Categories, eligibility and speed. These are the things that dictate where I rank hitters. Categories: A guy who contributes in all 5 categories is going to be ranked higher than someone who contributes in only 4 -- even if those 4 categories are elite. That’s why I’m a bit lower on J.D. Martinez and Nolan Arenado compare to other people. Eligibility: obviously guys with multiple position eligibility or a shallower position will be ranked higher than say an outfielder. “Then why aren’t you higher on catchers?” Because after the top-2 catchers they’re basically all the same and likely to miss time. Speed: the most elusive of 5x5 categories. If you can give me at least 10 steals I’m going to give you a boost in my rankings. That’s why I’m higher on someone like Tommy Pham than others. If Trea Turner gets the 75-80 stolen base attempts that the Nationals want him to get then he has the chance to end the season as a top-3 player.
See all of today’s starting lineups
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ATH | ATL | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | LAA | MIL | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | TEX | TOR | WSH | ARI | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | KC | LAD | MIA | MIN | NYM | OAK | SF | STL | TB |
The era of sports betting took a dramatic turn in May 2018. The US Supreme Court overturned a 1992 federal law that prohibited sports gambling across every state except Nevada. With this monumental ruling, the door swung wide open for sports betting in the United States. Major League Baseball must have been reading the tea leaves before the court's ruling...
It's that time of the year to talk about everyone's favorite topic, rebuilding! The Detroit Tigers are in full rebuild mode and likely will be for the next two to three seasons. The front office claims they want to compete in 2020 but progress is a slow process in Detroit. The most exciting thing to happen for Tigers fans last season was trying to decipher what happened during the fight between local broadcasters Mario Impemba and Rod Allen. Miguel Cabrera DH and friends lost 98 games last year and finished 3rd in a weak AL Central, which boasts a few other rebuilding teams with high expectations this year (looking at you Twins and White Sox.) I'm going to keep writing DH every time I type Miguel Cabrera until it becomes true. Thoughts become things. Did you know Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez, and David Price were once on this team? Of course you did, but I have to mention it or someone in the comments will say "I can't believe you didn't mention they used to have JV, JD, and David?!"
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Imagine I wore glasses. Don't, but imagine I did. Okay, sometimes I do, but usually I wear contacts. So, I'm wearing glasses and I'm Burgess Meredith and there's no one else in the world besides me. I finally have time to read about sports, specifically news about the New York Yankees. Why Yankees news? I don't know, but imagine it! I'm humming New York, New York, and reading about the Yanks, when DJ LeMahieu signs with the Yankees. Just as I'm reading where the Yankees plan on playing him, my glasses fall and shatter. Since no one else is in this world, I'm doomed to never know where LeMahieu will play when Didi returns. Unable to read anything again, I scream, "Giancarl-NOOOOOOOO!!!" That's what it feels like. I'm in some weird Twilight Zone episode where I'm the only one who heard DJ LeMahieu signed with the Yankees. Y'all hear about this or no? I'd even accept, "Giancarl-no." Okay, assuming you people -- yeah, you people! -- heard about this signing, where is Gleyber Torres playing when Gregorius returns in June/July? 2nd base? Okay, is LeMahieu never playing again? Because, at last glance, LeMahieu stays fairly healthy. Are you thinking Miguel Andujar is benched? Hmm, okay, what if he's not? Luke Voit's benched? Okay, maybe, maybe not. A giant five-man platoon for four infield spots? I know Tulowitzki has a tattoo that reads, "Fra-jeel-lay," but what if he's healthy? A six-man platoon for four spots? Gleyber Torres is really going to get 155+ games played? Not to answer, but to ruminate. So, what can we expect from Gleyber Torres for 2019 fantasy baseball and what makes him overrated?
A busy week of baseball with the Padres signing Manny Machado, College Baseball in full swing, and spring training games kicking off this weekend. There's lots to talk about. In hopes of getting you up to speed on all the happenings, injuries, and story lines of the first week of baseball, we run through 9 days worth of action in 60 minutes. We're just that fast! (That's what she unfortunately said) As Lance is fresh off his West Coast road trip, and I’ve been sitting in my basement watching Grand Canyon University play, rambling about nothing. Regardless, lots of baseball to talk, and that’s what we’re giving you. More baseball! It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Prospect Podcast!
It's probably safe to say that there won't be many more offseason trades going down. It's also safe to say that I've destroyed the SEO filter with that title. About this time, I need to go back and write up the prospects that got traded to teams that have already had their minor league previews published. This way, no prospect falls through the cracks into the abyss of nothingness, also known as the pit of noblurbaboutmeness. There usually aren't a ton of these guys, and I try to limit it to the ones that aren't totally obscure. That said, I'm sure I'll miss a couple, so hit me up in the comments for a quick take on anybody I don't mention below. This year it's all about the Mariners, who've added four top ten prospects since their preview was released.
I wanted to apply some math to Francisco Lindor's injury and discuss some options as you head into your drafts... With a strained calf, Lindor is projected to miss 7-9 weeks, retroactive to on or about February 8th. This means that the Indian's shortstop will miss valuable Spring Training time and Opening Day. (He is projected to be back on the field at the earliest, mid-April.)
Edwin Diaz is an amazing pitcher. His fastball averages 98 mph, while his changeup is faster (94 mph) than the fastball of most MLB pitchers. The swinging strike rate was an absurd 18.9% last season while the K/9 was 15.22! He saved 57 games for the Seattle Mariners last season. Yet, he's getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdrafted this year. The current NFBC ADP is the 48th overall player!! That's insanity. Since you read Razzball, you all know about SAGNOF, but just in case ED was giving you some tingly Viagra sensations, let me stop the flow of blood and get some more oxygen into the brain. First of all, the 2018 season for ED was one of epic historic proportions. Only one other pitcher in the history of MLB, Francisco Rodriguez in 2008, posted a season with more saves when he notched 62. There have only been 17 instances in which a reliever notched at least 50 saves in one season. Only Mariano Rivera and Eric Gagne were able to be on the list twice. So, the chances of ED replicating last season are very slim. If that didn't convince you, how about the fact that he got traded from Seattle to the New York Mets. Last season, Seattle produced the most save opportunites in the league with 81. The Mets were 21st with only 59 save opportunities. In 2017, Seattle produced 65 SVO, while the Mets produced 54. Unless you think the Mets will be over .500 this season, fewer than 60 save chances seem to be in the works. That's a far cry from the 81 ED had last year. Rudy has ED down for 65 innings and 35 saves. Rudy also has Blake Treinen, Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, and Aroldis Chapman all down for 35 saves. ADP for those guys are 61, 74, 68, and 77 respectively. Raisel Iglesias, who is projected for 30 saves, has an ADP of 102. TRASH
Raise your hand if you have ever made a fart noise with your armpit. Now raise your other hand if you've ever laughed at someone else making fart noises with their armpit(s). Notice I made the word armpit potentially plural since there are many that can do this with both armpits. Not at the same time of course. These people are referred to as being "armpitfartidextrous". If you currently do not have any hands raised, please close your browser because you are either not being honest or are not going to enjoy my flavor of humor. If you have never heard of an armpit fart, then technically you should have closed your browser and should not be reading this, but if you've ignored my instructions and are still here, then watch this dude.
Welcome fantasy baseball aficionados to my first Razzball article. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going over things like streaming strategies and how to win a Yahoo Pro League but we’re going to start by introducing some bounce-back candidates. Finding bounce-backs is one of the keys to being successful in fantasy baseball, as that can make an average team an elite one. That’s one of the major reasons why I drafted Trevor Story last season. Looking at his peripheral statistics from a disappointing 2016-17 season and factoring that in with his ballpark and price made him one of the best values (RD 8-9) in drafts last year. He’s all the way up to the second round this season and finding a guy who can have that sort of jump is critical in building your team. The main goal here is to draft someone who will outplay their price tag and these candidates are all in fantastic situations to do just that.
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*places an order on Amazon for a megaphone, goes with the free shipping option, waits three to five days, sits outside the door for shipment, begins to rain, yells for Cougs to hand me an umbrella, shakes head annoyed when she hands me a drink umbrella, on the fifth day, the megaphone arrives, opens box, groans, heads out to CVS for some batteries for my new megaphone, buys batteries, unable to wait any longer, places batteries in megaphone while inside the CVS, grimaces at feedback, then cackles into megaphone for ten minutes straight until escorted out of the store* I am ordering megaphones to laugh into because it's so hilarious I am writing an overrated post for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Can we all agree that at least 30% of the people drafting Vlad "The Mini Impaler" are doing it because they have so much FOMO after Ronald Acuña Jr. last year? Maybe even 50% or more are drafting Impaler Jr. due to FOMO. Even ESPN and Yahoo are ranking Vlad for that FOMO factor. Yo, Yahoo and ESPN, you can't make up for Mr. Bungling Acuña last year with your ranking for VGJ this year. You just can't. By the way, I wanna see a show on MTV called The FOMO Factor hosted by Ludacris, and it's the worst show ever but everyone on the show feared it was going to be the best show. Anyway, what can we expect from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for 2019 fantasy baseball and what makes him overrated?
I grew up playing 720 Degrees by Atari. If any of you are unfamiliar with the game, you skate around, collect money for doing tricks, and try to earn enough tickets to enter a skate park. The best part of the game was when the timer would run out when you weren't in an event, and a swarm of bees would chase you down while a narrator would narrate, "SKATE OR DIE!!" in a menacing narrator voice. Fast forward to 2019, and skate or die has been replaced with ride or die with scooters. I have to admit. Riding the electric scooter is fun, and in a city like Los Angeles, it's very useful.
Side sociological observation: While they are prevalent in most places, drive to the hood and you won't find too many. Hmmmm. Anyways, besides the "shit they leave behind," as Grey so eloquently described them in his
Top 20 2nd Basemen, the electric scooters have become very dangerous. There have been hundreds of injuries and even three fatalaties. Yikes. But this is a fantasy website, so I'm going to talk about a different scooter, as in
Scooter Gennett. Do we ride or die with him in 2019?
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