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We're here just minutes before the trade deadline to recap all the happenings over the last week or so. We have closers changing hands, Travis Shaw moving to second base, and why Grey is excited for Cole Hamels in Chicago. Go back and read that last part is your best "confused" voice. Any time Grey is excited about a starter my (good) eyebrow raises. Not to worry loyal listeners, we quickly get the FML back on brand with a little Rougned Odor love! We round the show out talking promoted prospects like Kolby Allard of the Braves and what I expect from the lefty in his debut. It's another week of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast! As always head over to Rotowear.com and use our Promo-Code SAGNOF to get 20% off the best T-Shirts in fantasy sports!

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Fri 6/6
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | MIN | OAK
Ahmed a guy the other day while I was cruising down the street in my '64. Jacking tha freaks, clocking tha dough. Went to that park....Ha! I met Eazy-E once at the Fox Hills Mall. RIP. Gangsta Muggsy Bogues. Ok, enough silliness. There are 7.4 billion people in the world. So many different experiences and perspectives. I was watching the Korean version of "American Idol" with my mom and just kept thinking that there is so much talent in the world. Some never get discovered or are given the chance to showcase their skills for one reason or another. The same in the baseball world. How many kids get overlooked or just don't have the resources to market themselves? Or how about just walking around the neighborhood? Do people still do that? Here in LA we just drive around cars and ride electric scooters. Anyways, one of the beautiful things about life is that on any random day, in any random place, you can run into a person, thing, or piece of information that has an impact on your day. Well, the other day, Ahmed a player that is 6.8% owned in ESPN leagues and is 79th overall and 7th for his position in home runs hit on the year. Nick Ahmed. Bear or Bull?
This Razzball Commenter Leagues update is going to be a little tricky.  I didn’t think an update last week with only 3 days of games was worth anyone’s time, so I was planning to give you an update of a week plus.  However, our good man Rudy Gamble is vacationing somewhere, no doubt having his afro picked by a scantily clad lady while being hand-fed grapes.  With Rudy away from his number crunching machine, we have no RCL data to analyze and no update to the Master Standings this week. We did get the standings run the Monday following the All-Star Break though, so we can look at those, just know they are a week behind.  Things should be sorted out next week and we still have plenty to talk about this week, like the ‘Perts League action and some trades. So, fear not RCLers, we can and will make due without our precious numbers. Let’s take a look at that and the rest of the week that was, week 17+: Join the 2018-19 Razzball Fantasy Premier League for a chance at prizes! Don’t know about Fantasy Soccer? That’s okay, Smokey is here to walk with you throughout this journey of exploration and an absurd amount of accent marks on player names. So probably hide all your snacks. It’ll be a long journey…
It's a solid slate on Draft.com tonight. There are plenty of mediocre lefties to pick on, as well as a variety of starting pitching options. The most intriguing of those is Kolby Allard, making his big league start. His debut could hardly come in a better spot than facing the Marlins at home. Let's jump in and see what we can build around him. New to Draft.com? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
[brid autoplay="true" video="275229" player="10951" title="Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 18"] Jays traded Roberto Osuna to the Astros for Ken Giles.  Basically, they traded headaches.  If the Jays and Astros wanted to do what was best for baseball, they would have Giles and Osuna step into a steel cage, right at the Canadian border, and whoever was able to get out, that would be who would continue on.  It can have lots of little Canadian touches too, like a maple syrup hazard and scaffolding designed by Bret Hart.  "Giles looks like he's going to escape--Ooh, a Mountie greets him with poutine in the eye.  Would've thought he'd look out for that, but it never o'CURD'd to him."  "Mean" Gene Okerlund with the pun!  I like this trade for both teams.  Your piece of shizz for my piece of shizz.  All trades should be this clearcut.  As for fantasy, Roberto Osuna should take over in Houston when he returns next week, but Hector Rondon had been pitching well (until his last outing).  Might not be Osuna immediately, but I'd imagine he gets in the 9th by his third appearance.  Pretty much same deal with Ken Giles.  Though, there's a lot more emphasis on Ken with Giles.  Ken he?  I don't know, but the Jays also have less desirable options, so I could see Giles getting saves even quicker than Osuna.  In most leagues, I'd grab both.  Or whichever makes it out of the steel cage. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Eric Hosmer is in the first year of an 8-year contract. When the news broke back in February, the general consensus considered this a perplexing deal. It was an extended contract for a team that's three-plus years away from competing. Hosmer will be 31 years old when games start to matter in San Diego, on the downswing of production if he tracks like most players leaving their 20's. I like to deviate from the pack. Part of it is for me to make sure I understand both sides of the argument before subscribing to one. The other part is simply my enjoyment of debate - I like disagreement. This lead me to consider whether backloading the deal actually made the signing significantly more tolerable over the long haul. Hosmer is making $20 million through 2022 and only $13 million for the final three years of his contract. Going inside the mind of A.J. Preller, for this contract to make sense, he'd expect surplus value on Hosmer for the first few years. If dollar-per-WAR estimates say a 1-WAR player is worth around $8 million and Hosmer produces another 3- to 4-WAR season, he would be underpaid for his level of prouduction. Preller can rationalize the back half of the contract by saying Hosmer already produced enough to fulfill the cost incurred. Add in inflation and the likelihood that by the year 2025, a 1-WAR player might be worth around $12-13 million makes it easy to see how this contract isn't terrible. The issues with the above train of logic are apparent, which is why contract evaluation pre-mortem is complex.
Join the 2018-19 Razzball Fantasy Premier League for a chance at prizes! Don't know about Fantasy Soccer? That's okay, Smokey is here to walk with you throughout this journey of exploration and an absurd amount of accent marks on player names. So probably hide all your snacks. It'll be a long journey... Comparing one Elvis iconic season to another is like comparing movies by the icon himself.  SO last season was an unexpected masterpiece, filled with upside from a low risk pick that turned into a 20/20 season.  We will call that on King Creole.  You got value from it, enjoyed it and were hoping for a repeat performance coming into this year.  Welp, you aren't getting it.  The injuries have limited Andrus to just 45 games and about as underwhelming performance that that a 4 homer 4 steal campaign can bring ya.  This is the Harum Scarum season, that when you draft someone like an Elvis Andrus you can get.  There is no surprise to his game, we have been burned by players of his caliber before, and to be quite honest, burned by him after.  So sitting and holding a basket full of Andrus doesn't do much for me moving forward.  I wish it did, because middle infielders with 20/20 seasons are special.  Heck, Trea Turner is on pace for one and given his first round draft grade by a lot of experts and the drafting of him by all the believers...  His 13/24 season is not what we expected, and it all goes back to the unpredictableness of injuries.  Can call, if you did you would be doing something more productive than searching for SAGNOF glory.  You would be in a room with no windows thinking of new ideas for Elon Musk.  So today's SAGNOF piece of advice is another "bury the old steal stat" wit of wisdom.  Strive to be middle of the pack in steals, get accumulators, not dominators.  Too much high draft pick risk and a fall flat on your face risk.  More SAGNOF love in a bit.  Cheers!
Newly returned to the US of A, Donkey Teeth regales the audience with tales of his alleged fishing success. B_Don and DT then cast an eye to the mythical Kingham fish in last week's duel against Steven Matz. Nick Kingham looked more like a minnow than a King Salmon in this one while Matz impressed with a career high, 9 strikeouts. The guys talk about Matz curve and change along with Kingham's change, slider, and rarely used curve. In the pickups segment the guys recommend a slew of relief arms to speculate on, as well as Yonny Chirinos, Lourdes Gurriel, Ryan McMahon, and many more. Tune in, grab your net and scoop some of these studs before they get away.
It's a short-slate Monday in MLB land, with only 9 games on the schedule. But that doesn't stop us hardcore DFS-ers: we're still going to run our beautifully crafted lineups out on Draft. So without further ado, let's get down to the nitty-gritty with a pitcher I strongly recommend you prioritize: Robbie Ray.  New to Draft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
[brid autoplay="true" video="274494" player="10951" title="Fantasy Baseball Buy Sell Hold Week 18"] I try to avoid repeating ledes during the season and Sean Newcomb already had one.  There I said, "It's 2074, Grey Albright's frozen head is on a shelf next to Ted Williams' frozen head...I took a picture of Ted's penis...I'm so romantic!"  Damn, I pull quotes almost as well as I dispense fantasy baseball advice!  By the way, I watched the Ted Williams special on PBS this weekend.  Biggest surprise (to me), he was Mexican.  He was the original Fernandomania -- Teodoromania?  When I searched Ted Williams and his Mom, that dominated the search results and who are we to question Google?  So, Sean Newcomb ended the game one out from a no hitter against the Dodgers, one of the best offense teams -- 8 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.23.  I pulled the reins on Newcomb in the last few weeks because his peripherals are garbage and I'm only happy when I'm pulling reins.  His velocity is down, his 8.3 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 4.32 xFIP are not telling the whole story, but they're telling enough of the story while sitting around a campfire farting.  Then on Sunday, he threw 134 pitches.  I'm all for hypnotizing pitchers into thinking they're Walter Johnson, but he had never pitched more than 111 pitches in the majors.  Solid game on Sunday, but if you grab Newcomb he could leave a mushroom cloud in his wake, and not as in an umami bomb.  Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
When I left Jose Martinez off my Top 100 Hitter rankings earlier in the season people were calling for Grey to take my head. Well maybe this is why I was hesitant: Martinez hasn’t homered since June 30th. Oh wait, let me make that even more shocking -- he hasn’t scored a run since June 30th. He also only has 1 XBH since June 30th. I like JMart, really I do. But we all need to pump our brakes on him. If he keeps up this “pace” -- he’ll find himself just like Eric Hosmer off my Top 100 list and onto Chris Jericho’s list. Cody Bellinger was enjoying a fine season until the end of June too. He had 49 runs, 16 HRs, 40 RBI and even 5 stolen bases with a .832 OPS. Like Martinez, Bellinger’s power has disappeared in this past month. He only has 1 HR and 4 RBI in 90 ABs. You have to wonder if Max Muncy absorbed Bellinger’s power in some Space Jam Monstar style scheme. Bellinger and Martinez owners have to hope that Mike Trout beats the Monstars in Space Slam and gets Bellinger’s powers back. Or would it be Bryce Harper? Mike Trout apparently doesn’t use his personal marketing department enough.
I've gotta say, it's nice to have a full week's worth of games to work with. Last week felt a little like picking nits, and I'm nary a nitpicker. One thing I still would like to see though IS SOME FRIGGIN CALL UPS. It's been quite a while since we've had even a couple of mid-level names like Shane Bieber or Freddy Peralta called up. You haven't really even got any value from uber-prospect Walker Buehler since early June. It would be nice to infuse some new blood into this list, but we do have a fair bit of moving and shaking to discuss. We did see two impressive debuts in back-to-back days for the Cardinals in Daniel Poncedeleon and Austin Gomber. For our purposes however, I don't think there's much there. Poncedeleon was a fine conquistador of the minors, but is a low upside option as a starter and appears to be headed to the pen anyway. The same can likely be said of Gomber with Carlos Martinez supposedly back this week, although he makes for a more interesting starter if they were to stretch him out. There are at least some veterans that have crept on to the back end of the list to mix things up. I mentioned Homer Bailey in yesterday's Two Startapalooza, whose fastball is up to 95 after a couple months on the DL, and he tossed his slider and curve more with good results. I'd like to write up Stroman, but there isn't that much to say. I couldn't tell you the last time he cracked the list, but he's been solid over the last month or so, so despite the total lack of strikeouts he's in the 90's. Unfortunately, Stephen Strasburg is back on the DL (shocker) with neck issues. He returned long enough to torpedo your ratios for a week, so that's nice. Here are some of this week's newcomers, risers, and fallers.