For these pairings, I’m going to be using our 2013 fantasy baseball rankings. Notably, the top 20 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball, top 40 starters for 2013, top 60 starters for 2013 and the top 80 starters for 2013. You can just go to our Fantasy Baseball War Room too (due to popular demand, we'll make a downloadable Excel spreadsheet available later today). Or the fantasy baseball tiers (compliments to commenter, Drew!). Okay, now that we have our links and shizz done. What is a pitcher pairing? It’s how you plan on putting together a fantasy staff. It’s a plan of action. If you have A pitcher, which B, C and D pitcher goes with him? You should have six starters. The sixth starter is Matt Harvey or take whoever you want. I suggest an upside pick. Matt Harvey comes to mind. Or Marco Estrada. Marco Estrada also comes to mind. I’m going to assume you’re in a 12 team, 5×5 and some variation of 9 Pitchers league. BTW, if you haven't done so yet, sign up for a Razzball Commenter League (we need commissioners!). (NOTE: What you are about to read is massively confusing. If it were found scribbled in a notebook, the FBI would be watching me. If Charles Manson stood up and read this at the next prison Meet N' Greet, no one would blink an eye.) Anyway, here’s some pairings for pitching staffs for 2013 fantasy baseball drafts:
Monthly Archives: February 2013
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The majority of fantasy baseball rankings (Grey's included) are based on a 20 game position eligibility that is used by ESPN, CBSSports, and most other leagues. Yahoo fantasy baseball, however, uses the threshold of 5 games started or 10 games total at a position. If Yahoo was any more liberal in appointing positions, Ulysses S. Grant might rise from the grave and claim copyright infringement.
Hehe, I said tool. Okay, with help of a very talented programmer and an occasional commenter, Jamil, we've turned this year's War Room inside out and ripped off the tag. Our 2013 Fantasy Baseball War Room is one part draft tool, one part fantasy team evaluator, one part fantasy junkie's s's and g's tool, one part holy, two parts smokes, three parts... How many parts is that so far? Cause it's only really seven parts total. I think there's one part kill-your-day-with-this-war-room-thing-a-maboob in there too. I don't know, guys and four girls, I think it's pretty cool and I only get excited about things once every three full moons or once every time I see the t-shirt with three moons and a wolf. For reals, it might be the best thing since sliced bread. Now sliced bread that is toasted and buttered is another story entirely. This shizz is so insane, we named it after Andre 3000. Shake it like a Fantasy Baseball War Room, shake it!
2013 Royals Fantasy Baseball Preview
February 11, 2013 | Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 14 Commentsby: Sky
We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2013 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2013 Royals Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy Michael Engel from Kings of Kauffman.
Valentine's Day is coming early this year! For a limited time only, get your loved one a fantasy baseball league! That’s right, your hearts go pitter-patter or you're dead on the inside (my condolences). Since back in June when you abandoned your fantasy baseball team because it was totally sucking and you returned to your cubbyhole of leftover Chinese food and Teddy Grahams, you’ve longed for this day. As Bob Marley sang, this is your redemption song, mon. Or womon, for our four girl readers. It’s time again to join some fantasy baseball leagues. Before you close all of your extraneous porn windows and rush to sign up, let’s explain how these fantasy baseball leagues are going to work. We’re going to have a bunch of leagues and crown a winner from each, then we’re going to crown ONE winner from all of the winners. We will be crowning the winner by taking each team’s points and multiplying it against a ‘league competitiveness factor.’ If you want to see how it worked last year, go here. So we’re going to fill up as many fantasy leagues as we can for the next couple of weeks. Each fantasy baseball league will be a mixed league, 12 team, snake draft, roto, 5×5, 5 OFs, one Middle Infielder, one Corner Infielder, one Utility, 9 pitchers, 20 game eligibility, 180 Games Started max, 1000 IP minimum. The lineup is also known as: C/1B/2B/SS/3B/CI/MI/5 OF/UTIL/9 P/3 BENCH/1 DL. The fantasy leagues will be played in ESPN and they will be free to join.
We’re going to start with twenty-one leagues of 12 and see how we do from there. To join a league...
2013 Minor League Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates
February 10, 2013 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 35 Commentsby: Scott Evans
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2012 (13) | 2011 (19) | 2010 (15) | 2009 (18) | 2008 (26)
2012 Affiliate Records
MLB: [79-83] NL Central
AAA: [89-55] International League – Indianapolis
AA: [72-70] Eastern League – Altoona
A+: [60-77] Florida State League – Bradenton
A: [61-79] South Atlantic League – West Virginia
A(ss): [35-41] New York-Penn League — State College (Jamestown beginning 2013)
Arizona Fall League Players — Scottsdale Scorpions
Vic Black (RHP); Brandon Cumpton (RHP); Tyler Waldron (RHP); Matt Curry (1B); Gift Ngoepe (SS); Adalberto Santos (OF)
Graduated Prospects
Starling Marte (OF); Yamaico Navarro (INF); Jared Hughes (RHP); Jeff Locke (LHP)
The Run Down
There are systems out there that have more quality depth than Pittsburgh in the starting pitching department, but no other club boasts a one-two pitching punch that can match Pirates'. Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon are future front-line starters and they'll both be knocking on the big league door this season. Pirates fans have lots to look forward to, as Cole and Taillon prepare to surface in the bigs alongside a solid and youthful core of offensive talent that includes Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Starling Marte, and Pedro Alvarez. Given what they currently have and what's set to arrive, it's difficult to imagine this Pittsburgh team not contending for a NL Central division title within the next few years, but with the Reds and Cardinals set for long-term success, and the Cubs creeping back toward relevance, the competition will be supreme. But regardless of whether or not they're playing postseason baseball in Pittsburgh, the Pirates organization figures to continue its recent trend of helping us fantasy owners.
Does Curtis Granderson Have Teixeira Syndrome?
February 9, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft, OPS Leagues | 23 Commentsby: Tom Jacks
It’s time to start looking ahead to the 2013 fantasy baseball season. With that in mind, this column will hope to shine a light on players who are noticeably affected by OPS:
Looking for a great fantasy baseball draft kit to help you draft your fantasy baseball team in 2013? Good, because otherwise you are the worst web surfer in the world. (Did I search for fantasy baseball rankings? Damn, I meant chicken cordon bleu recipe.)
The Razzball 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit is free for the first 999,999 visitors. The millionth visitor will receive an oversized check for $100,000 with their name in big letters (it won't have our names or signatures on it though). Everyone after that will also get a free fantasy baseball draft kit.
Top 400 for 2013 Fantasy Baseball
February 8, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 331 Commentsby: Grey
Finally, we come to the end of the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings. (Can we start games already?) A little birdie told me we’re opening up our commenter fantasy leagues on Monday. Then the little birdie pooped on my shoulder and I thought it was blue cheese and I put it on a cracker and-- Wait, where was I? Okay, you know that I like Brett Gardner more than Carlos Gomez in the top 60 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. You know I like Alcides Escobar less than Erick Aybar as seen at the top 20 shortstops for 2012 fantasy baseball, but you don’t know how I feel about where these guys fall in the bigger picture. Is Aybar above Gardner? So to show you where I think players fall in relation to each other in 2013 fantasy baseball drafts, I’m putting together a top 400 for 2013 fantasy baseball. This still needs to be taken with a grain of salt. If you have a shortstop already and Aybar is still on the board in the 17th round, you don’t draft him if you see Carlos Gomez and you need an outfielder, even though Gomez is below Aybar on this list. So I might take someone at 200 over someone at 180? Yes, every draft is different. With the top 10, there’s almost no latitude. With the top 100, there’s a decent amount of latitude. With a top 400, there’s lots of latitude. You taking someone at 185 is more or less the same as someone else taking someone at 235. So if you see someone who’s ranked at 250th, but want them at 200, then do what you do. Because of the length of the top 400, there’s no pithy comments with each name, but you kinda do need to know what I’m thinking for each name, so I advise you go over each position in the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings. The top 100 and top 400 is what I would have at my drafts, along with the Point Shares and the top 20 rankings posts. Along with the Fantasy Baseball War Room if I was drafting online (which is hopefully ready on Tuesday). This top 400 for 2013 fantasy baseball will live under that link that also has the 2013 Steamer projections. Finally, see our list of all players with multiple position eligibility. Anyway, here’s the top 400 for 2013 fantasy baseball:
You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, Part 2
February 7, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Closers | 10 Commentsby: Smokey
As you read in the title, this is the second installment of the bullpen check-up. Today we look at the American League. (The National League middle relievers post is there, and Grey's Closer Look.) The options seem to be less as compared to the NL, but quality is still abundant. So enjoy my targets for Holds in the American league. As per the NL post the Peeping Tom's are guys that you want to watch from a far, but don't get caught looking too long because it's the clinker for you or in actuality a miss on the waiver wire.
Top 100 for 2013 Fantasy Baseball
February 7, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 252 Commentsby: Grey
With the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings for every position done, we turn our lazy eye towards the top 100 for 2013 fantasy baseball. These 2013 fantasy baseball rankings are one part fresh and two parts to death. They own a cat, a dog and a lizard in a two bedroom apartment where pets aren’t allowed. Know why? Cause they don’t care! None of this top 100 for 2013 fantasy baseball is meant to surprise. *jumping out of a closet* Boo! Now, that was meant to surprise. This top 100 is just taking my positional rankings and putting guys in The Big Picture. You really should read each ranking post because the blurbs in this top 100 are on the skimpy side because there’s so many of them, and I went over each one of these guys already. Obviously at a hundred players, some guys just didn’t make it. About 300, to be inexact. It’s okay, there will be a top 400 tomorrow. Shortly, Sloth, you’ll have your Baby Ruth. Not to get all biblical on you, but this is the gospel. Print it out and take it to Mt. Sinai and it will say, “Win your 2013 fantasy baseball league, young prematurely balding man.” Projections were done by me and a crack team of 100 monkeys fighting amongst themselves because there were only 99 typewriters. Somebody please buy Ling-Ling his own typewriter! To help with your drafting, there’s also a list of players with multiple position eligibility, and all of the 2013 fantasy baseball projections. Anyway, here’s the top 100 for 2013 fantasy baseball:
Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2013
February 6, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 110 Commentsby: Scott Evans
A quick primer to begin: This is not a list of my top overall prospects -- Shelby Miller would not lead that list. No, this list exists only to serve those of us in fantasyland. The names that follow are, at this moment, the prospects who have the best chance at offering positive contributions for fantasy owners in 2013. My method here was quite simple: each player was assigned a grade for both potential fantasy impact, and for current opportunity. Those variables were weighed equally, totals were then tallied, and finally, I sorted out the ties and adjusted here and there as I saw fit. Opportunity grades are always tough. At this point in the year, circumstances can shift overnight and a prospect's ETA can change dramatically (see Miller). My plan is to revisit this list before opening day, and also to keep a running Top Ten Fantasy Prospects throughout the year in order to keep us posted at any given moment as to which fantasy-relevant prospects are next to arrive in the bigs. In any case, this list should suffice for those of us drafting early.
