The Most Under-Drafted Player of the Last Five Years

July 8, 2015 | 2015 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 32 Comments

Last week Grey had the great idea to put my ADP treasure trove of data to good use, and ask people which player they thought has been the most under-drafted over the past five years (2010-14). Who put up good numbers year after year and still was not given the benefit of the doubt? We got lots of guesses, but only one person got the right answer. Who is this person and which player did they guess? Scroll down to go straight to the destination, or you can first relive some of the journey that got me to the answer...

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DraftKings: Random All-Stars

July 8, 2015 | DraftKings | 1 Comment

by: jasonwalker

Growing up, I, like many of my friends, held the All-Star Game to be a true collection of the best baseball players in the game. We'd watch Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench and the National League beat up on Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue and the American League year after year. But even then, and as time has moved on, there have been some head scratching choices as All-Stars along the way. Some of it can be pinned on the rule that each team has to have an All-Star, lending to some interesting choices. But some, like Alfredo Griffin, who was named to the 1984 American League squad simply because he came with actual All-Star Damaso Garcia and the AL needed some when Alan Trammell got hurt, didn't belong and years later, it still looks odd. There has been Chris Brown, Mike Sharperson, Jay Howell, Ron Coomer, Cesar Izturis and a host of so-so relievers since the age of the relief pitcher in the All-Star game has taken full bloom. Even with all that mediocrity in the AS game, it still surprises me to see names I am fairly sure will stand out years from now that have now been minted All-Star. One of those is D.J. Lemahieu. Lemahieu is nothing special as an offensive player. He has a decent contact rate, average walk rate, good speed. He's a good fielder at second base this season, too. But nothing about Lemahieu says All-Star, except the offense in which he plays. But little of that matters in daily fantasy. LeMahieu can be as basic as a game of tic-tac-toe, but if he's batting second, which he has often this season, and the game is at Coors Field, Mr. Average can be rostered with confidence that he'll be putting that decent contact rate and speed to good use. For you. So enjoy the All-Star game, D.J., what do I care? As long as you keep on delivering in DFS. New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 25 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

Johnny Red Too Stiff For Nats

July 8, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 534 Comments

by: Grey

Does this happen to people? You're working on something, and listening to certain tunes and that informs the way you go about your work. I've never had a real job in my life, so I don't know how this works for those. Does a toll collecting juggalo listen to Insane Clown Posse while working and violently throw change back at drivers? Is this why a building's roof caves in because the construction crew was listening to Because I Got High by Afroman? Or if you were to suddenly change a hitter's walk-up music from say Next Episode by Dr. Dre (which seems to be at least one hitter's song on every team) to The Pina Colada Song would that change everything? I don't know, but I'm a deep thinker, and I saw Johnny Cueto's start yesterday and thought he had to be listening to the Silver Jews, specifically this one section, because that gets me so jacked I could jackhammer a driveway with my foot. I took a hammer to it all! *banging foot on cement* Right?! Okay, maybe it's me. That's why we're having this one-sided conversation, to better understand each other. Yesterday, Cueto threw a farkin sparkler -- a farkler, if you will -- 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA down to 2.61. Cueto's the bomb dot gov. He's almost exactly in line with what he was doing last year when he had a 2.25 ERA in 243 2/3 IP. And, if anything, he's actually pitching better this year, lowering his walk rate from 2.4 to 1.7. For whatever reason, he seems to stay out of the conversation for the best pitchers in the major leagues, but yesterday he took on Max Scherzer (4 2/3 IP, 5 ER) and took a hammer to it all. A hammer to it all! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

One Man’s Trash: Hail Cesar!

July 7, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 43 Comments

by: Big Magoo

Move over Billy Hamilton - there's a new king of SAGNOF in town! Well, maybe not, but Cesar Hernandez (+49%) has been on some kind of roll in recent weeks. Over the last 30 days, the 25-year-old Hernandez has stolen more bases (10) than any MLB player outside of Hamilton, and his .376 batting average ranks 3rd in MLB over that time frame. Sure, his .471 BABIP over the last month is wildly unsustainable for any player, but his MLB-leading 35.5% LD% and 5 bunt hits over that stretch suggest that a BABIP in the .340 range is a reasonable expectation over the remainder of the season, even when factoring in some inevitable regression across the board. His 11.4% BB% and 15.8% K% this season are both well above league average, and his 6.8% Swstr% is sandwiched right in between Dee Gordon and Brett Gardner on the season. Not too shabby. Worried about playing time moving forward? Chase Utley is still hurt and produced a .179/.257/.275 triple slash line prior to hitting the DL, and Ben Revere is likely to be on the move in the coming weeks. Freddy Galvis? Cody Asche? Darin Ruf? Domonic Brown? Not exactly formidable roadblocks. Philly is likely to be essentially Maikel Franco surrounded by a beer-league softball roster following this season's trade deadline. Playing time doesn't appear to be an issue here. Interested in a player who could potentially give you 18-20 steals and a .280 average ROS? Hail Cesar! Here are a couple of other significant adds and drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:

Chooing Over Choo’s Value

July 7, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 20 Comments

by: Davidwiers

Despite posting a 20-20 season as recently as 2013, last season left just about every Shin-soo Choo owner more than a little disappointed. We saw his strikeout rate jump six percent and as a result he was sat down on strikes in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances. Choo's isolated slugging plummeted over 40 points, his home run total was nearly cut in half and he nabbed just three steals in seven attempts. Let's just say 2014 wasn't a banner year for Choo. The Rangers brought about an early (and some may say merciful) ending to his year as he was shut down in late August due to bone spurs in his left elbow. Beyond the somewhat explainable platoon woes — Choo has never really hit southpaws very well — the biggest issue has been his batted ball distribution. After a slow start this year, Choo has rebounded somewhat, and a large reason why is that he has gone back to hitting for power to the pull field. Observe the table below, showing his power numbers for the past four seasons when pulling the ball.

RCL Update, Week 14: As in Saturday the 14th

July 7, 2015 | Our Leagues | 57 Comments

by: J-FOH

Unlike the bad idea to make the movie that inspired the lede today, this weeks update is chock full of useful stuff for you. No, not you Magoo, you already know all the bonus content, but I know you are chomping at the bit to talk about bad 80's movies. Seriously, even if you have no chance to appear on any of these lists, there is good stuff for RCL strategy, or really any game starts and/or "daily moves no limit on games played" leagues. Damn, that's a mouthful... and finger full? That's what I said! I don't want to hear all the blah blah blah about your tough home league or H2H mumbo jumbo. This is RCL snitches! Before I get to the content, I have to humor my colleague the Big Magoo. He has a thing for bad 80's horror flicks like a have a thing for bad 80's b-movie comedies and all their gratuitous boob shots and short shorts. Saturday the 14th combines all those elements in the worst possible way. Silver lining moment of the flick was the appearance of Jeffrey Tambor. It was so bad they decided to make a sequel years later that was worse than the original. If these movies wanted to get it right, they would of gone the Transylvania 6-5000 route. Anythehoo, enough of all that, on to the update...

DraftKings: Wilin To Fade Coors?

July 7, 2015 | DraftKings | 4 Comments

by: MattTruss

DraftKings was actually a little late to the DFS party. You’d never know it by looking at how prevalent they are everywhere. They have done a wonderful job marketing, nabbing up partnerships with MLB and several major sports franchises along the way. They are one of the two big fishes in the sea right now. Back in the early days of DFS every site had a little chat box that was a place for three things usually. 1) Trash talking, 2) Whining, 3) Immature potty humor that quickly degenerated into things that you’d read on a Yahoo! article comments section. DraftKings came into being after the chat box phenomenon had started to fade away. It’s really no surprise these chat boxes have gone the way of the buffalo, but there are a few smaller sites where they still exist. All of this was a long introduction into me reading one of these chats the other day and seeing someone whining about “stupid Coors stacks”. I’m a Coors stacker, it’s what I do. I try every way I can to get as much exposure to that place as I possibly can on a given night. For me, it’s a worthwhile gamble and one that pays off more often than not. It’s not everyone’s bag though, but you have to be aware of the situation. You can always fade Coors in a tournament, figuring most people will be on that game. If Coors is a dud and your guys go off, you should have a nice advantage. You could go with the flow and stack Coors, or you could just sprinkle in Coors action and pick your spots. The final option of course, if the Coors stacks really bother you is to just sit those nights out. No one will think any less of you. If you are playing tonight, one name I highly discourage fading is Wilin Rosario. Wilin is a beast with the stick and is superhuman when he’s got the platoon advantage (.325/.360/.623 career slash line). Toss in the Coors factor and for $3,600 with eligibility at first base or catcher and there’s no excuse for fading Wilin tonight. Here are a few more fellas you shouldn’t be fading this evening. New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 18 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

JD And The Straight Out Of The Park Shot

July 7, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 687 Comments

by: Grey

You know how in 3rd grade you were able to play guitar in the school band because your mom made personal pan pizzas for the drummer and lead singer? C'mon, I know it's true, I read your autobiography. Okay, now imagine that on a large scale. Well, that's where the title of this post comes from. JD & The Straight Shot is fronted by the guy that owns the New York Rangers and Knicks, and wrote this ear-bleeding song about Trayvon Martin. Oh, and he got his band to open for The Eagles! If he can do it, then I can get a record deal for my rapper alias, B-Fire. Uh-oh, B-Fire's gonna spit some rhymes about J.D. Martinez (3-for-5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs) and how he hit his 24th homer overall yesterday, and his 8th homer in the last eleven games. In my 1st outfield slot, I have Adam Jones, He's left me high and dry like marijuana scones. Damn, his shizz is sour, Like the smell in Jersey near Rutgers not Hauer. Why can't we all get Jew Don to treat us? Not to get all philosophical, but David Hume wrote a treatise. I'm kicking in a womb, fetus. I like that one Simpsons character, what's his name again? Oh, yeah, Cletus! Yo, my baptism pool was salt-rimmed, Jesus margaritas! If I'm redrafting today, please give me a Martinuzz. Especially the way J.D. keeps going over the wall, Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Podcast: The Professional Version. Okay, Okay, the “Semi” Professional Version.

July 6, 2015 | All Podcasts | 10 Comments

by: Jay

In today's Podcast, the usual host, what's-his-face, ah yes, JB Gilpin went MIA in the streets of Philly where he apparently got married, or had a bachelor party, or did something. Who knows? Actually, Grey does, as we went over the fact that Philadelphia is the jewel of the United States. [player]Miguel Cabrera[/player] was also mentioned, and I just want to establish, at this point, injuries to star players (including [player]George Springer[/player]) should convince you all to check out that atheism thing. Grey and I also went over [player]Robinson Cano[/player] and his struggles, along with some strategies on how to catch up in the standings as we reach the All-Star Break. And in a change of a pace for the Baseball Podcast (and what is tradition over at the Fantasy Football Podcast) Grey and I went off-topic a little to talk a bit about the first two episodes of True Detective, Season 2, and had a couple things to say about the Game of Thrones finale. If you don't want the spoilers, end the show at the 44:50 mark. Otherwise, enjoy the pod! (JB will return next week!)

SAGNOF Special, Week 14: Godly Cesar Hernandez

July 6, 2015 | Closers, Steals | 18 Comments

by: RotoLance

So, you may have missed out on [player]Cesar Hernandez[/player] and I am partially to blame. (But don't worry because according to Rotowire "Unfortunately, he lacks both power and speed, assets he would need to be fantasy relevant in all but the deepest fantasy leagues." On the other hand there is also: "Cesar, basically the awesomest guy in the world."). Uhhh, anyway, he stole 6 bases in a three game span and I haven't even written about him yet. If you are wondering how that happens, it's in large part a timing thing, although I definitely should have looked into him as soon as he started playing more often because I would have seen he did show decent speed in the minors. So what can we expect going forward? Well, prior to an injury to Chase Utley, Hernandez was starting less than half the time. Despite being outfield eligible he has yet to play there this year. Upon Utley's return he could steal (pun intended) games from Freddy Galvis in addition to occasional starts at second base so maybe he sees 5 starts each week. He has a pretty good track record of stealing bases in the minors but prior to this year he only stole one base in 100 games and 256 plate appearances in MLB. I think that if you picked up Hernandez you can feel ok about it, but temper your expectations somewhat. And if you missed out you should perhaps start by looking at players that may have been dropped in your league.

DraftKings: Don’t Mets This Up, Heston

July 6, 2015 | DraftKings | 6 Comments

by: Sky

Seriously, kid, just don't. I mean, I'm only streaming you in every league in season long while also touting you in a lead post on Razzball. Do you understand the honor I'm bestowing here? This post has seen names like Kyle Lobstein grace the front page! This shizz is serious. Now that I think about it, I've touted Chris Heston before on here too and he stunk up the joint that time out. Hrm...nah, too lazy to change it at this point so let us do what DFS should have taught us by now: not fearing going back to the well. Unless of course your well is on a farm on The Walking Dead and there's a zombie at the bottom of it. Good lawd, that season made me check out on the series so quickly. So much tension about nothing and where were the flipping zombies!?! If I wanted to watch forced drama, I'd watch reality television, AMC. But where was I? Oh yeah, the well. The reasoning behind why Heston is a good get is still there. He's solid at home, has a strong K rate vs righties, and the home park helps a little with his lefty struggles. I see Heston as a good cash game play as he makes an easy SP2 to pair with Sale with his price point at $6,300. When you factor in how bad the Mets offense has been of late - they had zero HRs and only 13 runs scored over their last 7 heading into Sunday - there's a chance for SP1 numbers for chump change. Just don't make me feel like a chump again, Heston...just don't. But enough about my love/hate for Chris, let's get on with it. Here's my most caliente takes for this Monday DK slate... New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 15 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

Miggy Starbust And The Calf Strains From Mars

July 6, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 690 Comments

by: Grey

I hope everyone had a pleasant, footloose, but not finger-freeing July 4th weekend. I did. In the tradition of our forefathers, specifically Benjamin Franklin, I had an iced cold latte, three whole frankfurters and flew a kite with a key on the string. Also, since this year our country passed the right to gay marriage, I ate those frankfurters in the gayest way possible. *Graphic description of how I ate the hot dogs deleted* Also, on this wonderful holiday where we pretend to be the greatest country in the world, I'm reminded of an ally from the 1700's when we first got this ship afloat. That country was Germany and their concept of schadenfreude, the enjoyment derived from others' misery. I'm sorry if you lost Miguel Cabrera for six weeks. Really, I am. *bursting with the schadenfreude giggles* The Tigers say he could return around late-August, which is a bummer. *barely containing myself* Hopefully, he can return and give you a solid four homers and .300 average the rest of the way. Thank God, this schadenfreude concept has no karmic retribution attached to it. *reading that Strasburg is also hurt* NOOOOOOO!!! Can't I have one nice thing?! Ugh. I'm sorry I laughed at your loss of Miggy, can I have Stressbird back? Please! I can't, can I? Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball: