RazzSlam League 2 Draft Recap

March 27, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, RazzSlam | 15 Comments

Maybe the real-life baseball season has stopped, but that doesn't mean fantasy baseball has to. It's all we have these days, really. Fantasy sports while we fantasize about real sports coming back. I feel bad for my fellow fantasy hockey folks - I get the feeling it ain't coming back, even if regular hockey does. I'm not about that fantasy basketball life (I dabbled in my younger years - Tracy McGrady anyone? Had to have him on all my teams), but I fear it's the same fate. Only fantasy football is unscathed...so far. Wild stuff happening on that front, too. Brady to the Bucs? Da BUCS?! DAFUQ! Gurley and Newton RELEASED?! Hopkins TRADED?! Maybe Watson, too?! Madness, I say! Anyway. This is a fantasy baseball article. Almost forgot. It's an important year for the fine ladies and gents here at Razzball: the inaugural season of RazzSlam! Big shoutout to the NFBC peeps for hosting it. Give 'em a follow on the Twitter at @TheNFBC. I had the honor of being accepted into League 2 (of 18). Some scrub ass writer for CBS is in it. Big deal. I'm kidding, he'll probably whoop my ass.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

#	MLB Starting Lineups For Fri 5/16
	ARI \| ATH \| ATL \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR \| WSH \| OAK

2020 Fantasy Baseball Player Shares: No, Siri, Not Cher’s

March 27, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy | 285 Comments

by: Grey

I've recapped all my 2020 fantasy baseball teams because I'm a baller, fantasy and otherwise. Come for me and you will get Mutombo'd, finger-wag and all. Just like The Corona Mutombo'd its finger-wag to Opening Day. You don't have to go home, Opening Day, but you can't come here right now because there's a guy who hasn't washed his hands. Scrub your dirty sausage fingers, you sicko! Is what I scream out my mail slot every time someone walks past my house. Shame about Opening Day, but it will happen. Jokes aside, MLB is showing all the signs of wanting to get this thing off the ground. They're talking about paying players a full year of service time. Does that sound like a league that doesn't want to play? I'm still going on the assumption they'll get 100 games in, but knowing how much rich people want to stay rich and knowing they're currently paying people to not play makes me think they will be playing. A lot of games. They might just ram 140 games in something insane, like, a 135-day schedule. Think of the Royals, you really think they're paying players to not play? They don't even pay players to play! On a side but related note, it's funny to hear people now say they're not playing baseball this year. That is prolly a below 5% chance, but it's like when people see a player like Jason Kubel have a huge 1st game of the season and think he's now Mike Trout. You're overestimating the present situation vs. gauging actual reality. Any hoo! One small note for perspective, I drafted ten leagues (so far, still holding on our RCL league) with three NL-Only leagues and one AL-Only league, and, no, I didn't also draft Pete Alonso in the AL-Only. Anyway, here's my top 2020 fantasy baseball player shares:

Top 25 College Prospects to Target in Dynasty Leagues

March 26, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 11 Comments

by: Hobbs

When I began this series of rankings with the top 10 college baseball prospects, it was explained that I would be detailing “the top 10 college baseball prospects to target mid-season (and beyond).” As we embark on this incredible journey (which is a wholesome, classic film chronicling the beautiful friendship of dog, cat and dog again), I must forewarn you that we have officially crossed the threshold into the “beyond.” Yes, that is correct – I am indeed your tour guide, Michael Newman (as played by Adam Sandler), who will now use his universal remote control to reveal to you with 100% projection accuracy college prospects No. 11-25 as it relates to future fantasy output. Before getting into the thick of things, I need to make two very brief and entirely unrelated remarks that will in no way provide any meat to the bones of this article. First, I apologize for the excess of film references I have made already, but don’t expect them to be curtailed any time soon. Second, if you truly have not seen The Incredible Journey, drop what you’re doing right now and buy it on Amazon Prime for $2.99. Best three dollars you’ll ever spend. Even better than the authentic George Springer banging stick I snagged off ebay for three measly bills. As we dive into the latter stages of these rankings, one thing needs to be made seriously clear: with the exception of a few names on this list, the vast majority to follow likely fall under the category of finds for deeper leagues only. If you’re in a serious dynasty league in which the draft is primarily prospects and upcoming college guys on an annual basis, I would consider all of these players. Use the information given below and then draw your own conclusions about who to target based on the specificity of your league.

Charting the Future: Barrels and wOBA

March 26, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Comments

by: TheTinDoor

After assessing starting pitching the last couple of weeks (ERA, WHIP), today I turn my attention towards the hitting side. There are so many unknowns right now about the length of the upcoming season; possibilities include everything from no games, to a full 162-game season stretching until Christmas. With at bats & counting stats completely up in the air, evaluating hitters with rate stats makes sense. What are the best ones to use?

Fantasy Baseball Podcast – PIANO MAN! Scott Pianowski

March 26, 2020 | Razzball Podcast |

by: B_Don

Rudy didn't like Rounders and he finally watched it the week we are having Scott Pianowski on the podcast.... After the initial shock of Rudy's poor movie tastes, Donkey Teeth and B_Don ask Scott how he's handling the quarantine and what a potential baseball season may look like. We get his thoughts on how he would adjust his draft philosophy for anyone drafting during the quarantine. We move on to a couple of Scott's teams as we look at the rosters he assembled in the RazzSlam and the Yahoo Friends and Family league with Grey, DT, and many other experts (basically the unofficial major of the fantasy baseball world). We look at how Scott put together pitching staffs in each draft and how position depth and flexibility affect his draft strategy.

RazzSlam Recap: I Don’t Know When They’re Playing Or If This Is A Good Team

March 26, 2020 | Our Leagues | 221 Comments

by: Grey

So, usually I have an idea if a team is good, and, if I don't know that, I have some idea when the season will begin, but welcome to the year 2020 when all is unknown. I'm currently typing this with my hands tied behind my back so I don't accidentally touch my facet--Face! Damn it, this typing with my nose is more difficult than I thought it would beet--Damn! This is giving 'hunt and peck' typing a new definition. More like 'hen and peck' amiright? Don't answer me because you might accidentally transmit saliva into the air. Thanks, and remember, SOCIAL DISTANCING!!!, which is what I scream at Cougs every time she comes within six feet of me. Makes for interesting sleeping as our bed is about six feet in width. So, the RazzSlam is a Best Ball tourney with Points scoring. Everyone likely knows what a Best Ball league is, but, if you don’t, it’s when you draft a team and the computer manages it for you by choosing who are the best players, and you get those stats. It’s basically one fantasy league removed from the robots taking over and killing us all. Well, the last laugh is on you robots, there's a virus beating you to the punch! Anyway, here’s my RazzSlam, 12 team draft recap:

Dynasty Catcher Rankings for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

March 25, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 18 Comments

by: The Itch

Last week, I jumped forward in time to discuss next year’s top 100 prospects. Today, we’ll stay on that future theme but begin a position-by-position focus, starting with everyone’s favorite spot: catcher.

Points League, Which Way Does The Alligator Mouth Face?

March 25, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 39 Comments

by: malamoney

For many stuck at home during this health crisis, we have suddenly been given the responsibility of "home schooling" our children. For some I know this has been quite a challenge, especially those with more than one child. Fortunately for me I only have one, a first grade girl that enjoys math and reading. Also fortunately for me, I work from home 99 percent of the time, so I'm used to the environment and routine. As for having a kid constantly looking to play, it just feels like the summer to me. Although it did snow here yesterday. One of the math worksheets I gave my daughter this morning required her to determine which way the alligator mouth opens to. For those not in tune with first grade math lingo, this is referring to the greater than/less than sign. The alligator mouth opens to the bigger number. I can almost see light bulbs going on in some of your heads. Chomp! Chomp! Anyway, I figured I'd play a little game of greater than with points league players for the supposed 2020 season.

Not Even Thor Can Defeat Dr. Freeze

March 25, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 180 Comments

by: Grey

"It’s day 127 of the quarantine and all pitchers have already had Tommy John surgery. Now our first manager is going under the knife." "I was reaching for a toothpick and I heard something pop,” said Dusty Baker. For those who have resorted to wiping their butts with baseball news for lack of toilet paper, Noah Syndergaard has a torn UCL and is kaput for 16-ish months. If only someone told you to avoid Noah Syndergaard, huh? What's that, Voice In My Head? I told everyone to avoid Noah Syndergaard? Aw, jeez, I think you're right. Voice In My Head, can I ever be as smart as you? Voice In My Head, "No. Shut up." Wow, graciousness has left the chat. In my top 40 starters for 2020 fantasy baseball, I had a tier of guys to avoid, that tier had in it Noah Syndergaard, Luis Severino and Chris Sale. Gosh darn it, fellas, I might be as smart as the Voice In My Head. Can you even imagine it? This Syndergaard news is terrible. Dot dot dot. For all the people who wanted to draft him but got off easy because their drafts were delayed until MLB stops washing its hands of the season. Seriously, the only thing that sucks in all of my absolute genie-ness psychic ability is everyone not getting a chance to draft these pitchers before it's too late. People tend to hate when people take victory laps over injuries, but I have on my Fitbit and I'm going for a jog! I've been saying to avoid Syndergaard for so long (two years), due to funky things going on in his peripherals. Maybe I didn't know 100% he was injured, but I 100% knew something was wrong with him, and have been saying it. Not sure why people are thinking he tore his UCL just this week. This is the Mets and their doctors. Syndergaard was likely injured for the last two years. Okay, I'm out of shape from too much quarantining, so pulling the victory lap into the depot to freshen up with some hand sanitizer. On a side note, all of these guys going for Tommy John surgery might be signaling something else. No, not that they have no porch that needs repair like you during the Corona timeline. It means we might have more baseball this year than next year. If there's a lockout to start the 2021 season, and baseball returns in June for the 2nd year in a row, how many starts do these guys miss? Not to answer, but to ruminate until our next full season in 2022. Anyway, here's what else I saw for 2020 fantasy baseball:

Bear or Bull: Mad Max

March 24, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Bear or Bull | 21 Comments

by: Son

In these dystopian times, my mind can only wonder if Mad Max could ambush and/or eradicate COVID-19. Probably not since the Rona is invisible, but Max Rockatansky could do unimaginable things when mad, so I'm not completely dismissing the possibility. There is another Max, though, who may ease the pain that COVID-19 has brought into our fantasy baseball universe, and that's Max Kepler of the Minnesota Twins (Max Scherzer is too old and happy from winning the World Series). And this Max is mad as well because he's being drafted as the 136th overall player in NFBC drafts from 2/1 - 3/23. Is it warranted for this Max to be mad, and can he bring a ray of sunshine into these gloomy days? Kepler was signed at the age of 16 back in 2009 for the largest signing bonus ($800k) ever given to a European-born player. He then spent three years in rookie ball, where he hit for a high average, showed good plate discipline, had a high BABIP, and produced 10 home runs and 7 stolen bases in 269 plate appearances during the 2012 season. As he moved up the ranks, the walk rate continued to improve (from 10% to 13%), while the strikeout rate remained very low (13% to 15% range). The BABIP also remained above .300 while Kepler continued to hit for a good average. When he finally received consistent playing time with the big club in 2016, the batting average and BABIP both plummeted, while the walk rate went down to 9% and strikeout rate went to 20%. Not uncommon when making the leap to the majors. He was a 18 home run and 6 stolen base player the first two seasons in the majors. Then in 2018, things started to improve. The walk rate went back to above 11% while the strikeout rate cratered to 15.7%. The batting average and BABIP continued to trend lower, though. He ended the season with 20 home runs and 4 stolen bases. Last season, Kepler broke out with 36 home runs but only stole 1 base. The walk and strikeout rates were similar to 2018, but the ISO spiked while the batting average increased to .252 with a BABIP of .244. Kepler ended last season as the 107th offensive player for fantasy, so the NFBC ADP seems fair. Is there room for improvement?

Rolling In The Deep: Looking Outside The RCL Top 250

March 24, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 8 Comments

by: Laura Holt

So, I've agreed to draft another fantasy baseball team this weekend. I honestly can't tell you how many that makes for me in 2020, and I don't really care at this point. At first I was worried about how I could possibly manage juggling so many rosters should baseball ever return (PLEASE, PLEASE return sometime this summer, baseball!) Now, though, I've decided that I'm just going to carry on, figuring that having a "problem" like having 20 or 30 lineups to set come July would be the greatest problem I can possibly imagine right now. Since I'm still drafting and I know many of you are too -- either joining public online leagues as a therapeutic way to pass the time, or participating in drafts for leagues you've been in for years and have had planned all off-season -- I thought I'd look at the current state of players outside the top 250, and which names I have my eye on as being a potential value that late. I'm basing these ADP numbers on MattTruss's Monday post in which he included a beautiful spreadsheet unveiling weeks worth of RCL ADP, so theoretically this is data that many of you have actually contributed to. Some of these players' values got a slight VHB* bump, others I'm valuing exactly the way I would during a normal season. This is an extra tough week for me, as I try to keep what would normally be the sunshine-y giddiness of Opening Day from being permanently replaced by an ugly cloud of darkness... but to that end, let's try to be safe, stay positive, and think about how insanely exciting it will be to finally have baseball to watch, whenever that may be.

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Tout Wars Recap 2020 And Other Quarantine Thoughts

March 24, 2020 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 8 Comments

by: Geoff

As quickly as the baseball season was approaching it came to a screeching halt even faster. With no baseball on the docket for seemingly a few months at minimum, Grey and myself dug into our Tout Wars auction results. We talk high level strategy in each format and how we executed our pre-draft game plans. It's not the show you deserve but it's the show you need! Join us for the latest episode of the Razzball podcast. Oh BTW, wash your hands!