A few weeks ago, I was but a wee lad writing my first article for Razzball, and you were reading that article because you were either desperate for catcher advice in your fantasy league or because you just plain hate yourself. I recommended picking up [player]J.T. Realmuto[/player] for a lengthy dice roll or [player]Jarrod Saltalamacchia[/player] for some short term power, and we all laughed a little on the outside and cried a little on the inside.
Then Realmuto hit .500 over the course of the next week. .500, as in half of his at bats were hits. .500, as in the batting average of some of the top high school baseball prospects (except Realmuto, he hit .595 and had 119 RBI in 42 games. Found those stats by accident while searching for a picture of the Realmuto family crest.). .500, as in—OK, enough. It was only a week.
Realmuto cooled off a bit the next week, but he was still more than solid, especially for a catcher: 8-23, 0.348 BA, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R, SB, .739 OPS. Not too shabby, even if there isn’t a ton of power there. I would like to take this time to point out that my predictions (read: ANALYSIS) for Realmuto, Salty, and [player]Wilson Ramos[/player] were all pretty much spot on. Ok, now that we got that out of the way, we can move on.
The free agent catcher wasteland is as bleak as it has ever been. I checked the top 3 free agents by position yesterday in my CBS league, and the top 3 catchers available were: Saltalamacchia, [player]Chris Herrmann[/player], and [player]David Ross[/player]. I think most of us would agree that the logical reactions to those three are “old news,” “who?,” and “really?,” respectively. It’s bad, guys. Let’s start with the catchers to stay away from, first.
Monthly Archives: May 2016
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You have to appreciate the classics. I wouldn’t say I’m a jazz nerd or anything, but I do listen to the genre, am familiar with the legends and am generally a sucker for horns. If you have no idea what I’m talking about right now, do yourself a favor and go hit up your favorite music streaming service and search for John Coltrane. Then prepare yourself for some serious ear candy. Speaking of candy (geez, that transition was more forced than a JB SeatGeek spot huh?), Gerrit Cole faces off against the Colorado Rockies tonight. Facing the Rockies away from Coors is like taking the aforementioned candy right out of the hands of an infant. These very same Rockies just made Adam Wainwright look like a legitimate ace. I know, crazy right? Cole held his own against the Rox out in Coors, 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 Ks. That translates to 8 IP, -4 ER and 9 Ks in a normal ball park. PNC park has also ranked in the bottom 1/5th in the league for LHB HR park factor the past two seasons. That lines up perfectly for the left-heavy Rockies. I really don’t understand Coles’s price tag tonight, but for $4,000 less than Jake Arrieta, he is my number one pitching play today. Let’s see what other values we can dig up for tonight’s slate:
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday May 23rd 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.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday May 23rd 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.
Junior’s His Name, Don’t Guerra Out
May 20, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 450 Commentsby: Grey
Junior Guerra has a backstory that puts the odd in odyssey. The Braves signed him as a 16-year-old catcher out of Venezuela. In 2006, he had position reassignment surgery and became a pitcher. As a herbathrowdite in Georgia, bathrooms and strike zones were hard to find, so he was released. He found courage from the support group, "PAC IO," which is Pitchers And Catchers Input/Output, and tried his hand at Independent leagues. Eventually, he played in Mexico, Spain, and Italy. In Italy, it was especially difficult to be a pitcher because every time a hitter came up to the plate a large, mustachioed woman umpire would say, "Guerra, you hafta throw the meatballs. C'mon, the hitter's starvin' over here." And Guerra's cheeks would constantly be pinched. But, miraculously, Robin Ventura found him in Italy, while mistakenly thinking that's where Jim Rome taped his show, and signed him. Of course, the White Sox had no place for Guerra, and his journey took him to Milwaukee, allowing him to be the first person with an Italian stamp on his passport in Milwaukee since Arthur Fonzarelli. Yesterday, he went 7 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 11 Ks to move his record to 3-0. He's touched 99 MPH with his fastball, averaging around 92-95 and has a split-finger change that falls off the map like an explorer in the 1400's. Is he more than a streamer? Hard to say at this point. He will get strikeouts and faces the Braves next so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and grab him for that start. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Bear or Bull: For Whom The Beltre Tolls
May 19, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 35 Commentsby: Big Magoo
If you're experiencing a sudden case of déjà vu, you might want to schedule a visit with a neurologist. According to Wikipedia, it could be a symptom of epilepsy. Of course, if you happened to stumble upon the Adrian Beltre article that I wrote almost a year ago to the day, that would probably account for the sense of familiarity that you're feeling at the moment. Same series, same title. It's not laziness. I prefer to think of it as being efficient. Yes, that sounds perfectly reasonable. We'll go with that. But why am I writing about the Rangers third baseman yet again this season? Has his production fallen off of a cliff? Has he found the fountain of youth at age 37? Has he overcome his bizarre head-touching phobia?
2016 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 7
May 19, 2016 | Razzball Elite League | 29 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
BREAKING NEWS! We have an REL franchise for sale by the owner. Unfortunately, the owner of the KANSAS CITY ROYALS is ready to step down from ownership of the team, and we need someone out there in Razzball Nation who is interested in joining the great social experiment that is the REL. Now, this is a paid league, so the fee for buying the team is pretty high with how baseball has grown in popularity and all our TV deals. It's gonna be $25. League fees are $50 for each season, so you'll be paying 1/2 price this year to take over, and mostly it's just to ensure we get a serious owner. Then it's $50 every additional year. To see a quick recap on how the league works, you can check out the Cliff's Notes in the league launch post.
First commenter who says they want the Royals, gets em. Just let me know if the email is good to contact you through the email you comment on, or give me an email to reach out to ya. I'll then forward you the rules and swap you over to own the team! Please only take over the team if you intend on staying with the dynasty as long as possible!
To our standings, the Nats/Cubs continue to rock the NL with the Orange Birds still stooping over the AL. We had two MONSTER buys - one in each league - on the FAAB market this week as well. $92 in FAAB in two moves - gone! Here's how week seven went down in the 2016 REL League: 
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a lineup full of left-handed hitters who at some point or another knew how to hit very well. Currently, they have two young hitters coming into their own in Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, who both love seeing a stinky right handed arm on the mind. Thankfully, the Angels will provide just that on Thursday in the form of Jhoulys Chacin. Although he pitched well in his first start in an Angels' uniform, this one should be different, and feel free to toss as many of those left handed Dodgers' bats into your lineup as you can. And remember, in case you forgot, bats don't have a handedness, only the players holding them. Without further ado, let's get to some team-building! (I'm sorry if that sounds like the start to some poor exercise put together at school or work in an effort to bring you together; this hopefully is not a poor exercise)
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday May 23rd 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.
Tolleson had his cookies tossed for the last time on Tuesday. Or maybe Shawn Tolleson caused his owners' cookies to be tossed? Sounds too passive, said Flesch-Kincaid, but you get the idea. By the by, why is tossing food so gross? Tossing one's cookies should be a glorious thing. Who doesn't want cookies tossed at them? Please toss your cookies into my mouth! Then there's tossing salad? That sounds healthy and like a spring morn. Why is tossing salad so bad? I'd love a salad tossing and a jog around the Maypole! Any hoo! There's no more Tolleson, and Sam Dyson will step in as the Rangers closer. Glad to see Rangers manager, Jeff Banister, finally react. Though, it took a long time since Tolleson's ERA is over nine. Banister's reflexes are so slow Bautista could've snuck in a punch on him. Maybe they should've let Odor punch Tolleson's card. He would've been out on April 4th. "You're done!" "That was one pitch." "I don't care, now I will punch you." Sam Dyson should be owned in all leagues. Will Tolleson regain the role? Maybe, if Dyson gets injured, but it seems highly unlikely otherwise and can be dropped in most leagues. Hey, Tolleson, don't let the door hit you, where Odor split your lip. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Greetings!!! Your liege lord, Beddict, has fallen on disastrous times. My goodmen, I was robbed by a thief in the night, the kind of criminal mastermind that makes Danny Ocean look like a pocket picking peasant. Not only did this despicable bandit gank me for my Mac-book Pro, but he swooped my black diamond encrusted platinum ring, my SMS wireless sports headphones signed by the Elder God, 50 Cent, a beautiful Burberry jacket, some fly-a** Louis Vuitton sunglasses, two Nike sweatshirts, a pair of high-top limited edition Nike Air Force One boots, and two different kinds of cologne. In the hood, we call this the come up of a lifetime. This scum-sucking pilferer hit the mother load, probably thinking he just robbed a professional athlete, when instead it was just poor old Beddict, washed up mankini model turned fantasy sports writer. I've never felt such pain, such anguish, giving me the sort of writers block that would make George R.R. Martin not look like a total pile of Hippopotamus shat. I come to you now, begging for your forgiveness. On my knees, begging you for another chance as I feel we were right on the cusp of greatness. Let's work out the kinks and get back to doing what I was created to do... whatever that may be.
I am Tehol Beddict, and this is Disgrace/Delight. Take heed!
I didn't want to open this post with just any old sentence. I needed to come up with an unbelievable opening. Something that screamed brilliance. Something that truly captured my feelings for Andrew Benintendi. I held off on really gushing about him in an opening, because the time needed to be right. You know popping his opening cherry, so to speak was special stuff....(WOW! those were some words you could quote me out of context on, and it would look real bad on my part.) The time is here! So off we go, let the trumpets blow, and hold on because the driver of this mission is a horse proctologist by the name of Jan Wilbury. Is that my real name? It shall remain a mystery!! Oh yeah, Andrew Benintendi was promoted to AA Portland on Monday. The long and the short of it, or the "those Grey readers who just read the openings to other posts and scoff" version of why you should care. He's a future 5 category, 6 if you're in OBP leagues, contributor, and he's going to be in the Boston outfield in short order. I suppose he could be in someone else's outfield too, if there's a .....gulp....trade. I'd just like to suppress those thoughts for today.
I remember a time not long ago. A time when the #Barves were the Braves. I think said time predates the hashtag phenomenon which makes it, like, sooooo old. Before Fredi got Fired and even more importantly, before Freddy Got Fingered, you could count on three things: death, taxes, and the Braves reaching the playoffs. From 1991 to 1998, three Braves pitchers won six Cy Youngs. and the 90's and early 2000's were filled with Braves bats you'd love to roster in the current DFS world. Fred McGriff, David Justice, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, and Ron Gant, just to name a few. The Braves looked like they'd never come down from their perch...and now enter the dystopian future of Atlanta. Nick Markakis is your leadoff hitter. Retreads like Chase d'Arnaud and Gordon Beckham solidify your infield. Your most feared hitter is Freddie Freeman who is good, don't get me wrong, but he bats like Adrian Gonzalez and Gonzo is eight years his senior. It's a team that lacks identity, cohesion, meat in the middle of the lineup, pitching...yeah, we're looking at the bleakest roster in MLB right now. Man, that's depressing, I need something to cheer me up. I know, I'll start a pitcher against their sorry a$$es! Those double dollar signs are me telling you you're gonna rake in the dough starting Francisco Liriano tonight against these #Barves. They are bad and they only get worse when facing a lefty so gear up for a potential banner night for Francisco. But now that we've covered that, we need to move along so let's do this. Here's my nobel prize winning taeks for this Wednesday DK slate...
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday May 23rd 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.
"Hey, I'll take two home runs from Khris Davis and be more than happy. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll take one homer. Gently farting in your direction, Prince Fielder. Three homers? Well that is too much for my little old heart." So began the monologue I told myself in my mirror last night. I was wearing a fedora with a feather in it and no pants. That's added color for you to understand the scene. Then, it was the ninth, the A's in the lead and Davis's night looked over with two homers until. Dot dot dot. Ian Desmond homered off Ryan Madson and sent the game into the bottom of the ninth inning. Khris Davis came up to the plate, bases loaded, already with two homers on his scoresheet, could he hit one more? Could my monologue presented to my reflection come to fruition? Could my neighbors stop screaming for me to put on pants? Yes on all three! Finished the night with 3-for-5, 6 RBIs and three homers (9, 10, 11). I had Davis ranked around eight rounds higher than anyone else because I thought he could easily hit 30 homers in an age when 30 homers doesn't come that easily. Has anything changed since the preseason? Yeah, the date. Dur. I love Khris Davis and right now looks even better than his namelganger, Chris Davis. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
