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Monthly Archives: August 2015

Elliot

OPS Leagues: Moose Bear Pig

August 29, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, OPS Leagues |

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Here’s a quick comparison for you. Take a look at these two AL third basemen.
Player A .283 .350 .449 15 HR 56 RBI 58 R
Player B .269 .330 .416 14 HR 57 RBI 52 R
Who would you rather own for fantasy? Player A is owned in 72% of ESPN leagues, while Player B is owned in 95% of ESPN leagues.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 5/12
ARI | ATL | BOS | CHC | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIA | MIL | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TEX | WSH | ATH | BAL | CHW | CIN | LAD | MIN | OAK | TB | TOR
Grey

Hi Ho The Berrios, The Pitcher In The Buy

August 28, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 342 Comments

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Let's start on Jose Berrios with what Prospect Mike said, "Berrios has a great starter’s arsenal with a plus fastball (sits mid-90s) and a plus curveball coupled with an above average slider and changeup.  The ceiling is a #3 starter with good ratios and decent strikeout totals.  Most reports rave about his maturity and ability to make adjustments, which could give him a better shot at making it in a big league rotation.  Imagine a scale of good and evil with Maikel Franco on the good side and that Albright fella on the evil side, Berrios is more on the Franco side."  Why am I a part of this example?  If I could quickly evaluate the Twins current crop of starters that are prospblocking Berrios:  Garbage, More Garbage, Utter Garbage, Shirley Manson in Garbage, Magic Garbage.  (Magic Garbage is Utah garbage where you find soiled magic underpants.)  I haven't even started talking about how Berrios was bred in a lab in Knott's Berry Farm by founder of the boysenberry, Rudolph Boysen, whose grandchild killed his parents and is currently behind bars (true story; yes, you're dropping the ball, Dateline, by not featuring this).  The only thing that's been stopping me from adding Berrios in every league is I have no idea when he'll be called up.  I would add him now to see if he's called up when rosters expand on September 1st, then drop him soon after in redraft leagues if he's not called up.  Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
malamoney

Points Leagues: Exceeds Expectations

August 28, 2015 | Points Leagues | 4 Comments

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Did you ever wonder why, back in your school days, that there was no "E" grade? What happened to "E"? The apparent reason for the lack of an "E" grade is because most systems are based on four passing grades. "A", "B", "C" and "D". After these passing grades come failure, and since failure starts with the letter "F", "F" is used to denote a failure. It's really quite simple. It just happens to be that "F" is the sixth letter, but had it been the tenth or even the last, an "F" would still be used to let you know that you just flunked. Someone who fails is a failure. Does that make someone that flunks a flunky? I actually had a teacher one year, I think it was the 7th grade, that incorporated "E" into his grading system. It was actually higher than an "A", if that makes sense, and stood for "excellent". I always thought that was an A+. I'm pretty sure that teacher was a major pothead. I liked him. I had an entirely different teacher that had a completely different set of grades that included an "E". In this class it stood for "exceeds expectations". There was no "A", "B", "C", "D" or "F". Instead we had "E", "M" and "N". The latter two standing for "meets expectations" and "needs improvement".

jasonwalker

DraftKings: Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

August 28, 2015 | DraftKings | 17 Comments

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You never stop learning. Ever. The baseball season is a long race and while you think you may know what a player is or what you can expect, you have to keep checking in on trends to make sure you didn't miss a zig when you been watching them zag all season. Today's J.D. Martinez is tomorrow's Ryan Zimmerman. You may disregard a player like Brandon Moss, but if you are watching his power metrics and hard contact rate holding at an above average rate, you may just roster him in a tournament and watch him go deep with pride, as he did Thursday night. Stay vigilant. Players returning from injury, like Stephen Strasburg, may have tightened up something that they weren't getting right pre-injury. For Stras, it's his curveball that he's found that has jumped his swinging strike rate from 7-8% pre-injury, to 13 percent over his last several starts. David Wright is a has-been who can't be counted on anymore. *You check the numbers, find out he's raking* Welp. Making this part of the routine makes the DFS season fun and takes advantage of fish who have taken their eyes off baseball right now to bone up for the NFL season. Reel them in and cash on them -- it's what David Wright would want you to do. New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 20 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.
Grey

Shoemaker Jockeys Verlander For One-Hit Derbies

August 28, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 241 Comments

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As Jeff Probst once said, "Turnabout is Johnny Fairplay," which was his mashup of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart line, "Turn around, bright eyes," which was co-opted by a children's toy commercial with, "Turn around, Rainbow Brite eyes," which was Elmore Leonard's original name for a pedophile, which he changed to short eyes, and short people have big reason to smile, unless they're not wearing shoes and, yesterday, Matt Shoemaker threw a one-hitter into the 8th inning.  *takes a breath, bows, exits like Tommy from this season of MasterChef*  And scene!  So, Shoemaker returned from the minors yesterday and did exactly what we'd hoped from him since March -- 7 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 5 Ks.  He will remain in the rotation, but I wouldn't indiscriminately add him in all leagues.  I would give him a shot in his next start in Oakland, and go one start at a time from there.  While you're wearing the kid gloves for Shoemaker, hopefully you don't accidentally Like an Instagram post from two years ago by someone you once dated that you're now stalking.  Been there!  Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: The Duffman – Oh Yeah!

August 27, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 20 Comments

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Those of you who have followed The Simpsons during it's 60-or-so year run (seemingly) are probably familiar with Duffman, the ridiculous Duff Beer mascot who has hip thrusted his way into our hearts over the years. Between his partying ways and his depth of character, you could think of him as the absentee father of Johnny Manziel or the Kardashians. Hmmm... he doesn't seem quite so likable anymore. Why did he have to inflict such pain and torture on the rest of the world?
Smokey

Closer Report, Week 21: The S.S. Wilhelmsen

August 27, 2015 | Closers | 17 Comments

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The Mariner bullpen has basically been that round-up ride at your local carnival.  It doesn't look that bad until it totally messes with your vertigo and you end up spewing up kettle corn and other assorted goods for two hours there after.  Last year, the Mariners bullpen had a 2.60 ERA, good for tops in the MLB.  They also saved 51 games to only 11 blown saves.  They were all comfy and coozy like footed pajamas last year, and basically everyone could rely on the decent value of return from drafting Fernando Rodney.  Then the year changes to five and the ship went askew.  Their bullpen ERA is over 4.30 and are on pace to accumulate 45 saves, and, to date, have already blown 18 saves (behind only three other teams for worst).  So let's just run down the year so far: Rodney was the closer, then he wasn't the closer, Carson Smith took over, and now it seems as though they are reverting back to 2012 in hopes that Tom Wilhelmsen can right the ship of battered and injured bullpen dreams.  Stick around for some tid-bits and bullpen ranks...
waterloo

DraftKings: Welcome To Miami

August 27, 2015 | DraftKings |

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High School football is a week away. Crazy, right? With that, of course, comes the start of college and professional football, meaning most of the fantasy focus will be on those throwing around the pigskin. If you're still tuned into your seasonal league or DFS for baseball, way to go, you. Today's slate really isn't that appealing, as it has six so-so games on it. I'm looking at games in Miami and Philadelphia to attack, so let's get straight to the cash, homie. New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 20 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.
Grey

This Just In, Verlander Not Bad At All

August 27, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 367 Comments

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*swirls a glass, takes a gulp. spits it back in a bucket*  "That's vintage Justin Verlander," said Kate Upton.  "Okay, this might sound gross, but can you spit into my mouth?"  That's you getting up the nerve to say something to Kate Upton.  I just thought of a moneymaking idea for Shark Tank!  You stand outside of Comerica Park with a cardboard cutout of a naked Verlander and have people pay $10 to take a picture with him, pretending to be Kate Upton.  Oh, and no, this post isn't an attempt to Bleacher Report up Google's rankings by mentioning Verlander and Upton repeatedly, though it does seem that way...Verlander/Upton, Verlander/Upton and Verlander/Upten for the illiterates.  So, Verlander did look magnificent yesterday until the 8th inning when he began to tire, ending up with a one hitter --> 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners (1 Hit), 9 Ks with an ERA at 3.45.  Big Magoo captured Verlander's upside about two weeks ago with this post.  Worth reading, but the key part (cause I know, y'all can only read so much), "Since the All-Star break, Verlander’s 7.25 K/BB ratio is the 5th highest among qualified starting pitchers, and his 1.1 BB/9 is the 6th lowest.  He shares the same swinging strike rate (12.1%) as Jake Arrieta and Gerrit Cole over that span as well.  Now, excuse me as I go drain the weasel on a picture of Grey."  Hey, wait a minute!  I didn't remember that last part.  So, if Verlander is out there in your league, the one-hitter yesterday doesn't seem to be a hirame.  Sorry, I just had sushi.  It's not a fluke.  Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Mike

Bob The Rebuilder: Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!

August 26, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Keeper Leagues | 55 Comments

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Last week I looked at some players who are more or less widely available and could be useful to rebuilding teams in keepers and dynasties. All of these players are available in the majority of leagues in both the CBS and Fantrax formats, which cater to dynasty players. There's obviously some risk attached to all of them, but I chose to focus mainly on players who are already in the majors or the upper levels of the minors...the reason being you don't want to get stuck in a rebuild forever by missing on guys who are four-plus years away. I was able to get my hands on these names in 12, 16, and some even in 20-team formats. They're not necessarily superstars, but rather interesting pieces given the option to keep them heading into next year. Grabbing them now in free agency can save you the headache of chasing them down in the spring once everyone's "sleepers" etc. are announced.
Davidwiers

The Short Side Of Platoons

August 26, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 3 Comments

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Left-handed hitters are always going to be popular given their tendency to hold the larger "half" of a platoon's playing time situation, but as we enter the final five weeks of the season — or in DFS — production of any type is worth employing. While most of these names aren't flashy, all of these players have something to offer in terms of counting or rate stats for hitting southpaws. The ownership rates (not the availability) are listed after each player for the three major fantasy sites. To add an arbitrary filter to things, we're looking at 50 plate appearance minimums, with numbers excluding Monday's games.
Sky

DraftKings: Shelby Miller’s Favorite Ice Cream is Rockies Road

August 26, 2015 | DraftKings | 64 Comments

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Look, I'm all about facts here. I have my sources *googles Shelby Miller's favorite ice cream...finds nothing...looks under google images...randomly finds naked women...stops writing for a while to do further research* Well, looks like my sources failed me. I can't verify anything about Miller's cold dessert of choice but I can verify some other, more factually laden and potentially more useful sets of data. Like for example, Shelby enjoys his friendly confines where he goes from a 6.56 K/9 on the road to a lovely 9 per at home. To no one's surprise, this shaves about a run off his road ERA down to a ace-like 2.01 in Atlanta. But of course, that's only half the math. The other? The Rockies and their road woes just never seem to go away as they rank 3rd worst in wRC+ at 81 and a second worst K% at 24.2%. To make matters worse, Colorado might be without Carlos Gonzalez and are already sitting at the bottom in wRC+ in the month of August. They tell you not to kick someone when they're already down but I'm out here offering you metal-toed boots and I'm paying the ref to look away. That's the kind of service you get with a $9,500 price tag. I wouldn't call him a deal, per se, but I would call him a high upside buy as your SP1 on a day where it gets ugly quick past the top end plays. But enough about my high school prom options, let's get on with it. Here's my cayenne ice cream hot takes for this Wednesday DK slate... New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 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.
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