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[player]Alex Reyes[/player] is the guy that's going to be the difference maker on my points league teams this season. Well, except in any league where any of my opponents read this post. If I'm thinking outside of my "points league box", he has the potential to make a difference in all fantasy formats this season. I see him as a mid-season sleeper that's going to take up a roster spot for at least one or two before you have a chance to see if holding him will pay any dividends. This is a risk I am willing to take, and is one I'm recommending to the rest of you.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Sun 5/18
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
In an incredible turn of events, I’ve done all the infield 2018 fantasy baseball rankings.  Less incredible, you’ve read them.  It’s like that time your favorite team won because they played better than that other team but you convinced yourself they won because you cheered loudly.  When I win the Fantasy Baseball Blogger of the Millennial in 2099, and my frozen head is accepting the award, I’m going to thank you, the readers, but I’m secretly going to be thanking myself.  Without me, none of this would be possible.  You’re a close second though!  Okay, enough ranking you and me, let’s rank some outfielders!  Last year, there was one outfielder I said I didn’t want in the top 20, Carlos Gonzalez.  This year, well, let’s save it for the post!  All my projections are listed by the players and where I see tiers starting and stopping.  Anyway, here's the top 20 outfielders for 2018 fantasy baseball:
What could be more exciting than an entire Fantasy Baseball Podcast dedicated to the catching position? Who doesn't want to own more catchers? Okay, okay, so I'm laying it on thick, but thick is the new thin, not sure if you heard. Low key thickness aside, January Grey or Anime Grey, not sure which Grey I'm getting, but either way our hero returns for another week of in depth fantasy baseball discussion. We fawn over Gary Sanchez, discuss JT Realmuto vs. Willson Contreras, breakdown Buster Posey's value, and talk up Salvador Perez's sleeper status amongst the top tier at the position. But it's the recent "Evan Gattis is a full-time DH with catcher eligibility" story-line that hangs over the podcast like a storm cloud, eliciting reactions from us intermittently. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
The top 20 3rd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball ends the infield rankings for 2018.  I say, Amed to that!  Rosario, specifically.  With the end of the infield rankings, we can get a bigger picture, uh, picture on depth of each position.  I call this segment of the program, The Fantastically Flexible File on Marwin Gonzalez.  Or The Marvelous Mr. Marwin, if Jeff Bezos is reading.  Since Marwin's got more eligibility than a guy who lives in his mom's basement and has a cat named Kylo, let's look at where he is in each ranking.  For the top 20 1st baseman for 2018 fantasy baseball, he was ranked 30th, for the top 20 2nd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball, he was ranked 22nd, for the top 20 shortstops for 2018 fantasy baseball, he was ranked 20th, and here he's 24th.  Clearly, the infield positions from deepest to shallowest are:  1B, 3B, 2B, and SS.  Marwin, you illuminating mother!  Any hoo!  My projections are noted for every player and all positions are at the 2018 fantasy baseball rankings.  By the hoo, Rudy has all his 2018 rankings up on the Preseason Player Rater.  Anyway, here's the top 20 3rd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball:
As I sit here and awake from my winter's hibernation, I search for and do only the essentials.  Gold chain, check.  I also tell myself that the transition from Fantasy Soccer to Fantasy Baseball will be as easy as riding a bike.  But you forget, I'm a bear.  Nonetheless, here we are fantasy folks and four female folkers.  Baseball 2018 is already in high gear with posts from the usual gaggle, and as always my contribution is at the back-end of ball games.  Namely saves, holds, and relief pitchers that have intrinsic mixed league value and individual league value heading into the draft stages of this new and bright year. So keeping it simple, I formed a chart that will be included it in every week's post that will have the bullpen pictures of all MLB teams, updating it with every sleeper or bullpen post... because I am a giver.  That and who knows what will happen in the forthcoming weeks that may skew the dynamics of the bullpens around the fantasy world?  Once Grey starts doing his pitcher rankings, I will then drop my own rankings in  proper fashion.  Til then, sit back relax, ask questions about almost anything relating to bullpens or closers, as I will gladly be here as always for my ninth season here at Razzball.  So it is with pleasure that I can bring you the first bullpen related post of the year.  Individual closer and reliever posts are on the way. Enjoy!
So far we've (I've) gone over the top 10 for 2018 fantasy baseballtop 20 for 2018 fantasy baseballtop 20 catchers for 2018 fantasy baseballtop 20 1st basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball and the top 20 2nd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball.  Sure, I could've just said here's the 2018 fantasy baseball rankings, but if you're gonna clickbait, you gotta go full bait.  Last year, I was drooling about the top 20 shortstops; this year, well, I like a few of them.  Lowercase yay!  How'd it go from a deep position to shallow in one year, especially a year after a huge offensive outburst?  I have some theories, but they all involve the Illuminati, so I can't talk about them.  With each player is my projections and where I see tiers starting and stopping.  Anyway, here's the top 20 shortstops for 2018 fantasy baseball:
Over the past few off-seasons one of the most unpleasant tasks was writing up the Los Angeles Angels farm system. They didn't just lack depth, they lacked sizzle, spice, anything naughty or nice. I mean it was the dregs of the minor league ranks, a 30 grade in both ways you could take it. I'm not going to blame the reign of Jerry DiPoto, but take a look at the Mariners. They're the new Angels. As for the Angels they've added some exciting talents over the last three seasons, culminating in the signing of the most hyped Japanese player since Masahiro Tanaka. In fact, since June the Angels have added three of their top four prospects, and you could make an argument that they secured the services of the best Free Agent in Shohei Ohtani, best prep hitter in Jo Adell, and the best international hitter of the past two July 2nd periods in the emancipated Kevin Maitan. It's an interesting mix, with some up and coming talents that showed some spark in 2017. They still lack depth, and players like Taylor Ward and Nonie Williams have struggled to meet expectations, leaving the two areas of need, middle infield and catcher, further exposed. The system is a work in progress, but just another strong draft and signing period from being a top system. It's the Los Angeles Angels Top Prospects.
Who doesn't love the upside of a power bat in Colorado? Over the years some of the best breakouts, values, and production has come from the Rockies minor league ranks. The cushy parks throughout the several levels of the Colorado minors help to inflate many of their prospects statlines, not all that different from the organizational Mecca in Denver. The other side of this setup, is they shellshock their pitchers at a young age. I guess this is to get them over the ticks and anxiety attacks that come with pitching your home games at an elevated altitude. By design or not, we go through all of the top talents in the system with the help of Prospects1500.com's Michael Parnell. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
Recently, I had the honor of participating in an industry expert post-winter meeting mock draft hosted by Scott White of CBS Sports. My strategy was simple: try not to embarrass myself and The Razz Brand. Outside of one controversial pick that was pointed out by White over on his site for the most part I’d say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. See if you can spot that pick! Here are the fantasy baseball luminaries I got to spend my Friday afternoon with:
  1. Ya boy, Razzball
  2. Ralph Lifshitz, Razzball
  3. Scott White, CBS Sports
  4. Justin Mason, FanGraphs
  5. Jeff Tobin, CBS Sports
  6. Lawr Michaels, Creativesports
  7. Jeff Zimmerman, FanGraphs
  8. Tim McLeod, Patton & Co
  9. Lance Brozdowski, BigThreeSports.com
  10. Chris Towers, CBS Sports
  11. Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports
  12. Adam Aizer, CBS Sports
Before we get into the top 20 2nd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball, let's go bobbing for clickbait.  Here's my top 10 for 2018 fantasy baseballtop 20 for 2018 fantasy baseball, top 20 catchers for 2018 fantasy baseball and the top 20 1st basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball. So, without further hubbub on the tomfoolery, the top 20 2nd basemen were shallow like how Altuve likes his pool water as recently as three years ago, then bounced back two years ago, then were drowning in a puddle last year.  So, what about this year?  Thanks for the expository segue!  As always, my projections are included and I mention where I see tiers starting and stopping.  Anyway, here's the top 20 2nd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball:
It’s baseball season, long-lost Razzball friends! Okay, fantasy baseball season. Okay, fantasy baseball drafting season. Okay, fantasy baseball drafting season for fantasy baseball writers and mildly disturbed folk who couldn’t make it through the first day of 2018 without entering into a fantasy baseball draft (proud to count myself a member of both of those elite groups, thank you very much). Drafting the first week of January feels downright crazy. Well, is downright crazy. Projecting stats takes on a new layer of complication right now with such a ridiculous number of draftable players unsigned, and it’s trickier than ever trying to guess how fellow owners might be valuing players. I recently completed my first official fantasy baseball draft of the year, and found my instinct taking over regularly, leading me to impulsively click on a name which was far below other, higher-ranked names on my tidy little spreadsheet, simply because I had a gut feeling. Sure, we could call it women’s intuition, if we wanted to sound like we were writing this article in 1978. (As it turns out, there are studies that support some version of women’s intuition being a biological reality, due to the fact that females are exposed to less testosterone in the womb, which leads to an extra “sense.” Google if bored). “What’s the point, lady??!” you ask...
I have to keep this short, because after the jump is going to be the longest post you've ever seen in your life.  How do I know all the posts you've seen to compare this one to?  Because I'm sitting behind you.  *waves*  Hey!  I've given you the top 10 for 2018 fantasy baseball, top 20 for 2018 fantasy baseball and top 20 catchers for 2018 fantasy baseball.  All projections included are mine, and where I see tiers starting and stopping are included.  Let's do this!  Anyway, here's the top 20 1st basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball: