It’s official because we don’t deal in unofficial. Whatever that means. Which is nothing, if you’re wondering. But it does make this post feel more important. Delusions of grandeur? That’s my life story bro. And that also might describe the life story of many here who reside at Razzball HQ. Which is basically our basements. With bountiful supplies of Hot Pockets and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Oh, wait, nevermind. Sky called, he want’s his everything back. Jokes on you buddy. I’m keeping the Hot Pockets. So, where were we? Oh, that’s right, delusions of grandeur…and Hot Pockets, it happens to the best of us. And that’s why we make these picks. Because we think we’re right all the time. Except for me. I’m just very wrong. Jay Wrong. (/turns off Sean Connery accent.) But don’t let that stop you from looking at our well-thought out (MAYBE) picks for this upcoming 2015 season. (Now with more Grey and Rudy!) We all can’t write a 1500 word exposé on these players, so you get this nifty assortment where you’ll gain a general sense of which players we like and which we don’t. All in a simple box for you to stare and giggle at. Kind of like what you normally would do if you were looking at Tehol‘s well, you know, simple box.
Note: Everyone chose their picks blind, meaning they didn’t see anyone else’s choices, and possibly used a blindfold. Also, the choices were locked on 3/30/2015.
Fantasy Baseball Picks
| Sleeper | Bust | Infatuation | Come Back | MVFP | MVFH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey | Scooter Gennett | Billy Butler | Kolten Wong | Jedd Gyorko | Nathan Eovaldi | Nolan Arenado |
| J-FOH | A.J. Pollock | Xander Bogaerts | Avisail Garcia | Brandon Belt | Drew Hutchinson | Carlos Santana |
| Jay | Adam LaRoche | Evan Gattis | Chase Headley | Jean Segura | R.A. Dickey | Xander Bogaerts |
| JB Gilpin | Brandon McCarthy | Josh Donaldson | James Paxton | Matt Harvey | Chris Sale | Paul Goldschmidt |
| Magoo | Rougned Odor | Freddie Freeman | Jorge Soler | Matt Harvey | Garrett Richards | Charlie Blackmon |
| Malamoney | Marcus Semien | Masahiro Tanaka | Troy Tulowitzki | Justin Verlander | Stephen Strasburg | Robinson Cano |
| Mike | Jake Marisnick | Nelson Cruz | Manny Machado | Matt Harvey | Francisco Liriano | Arismendy Alcantara |
| Paul | Wilmer Flores | Nelson Cruz | Jake Odorizzi | Allen Craig | Michael Wacha | AJ Pollock |
| Ralph | Kennys Vargas | Jose Altuve | Danny Santana | Derek Holland | James Paxton | Christian Yelich |
| Rudy | Kris Bryant | Justin Upton | Corey Dickerson | Mike Napoli | Brandon McCarthy | Oswaldo Arcia |
| Sky | Nathan Eovaldi | Billy Hamilton | Everth Cabrera | Mark Trumbo | Drew Hutchison | Avisail Garcia |
| Smokey | Drew Pomeranz | Freddie Freeman | Lucas Duda | Matt Harvey | Dallas Keuchel | Mark Trumbo |
| Tehol | Xander Bogaerts | Anthony Rendon | Domonic Brown | Matt Wieters | Gerrit Cole | Manny Machado |
Break Out Player of The Year (Sleeper)
You might think we’re describing someone who breaks through walls and then falls asleep really fast. Which seems weird. So I wouldn’t really put it past us… To limit the confusion, I’d better point out that these are our potential break out candidates that you should be grabbing long and grabbing hard.
A lot a different names here. I love Tehol’s pick of Xander Bogaerts and do, for all intents and purposes, agree (I chose him as my most valuable hitter). But we’re also talking about a contributor that tells you buy Domonic Brown every single year. Tehol, buddy, it’s not 2013 anymore. Brandon McCarthy and Marcus Semien are interesting candidates chosen by JB Gilpin and Malamoney, only because I got sleepy when I thought about them. I’m not sure if Kris Bryant could be considered a sleeper, but Rudy definitely sees some break out potential here, which fits the bill. Grey’s pick of Scooter Gennett wasn’t too surprising (there’s some past love there for sure), but I don’t trust someone who’s called “Scooter”. What’s his brother’s name? Moped? What a weird family.
Most Overrated Player of The Year (Bust)
These are the guys being held on a pedestal’s, who will, in return for all your worship and sacrifice, ruin everything thing you hold dear. See: 2014, Fielder, Prince. Take heed Razzballers, avoid these guys at all costs.
I’m not sure Xander Boegarts is overrated, but if he takes a step back from last year’s production (.240/12/60/46/2), then J-FOH will look pretty good. And Boegarts will have a stat line that I would have if I were playing baseball. Magoo and Smokey went with Freddie Freeman (which I did last season), and one thing I learned is that he really isn’t overrated or underrated…or much of anything really. He’s essentially the most average first baseman in fantasy baseball, and since corner bats are at a premium, there’s a bit of inflation. Grey went with Billy Butler as a bust, but I think he got confused and thought we were talking about bust size. In which case he’d still be right. Well played sir!
I Think I Love You, So What Am I So Afraid Of? (Infatuation)
Yep, we all have one. Find out which player your Razzball writer has an undying love for, despite any rational reason or purpose.
It’s Chase Headley’s world. We’re just living in it.
Come Back Player of The Year (Come Back)
Again, pretty easy to figure out what this one means. Unless you’re Josh Hamilton. BURN.
Matt Harvey seems like the consensus pick here (Gilpin, Magoo, Smokey), but I do like Grey dipping back in the Gyorko pool. Rudy goes with Napoli here, which fits with the idea that the Red Sox as whole are an underrated team. I don’t quite agree with the Brandon Belt pick by J-FOH, but if he can find a way to be effect against the shift, there’s some potential there.
Most Valuable Fantasy Pitcher (MVFP)
This is where things get sticky. That’s what she said. Technically, this could be the best pitcher overall… but the key word here is value. You know this because I underlined it. While the vanilla picks of Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, etc. could still technically be the most valuable pitchers at the end of the year, there’s still enough room in the definition to allow the possibility that Bruce Chen will have an ERA of 2.50 and get 20 wins. Seeing as his ownership rate always stands in the nothing-to-negative digits, a performance like that would be the most valuable. And probably destroy the universe as we know it.
A lot of variance here, but not surprising. The definition is basically a sand box, and it’s all about value. So of course I have R.A. Dickey, whose ownership rate isn’t as much an overall percentage, but more of a “Jay” ownership percentage. Nathan Eovaldi is a great pick from Grey, if only because Danny Salazar did what he does best, and that’s destroy dreams. Paul’s Michael Wacha selection is probably the perfect balance of the definition, a pitcher that’s getting picked outside the top tier, but has the potential to produce that value.
Most Valuable Fantasy Hitter (MVFH)
Same thing as the Most Valuable Pitcher, but with hitters. CRAZY, I know.
Again, not surprising the same variance is here as well. Mark Trumbo is a good choice by Smokey (Sky selected him for his come back player), as it’s easy to forget he was putting on a power display before getting injured. And while he plays defense like I eat asparagus (hint: I don’t), Arizona seems exactly like the type of management team that would give Trumbo plenty of at-bats. Ralph goes with Christian Yelich, and while his ground ball tendencies probably cap his power potential, there’s nothing stopping him from becoming the new Jacoby Ellsbury, and let’s say he is the next Jacoby Ellsbury (fair to say a third-to-fourth round pick?), well, he could very well be the MVH. Grey rounds it up by going with Nolan Arenado (why don’t you two just go get a room!) and Rudy ended up going with Oswaldo Arcia. I love the power there, and if he hits 30 plus homeruns… well, he’s the new Chris Carter then, who was the new Chris Davis, who was the new…ugh, whatever. I ran out of names.
Major League Baseball Picks
| ROY (NL) | ROY (AL) | Cy Young (NL) | Cy Young (AL) | MVP (NL) | MVP (AL) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey | Jorge Soler | Aaron Sanchez | Max Scherzer | Jeff Samardzija | Joey Votto | Jose Abreu |
| J-FOH | Joc Pederson | Daniel Norris | Clayton Kershaw | David Price | Clayton Kershaw | Josh Donaldson |
| Jay | Noah Syndergaard | Alex Meyer | Zack Greinke | David Price | Justin Upton | Robinson Cano |
| JB Gilpin | Kris Bryant | Rusney Castillo | Clayton Kershaw | Chris Sale | Carlos Gomez | Mike Trout |
| Magoo | Jorge Soler | Carlos Rodon | Clayton Kershaw | Felix Hernandez | Andrew McCutchen | Mike Trout |
| Malamoney | Kris Bryant | Carlos Rodon | Stephen Strasburg | Felix Hernandez | Paul Goldschmidt | Mike Trout |
| Mike | Jorge Soler | Rusney Castillo | Max Scherzer | Felix Hernandez | Bryce Harper | Mike Trout |
| Paul | Kris Bryant | Daniel Norris | Clayton Kershaw | Corey Kluber | Christian Yelich | Mike Trout |
| Ralph | Jorge Soler | Steven Souza | Clayton Kershaw | Felix Hernandez | Paul Goldschmidt | Mike Trout |
| Rudy | Kris Bryant | Kendall Graveman | Max Scherzer | Chris Sale | Giancarlo Stanton | Mike Trout |
| Sky | Jorge Soler | Francisco Lindor | Max Scherzer | Corey Kluber | Ryan Zimmerman | Miguel Cabrera |
| Smokey | Kris Bryant | Steven Souza | Jon Lester | Felix Hernandez | Carlos Gomez | Edwin Encarnacion |
| Tehol | Kris Bryant | Rusney Castillo | Stephen Strasburg | Felix Hernandez | Bryce Harper | Mike Trout |
Yes, we also did “Reward” picks this year. I guess we could have just called it the Kris Bryant, Clayton Kershaw, and Mike Trout awards, but thank god Sky was drinking and tried to tell us that Ryan Zimmerman was going to be the MVP. Interesting interpretation of how “Disabled List” is abbreviated Sky!
I appear to be going against the grain a lot here, but I’m a firm believer that when deciding on a potential winner, you always pick the field over who’s favored. While that doesn’t quite make sense, as I would have had to use “the field” as my answer for every single one, but I’m used to not making sense on any type of level. I mean, do you even read me bro?
If ROY is truly between Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant, you’d have to go Bryant for his potential floor. A .250 average and 20 homeruns seems like a rational expectation, but the way people have been drafting Bryant, I guess you’d have to expect a .400/60/200/200 year with, why not, 40 stolen bases to boot.
The AL ROY is a nice mix, and I do like the Carlos Rodon picks from Magoo and Malamoney, which coinciendely, also sounds like a 70’s cop show. Josh Donaldson for MVP seems like a little tryhard from J-FOH, but we also deal with defense here for these rewards. We also deal with the BBWAA, so that justifies wild and crazy picks anyhow… And yes, don’t you dare question my Justin Upton pick. It could happen. Sure, I’ll have to wake up at some point, but in the mean time, let me enjoy myself…
I’d be remiss in not mentioning that Rudy and Grey zig-zagged away from each other a bit here. Lindor may be a reach if he doesn’t get enough playing time, but I like the idea of a resurgent Votto (the sequel to the Divergent Votto) and believing more in the first half Abreu than the second half. Chris Sale is a safe pick for Rudy, with Grey buying into Samardzija surviving the environment. I’ll be honest, I’ve been to the south side, it’s not that bad. Then again, I don’t look like this…
Want more of the Jay? Don’t we all folks? Don’t. We. All. Well, you, in fact, can have more. AMAZING. I know. You can find Jay enjoying his dig’s over at the Football side of Razz.
