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Monthly Archives: February 2020

Pat

The NFBC Fallacy

February 19, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy | 30 Comments

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Last week, while I was wilting away in my cube, I had the pleasure of staring off into space for a few minutes. What was in my ears while I did it? The soothing sounds of Donkey Teeth and B_Don. They were discussing all the different league offerings the NFBC can provide with Darik Buchar of SportsHub on Razzball's Goin' Deep Podcast. I enjoyed the informative nature of the podcast, but it brought to a head something; a belief has been simmering inside of me for quite some time. My belief is that the NFBC, and the strategies used by those who play in those leagues, has become the principal source for many fantasy baseball content consumers, but the strategies applied in these leagues are misused by content consumers as they aren’t applicable to single league set ups. The 2020 Razzball Commenter Leagues are now open! Free to join!

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 5/12
ARI | ATL | BOS | CHC | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIA | MIL | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TEX | WSH | ATH | BAL | CHW | CIN | LAD | MIN | OAK | TB | TOR
B_Don

Razzball Goin’ Deep Podcast – Cans And Holes with Grey Albright

February 19, 2020 | Razzball Podcast, RazzSlam |

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Cans and holes, Cans and holes, Astros gotta have their cans and holes. The Springer, the Pinto, and the former Saint Verlander, They'll hit the can on the bottom while we're swinging at heaters. Nachos, Hot Dogs on Houston's field, They won't go down cuz Manfred says no. They won around the league from port to port. Every time they won, Kate Upton got a JV quart. Grey joins that other Razzball podcast....for this week. As is standard, B_Don and Donkey Teeth get Grey's thoughts on RazzSlam (sign up for free here) and talk about Grey's NFBC Cutline experience in 2019.  The trio tackle the topic of the times in discussing the Astros and how each believes this will affect their seasons in 2020. The guys wrap up with some discussion about the CBS AL Auction that they participated in. They talk about the auction format of Tout/LABR and these CBS auction leagues. Of the 4 Razzball participants, they each took a bit of a different route to their auction. Tune in and find out which team Grey likes the most. For more information about Grey's draft, check out his article.
Grey

Yahoo’s 2020 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Ranklings

February 19, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated | 232 Comments

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[brid autoplay="true" video="512770" player="10951" title="Razzball 2020 Draft Kit Sleepers 012320" duration="161" description="" uploaddate="2020-01-24 02:35:08" thumbnailurl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/512770_t_1579833321.png" contentUrl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/512770.mp4""] Will get out of the way upfront the compliments. Yahoo isn't nearly as bad as ESPN this year. (Likely any year.) Here's my critique of the ESPN 2020 fantasy baseball rankings. ESPN appears to be phoning it in and they haven't paid their phone bill in six months and they're in talks with a bankruptcy attorney to get an extension on their bill because, "What defunct are they talking about?" While I don't agree with all of Yahoo's 2020 fantasy baseball rankings, I can at least understand what they're talking about most of the time. For unstints, they have Fernando Tatis Jr. ranked 11th overall vs. my 10th, and ESPN has him at 43rd overall. That especially feels like a joke, much like, "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "An Astros player stealing signs." So, before this becomes a 360-degree jerk with my new best friends at Yahoo, who I'm guessing not-so-secretly despise me, here's a totally impartial look at Yahoo's 2020 fantasy baseball rankings vs. my own 2020 fantasy baseball rankings:
Son

Bear or Bull: Should Yuli Be Drafting Gurriel?

February 18, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Bear or Bull | 23 Comments

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I'm Asian, so F@#! Yuli Gurriel! I'm also a fantasy baseball writer, so separation of emotion from the numbers is a must. Much strength will be required in providing an objective analysis regarding Gurriel, so I'd appreciate if you click this post trillions of times so I can supersize my McyD's and get the kids some new shoes. Thank you. Gurriel clubbed 31 homers last season and had a triple slash of .298/.343/.541. As a result, his average ADP from NFBC drafts (1/1/20-2/15/20) is the 125th overall player. F@#! Yuli Gurriel? Gurriel is 35 years old, yet has only played three and change seasons in the bigs. His rookie season consisted of 36 games and 137 plate appearances. Yes, Grey, I'm writing up another old guy. Maybe I have a thing for the olds? Should I hit up AARP to sponsor my posts? Anyways, in the past years when he played full seasons with the Astros, Gurriel never hit below .290 and never struck out more than 11% of the time. The swinging strike rate has never been in the double digits and the contact rate in the strike zone has always been above 91%. Translation: he's a professional hitter.
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: What’s Old Is New Again

February 18, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 25 Comments

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It's not easy to draft a player who is old (at least relative to baseball ability), boring, and offers little true upside.  Well, it's easy, but it's not fun.  I can't believe how often in a draft I veer off of my carefully-constructed, perfectly-ordered master list of players, skipping a solid but dull veteran to reach a few spots lower on my list for a youngster who may or may not end up with any fantasy value at all.  I've already been guilty of this in 2020, and I need a little re-set for myself to remember how helpful a boring but probably steady player with a decent floor can be, especially in deeper leagues.  Thus, a list of some players whom I can't possibly call "targets," but could actually pay off nicely down the road with solid-if-not-spectacular production come summertime.  (All of the following players are on the ugly side of 30, and are being drafted outside the top 250, according to current NFBC ADP).
Geoff

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Top 20 Third Basemen for 2020 Fantasy Baseball

February 18, 2020 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 5 Comments

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Back in the early 90s there was a somewhat groundbreaking rap group by the name of 3rd Base. You might be familiar with such classics as "Pop Goes The Weasel" or the cult classic "The Gas Face" (featuring a pre-mask MF Doom). What you might not know is that Grey Albright is really MC Search. If you're amongst the segment of the population that didn't know that, then tune into this week's show where Grey runs through his favorite verse from the classic Cactus Album. As would be expected this is hands down Grey/Search's favorite episode of the season as we go through third basemen (check out Grey's Top 20 3rd Basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball), a position that's near and dear to our fearless FML's heart. We talk discovering Nas and why Josh Donaldson is actually on Grey's draft list this year. It's a can't miss show for those of us that are 50% hip-hop head and 50% roto dork. It's the latest episode of the Razzball Cactus Podcast!
Grey

AL-Only, 12 Team Draft Recap or: How I Drafted The Ugliest Pitching Staff Man’s Ever Seen — Plus, Our NFBC Signups!

February 18, 2020 | Our Leagues | 217 Comments

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Last week I drafted against Scott White of CBS and like ten other Razzball guys. Pretty soon this league's draft will be Scott White smashing a bottle of champagne on the front of the Razzball ship, then twelve Razzball guys will battle for the 'ship with Donkey Teeth screaming, "You've sunk my battleship," and me saying, "I'm standing next to you, stop screaming." So, it was B_Don, The Prospect Itch, Donkey Teeth, me, Scott White and some other 'perts. Maybe those other Razzball guys will give you a recap of their drafts (if you ask nicely), but we're here for my ishkabibble and I came away with a team more imbalanced than your aunt after two cocktails. This league is deep so hold onto ye olde hat. (If you want a shallower league, play against me and hundreds of your closest buddies in the Razzball Commenter Leagues. Or closet buddies, if you’re reading fast and/or experimenting.) Anyway, here’s my 12-team AL-Only team and some thoughts:
Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Preseason Edition

February 17, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 25 Comments

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Welcome to my inaugural post for the top 50 Middle Infielder rankings for the rest of the 2020 fantasy baseball season.  Throughout the year, I will be updating my rankings and calling out those movers and shakers.  For those of you here looking to gather some insights, welcome.  For those of you looking to steal my rankings and use them against me, I am not afraid! Let’s take a quick look at the landscape up the middle of the diamond.  Middle infield is deep this year, more specifically shortstop is stacked.  This isn't Jason Bartlett's shortstop class of 10 years ago.  The top four all have an argument for being first round picks.  After that, there are all-stars abound with blemishes (Can Altuve hit without a buzzer?  How often will Gleyber play against Baltimore?  Will Tatis regress or grow?).  Once we get past the top 20-25, there is a steep cliff that will leave you wishing you had invested earlier. Now let’s get into a few key guys standing out from the pack in the rankings.
MattTruss

Razzball Commenter Leagues – Why Join

February 17, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Our Leagues, Razzball Commenter Leagues | 17 Comments

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Pitchers and catchers have reported and the Razzball Commenter Leagues are open, it’s beginning to feel a lot like baseball!  I can’t wait to be half as productive at work and start losing countless hours of sleep staying up to watch the end of the Marlins@Padres game, just in case there is a closer injury.  Football was a fine diversion, but I always feel a little empty without baseball. I’m happy to be back for another season as your RCL tour guide. I love these things. Really, they play to my strengths and offer ample opportunity to test strategy and ideas.  Weekly lineups/moves have their place, I just don’t find them as fun. The daily moves, the League Competitive Index competition, battling hundreds of other managers for the top of the overall standings and of course, the non stop action make this a unique and fun challenge.  It’s kind of like pounding a pot of coffee every hour, on the hour for six straight months. It’s the fantasy baseball equivalent of snorting Red Bull. I’m also a huge nerd for all the numbers and data that gets collected from running so many leagues under the Razzball umbrella.  We’re back for another season partnering with FanTrax. FanTrax makes data collection much better which means it will be even easier to share these numbers with you along the way and try to glean some info from all that data. In order to make the data pool even larger though, we need you, and you, and you too.  You see, what makes RCLs great is all of you. Man that sounds mushy, but it’s true. In an ideal world, every Razzball reader would head on over to the RCL sign-ups, pick a league and all would be right with the world. It’s funny to see how many frequent commenters have never played an RCL. What’s wrong with you?  I was there once upon a time, so for those of you that aren’t so eager, let’s sit down and chat it out.
Grey

Best 2020 Fantasy Baseball Team

February 17, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy | 162 Comments

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[brid autoplay="true" video="512770" player="10951" title="Razzball 2020 Draft Kit Sleepers 012320" duration="161" description="" uploaddate="2020-01-24 02:35:08" thumbnailurl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/512770_t_1579833321.png" contentUrl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/512770.mp4""] The best 2020 fantasy baseball team is a misnomer. Thankfully, none of us know what misnomer means. Sounds to me like someone tentatively wants to date the Travelocity Gnome’s daughter, "Miss Gnome, er, you wanna grab some boba and chill?" Miss Gnome brushes back her hair and bats her eyelashes that are almost as long as her two-and-half foot body, "I’d love to," but her voice is high-pitched, which is a turn-off, so you cancel plans with her repeatedly until she gets the hint. Sorry, Miss Gnome, I like my women’s voices low like their stature. Any hoo!  So the title is a bit of a superlative. What was I gonna say, "The Mostly Kinda Good Fantasy Baseball Team?" You’ll get over your scoffing; I have faith in you. This is the best 2020 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting from my top 100 for 2020 fantasy baseball and top 500 for 2020 fantasy baseball. Honestly, I could draft another 25 teams from those lists, and they’d all be different, but equally terrific… Well, one of the twenty-five would only be sorta terrific, but it would be really hard to tell which one that is. If I took Adalberto Mondesi in the 2nd round, everything after would change. If I took Trea Turner in the 1st round, everything after would change. I’ve previously gone over my 2020 fantasy baseball draft prep for the first few rounds and pitchers pairings.  For this exercise, I’m taking Fernando Tatis in the first, because, well, people complained previously I always did this post by taking the first pick, so I’m switching it up, like when you combover your hair right instead of left. Until pick 100, I’m taking one guy somewhere in every fifteen picks. It would be nice if I was in a league where someone drafted Gerrit Cole and deGrom in the first two rounds and I was able to take Trevor Story in the 2nd round (which is likely), but since Tatis and him are in my first 14 picks, according to the rules I’ve set up for myself, I can’t take them both. Then, as we all know, once you get into the 100s, there’s wide gaps between ADP and where players are actually taken. People tend to look at team need over value. So for this exercise, once I get to pick #101, I’m going to pick two players every twenty picks. Finally, because there is so much latitude in the last 300, I gave myself free rein to fill up my team after pick 200. Throughout the draft, I also gave myself the ability to reach to a lower draft pick, but not reach forward. Or reach around, if you’re feeling frisky. It should still be my ideal team…or not. Let’s see, shall we? Bee tee dubya, this team is a 12-team, 5×5, one catcher, 5 OFs, MI, CI, 1 UT, 9 P, 3 bench, just like the Razzball Commenter Leagues (go sign up).  Anyway, here’s the best 2020 fantasy baseball team:
Jay

Joc-keying with Splits

February 16, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 9 Comments

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Joc Pederson can hit lefties. He just doesn't know it. Neither do the Dodgers. Neither do you! But the Angels? They might have known... It's been said that Joc Pederson is a dude who doesn't upset expectations (it was me, I said that.). A true fantasy bro in a lot of ways. Not too expensive, not too popular. He does something pretty well (30ish homers), but also doesn't show up for about 40 games a year. Why? Joc Pederson can't hit lefties. Wait, what? It doesn't have to make sense, you just have to believe it makes sense, science at its finest MAAAAN. With all the Mookie-drama (good enough to use, not good enough to hashtag), the fallout has been expansive and on-going. While Pederson's under-the-radar trade to the Angels (along with Ross Stripling) had been officially nixed last week, there is still time for Dodgers to complete their quest on buying everything they can, and then filling the gaps with league-minimum commitments (which would have been Luis Rengifo in this case). While the predicate isn't contingent on Joc finding a new home, it certainly wouldn't hurt, and there is enough noise here to think that one day, sometime soon, Pederson could finally become a complete hitter. As soon as this year? Let's find out... The 2020 Razzball Commenter Leagues are now open! Free to join!
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