Alanna Rizzo (@Alannarizzo), host/reporter for the L.A Dodgers joins the show to breakdown this loaded Dodgers team. We discuss where we think players will bat in the order and who will have the biggest impact. Will Gavin Lux stay in the bottom of the order? Is the catching position Will Smiths to lose? The starting rotation is loaded with great lefties. Who holds down the 5 spot? Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Jimmy Nelson could all get a shot. Alanna gives us her insight on who holds down the rotation. We also dove into one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. Alanna also tells us how great it has been covering Clayton Kershaw and others throughout the years, her favorite ballparks and some other fun memories!
Monthly Archives: June 2020
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Patreon Podcast: Special Guest Comedian Billy Hurley
June 15, 2020 | All Podcasts | 15 Commentsby: Grey
How's everyone liking us talking to a comedian on Patreon podcasts? I'm loving it. Can I say that or is it immodest? You know what, I don't think immodest is bad, because I don't know what immodest even means, so there! This week we welcomed, Billy Hurley, a NYC-based comedian. Wow, such credits! I kid, Billy's awesome. Here's how I know Billy: He was a fan of Razzball and I randomly followed him on Twitter and he made me laugh a lot, so now we're like BFFs. Not really, but don't tell him. Here's a sample of a Billy Hurley tweet:
I was having a blast watching the 2020 Major League Baseball Rule 4 Draft, but at some point in the 4th round, the whole pageant started to feel gross.
All these billion dollar teams focused on doing little maneuvers to afford the high school kids they actually wanted.
In the draft.
When you presumably add the players you want.
It’s incongruous.
And it’s not some pandemic 2020 thing.
That’s just the base design of the thing made even more salient by the compressed variation MLB farted together in what passed for their attempt to rise to these unique circumstances.
Seniors’ ages are leveraged against them.
Juniors’ ages are leveraged against them.
Sophomores' ages are leveraged against them in a slightly different, Wilcoxian way.
All this so owners can acquire laborers who’ll make less than minimum wage as cheaply as possible. It's a salary cap for amateurs, designed to be much, much smaller budgets than a free market would generate.
One might think the Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers or just about anyone competitive would campaign for more, maybe even better, but it turns out: who doesn’t love the leverage provided by an artificial line beyond which you must not go?
Easy way to end negotiations.
Just like writing some bullshit god-power rule into the bylaws of a short-term agreement built to get through a pandemic. I knew the players shouldn’t have signed that noise.
Anyhow, onto the shizz, making my best Karl Ravich face.
Let’s start with my least favorite few drafts so we can end on a high note.
Ambulance Chasers Preseason: The Waiting Game
June 13, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 3 Commentsby: Hammer
With baseball still on the proverbial shelf, most offseason concerns we had for injuries are gone. We'll cover a few small updates here today as we hopefully move towards some number of games this season.
The biggest news over the last few weeks was with Chris Archer. The Pirates righty was shut down for surgery to correct "Thoracic Outlet Syndrome" this is the same issue that sidelined Matt Harvey earlier in his career. Archer was already a shell of his former self, and really only someone you'd be taking a late round flyer on or picking up in a 2 start week hoping for some K's, but this puts him on the shelf until the beginning of the '21 season at best.
Welcome, friends! Come, sit down, and let me tell you a tale of baseball. Indeed, baseball is truly America's game, where the owners swim Scrooge McDuck-style in a vat of gold coins while shaking their canes vigorously at those thieves pounding at the door asking for some gruel. But you--yes, you!--fantasy lothario, with your fantasy baseball app at the ready and a sweaty finger hovering over the "draft" button, you can roster these needy players and give them the virtual coins they so deserve. Today, I'm offering a pitcher profile of Jake Odorizzi, and why you should consider him for a place on your team for the next 50, 70, or how ever many games MLB owners decide to let happen before they move their money vaults into the Norwegian tundra.
Because this is my first article with Razzball, I consulted Grey's Secret Dictionary to see his definition of 'pitcher,' and here's what it said: "1) a tool for mixing margaritas on Wednesday mornings, 2) players you don't take early in a draft." And that's me quoting Grey! Wednesday Grey must have been deep into his routine of margs and Frasier reruns when he wrote the following on Odorizzi: "Odorizzi’s being drafted like a number three or four, but I see a strong number two." Whoa, Grey, TMI! Let's get down to business and see why you want this number two to work for you.
Everywhere you look, it says Mike Yastrzemski is the best Giants hitter. *you carefully crack into a fortune cookie, you read about how Mike Yastrzemski is the best Giants hitter, slowly you look up* I told you. Everywhere. Don't doubt me again. More people agree on Mike Yastrzemski being the best Giants hitter than anything else in this country. It's the last thing that binds us. If Brandon Belt becomes the Giants' best hitter, we will completely unravel. Sadly, being the best Giants hitter is like being the world's tallest midget. Similarly, Mike Yastrzemski fits under the idea of most other players' ceilings. In JKJ's piece on NL West DH candidates, he mentions Yaz Jr. Jr., while also mentioning Wilmer Flores, and that's prolly the name there to keep in mind for their DH spot. Or as I said in the Joey Bart dart throw, Posey could DH while Bart catches. Yaz Jr. Jr. doesn't need the DH. He is the Giants' best hitter -- have you already forgotten? It's the one thing that unites us! Yaz 2.0 won't DH most days; he'll just play the field. Either way, he'll play every day. He's the Giants' best hitter! So, what can we expect from Mike Yastrzemski for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a great dart throw?
Hello, again. Thanks for stopping by. I'm noticing talk ramping up around the fantasy baseball world on how to approach pitching with the short season coming up. It's looking more and more like we're going to get the shortest end of the stick the owners want us to get, if we get anything at all. I'm honestly not overly optimistic we get baseball in 2020, but I'm going to operate under the assumption we will get 48-ish games at least. So, if that's the case, that sure ain't a lotta starts per starting pitcher. I mean it's like 10 tops, assuming the typical five-man rotation. So, what, 70-80 IP maximum? In a perfect world it'd be 90 with 10 complete games, so let's shave a few off for safe measure.
It seems a bit counter-intuitive to suggest fading the top guys, at first glance. "But, like, JKJ, if there aren't as many starts, don't you want the best of the best to increase your chances of those being good starts?" you may ask. While I see the logic and merit in that mindset, I think you could get similar returns from non-top-tier guys in a drastically shortened season. It's really their longevity and big innings that put them ahead of the pack.
Grey Albright and Rudy Gamble join the show to talk about how Razzball.com got started. We get to know a little about the guys who started the site and where they want it to go in the future. We also discuss if we think baseball will be played and if so how many games. Did the Rams get the warm L.A welcome? Grey gives us his thoughts. We go a little off topic and talk about what will happen this fall with college sports. Enjoy!
How did I come to this dart throw? Thanks for asking, Clunky Intro! I looked at NFBC's ADP and, specifically, for who was being drafted after 300th overall, i.e., late eh-eff. I eye-spied Jonathan Schoop, and was like, "Ooh, is he that bad? I don't think he is, but maybe I'm remembering things differently during my ninth month of the preseason. Am I seeing something that isn't there? I can't be. I'm so unbiased. Really, I am as impartial as human nature will allow. An even-keeled down-to-earth, extremely handsome, well-coiffed Fantasy Master Lothario." Then I looked at Steamer projections for 2nd basemen (go to that page and type 2B into the column for positions), and saw something that knocked off my socks, and I was wearing stirrups to avoid such needlessly undressing of my feet. Look at these projections: 58/18/50/.240/2 in 316 ABs vs. 41/16/47/.262/1 in 318 ABs. The 2nd one is Jonathan Schoop. Obviously less runs, but way better average, which makes everything kinda equal there. Yes, twenty points in average evens out the runs, and, while you might say average is fickle, so will runs in a shortened season. Those numbers just aren't that different. The problem is the 1st guy is being drafted 69th overall and, as high as the top 25 (though, that's silly). One guy goes top 70 and another guy being drafted after 300? That's crazy. Any ideas who the 1st guy is? Yes, Max Muncy, well done. You win an imaginary pat on the back. So, what can we expect from Jonathan Schoop for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a great dart throw?
During the Major League Baseball Rule 4 Draft, I am usually in China, eating my favorite breakfast in the world: a crispy pork bun and a pizza-shaped, spicy-salty bread that I don’t think I could describe, except maybe to say “mouth heaven.”
And that’s kind of the thing about China: the food. The cultures are old and the ethnicities are varied. Mainland China is comprised of some 57 different people groups with different cultures and cuisines. Food is a national pride and pastime. The word “variety” doesn’t even begin to describe the diversity of dishes and flavors.
Mock drafts are not like Chinese cuisine.
Sure you might encounter a spicy pepper or two, but you’re not going to find sauteed eel, boiled jellyfish or barbecued squid on a stick.
Maybe you’ll think it’s good to not find these specific foods, but if you don’t try everything once, you’ll be missing out on that miracle dish you’re surprised to find is perfect for you—the flavor combination you’ve been waiting a lifetime to find--and I’m happy to report that sauteed eel is incredible.
So that’s what we’ll do here: saute some eel, boil some jellyfish, taste some chaos.
Material on Razzball about Lane Thomas is scant to say the least, also scant is to say the least, coincidentally. When you search all mentions of Lane Thomas here, you see me, Prospect Mike, JKJ, Prospect Ralph, and Big Magoo all mentioning him once. And barely. The largest entry of all three is from Prospect Mike saying, "Thomas put up outstanding numbers AA and AAA in 2018 – 27 homers, 17 steals. The damper is that this power burst came out of the clear blue sky and most reports still have him pegged as a fourth outfielder in the big leagues. Another glitch is his health history – which isn’t exactly…healthy. He’s on the 40-man and could see some action this summer in St. Louis, and Grey is a total loser." Wow, what did I ever do? Prospect Mike was talking about Lane Thomas for last year too, by the by, so he was right. About Thomas seeing some action, not about me! C'mon! Last year in a small sample, he hit 4 HRs, stole one bag and hit .316 with only a .308 BABIP, which was in 38 ABs. That was after a 10/11/.268 year in Triple-A in 265 ABs. He fractured his wrist in August, which cut his breakout short, so Mike was right about his health history too. Being about 11 months since that wrist injury, he should be totally fine. So, what should we expect from Lane Thomas for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a great dart throw?
Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Interview With Randy Wilkins
June 9, 2020 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 1 Commentby: Geoff
After a tumultuous week in the news for both national issues of race as well as MLB's current negotiations we found it only fitting to bring on someone with a great deal of insight on both race relations and how it relates to MLB. Our guest Randy Wilkins is a Filmmaker, Director of the AppleTV Show "Dear...", as well as the director of ESPN 30 for 30 Short 86-32 (which you can watch at that link) and Docket 32357. Additionally, he provides Yankees analysis in his free time. Oh, and BTW our dude owns a few Emmys. It's a riveting discussion and one worth tuning into for Randy's perspective alone. A few times we mention his Twitter thread that went viral, that's here:
It's the latest episode of the Razzball Podcast.I am going to write some tweets about the MLB statement since this combines two things that I care deeply about: social justice and baseball. I will try my best to make them coherent so bear with me.
— Randy (@pamsson) June 3, 2020
