On one hand, we have Evan Longoria at 7 and Yahoo has him at 13 in their O-Ranks, so we can get Longoria. On the other hand, they have Dee Gordon at 96 in their O-Ranks and we have him at 165, so we’re not getting Gordon without reaching. On the lesser known, third hand that is actually a foot wearing a mitten, what on earth is an O-Rank? Sounds like something a teenager would say when they forgot to take their garbage out for six months. Alas, I found the definition, “The “O-Rank” is an overall player rank based on current and prior seasons. Since it provides such a full spectrum analysis of a players abilities, the “O-Rank” is the method used for determining auto-picks in our draft for full Yahoo! Fantasy Sports games.” A full spectrum analysis? Who wrote this, Stephen Hawking? I Googled “full spectrum analysis” and Google said “Do you mean gobbledygook?” Actually, no lie, but the only other time “full spectrum analysis” was used since Al Gore invented the internet was in regards to gamma rays. I don’t know the first thing about gamma rays, but the term “full spectrum analysis” actually makes sense to me more in regards to gamma rays than fantasy baseball rankings. Well, whatever the case may be, we’re gonna say Yahoo’s O-Ranks are their rankings. Key word is rank, I suppose.
“Ooh, I’m a Yahoo ‘pert and I love Michael Bourn and anyone covering Total Eclipse of the Heart.” That’s Funston and Evans while they compile the rankings and watch The Voice. They are just as high on Michael Bourn as every other ‘pert this and that side of the Mississippi minus Razzball. I already went over my thoughts on Bourn’s supremacy and how everyone’s forgot his true identity: SAGNOF! Same goes for Curtis Granderson, who I labeled a schmohawk. At least Yahoo didn’t put him in the top 20, that’s just common Curtis-y. Pun point!
No one likes Jay Bruce, but me. Honestly, I have no idea how this happened and it’s about the most puzzling thing going on this preseason. When Bruce was first called up, the fantasy baseball community embraced him immediately, labeled him Bruuuuuuuuuuce and sold the Ohio Turnpike to the Middle East in his honor as reported by Matt Taibbi. Now, we’re coming off a season where he finally put everything together and he’s going to be 25 years old. This is the time to move on from him? I nearly put Bruce in my top 20 overall (ended up just outside of it at 27) and Yahoo has him at 51. I’ll happily go with Bruce in every league, and that’s not just the Jersey in me talking. Though I do write with one hand and fist pump with the other.
Rather than going through all of their wonky player rankings, I’ve made a chart. “Yo, Differences Between My Rankings and O-Ranks, you’ve been charted!” The positive numbers mean you have a good chance of getting those players if you follow my rankings. The negative numbers mean Yahoo’s ranked these players higher than me. Help for this chart was provided by frequent commenters, MattTruss223 and Cheese. Promotional consideration was provided by Wheat Thins, “Now go eat yourself thin!”
| Some of the Biggest Differences Between Grey’s Rankings and O-Ranks | |||
| Player | Grey’s | Y! | Difference |
| Jay Bruce | 27 | 51 | 24 |
| Dan Uggla | 33 | 48 | 15 |
| Curtis Granderson | 38 | 22 | -16 |
| Howie Kendrick | 46 | 72 | 26 |
| Madison Bumgarner | 50 | 80 | 30 |
| Chase Utley | 54 | 71 | 17 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 55 | 74 | 19 |
| Lance Berkman | 57 | 86 | 29 |
| Brian McCann | 60 | 83 | 23 |
| Matt Wieters | 61 | 90 | 29 |
| Jered Weaver | 65 | 35 | -30 |
| C.J. Wilson | 66 | 88 | 22 |
| Desmond Jennings | 70 | 43 | -27 |
| Krispie Young | 74 | 122 | 48 |
| Brett Gardner | 79 | 111 | 32 |
| Jayson Werth | 80 | 108 | 28 |
| Mike Napoli | 81 | 53 | -28 |
| Mark Reynolds | 84 | 143 | 59 |
| Adam Lind | 85 | 155 | 70 |
| Billy Butler | 86 | 119 | 33 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 88 | 118 | 30 |
| Matt Cain | 89 | 54 | -35 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 91 | 57 | -34 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 93 | 130 | 37 |
| Peter Bourjos | 95 | 144 | 49 |
| Ben Zobrist | 96 | 52 | -44 |
| Anibal Sanchez | 101 | 156 | 55 |
| Danny Espinosa | 102 | 253 | 151 |
| Mariano Rivera | 104 | 76 | -28 |
| Alex Rios | 114 | 168 | 54 |
| Michael Bourn | 125 | 67 | -58 |
| Emilio Bonifacio | 126 | 174 | 48 |
| Vernon Wells | 141 | 229 | 88 |
| Carlos Quentin | 147 | 210 | 63 |
| Aaron Hill | 151 | 264 | 113 |
| Michael Pineda | 154 | 114 | -40 |
| Adam Wainwright | 155 | 99 | -56 |
| Dee Gordon | 165 | 96 | -69 |
That’s too bad about Gordon. I’ve been thinking that I’d end up drafting him or Cozart in my yahoo league, so now it looks as if I’ll be stuck with Cozart, unless people get scared of Hanley or something.
You ever read the classical.org? Their “yakkin about baseball” dialogues yield some yuks.
http://theclassical.org/articles/yakkin-about-baseball-unwinding-the-phil-plantier-position
http://theclassical.org/articles/the-worst-shape-of-our-lives-yakkin-about-pitchers-and-catchers
@royce!, Never heard of the Classical, but pretty good stuff.
I totally agree that dee gordon should not be in the top 100. I have my worries that he’s not even going to make 30sbs due to injuries. A 150 lb SS (all those double plays) whose total value depends on speed? Yikes. I have him too, but I got him at pick 180 something and I grabbed Yunel Escobar 100 picks later to be safe.
@papasmurf, Yeah, I like Gordon a lot if he can stay healthy. That’ll be the bee in the bonnet though.
@Grey
Completed my first draft last night
12 teams(roto, 5*5 & ESPN standard) RCL 13
C-Weiters
1st-Reynolds
2nd-Kendricks
SS-Cozart
3rd-Wright
CI-Lind
MI-Hill
OF-Braun,Bruce, D.Jennings, Coco, V.Wells
UT-L. Cain
P-CC, Gio, Garza, Chacin, Stauffer & Peacock
RP- Marmol, Guerra, Holland, Uehara, Peralta
DL- R. Howard
Your thoughts would be much appreciated on my draft
Thanks
@HowDidIDo, Team looks really solid. Might have some average concerns and a tad low on power with Cain and Coco who are kinda the same player. Pitching looks nice.
@Grey,
@HowDidIDo,
@Grey,
Sorry about the last post being blank
Thanks for your input on the team
I’m looking to add Eric Thames off waivers(find out at midnight)
I know you have Coco higher then Cain in your rankings. You also have Coco as just a SAGNOF. I also know that Cain is in the Tier you seeing a couple of guys making a jump in rankings next year(him being the guy with most upside)
My question for you is
looking at my roster as it stands
Who would you drop for Eric Thames
Coco or Cain?
Thanks!
@HowDidIDo, Cain
Raises an interesting question about where you take the guys that are ranked higher at Razzball than at Yahoo. Is the general rule just to take ‘em where they’re ranked?
Nothing worse than thinking you can wait a couple of rounds on a guy and then have someone else take him…
@Steve, I draft my team and ignore rankings as I would ignore money values that ESPN or Yahoo gives me.
@Grey, you mean if you have the 27th pick and Jay Bruce is there you’re not going to wait an extra round to get better value b/c yahoo has him @ 51?
@Rob, I’d take Bruce at the beginning of the 3rd round in a 12 team draft, yeah.
this looks like my fantasy team lol. btw pineda should be -40
@trick dad, Oops, thanks!
@Grey: Are you worried about Anibal? (I drafted him and he’s scaring the piss out of me.) And how about Liriano thus far?! 7K in 5 scoreless thus far! Are you willing to reconsider yet?
@Juan, I’m not reconsidering after 5 IP. Anibal is supposed to pitch, tomorrow the last I heard. Will know more then…
“overall player rank based on current and prior seasons” Gordon has prior seasons I’m not aware of? They aren’t thinking of Daddy Flash are they?
@WallyCleaver, Ha… Yeah, no idea.
Can we get one of these for the ESPN schmohawks in here?
@Seth, Coming next week…
@Grey, You’re the best!
@Grey, can’t you wait till I do a few more drafts! Love the lists, hope my league mates are not watching
Cool…
@Grey – 6×6 H2H with OPS & QS. Obviously light on SB and SB, but by design. Can I rake in the other 10 categories every week? What do you think?
C McCaan
1B Prince
2B Uggla
3B Pablo
SS Alexei
MI Young
CI Votto
OF Morse
OF Ethier
OF Swish
OF Torii
OF Boesch
DH Papi
SP Bum
SP Zimm
SP Anibal
SP Ubaldo
SP Scherzer
SP Chacin
SP Baker
SP Lewis
SP Dempster
SP Peavy
SP Peacock
SP Leake
SP Parker
@Arnold, Lot of risk with older players or needing bounce backs, but the team looks okay if it’s a 12 team league.
Awesome frickin’ info, brotha-man!!!
@birdog, Thanks!
HA! I just noticed that Mike Stanton is now Giancarlo Stanton? How did I miss this!? And no post about this? Too funny!!!
Continue to love the site!!
@Back To Minors, oh he noticed: “Mike Stanton changed his name to Giancarlo. Just when you thought Stanton couldn’t get any sexier, he goes and changes his name to The Sexiest Name Alive, according to People Magazine.”
@Back To Minors, I love the comment: Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton. He’s not Italian, and Giancarlo isn’t a family name – his parents just liked it.
20-team, mixed H2H-Points keeper league w/$70 cap (players go up $1 per MLB year of service)
I need an everyday OF with upside and I’m ready to contend.
Do I do the following?
Domonic Brown $1 and Ryan Roberts $2
FOR
Logan Morrison $1 and Ryan Vogelsong $2
@Commish Cauda, I’d take Morrison.
The Yahoo! O-Rankings are ca-ca-doo-doo. They make no sense at all. I have something I call the O-Face: it’s the face I make when I see Dee Gordon ranked 97.
@Baron Von Vulturewins, Ha! I thought the O-face was when you were able to get Dee Gordon in the 200′s.
@Grey, BUT ON A SERIOUS NOTE how early is too early to grab Dee? I’m starting to think Round 10 might be the time to make the move?
@Baron Von Vulturewins, Round ten sounds about right if you want to realistically not overpay…
@Grey, he went round 7 of my 14 teamer, i about crapped… i know alot of people are high on this guy, im just seeing alcides escobar, everth cabrera and im steering clear…. maybe he’s better, but its too early for my blood.
@Tony, Yeah, could be Eugenio Velez. About the size of him…
P.S. I forgot to say that I still love Bruce.
Bruuuuuuuuuce!
@Baron Von Vulturewins, Love
Who will have the better fantasy year
Napoli,Lawrie or Strasburg ?
@Phil, Lawrie
12 team mixed roto keeper. 25 man roster. C/1B/2B/3B/SS/3xOF/Util. 1450IP
The dollar amounts are cost to keep in 2012, 2013, 2014
Team A trades to Team B
Ike $8, $10, $12
Felix $25, $25, $25
Bailey $9, $13, $18
Team B trades to Team C
Hosmer $1, $2, $3
Sabathia $25, $25, $25
Farnsworth $3, $5, $7
Team C trades to Team A
Pujols $38, $38, $38
Is this a fair 3 way deal? Any other thoughts?
@Paul, Sounds fair
I never got why Yahoo has these O-Ranks and then a set of rankings under their draft kit that are different. And I think those are co-signed by rotowire. Anyway, if you want a good laugh check those out. I think they have Lawrie in the top 15 and Dee Gordon is even higher.
@Buddo Chezuski, Yeah, I have no idea… Whole thing is kinda puzzling to me…
@Grey,
their O rank is their pre-season rank .
their “rank” will change throughout the season , as it progresses ,
based on a player’s current performance and yahoo’s customers
preferences .
In addition to Dee Gordon, they moved Paul Goldschmidt into the top 100 at 98, BARF!
@Steve, you could proably safely wait a few rounds for Espinosa though!
@MattTruss223, Hey, thanks again for the chart work!
Grey,
Joining a 12, now 14 team H2H (OBP vs. Avg) league as one of 2 expansion teams.
The original 12 teams got to keep 4, and then we did an 8 pick expansion draft with each of the 2 expansion teams getting 4 picks.
We are now entering round 10, so everybody has 9 players…Must keep 4, can keep 6 next year.
My 1st 9 picks…How do you think I did? What would you recommend I strengthen in my next couple of picks.
C
1 Hosmer (2)
2 Phillips (4)
3 Lawrie (1)
SS
MI
CI
CF
OF Jennings (3)
OF
OF
Util Papi (8)
SP Lester (5)
SP Kennedy (6)
SP Josh Johnson (7)
SP
RP Heath Bell (9)
RP
@HotRod, Your pitching is much stronger than your hitting, which isn’t great. Get the best outfield and CI you can get now…
@Grey,
Ryan Howard is still on the board…Whats your take on him for this year? WHn will he be back? Worth Grabbing now?
I just went over Howard a few days ago…
So with this in mind Grey, If operating through yahoo, you’d enter your own pre-draft rankings and ignore the fact that others will be selecting based on yahoo’s? Wouldn’t that mean that you’d be losing potential value of a pick? Adam Lind for example would be on peoples radar in yahoo rankings around round 12 but you’d select him anyway in 7? Seems like you’d potentially be burning a pick early?
I guess we’d have to guess that everyone now knows about Razzball and will probably be ignoring yahoos. How popular is this website now anyway? Awesomeness like this is hard to keep secret! Thanks for the tips!
@paddyman, Thanks for the kind words! The reality is you’re not drafting based on rankings for someone else, you’re drafting your team. If you need Lind as your CI because your team is light on power, you better make sure you get him, no matter where you pick him… Obviously if you can wait a round because you see how far down on the draft queue he is then you wait, for sure.
@paddyman, I have Grey’s rankings in the pre-draft rankings and use that as my reference the entire draft. The only yahoo stats I use in the draft window are the average draft positions, this way if I’m torn between two players in a certain round I can understand if either will likely be available when my next pick rolls around.
I find that you can play Grey’s rankings off Yahoo’s for value in the mock drafts, but my regular league mates are a little more savvy/unpredictable then your average Yahoo mouth-breather so I generally fill my team with players I want as they are available…rather then risk missing out completely.
@paddyman, you can always go back and forth from your personal rankings and yahoos rankings…
I think you are at fault on Espinosa…have him ranked waaaaaaayyyyy too high.
A 20/15 middle infielder in his prime sounds pretty good to me…
@Grey, i think espinosa is better for roto, probbaly not so great for h2h, but a guy with 20/20 + upside…. he’s worth a gamble.
@Tony, At 24 years old, yeah, he is…
Love the article (and the stache of course). really helps in targeting certain players and not others. Got a couple Q’s for ya.
In a 12-team OPS league with the 1st pick.
here’s a few guys I’ve been targeting at the turns:
4/5: Bruce, Uggla, Lawrie (Greinke – but he never seems to fall to me – if he does, would you take him over Bruce, Uggla, etc?).
8/9: Wieters tends to fall to me here and seems to be good value. You agree or wait on C?
After that I usually just fill in the gaps, add SP’s & start looking at closers. I was wondering though; in a 12-team league, what round would you usually start to target closers in (assuming you had back-to-back picks)?
Many thanks
Thanks! Around the tenth round…
@Grey, thanks. what are your thoughts on my 4/5th round & 8/9th round targets?
@Scottie O., Sorry about that, was replying from an iPhone and it cut it off… Greinke — nope. Wieters is good value in the ninth.
@Grey, no worries. I appreciate the insight. I kinda wish Greinke would have been one of those guys that Yahoo! ranked lower, but now I’ll simply plan to target Bum at the 6/7 turn.
Krispie Young. I keep drafting him, but didn’t I read somewhere that he might lose some ABs this year in a crowded outfield? Any concerns about his getting enough playing time for a H2H league? Good article. Thanks.
I’m not concerned as of right now…
I’d heard it was more likely that Parra and Kubel get caught on a time share. But now I’m a little worried about the Krispie.
Love it, Grey… in fact, maybe I love you? Therefore, all that you do, I love… Right?
@longbeachyo, Love you!
My draft strategy is constantly evolving, and this is where I stand now.
Assuming I don’t pick first or second, I’m going hard after Tulo. If I get him, I’ll try to get a top 6 1B with my second pick. If I miss out on Tulo, I’m going after best 1B available, and either Hanley or Longoria in the second depending where they fall. Likely looking at OF in the third and 3B like Pablo, Beltre and Zim in the fourth. If I miss out on Tulo or Hanley, I’ll probably punt shortstop unless someone falls. If I miss a top 6 1B ill look at the Morse, Hosmer, Konerko tier.
Grey, does this look like a decent enough strategy?
@Melvin Emanuel, Sounds fine…
Verbal offer of Stras/BJ for Lincecum/Krispie. 8 Team H2H. I’d get the Stras side…yay or nay? I’m leaning nay.
@Wilsonian, Nah
@Grey, Thanks. What I figured. I don’t know why this guy is trying to get Lincecum this early. I would like a good felatio Upton, though.
@Wilsonian, Id be looking for a bat of Nellie Cruz calibur instead of BJ.
@TheNewGuy, you mean for Lincecum or for him and Krispie?
@Wilsonian, Instead of BJ. I look at it simply, 7 buck difference between Linc and Stras, so you want a 7 buck better player than Krispie ie Nellie.
@TheNewGuy, Good analysis. He doesn’t really have anyone that would work there. His other OF are Jennings and Braun.
@Wilsonian, dont do it then
@Grey I was transposing your Top 300 to the Yahoo rankings for a draft and the biggest discrepancy I came across was Matt Gamel (Grey 214)(Yahoo 1177).
@Howard, Ha… Yeah, they obviously forgot about him.
@Howard, Would you mind sharing the doc with me? I did the same last year, but haven’t found the time to do so this year (thought I could farm it out to my 1-month old, but she’s a slow learner…)
my email is booher.robert at yahoo
@royce!, I would love to share but I did it on the Yahoo interface and it disappeared after the draft. Took me about an hour to do it.
@Howard, Cool, thanks anyway.
Take a few minutes to read the “draft kit” provided by yahoo. See link below. Funniest thing ever. A few highlights: Kipnis is the #27 overall player (kinsler is 84) Dee Gordon is higher than Hanley, apparently “jason” lackey is out of the year….Barry Zito is on the “overvalued” list (who gives him any value at all??), while brett lawrie is a “sleeper.” Angel pagan, melky, and crisp are higher than mccutchen and stanton. This is the tip of the iceburg. Please check it out and do a write up on it.
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/9192/draftkit?.scrumb=ArtB.PTlhDW
@Luke, Weird. I was just writing a huge post on that when you threw that up (see one below). Honestly, it was beyond funny to me. Funny is a guy taking Ichiro in the 5th. This is utterly absurd and inexcusable.
Are you sure you’re not reading it upside down?
…At least the Yahoo rankings don’t have that ‘I just took a couple blasts off a crackpipe’ aura about them…. If you haven’t had a chance to see the rankings from Rotowire, who does Yahoo’s draft kit and who I believe is Chris Liss’ (who I up until now respected) brainchild, allow me to introduce you to these ranks that would in the best of terms be considered ridiculous (These are overall from top 250 sheet):
Yu Darvish: 36 – Felix Hernandez: 44
Jason Kipnis: 27 – Justin Upton: 28 – Ian Kinsler: 84
Austin Jackson: 97 – Mike Stanton: 100
Coco Crisp: 75 – Andrew McCutchen: 80
Dee Gordon: 26 – Hanley Ramirez: 29
Melky Cabrera: 63 – Angel Pagan: 65 – BJ Upton: 162
Elvis Andrus: 174 – Marco Scutaro: 175
Ryan Vogelsong: 68 – Zack Greinke: 70
Daniel Murphy: 102 – Dan Uggla:103
Brett Lawrie: 12 – Evan Longoria: 93
Folks/Grey, I am not making these up. I have never in my life read fantasy baseball articles or rankings that legitimately angered me inside until now.
Grey, I’d imagine you have seen these already. Is this being offered up as serious material? Is this an inside joke to see how much crap they could shove into the mouths of their readers? I ask those questions dead seriously.
These rankings were either done by a child under 6 or a donkeycorn with a crayon between its teeth. These people need to lose their jobs and their following/readership.
Honestly, never saw these before… They probably don’t pay very well because not that many people use them so they just throw them together… Really, I have no idea…
@Grey, curious how your value of Gordon, Hart’s recent knee surgery and the good signs coming from Johan Santana might play into a tough keeper decision I’m making by 3/15.
5×5, 10 team, NL only auction ($300) w/8 keepers (13 hitters, 10 pitchers total w/1C, 5OFs, 3U).
Due to trading rules, I must keep 1-Cliff Lee ($31); 2-Dan Uggla ($24); 3-Alonso ($5); and 4-Tabata ($7). I am chosing to keep 5-Wright ($26); and 6-Hanley ($31).
The 7th and 8th keeper spots are between:
– Dee Gordon ($13)
– Corey Hart ($16)
– Johan Santana ($3)
– John Mayberry ($7)
– Daniel Hudson ($17)
– Shelby Miller ($1)
What say thee, oh wise seer of fantasy baseball goodness!
Gordon and Hudson…
@Grey, thanks a ton. Who’s your favorite between Hart, Santana and Mayberry at those prices?
@birrrdy!, Johan
is alex presley a 4th or 5th OF, and where would you target him in a NFBC draft…
@mic, 5th…
I love myself some Aaron Hill and Rios on this list. Gracias Yahoo as the douches in my league follow those rankings to a T.
@Mr2Bits, Yup, agreed.
@Mr2Bits, On a side note Grey, Yahoo is the TMZ of baseball rankings. They are all about the sexy name and that the end of it. Their rankings have always been that way and will never change. They will never hitch their ride to a Cozart or someone risky until there is a year or two under the belt.
@Mr2Bits, Yeah, in fairness to them, though I’m not sure why I have to be fair… There’s something going on behind the scenes because I’ll be in drafts with the Yahoo guys and they don’t even understand the rankings that Yahoo puts out. I think they use an outside source. Maybe rotowire as someone suggested above. I have no idea.
@Grey, Can I ask you who your would target with the 9th pick available in in a 10 team H2H keeper league?
Here is who is available for top 10-12 with OBP and QS in Yahoo
Mark Teixeira
David Wright
Nelson Cruz
Hunter Pence
Álex Rodríguez
Ben Zobrist
Michael Young
Asdrubal Cabrera
Shane Victorino
Eric Hosmer
Michael Cuddyer
Chase Utley
Jimmy Rollins
Pitchers
CC Sabathia
Jered Weaver
Dan Haren
Matt Cain
Jon Lester
Yovani Gallardo
Yu Darvish
Josh Johnson
Daniel Hudson
Ricky Romero
@Grey, These are my keeper as well.
Roy Halladay – 1st round – Keeper
Josh Hamilton – 7th round -Keeper
James Shields – 15th Round – Keeper
Kevin Youkilis – 15th round – Keeper
Chris Young – 21st round – Keeper
Jose Bautista – 23rd round – Keeper
Lance Berkman – FA – Keeper
Howie Kendrick – FA – Keeper
@Mr2Bits, Wright
@Grey, He might be gone by pick #9, who would you choose in the middle of the pack? I think this will really be my choices.
Nelson Cruz
Hunter Pence
Álex Rodríguez
CC Sabathia
Jered Weaver
Dan Haren
Matt Cain
Jon Lester
Yovani Gallardo
@Mr2Bits, A-Rod, Pence, Cruz…
Grey,
This is outstanding. I’ve always wanted something depicting this because this is where someone likes me truly out hustles everyone else in my league.
Thanks for putting this together.
@Joe, No worries…
Very helpful thanks
@Bfeels, No problem…
@Grey: First comment from the new iMac. I freakin love this computer. I can mock draft, have the pitcher pairings tool open, and the top 100/300 open all at the same time (yes i got the huge 27″ one). Great post, as always. Im getting Bruce, Heyward, Kendrick, Bum, Gio, Zimm, Boneface, Anibal, Scherzer, and a few other Grey targets every time i mock on yahoo. I wish they would do mocks of 14 or 16 teams, like mdc. Anyhow, really looking forward to the season. Have you tried Pizza Buona yet? Im gonna check out this beer bar/retailer called Sunset Beer Co. (a couple blocks from Dodger Stadium) in a bit. They are supposed to also the Grilled Cheese Truck tonight til 10ish i think. Not sure if you are a beer guy, but it sounds like a great spot. Ill let you know how it is. Have a great weekend, cheers!
@ThE sHiT, Nice purchase! You go to The Grove to get it? Shoot, haven’t tried the pizza place yet. 800 Degrees in Westwood was good, not great. Grilled Cheese truck is wonderful…
@Grey, Funny thing, my gf and i were on our way to buy a treadmill from a lady on Craigslist, when we passed a Best Buy, decided to go in and check them out, and walked out with the iMac an hour later. We had been talking about it for some time now. That day we just said “fuck it” and went ahead with it. We are mesmerized so far with it. My gf is all butt-hurt because ive been doing nothing but mocking and reading Razzball since monday when we finally got our internet…As for the pizza place, dude, all i get on it is pepperoni and sausage. It is divine! We also grate some fresh parmesan on top of the pizza, man, it is the best pizza I’ve ever had. My gf and i kill a large easily. Oh yeah, i also get some garlic cheese bread and marinara to dip, can you say awesome?!?! You will not be disappointed. Cant wait for the Grilled Cheese truck…
That pizza sounds wonderful, gotta get there…
@ Grey :
nice piece .
interesting , but really don’t give a damn about yahoo’s rankings .
do care about your’s , however , which is why I have been a faithful
reader since 1st coming across your site .
now , to my current ‘point’ .
last year , we had a discussion about ellsbury vs gardner .
3 times the number of HR’s … comes to mind .
today , i’m beginning to think that you must have “something” for
brett gardner’s sister (if he has one) .
you rank him at # 79
and
michael bourn at # 125
please explain .
thanks , in advance .
@ the general readership :
the only comparative rankings worth a damn , imo , are those
available at mlb.com , on a position-by-position basis , vs Grey’s .
yahoo is not worth reading …. never has been .
but , I suppose , if you haven’t figured that out by now …
well , there’s that .
and , once you “discover” the same is true about espn ,
well , then , maybe you will then consider supporting this site with
your donations .
@chata, Gardner can hit 10 homers and steal 50 bases… Bourn can steal 50 bases… Gardner can get 115 runs, Bourn 95… Gardner gets more RBIs too…
just did a NFBC mock, what do you think? I had 9th pick.
1. Joey Votto
2. Andrew McCutchen
3. Pablo Sandoval
4. B.J. Upton
5. Madison Bumgarner
6. Mike Morse CI
7. Matt Garza
8. Jose Valverde
9. Billy Butler DH
10. Anibal Sanchez
11. Geovany Soto
12. Emilio Bonifacio SS
13. Brandon League
14. Brennen Boesch
15. Mike Minor
16. Kelly Johnson 2B
17. Nolan Reimold
18. Jonathon Niese
19. Ian Desmond MI
20. Eric Thames
21. Drew Pomeranz
22. Chris Iannetta
23. Sergio Romo
@beardcrabs, Really like the team, good balance of speed, power and average… Nice pitching too… Not too much bad to say… Maybe a tad low on saves, but nothing terrible.
Here is the 12 team mock i just did on yahoo. I picked from the 3rd spot. I kinda punted saves here because in my h2h money league, I’ve done that in the past, not sure if you remember last year, and i rolled with nothing but SPs. Thoughts?
1. Albert Pujols (LAA – 1B)
2. David Wright (NYM – 3B)
3. Andrew McCutchen (Pit – OF)
4. Jay Bruce (Cin – OF)
5. Howie Kendrick (LAA – 1B,2B,OF)
6. Madison Bumgarner (SF – SP)
7. Jason Heyward (Atl – OF)
8. Gio González (Was – SP)
9. Brett Gardner (NYY – OF)
10. Jordan Zimmermann (Was – SP)
11. Logan Morrison (Mia – OF)
12. Anibal Sánchez (Mia – SP)
13. Emilio Bonifacio (Mia – 3B,SS,OF)
14. Joakim Soria (KC – RP)
15. Max Scherzer (Det – SP)
16. Javy Guerra (LAD – RP)
17. Wilson Ramos (Was – C)
18. Mike Minor (Atl – SP)
19. Jonathan Sánchez (KC – SP)
20. Brad Peacock (Oak – SP)
21. Bryan LaHair (ChC – OF)
22. Francisco Liriano (Min – SP)
23. Aaron Hill (Ari – 2B)
Team looks really solid, don’t love idea of punting saves but if you did it with success then there ya go… Nice to see Scherzer on a mock team finally, though don’t love him with Filthy Sanchez…
Another one I noticed (mainly because I traded for him in my dynasty league and they blasted me).
Trevor Cahill is ranked 256 in Yahoo, you have him 158.
Yeah, there’s a bunch more, I just cut it off at about thirty names…
In need of assistance here.
16 team 6×6 Roto Keeper league.
I have
1B: Hosmer
2B: Kendrick
3B: Moustakas
SS: Hanley
RF: Upton
CF: McCutchen
LF: Berkman
SP: Hanson, Romero
I have third overall pick in the redraft portion.
I am looking at taking either Scherzer, Werth, or Rasmus. Werth is probably more capable of 20/20 now but Rasmus is tempting for future value as well. Who should I take?
You need pitching…
@Grey,
Garza, Zimmerman, Anibal, Scherzer, Ubaldo, Marcum are all available. Should I grab one of these guys and then hope there is something decent left after the turn around?
You should grab the best pitcher you can…
Take follow ups to my newest post too…
Hello, I’ve been following your site and postings on a daily basis for 3 seasons now. I won it all my first two seasons and lost in the WS last year, but did have best regular season record. I have followed your rankings 100% and just want to say thank you for them. My live draft is March 19th and the one thing I am having a hard time with is if i get one of the top picks in the draft, do I really take Braun like your rankings say??? My gut says go with Miggy,Pujols,Votto,Bautista and even Longoria before Braun but your rankings have not failed me yet so why am i afraid if i draft Braun before them this will be the first year they will fail me? Please Help!! Thanks so much.
@Steven,
“… why am i afraid … ?”
because you’re still wrestling with whether he used peds , or not .
@Grey can you please respond to my post too
@Steven, Thanks for the kind words! It’s the first tier of guys. You can’t go wrong with any of them. They are all in the same tier and like I say they’re interchangeable within that tier. With that said, I’d take Braun with the 1st pick. Take follow ups to my newest post, the Marlins one.
Grey,
Hope you can still reply to a late comment….
I’m in a yahoo league where the commissioner doesn’t set up the league until the night before the draft. It’s a 6×6 with OPS, TB for batters and Games for pitchers. Am I right in assuming that Yahoo does the O-Rank based on the league settings? If so, how can I find their O-Ranks for my league before the night before the draft?
@Tammy, I don’t believe that’s true, there’s too many league setting combinations. Yahoo’s not that sophisticated. Take follow ups to my newest post.
If you have lets say the 28th pick in a draft and don’t pick again until the mid to late 40′s..would you grab Bruce..or draft Hamilton/Cruz (ranked around 30 in yahoo) and hope to grab Bruce in your next pick?
@Blue, Bruce
Great Post. Did a similar list comparing your rankings and theirs last year… Then Yahoo! changes their rankings (sorry O-rank) the day before the draft!
@Nate, Thanks!
Great info. I just found your site this year from a buddy. Top notch stuff. Thanks for all the quality content. Who are the 5-10 guys who are consistently ending up on your teams this year and what rounds are you typically grabbing them?
@cardinalmike, This sounds like a Russian spammer comment. “This is great info. You are best. Try Cialis!” Take followups to my newest post.
I generally do not like “____ Site’s rankings suck” posts but Yahoo has upset me this season.
Their rankings are SO AGGRESSIVE, and far from the norm, that their rankings have created a list of 25-50 players that are flat out un-ownable. I am not saying their rankings are particularly “bad” but they are not serving their purpose… THEY ARE DICTATING WHO I DRAFT, and they really shouldn’t have that effect.
For many fantasy players “their main league”, or the league they have played in the longest, is made up of work/family/old college buddies etc.
In many of those leagues, the competitors are made up of:
50% Top notch fantasy wackos
25% Dudes who know what their doing but are not committed enough to have more than a punter’s chance to win
25% Mouth breathers who think Lawrie is a misspelled seasoning salt
So, go ahead, tell me to find tougher competition etc…. i I get it, I play against you wackos as well. But the league I care about the most I have played in so long that my team gets it’s Drivers License next season.
A drunk ass Uncle who watched three baseball games in 2011, or your Freshman roommate that still rocks a Soriano jersey, nor the hipster in the mail room DOES NOT DESERVE TO END UP WITH Desmond Freakin’ Jennings… even if it they blindly him 15 picks too high. The Desmond Jennings of the world should be reserved for us wackos, the dedicated, the fantasy losers, the people that professional athletes poke fun at. Not GD Ronnie, the delivery guy that tells you every Tuesday morning that the Cubs need to move Dempster back to “Saver”.
I really wish Yahoo rankings were either
A: Based soley on last seasons performance
or
B: Based on ZIPS, CHONE, PECOTA etc… one of the unexciting/vanilla projection systems.
I like Yahoo, I even have grown to like most of their writers over the years.
I just wish I could draft the players I WANT and the players that I LIKE.
NOT
The players that have the most value soley because BRANDON FUNSTON THINKS HE MIGHT HAVE A DOWN YEAR.
@Dan, Great comment… Ha!
Awesome post! That saved me about 2 hours of cross examination work. Now I just need to compare with my own rankings.
@The Chew, Nice…
Why so much more love for Kendricks than Cuddyer?Yahoo has them ranked 70 and 72 and they both play 1B,2B and OF.I see the Coors factor improving Cuddy a bit and Pujols doing the same for Kendricks.The age factor too I guess.
GREY! Give me some thoughts to my mock with razzball rankings?(yahoo)
5 bench,2RP, 3OF, No CI MI
1. Joey Votto (Cin – 1B)
2. Evan Longoria (TB – 3B)
3. Andrew McCutchen (Pit – OF)
4. Jay Bruce (Cin – OF)
5. Brett Lawrie (Tor – 3B)
6. Paul Konerko (CWS – 1B)
7. Madison Bumgarner (SF – SP)
8. Howie Kendrick (LAA – 1B,2B,OF)
9. Adam Jones (Bal – OF)
10. Gio González (Was – SP)
11. Chris Young (Ari – OF)
12. Daniel Hudson (Ari – SP)
13. Emilio Bonifacio (Mia – 3B,SS,OF)
14. Anibal Sánchez (Mia – SP)
15. Max Scherzer (Det – SP)
16. Sergio Santos (Tor – RP)
17. Jhoulys Chacin (Col – SP)
18. Trevor Cahill (Ari – SP)
19. Justin Masterson (Cle – SP)
20. Mike Minor (Atl – SP)
21. Salvador Pérez (KC – C)
22. Tyler Clippard (Was – RP)
23. Jair Jurrjens (Atl – SP)
@Tyler, Team looks very solid, though I’m not crazy about Jurrjens and Masterson might have some issues as my rankings say… Take follow ups to my Marlins post…
@Grey,
AHH, two picks in the “whammied” category. Lind sat on the wire for a while before I grabbed Masterson, but didn’t have the room.
Even batting stats though?
Gladly buying you a daquiri!
-cheers
Yeah, batting stats look fine…
@Grey,
Last mock before the real deal..
Would you mind rating lineup again for even stats? I tried to stay out of the questionable pitching tiers you suggested with Masterson.
Standard Yahoo
1. Joey Votto (Cin – 1B)
2. Ian Kinsler (Tex – 2B)
3. Andrew McCutchen (Pit – OF)
4. Josh Hamilton (Tex – OF)
5. Jay Bruce (Cin – OF)
6. Madison Bumgarner (SF – SP)
7. Aramis Ramirez (Mil – 3B)
8. Lance Berkman (StL – 1B,OF)
9. Matt Wieters (Bal – C)
10. Emilio Bonifacio (Mia – 3B,SS,OF)
11. Brett Gardner (NYY – OF)
12. Gio Gonzalez (Was – SP)
13. Mark Reynolds (Bal – 1B,3B)
14. Adam Lind (Tor – 1B)
15. Yoenis Cespedes (Oak – OF)
16. Max Scherzer (Det – SP)
17. Jhoulys Chacin (Col – SP)
18. Frank Francisco (NYM – RP)
19. Trevor Cahill (Ari – SP)
20. Fernando Salas (StL – RP)
21. Colby Rasmus (Tor – OF)
22. Brad Peacock (Oak – SP)
23. Mike Minor (Atl – SP)
Thanks Grey
Hitting looks solid… Don’t love Scherzer and Gio on the same team… Could be dealing with a WHIP nightmare… Take follow ups to my Marlins post…
@grey post 41 please
@Steven, Answered…
@Grey Looking for a late round flyer with upside (16 team H2H pts): J Parker, Skaggs, Leake, Hultzen, Milone.
Leake… Take comments to my Marlins post…
Accidentally posted this on another article, tell RJ sorry for me…
@Grey – Quick question: Why is Tommy Hanson being ranked so low this year? Wasn’t he like top 10 or 15 at his position preseason last year? Is it just injury concerns or…?
@Grey – Long question: My auction league gives the usual $260 to play with, but we can use $100 for keepers from last year. Who would you keep in this mug? We’re using the Yahoo! projected auction values, which I’ve included to make it easier. From this post, there are no players on my team that you think Yahoo is overvaluing. So far I’m thinking of keeping Prince, Kemp and Beachy and just keeping the rest of my $$ for the auction (can’t keep CarGo w/Prince and Kemp or would go over $100 limit, unless you’d keep CarGo over Prince? Same deal with Kershaw, plus I know from every article you’ve read that you think there’s too much pitching out there this year to pay for top tier guys).
My squad from el pasado ano:
Kemp – $44
CarGo – $37
Prince – $29
Pedroia – $28
Wright – $24
Victorino – $14
Ethier – $9
P’s
Kershaw – $32
T. Hanson – $11
Bumgarner – $13
Beachy – $9
Morrow – $6
Minor – $1
(not putting in closers…SAGNOF!)
Sorry to ask you to do math.
I’m thinking Prince, Kemp, Beachy ($84) or
Prince, Kemp, Wright ($97).
With the former I would have the option of adding Minor or Morrow (or both) or Bumgarner or Hanson.
Thanks froggy frog!
12 mixed 5×5 standard, keeper. i like my balance. clippard + venters = one elite SP and reed probably becomes the closer for the sox
@grey, thoughts? anyone u would drop for lorenzo cain, aaron hill? thanks
C Napoli
1B Youk
2B Kinsler
3B Longoria
SS Aybar
OF Granderson
OF Dez Jennings
OF Hamilton
UTIL Werth
UTIL Lomo
B Delmon Young
SP Jaime Garcia
SP Luebke
SP Fister
SP Scherzer
SP Bard
SP J Parker
RP Santos
RP Farnsworth
RP Frank Frank
RP Venters
RP Clippard
RP Addison Reed
@derek hollandaise, Your pitching looks like a mess and your hitting isn’t that strong for that to be the case…
Hey Grey,
I got a draft coming very soon. Would you do this trade.
Adrian Gonzalez + Felix Hernandez for Kemp and Weaver
My keepers right now are
Kemp
Votto
Cargo
Pedroia
Andrus
Weaver
5×5 (k/9 instead of k), regular positions, 14 team h2h
Thanks!
@Peoples Champ, Nope
12-team 6×6 (OBP, QS) H2H 4-player keeper league
Which draft position would you take from 5-11?
Did you answer everyone’s questions except mine?!?! Sonofabench!
Hey Grey, great stuff! Just did my first league draft and wanted to know your thoughts.
C Arencibia
1B Fielder
2B Kinsler
3B Aram
SS Rollins
MI Kendrick
CI Lind
OF Kemp
OF Cargo
OF Adam Jones
OF Jennings
OF Rasmus
Util Ike
P Cain
P Gallardo
P Wilson
P Bum
P Zim
P Morrow
P Luebke
P Motte
P Street
Bn Bourjos
Bn Dunn
Bn Cahill
Any thoughts?
@Jarred, No idesa how many teams… Take comments to my newest post…