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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 2014 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2014 White Sox Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Bill Mahoney from Can I Get A Few Minutes?.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Thu 6/12
BAL | CHC | CHW | COL | DET | HOU | KC | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PIT | SF | STL | TEX | WSH | ARI | ATH | ATL | BOS | CIN | CLE | LAA | LAD | MIA | OAK | PHI | SD | SEA | TB | TOR
Richard... Fat guy in a little coat... Fat guy in a little coat... Fantasy Baseballers... Small guy with a big bat... Small guy with a biiiiig baaaat... Here's my first ballsy projection for you guys this year: .283AVG-7HR-10SB-61R-63RBI (361OBP/.404SLG/.765OPS/.340wOBA). But let me clarify... think of him as your 2014 version of the 2013 version of Anthony Rendon. Razzball's Scott Evans tagged La Stella as the #7 prospect in the Braves' system. While he lacks notable tools (as we can see by his MiLB counting stats), he should have the biggest and best thing going his way... Opportunity, and by opportunity I mean [player]Dan Uggla[/player].
If I am correct on my predictions, the NL pennant race will be a fun one.  I see three teams with playoff potential, and a fourth that is just shy of it.  Sorry San Diego fans, this isn't your year. [Ed. Note -- JERK!]  Good news though, the Chinese calendar says it is going to be the year of the Tony Gwynn soon. [Ed. Note -- I take it back. Sorta.] (You can check out the AL West Spring Training Preview here, the AL Central Spring Training Preview here and the NL East Spring Training Preview here.)
Look at me, mom, I did it, I really did it. Wow! What a long road it's been to get here. I've finally reached the mountaintop, the pinnacle, if you will, and it wouldn't have been possible without all the love and support I've received along the way. I have so many people to thank that helped get me to this point.  Sorry, about that... I was practicing what I would use as an acceptance speech at the Oscars. You mean to tell me that was last Sunday? And I wasn't nominated for anything? Well, shizz. Maybe [player]Ryan Braun[/player] can use this for his speech when he wins another MVP award without the help of PEDs. Wait, he probably used them in 2011 when he first won the MVP? I guess it just depends who you ask. Go ask [player]Matt Kemp[/player] what he thinks, I dare you. Better yet, I double dog dare you! Au shizz, now you have to!
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 2014 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2014 Diamondbacks Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Jim McLennan from AZSnakePit.
Like the 2nd basemen to target post, this is necessary. You want to take flyers on late middle infielders. I like a few top shortstops this year: Segura, Desmond and Andrus, but if you don't get them, don't sweat it and definitely don't 'panic reach' for another shortstop just because you feel like you need one. This is a (legal-in-all-countries-except-Lichtenstein) supplement to the top 20 shortstops for 2014 fantasy baseball. The players listed have a draft rank after 200 on other sites. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2014 projections. Anyway, here’s some shortstops to target for 2014 fantasy baseball:
This is a post for the fantasy baseball drafters who use Excel, Google Docs, or some other war room software that automatically totals a drafted team's stats while in the middle of a draft.  Or perhaps for those of you who do mock drafts or simulated drafts. The below grid represents my projected 75% mark in each stat category across 10/12/14/15/16 team ESPN and Yahoo default roster format leagues. These numbers should only be used directionally.  Please note that each projection source projects to a different league average so your team may look great if using a 'bullish' source and look poor if using a 'bearish' source. Personally, I ignore team totals throughout a draft and go by feel in terms of my team's balance.  While I have had regrettable drafts over the years, I do not recall one that failed because my team was not balanced enough.  If I do happen to have the time and curiosity to do an in-draft litmus test, I just add up the dollar values per category to see which categories are lowest.
The name says it all, it's what everyone keeps asking for,  NSVH.  It sounds like a spin-off of CSI, or Law and Order.  Except with really geeky dudes who shouldn't really have an actual head-shot of themselves for use as their avatar.  We know who they are, and pointing fingers isn't polite unless it's the one that I normally get from people at the retirement home I frequent for volunteer duties.  Much love Shady Acres.  So this week we delve into the numbers game, the ones that mimic me and steal my Nutella sandwich.  These projections are highly irregular and tougher than most other stats in the pretend game.  The fluctuation of personnel by teams is mind boggling and makes me look goofy.  So in the chart below I am giving you the top-60 NSVH chaps with some pertinent stats that help all.  During the year, I'll get into more of the sustaining stats, but since we aren't there yet, I can't just make them up.  Those tendency stats that I am referring to (Inherited Runners, Inherited Runners Scored, and Appearances with Lead) are my way of determining both closer and set-up guy efficiency.  How they are used and when they are used.  So those that are looking forward to that, hooray for you.   So without further adieu, here are some projections for the top NSVH guys for this year.
I know what some of you are thinking. I can't believe it's not butter. And you people...you're absolutely right. It's part plastic and melted horse hooves combined with yellow dye #88 which causes diarrhea, loss of sight and limb loss in some consumers. It's in the fine print, yo! But then there are others of you. Those ones are thinking something else. What is this 'daily fantasy' business? Fantasy baseball is already 'daily'. How is this any different? You're astute, people who speak in italics. It's true, in many ways Daily Fantasy is nothing new with respect to the game you're used to playing, per se. Just like Coors tries to trick you into thinking they have more than one crappy product by selling you the same swill in different cans and bottles - oooh, it turns blue when it's cold? It'll still taste like deer piss, people - daily fantasy isn't that huge of a step away from the game you know, love and play. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. For now, I'm simply happy to announce we're teaming back up with Draftkings this year for 2014 Fantasy Baseball for your daily fantasy pleasure. That link you just saw? That's a portal to all the fun and it helps us out because its our referral. We're not begging you to use it but if you plan on playing this year and this is the first time you've ever signed up, why not play and help a brotha out, ya know? Two birds, one stone, which is kind of a morbid analogy when you think about it so lets not. Bee Tee Dubs, this post is gonna cover some important news later on that we're excited about so don't y'all leave before the buzzer sounds. In other words, hold onto your potatoes Docta Jones cuz we're gonna tell you all that we can about Draftkings and what it means for Razzball for 2014 Fantasy Baseball...
Japhet Amador is a giant man, standing at 6-foot-4, weighing in at 315 pounds. In the Mexican League, where he's played for the last four years, they called him El Gran Burrito. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto once remarked that Amador is welcome at the Presidential Palace anytime, as long as Amador brings his own snacks. When [player]Jose Altuve[/player] heard the Astros signed Amador, Altuve was thrilled. No more walking around for Altuve; Amador will just carry him around in a baby bjorn. I watched video of Amador and I've never seen such a slow bat through the zone. He looks like a Mexican Meat Loaf in a celebrity softball game. I swear, Amador stopped to eat one of those spicy dried mango candies halfway through his swing. His power is huge, but I'm not sure he'd gonna be able to catch up to anything. Last year in the Mexican League, he hit 36 homers and he's 27 years old. The Mexican League is supposedly comparable to Triple-A, only instead of buses for transportation, the teams pile into a Toyota Tercel. Right now, he looks pegged for Triple-A, but since the Astros have Robbie Grossman, Marc Krauss, Jesus Guzman and J.D. Martinez vying for everyday ABs, anything could happen. I'd take a flyer on Amador in AL-Only leagues, and wait and see in mixed leagues. Best case scenario, he gets the DH job and hits 25+ homers and .220. The worst case scenario, you draft Altuve and Amador accidentally sits on him. Anyway, here's what else I saw recently in spring training for 2014 fantasy baseball:

As a former radio geek that tired of the shallow money trench and the playing of “Free Bird” for the 7,432 time, I’m a fan of taking those radio hits and mashing them up beyond recognition. Take a couple of things that don’t belong together like Metallica and Stevie Wonder, throw them in the blender and you get something sad but superstitious. Please, blog, may I have some more?

There’s a reason why people get hung up on a guy like [player]Ryan Howard[/player]. Playing long ball in fantasy, of course, is a losing game. Power guys are often slobs who whiff, make errors, and fail to get on base. But you knew that already. This is kind of who Ryan Howard has always been, but when he was going good, Howard would hit for decent average and do extremely well in the slugging and OPS categories. When he started going bad, which was about four years ago, these stats began to shrivel up like Tommy Lasorda’s sack and Ryan Howard became a not-very-productive, and not-very-popular, fantasy baseball player. Gettin' nerdy with it, the stat page says he’s chased more pitches outside the strike zone in the past two seasons than at any point in his career.