So I took a catcher with my first pick in the draft. I'm not one to bury the lead, plus you're intrigued, no? Whether you stick around to understand my point of view or to ridicule me, you stick around the same. So before we go into my wild dynasty adventure, why don't I do you the courtesy of explaining what exactly I'm talking about. The Rotowire Dynasty Invitational!!! It's in the title, stupid. In case you were wondering what any of those words mean. First it's not a Golf Tournament, though I hear Green Jackets could perhaps be involved. It's actually a new dynasty league organized by the fair, handsome and illustrious James Anderson of Rotowire. Dynasty lesson numero uno muchacho, always talk about your commissioner in glowing terms. When you finally sucker some poor schlub into sending you Mike Trout for a washed up prospect, a back end of the rotation arm, and a kid with a name you can't spell, who can't legally buy tobacco products in Utah, you're going to need that guy. So James approve my trades, I'll say nice things. Deal? Moving on, this is a 20 team dynasty league organized by Mr. Anderson and comprised of some of the top names in prospects, dynasty, and just fantasy in general. Also the guy that played George Washington in Turn: Washington's Spies. Don't worry, I refer to him as "The General" 100% of the time. Anything less would be uncivilized. Plus little known fact, George Washington is my spirit animal. We both have wooden teeth!
Monthly Archives: January 2018
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Trevor Williams, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
January 8, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 118 Commentsby: Grey
This is my answer track to my Masahiro Tanaka sleeper. If that sleeper was on the shallow side, this is the polar opposite. As the Guru once said, this post is for leagues that are deep and much too complicated. Guru from Gang Starr, not Guru who used to write for this site. It's funny how I came upon Trevor Williams. Not haha funny, because I'm not a clown. For our five lady readers, do you know the benefit of having sex with a clown? He can take the condom afterwards and make balloon animals. Any hoo! I noticed Trevor Williams when I was looking for Trevor Bauer. I told you, funny! That means, up next for a sleeper post, Ted Williams! Then I will talk about a Williams and Sonoma catalog. What's that, you love Trevor Bauer and want to talk about him? #Metoo. I'm not using that right, am I? Carry on, Grey! Carry on! If Trevor Williams were just, say, Trevor Williams who we never want to talk about, and not Trevor Williams who I want to talk about, we still wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for this one little stat: 21.5. What is this 21.5 that I speak of? Soon answers will be revealed like the last five minutes of Law & Order. Clang-clang. So, what can we expect from Trevor Williams for 2018 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
2018 Houston Astros Minor League Preview
January 7, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 63 Commentsby: Geoff
The champ is here! The champ is here! Step aside, step aside y'all, we're dancing into the winner's circle to profile the top prospects of the World Series Champion Houston Astros. To say the Astros have built a winner through their astute drafting and international prowess is an understatement. Players like Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Alex Bregman, and Lance McCullers all were developed in house, and plenty of additional homegrown talent was shipped out to reinforce the MLB club for the stretch run. So this is definitely a different system than the one profiled by yours truly over the last couple of offseasons. With a slew of graduations and trades, there's a collection of high end talents from 1-4, followed by some above average high minors types, a handful of talented international lottery tickets, and a plethora of hard-throwing pen types. Houston seems to tread between a bunch of labels when it comes to pinpointing the best way to describe the system, but the most apt description is a good player development organization that needs to restock in the 2018 draft and international signing period. Without further ado it's the Houston Astros Top Prospects.
Prospect Podcast: 2018 Chicago White Sox Top Prospects
January 6, 2018 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 32 Commentsby: Geoff
It's the all blizzard podcast, as Lance and I dig out from a foot plus of snow. We took a quick break from shoveling to geek out over the very exciting Chicago White Sox Top Prospects. We jump right in with Eloy Jimenez, and a deeper discussion of just how good he can be. Next up is Michael Kopech, and a discussion of the improvements to his mechanics, and secondaries since the middle part of 2017. We then dive into Luis Robert, Dylan Cease, Zack Collins, Dane Dunning, and Jake Burger, before getting into a bigger discussion of some of these DH-Type hitters in the system. We hit the high points, the low points, and stop for a couple of Chi-Town dogs and an Italian beef before it's all said and done. 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:
Masahiro Tanaka, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
January 5, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 150 Commentsby: Grey
Honestly, I don't know how much of a sleeper Masahiro Tanaka is going to be in 2018. I'm writing these posts without a ton of draft data. You down with ADP? No, actually, I'm not, and you know me. My guess is Tanaka will be drafted between 100-130 overall. There's value to be had with that draft spot. If people start hyping him and his splits (which I'll get to), then Tanaka's going to zoom past the point of sleeper. I imagine in a lot of friendly leagues where people show up the day of the draft because it's the only time they get away from their families, who they not-so-secretly despise, Tanaka will be a relative bargain. And by 'relative bargain' I don't mean the cousin who is living with you who you tried to sell on the Darknet. Tanaka will have the Yankee inflation even in those leagues, so he's not going to be as cheap as his last year 4.74 ERA should have him. Then, in quote-unquote smarter leagues, Tanaka might be drafted in the top 90 overall because in those leagues people want to prove how much more they know than their leaguemates so they push up a guy like Tanaka on draft boards. In most leagues, however, people will know Tanaka has a tendon issue, they'll know he had a wretched first half last year (I promise I'll get to the 2nd half), and they'll know there's safer guys while not wanting to prove anything to anyone by drafting Tanaka early. In those leagues, Tanaka should come at a relative bargain. Again, not the cousin you put on Darknet's eBay. So, what can we expect from Masahiro Tanaka for 2018 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Blake Snell, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
January 4, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 71 Commentsby: Grey
The Rays pitching could be excellent this year. Chris Archer is due for a positive correction; Jacob Faria might take the next step; I've always liked Jake Odorizzi; Matt Andriese is underrated; Jose De Leon is ready, willing and maybe healthy; I've already told you why my Brent Honeywell fantasy includes heart emojis and unicorns, in that order; I can't wait for Jose Mujica to be promoted just so I can say, "Mujica Eff Yeah!" and Nathan Eovaldi...Well, he'll likely still be crap. Yet, the best one of those bunch could be Blake Snell. Last year in 129 1/3 IP, his record was 5-7/4.04/1.33/119. *turns computer upside down, turns head sideways, puts Instagram filter on stats, looks at stats in mirror* Okay, any way you look at those stats their not gorge. The 4.04 ERA is particularly vexing when you look at it in different ways because it's a palindrome. However, the 911 strikeouts is no joke. Booooooooi!!! By the way, leave it to the Rays to keep Snell trapped in the minors for six years when he's looked ready for the last four. If Snell were on the Tigers, he would likely be in his fifth major league season, on his 2nd major league team and would've won a Cy Young by now. So, what can we expect from Blake Snell for 2018 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Luis Castillo, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
January 3, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 126 Commentsby: Grey
In a post last year titled, Good Luck Storming The Castillo In 2018 Drafts, I wrote, "Watching Luis Castillo is officially an ASMR trigger. *insert onomatopoeia of satisfied exhale, picks up invisible fork and knife, mimes cutting up satisfied exhale, eats exhale* Do you see how Castillo’s got me? I’m eating satisfied exhales. Can I write the 2018 fantasy baseball sleeper post right now for Luis Castillo? TFW you see Castillo: Insert Oprah’s o face around Gayle King. CASTILLO MAKING ME CRAZY! And not eating sugar for six days isn’t helping. This Whole30 Diet got me like: insert crazy-googly eyes. I got Biggie Smalls eyes right now. *smacks face* Be coherent, Grey! Sorry, about that. Luis Castillo's surface perfs: 9.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 3.40 xFIP, averages 98 MPH, and now I’m lightheaded again. Okay, need to save something for his 2018 sleeper post." And that's me quoting me! So, guess what this is? The Luis Castillo sleeper post. Frank Voila! Am I little concerned he's not really a sleeper anymore? Yeah, he's being drafted a little high. He might only be a sleeper, if everyone in your league is actually asleep. So, what can we expect from Luis Castillo for 2018 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Recently, I rather foolishly rekindled my interest in baseball cards. It was a cheap ploy under the Christmas Tree to spark my sons' interest in not only a boyhood hobby of mine, but also to maybe teach them something about the game I love. To my oldest, age 7, I gifted a 1976 O-Pee-Chee Mike Schmidt, one of my all-time favorite players, and the fake autograph in my very first baseball mitt, courtesy of the good folks at Franklin. To my youngest son, age 2, it was an obvious choice. His first name is Nolan, and despite the hall of fame trajectory of one Mr. Arenado, for now at least, there is only one true King of House Nolan. That is Nolan Ryan, father of flames, bringer of whiffs, first of both his first names. All this to say, I bought him a 1979 Nolan Ryan. Which features my favorite Nolan Ryan, Angels Nolan Ryan. When you write your own fantasy articles you can have your favorite Nolan Ryan. You could go baby Nolan Ryan, Mets Nolan Ryan, Astros Nolan Ryan, Rangers Ryan, Cowboy Ryan, Executive Ryan, the possibilities are endless! Hell, you can picture Nolan Ryan singing lead for Skynyrd in front of an Angels band! Can you tell I dabbled in more of Aunt Sierra's medicated brownies? They were leftover from Christmas, and technically I hadn't eaten any this year. Anyway, where I'm all going with this is, my fascination with Nolan Ryan stems from two places. First, RBI baseball circa O.G. Nintendo 1988. Second, my best friend's dad had a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card, and it was one of the coolest rookie cards I had ever seen. It was particularly unusual to a child of the late 80's - early 90's card era, because it was a dual player card. He shared the card with Jerry Koosman, a lefty that won over 200 games with a 3.36 ERA over a 19 year MLB career. Drawing inspiration from this co-inhabited card, I decided to to do a dual 2018 Dynasty Sleeper post with a couple of Phillies pups I'm currently crushing on. A pair of teenage phenoms, outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, and righthanded pitching prospect Francisco Morales. Check the artwork below, major props to Kenneth Cashman! Rotowear.com!
Michael Wacha, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper
January 1, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 85 Commentsby: Grey
I've been focusing a lot on hitters so far with my 2018 fantasy baseball sleepers (clickbait). This is not by design. Hanging in my kitchen, an Elvis clock that keeps time by swiveling its hips and a poster of a cat making sushi, so I can call that room my "kitsch-en," that's by design. We need to find cheap pitchers who will return a better ROI just as much as cheap hitters. By the way, ROI is the douchiest thing I've ever written on Razzball, and I tried to make "Potatoes to chips" a thing for five years. Though, potatoes to chips, I kinda want to own Michael Wacha in every league. You can look at his 12-9 record with a 4.13 ERA and balk, but Steve Carlton had a shizzton of balks, so is this a bad thing? Not to answer, but to ruminate while sipping a pamplemousse La Croix. This isn't even about the Cardinals making explosive players out of duds, i.e., making dynamite out of nitric acid and a manifesto. There's one word females aren't trying to gender neutralize, huh? You don't hear anyone complaining it's not personifesto or even womanifesto. Sure, leave us white men with the crap words! Now, that I've mansplained manifesto... What can we expect from Michael Wacha for 2018 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
