As FDRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR has said before, "Today, will live in infinity." No truer words have been said repeatedly over and over again, but mostly in my brain. This league crawls itself into my brain and gnaws like a gnat. Imagine a gnat named Gnat opens a diner in my brain named The Peach Pit, and it's only frequented by Bad Thoughts, and these Bad Thoughts take all the pre-draft prep that I do, and, immediately after my first pick, the Bad Thoughts whisper, "You screwed up." That's how I feel with this league. Is it as bad as I think or did I let in too many Bad Thoughts? It prolly is just bad. So, my Tout Wars team stinks, but, if everything works out as intended, then my Tout Wars team might only kinda stink. Here's to kinda stinking! For those unaware, this league is 5×5 with OBP instead of AVG, two-catcher, 12-team NL-Only league. Anyway, here’s my Tout Wars draft recap:
Monthly Archives: March 2022
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Moving Pitchers: Free Agent Starters for 2022
March 21, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 16 Commentsby: everywhereblair
The other day I was suddenly fascinated by the history of the band Rush. Here's the joke: Rush has the album Moving Pictures, and you probably know the song Tom Sawyer (de do de do doo doo, de do dee du doo) from that album, and now we've got Moving Pitchers in Free Agency. Hah! I tell funny jokes that need schooling in prog rock history to understand. But the band that would claim a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and feature three dudes that many would consider Top 10 at their instruments in the history of loud music (that's Rush, bee-tee-dubya), they began from some guys playing street hockey. Geddy Lee's parents survived the worst concentration camps in Nazi Germany, and Alex Lifeson's parents were immigrants from behind the Iron Curtain. Neil Peart failed as both a busker and a bar circuit drummer before joining Rush, which at the time was a glam rock band. And they go on to be Hall of Fame prog rock musicians. Sometimes, it's not about how somebody starts their career -- it's about getting that chance and then making the most of it. Nobody would have predicted the guys from Canada would become one of the most respected rock acts of all time, inspiring other heavy-hitting glam rock bands like Pantera. But they stuck with it, and now you can enjoy laser light shows in 7/4 time.
Just like Rush was completely unassuming to start their careers, here are a bunch of those Moving Pitchers that the field of fantasy baseballers don't really care about -- or are even scared of! -- but they could make an impact for your 2022 fantasy team.
I have an idea. I’d like to make reading a post a more enjoyable, perhaps immersive, experience. Today I will start with with an accompanying song. The following song has been handpicked for today’s post.
Please click here to load this song in the background as you read this article (It should open in another tab)
Knowing YouTube, there will be some sort of ad before the song plays. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Good day, Razzball fam,
Spring Training is finally underway, more and more free agents are off the board, and trades are being made! This week we’ll be taking a look at second basemen. Second baseman as a whole this year seem to be shallower than shortstops and free agency doesn’t seem to have made a huge impact on the rankings for fantasy purposes. Please, blog, may I have some more?
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At the same time the Red Sox signed Trevor Story, the Yankees signed Marwin Gonzalez. The oneupmanship between these two teams is just so hard to keep up with! Will cover Marwin in a few, but in some ways the Yankees replaced Luke Voit and Gary Sanchez all in one full swoop. Ya know, a guy who doesn't play like Voit, while also being a guy not one fan is happy with like Sanchez. Mean's while, the Red Sox went out and added Trevor Story to play 2nd base, and my mouth fell open and I started drooling when I saw the Expected Homers by Story if he called Fenway his home park last year. This stat is in general an absolute goof that you shouldn't pay too much attention to, but I've never seen someone with such a huge difference before between actual and expected homers. He had 19 expected homers in Coors last year (actually hit 24) and his expected homers in Fenway was 38 homers. That is comical. Last year, Story hit 35.5% to center and 27.3% to right. That's a decent amount the other way (32nd in the majors) and little above average to center. In Fenway, you want to badonkadonk off the wall as many times as you can. Not so you can scare people on Lansdowne, or at least not only that reason. You wanna hit doodie shots off the wall for the doodie doubles. Like a PETA-sanctioned vet, Story has pulled more balls previously, so maybe he returns to that, but he's been getting beat by fastballs, not exactly turning on them. Why does this sound negative? Because I think people's first reaction is to think Story just got much better, but as Rudy's hitter projections show, this was a pretty neutral move from Coors. Not bad, but things didn't get much better. That extra eligibility doesn't hurt though. Well, it doesn't hurt Story. Where my Jarren Duran truthers at? You need a hug? Updated were my shortstops rankings; top 100 for 2022 fantasy baseball and top 500 for 2022 fantasy baseball. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this preseason for 2022 fantasy baseball:
Knights Of The RazzTable rolls on with ADP 26-50, based on the NFBC’s ADP. We’re adding some tweaks this week with a who would you rather, in addition to our over/under rated game and thoughts on the keys to the range. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Top Dynasty Keepers: Players 25-1
March 20, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 7 Commentsby: Jakkers
We've finally made it - the final top dynasty keepers! The best of the best, the cream of the crop, or any other cliché you can think of.
You've been waiting for weeks to see who made the top 25, right? Well, ff you are a fan of hoarding the top fantasy pitchers, then this top 25 is not for you as only two hurlers cracked my Tier 1 group.
I understand the importance of pitching in real life, but in the fantasy baseball world, I've always been able to cobble together a solid pitching pitching staff during the season either with trades or timely free agent adds. In all of the dynasty leagues I'm in, I have used my prospects as trade chips to bring in established pitchers.
If you love to add players 30 or older, you will also not be a fan of my Tier 1 group. I love Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman (the lone 30-or-older players to make this list), but I'm building a dynasty team. I want the youngest top players possible. That said, Trout is still in my Top 10 while Freeman comes in at No. 21 thanks mostly to the fact he is 32. But with the universal DH, I could understand why he should be a top 20 player.
Just Draft Dodgers!
When sitting on the couch watching a baseball game and one of your favorite teams is whoever is playing the Los Angeles Dodgers, you are not going to like this list either.
The Dodgers have four of my top 25 keepers (Freeman, Walker Buehler, Mookie Betts and Trea Turner) and could have had five if Corey Seager decided to stay in Southern California. And who says money can't buy happiness. Of those four players, only Buehler is a homegrown talent after being drafted in the first round of the 2015 draft out of Vanderbilt (though Pittsburgh did draft Buehler in the 14th round of the 2012 draft).
While the Dodgers dominate the list, the Toronto Blue Jays own the top five as two players - Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - crack the group. Seven other teams also have two players show up in Tier 1.
So, let's see who they are and get to the 25 top dynasty keepers.
Top 75 Prospects for 2022 Fantasy Baseball
March 20, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 27 Commentsby: The Itch
When mapping out this year’s Top 100, I kept getting lost in the layout. I’ve tried a few different ways to skin this cat, and I think my favorite so far was my first: Top 25 Prospects for 2020 Fantasy Baseball.
It was simple, sleek, easy to see, easy to scroll, and it was built in tiers, which feels like a realistic lens through which to view these players. You can argue that Nolan Gorman is definitively a better prospect than George Valera if you want to, or vice versa, but if you get offered one for the other in a trade, you might freeze up like me pondering the layout of this article. The differences are real, certainly, but they’re more aesthetic and subjective than anything like objective truth. It’s a difference in type or style more than a difference of quality.
I’ll try to stay concise in between the tiers here, but you can access a more in-depth consideration of each individual player by clicking on their names or skimming around in the 2022 Minor League Preview Index.
Here’s a link to the Top 25.
And here’s a link to the Top 50.
Drumroll please and away we go!
Throughout the 2022 fantasy baseball season, I will be posting your in season Top 100 Hitters. These rankings will be kept up to date and posted every other week with a continuation of deep dives on the movers and shakers in the off weeks. As we roll up to the season, I will be slowly introducing the Top 100 Hitters and adjusting them for all the spring training action. To get us started as we dig into these rankings, we will preview the Top 10 hitters for the 2022 fantasy baseball season. This will be a mix of the usual suspects and up and coming stars.
As we dive into the top 10 there are a few notes we need to call out about the general shifting of the landscape in traditional 5x5 fantasy baseball. The game has continued to changed and therefore how we need to value players shifts as well.
Razzkinder, it is time for pain in earnest!
The lockout is over. Spring training has begun. More importantly, there have been quite a few surprises this week. When I say “surprises”, I mean the kind where you are walking through a dark hall and step in something wet and chunky. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Rolling In The Deep: A Kiner, Gentler Week
March 18, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 4 Commentsby: Laura Holt
Gotta start this with another quick RCL pitch; I have my first RCL draft Friday evening and I cannot wait! As much as I love me my deep leagues, I have become quite enamored with the RCL format and I think those teams provided the most fun I had playing fantasy last year. Please, blog, may I have some more?
