It’s the second-last day of the regular season, and I feel like I’m back at Opening Day, there’s such a smorgasbord of pitchers to roll around in (so to speak): Kluber (vs. the White Sox, $12,000), Scherzer (vs. the Pirates, $10,800), Kershaw at—important couple of letters, those—the Rockies, $9,600), Archer (vs. the Orioles, $9,300). They’re all so famous we need use only their last names. Of the 4 listed here, Kluber will bankrupt you, and I’m leery of Kershaw in Colorado, and also of Archer, given his last outing versus the Orioles, so how about for our very last Saturday <sob> [Sidebar: Thanks for reading, all these weeks! It’s been a slice. Feel free to come hang with me on Twitter and we’ll get through the cold, dark hell of the off-season together], we go old-school with ol’ Blue-Green Eyes and run out Max Scherzer at home versus the Pirates? Let’s look at some more options for our final Fan(Duel)-tasy together.
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Monthly Archives: September 2017
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Prospect Podcast: 2017 End-of-Season Prospect Positional Rankings: First Base
September 30, 2017 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast |by: Halp
I would say the 2017 end-of-season first base prospect rankings are filled with underrated prospects, but to be a first base prospect is to be underrated. Ralph Lifshitz and I attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff in this very hard to separate group, debating Yordan Alvarez vs. Bobby Bradley, Brent Rooker vs. Peter Alonso, and how much power we expect Pavin Smith and Jake Bauers to develop. We both sour on Brendan McKay, and fawn over Nick Pratto. We discuss everyone from Chris Shaw, Ronald Guzman, and Dan Vogelbach, to Edwin Rios, Lewin Diaz, Evan White, Josh Naylor, Cristian Santana, and many more. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 15% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
Bullpen Report: This is the End
September 29, 2017 | Closers, Middle Relievers, SAGNOF | 14 Commentsby: Smokey
Much like the famous Doors song that shares it's name, bullpens are drawing near. (Minus the Oedipus complex that the song explores.) I mean, it may... but that is gross and I don't wanna associate my bullpen goodies to that. Moving on, shall we? This year has been the SAGNOF-fest that we always come to expect. Closers up, closers down. Trades and attrition. It happens every single year and it is the reason why the waiver wire is what it is: So we can get the new third closer for the Twins. The chase for saves never ends, well, I mean it ends for season-long leagues, but for dynasty and keeper leagues, the times never change. Saves are a category. A deeply hated and often cursed at category that will always be debated about. Whether or not to invest earlier picks then normal to get a stud, or just fill in with hope-so's and also rans. There unfortunately is no right or wrong answer because both strategies work as long as you are a waiver goblin. So with the final post of the year, much like the other years that I have done this, we look to next year... This year's counting stats and information don't matter, we want to know what lies on the horizon. So let's find out!
This is it! The last article of the year, the end of the baseball season. I want to thank you, loyal readers for taking time out of your day to read this article every week and hopefully helping you win some contests. There are going to be a lot of players who wind up sitting and there’s going to be a lot of value opening up throughout the day so you must pay attention to all the released lineups. Additionally, many teams, both those with nothing to play for, and those who playoff-bound but are entirely set in terms of playoff positioning, will look to pull their players (both pitchers and position players) at the earliest opportunity. In short, there will be a lot of randomness and it won’t be easy to predict. Although I’m going to try my best to recommend some players and teams that I like today, one general piece of advice I can give is to focus on the teams that still have something to play for - the Red Sox, Brewers, Rockies, and arguably the Indians and Astros. The first three are the only teams we can be fully sure will play their guys as normal. To be honest - if someone showed me a cash lineup today that featured mostly players from the Brewers and Rockies (the Red Sox have a marginally tougher matchup than the other three teams), with only a value or punt play here or there from other teams, I wouldn’t talk that person out of that lineup. I’m not saying for sure it will be the way to go, but both the Brewers and the Rockies have good enough matchups (the Rockies are in Coors too), and both have something to play for, something you can’t say about pretty much every other team.
On to the picks as soon as we start the playoffs...
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Twins Just Got A Painful CarlosCarrascopy
September 29, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 168 Commentsby: Grey
Oh, I get it, it was a C lineup for a team whose B lineup ain't an A lineup. Understood, my dude, don't be rude. *smacks face* No more rhyming and I mean it! Anyone want a peanut? But yesterday showed the flashes of greatness from Carlos Carrasco -- 8 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 14 Ks, ERA at 3.29, and notched 200 IP for the first time in his career -- that he is constantly hinting at, and I don't want to end a sentence with at -- dah! If only he'd stop with the hinting. Paint the corners -- great! Paint a picture of an ace -- super! But we're not playing Pictionary here, stop with the hints! He's 30 years old already. At what point is it no longer what he can do and rather this is who he is? No question mark actually. This is it methinks, I said dressed like a leprechaun. Some amazing starts, some lackluster starts, some random DL stint, some of the parts is greater than whole. Yes, I know I spelled sum wrong, don't make me go back there! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
2019 Dynasty Leagues & Minor League Preview Index
September 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 37 Commentsby: Geoff
Ladies (4-5 of you) & Gentlemen, we are officially in the off-season!!! Please contain your excitement, and use the bags in the front seat pocket should you feel the need to blow chunks. PROSPECTING SEASON HAS RETURNED! Over the coming weeks, and months, you'll be inundated with content to help you prepare for your dynasty prospect drafts, first year player drafts, and keeper/dynasty decisions. We'll start with an update of my Top 100 Prospects, followed by a the 2018 first year player draft ranking, followed by keeper ranks for pitchers and hitters, followed by a very special mock prospects drafts with some of the top prospectors in the industry, and of course my team previews, and corresponding podcasts for all 30 MLB franchises. For all those wondering "followed by" is my "and then". Long story short, there's lots to come. Fear not kind citizen, for this post, the 2018 Minor League Preview Index is your one stop hub for all of our off-season dynasty content. So, bookmark this page, set a google alert, or just keep this page open until April. One way or the other you're going to get all of my offseason brain droppings.
Set Your PVR (Perception Versus Reality): Mind the Gap
September 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell |by: VictoriaB
As the regular season draws to a close, it is with not a little melancholy that Dr. Easy and I bring you one last adventure with the Razzball Season-to-Date Player Rater (STD PR). Thanks for hanging with us for all these weeks! If you take one thing away from this series, it's "next season, use the Razzball Player Rater" (pre-season and during). It's free and it's eye-opening. We thought that for our last post, we’d continue with our look back to the beginning of the season. This time, with the help of the Razzball Pre-Season Player Rater (PS PR), we wanted to check out some of the biggest surprises and biggest disappointments among hitters and pitchers who managed to stay healthy for most of the season (hitters who made it to 500 plate appearances or more; starting pitchers who hurled 100 innings or more). This means we can rank them by the good ol’ Player Rater $ (for previous posts, we’ve used the $/G rubric for players who have missed time due to injury). Where are the biggest differences between the pre-season and now, both positive and negative? Note: With all these players who have surprised big time, we expect a high variation on where they will be drafted next year. We don’t know about you, but we’re generally risk averse: we see big variation and let others take the flyer, unless it’s in the late rounds. Note 2: this is a bit of a selective list; we’ve talked about other big surprises and disappointments like Andrus, Judge, Villar, Cabrera, Upton, and Jose Ramirez, in previous posts.
With their win last night, the Cubs clinched the NL Central division title. That means they'll be rolling with the hangover lineup on Thursday, where almost no regular starters (if any) will be in the lineup. Cardinals starter Lance Lynn won't have to worry about facing Rizzo or Bryant; instead, he'll be going against guys like Mike Freeman. This is an outstanding situation to take advantage of, as Lynn will only cost you $7,100. There's certainly some risk involved, considering Lynn gave up eight earned runs his last time out, but that start was likely just an outlier. As they say, scared money don't make no money, so roll with Lynn as he takes on the barely-sober Cubs.
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Two Missiles By Correa Flashing Scary North Potential
September 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 134 Commentsby: Grey
I had a thought, 30 years ago there was one source for all information, the encyclopedia. If they wanted to make up information, there was no internet to double check anything. *blows dust off an old book, opens Encyclopedia Britannica, turns to Korean War page* "In 1950-something, Carlos Correa tried to unite the Correan peninsula under Communist rool." Now there might be too much information, but 30 years ago, you'd shrug and be like, "I guess you spell rule 'rool,' and rad on Correa. Hey, look, it says here Columbus invented the mammogram." Any hoo! Yesterday, Correa went 4-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 22nd and 23rd homer. He's going to be a tough guy to peg for 2018 fantasy. His power this year is actually solid when you consider he missed six weeks. The lack of steals is disturbing though, if a lack of a fantasy category can be disturbing. I know he's fast, he knows he's fast, but the Astros just refuse to let him run. Three attempts all year is pathetic. If he's a lock for 29 HR, 2 SBs and .290 next year, it's great, but it's not 2nd round great. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
My fantasy baseball advice is kinda like a banana. Three-quarters of it are sweet, sweet deliciousness, while the end bit is the devil's asshole. We've had a strong season together, but since this is our final week of DFS, what better way to go out with a whimper than by recommending Clayton Richard! You point and I'll laugh at the idiot (me). Actually, y'know what, this may not be such a noodle scratcher after all. Did you know Richard has created a ground ball rate of 70% or more four times this season? That's more than Corey Kluber and Chris Sale combined! Anyways, Richard faces Rich Hill in a lefty-lefty free-for-all in LA tonight. He's a cheap option ($7,400) on a night where either Justin Verlander or Luis Severino will cost you the blood of your first born son. Here's who else I like on our final fine Wednesday together:
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*fumbles with an envelope, Hillary Swank stands next to me, watching on, embarrassed for me* And the Teoscar goes to...Teoscar Hernandez! Hillary Swank leans into the microphone, "Well, he was the only one nominated." Ugh, totally unnecessary Swank! I should've pointed out how she was checking out Hugh Jackman's wife the entire time on stage. I picked up Teoscar before yesterday's game for the runs because he was leading off, I never expected such a windfall of gorge. He went 2-for-5, 4 RBIs with his 6th and 7th homer in only his 73rd at-bat. That's 20 hits total for him, with seven going gonzo. This is better than Million Dollar Baby! Yeah, I hope Hillary Swank's Google alerts are going bizzonkers today. Not ready to announce my love for Teoscar for next year, I am more of an IFP Spirit Awards guy, but you have to grab Teoscar for these final days. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 25
September 26, 2017 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 19 Commentsby: MattTruss
It’s hard to believe there’s only one week to go in the Razzball Commenter Leagues. This marathon of a season has seen us torture ourselves for 25 long weeks, agonizing over batty calls, dipping into the streamers with mixed results, cursing players and praising others. We’ve ignored our families, our jobs and our personal hygiene and now it all comes down to the final week. You may smell like stale Funyuns, but dagummit, that virtual fantasy trophy is all yours! Speaking of trophies, Returning Champ all but sealed is overall championship this week. When you’re already the #1 team in the Master Standings and then you go out and win Team of the Week honors in the second to last week of the season. Well, that is just the clutchiest of the clutch moves right there. Last week Returning Champ held a 2.9 point lead over Cram It, this week that lead is up to 5.7 points. Those numbers don’t even take into account that as of Monday morning, Returning Champ hit 119 league points. Last year saw the first perfect score in the RCLs when Team Levy hit 120. Until that time the highest league score had been 119, set by the Rank Railheads back in 2012. Both Team Levy and Rank Railheads were in leagues with an LCI of 98, so Returning Champ has his league’s 101 LCI working for him. Unfortunately, Returning Champ will have no shot at a perfect score since one of the teams in The Giant and the Jew has hit all the home runs. Hot Ham Water currently has 390 HRs to Returning Champ’s 329. 329 is good enough for 2nd in the category, but unless Giancarlo wallops 60 dingers this week, 119 will be the best Returning Champ can muster. That should still be plenty good enough to take home the overall championship. Come along, there’s plenty more about Returning Champ and the rest of the week that was, week 25:
