So, I got the 5th pick. How's your day going? At the Winter Meetings? That's cool, same. Maybe you've seen me in the lobby, I'm wearing a floral arrangement on my head while I hide in a pot. Wait, there's no Winter Meetings, that's right. I mean there is, a group of billionaires are Zoom'ing into the Winter Meetings where the hottest commodity is a guy who was a backup catcher last year. Hey, Jon Heyman, stop leaking McCann news. I ate a few too many Olestra-laden potato chips and McCann is leaking! It's none of your business! Last week, I took part in an NFBC team league, and here is, as the people say who are trying on hats, my recap. For those not in the know, this is a 15-team, two-catcher league that lasts for 50 rounds and there’s no waivers. You draft it, and manage it. Weekly moves for pitchers, bi-weekly (rawr!) for hitters, changing out on Monday and Friday. I didn't want the fifth pick. I wanted any pick but the fifth pick. As I see it, there's an obvious top four (Sexy Dr. Pepper, Tildaddy, FTJ, Mookie Best), then...Dot dot dot...Question mark. What now? I didn't want to think for the 1st pick, but the automated draft picker thing (that's its name) said I was the most qualified to think, so I thought. Or I just screwed up my pre-draft rankings for which pick I wanted. Like a teamster, I'm leaning on the latter. Anyway, here’s my NFBC draft recap:
See all of today’s starting lineups
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ATH | ATL | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | LAA | MIL | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | TEX | TOR | WSH | ARI | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | KC | LAD | MIA | MIN | NYM | OAK | SF | STL | TB |
Feels oddly fated that the Yankees land right behind the Red Sox in the sequence I’ve chosen: alphabetically, division by division. It’s more than Babe Ruth and Bucky Dent linking the legacies of these organizations. It’s the Razz Prospect Rundown now, too!
Okay, enough hilarity. Baseball’s all business in the AL East. Everywhere, really. If I start writing in this thought space at all, I’ll lose my shizz over the hyper-capitalist, negotiating-table Designated Hizzer shizz that’s shizzing all over the off-season.
Deep breaths.
I spelled “hizzer” that way because I couldn’t say “Designated Hitter shizz that’s shizzing” when I read the sentence back to myself.
Like, my tongue would refuse to make the sounds so matter how hard I focused.
I was saying “designated hizzer shizz” when I tried to read the whole sentence.
And I liked it.
Let’s do the prospect thing.
Reds trading away their closer, Raisel Iglesias, for Noé Ramirez is the kind of deal that will be used by future generations when they dissect when baseball clearly wasn't about winning. This makes sense from the Angels' perspective, clearly. Nothing that Angels like more than las Iglesias, and now they have two of them, having traded for Jose Iglesias earlier this offseason. This is not a black and white world, so I could see them trading for Emilio Pagan to balance their shoulders. Mike Trout will need to learn the Spanish nursery rhyme, "Aquí is the Iglesias, aqui is the personas, aquí is the pescado without a championship." All I Noé is that dude is an 88-MPH middle reliever and what are the Reds doing? I like Amir Mrs. Garrett as much as the next guy, but he's their closer now? I thought they were trying to be competitive. Why is "not being competitive" even an option? Okay, I'm about to burst my ulcer. So, Raisel Iglesias will clearly be the Angels' closer, and has the stuff to be a top 3 closer. Last year he went 12.1 K/9, 2 BB/9, and 2.87 xFIP, and is nearly that dominant in his career, not just goofy 60-game seasons. For 2021, I'll give Raisel Iglesias projections of 2-3/2.52/1.06/84, 34 saves in 67 IP.
On a more somber note, wonder what the Heaven's Gate guy would've thought about the Angels trading for Raisel Iglesias and Jose Iglesias. That's gotta be a sign, right? No? Well, he would've thought it was. Side note: the phrase "what in the holy eff" was invented for the HBO Max Heaven's Gate documentary. As for Jose Iglesias, I've already drafted him in one 2021 league. Yes, I've already drafted a 2021 fantasy baseball league, I'll try to go over it later this week. It was super late when I went to Iglesias, but I was hoping he could save my batting average's soul. He's a high contact, nothing else guy. For 2021, I'll give Jose Iglesias projections of 64/8/68/.283/6 in 472 ABs. Anyway, here's what else I saw this offseason for 2021 fantasy baseball:
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Lying on a couch, talking to my shrink, "I put on a Franchy Cordero jersey, squeeze a combination of ketchup and mayo all over myself and walk around screaming, 'I'm Franch's dressing!'"
Shrink, "And, do you enjoy that?"
"It's okay, but without relish."
"Because you're thinking of Thousand Island."
And...scene!
Outside of major superstars, like the best of the best, the top of the echelon, the cream after it rises, there's not too many players with 70 grade power and speed. Franchy Cordero has it though. He has that muscle and speed. Just look at last year, he hit two homers and stole one bag in 38 at-bats with a -1.1 Launch Angle. El oh--*coughing fit* WUT. A negative Launch Angle? Did he swing backwards, hit two balls so hard off the catcher's mask that they ricochetted out of the park? His Hard Hit% was 47.1%, which would've been third best in the majors if it qualified, and at 38 at-bats, it didn't, but not far off in that stupid year. Speaking of stupid years, throw out last year for Franchy. He had an injury -- had his hamate bone removed in early August -- and didn't do anything worth talking any more about. As I always say, forget the Yandyesque Launch Angle, but remember the Yandyesque muscles. So, what can we expect from Franchy Cordero for 2021 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Things tend to get weird after you win a World Series these days.
You might lose your manager due to a slow-burn scandal.
Might trade your franchise player in his prime.
For prospects, of course.
Might look kinda cryptically smart for doing so when a pandemic erases much of his final season under contract.
Oh yeah, and your big-money ace has the bad elbow but might be back in July or so. It’s a weird moment in Boston, but 2021 isn’t without hope, especially in the form of the guy who tops this list.
Happy belated Thanksgiving, Razzballers!
'Tis the season for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, but there's another deal-day you may or may not be aware of...Saturday Stove deals! It's when we recount some offseason MLB free agent news on Saturday. See, free agent news is the hot stove and it's Saturday. Clearly makes a lot of sense. Sorry if you're here to buy a stove.
The free agent period is always exciting in any sport, but it'll be especially interesting to see how an itty-bitty 60-game season will amplify contracts for little ol' guys like Trevor Bauer and Marcell Ozuna, two dudes who went just absolutely bonkers. On the flip side, what about little ol' Marcus Semien, who plummeted to an almost career-worst OPS after his sexy 2019 season?
So what I'm gonna do is go a little deeper on the important guys that have signed somewhere already. There aren't a ton, but there are certainly guys worth talking about. Then for guys that are still freely drifting along, I'll just give a gut-check take on what 2021 could look like for 'em. Odds are pretty decent I'll gloss over a guy you really care about...I'm not gonna talk about every ding dang free agent out there. Sorry not sorry.
Angels are a bad team. Doesn't matter for sleepers. Their home park doesn't help. Oh em gee, I just thought of something: Mike Trout as a Rockies player for his career. He'd be wearing a SpongeBob Nascar jacket during his 2nd year with the team as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. "Today, we welcome the 23-year-old Mike Trout into the Hall of Fame, on the back of the 680 homers he hit his rookie year." Oh, who am I kidding? If Mike Trout were on the Rockies, he'd still be platooning with Raimel Tapia. "I'm looking forward to giving Trouty a chance out of camp," says Bud Black as he doesn't give Trout a chance. Any hoo! What I was saying is Jared Walsh is on a bad team in a bad park. The bad team thing actually could help, because who's bumping him from the lineup? Albert Pujols? Pujols has been shite, British pronunciation, for five years now. Taylor Ward? I just jotted his name down, and even I think I made his name up. I.e. Jared Walsh will have playing time. So, what can we expect from Jared Walsh for 2021 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
*going through the rolodex in my brain* Ah, yes, that was a good time in the summer of '99...Oh my, that's where I left my keys in December of 2012...Oh, shoot, the finale to Breaking Bad--Eek, don't want to revisit that, I might rewatch it at some point. So, that was me going down Memory Lane trying to remember if I had written a
Nick Solak sleeper post last year. Turns out I hadn't, and should've just googled it, rather than wracking my brain. I wrote a rookie outlook post for him last year, but no sleeper, because, well, he was a rookie going into this year. Here's what I said back then, "In 2019 through two teams’ Triple-A affiliates and a brief call-up with the
Rangers,
Nick Solak’s numbers were 32 homers — take the R out of boring, because that is boing! — seven steals — you’re my daddy now! — and a .280-ish average (I say “ish” because I only do straight addition, and didn’t feel like figuring out his batting average). If this was merely a one-time breakout season from Solak, I’d still pay attention, but this is who he’s been now for his career. He also carries a 11+% walk rate and a manageable 20% K-rate. With 12 steals (seems impossible but who knows), and 25+ homers (might be more impossible, but, again, who knows) and those batted ball profile rates, Solak could squirm his way into a 27/14/.285 season and become the
Rangers two-hole hitter. That’s de facto value! Narrator: Grey thought the best kind of value was de facto value. What I’m slightly surprised about, and which, honestly, has me a little troubled is why no one is talking about him?" And that's me quoting me! One tiny thing has changed (besides literally all the huge things that have changed due to the pandemic), Solak is no longer a rookie. One thing hasn't changed, no one is talking about him still. So, what can we expect from Nick Solak for 2021 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
With escapism impossible on the football side, we turn to the baseball team in Baltimore. After a surprising season that saw the Orioles playing meaningful games in October, 2021 looks like the opening of a window.
Would you consider this a high-octane, high-offense, get-high-in-48-of-50-states-but-watch-your-stash-in-Alaska-type of environs? Present day baseball, I'm saying. Would you consider it a home run happy environment? Not to answer, but to nod along like you know where I'm going but will be surprised anyway. You would, right? I would, so it's okay to think it. Okay, without looking up for the answer, how would you hit a home run? Trick question! You have to look up for the answer. It's fly balls. You hit fly balls and you have a chance for home runs. What's the opposite of fly balls? Okay, stop looking up, it's ground balls. The lowest ground ball rates for qualified hitters last year: Mike Trout (25.2%), Joey Gallo (26.6%), Adam Duvall (29.2%), Trevor Story (29.7%), Jose Ramirez (30.1%), and Freddie Freeman (31.6%). Just avoiding ground balls isn't some kind of magic elixir, or Magik if a mutant is reading. You also need to hit the ball hard, like, say, Nick Castellanos, the Greek God of Hard Contact, who had a 26% line drive rate. Imagine someone hit fewer ground balls than Mike Trout, but more line drives than Castellanos, would that kind of magic interest you? Enter, stage right: The Amazing Anthony Santander...*Santander struggles to find an opening in the curtains, ruining his entrance*...The Amazing Santander! The Amazing...Will someone please help him with that stupid curtain? *watches as the curtain falls on him* Okay, we're gonna fix that and the show will continue. So, what can we expect from Anthony Santander for 2021 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
