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Now that we’ve recapped the top 20 catchers, top 20 1st basemen and top 20 2nd basemen, we’re starting to see clarity on depth of positions, and shortstops are shallower than 2nd basemen, which is surprising again. I say ‘again’ because it was the same last year. My guess is shortstops will get more robust next year, but they need to metaphorically eat. So, here’s the final ranking from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2023 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:

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We already went over the top 20 catchers and the top 20 1st basemen for 2023 fantasy baseball. Today, we dip our big toe into the top 20 2nd basemen pool. Make sure to go feet first here, because it’s shallow and I don’t want you cracking your medulla oblongata all over the place. To recap this crap (rhyme points!), this final ranking for last year is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 2nd basemen for 2023 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:

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Today’s journey through the recaps take us to the 1st basemen. They’re better than the top 20 catchers for 2023 fantasy baseball (not clickbait at all), but by how much? How do I explain that? I have an idea! By recapping them! To recap my recap before the recap, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This is not for next year. Hayzeus Cristo, just enjoy a recap before we get into next year. Anyway, here’s the top 20 1st basemen for 2023 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Please don’t ask if this is a ranking for next year. It’s not a ranking for next year. It’s me recapping last season. Please, for the love that all is holy, understand this. It’s all I ask of you. Well, that and shower me with praise. The latter isn’t hard, the former is. Also, remembering which is the ‘latter’ and which is the ‘former’ is hard too. Quibbles and semantics, my good man and five lady-mans. It wouldn’t be fair for me to preseason rank the players, then rank them again in the postseason based on my opinion, so these postseason top 20 lists are ranked according to our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. It’s cold hard math, y’all! Anyway, here’s the top 20 catchers for 2023 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:

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It’s the 15th Annual Razzballies! Wow! They’re old enough to smoke weed, drink beer, and pretend not to drink beer and smoke weed! Welcome back to our year-end awards show! If there’s any issues with the award ballots, don’t look at me. These were all tabulated at the accounting firm of Fried, Tellez and Bregman. Stop giving them the evil eye, German Marquez! You might be wondering why I’m hosting. Well, at the last minute our other host had to back out. Sadly, Joe Buck couldn’t be hair. I mean here. HAHA…Wait a second! Why is Will Smith, the reliever, coming on stage? *smack* Ow! Saves ain’t got no face, but I do! Now, before we get to our first award, I just want to thank everyone. I appreciate all of you, except Alek Manoah. That guy took it literally when someone told him to get lost! Okay, enough foolery, Tommy boy, now onto the awards, without which you’d have no idea who was the best and worst hitters and pitchers this year, and you’d be left giving out your own awards and no one cares if your “Low sodium tomato soup in a sourdough bowl” won your “Whitest Lunch Of All-Time” award. Stop making up fake awards! Leave that to me! Anyway, here’s the year-end awards for the best and worst of 2023 fantasy baseball:

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Emerging from your mother’s basement after six months, “I did it! I won my fantasy baseball league!” It begins to dawn on you that the world no longer looks as you remember it. Where there were once blossoming trees, there’s now decaying branches. Where flowers once sprouted, shriveled vines remained. A tumbleweed blows past. Minutes later, back in your mother’s basement, you’ve painted a face on the tumbleweed and you say to it, “Can you believe I won my league by two points?” After a brief pause, you say, “Do you think I should keep Christian Encarnacion-Strand in an 11-team keeper league with no restrictions? Mr. Tumbleweed, I’m asking you a question.” On a serious note, as many of you know, I started Razzball during the WGA strike of 2007-08, because I was laid off from a job and didn’t have shizz to do. (Since it is invariably asked, I was working with a Zucker brother of Airplane/Naked Gun fame.) This summer with the WGA strike happening again, I was reminded how lucky I am to have this gig, talking about fantasy baseball and just generally goofing off with all of you. Thank you for another great year! (Crazy that those trees were decaying and I still got some freakin’ sap!) Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Nice to see a team (the Jays) that has to play well actually play well. Feels like a rare thing this final week. It’s been like teams have been taking must-win as a challenge and saying, “Prove it!” Or like a spiteful child saying, “I don’t want to must win, you must win!” Chris Bassitt (7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 3.60) went out and must-won’d his behind off, and, from what I know of Bassitts and their rear porches, there were some dramatically wide swings and they smelled some other dog’s butts. Maybe that analogy got away from me, but you can’t spell analogy without anal. Hey now! Just opened Chris Bassitt’s player stat page, and you’re never gonna believe this, but what he’s done for the last six years? He’s doing it again! Wild, right? Chris Bassitt has made a career out of being criminally underrated. Look at his stats: 8.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.60 ERA, and guess where he ranks for starters on the year on the Player Rater. That’s top 20 starter numbers. He will barely be a top 40 starter in drafts again in 2024. Underrated, always. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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It had been too long since we had a Mets appearance in the lede area. The last time I believe was Brett Baty, who then went oh-for-three months and was sent down. Before that it was Max Scherzer, who was having a HOF career to that point…or maybe it was Justin Verlander, who was also a first ballot guy…or was it Pete Alonso, who has the 2nd lowest BABIP of the last 20 years (.204. There have been 4,105 hitter seasons since 2000 of 450 PAs. Pete Alonso’s BABIP is only better than Aaron Hill’s .196 in 2010). No, no, no there’s no curse. It’s not the Curse of Bill Buckner’s Eternal Soul. This is all random chance. Congrats to Francisco Lindor (4-for-7, 6 RBIs and his 28th, 29th and 30th homer) on a great doubleheader. Here’s to many successful years trying to do anything worthwhile in a Mets uniform. I’m sure it will come very easy. I kid, of course. The Mets feel like the NL East’s answer to the Padres. How many games should they have won vs. how many did they? Maybe an extra 25 games? There’s a parallel universe where the Padres and Mets are meeting in the NLCS. In that parallel universe, ARod is your father. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Elly De La Cruz (3-for-5, 3 runs, 4 RBIs and his 12th and 13th homer) hit one of his homers so far in Cleveland, over the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, past the Drew Carey statue, that it went back to Cincy. That home run ball went 467 feet and 119.2 MPH. You don’t have to know about exit velocity to know that 119.2 MPH is not a real number. You hit that sorta number when you’re in the Grand Prix in some far-flung city in the South of France. “Excuse moi, I am Elly De La Cruz’s batted-ball and I wish to know where the Autobahn is because of how fast I travel.” It’s ridiculous. That people are talking about Elly De La Cruz already as a bust is so absurd. Elly De La Bust This! You write off E! for 2024 fantasy at your own risk. Also, in this game (and it was a lot): Candace Bergen’s husband, Luke Maile (3-for-4, 3 RBIs) had the most random slam (6) and legs (2) of the season; TJ Freidl (1-for-4, 2 runs) hit his 18th, and is one of the hottest bats in the majors, while stacking up to be great 2024 fantasy value; Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) hit his 12th. More like Christian Encarnacion-Strong! Then on the other side, Bo Naylor (1-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs) hit his 10th. He’s been way more productive in his call-up than either of the “hot” Pirates catcher bats (Endy and Henry — Hendry); Kole Calhoun (1-for-4, 2 RBIs) hit his 6th for gingers everywhere; and Andres Gimenez (2-for-4, 2 runs) hit his 15th for people who still confuse him with Amed Rosario. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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If The Voice chairs be swinging around for any free agent pitcher this offseason, I do believe it’ll be Blake Snell (6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.25). See, I said pitcher, and Ohtani can’t not do that there. I’m doing The Voice in the voice of Blake Shelton, is it working? No? Okay, pardon me, pardner. I done upset you, I hear that now. I’m still doing it, is it working? No? Okay, I will stop now. You can’t say Blake Snell is slapdick by going out and having a Cy Young year when he’s about to become a free agent for maybe his last huge contract of his career. (Maybe not, will depend on where he signs and for how long, but he seems like that type to take the money, then go into a five-year siesta. I’m Cust kayin’.) If Snell wins the Cy Young award (which I imagine he will), then signs a five-year or something-year deal with the Yanks (or Red Sox or even goes back to the Padres), you’re betting on him being great again next year? If so, please tell me, I have a bridge in Kansas I’ve been trying to offload. He has a 5 BB/9! I mean, that’s not everything, clearly. I’d take that and his near-12 K/9 and would love it, but that command and expecting anything close to a sub-3 ERA in 2024? That is a hoot now, I tell ya what. I’m doing the Blake Shelton voice again. I’m sorry, I’ll stop now. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Are the Rangers the American League’s answer to the Braves? In this Ted Talk, he will discuss…*nudges my dog, Ted, to talk*…Go ahead, boy, say something. C’mon, stop humping! Oh, are you doing that as a nod to Semien? You are so clever! Just like me for drafting Marcus Semien (2-for-4, 26th and 27th homers)! What’s that, boy? What does attacking the mailman mean? The mailman’s name is Garcia? Oh, wow, for Adolis Garcia (1-for-4, 36th homer)! Jesus, you are so unbelievable! Okay, what are you doing for Corey Seager (1-for-3, 2 RBIs, 33rd homer)? *Ted does nothing* C’mon, boy, I’m bored…Bored…Borey…Corey! Wow, my dog is so smart! There’s no one smarter, is there boy? Wait a minute, smarter…Evan Carter (1-for-4, 2 RBIs, 4th homer)! Okay, let’s see what you have for Leody (2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, 13th homer). *Ted joins a cult* Wow, brilliant! Thanks for joining me for my Ted Talk! Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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It’s the end credits of one of your favorite movies. You’re weeping, and snorting from tears. Then, just before you get up and trip on your neighbor’s feet, the screen comes back on. Up there, in bright lights, it’s Al Pacino and he says, “Hoo ha! Excuse me, Canha! That’s Mark Canha, and he’s been hot for the better part of the last week. Now, please be careful on your way out of the theater, and don’t trip on your neighbor’s feet.” You stand and applaud. Your claps echoing out. The Devil’s Advocate sequel was better than the original, you exclaim, as you head for the exit and trip over your neighbor’s feet. So, Mark Canha is hot, and worth rostering, and that’s what type of week it is. The type where it doesn’t matter what a guy can do in two weeks, just what he Canha right now. Thank you, Mr. Pacino. Now, how about a Gigli sequel? Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?