not bad. Your pitching is very good…
Was counting my blessings when, inexplicably, Justin fucking Upton slipped to me at pick #17. Felt like Wieters, Beachy, Freeman, League, Boesch, Clippard and Roberts were nice picks late, too. Desmond was nice, although he’s sub-par for a 12-team league. Thanks a lot for your site. I’m really impressed on my first day of finding it.
Waivers include Ivan Nova, Stephen Drew, Yonser Alondo, Viciedo, Brantley, Revere, Scott Baker, Mike Adams, Sergio Romo, Pestano, Nolasco, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett.
@S250 Million Mercenary, Thanks! I’d lose Scutaro for Brantley, but it’s not totally necessary right now…
grey- which side do you like better?
A) Braun, Wainy, Casey McGhee
B) Pablo Sandoval, Rios, Beachy
Is it pretty even or lopsided, since I think you’ll go A.
@Tony, A, it’s even…
@Grey; @Anyone:
Just want to get some opinions. Here is my pitching staff in an 8 team league:
SP – Halladay
SP – Lester
SP – MadBum
RP – Marmol
RP – Hanrahan
P – Myers
P – Balfour
P – Marshall
BN – Luebke
BN – Scherzer
BN – Hellickson
BN – Storen
I’ve tried to swing Hellickson and a closer for an upgrade in SP, but have been shot down throughout the league. I’m thinking 4 closer/closerish guys will probably do the trick. Would any of the bottom 3 closers be droppable (Myers, Balfour, Marshall) for an arm like Chacin or Fister? Or is it worth it to roster all of those guys? Just wondering opinions because I hate to just outright kick one to the curb, but it seems like overkill.
@Wilsonian, we also count W, L, SV, Ks, ERA, WHIP, Ks/9
@Wilsonian, Hold for now…
@Grey, Thanks man. As always, appreciate the input.
RCL draft the other night. Insight appreciated, (and obviously needed)!
C -Santana
1B-Cuddyer
2B-Kipnis
3B-Zimmerman
SS-Peralta
MI-Murphy
CI-Freese
OF-Kemp
OF-Bourn
OF-Swisher
OF-Kubel
OF-Craig
UT-Ortiz
Bench- Presley, Loney, Brantley
P-Verlander
P-MadBum
P-Moore
P-JZimm
P-Pineda
P-Hughes
RP-Farnsworth. League. Johnson
Overworked and ill prepared for this one, got screwed up early when Kemp fell to me at 7 and Votto gone 3rd, it just mucked up my whole get first and third strategy. Should have took AGonz and stuck to my guns, but the end result is this mess. Took Verlander and Bourn too early, (Halladay went 34) and my offense is a mess. If you go by ESPN projections, more of which are a joke than not, I ended up fairly okay in power but my runs, average and speed look weak.
Any insight here?
Also, would you drop Freese for Russ Martin or Desmoroco and move Cuddyer to the corner slot and Santana to first?
Would you drop Murphy for Cozart?
Slim pickings already.
Thanks for everything you put into this, Grey.
@nyydj2, Ugh, Cuddyer, Murphy, Freese, Peralta and Kipnis are in your infield? Kubel, Craig and Ortiz? Whatcha doing, homey? Yes, grab Martin and Cozart…
@Grey, I woke up later in the night in a cold sweat, surrounded by strangers circling me with baseball bats, they all had copies of your rankings attached to them.
It’s a lot easier in my money league where nobody knows you exist yet
Given the shituation, would you offer Verlander for Bruce?
It’s a fair trade…
@nyydj2, you could probably get more if you try…
SMOAK!!!!!!!!!
@longbeachyo, Oh, yeah!
Rudy’s team looks nice. Grey’s makes me feel better about my RCL team at least…was dissatisfied after the draft but after looking at it more at least its not boring, and I got a number of likable players, and most of my decisions made sense considering how the draft went (everyone very strictly using Grey’s board). It just looks like there’s not a ton of hitting for a team who is weak on SP. The 5 spot fell out poorly. Still, it might be better than Grey’s* so I have that going for me.
*Plus I don’t have Rios.
C JP Arencibia (293)
1b L Berkman (68)
2b H Kendrick (53)
3b J Bautista (5) Votto went 4…
SS S Castro (44)
MI J Altuve (260)
CI M Moustakas (188)
OF YG Stanton (20)
OF D Jennings (77)
OF D Stubbs (92)
OF Y Cespedes (173)
OF E Thames (245)
DH B Butler (101)
Bench J Montero (164)
SP C Ly (29)
SP S Marcum (125)
SP J Garcia (149)
SP T Hudson (221)
SP J Masterson (236)
SP R Vogelson (284)
RP J Axford (116)
RP J Valverde (140)
RP K Jansen (197)
RP F Francisco (212)
RP S Romo (269)
I can DL Hudson and grab some off the radar SP that starts strong, (There’s always a few) and Vogelson could be gone in 2 starts too for all that. If I can grab 1-2 surprise candidates (last year I nabbed Pineda), the team looks pretty decent. There’s upsides.
@Elijah, Your team looks very solid, real nice hitting especially if Berkman and Bautista repeat last year…
Grey drafted Bourjos, then picked up Bourgeois? What’s the Glossary term for when you’ve got two SAGNOFs with basically the same name?
@xopchipili,
Saberdundency?
@Elijah, ha!
Hate to saddle you with yet another team to peruse but…having never played a Yahoo league and having such an odd format I figured I’d throw it out here. The league is a 12 team standard roster Yahoo league, but is a full 8×8 with additional (BB,2B,3B) on offense and (BB, Quality Starts, Complete Games) added for pitching.
Picking 9th. Pre-draft evaluation. Steals and HR definitely depreciated. Guys that walk are good. Guys that hit a lot of triples are gold. Saves very much depreciated. Good SP that go long into games and don’t walk guys are gold. This will be the one and perhaps only time I draft Roy Halladay, hoping he drops.
C Yadier Molina (225) (doubles hitter)
1b Joey Votto (9) (could be top 3 in this format)
2b M Young (57) (doubles hitter)
3b M Moustakas (I knew Utley was going to get hurt)
SS E Aybar (129) (can hit some triples)
OF A McCutcheon (33) (8 tool threat)
OF S Victorino (64) (Should hit double digit 3 baggers again)
OF C B Young (105) (7 tools and a blunt instrument)
Util B Butler (112) (doubles hitter)
Util J Montero (160) (Hes on all my teams whatever)
BN P Bourjos (208) (more triples please)
BN V Wells (232) (zzz)
BN J Loney (UDFA) (I know but in this league he’s someone you can play)
BN soon to DL C Utley (81) (Went out to lunch, came back 2 months later with lipstick on his *blank*)
SP Roy Halladay (16) (Could be the #1 player in this format)
SP Z Greinke (40) Loading up on SP
SP CJ Wilson (88) #3 SP
RP R Betancourt (177) Doesn’t walk guys
RP J Guerra (201) I only need 2 closers anyways
P J Zimmerman (136) Big value
P A Sanchez (153) Ditto..
P B McCarthy (184) Doesn’t walk guys, bonus.
BN S Romo (280) Elite MR probably same value as a good closer
BN T Clippard )273) Yeah.
BN J Danks (297) Drafting at least 1 guy I don’t mind dropping is by design.
Utley let me down but probably doesn’t hurt me much. Wish I had one more solid hitter but the pitching should be great with this scoring concept. If I can be in the top 4 in BB allowed, CG, QS, BB, 2b, and 3b, everything else should fall into place.
@Elijah, Your team looks very solid… Not sure how you got the team you did, but whatever, better for you… re: Utley — ha!
@Grey,
Yeah thought the same thing about the better for you part, especially considering this was an ongoing league where over half were returning players. Doesn’t mean they evaluated well of course.
Grey, I was looking over some of your original rankings for OF after I was proposed a trade that involved me getting Corey Hart.
I know Hart is someone we’re lukewarm about here at Razzball. You had him at 75/24/70/.265/8, but assuming Braun’s suspension would be upheld.
Would you change his numbers now?
The projections from other sites have him at roughly 80/25/80/.270/5.
@Eddy, Not with his injury…
@Grey, Is the injury a concern for you because you think it’ll linger, or because he’ll miss extensive time to begin the year?
From what I’m reading, he’ll miss, maximum, the first two series…
He’s always injured… Doubt it just heals and he’ll be fine… Spring Training injuries aren’t to be messed with if you can avoid…
Team is post 16 above need help on a trade offer..giving up farnsworth and Stubbs getting bourne and trumbo should I do it? I’m a little worries about trumbos playing time
@Mike, Answered
@Grey: So I’m back on the site for the new season, and only just now do I realize that the “buy Grey a daiquiri” thing is a clickable donation link. I will definitely be making a contribution for your fine work. I’m not the type to post my whole team on here and take up your time, but since this is the draft post and it seems like every guy I drafted you were either high on or wrote a sleeper post about, so I just want to hear your thoughts. Keep in mind this is a deep 16 team H2H league where pitching is a little more important than more shallow leagues.
C Doumit
1B Votto
2B Utley (being filled in for by Beckham right now)
3B Lawrie
SS Jeter
OF Krispie Young
OF LoMo
OF Maybin
DH Mark Reynolds
P Greinke
P Bumgarner
P D.Hudson
P J.Zimmerman
P Anibal Sanchez
P Minor
P Stauffer
Bench pitchers:
Bard
Milone
Capuano
Teheran
Chapman
@C.O.C., Thanks! Your pitching is stacked for 16 teams… Your hitting has some holes, but I’m less concerned in H2H… You have average issues obviously…
Thanks in advance. Grey do you realize the fantasy baseball legend you are becoming? anywoot I have a h2h auction draft tonight with some interesting pitching stats. 30 ip min. Total Bases Allowed (TB), Strikeouts per Walk Ratio (K/BB), Winning Percentage (WIN%), Quality Starts (QS), Net Saves (NSV). The way I look at it is I’m not going to be able to do my usually h2h strategy by tossing a overwhelming # of ip. K/BB, Win% TB won’t work with that. The only thing adding up is QS? So I’m thinking of 3-4 ace pitchers, that’s it and sit right around 30ip. Take a look at those stats and tell me what you see. I’ve always gone elite hitters like you, but I just don’t see me competing at all in the pitching stats. So I’m thinking about flipping to elite pitchers with this set-up.
@mike, It makes sense to go heavy on pitching in that league, yeah…
Oh…. here are the hitting stats Runs (R), Runs Batted In (RBI), Strikeouts (K), On-base + Slugging Percentage (OPS), Net Stolen Bases (NSB)
@mike, I’d look at OPS and go off that…
grey if chapman win the job which he has looked very good this spring he hasn’t walked any batters his last two starts which is big for him is he worth a grab in 12 team leagues?
He’s going to be the setup man…
@ Grey :
coming to an LA food-truck near you soon :
http://now.msn.com/living/0329-urine-eggs-china.aspx
Yum-yum.
@Grey,
don’t know how andrew zimmern missed that stop .
HA!
Jeff Samardzija… would u give up one of these guys below to get him off the waiver? also have kenley jansen of la…hoping he gets cl role one day .
J Niese
J Collmenter (R)
M Leake (R)
S Baker (R)
J Niemann (R)
I’d lose Collmenter for him.
whats youre best guess of utley coming back? lol
would it be more than three weeks? got him cheap as a future dh hitter
6 weeks… Then will miss another month…
Thornton with a perfect inning, 2 Ks and the Save for the White Sox. Reed and Crain a scoreless inning apiece.
Sale 1 earned in 6 IP with 7 Ks for the Win…
Nice for Thornton owners, I guess…
lol grey thanks! honestly i was just hoping he could take the reg season off and then help me when playoffs come….usually he does the oppposite!
No problem… We shall see…
wondering…. was gonna start top five… would u?
also punted on rp..got Betancourt, Rafael for a dollar… think i should hang on to jansen …helll b better if he gets the nod right?
J Masterson
G Gonzalez
B McCarthy
T Hanson
J Niese
=================
M Leake (R)
S Baker (R)
J Niemann (R)
Samardzija, Jeff
Yeah, hold Jansen… Depends on matchups who’s your top five…
And Juan Pierre has made the Phillies’ Opening Day roster…
Yeah, saw that…
Grey: Thanks a lot for the advice. This is a hell of a service that you provide. Seems like the projections and discussion are superior even to rotoworld, in my opinion. Near instant feedback from a respected source is a valuable commodity, dude.
Lance Lynn is out there, too. Brantley over Lynn?
@S250 Million Mercenary, Thanks for the kind words! I’d take Lynn if you need an SP. Kinda tomato-potato…
sorry grey…my top five starters were gonna be the five on top of my bottom four reserves lol…. u like?
also anyone out there looking better than betancourt…say oak closer or chris perez.. not much else left…unless u think cordero will win the job in toronto eventually
J Masterson
G Gonzalez
B McCarthy
T Hanson
J Niese
=================
M Leake (R)
S Baker (R)
J Niemann (R)
Samardzija, Jeff
@chiasports, http://razzball.com/04-01-12/ Hold Betancourt…
Different League. Keeper. 6×6 with Holds and OPS. 16 teams. H2H:
1. (8) Ryan Zimmerman (Was – 3B) $22
2. (9) Albert Pujols (LAA – 1B) $59
3. (10) Jose Bautista (Tor – 3B,RF) $49
4. (60) Brett Myers (Hou – SP) $7
5. (80) Alexei Ramirez (CWS – SS) $11
6. (83) Danny Espinosa (Was – 2B) $6
7. (91) Erick Aybar (LAA – SS) $13
8. (113) Shaun Marcum (Mil – SP) $6
9. (129) Kendrys Morales (LAA – 1B,RF) $15
10. (146) Jordan Walden (LAA – RP) $13
11. (152) Jason Motte (StL – RP) $9
12. (162) Geovany Soto (ChC – C) $7
13. (188) John Danks (CWS – SP) $4
14. (200) Chad Billingsley (LAD – SP) $1
15. (208) Colby Lewis (Tex – SP) $4
16. (241) Brandon McCarthy (Oak – SP) $3
17. (244) Koji Uehara (Tex – RP) $2
18. (248) Casey McGehee (Pit – 3B) $1
19. (259) Tim Stauffer (SD – SP) $2
20. (267) Kerry Wood (ChC – RP) $2
21. (292) Jake Peavy (CWS – SP) $1
22. (304) Travis Snider (Tor – LF) $1
23. (368) Josh Beckett This player is a keeper. (Bos – SP) $8
24. (369) Adam Wainwright This player is a keeper. (StL – SP) $2
25. (370) Carlos Beltran This player is a keeper. (StL – RF) $6
26. (371) Michael Bourn This player is a keeper. (Atl – CF) $6
I’ve since turned Bourn/Beckett/McCarthy/Motte/Myers/Alexei/Zimmerman/Snider into Hamilton ($23)/Jennings ($12)/Rizzo ($1)/Kimbrel ($20)/Veras ($1)/LaRoche ($1)/Andino ($1).
Am I on the right track? I’m a volume trader, so it’s tough for me to stop, but it seems like my team is awesome for a 12 team league, let alone 16 teams. Stay pat? Keep my eyes and ears peeled for ways to improve? It goes against my nature.
@S250 Million Mercenary, I think you’re upgrading so yeah you’re on the right track…
oh and my pitching sux so bad cause i went hard for bats…batter friendly league…. dony even have minus for k lol!
valencia is just for the week…will put miggy at third and konerko at first…move lind or bourjos to dh
J.P. Arencibia
M Cabrera
B Phillips D
Valencia
T Tulowitzki
Pence
J Ellsbury
N Cruz
P Konerko
T Hunter
===============
A Lind (R)
P Bourjos (R)
C Utley (R)
@chiasports, Not sure what you’re asking.
Hey Grey! Lorenzo or Bourjos?
@Nuke LaDouche, Bourjos for now…
12 team mixed auction 5×5 roto $300 Budget
I think I crushed power but need speed and average on OF
I think I crushed starting pitching but have ZERO saves
Whatcha thinkin??? I Need to make some moves?
Any trade thoughts???
C Wilson Ramos 1
1B Adam Dunn 1
2B Ian Kinsler 48
3B Jose Bautista 60
SS Sean Rodriguez 1
2B/SS Dan Uggla 32
1B/3B Lucas Duda 1
OF Jay Bruce 32
OF Shane Victorino 12
OF J.D. Martinez 1
UTIL Carlos Pena 4
UTIL Paul Goldschmidt 1
P Zack Greinke 45
P Matt Cain 23
P Ubaldo Jimenez 11
P Daniel Hudson 15
P Brandon McCarthy 1
P Ryan Dempster 1
P Ricky Nolasco 1
RP Kenley Jansen 1
RP Fernando Salas 1
BE Gordon Beckham 1
BE James Loney 1
BE Stephen Drew 1
BE Chris Davis 1
BE Jake Peavy 1
BE R.A. Dickey 1
BE Jarrod Saltalamacchia 1
Waivers clear tonight to FAgency. I’m dropping Salty and Chris Davis for either speed or potential saves. ANY THOUGHTS??? Not a lot on the FA market
@Eberto, I think you could use some speed and saves, yup… I like the team overall though. Looks a little wonky at SS and your average is a bit of a mess. Pitching is very solid.
@Grey, What’s up brother! Love what you’re doing. This is my first year reading your shizzz and it is actually fbomb good. Sorry ESPnskies, ur shizzz stinks like white on riceballz. Everything sounds better in script with ballz after. Think Cubs, or CubsBALLZ. Or maybe Car, or CarBALLZ. Maybe, HOT CHIC SUCKS ON MY, or HOT CHIC SUCKS ON MY BALLZ? So who do I try to trade. I’m thinking some power/ave sucking 1b and solid SP for closers and a ss with average potential. ANY THOUGTS? BTW. Your Podcast is PIMP.
Ha… ThankBALLZ.
Grey,
In my keeper league the 23rd & 24th rounds are for rookies w/ fewer than 100 ABs or 50 IP… we can’t play the guys this year but they’re able to be kept in the 22nd round the following season. I’ve lucked out the past 2 years & snagged Castro in ’10 & Hosmer in ’11, but don’t love anybody in particular this year. I’ve got the 1st pick in the 23rd so I should have most prospects to choose from. Montero, Trout & Harper are guaranteed to get taken in the regular rounds so I’m looking @ Arenado, Rendon, Cozart, Myers. I’m assuming the SS prospects are a little too far from being ML-ready unfortunately. Any suggestions or would you say Arenado is a good pick being that old man Blake was shown the door this week? Thanks for the help.. I just bought you a drink for your awesome work helping w/ the draft prep.
@Roger Dorn’s Nemesis, Thanks! I’d take Cozart then Arenado…
@Grey, Cool.. thanks for the feedback
was just offered Smoak/Cashner for LoMo. 14t roto keeper 6×6 (OBP and TBs, and holds).
CONTEXT: my OF (thx to a sweet megadeal) is: Braun, Bruce, Hamilton, Morrison, with Brantley as my util – so don’t need LoMo there, as Brant would slot in well. i have Street, so would love to handcuff with Cashner. also have possibly-balky Lind as my CI (Miggy’s my 1B), so Smoak could be nice depth there. would have to drop either Resop or Qualls to make it work. i threw out a LoMo + Resop for his Maybin + Cashner that he rejected and countered with this.
what do you think? hold LoMo or take it?
@Goose, Hold
@Grey,
right on.
what do you think of a Brantley/Ian Stewart (my bench guy) for Smoak/Cashner counter-counter?
That’s fair…
@ Steve … the kiwi
let me ask you a personal question .
were you a Saves Whore before you started reading Razzball ?
Hehe
@chata, Not 100% sure, but I think I probably was, but maybe not as rabid.
Only ever played H2H before reading Razzball, so always on the lookout for guys to help me win the Saves category each week…
@Steve, Man – it’s fun to go back and look at some of the old rosters. The names!
@Steve, My first ever fantasy draft pick? Albert Pujols at #11 overall in 2003. He was eligible at 1B, 3B and OF back then.
I think I draft Ryan Klesko first overall in my first draft… Those sideburns!
@Grey, Pretty interesting to look at your teams’ final rosters in the early-mid 00s – some pretty incredible home run totals.
Oh yeah… I remember having 20 homer months from Sosa… Now a decent 3rd outfielder may not get that over a season…
@Grey, I got Javy Lopez off the wire the year he hit 42. And Marcus Giles. I loved me some juicers.
@Steve, And where have you gone, Jesse Foppert?
Oh… Yeah, that’s right Javy Lopez! Ha! Hitting 42 homers… Ridiculous…
@Steve,
I drafted Javy with my last pick in the draft while screaming “contract year” and rode him like a french prostitute for 5 months. That was my last title. I’ve finished 2nd twice since then. One of those on the last day of the season, when Tom Glavine gave up 9 earned and never got out of the first………wait for it………. swear to God my 12 year old Black Labs Name, Glavine. You can’t make that up.
@votto-voom,
here’s the link
http://bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view/Mets_complete_collapse__lose_8-1_to_Florida_after_Glavine_gives_up_7_in_first_inning
So I exagerated…… it sure felt like 9!!!!!!!
@votto-voom, I remember that. That outing cost a guy in my league the championship. And I missed out on a 3rd-place finish thanks to a James Loney strikeout.
Ah 2007. The Braun breakout year – and I had him. How did I not win the league? Reyes’ and Morneau’s second-half vanishing act, that’s how.
I’m nearly over it though.
Apropos of absolutely nothing, Brad Hawpe went 80/29/116 that year…
@Steve, here’s one for ya…
Morgan Ensberg (2005)
86 Runs 36 HRs 101 RBI 6 SB, while hitting .283.
I don’t even know what else to say about that.
Pick up Aroldis over Niese, Minor, Nolasco, or Norris?
Over Nolasco…
@Grey, As the Commish of the reigning RCL Champion, the ECFBL, we hereby challenge the ‘perts to match play. you can determine the prize. The ECFBL is led by Iron Chef Chris H., manage of Retrovertigo, winner of two consecutive RCL Championships, both in uber-competitive leagues, and three able assistants, Kelly, a.k.a. AL KOHOLIC, manager of U of L 1-800-BETTYFORD, Fred,a.k.a. Simply Fred, manager of the Fredsies, and Dave, manager of Bloomington Psychotoad.
Of course, we do admit that we have a certain edge, as we all are capable of stealing yours as well as Rudy’s thoughts on a daily basis, although not many of us are able to transpose some of Rudy’s more erudite missives. But then again, the ‘perts don’t have Karabell, Cockroft and Berry, which I was hoping for as that would have given us a sizable edge in fantasy IQ.
We are breathlessly awaiting your response. I am also quite certain that we will again win the RCL overall championship award, as our league has added two formidable managers, one of whom personally scouts minor league prospects, (John the Brat), as well as JP, who is fluent in numerous languages,including Yiddish, and who is a former researcher for SABR as well as a constant attendant at every Olympic event as a volunteer.
Best always,
Paulie Allnuts
@ Grey :
use Saves Whore
and make a t-shirt .
p.s. the wife still likes her sparky anklebiter T
not sure of how she explains it to her friends
but she gets it .
That’s awesome…
Sounds like the Angels OF/DH situation may be getting a little clearer. Some Twitter talk that Abreu is about to be traded to the Indians, plus Trevor Crowe has been pulled from a minor league game…
@Steve, Oh – it would appear those these two events are not necessarily related…
Hey Rudy, not to jock your style, but what you went for and tried to accomplish is exactly (also my screen name) what I’m planning to do in my upcoming draft on Sunday (picking 9th in a 12 team, H2H Points league)…literally: Votto, Longoria, Greinke, Bruce, C.J. Wilson (I don’t think Lester gets back to me, but if he does then I grab him). I probably will wait on closers, but grab a solid #2 OF in the 6th, best 3B/CI in the 7th and 8th and Latos in he 9th…then it’s Erick Aybar time! How’s that sound?
@exactly, sounds good to me – stay flexible though, can’t get too locked into a plan and pass up bargains
yo grey man,
henderson alvarez or mat gamel for a bench spot son? which one you got mo faith in
16 team 4×4 no strike outs, no runs
C J Montero
1b Konerko
2b Kinsler
3b ARam
ss J Lowry
MI Kipnis
OFCargo
OF Ad Jones
OF Rios
OF Kubel
SP Strassburg
SP D Hudson
SP Collmenter
SP M Harris
SP T Millone
RP Street
RP Farnsworth
RP Thornton
Bench
Volquez
G Floyd
Lidge
Am I so thin at starting pitching I’m in trouble?
Is the hitting as strong as I think (other than needing steals at some point) or am I rose colored glasses?
Grey,
I’m in search of power.
Would you drop Addison Reed, Vinnie Pestano, Bryce Harper, or Niese for:
Eric Thames
Vernon Wells
Nolan Reimold
Chris Heisey
If you’re outfield was already:
Pence
Jennings
Werth
Markakis
Cespedes
Thanks maestro
10 team, H2H, thoughts?
Ramos, Wilson(C) WAS
Votto, Joey(1B) CIN
Kendrick, Howard(1B,2B,OF) LAA
Sandoval, Pablo(3B) SF
Andrus, Elvis(SS) TEX
Bruce, Jay(OF) CIN
Upton, Justin(OF) ARI
Young, Chris(OF) ARI
Gardner, Brett(OF) NYY
Lind, Adam(1B) TOR
Bumgarner, Madison(SP) SF
Gonzalez, Gio(SP) WAS
Hudson, Daniel(SP) ARI
Marcum, Shaun(SP) MIL
Scherzer, Max(SP) DET
Motte, Jason(RP) STL
Putz, J.J.(RP) ARI
Chacin, Jhoulys(SP) COL
Minor, Mike(SP) ATL
Niese, Jonathon(SP) NYM
Sanchez, Jonathan(SP) KC
Zimmermann, Jordan(SP) WAS
Street, Huston(RP) SD
Hi Grey, 12-team roto mixed league: how did I do?
C Mike Napoli
1B Albert Pujols
2B Brandon Phillips
3B Brett Lawrie
SS Marco Scutaro
2B/SS Tyler Pastornicky
1B/3B Edwin Encarnacion
OF Jay Bruce
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Carlos Beltran
OF Coco Crisp
OF Mitch Moreland
UTIL Adam Dunn
Bench Ike Davis
Bench Chase Utley
Bench Carlos Pena
P C.J. Wilson
P Brandon Morrow
P Brandon Beachy
P Max Scherzer
P Clay Buchholz
P Tim Stauffer
P Brandon McCarthy
P Carlos Marmol
P Frank Francisco
In my opinion, I did ok. I still need one more closer, but anybody even worth handcuffing is gone. I have too many hitters on my bench, but Utley will end up on the DL, and I hope I can trade Ike or EE for a brain freeze (is that a fair trade?). Should I drop Pena for a middle reliever who can get me some Ks?
Grey-
Three time Daquiri buyer here. First time in this type of league for me: Aside from the obvious lack of speed , any other glaring issues to you for this team in a 8 team keeper roto 5×5 1400 innings cap?
C Posey
1B AGonz
2B M Young
3B Lawrie
SS DGordon
OF GianCarlo
OF JUpton
OF Cuddyer
UT Teix
UT Lind
P Greinke
P Gallardo
P Strasburg
P J.Zimmermann
P. B.McCarthy
P Gio
P Hanrahan
P Motte
Bench Arm:
H.Street
Bench Bats:
Kendrys
Ethier
Ortiz
Y.Alonso
How many of my 5 bench spots do I want allotted to pitchers? My gut is to drop Alonso (dont ask) now for a pitcher to stream, and Ortiz as soon as the next SAGNOF roadrunner emerges. My current arms available are:
Wandy, Jhoulys, B Norris, C Sale , D Holland, Colby Lewis, M Minor.
Thanks in advance
3 of 5 guys: Rios, Dunn, Thames, D. Young, Bourjos. Thanks
@Grey: how worries are you about Zimmerman this year? Has lawrie leap frogged him in rankings or not quite yet?
Thanks.
Call me drunk…Thanks Dewers!…but who did Rudy snag in the 19th round?…damn just quadruple checked and it looks like Colby…but I’m pressing submit anyone…cause…like…I wanna.
@thefaketom, colby is my 5th or 6th starter on just about every team. love the WHIP + solid K + win potential.
I share ZERO of the same players as Grey, however, seems like Me and Rudy think a lot alike. To the tune of…Longoria, Stubbs, Lester, Beachy, Morrow & Putz. Great minds think alike.
@C_Dubya, hope ur team does well!