Monthly Archives: March 2014
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It's back to business as usual with the SAGNOF column after an offseason on Team Preview Island. It was awesome. T. Moore [Ed. Note-- Cheater!] and I sipped little umbrella drinks on the beach while we chatted MLB teams. Before we get to this week's SAGNOF players, I'm afraid I will have to link bomb you, so heads up.
First, if you're new here, check out this blast from the past. That's not a YouTube link, I swear. Here's the 2013 stolen base data for the best and worst catchers to run against. Here's the SB Rates vs. SP tool. That's a great tool for us speed freaks that Rudy came up with. I'll be referring to it in these posts as the season progresses. Finally, there's a new steals archive page that will house all of these posts. You can also use it to thumb through some of the offseason articles. There, that wasn't so bad. Moving forward, it's time for Week 1. This week's list includes a young man named [player]Abraham Almonte[/player] of the Seattle Mariners, who might be Lloyd McClendon's new favorite toy...
Greetings and salutations my fine and not so fine readers. I've peppered you a bit this off-season with Draftkings info, dropping a Primer as well as a little Strategy Guide to wind your way through the @Draftkings world. What's the first link, you ask? Oh nothing, just a way to sign-up for DK (that's what I call Draftkings cuz we're friends like that) that helps us along the way which if you're reading gives you a guilt-laden excuse to sign up and help a brotha out. Alright, now that the pimping is done, let's get down to why you've arrived here. Wait, what was that? You want more links you say? Well how about a big 'ole Razzball Draftkings Contest one for this coming Friday. Check the specs and see if it's up your alley. Also, though we'll eventually have our very own DK evaluation tool, in the interim, feel free to use our Streamonator and our Hitter-Tron to flesh out if a matchup is worthy or not. And BTW, I wasn't just punning on DK's name in the title, y'all. I have a player in mind to kick out the jams with on opening day. That players name is King [player]Felix Hernandez[/player]. Plus anytime you can squeeze in a Mel Brooks reference? You do it. The reality is, you're gonna be hard-pressed to find pitcher value plays. It's opening day, everyone has their ace on the mound! Besides, as I mentioned in some of the off-season DK content, spending your money on pitching is a wise play. Don't fight it, embrace it even if it costs you $11K. Also as an FYI, this will probably, maybe be the longest post of the year you see on here. As I'm sure you can understand, I had a little time before it came out. So don't hold me to diatribes of this nature in the future nor the other six writers we have coming at you soon. Ya dig? Yeah, ya dig. And before we get to the next part of this little game, let's keep one thing in mind: it's opening day of a new season. No one knows which team will suck or not. We have our guesses but everything is predicated on a season that is behind us now. Like Rafael Furcal says to himself in the mirror in March each year, 'I feel fresh and ready to start the season. Nothing can hold me back!' before he trips on a doggy chew toy and breaks a fibula. Wait, can you break a fibula? I honestly don't know, I'm no doctor except when on particular 'adult' sets. All this to say, it might be messy to start the year, I'd stick with trusted arms and play matchups on hitting as best I can until some small trends start emerging. Also, you're reading this at 9:45 PST. Seem like an odd time? Well, get used to it cuz that's when you're gonna be getting these. So work on your clicking speed and get your lineups right before everything goes horribly wrong. Alright, blathering done, now lets get you lathered up about opening day with Draftkings for 2014 Fantasy Baseball...
Opening Day — Step Back In Priority Queue, Loved Ones
March 31, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 699 Commentsby: Grey
One of the questions from Bernard Pivot by way of James Lipton is, "If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say at the pearly gates?" That's easy, "Play ball!" Today, butterflies fly north for the summer, birds and bees have sex to John Fogerty's Centerfield, and Carlos Quentin is already injured. *slowly smells in a flower* Ahh...Shin-Soo Choo! Stupid allergies. With spring in the air and baseballs in mitts, we're back in the swing of things. Literally. Sadly, it's not all good news. With Opening Day comes the news that [player]Clayton Kershaw[/player] is starting the year on the DL. Aw, that makes me so sad. Wait, that's not sadness, that's happiness. Darn, my emotion detector needs recalibration. My first Sell of the year doesn't look so bad right now. I feel like Ace Ventura right after he shows up all the other cops. Yes, I have exorcised the demons! The Dodgers are saying it was precautionary and Kershaw will be back shortly. If you own him, I wouldn't sell him for fifty cents on the dollar. I'd take out my rosary beads and pray to the Patron Saint of Baseball, Ryan Church. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Jam it or Cram it: Opening Day in the Razzball Lounge
March 30, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell, Sleepers | 95 Commentsby: The Guru
As the seminal prog band Emerson, Lake and Laura Palmer once sang: “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.” (The song went on for 45 minutes before 'Yes' came out and kicked their ass.) Opening day is here and the Razzball Lounge is open for bid'ness. Have a seat, grab a cold one and a pickled egg, and don’t get hypnotized by my bedazzled turban my fantasy freaks. Here in the lounge we dedicated, often celebrated, and usually acquitted (we have a great legal team) Razzballin’ scribes gather every opening day to bicker and banter, indulge and imbibe and moan and marvel at our fantasy teams and Grey’s magnificent ‘stache. On this last lazy Sunday (before things get serious) we find Sky in a dark corner slowing rocking back and forth muttering his mantra of “Tulo, Tanaka, Trumbo” over and over. Bellying up to the bar is podcasting paladin Nick Capozzi, clad only in his Expos throwback demanding another Labatts, showing off pics of his rolling Razzball ride and asking no one in particular, “Get your 32in32in32 tickets yet, eh?” Dropping quarters in the jukebox we find Jay Wrong demonstrating his “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” interpretative dance – “Will you love me forever?” *bottle smashes above head* Stumbling out of the ladies room is the one and only Tehol Beddict casually zipping up his skinny jeans and introducing his new lady friend, “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to my cousin. Ain’t she pretty?” And here at the pool table is your humble-but-nonetheless handsome Guru putting the finishing touches on my 27 rosters. *closes eye, takes aim, sinks eight ball off two rails, drops shot glass into pint, downs boilermaker, lights cigar, sets turban on fire* With the drinks starting to flow let’s run though the jams and crams at each position for Week 1 of the 2014 fantasy baseball season. We’re not talking Miggy, Trout or Goldy here, we’re looking at players owned in less than 50% of most leagues that could help grab you an early lead on your way to fantasy glory. Good luck this season, it’s time to jam it or cram it.
Creeper of the Week: Homer and Dunn-ie
March 30, 2014 | Creeper of the Week | 105 Commentsby: J-FOH
When Grey asked me if I wanted to be the creeper of the week, I thought I was being scolded for inappropriate behavior in the comments section. What a relief it was when I found out I would get to write for the readers on a weekly basis talking about Creepers. After doing some research, I've found out that to be a good creeper you need a good pair of binoculars, a really nice van, and a list....lipstick optional. Unfortunately I didn't need the binoculars or the van to write this article, but I'll keep them anyway. Though the list has been valuable and the lipstick is quite empowering, I think it it's time to get this party started. I started with a list and whittled it down and realized there were too many young guys people have taken flyers on. But what I did see was a lot of veteran streaky hot schomatato types. As I sat here digging through the piles of the unwanted to find that one guy that should be available in most 12-team leagues and usable in terms of SAGNOF, HR's, great park/matchups, I came across a name we all know and love to hate.....[player]Adam Dunn[/player] (14.3% owned).
Prospect ETA’s: Some Unnecessarily Specific Predictions
March 30, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 137 Commentsby: Scott Evans
The prospect ETA game is a tough one to gauge. With injuries, uncertain Super Two dates, and varying front office opinions with regard to "readiness", there are simply too many variables involved that are impossible to predict for. When commenters task me with an ETA question, my answer is a guess, and I'm almost always way off. Yet, people keep asking. So, in an effort to put your impatient minds at ease, today we'll be running though some notable ETA's, and I'm going to get specific with my guesses. If my usual vague "mid-season-ish" response is crap anyway, then why not pin these down to the day and spice things up? Here we go:
Two-Startapalooza — Week 1
March 29, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 79 Commentsby: Pete Nice
As always, probable pitchers are subject to change. For a look at all fantasy baseball streamers, click that link.
As esteemed Creed frontman Scott Stapp once sang: "Let’s play ball, it’s game day. We want strikeouts, base hits, duhbull plays."
We should be havin’ a party, ya’ll. It’s the year's first Two-Startapalooza!!
But yet something feels missing. With Clayton Kershaw out, it’s like Hendrix didn’t make it to Monterey Pop. With Yu Darvish out, it’s like Pearl Jam skipped Lollapalooza ’92. With Patrick Corbin gone for the year, it’s like, well, it’s like the Spin Doctors skipped Woodstock ’94. You get the idea.
Plenty of great double-dippers this week, though, so let’s get to it.
Scott White from CBS hosted this AL-Only draft that started at 10 AM PST, but started around 1 PM PST for me because I refused to draft anyone for the price they were going. Instead of drafting, I watched my favorite cooking show, Celebrity Chef Mr. Hamiham. He's the only one I know that makes a sandwich like my Eastern European nanny, Viktoria. Everyone that knows anything about sandwich preparation knows there's no sandwich before adding the white cabbage. Rudy was in Tampa (slogan: We're no San Diego, but just as classy), so I went it alone with this draft. All the mistakes (none!) and acclaim (some!) can fall fully on my shoulders. I drafted this on February 18th, so don't say so-and-so may not make the rotation/lineup/team or is now injured, why did you draft him? I drafted him because at the time it seemed like a smart move. Okay, okay, at no point does it seem like a smart move to draft Kurt Suzuki. Point taken. It's a 12-team AL-Only league and I drafted using that thing I linked to under the link-ma-whosie -- seamless linking! Anyway, here's my 2014 fantasy baseball AL-Only team:
Greenies, ‘Roids, Spitters, And Joy Juice, Part III
March 29, 2014 | Y to Z | 45 Commentsby: Paulie Allnuts
Part One of this series can be found here. This is Part Two of this this series can be found here. This is Part Threee of a three-part series.
The year was 1962. The place - the Carlyle Hotel in New York City. A man, in his early 40’s, was observed prancing around the corridors of the Carlyle, tearing off his clothing, The individual’s bodyguards found his antics quite amusing at first, until he began making bizarre paranoid rants, spouted nonsense that was obviously delusional in nature, and apparently was in a psychotic, delusional State. This individual was suffering the effects of an overdose of methamphetamines.
His name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, at that time the President of the United States.
The POTUS, unbeknownst to him, was a meth addict.
The Buy/Sell column is back after a long winter break and ready to do this thing better than ever! Let's hear directly from it. Buy/Sell, "Why are you putting such pressure on me? Better than ever? How about 'ready to do this hungover' because it was in Panama City for the last week with James Franco, yelling, 'Spring...Break...Spring...Break...' is friggin exhausting! And haunting. I need a nap." [player]Kolten Wong[/player] was named the starting 2nd baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League Baseball Association, and nary a 'cracker was lit. Upon his call-up last year, Wong was more wrong than right, but less riiiiiiiight than wrong if you're sarcastic. He didn't get enough playing time. [player]David Freese[/player] kept playing more often than not and [player]Matt Carpenter[/player] didn't move over to third nearly enough. Even after [player]Allen Craig[/player] was hurt, Fatt Adams filled in and Wong sat on the bench. Thankfully, the Cardinals finally moved on from Freese. The Freese has been thawed! What? No good? The Cards froze out that Freese! Still nothing? Now that Kolten Wong gets a full time job, he'll immediately be mixed league relevant and around a top fifteen option with a chance for more. He's a clone of Pedroia and not because they both need their tippy-toes to get the sugar from on top of the fridge. Wong can hit 15 homers and steal 20 bases with a solid average. Will he or Wongn't he? No idea, but definitely worth owning in every mixed league. Anyway, here's some more players to buy and sell this week in fantasy baseball:
As you probably know, I not only write these fantastic points leagues posts for all of you, but I also cover dynasty leagues for the football side of the site as well. Yep, I can do it all. In fact, I spent some time doing a fantasy football AMA over on Reddit the other day (which was a ton of fun). Although I'm sure y'all are well aware of it because you read it. Ya see what I did there? Nice little play on words. Yeah, no big deal... Go back re-read it in case you missed it... Anyway, the point is -- I swing both ways (no, not that way). Another way to describe it might be to call me versatile, being able to flip back and forth between the two sports seamlessly. That's not to say I'm great at any of it. Even though I probably am. I mean, come on! All that said, in fantasy baseball, having players that are versatile can potentially be the difference between winning and, well, not winning. If you don't like to win, you should probably stop reading right now... Still here? Good. What I'm getting at here is that versatility gives you very valuable lineup flexibility.
