LOGIN
Laura Holt

Author: Laura Holt

Read some of Laura Holt's 299 posts

Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: A Look At Cheap Catchers

March 16, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 16 Comments

by:

It’s mid-March, and we here at the Razzball Deep League Department have taken a look at late-round outfielders and each of the infield positions, which can only mean one thing… it’s time to move on to catchers.  I know, I’m already bored too, but think of how good it’ll feel getting it checked off our list.  There were some epic catcher disappointments last year (don’t get me started on the team where I drafted both Mitch Garver and Omar Narvaez) from all fantasy tiers – my most successful teams catcher-wise were in leagues where I splurged on Willson Contreras and/or grabbed Austin Nola at the very end of drafts or auctions.  I’ve found myself with a few shares of Contreras again this year, and while I’m sure there will be several mid-range options who end up paying off this year, I’m once again waiting until late in many drafts to fill the position with whatever’s left.  So, let’s take a look at some of those leftovers – guys that are being drafted all the way outside of the top 300 players according to NFBC ADP – to see who we might be able to find that could be of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: A Look At Cheap Third Basemen

March 9, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 20 Comments

by:

Greetings readers, I want to start today by thanking and wishing good luck to all of the participants who drafted with me in my RCL Sunday night.  I was kept on my toes throughout the draft, as everyone was clearly prepared and ready to apply all they’ve learned at Razzball and in life to conquer what was (lovingly, I’m sure) referred to in our chat as the “Take Down Laura Holt League.”  To those of you who have RCL drafts upcoming and are new to the format, you’ll soon learn what the rest of us have discovered: dollar for dollar (yes, I know most of the leagues are free) it’s about the most fun and challenging format (no) money can buy.

Now, to the business at hand:  it’s time to continue our way around the diamond to the hot corner, where we’ll take a look at some late-round third basemen that may be of particular interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.  This week, we’ll keep a true deep-league vibe going by looking only at guys who are currently outside the top 20 third basemen being selected, according to current NFBC ADP.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: An Early(ish) Look At Cheap Shortstops

March 2, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 9 Comments

by:

As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that, gloriously, it’s not all that early any more (hence my last-minute title change).  Players have not only reported to camp, spring training games are being played and Opening Day will suddenly be here within a month.  Those of us who are already drafting are no longer in the bubble of being able to avoid “best shape of his life” comments from players and remarks from managers about bullpen or starting position battles where a few words may lead to a huge ADP rise or fall for certain players.  After looking at second base last week, we’ll begin March by shifting over one spot on the diamond and concentrating on shortstops outside the top 150 players being drafted according to current NFBC ADP.  Since the position is stacked once again this season, I suspect most of us, even in very deep leagues, will have splurged on an expensive or early round stud and will have short covered by the time we get this late in a draft or auction.  But it’s always nice to know what our fallback/back-up/bench depth/lottery ticket options might be, which leads us to the following list of names.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

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

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

by:

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.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: An Early Look at First Base

February 16, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 14 Comments

by:

Over here in the deep-league cubicle of Razzball, we’ve looked at late-round starting pitchers and outfielders, and now it’s time to move on to a group of gentlemen I like to call first basemen.  We’ll look at guys who, according to current NFBC ADP, are ranked outside the top 15 first basemen drafted and outside the top 150 overall.  What I’m going to begin with, though, is a quick public service announcement to anyone in an AL-only league:  in case you hadn’t noticed (and I hadn’t, until I wrote this post), there is as ridiculously steep a drop off from the top few guys to the next group as I ever remember seeing.  Based on NFBC ADP, your top 5 AL first basemen are D.J. LeMahieu, Jose Abreu, Vlad Guerrero, Luke Voit and Matt Olson (whose current ADP is #90).  Looking at the 1B list after that, you get a slew of national leaguers, and do not hit another AL name other than the first two on this list (both of whom also qualify at OF, for what it’s worth) until Miguel Sano at #191.  Yes, I said Miguel Sano at #191.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: An Early Look At Cheap Starting Pitching

February 9, 2021 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 9 Comments

by:

It’s still only early February and meaningful baseball feels light years away, but as far as I’m concerned it’s never too early to think about your next fantasy draft.  Last week we thought a bit about the outfield, but this week I’m in the mood to switch gears entirely.  So, let’s ponder some starting pitchers who are going late in drafts that could conceivably outperform their ADP.  We’ll keep things outside the top 250 players selected based on current NFBC ADP, including a few guys outside the top 400 that likely won’t see little yellow stickers with their names on them on draft boards outside of NL-only, AL-only, and similar formats of interest only to those of us in the deep-league world.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: An Early Look At Cheap Outfielders

February 2, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 12 Comments

by:

Happy New Year, Readers!  Yes, I know it’s February, but this is my first post of the year, and as far as I’m concerned, the year doesn’t really start until I can officially start thinking about fantasy baseball.  To the surprise of no one who’s ever met me, it turns out I’ve been thinking about fantasy baseball a lot lately; I’m preparing for my third draft now, after having completed my annual Thanksgiving week draft in November and another the first week of January.  As always, I’m excited to reconnect with the Razzball community and hope you and yours had as good an offseason as possible, and are healthy and ready to win a fantasy championship or two in 2021. I’m crossing all of my fingers and toes that spring training and the season start safely and on time, which means it’s never too early to start looking at some potential targets for those of us who play in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.  Let’s kick it off with outfielders, as we take a look at a handful of players who currently have ADPs (according to the current NFBC rankings) outside the top 250 — but may have a sneaky something to offer, particularly in the deep league world.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Deep League Hot Finishers

September 21, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep |

by:

As we head into the final week of the season, it seems like a good time to look back — well, back a few days or weeks anyway.  Even with only 60 games, many players who started the year as deep leaguers were able to prove they belong in a much shallower stratosphere in 2021.  Take Luke Voit… I told you in my post way back on January 14th of this year that I’d already drafted as my first baseman in a league, liking his value at the time, which was around #200 in terms of NFBC ADP.  Let’s just say that I don’t think any of us will be getting Voit with anything close to a 200th pick next spring.  I’m also pretty sure Alec Mills’ no hitter will keep me from being able to scoop him up at the end of an NL-only draft next year the way I did this year.  So let’s move on and look at a handful of players who have very recently — and a little more quietly — been playing well, with an eye not only on last minute help in 2020, but also potential consideration in 2021.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Get Your Party Started With A New D.J.

September 14, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 2 Comments

by:

Two weeks of baseball left, kids!  If you’re still in the thick of things in your fantasy league, congrats — and if you’re not… well, maybe you actually still are, because things can change in a hurry in a 10-week season.  Let’s peruse a few names that may be of interest as we approach the end of the year, particularly to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Duvall Your Work While You Still Can

September 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 3 Comments

by:

We all knew this “season” was going to go by quickly if it went at all, and now we’re living the reality of it, as just three weeks remain.  I’ve had a few teams take quite the hit of late — the compacted season makes for some maddening volatility in the standings, and a few horrendous pitching performances plus some key missed games from my hitters have knocked me from near the catbird seat to the middle of the pack. As is the case for me even in normal times, my deep league teams feature waiver wires that have been picked clean, and there’s even less maneuvering to be done in terms of attempting to reconstruct my rosters.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to regroup in time, but am fighting on, since one thing we’ve all learned is to expect the unexpected this year.  So, the pickings may be slim, but let’s take a look at a handful of players (all under 15% owned in CBS leagues) that may be of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Fasten Your Seat Belt

August 31, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 1 Comment

by:

Happy almost September!  Most MLB teams are past the halfway point of this insane little 60 game season, but if your leagues are anything like mine, there’s still all kinds of standings volatility happening.  A couple of bad starts can be devastating, while one day of big offensive production can help by leaps and bounds.  I’m not sure how many of my leagues will go down to the wire, but I’m trying to grab every extra counting stat when I can, while I can.  And speaking of trying to improve one’s team, time for our weekly look at some names that may be of interest to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues, keeping our list to players who are around 20% owned or less in CBS leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Tap(ia) Into Some Production

August 24, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 2 Comments

by:

We’re beginning week 6 of the MLB season, friends, and as I type this baseball is still being played, stats are being counted, and fantasy leagues continue to hum along.  If you’re in one of those fantasy leagues and need some hitting reinforcements over the next month, let’s take a look at some names that may be of interest to those of us in the deeper end of the fantasy baseball world — we’ll concentrate on guys that are under 15% owned in CBS leagues this week.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Copyright 2007-2026 Razzball LLC. All rights reserved.
Razzball.com and the Razzball logo units are copyright Razzball LLC.