What's Ice T's favorite pastry? Cruellers, cruellers, cruellers, cr-cruellers. Who's Ice T's favorite pitcher? Lance McCullers, McCullers, McCullers, Mc-Cullers. Sorry, if I didn't get that out of the way up front it would've gnawed at me this entire post and I never would've been able to write it. Now, into the actual post, you know how they say you can't fold a piece of paper more than seven times? (Yes, I know MythBusters folded a football field-sized piece of paper eleven times, but the myth is seven-plus times.) That myth is how I feel about starting pitchers. There's so many guys that I like late that I feel like I can't fold them all into a singular fantasy team. Maybe this is subconsciously the reason why I manage upwards to ten fantasy teams. This way I can have a little taste of all of the late-round starters that I like. One such pitcher is Lance McCullers. Last season, he had a 3.22 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 9.2 K/9 and a 3.50 xFIP. If you know a thing or two about a thing or two, you're saying to yourself, "How is this guy a sleeper? He was great last year." Good question, Voice In Your Head. He shouldn't be a sleeper, which is why he is a sleeper. Wrap your noodle around that, stick it in some boiling water and stir it so it doesn't stick. You feel me? Okay, seriously, stop touching me, it's weird. Anyway, what can we expect from Lance McCullers for 2016 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
See all of today’s starting lineups
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ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | OAK |
One of the great things about playing in a dynasty league is the active offseason. Since most of the players on a roster are kept, the draft is usually just a handful of rounds and consists of other teams' trash and fresh signees. That means offseason trading can get pretty intense as owners attempt to improve their roster, whittle down their keepers, or accumulate higher draft picks. Razznasty has been no different, and there have been a ton of trades since our offseason opened in November. The league started last year. It's a 16-team/keep 30 of 40 dynasty league made up exclusively of Razzball readers and writers. I won't go into every trade in detail, but rather comment on a few of the bigger ones in this post. You can, however, view every trade made this offseason
here.
Overheard at my house on Christmas, "Why isn't it Jesusmas?" Then someone who you only see once a year chimes in, "'Jesus, mas' is what I say to the waiter when I want more cheese and his name is Jesus." Ah, family over the holidays. Arriving a few days late for Christmas for Yankee fans was Aroldis Chapman. It didn't come in their stocking, but he will probably be wearing a stocking on his head while he tries to board a domestic airline with a gun. "You know, in Cuba, no one cares if I wear a stocking on my head and try to rob people, because Fidel owns everything anyway." That's Aroldis sitting next to someone in First Class who is being polite but just wants to watch Jason Sudeikis in Vacation. So, Aroldis joins an already stacked Yankee bullpen and does nothing but makes it more sizzling, obviously. I could make the case that Aroldis is the best closer of all-time, not just the best one in the majors right now, so, yeah, he's definitely a $12 Salad and that doesn't change in New York. He could miss a couple of weeks of the season, due to domestic abuse charges, but that's not set in stone, and, if baseball is ever going to become as popular as football, then the league will turn the other cheek while asking his girlfriend to do the same. For 2016, I'll give Aroldis the projections of 4-2/2.04/1.03/110, 40 saves in 60 IP. Anyway, here's what else I saw this offseason for 2016 fantasy baseball:
I was between Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk for a sleeper post. Why did Stephen lose out? Piscotty doesn't know! Grey does, though. They're roughly the same age; Piscotty will be 25 to start 2016, but Grichuk won't turn 25 until August. They were both first round draft picks. That's neither here nor there; no more rhyming and I mean it, anyone want a peanut? I don't dislike Piscotty, but last year in a full season, he was on pace for around 16 HRs, 5 SBs and a .270 average. Grichuk was on pace for 23 HRs, 8 SBs and a .250 average. Those lines aren't that different for fantasy value. Twenty points in average makes up for the power and speed lost, but average is fickle and how many times can one write Piscotty doesn't know? Piscotty doesn't know! Grey does, three times. That's it, then a small migraine starts to pulse in your frontal lobe. Real baseball people who spit and scratch themselves would like Piscotty better (he takes more walks, strikes out less, better OBP). I like Piscotty too, especially soaked in espresso, but The Amazing Randal feels slightly more upsidey and I just had my computer dictionary learn the word upsidey, so here we are. Anyway, what can we expect from Randal Grichuk for 2016 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
The Indians have a balanced system with good bats, good arms, and fantasy upside at all levels. At the tippy top there's Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier. Both should arrive in the next two years and the one you like better depends on whether you're more of a speed freak or a power geek. You really can't go wrong with either at this point. 2015 was the debut of Francisco Lindor, who exceeded expectations with his bat and was as advertised with his slick fielding at short. Given how hard it is to find offense at the position, it will be interesting to see how strongly fantasy players believe in his rookie year numbers and how high he'll go in 2016 redrafts. I'm guessing pretty high. The Tribe had, in my humble opinion, a great 2015 draft and walked away with good players at great values. Their low minors is well stocked and it was honestly difficult to choose which players to profile down there.
On Dancer! On Prancer! On–Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. Welcome, reader! Grab some egg nog and brandy it up to the fire. You look festive. I love that Rudolph tongue ring. That's the great thing about Christmas, no matter what your interpretation is, it's all about commercialism. That's unless you light the Munenori Kawasaki. The
2016 fantasy baseball rankings are not far away. Right now, January Grey is throwing darts at a board to figure out where to rank Rusney Castillo. Exciting! In the meantime, let’s look at the players who have multiple position eligibility for this upcoming 2016 fantasy baseball season. The biggest surprise from this list? Sean Rodriguez played how many games at 1st base? Hayzeus Cristo! I did this list of multi-position eligible players because I figured it would help for your 2016 fantasy baseball drafts. I’m a giver, snitches! Happy Holidays! I only listed players that have multiple position eligibility of ten games or more played outside of their primary position. Not FIVE games at a position, not six, definitely not seven. Ten games. 10, the Laurel & Hardy of numbers. So this should cover Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, et al (not the Israeli airline). Yes, Christmas came a day early this year. Players with multiple position eligibility are listed once alphabetically under their primary position. This is the only time a year I do anything alphabetically, so I might've confused some letters. Is G or H first? Who knows, and, better yet, who cares? Wow, someone's got the Grinchies, must be the spiked egg nog talking. Anyway, here’s all the players with multiple position eligibility for the 2016 fantasy baseball season and the positions they are eligible at:
I got you something for Chrimbus! It's a jar of tartar sauce. Oh, you don't like it? Then how about some Baltimore Orioles pitching prospects instead? That tartar sauce is looking a lot better now, you ungrateful reader. Pitching prospects break all the time, but the Orioles seem especially good at it. Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey still have a lot of upside, and of course they will still be perched atop most Orioles lists, but both will also need to prove healthy to regain their lost fantasy value. I own a share of Bundy myself, so I feel your pain out there. Harvey is just a big bowl of I don't know. Get past those two risky arms, and there are two hitting prospects I like a lot...power lolita Jomar Reyes and 2015 breakout Trey Mancini. If you need more instant gratification, Baltimore is currently in the process of signing Korean import Hyun-soo Kim. Praise Rang! So while this system isn't a treasure trove of impact fantasy talent, there's at least enough here to pass the time while you wait in line to see Winter Man. Remember - keep your Chrimbus bush trimmed and wet for Winter Man and he'll bring you that pasta bear you've had your eye on.
I was thisclose to writing a sleeper post on Travis d'Arnaud but A) The Mets said some nonsense like they might platoon him with Kevin Plawecki. B) I kinda promised myself to go easy on catcher sleepers this year. C) There's no C. So, how did this lead me to Michael Conforto? I was thinking about the Mets. Grey's mind --> linear like E equals MC Shan. Throughout Conforto's minor league career, he was a bat-first prospect that always fell in prospect rankings because of his fielding. (He was listed as the 80th best prospect on Baseball America and #82 on MLB.com. That's number 82, not hashtag for you millennials.) This is great news, because, for our purposes, fielding can go BASE jump from a tall building. This is an interesting phenomenon (not interesting) that I see a lot with fantasy. Guys that have poor gloves have their values deflated for fantasy, even though there's no reason unless you're in a league with errors. Another Met in Wilmer Flores had this phenomenon strike his fantasy value. Of course, with Flores, the Mets benched him at times due to his glove, made him cry and now replaced him with Asdrubal. Conforto won't be benched; he'll be buried in left field. Even in the World Series this past year, Conforto was a regular in the lineup at just 22 years old, and that was with Yoenis still on the team. Even if the Mets go out and sign an outfield bat, Conforto will be guaranteed a spot in the lineup, and with David Wright aging at 12 frames per second and Duda looking like doodie for about six weeks at a time, Conforto could be *the* middle of the order bat for the Mets. (Those are fireworks around the word the, not asterisks.) Anyway, what can we expect from Michael Conforto for 2016 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
In 200 plate appearances, there's four guys that went above and beyond in speed last year. In order of fastest to slowest with slowest still being the very, very3 fastest of the fast players: Jarrod Dyson, Delino DeShields, Rajai Davis and Billy Hamilton. (Fifth is Jake Marisnick which is a name for another day.) None of those qualified last year for the batting title. I mean, even if they did, they wouldn't have won it, but I mean none of them had a full season of at-bats. Dyson only had 225 plate appearances, Rajai, the King of SAGNOF, had 370 and Billy Hamilton had 454. DeShields had the most with 492. The difference between last year and this year for Rajai, Dyson and Hamilton is a calendar change and nothing else. The first two guys will be platoon guys and Hamilton has his own issues. Whereas, DeShields will not only play every day, but he will also bat leadoff. If he has less than 550 ABs next year, it'll only be because of an injury. His Speed Score was 8.3. Dee Gordon was 7.3. DeShields gets down the line in 3.8 seconds. 4 seconds is considered to be Cooperstown-type speed. Maury Wills outrunning a motorcycle that's being driven by Bob Feller's fastball type speed. DeShields is about as fast as a player has ever been or will ever be. Swish that around in your mouth for a few seconds like you actually consider dental hygiene. In the time it took you to swish that around, Deshields ran from home to first. Anyway, what can we expect from Delino DeShields for 2016 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Tampa Bay's farm system isn't the best on the block for shallow league players, but there are a bunch of interesting fantasy pieces here to sift through if you play in a deeper dynasty format. The biggest news from the 2015 season was the explosion of left hander Blake Snell. He earned all kinds of accolades with his performance and now he's set up to join the rotation in 2016. The Rays have good pitching depth again this year, and they'll get Alex Cobb back at some point as well. Outfielder Steven Souza was a trendy sleeper prospect in 2015, but injury and strikeouts limited his value in his rookie year. He could be a decent buy low in dynasty leagues since the power and speed that made him interesting in the first place are still there.
Hehe, this post sucks. It's gonna suck writing it, and it's gonna suck reading it. Luckily, most of you schmohawks skip right to the comments to ask me about your teams. This post sucks, because Brett Lawrie has been around more blocks than the skeezehead that you dated briefly after your marriage fell apart. Brett Lawrie is just hot garbage, and there's a pending lawsuit by actual hot garbage to fine anyone seen calling Lawrie hot garbage, so I'm going to have to lawyer up. Let's count the ways that Lawrie colossally sucks dog balls. He came up in 2011 and hit 9 homers and stole 7 bases after hitting 18 homers and stealing 13 bases in Triple-A. Looked prime to be a superstar. Then 2012 happened (11 HRs, 13 SBs, .273) and he looked less primed for a breakout and more like a guy that needed to rebound from a sophomore slump in 2013. Then 2013 happened (11 HRs, 9 SBs, .254) and he looked like he fell in love with 'having 11 homers.' Lawrie and 11 homers sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. That's sweet and all, but get a room with 11 homers if you love it so much. Whatever, he was still young and there was always 2014. In 2014, he hit 12 HRs, and 11 homers suddenly got jealous. The Blue Jays said love, peace and hair grease and the documentary about who will be the A's 2015 reclamation project got a subject to follow. With Lawrie's career thus far too depressing for Werner Herzog, the documentary never happened, but Lawrie did happen, slightly...Okay, at least he didn't hit 11 or 12 homers. He hit 16 homers, stole 5 bases and hit .260. Yunel Escobar yawns in the general direction of those numbers, but what if Lawrie has more upside for next year? I mean, he is only going to be 26 years old in 2016. Anyway, what can we expect from Brett Lawrie for 2016 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
The Reds are like the slowest team ever to rebuild. They sell off a piece every few months or so. "We’re getting rid of Cueto as we look to the future." Dot dot dot. A month later, "Someone make us an offer for Leake. We’re rebuilding…kinda.” Dot dot dot. A few months later, "Okay, who wants Aroldis? For what it’s worth, he has a gun permit." Dot dot dot. "Todd Frazier anyone? Everything must go…eventually!” Dot dot dot. "Hey, what do y'all think of Brandon Phillips?" The teamsters on three hours of sleep broke down the Titanic set quicker than the Reds. By August of 2016, Votto may be hitting between Kyle Waldrop and Cozart, and, knowing Votto, he will still hit .320. Any hoo! Moving to the White Sox doesn't hurt Frazier, in theory. I say that because I feel like everything the White Sox touch turns to the wall of a Porta-Potty. Maybe it's the Curse of Bill Veeck. Or just the Curse of the "Ill, Eek." Capital I's with an L next to it are weird, right? Okay, back to baseball! Frazier had 35 HRs last year and a 15.1% HR/FB, which is nothing. That's around his career norm. He achieved this by hitting everything in the air. If he keeps that up -- literally -- in Chi-town, good things can continue to happen. Of course, every action has an equal opposite reaction, and more fly balls could hurt his average, which would hurt his runs and RBIs. Brucely, I'd take that trade off. Then throw in his 15-ish steals and you have a guy that should be near the top 25 overall for fantasy. For 2016, I'll give him 86/30/98/.250/14. Anyway, here's what else I saw this offseason in 2016 fantasy baseball:
