Top 100 Keepers for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

I feel like I say this every year around this time -- but I LOVE keeper leagues. Especially all the crazy rules and context to them. “If you drafted him in the 13th round, he becomes a 10th round keeper next year, then a 4th round keeper the year after that, then a 1st the year after that. And if you keep him in the 1st you can’t keep anyone else with a 1st.” or “If you bought him for $5 his inflation becomes $18 in 2022. Then in 2023 he’ll be $31.43” or “You can’t keep anyone in the first 5 rounds, because one year Smitty somehow kept Miggy, A-Rod, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Roy Halladay and broke the league.” And let me tell you -- I love ALL of it. Your league’s crazy rules are what make it unique and interesting. Navigating this craziness is part of the fun. So these are just my rankings for your standard, vanilla 5x5 roto league. But my favorite part of this article -- is always in the comments helping you guys breaking down your crazy keeper rules and making the best choices. So get down there and tell me your league’s crazy keeper system and how I can help you make your best decision!

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Tue 10/28
	LAD \| TOR \| ARI \| ATH \| ATL \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| OAK \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| WSH

Deep Thoughts: Do You Wanna Build With Stroman?

by: Coolwhip

After what feels like a year-long winter without baseball, inside dining, and building social capital, it's finally back. No more concealing it, it's finally time to open up the gates... this last week pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training, and the smell of baseball is in the air. I can't tell you how much that gets me hyped. It's been years since I played baseball competitively. Yet with the promise of spring around the corner, I still get that same joy from deep in my soul. It happens every year like clockwork, and it's always magical. The chance at a new player breaking into the bigs, a hitter making an adjustment to finally hit sliders, and a pitcher... oh, the pitchers... finding that new grip that opens the door to new possibilities. How can you not be romantic about baseball?

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep, Pairings

February 24, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy | 188 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay="true" video="719862" player="10951" title="Razzball%202021%20Draft%20Kit%20%20DTNT" duration="145" description="" uploaddate="2021-02-14 18:33:16" thumbnailurl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/719862_t_1613327606.png" contentUrl="https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/719862.mp4"] Here’s a post that’s gonna make you wanna slap ya mama and tell her Don Magic Juan sends his best. The other day I told you how to draft your pitchers for 2021 fantasy baseball. I laid it out to you nice and simple (if you have a degree in “What The Hell Is Grey Talking About?” Not a PhD, mind you. Just a BS.) Today, we forget all that jabberwocky on the who-ha and get down to business old school-style (which means if you don’t comprehend, I will hit you over the head with a baseball bat signed by Joe Clark.) What I’m hoping to lay out to you is who do you draft 2nd, if you’ve drafted so and so first. I think it might be helpful to go through pairings for your 5 outfielders, all your middle and corner infielders too. I’m not sure I’ll have the time or patience to do them. We’ll see! Or not. Your choice. (Actually, my choice.) For easy reference, the royal we will be using the top 10 for 2021 fantasy baseball, top 20 for 2021 fantasy baseball, and the beginning of the top 100 for 2021 fantasy baseball. I’m going to assume you’re in a 12 team, 5×5, MI, CI, 5 OF, 1 Utility, 1 Catcher league, similar to our Razzball Commenter Leagues. (Sign up for multiple leagues, and beat the heck out of your frenemies or make new frenemies!) Anyway, here’s some pairings for the first two rounds of 2021 fantasy baseball drafts:

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Top Third Basemen for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

February 23, 2021 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 2 Comments

by: Geoff

Every week it's something new. No seriously we have a different position each week, and while 90% of the third base rankings are covered in the Top 20, First Base, Second Base, and Shortstops we still found a way to talk about the hot corner for 60+ minutes. And by hot corner I mean that piece in the middle of a REAL Chicago pizza. None of that deep dish shizz. We rant about the third basemen you should draft, tell you when to draft them, and tell you who to avoid. It's a wonderful journey around the horn!

Razzball Commenter Leagues – Why Join 2021

February 23, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Our Leagues, Razzball Commenter Leagues | 27 Comments

by: MattTruss

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. Last season just never felt quite right. I don’t know about you, but I found myself just going through the motions in leagues. That’s no fun and I’m crossing my fingers for a normal season this year. I mean, this isn’t a surprise anymore, MLB has had an entire year to plan for this very moment, so I’m sure they have the most well thought out plan possible and are ready to give it their all. Everyone must be on the same page, right? Right? Hello? Well, we’ll carry on through March and hope for the best. What more can we do? The RCLs are a different beast than most of your 12 team mixed leagues, so let’s go over a little of what you can expect and also why you should join. If you’re on the fence about joining an RCL, you really shouldn’t be sitting on fences, that sounds terribly uncomfortable, but we’re here to help guide you in your decision making. So, grab an energy drink of your choosing and let’s get into things.

Rolling In The Deep: An Early Look At Cheap Second Basemen

February 23, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 35 Comments

by: Laura Holt

I'm not sure how many leagues I'm in where I'll be in the market for an off-the-radar second baseman, because as my drafts have gotten going over the last couple of months I've found myself trying to fill the 2B position earlier rather than later. I've found myself willing to perhaps overpay a bit for Ozzie Albies or Whit Merrifield, or maybe gamble on an upside-without-a-long-track-record, relatively early pick of Cavan Biggio or Keston Hiura. Things get dicey in a hurry, as I'm not remotely interested in, say, Jose Altuve or Dylan Moore at their current ADPs (which are both around 100 overall according to NFBC). I might take a flier on Mike Moustakas (ADP #120) who qualifies at 2B in most leagues, Tommy Edman (#129), or Nick Solak (#169), but I'm not overly confident that any of those three will provide solid value at those prices, let alone confident enough to reach for any of them.

Fantasy Baseball War Room, 2021 Edition

February 23, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy | 98 Comments

by: Grey

The Fantasy Baseball War Room is back! I’m not saying the Fantasy Baseball War Room is back, as in, is a butt. So, if Sir Mix-A-Lot is reading, I’m truly sorry for the confusion. Our Fantasy Baseball War Room is one part draft tool, one part fantasy team evaluator, one part fantasy junkie’s s’s and g’s tool, one part holy, two parts smokes, three parts… How many parts is that so far? Cause it’s only really seven parts total. I think there’s one part kill-your-day-with-this-war-room-thing-a-maboob-as-a-pinwheel-spins in there too. Essentially, this helps you practice building a fantasy baseball team. Rudy also has a War Room that comes with Razzball subscriptions. His War Room is better and offsite, i.e., he’ll give you a link to download everything. I repeat, his War Room is better, but is not free. Ask anyone in the comments if Rudy’s War Room is better, they will say 100% it is better. This one is free, and janky at times. You’ve been warned, so you cannot complain.

Rudy’s 2021 LABR Mixed Draft

February 22, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Our Leagues | 41 Comments

by: Rudy Gamble

Some drafters are more preoccupied with power than others. No one at the LABR Mixed Draft was as preoccupied by power as I was (well, except fellow Austinite Paul Sporer and similarly weather fucked Oregonian Ryan Bloomfield) thanks to the wintry, energy grid challenged hellscape that was Texas on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. Luckily, the House of Gamble did not fall so I have only myself to blame if this team does not take down a crown. As always, thanks to Steve Gardner at USA Today for the invite.

The RazzSlam Guidebook: Aces Edition

February 22, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 16 Comments

by: everywhereblair

If you're one of those people who follows the plethora of sports that Razzball covers, you would have seen my RazzBowl Guidebook on the football side this past fall. In that series, I studied the reams of data produced by the NFC to understand how roster composition and draft strategy would help my fantasy sports results. So I did some homework, used Rudy's rankings, and had a little bit of luck. The results? I finished the 2020 Fantasy Football year as the champion of the DataForce Charity League, where I defeated 12 of the best and brightest minds on the fantasy football circuit. I wrote about that experience in this article detailing how to win an industry fantasy football league. Now, let's do the same for the RazzSlam, and hopefully we can get you -- yes, you! -- your first win in an industry fantasy baseball tournament.

Patreon Podcast: Show Me Crocodile!

February 22, 2021 | 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. ANNOUNCEMENT!! Ten (10) Razzball Patreon members will randomly be selected to compete against Grey, Rudy and a slew all the biggest names in the fantasy baseball industry in this years RazzSlam. Note your Patreon membership at the bottom of your RazzSlam Signup Form. Now, without further ado, it’s your favorite hour of the week! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Not News is back again with all the Billy Hurley jokes and Grey Albright cackles you can handle. First we discuss crocodile surgery and a gender reveal gone terribly wrong. Then we get the scoop on a dog who inherited 5 million dollars and a man charge with placing dead animals on his neighbor's gravestone.

ESPN’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Are So Bloody Stupid

February 22, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated | 139 Comments

by: Grey

Our 2021 Razzball leagues are in signup mode. Robot in Signup Mode, “I am entering contest to win Razzball t-shirt even though I’ve never seen a robot wear a shirt. Starting….” The Robot begins to peter out, “…New…Fad.” Oh no, the Razzball Robot has died! *screaming to heavens* What hath you forsaken me?! Heavens, “Focus on ESPN's 2021 fantasy baseball rankings, you moron.” Wow, the heavens do not take well to histrionics. So, this year’s ESPN rankings are a tad goofier than I remember them, but maybe I just got smarter — Smarterened? Smartered? Became the smarts? Meh, I don’t know. What I do know is ESPN has Trevor Bauer ranked 12th overall, and that made me laugh for a very long time. At one point, I coughed, and I thought I was coming down with the plague, but quickly recovered to laugh some more. Never knew ESPN was so climate-conscious, but they must be because they're good recycling garbage. Maybe it's bravery in the face of contradictory evidence. Maybe it's dumb. Maybe it's nuts. Hopefully not Mitch Haniger's, they've been through enough. Any hoo! I’m clutchin’ my pearls like a Barbara Bush hologram and about to take out some ‘perts! *slowly, menacingly sharpens index finger for more incisive typing* I’m about to cut up somebody with words! Now let’s open a window and defenestrate ESPN’s 2021 fantasy baseball rankings. To the tune of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday, I call this So Bloody Stupid:

Top 25 Shortstops for 2021 Fantasy Baseball: A Second Look

February 21, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Rest of Season Rankings, Top 25 Shortstops | 8 Comments

by: Jakkers

When doing bi-monthly rankings, I asked myself while freezing in the dark with no electricity because I live in a state that can't handle the cold, "Jakkers, how do I do bi-monthly rankings when there are no games going on, not even fake games? Heck, spring training just started!" Now, because I was right there in the room when I asked this question, I immediately responded to this outstanding query. I told myself, "Well, let's take a closer look at some of the players ranked two weeks ago." I have to say, that is a brilliant answer. How do I know it's brilliant? Because I asked it and I answered it, and I am brilliant. OK, in my world I am brilliant. Those around me probably have some other adjectives they'd likely use to describe me. Brilliant may not be one of them. However, before we delve more into a few players, let me get my bias out in the open. Shocking, I know, but my rankings have a bias. I run two dynasty fantasy leagues. The leagues in which I participate but don't run are, for the most part, dynasty leagues. Because of my preference for dynasty leagues, I prefer younger players with upside over players who have plateaued or are on the downside of their careers. Did this bias affect the rankings first posted two weeks ago? Yes. I ranked Willi Castro higher than Chris Taylor or Marcus Semien. I rank Bo Bichette fifth because he is only 23 as of Opening Day and has huge amounts of upside and he has three years on Corey Seager.