Starling On The Dock Of The Bay

July 29, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 423 Comments

[brid autoplay="true" video="831841" player="10951" title="RZBL%202021%20WAIVER%20WIRE%20WEEK%2016" duration="137" description="undefined" uploaddate="2021-07-23" thumbnailurl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/831841_t_1627028307.png" contentUrl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/831841.mp4"] On a treadmill, Billy Beane screaming at Jonah Hill, "Get me Starling Marte!" as he presses the speed faster and faster. Now, he's at a brisk pace that could be described as, "Miguel Sano rolling downhill." Jonah Hill, knowing he has to do as his boss says, or risk being fired, trades Jesus Luzardo for Starling Marte and that's when...The music rises. All we see is a bandana tied around the back of a head. Tight close-up and we see a finger wave. Another close-up and we see someone putting their hand to ear to hear crowd noise. A little kid stands on a chair, and points, "Mah gawd, that's Kim Ng's music!" It is her, and she just fleeced Billy Beane. Yo, yo, YO YO YO, how do you trade a Starling Marte rental for Jesus Luzardo? The Marlins will show you how. Jesus Luzardo can be an ace as soon as next year and Marte? Well, who knows where he'll be next year. Crazy value there for the Marlins. That's how you do rebuilding and why I was giving such crap to the Pirates the other day over Adam Frazier. Though, giving crap to the Pirates is fun. They like it too, right? Pirates like anything to do with booty. As for Marte in his new home, welp, that park sucks, but it's not like Crayola Canyon is a great park, and Marte's more of a five-category performer than reliant on power. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Learn more about our 2025 Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions!

The best daily/weekly player rankings/projections (hitters, starters, and relievers) for each of the next 7-10 days + next calendar week starting Friday. Kick-ass DFS lineup optimizer and projections for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo!.

I don’t have enough spam, give me the Razzball email newsletter!

Weekly Razzball news delivered straight to your inbox.

See all of today’s starting lineups

#	MLB Starting Lineups For Tue 5/20
	ARI \| ATH \| ATL \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TOR \| WSH \| CHW \| OAK \| TEX

In Search of Barrels

July 28, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Hitters | 24 Comments

by: everywhereblair

True story: I wrote the majority of my dissertation in a brewery. A Scottish brewer worked there -- had even gone to college for a degree in brewing in the old country -- and down the way there was a distillery that made whiskey. When the distillery was done aging whiskey in the barrels, the brewery purchased them to age their stout, creating the famed "Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout." At 13% alcohol and with a taste profile that changed as it warmed up, it was a beautiful creation. Inspiring. So inspiring that I could write 400 pages. Type, type, type. Lesson is, I couldn't have had that beer without barrels. Barrels cause good things to happen, but do people aspire to be coopers anymore? Nah, not really. But nowadays, the barrel masters are more commonly found in baseball, where batters connect squarely on the barrel of the bat. And, just like barrels bring you good beer, barrels in hitting bring you good batters.

One Man’s Trash: Jump in the Water and Wade?

July 28, 2021 | One Man's Trash | 13 Comments

by: Son

I've been taking my daughter to the pool to learn how to swim. Yes, your Son isn't just a son of a Son who has a son himself. #GirlDad and proud of it! Anyways, she is so far from swimming, the same way I have no chance of replicating the feats I see while watching the Olympics. Gotta start somewhere, though. Getting into the water is no problem but dunking her head underwater or floating on her back is not on the agenda. So, the teacher just says to have her wade around in the shallow end to just get her comfortable being in the water. And wade we did and wade we do. It's been about a week and she can now put her head underwater for a sec and float on her back a little bit with assistance. Incremental improvement which will hopefully portend for great things ahead. LaMonte Wade Jr. of the San Francisco Giants has been a sneaky source of fantasy production and has been added in 13.3% of ESPN leagues recently. Shoutout to Vlad Sedler, high-stakes guru over at Elite Fantasy who's been on Wade for a few weeks now. Will this Wade lead to more or is it time to exit the pool and take a shower?

Top 25 First Basemen Rest of Season – Abandoning the Belli-Ship

July 28, 2021 | Rest of Season Rankings, Top 25 First Basemen | 9 Comments

by: Richardo

Have you ever been the last person on a sinking ship? See that monster of a Carnival Cruise ship sinking off the coast of Florida? See the f*cking clown on top wearing a Cody Bellinger jersey? That's me. Bellinger's extreme upside kept me hanging onto the tiniest straw of hope for a turnaround down the stretch. This week, he tweaked a hamstring. He's back in the lineup Tuesday night, but I've finally decided to throw in the towel. This is probably like when Rocky failed to throw in the towel and watched as Drago killed Apollo Creed....aka my teams with Bellinger are dead. The Dodgers' slugger was easily the biggest faller of the week. But as one sun sets another Dodger rises in the west - that's science, right? Max Muncy took a big leap into the top five. Muncy has managed to keep his walk rate above his strikeout rate all year and his Baseball Savant page is filled with the "red stats" that we want to see. Let's dive into this week's list and then we'll talk about some movers.

FanDuel: Wheel’er No Deal

July 28, 2021 | DFS, Fanduel |

by: Barrelman

My biggest advice for tonight and in the coming days is to pay close attention to lineup updates by beat writers. Only a couple of days left until the trade deadline and I suspect it will be a very busy one. Fantasy, especially DFS is all about opportunity and maximizing PAs. We don't want to lose a player by "setting and forgetting" and have someone scratched right before the first pitch. Personally, I use @fantasylabsmlb and turn on notifications. They post lineups as well as updates and trades. Could save you some time if you don't feel like stalking multiple beat writer accounts. New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

“Take It To The Graveman” No Longer About Cheating Secrets In Houston

July 28, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 349 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay="true" video="831841" player="10951" title="RZBL%202021%20WAIVER%20WIRE%20WEEK%2016" duration="137" description="undefined" uploaddate="2021-07-23" thumbnailurl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/831841_t_1627028307.png" contentUrl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/831841.mp4"] Kendall Graveman was traded to the Astros with Rafael Montero for Abraham Toro and Joe Smith. So, I am now asking, what on earth is going on there? Is that a real trade? That trade made it seem like the Mariners' front office wished they never made Tuesday night's comeback. That's a trade a last place team does with a first place team that's in another division. Pardon the pun, but that Toro trade is fishy as hell. Unless I'm missing something, or the Mariners are like, "We need Toro, because the Padres love fatty tuna and we have to send him there for Hosmer." Otherwise, that is just, well, bad, and hard to understand. Then the Mariners went out and got Tyler Anderson out from under the Phils' nose, which is a long, green snout. Phillies tried to send a helmet stuffed with caramel popcorn and Pirates were like, "Hey, this guy's getting stuck in my teeth." So, a team with France isn't waving the white flag? What goes on here? This is so crazy confusing! As for the Mariners' pen, Paul Sewald, who has been great, takes over as closer. He could've been great with Graveman there too, though. As for Graveman? Engrave it with "RIP your fantasy value." As for Tyler Anderson, he has a wicked cutter, and a very stable ERA of 4.30-ish, which is fine for real baseball and the Streamonator, but this trade doesn't make him great. As for Toro, he homered last night in a pinch-hit appearance. It was almost like he knew what pitch was coming. Hmm... Well, Toro is a utility player for now, until the M's get rid of Seager. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Rolling In The Deep: Still A High Hill To Climb

July 27, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 6 Comments

by: Laura Holt

How did it get to be the last week of July?? There's still not been much interesting trade movement as I write this, save Adam Frazier's arrival in San Diego (which unfortunately is really only interesting in terms of trying to figure out which Padres I own will be losing playing time). As I continue to try to bolster my teams for the final two months of the season, I am once again looking at a barren waiver wire that seems unlikely to contain a hidden gem. I think this weekend might have been the slowest of the year in terms of FAAB pick ups in my AL and NL-only leagues, but there's always someone to take a chance on when you're desperate in a deep league... so let's once again check out a few names that could be of potential interest in the deep league world.

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Today We Are All Traffic Guardians!!!

July 27, 2021 | All Podcasts |

by: Geoff

Well, we got sucked into name talk to open this one, but don't worry it last around 90 seconds and we promptly move on to baseball. We talk Nelson Cruz, we talk Rich Hill, and we talk potential trade deadline moves. We discuss shooting Cody Bellinger into space with Jeff Bezos, talk some returning pitchers, some waiver wire names and Grey bakes a delicious tart. All of this and more on the latest episode of the Razzball podcast.

RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 16, 2021

July 27, 2021 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenter Leagues | 1 Comment

by: MattTruss

Hello Razzball Commenter Leaguers and welcome to another RCL Update. I am currently on vacation and have had way too many White Claws and far too much sun, so please bear with me on today’s update. I’m still here with you, through thick and through thin. We have exciting news in the Master Standings and we have some serious chatting to do about the RazzSlam playoffs. Did you know there were playoffs? Me either, so we can talk about that. We had a slew of trades and some serious offense this week as well. It feels good to have a full week again and to be back in the swing of things for the second half of our game. Let’s go ahead and dive into the week that was, week 16:

FanDuel: Some Like It Hot

July 27, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: RyanStar

Welcome back to the Tuesday edition of Fanduel DFS here on Razzball. Full slate tonight and almost zero weather concerns. It’s hot and humid across the land, and with not many aces going tonight, I’m expecting plenty of runs to be scored. We have a few solid pitching matchups at the top and not much else that jumps out. The heat gets me excited, particularly in KC and Philly for whatever reason. I’m looking for the overlooked stacks to mix in with that high ceiling semi-chalk. Good luck tonight, and remember to stay positive and visualize that bank roll spiking. Visualize your success! You HAVE to believe it to be true before it can happen. Go with your gut and do it with confidence. Let’s go! New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

White Sox Reveal Party Shows It’s Eloy!

July 27, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 311 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay="true" video="831841" player="10951" title="RZBL%202021%20WAIVER%20WIRE%20WEEK%2016" duration="137" description="undefined" uploaddate="2021-07-23" thumbnailurl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/thumb/831841_t_1627028307.png" contentUrl="//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/831841.mp4"] Off screen we hear screaming, "Who buried me?" A hand shoots out of the dirt, and that hand grabs some dirt, pulling it back inside. After some chomping, we hear, "It tastes like Oreo crumbs." You're not buried Eloy Jimenez, you have a sundae on top of you because you're so tasty! Yo, Eloy Jimenez is a snack for coming back so fast. Am I using that correctly? The snack term. Is that right? Sometimes I walk into the potato chip aisle at the supermarket and say real loud, "I don't need any chips, I'm already a snack," then I sizzle my finger on my butt. Am I the only that does this? Not to answer but to nod encouragingly. Eloy Jimenez (0-for-4) returned last night from his season-ending-injury-that-wasn't-a-season-ending-injury. From this point forward, there's no reason to think he can't be a top 25 overall player as we thought he would before the injury. Only wish I hadn't dropped him in every league! Haha, I'm so dumb, as I sit on Chris Sale, Noah Syndergaard, Luis Severino and Carlos Carrasco. Great stuff, Snack Grey! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2021: Week 17

July 26, 2021 | Top 100 Starting Pitchers | 34 Comments

by: everywhereblair

We're 60% of the way through the season and you haven't sued us for boredom! I can't believe we're not boring! I'm going to put that on my next CV so that my next potential employer can reject a "not boring" person. Or maybe that will get me kicked out of Elon Musk's hole-digging company. Ever wonder why billionaires want to dig holes and fly into space at the same time? Probably for their space boring tech. Elon Musk watched The Expanse and thought it was an inspirational business story. I think he'd make a good asteroid maven. Can't become president on Earth? Why not be king of your own asteroid? Rob Manfred's probably already prepping for a 2030 Moon Base MLB game, sponsored by Gemini, where all the players get paid in Bitcoin. Then when Shohei Ohtani Jr. hits a 3,000 foot popup, Manfred will cancel low gravity on the moon and return all the players to their natural home: a row of folding chairs in a hotel lobby. I kid! We here at Razzball love Rob Manfred and everything he's done for the game of baseball, including making the lives of pitcher rankers completely miserable by getting rid of Spider Tack. Catch me after the Greinke graphic to see what's in store for the rest of the season!