Sex sells. Just turn on your t.v. and tune into any non-Disney/PBS/kid-friendly channel for a few minutes and you'll see what I mean. Beer commercials, video game ads, movie trailers. You're bound to catch a glimpse of Kate Upton or one of the Victoria Secret models flaunting her assets at some point. But what does sex have to do with baseball, and fantasy in particular? Good question.
The answer is power. Power is sexy. Power bats and power arms. Giancarlo Stanton just received $325 million from an owner who still clips coupons out of the Sunday newspaper every week. Felipe Paulino might be the chick at the bar with the butterface and the muffin top, but the D-cups keep teams coming back for more (though they're probably more like B-cups stuffed with socks these days). What's Joel Zumaya up to these days anyway? His right arm might be held together by chewing gum and duct tape, but I bet some team would offer him a minor league deal if he somehow managed to flash a plus fastball in a throwing session. That brings me to Danny Salazar.
Monthly Archives: January 2015
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Top 60 Starters for 2015 Fantasy Baseball
January 30, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 300 Commentsby: Grey
Today, it's time for the top 60 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball, but, first, let's jump in the world's worst time machine and go back to this past Tuesday morning when Rudy released the Steamer Hitter/Pitcher projections along with the fantasy auction values for every conceivable league. If you go to the ESPN 12 team auction values (or any page from the menu on that auction value page), you'll see little boxes above each column. Go to the POS box and type in SP. Frank Voila! Now it's just listing pitchers (you can sort for whatever you want in the top boxes). Now click on the $/G box. It should turn black. You are now sorting by the dollars expected to earn per game for starters. If you click on the $K column, you are now sorting by who is expected to rack up the most Ks. So on and so forth. All of my 2015 fantasy baseball rankings are there. As always, my tiers and projections are included. Anyway, here's the top 60 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball:
BABIP: Regression Is Now In Session
January 29, 2015 | 2015 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 68 Commentsby: Sky
With rankings season upon us and which is soon followed by draft season and then the real season which is actually our fake season, there are two things to take note of. One, it's 'upon' us and not 'up on' us. The first one means 'I'm snooty' the second one means 'I still use 90's hip hop slang when referring to coitus'. Sadly, both could describe me. But since we're not here to talk about knocking boots, let's take note of the second note: BABIP can change the scope of how we view a player for the better or for the worse. Since BABIP is such a combination of things - player speed, hitting style, plain old luck, etc - it's good to take a peak at some of those who topped the 2014 season and whether or not we can expect the trend to last. One thing of note: I'm looking at players with a minimum of 350 plate appearances. Why 350 PA you ask? Because I started at 200 and worked my way up until I couldn't see Justin Turner's name near the top. Sound, scientific reasoning if you ask me. With that, let's get down to business. Here's me breaking down a few players that seem primed for a BABIP regression for the 2015 fantasy baseball season...
Top 40 Starters for 2015 Fantasy Baseball
January 29, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 388 Commentsby: Grey
Yesterday, we went over the top 20 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball and today it's the top 40 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball. This is one of my favorite ranking posts because I usually end up with two starters from these twenty. They are the low end number one starters. To quote Lil Jon at his fantasy baseball draft, "Get low end number ones! To the Carrasco, to the Wheeler! Til Wood drop his base on balls! Til all these pitchers fall!" Is it weird I have a man crush on Lil Jon? He seems like he'd be a constant source of entertainment if you hung out with him on the day-to-day. Also, besides the low end number ones, there's number twos and high end number threes. These are going to be your fantasy staff linchpins. So, all the 2015 fantasy baseball rankings are right in there. As with all other ranking posts, my projections and tiers are included. Anyway, here's the top 40 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball:
2015 Minor League Preview: Toronto Blue Jays
January 28, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 55 Commentsby: Mike
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2014 (15) | 2013 (22) | 2012 (5) | 2011 (4) | 2010 (19)
2014 Affiliate Records
MLB: [83-79] AL East
AAA: [77-66] International League - Buffalo
AA: [66-76] Eastern League - New Hampshire
A+: [77-61] Florida State League - Dunedin
A: [62-77] Midwest League - Lansing
A(ss): [46-30] Northwest League - Vancouver
Graduated Prospects
Marcus Stroman, RHP | Kevin Pilllar, OF | Ryan Goins, 2B
The Gist
Toronto saw the rise of both Marcus Stroman and Dalton Pompey in 2014, and both are going to be factors in 2015 fantasy leagues. In addition to Stroman, the Jays have two stud pitching prospects on the farm in Daniel Norris and Aaron Sanchez. Both have already seen time in the major leagues and should be on the radar for 2015 as well. This was a fun system to write up, since it has intriguing fantasy prospects from top to bottom. The major league club got a big boost when it acquired Josh Donaldson from the Athletics for three prospects, including shortstop Franklin Barreto. Barreto would have been an easy top five in this system, but Donaldson should be a fantasy beast in that lineup at the Rogers Centre.
Top 20 Starters for 2015 Fantasy Baseball
January 28, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 439 Commentsby: Grey
The royal we already went over all the hitters for 2015 fantasy baseball rankings. That’s not the “royal we” as that term usually implies. It was me writing it alone while wearing a Burger King crown. I refuse to draft a top starter where they are usually drafted. Unlike hitters, you need six starters, depending on your league depth. Simple math tells us there’s plenty of starters to go around. Simple Math, “Stop putting words in my mouth!” In most leagues, there’s a ton of guys on waivers that can help you — all year. Not just in April, and then they disappear. With the help of the Stream-o-Nator, you can get by with, say, three starters while streaming the rest. To read more about streaming as a draft strategy. There’s also the fact that three stats by starters are difficult to predict due to luck. Wins, ERA and WHIP are prone to shift due to which way the ball bounces and whether or not the guys behind the pitchers can score runs. Finally, the best starters can give you four categories. The best hitters can give you five categories. As always, where I see tiers starting and stopping are included and my projections. Anyway, here’s the top 20 starters for 2015 fantasy baseball:
Razzball 2015 Projections & Fantasy Baseball Auction Values Now Available
January 27, 2015 | Player Raters | 73 Commentsby: Rudy Gamble
The version 1 of our 2015 Steamer MLB hitter and pitcher projections are now available. As with last year, we project our own playing time (Games and Plate Appearances/At Bats for hitters, Games/Games Started/Innings Pitched for pitchers) as well as Saves, Holds, and Quality Starts. These projections will be updated regularly throughout the preseason in concert with playing time shifts driven by MLB depth chart changes or trades/signings. The links are below - you can access via 'Stats' in the top menu.
Grey's projections will be available soon.
Fantasy baseball auction values are also available (accessible via Player Rater/2015 Pre-Season Player Rater in the top menu). We have two notable enhancements:
- We have added a $ per Game metric that estimates the dollar value of a hitter/pitcher based on their projected average game. Thus, if you have a different assessment than me on a player's expected playing time, you can more easily adjust the player's value. Projected PA and IP have been added to the Auction Value tables for handy reference.
- The Team field is now hyperlinked to a Team page specially designed for fantasy baseball usage. Each team page includes useful links (e.g, depth charts), an MLB news feed, projections, and previous year stats. Click here to see the Chicago Cubs page.
Top 100 Outfielders for 2015 Fantasy Baseball
January 27, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 225 Commentsby: Grey
Wanna know how dedicated I am to you? I have your name tattooed on my tramp stamp area. Yeah, your name. Wanna know how else I'm dedicated to you? I flipped guys in and out of this post, moved a few to the top 80 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball, moved some more to the top 60 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball, didn't move any into the top 40 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball, but considered it and made sure everyone was ranked to the best of my ability in this post. You're thinking, "I'd hope you're making sure your rankings in this post are correct, these are you rankings after all." True, You. But, honestly, most of the guys in the second half of this post are irrelevant outside of deeper leagues. It's simple math. If you're in a 12-team league with five outfielders, 60 outfielders are drafted, then twenty more guys are drafted that have multi-position eligibility, another ten for utility slots or for some schmohawks that draft a bench outfielder and, add up all of that, and it equals Frank Ocean. Okay, the math is off there. It should've equaled, "About 90 outfielders drafted." And everyone knows the fifth outfielder drafted doesn't last long on your team. Sure, maybe Josh Hamilton bounces back (doubtful), or maybe Carl Crawford becomes the latest Zombino (more doubtful), but in most mixed leagues these guys aren't even being drafted. In one mock draft I did for a magazine (they still make these? Where do you buy them?), Josh Reddick wasn't even drafted and he's ranked higher than all the guys here. Never the hoo! All the 2015 fantasy baseball rankings are under that linkie-ma-whosie. Anyway, here's the top 100 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball:
So, here's all that's happened since I began the Fantasy Aftermath: Top June Pitchers write up and the July write up. I worked, I tweeted, I played Daily Fantasy Football and made the Fantasy Football playoffs in seven of my eight seasonal leagues, I wrote weeks worth of Daily Fantasy Football for @Jaywrong (he's such a slave driver), I grew a beard, and I repped Razzball for a Fantasy Baseball mock draft. Oh and I completed Top April and Top May pitchers prior to that. This is the off-season!?! But more to the point, I don't remember what the hell we were talking about. Fantasy pitchers from the 2014 year? That's so 2014! PS, that's only funny if you're reading it in 2015. Knowing Grey he's gonna be a jerk and post this on New Year's Eve just to kill the humor. So let's not waste our time being funny, let's get to the facts. Here's the top July pitchers from the 2014 Fantasy Baseball season...
Top 80 Outfielders for 2015 Fantasy Baseball
January 26, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 269 Commentsby: Grey
Today we go over the top 80 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball, which comes after we went over the top 60 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball, which came after the top 40 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball which followed the top 20 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball. Link dump! Tomorrow we hit the final 100 best outfielders, then on to the top 100 starters. It’s the best day of your life because I’m bestowing on you wonderful like your father never did. Don’t ask me to go see you play Little League though, that’s not happening. As always, my tiers and projections are noted and all of the 2015 fantasy baseball rankings are there. Where? There. Dur. Anyway, here's the top 80 outfielders for 2015 fantasy baseball:
I Will Wear Your Golden Sombrero, Señor Baez
January 25, 2015 | fantasy baseball keepers | 114 Commentsby: Mike
I'm concerned, you're concerned. We all have concerns. This is a post concerning Javier Baez and our concerns. More specifically, this is about how concerned we should be if we own him in keeper or dynasty formats. If you're looking for just the 2015 value Baez brings to the table, check out Grey's Top 20 2nd basemen. Honestly, if you're not reading all of his rankings you're doing it wrong. In recent Cubs news, general manager Jed Hoyer came out and said that while Baez is still projected to be the starting second baseman, he'll "have to earn it" and "make more contact to stay in the big leagues." Cue air-raid sirens and flashing red lights. The sky is falling but I'm just sittin' here sippin' on some tea. Let me explain why I'm still in on Javier Baez in keeper formats despite the nasty strikeout numbers and recent questions over playing time.
They say talent trumps experience. That said, they also say persistence trumps talent. They also say persistence pays off. Sorry y'all, got lost reading motivational posters it seems. But that's what happens when you are trying to get people excited about Josmil Pinto for the 2015 Fantasy Baseball season. Believe me, I know it's a bumpy road. I mean, haven't we been down it before? The Twins organization has been a confounding crew, turning 5 year aged Malbec into two buck chuck (now probably three buck chuck...curse you, inflation!) for what feels like a long time. I mean, name the last Twins hitter you were actually excited to own? Chuck Knoublauch? And how have I made two references to 'chuck' in an opening paragraph and it's not even about the same type of chuck? Weird times. All this to say, Josmil could be on the cusp of greatness...or getting traded...or being completely forgotten. Man I love those three true outcome guys! If you're curious why I say these things, read on. Here's my red hot take on why Pinto could be an exciting get as a second catcher in deep league settings for 2015 Fantasy Baseball...
