Rudy is the co-founder of Razzball and the wizard behind the Player Rater, Streamonator, HitterTron, DFSBot, Pigskinator, Stockonator and most other statty things on the site. You can contact him at [email protected], @rudygamble.bsky.social on Bluesky or via Twitter @rudygamble.
by: Rudy Gamble
From 2013-2023, there were three constants regarding me and the LABR Mixed Draft (15 teams 5×5, weekly FAAB, $100 w/ $1 minimum): I drafted every year sometime in February (thanks as always for the invite Steve Gardner!) I reviewed the draft in a loooong post on Razzball My teams did generally well but never took […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
Happy New Year, RazzNation! It’s that time of year… Our v1 of the Razzball/Steamer player projections are up. You can find them in the top menu under Projections or use these links (Hitters | Pitchers): Here is a Razzball/Steamer projections FAQ. They’ll be updated throughout the preseason. All the preseason Player Raters are up. You […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
We live in a world where there is a Wikpedia page, documentary, or ‘oral history’ article that will give you the 101 history on just about every subject. Granted, these histories are not 100% comprehensive or accurate – see the phrase ‘history is told by the victors’ and the works of Howard Zinn and Oliver […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The ToutWars Mixed Draft took place on Tuesday, March 7th. It is a standard 15 team snake draft with weekly FAAB ($1000) except that it is 5×5 OBP vs standard 5×5. Other key exceptions vs standard weekly leagues include: You must start all FAAB purchases during the first week You can pick up minor leaguers […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
The LABR Mixed Draft has historically kicked off my draft season. Not this year though. After a mediocre ‘early draft season’ performance (drafts before March 10th) in 2022, I vowed to get everything started earlier. By 2023 LABR draft day (Tues, Feb 21), I had one NFBC Draft Champions (15 team, 50 rounds) complete and […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The ToutWars Mixed Draft took place on Tuesday, March 8th. It is a standard 15 team snake draft with weekly FAAB except that it is 5×5 OBP vs standard 5×5. I really enjoy this league and appreciate being part of it. Quick Perspective On The Difference Between OBP vs AVG The biggest shift in OBP […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The LABR Mixed Draft represents the start of my draft season. I get the first version of projections/rankings/$ values out in mid-January. Over the next month, I familiarize myself with ADP + my draft board. In the process, I make a bunch of tweaks on the projections thanks to reconsidering the assumptions behind player playing […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
On March 9th, I took part in the Tout Wars Mixed Draft – a 15-team snake draft that is unique amongst ‘analyst’ leagues in that it is a 5×5 OBP league. Otherwise, pretty standard. Weekly transactions. 2 catchers. $1000 FAAB.
Quick Perspective On The Difference Between OBP vs AVG
The biggest shift in OBP leagues is published hitter ADPs are less reliable. This makes drafts a little more unpredictable but it generally advantages the more prepared drafters in the room. I look at ADP but am more willing in other drafts to jump guys 1+ rounds above ADP.
There are other minor shifts (1Bs look better b/c they typically have highest BB rates, hitters with high AVGs but mediocre BB rates become less valuable, etc.) but this ends up baked into the projections. I have to run 15-team 5×5 OBP custom but you can access my 12-team 5×5 OBP projections and those are updated daily for Season to Date and Rest of Season as well. All free.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
Some drafters are more preoccupied with power than others.
No one at the LABR Mixed Draft was as preoccupied by power as I was (well, except fellow Austinite Paul Sporer and similarly weather fucked Oregonian Ryan Bloomfield) thanks to the wintry, energy grid challenged hellscape that was Texas on Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Luckily, the House of Gamble did not fall so I have only myself to blame if this team does not take down a crown.
As always, thanks to Steve Gardner at USA Today for the invite.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Rudy Gamble
Thank you to everyone for subscribing to one of our MLB packages. We know a 60 game season wasn’t what you had in mind when you signed up. We are offering several alternatives (see below) if you are not planning on playing ‘6o game sprint’ fantasy baseball in 2020. Please let us know by opening day MLB if you plan to go with one of these alternatives.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me at [email protected].
Best regards,
Rudy
by: Rudy Gamble
Back before I started getting into girls (if they ever got into me is a different discussion), I fondly remember playing Earl Weaver Baseball on the family PC. The gameplay was awful but it was cool to cobble teams together from players of all eras. I looked through my Dad’s Baseball Encyclopedia and printed out a list of player seasons for a hypothetical player draft on our dot matrix printer. Shockingly, this draft never happened. Where did I think I was going to find enough circle jerks to draft a simulated league of all-star players?
Please, blog, may I have some more?There was a time in the not so distant path (2014) when I had only two children – my oldest daughter and the Razzball MLB tools. Soon after, the child count went to six (three daughters, MLB/NFL/NBA tools) and the concept of having free time to take on big projects went up in smoke.
When you enter this stage in life, you find that you have exchanged dollars of time that you could have invested in productive pursuits for tokens of time that could only be used to: 1) hoard and efficiently crank out little projects/pursuits, 2) hate on others who waste their dollars of time, and 3) bemoan how you spent those dollars when you had the time.
Most of the time I have invested on Razzball – setting up the projections/tools, the player pages, etc. – has proven to be an okay investment in time. It certainly hasn’t made me rich but there are worse things in life than making some money on your favorite hobby.
But, by far, the STUPIDEST investment in time I made on Razzball was the Historical Baseball Player Rater which created fantasy dollar values for every year starting with 1903. What the hell was I thinking?
Please, blog, may I have some more?