Welcome to the 2020 Razzball Team Previews! (Our “2020” comes with more Jay and less Barbara Walters!) (That joke is probably older than you!) Sorry for all the parentheses and exclamation points, I just get so excited when I think about Barbara Walters, and don’t even get me started on Hugh Downs… Regardless, here, you’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season, Razz-style. So while you’re stretching your lats and relearning calculus to get that upper hand on your fantasy peers, why not also check out what the Los Angeles Traders have in store for you and your fantasy team?
2019 Recap
Final Record: 106-56
Runs Scored: 886 (1st)
Runs Against: 613 (1st)
SB: 57 (11th)
ERA: 3.37 (1st)
Saves: 44 (6th)
Strikeouts: 1519 (3rd)
Strengths – What isn’t a strength on this team? They were first in runs, fourth in homeruns with with a league-best ERA. If that wasn’t enough (I guess it wasn’t, but yeah, Astros…) the Dodgers spent this offseason being gluttons, doing it all for the Mookie (Betts) along with adding David Price to the rotation in the lauded trade nearly a month ago. They are once again favorites to win the division and can be considered a World Series contender.
Weaknesses – I really have no idea. I like everything on this team. Even the bench, with super-platooner Joc Pederson is pretty strong. I guess you could argue Betts might not adjust well enough from Fenway’s park effects, but I don’t want to have to spend time to make that argument. Mostly because there would probably be at least five Michael Bloomberg ads involved.
Projected Lineup
| Role | Player | G | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mookie Betts | 150 | 0.280 | 32 | 87 | 112 | 17 | 0.371 | 0.516 | 0.887 |
| 2 | Max Muncy | 136 | 0.241 | 29 | 79 | 81 | 4 | 0.355 | 0.467 | 0.822 |
| 3 | Justin Turner | 139 | 0.281 | 26 | 85 | 87 | 3 | 0.365 | 0.488 | 0.853 |
| 4 | Cody Bellinger | 150 | 0.287 | 42 | 116 | 100 | 12 | 0.386 | 0.584 | 0.970 |
| 5 | Corey Seager | 141 | 0.279 | 23 | 81 | 82 | 2 | 0.349 | 0.479 | 0.828 |
| 6 | A.J. Pollock | 80 | 0.254 | 14 | 45 | 44 | 6 | 0.315 | 0.447 | 0.762 |
| 7 | Will Smith | 98 | 0.225 | 20 | 55 | 47 | 3 | 0.304 | 0.441 | 0.745 |
| 8 | Gavin Lux | 130 | 0.267 | 17 | 65 | 62 | 9 | 0.329 | 0.438 | 0.767 |
Projected Bench
| Pos | Player | G | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | Joc Pederson | 100 | 0.256 | 27 | 66 | 68 | 3 | 0.346 | 0.536 | 0.882 |
| OF | Chris Taylor | 64 | 0.244 | 7 | 29 | 32 | 4 | 0.318 | 0.406 | 0.724 |
| MI | Enrique Hernandez | 61 | 0.246 | 10 | 33 | 31 | 2 | 0.325 | 0.445 | 0.769 |
| C | Austin Barnes | 50 | 0.226 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 2 | 0.323 | 0.364 | 0.687 |
| OF | Matt Beaty | 38 | 0.274 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 0.327 | 0.442 | 0.768 |
Projected Rotation
| Role | Player | IP | ERA | WHIP | W | SV | SO | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton Kershaw | 194.0 | 3.43 | 1.12 | 14 | 0 | 198 | 9.17 | 1.66 | 3.56 |
| 2 | Walker Buehler | 194.0 | 3.33 | 1.08 | 14 | 0 | 225 | 10.42 | 1.93 | 3.31 |
| 3 | David Price | 155.0 | 3.57 | 1.14 | 11 | 0 | 165 | 9.61 | 2.11 | 3.71 |
| 4 | Julio Urias | 127.0 | 3.77 | 1.21 | 9 | 0 | 134 | 9.54 | 2.87 | 4.00 |
| 5 | Ross Stripling | 80.0 | 3.50 | 1.11 | 5 | 0 | 81 | 9.13 | 1.54 | 3.55 |
Projected Bullpen
| Role | Player | IP | ERA | WHIP | W | SV | SO | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | Kenley Jansen | 65.0 | 3.60 | 1.04 | 3 | 36 | 75 | 10.45 | 1.65 | 3.60 |
| SU | Pedro Baez | 68.0 | 3.97 | 1.18 | 3 | 1 | 71 | 9.42 | 2.55 | 4.15 |
| SU | Joe Kelly | 65.0 | 3.16 | 1.15 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 10.22 | 2.72 | 3.28 |
| MR | Jimmy Nelson | 35.0 | 3.50 | 1.14 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 9.92 | 2.38 | 3.52 |
| MR | Blake Treinen | 62.0 | 3.21 | 1.16 | 3 | 4 | 68 | 9.83 | 2.60 | 3.31 |
| LR | Alex Wood | 119.0 | 3.87 | 1.22 | 8 | 0 | 104 | 7.85 | 1.93 | 4.05 |
| LR | Adam Kolarek | 20.0 | 3.28 | 1.19 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 7.88 | 1.96 | 3.49 |
The Pick – It used to be Clayton Kershaw, Clayton Kershaw, and then Clayton Kershaw, but Mookie Betts changes that dynamic with a top-10 pedigree. Cody Bellinger is obviously another early draft pick, and then Clayton Kershaw.
The Sleeper – So, this might be a stretch, but I really like Julio Urias. He’s obviously not a sleeper, but we actually might be underestimating what he can do in the rotation. We could also be overestimating! We just don’t know! That’s the fun part. And the scary part. IT’S ALL THE THINGS. Really though, I believe in the numbers, and I think he can stick. I would say though, I do think Joc Pederson can hit lefties, but I’m not sure the Dodgers know, so there’s that too.
The Prospect – There’s a lot to like in this system, but I personally would love to see Dustin May do his best impersonation of Noah Syndergaard. Granted, there’s no official word on what his 2020 picture will look like, I do believe that he’ll land in the rotation eventually, but his fastest route could be a high-leverage reliever this year with an average 97-99 fastball in the bullpen.
Outlook – As I mentioned above, there’s not much to hate and a bunch of things to love. Kinda like Reese’s Pieces cereal. In terms of fantasy, there are really no flags here to speak of and almost every position seems rosterable in your standard leagues and larger. The Dodgers are going to be good in all aspects, I think the only question we have to ask is: how good?
