A Franchise First – Why the Rays Will Win the 2020 World Series

October 19, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Comments

We're nearing a date beloved by baseball fans around the world. The first pitch of the Fall Classic is but a few days away. Baseball in 2020 was classic in many ways. Due to an invisible enemy, the season was delayed and play was adjusted as never before in the storied history of America's Pastime. But, we're one game away from deciding who the final two teams standing will be. One team already punched their 2020 World Series ticket by winning another of baseball's historic seven-game classics. The Tampa Bay Rays meet the Los Angeles Dodgers, the winner of the National League's version of a winner-take-all final seventh game. Both teams get their chance at winning "The Series" in a strange season. It will matter not to whichever team wins the upcoming best-of-seven that 2020 will have an asterisk beside it. Spring training became "summer training", and 162 got whittled down to 60. Nevertheless, baseball lovers are still ready to be served another best-of-seven Fall Classic. We had a hunch way back when this strange season started that one team would prove to be a formidable contender. The Rays have done all the things we thought they would be good at to fill spot number one in the 2020 World Series.

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 5/19
	ARI \| ATH \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| PHI \| PIT \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| ATL \| NYY \| OAK \| SD \| TEX \| TOR \| WSH

Randy Arozarena, 2021 Fantasy Outlook

October 19, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rookies | 111 Comments

by: Grey

Black and white footage plays as the crowd at Yankee Stadium watches on. There's not a dry eye in the place. Some newsies hang off the foul pole; elsewhere, grown men, dressed in military fatigues, weep. Babe Ruth adjusts the microphone for Randy Arozarena and motions for him to approach. Randy leans into the microphone, and quivering, "Today, I consider myself the Randiest man alive." Sorry! I didn't hear you come in. I was just directing this editing crew to recut the Lou Gehrig retirement speech. Don't worry, it's being done in a very respectful way. As you can imagine, it's going to be hard for Randy Arozarena to play in 2021 after being inducted into the Hall of Fame after this postseason. Has that ever happened before? The prior-to-retirement induction? Did you just say "your stove?" That's induction, but different meaning. Yes, words can have more than one meaning. Are you dumb in the head? So, here's a peek behind the giant curtains at Razzball, I lower my Bro strap and say to Prospect Itch, "Give me your top rookie for 2021 fantasy baseball." And he says, "No, you give me yours," and I say, "What? You're the prospect guy. I wasn't being coy, I was just scratching under my Bro strap." Then he told me Randy Arozarena, and I laughed for ten minutes, which coincided with Randy Arozarena hitting multiple homers in the playoffs and....Dot dot dot...Holy crap, is Randy Arozarena the top rookie going into 2021 fantasy baseball? I'm between him and Sixto Sanchez. This is the 1st year in maybe ever I'm not 100% positive on one rookie as the number one rookie. Last year was obviously Luis Robert, the year before was Vlad Jr. or the year before--You get the picture! Every year there's a clearcut #1 rookie going into the upcoming season, but I've wrestled with this, and I don't know if there is one in 2021. Wander Franco would be that guy, if I had any faith the Rays would ever promote him early enough for redraft leagues. Ergo/Therego: Welcome to the 2021 rookie series and Randy Arozarena! So, what can we expect from Randy Arozarena for 2021 fantasy baseball?

Top 10 Washington Nationals Prospects for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

October 18, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 10 Comments

by: The Itch

Hangovers get the best of everyone from time to time. Age is not your friend when throwing back one too many. The same could likely be said of World Series hangovers, which can bite even young teams but are especially exhausting for pitching staffs built around aging aces. Stephen Strasburg threw all of five innings in 2020 after signing a contract for $245 million across seven years. I’m still a few Scrubs episodes from finishing my medical degree, but Carpal Tunnel Neuritis in the right wrist sounds like an awful diagnosis for a 32-year-old right handed pitcher. Stras underwent surgery in late August and could be ready to go in Spring, but it’s looking like the team should’ve chosen Anthony Rendon over Strasburg rather than offering each the same deal and rolling with whoever signed first, if that widespread reporting was accurate. Whatever the future holds--and it doesn’t look bright in these minors today--2019 was worth it. Perhaps characterizing their 2020 as a hangover is a bridge too far, especially in a year when most of us wake up wishing we could sleep it off, but it’s an easy leap to make given the strength of will and perseverance it took to vanquish the OP-cheat-code Astros. Thanks, Washington! And it’s not all bad by any means. If their last couple first-round picks pan out, we could see Soto and the boys back in the big games very soon.

Top 40 Starters for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a Recap

October 16, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 29 Comments

by: Grey

We’ve gone over the final 2020 fantasy baseball rankings for hitters and the top 20 starters. This is different than Final Fantasy rankings where you rank Final Fantasy 1 thru Final Fantasy 15. That’s hardcore nerd shizz! This is simply fantasy baseball — we’re softcore nerds like Emmanuelle is to porn. So, there’s no more of these godforsaken recap posts left. You’re welcome. I, my over-the-internet friend, will be talking next about 2021 rookies. Let's boogie to the next year, I'm so done with 2020. Anyway, here’s the top 40 starters for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:

Top 20 Starters for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a Recap

October 15, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 37 Comments

by: Grey

All the final 2020 fantasy baseball rankings for hitters are done. For those that skipped today’s title, this starts the top 20 starters for 2020 fantasy baseball. This is NOT for next year (caps for those who can’t read titles; supposedly it’s easier to read caps, I have my doubts). This is a recap. Will these affect next year’s rankings? Sure. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. Not entirely. Entirely. Like when you had a knee replacement, this is a recap! To recapitulate the recap, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. We’re (me’re) using it to fairly gauge our (my) preseason rankings. Anyway, here’s the top 20 starters for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:

Top Ten Philadelphia Phillies Prospects for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

October 14, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 11 Comments

by: The Itch

Floundering at the big league level despite fanatical off-season spending, the Phillies could really use a boost from their farm system in 2021. Who couldn’t, right? But whereas some teams are so deep their prospects have to join the queue when they’re big league ready, Philadelphia is a land of opportunity for youngsters. Without a minor league season, the club was forced to promote several players with little to no experience in the upper minors: Spencer Howard, Alec Bohm, Rafael Marchan, and former #1 pick Mickey Moniak. I’m eager to see how 2021 plays out for everyone in the game who saw aggressive assignments and whether or not the results impact future processes. Hell I’m just eager to see minor league baseball again, but this season tossed so many variables into the equation that the game might feel ripples forever. 2021 feels incredibly important for the Phillies. They’ve demoted General Manager Matt Klentak and appointed Ned Rice in the interim. Jim Hendry was floated as a possible replacement by Jon Heyman (truckful of salt, I know), and I’d like to see Hendry get another chance after he loaded up the Cubs just before Theo Epstein came aboard. Feels like Girardi might have the loudest voice in the room, which feels like a net positive for an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs in 19 years.

Top 40 Outfielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a Recap

October 13, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 57 Comments

by: Grey

With the top 40 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball, we’ve finished all the hitter recaps. We meaning me, but I’ll include you. No, that’s not a cue to try to hold my hand. Why are you now patting my butt? Don’t muss my hair! The pitching recap will begin next. You can hardly wait. No, you! To recap, the end of the season rankings are based on our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. I felt the easiest way to keep it objective would be to go this route. This way when I say someone finished 30th and I ranked them 23rd in the preseason, it carries more weight than Willians Astudillo. Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:

Patreon Podcast: The Boy Who Cried Apple Care

October 12, 2020 | All Podcasts |

by: Donkey Teeth

Razzball Patreon members receive our weekly podcast where Grey cackles about the funniest news stories we’ve found over the past week, plus you get that warm fuzzy feeling of supporting your favorite fantasy sports site in all the land.

Here’s a sample teaser from last week’s show:

Last week’s @Razzball Patreon Podcast with comedian @BillyHurls was a classic.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 20 Outfielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a Recap

October 12, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 72 Comments

by: Grey

Went over the catchers, 1st basemen, 2nd basemen and shortstops and top 20 3rd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball. Guess what’s next! No, not pitchers. Read the title, man. The title is above! Oh, forget it. These are the top 20 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball, yippee-ki-yay, you motheroutfielders! This post is long, let's get to it. But first! A word of exposition. As before, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. Anyway, here’s the top 20 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:

Top 10 New York Mets Prospects for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

October 11, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 12 Comments

by: The Itch

Get your bids in: these Mets are for sale! It’ll be fascinating to see the fate of GM Brodie Van Wagenen under new ownership. Luckily for him, the team is obligated to pay his clients several million dollars regardless of his own future. Wild times in New York these days, but their scouting and development teams have done well over the past few cycles, so the system remains solid despite the purge of Jarred Kelenic, Simeon Woods-Richardson and more.

2020 Waiver Wire All-Star Team

October 9, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 31 Comments

by: JKJ

What's up, Razzballers? Hope playoff baseball is treating you well, and if you're in any playoff pools like I am, hope they're treating you well, as well! Well. What a wild season of fantasy baseball we had, eh? I'm not a super high-stakes type of fantasy baller - I did two Yahoo public leagues mainly because drafts are so easy to join and get through quickly (I won both!), my home keeper auction league (which moved to roto for this year and I got 2nd after being two-time defending champ *sad emoji*), and then the RazzSlam. I got really lucky in the Slam, not suffering a lot of COVID-ness or injury. Finished second in my league and #46 overall. Not too shabby for my first industry league endeavor! Just want to thank Grey, Donkey and others, but mostly of all, you. You've made me feel so welcome. Hey, watch me make like a tree's sap and get sappy! Anywayyyyy, I bring up my own leagues because a large part of my success came down to waiver wire wizardry. Well, RazzSlam not so much (waivers are limited there), but my final rosters in the other three leagues looked a lot different from Opening Day. That's always the case in fantasy sports, of course, but this year especially so in baseball. I thought a fun exercise would be to go back and honor those who were league winners for a lot of you. What better way to honor real players than with fake All-Star selections?! I'm gonna take a standard lineup of C/1B/2B/3B/SS/OF/OF/OF/UT/UT/SP/SP/RP/RP/P/P/P/P and fill it with the best that the 2020 waiver wire had to offer. In most leagues, most of these guys were drafted late or not at all. Of course in deeper leagues maybe all of them were drafted at some point, but in standard 12-team leagues, almost all of these guys came off the wire. Without further ado, let's do it to it!

Top 20 3rd Basemen, 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a Recap

October 8, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 77 Comments

by: Grey

With the top 20 3rd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball, we've gone through the infield, we can see how deep each position was in the most undeepest (totally a word!) of seasons. 1st base was deep. Oddly so since coming into this year (and last), it felt like 1st base was not as deep as it had been going back two or three years. The guard has changed, and 1st base was deep again. At least in a two-month season. Next up, shortstops and 3rd basemen were equally deep on the backend -- Willi Castro was exactly the 20th ranked for both. However, shortstops were far and away deeper up top, and it wasn't close. Didi Gregorius, the 10th ranked shortstop, was worth about twice as much as the 10th ranked 3rd baseman, and Didi was way more valuable than the 10th ranked 1st baseman. Finally, 2nd basemen were easily the worst infield position outside of catchers. So, infield ranked from deepest to shallowest in the undeepest of seasons: 1B, SS, 3B, 2B, and catchers. However, ranking the top 10 of each position: SS, 1B, 3B, 2B, catchers. With SS and 1B, 1A and 1B. That's not confusing at all. I'll begin outfield tomorrow, they are the deepest in the undeepest. To recap my recap before the recap, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This is not for next year. Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them: