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The Itch

Author: The Itch

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The Itch

Redraft Stash List: Top Ten Prospects Who’ll Soon Be Rookies

August 2, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 39 Comments

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I’m not sure how to start this week because every time I do, I find myself saying something like “If there’s actually baseball,” and I’m kind of exhausted with reading that stuff. Wish I could stop myself from thinking it. And now I’ve said it in the intro anyway. Maybe I’ll delete it later. Maybe they’ll just delete all the stats from this year. Doh! It’s happening again. And so is baseball! I do think we’ll have a season, such as it is, for what it’s Wuertz. 

NOTE: This ranking is entirely focused on redraft impact of players who’ve yet to debut. It’s a snapshot of all the information I can synthesize as of Saturday night.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Folty Fallout Shelter and Nate Pearson’s Debut

July 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 10 Comments

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Have you seen A Bronx Tale? 

If so, perhaps the $20 lesson is enough to share the moment in my mind with your mind. 

If not, I am morally obligated to recommend that film and writerly obligated to describe a small scene that has stayed with me across two decades. 

Our main character sees a guy who owes him 20 bucks. The guy sees him too and takes off running. Our main character is stopped from pursuing by his, let’s say mentor, who asks if he likes this guy with the 20 bucks. No. Not at all. He does not like him. So the mentor re-framed the context. Our main character paid $20 to get a guy he doesn’t like out of his life forever. Seems like a small win in that light to our character in that moment, but to me, it landed like few lines of dialog ever have. Perspective. It’s a kind of magic we could cast a little more often with a little help from our friends. 

Atlanta has decided Mike Foltynewicz can keep the 20. They’re moving onto bigger and better things. Things like Tucker Davidson throwing 100 miles per hour from the left side.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Expanded Playoffs, Prospect Impact, and Opening Weekend

July 26, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 42 Comments

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Major League Baseball dropped a bomb this week, introducing a new playoff structure that invites 16 of the 30 franchises to participate in 2020. 

Gone is the one-game, wild-card playoff. 

In its place is a best-out-of-three, on-the-road showcase for middle-tier teams. 

The higher seed will host the three-game, first-round series. Home field advantage will be nice–always good to have the last at bat–but without fans in the stands, top seeds are newly vulnerable in 2020.

Over the past decade or so, baseball has shaped itself around demands of the previous post-season: superteams jockeying for wins at the top because winning the division meant avoiding the do-or-die wild card playoff–perhaps the most exciting wrinkle baseball has introduced in my lifetime. 

If an organization’s front office didn’t see its club as division-winning material, it frequently decided to lose as much as possible, altering the free agent market and prospect timeline universe in ways people are still grappling with.

That’s all different now.

MacKenzie Gore is coming up soon, is what I’m saying. A.J. Preller doesn’t have much incentive to worry about seven years from now if he can push for a playoff berth by trading Zach Davies for perhaps the game’s top pitching prospect. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Rookie Leaderboards: Home Runs, Stolen Bases, and Saves

July 22, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 13 Comments

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In a blurry baseball universe, one thing that’s clear about 2020 is the numbers will look funky. 

I will miss the number 30, especially. 

We had some good times. 

And sometimes we’d double up 30/30 . . . those were the days . . .

I suppose we could rally around 30 Runs or RBI? 

Nah that’s ridiculous, and only Kyle Lewis or apex Giancarlo could hit 30 home runs in 60 games, so we should probably say our goodbyes to those curvy round benchmarks. Funky numbers only from here on out! 11? Come on down! 17? Wow that’s a lot of whatevers in 2020!!

As part of this ongoing effort to make my funk the P funk, I’m building rookie leaderboards with concrete Miss Cleo numbers. Projections, if you’re nasty. 

Here’s a funky song to play while you imagine the future. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

California Dreaming on Jo Adell (Post-Hype Prospect?)

July 15, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 7 Comments

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When I first started this gig back in September of 2019, I thought I was low on Jo Adell, ranking him sixth on my initial Top 25 Prospects for 2020 Fantasy Baseball. Given how frequently I see people cite his AAA line and bash his hit tool, I’m pretty sure I’m high on him. 

One weird aspect of this whole thing is while Mike Trout’s ADP is sliding (6.2 in July NFBC drafts) due to his wife’s pregnancy and the quarantine that may take place on either side of the birth, Adell’s ADP is tanking (269.64 in July v. 230.04 pre-July) even as Brandon Marsh is out (for *wink* undisclosed reasons) in his attempt to return from the elbow injury that ended his Spring. Have to wonder if Adele’s sad songs are impacting our general optimism for Adell.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Best Pool Prospects for Redraft Leagues: National League Central

July 12, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Fantasy Baseball Rookies, Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, fantasy baseball strategy | 2 Comments

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Major League Baseball is pushing through time lapses in testing procedures in its quest to fake having a plan until it makes one, but two things have become crystal clear: 1) players will be opting out, and 2) players will be catching the virus. 

Players can opt back in at any time if the situation changes, so that could make for some interesting faab runs.

Other side of that coin: players can opt out at any time. 

Along with the danger and chaos comes opportunity, so let’s scan the NL Central for players poised to climb that ladder.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect Bargains by Summer Camp Average Draft Position in the NFBC

July 8, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 14 Comments

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Sometimes you have to just keep scrolling.

These will be our draft rooms, and we’ll have to adapt on the fly.

For the past few seasons, I’ve been playing extremely early NFBC Draft Champions leagues with Donkey Teeth. Have gotten into Fantrax of late, too, with B_Don and DT setting up Best Balls of multiple shapes and sizes. This allows us that Red Dead sensation of fresh powder. Open prairie. A drafter and his wits. I was shocked to learn they update the ADPs even during the first few drafts and think the drafts should maintain the starting ADPs throughout, though I suppose it only makes an impact that first month or so, and I suppose not many people are handwriting and color-coding their positional breakdowns. 

I was always a geek for a deep-sea diving book or TV special. Find the Giant Squid, kind of thing. These past few years, I’ve become a geek for the depths of these draft rooms, and just this week I’ve geeked out a little getting a look at DT’s battle of the podcasts draft just now exiting round 36. I’m seeing a lot of fun names on the board beyond the 600s, so that’s where I’ll set the arbitrary line for this article.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Pool Prospects and Rookies for Redraft Leagues: National League East

July 5, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Fantasy Baseball Rookies | 9 Comments

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I’m guessing you’ve noticed it’s time to light this place up.

!!Fireworks!!

!!Baseball!!

Rookies??

I think so, at least for a lot of the players we’ll discuss today. They’re all wearing wings in the player pool, and most are on the 40-man, which I think is more relevant in 2020 than ever before. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Taxi! Follow That Bus! (40 and 60-man Scuba Dive: American League West)

July 1, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 5 Comments

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Well these have certainly been an interesting few days. Sunday, I hit the brakes on my 40-man scuba dive because I wanted to dance among the raindrops of roster decisions and come back soaked in fantasy baseball goodness. 

Making a team’s 40-man roster has always granted players an edge in getting a promotion. Every season when we’re waiting for our favorite prospects to get the call, we watch a parade of misfit toys already on the 40 get that chance first. Especially in some organizations that don’t like to toggle the 40-man. In the variation of baseball we’ll get this year, this under-contract advantage seems greater than ever. 

If you’re in a deep league, making semi-regular rounds dissecting 40-man rosters can give you a predictive edge. If you’re in any league, really, how can it hurt to know who’s likely to get called up next at a given position on a given team, no matter how anyone’s hitting or pitching?

Can’t hurt, right? 2020 will be all about maximizing short-term opportunities, so let’s hop in the pool and swim a lap around the American League West.

Note: everyone mentioned in this article is included in the 60-man player pool. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Grab Your Swimsuit! Baseball’s Throwing a Pool Party!

June 28, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 12 Comments

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The further we travel into the Ronaverse, the less we understand. 

“Houston, we have gone beyond the final frontier.”

Teaser: at the end of this article, I want to share a secret about this season.

Anyway, some rules orbiting the baseball conversation seem concrete: 

1) Universal DH for 2020, woohoo!!

2) Runner on 2nd base in extra innings.

3) 30-man active roster dropping to 28 then 26 after a month.

4) MLB owners are crooks. 

5) 60-man player pool . . .

I’ve been reading a lot of confusing things lately, but this one stood out in a crowded field: Sunday is the deadline for teams to submit their 60-man rosters, but it’s not a deadline.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Taxi!! Follow That 40-man Bus! (American League Central Scuba Dive)

June 24, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 8 Comments

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As I write we don’t know everything official yet, like who’s going to opt out for health concerns, but we know the owners have taken their ball and headed home. 

If you see a headline saying the sides have come to an agreement (and I’ve seen several using that language today), that’s not a fair representation of how this shizz went down. The players have indeed signed off on the health stuff, but it’s not clear they had a choice. Regardless, Major League Baseball’s 2020 regular season will consist of 60 games with a limit of 60 players per team, including taxi squads. 

30 looks like the opening number for active rosters, which is a bit staggering when considering in-game applications, but rosters are scheduled to decline to 26 spots by the halfway point because reasons. Might need a few new folding chairs in the bullpen. 

Making a team’s 40-man roster has always granted players an edge in getting a promotion. Every season when we’re waiting for our favorite prospects to get the call, we watch a parade of misfit toys already on the 40 get that chance first. Especially in some organizations that don’t like to toggle the 40-man. 

f you’re in a deep league, making semi-regular rounds on the 40-man rosters can give you a predictive edge. If you’re in any league, really, how can it hurt to know who’s likely to get called up next at a given position on a given team, no matter how anyone’s hitting or pitching?

Can’t hurt, right? 2020 will be all about maximizing short-term opportunities, so let’s take a lap around the AL Central.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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