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Decided to do a little search of 2nd half splits. I don’t necessarily believe that all guys who were good in the 2nd half last year will just continue their great hitting into the 1st half of 2024. Some guys may just be 2nd half hitters. Some guys might’ve just had a hot, say, August, and it’s making their 2nd half look better than it was. Other guys might just had a good 2nd half, and that’s all it was.

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I love trying to find sleepers. It’s the hunt. It’s like the ultimate big-game hunting, only I’m not on safari asking a guide, “Did I just get malaria from that mosquito? No? Great.” Then three minutes later, “Do you think I just got malaria from that mosquito? No? Terrific.” Then three minutes later in perpetuity for the next two weeks. It’s that without mosquito-borne diseases. That’s me, bros and five sisters! Jordan Westburg, he came to me in a flash-bang while I was out big-game sleeper hunting. I was perusing Statcast for exit velocity, as a nerd might do.

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Ya know what I’m finding myself keen on more than in years past? Using the phrase ‘keen on?’ Close, but no. Guys who don’t strike out much and hit for a nice average. Getting all mature in my fantasy baseball wonts. Like a big ol’ smart nerd! Not a dumb nerd like someone who plays fantasy baseball and keeps going after guys who will hit .210 because they’re sexy. Hey, one love to Jack Suwinski, but I’m eyeing his teammate, Ke’Bryan Hayes.

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The Dodgers have spent more than $1.1 billion this winter with the signings of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Eight teams haven’t spent a million. Is this [watches a butterfly flap out of one’s hand] competitive balance? So, the Mets’ owner Steve Cohen flew to Japan, took him out to dinner and Yamamoto went home with the Dodgers. [searching PornHub for cuckold, seeing a video of Steve Cohen paying the check for Yamamoto’s dinner] Damn, that’s brutal. Yamamoto was also rumored to possibly be on the Giants’ radar, but Yoshinobu saw a news report of a smash and grab at a vape shop in The Castro, and decided against San Francisco. Ouch. As I believe I said before, how about rather than the Dodgers buying free agents, they just get all the free agents and tell us which ones they don’t want. Might be easier that way. 

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There’s going to be guys who are sleepers for friends and family leagues and there will be sleepers for deep leagues, and there might be sleepers for both. Imagine Nelson Velazquez won’t fall into the Both category. He feels to me like a guy who will get a lot of helium in those “We’re Smart” leagues. They’re not actually “Smart” leagues, but if you play in a deep league, you think you’re smart. I’ve said many times that I think shallow leagues are just as hard. Or just a shard if glass is reading. In shallow leagues, it’s a nonstop debate if a guy is producing enough, even if they’re supposed to be great down the road. In “smart” leagues, you usually can’t do anything after your draft that makes much of a difference. That doesn’t make things smarter. With that said, I think Nelson Velazquez will be appreciated readily in “smart” leagues but shouldn’t only be in “smart” leagues. This guy is a dumb league guy too! Wait until you hear what he did last year (at the age of 24!), you’re gonna blow your freakin’ lid, smarties and dummies alike! In Triple-A and the majors combined, he hit 33 homers, stole seven bags and, holy schnike balls, I see why those smarties are in on this guy. Let’s see if we can convince the dummies! So, what can we expect from Nelson Velazquez for 2024 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

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Wrote an Anthony Santander sleeper last year, and he’s still kinda asleep. I wrote a Cedric Mullins sleeper a few years ago, and he woke, then went back to sleep for his draft season. Wrote a Taylor Ward sleeper last year and loved him so freakin’ much, and he’s a sleeper still, because he disappointed. That is a few outfielders who come to mind that I saw being drafted late: Noted they were sleepers, but chose to ignore them because I had been there before. I don’t want to go over the same guys again. Think that gets as stale to read as it is to write. With that said (HA!), here’s what Itch said about Sal Frelick previously

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This year MLB is taking a different approach. Rather than having different teams, it’s the Dodgers and everyone else. That group of misfits over there sharing a glove? That’s the non-Dodgers. Over here, the boat with everyone else you might remember from All-Star Games and similar fanfare? That’s the Dodgers. Yeah, the boat that says […]

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Here’s what I think happened with Jordan Walker. Everyone told you Killers of the Flower Moon was the best Scorsese film, and you were like, “I’m going to watch Killers of the Flower Moon, then go into the parking lot and divorce my wife, leaving her for Killers of the Flower Moon, but first I’m going to watch it,” then you watched it, and, afterwards, you were like, “Well, it was good, but my wife is like Goodfellas. She’s even Raging Bull on occasion. Honestly, she’s The Departed, and Killers of the Flower Moon is barely Casino.” So, you ended up not divorcing your wife to marry a movie you just met and you went home, back to the uze. Expectations are a helluva drug. It’s not just like that with movies, TV, music or what-have-you. Expectations for Jordan Walker last year were ridiculous. I played a role in that, naturally. But let’s prorate out his rookie year: 65/22/65/.275/10. That’s not taking a three-homer week and extrapolating out to 70 homers either. He had a 16/7/.276 year in 420 ABs. That’s just giving him an extra 100 at-bats from the 7-hole. That’s really not bad for a rookie! Your expectations were that he was going to be Aaron Judge in his rookie year, and that’s fair, but he was not bad. He doesn’t even turn 22 years old until next May. This is a 21-year-old’s numbers in the majors his rookie year? Yeah, I regret to inform you, I’m going to be raising expectations one more year. So, what can we expect from Jordan Walker for 2024 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

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I’ve mentioned this about sixteen dozen times previously, but here goes sixteen-dozen and one times. There’s sleepers ever year who fall into this category: These guys have already broken out, why don’t you believe them? Then I have to go about proving what they’ve already done was solid, and they can do it again. This is James Outman. He already had a great year. Maybe there’s just too many outfielders to draft, but I see him being drafted after 180 overall, and I think to myself, “Self, what’s going on here?” Besides there just being too many outfielders, the only other reason I can think is people don’t trust James Outman. Too easy to get Outman is what you say, incorrectly, and I say, correctly, about his draft price. See what I did there? I’m not sure myself so don’t ask me to repeat it. It’s gone forever now! Last year, James Outman put up the line of 86/23/70/.248/16 in 483 ABs. Geez, his line already looks like what I’m praying/hoping/please daddy’ing from number two outfielder, forget about where he’s going around 3rd to 4th outfielders. Is 86/23/70/.248/16 in 483 ABs really only, roughly, the 45th best outfielder off the board as I’ve seen? It’s a glorious time, but is it that glorious, Gloria, G-L-O-R-I-A? Maybe it is. That’s the only excuse for him falling in drafts. I will hear no other! So, what can we expect from James Outman for 2024 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

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Winter Meetings? More like Snoozy Meetings! We need more action, which is why I bring you my proposal: Trades are now made with a pitch clock! “Hey, welcome to the Nashville Ramada, the Padres will be discussing Juan Soto trades in the Beige conference room that smells like sausage and onions from last night’s wedding that took place there. Padres will be fielding offers for thirty seconds from each team. Pirates, I see you getting ready to offer one of your two catcher prospects. Don’t do it. No one wants a catcher. Okay, good luck and may the best team named the New York Yankees win!” That’s Rob Manfred adding excitement into the Winter Meetings.

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