The best 2021 fantasy baseball team is a misnomer. Thankfully, none of us know what misnomer means. Sounds to me like someone tentatively wants to date the Travelocity Gnome’s daughter, “Miss Gnome, er, you wanna grab some boba and chill?” Miss Gnome brushes back her hair and bats her eyelashes that are almost as long as her two-and-half foot body, “I’d love to,” but her voice is high-pitched, which is a turn-off, so you cancel plans with her repeatedly until she gets the hint. Sorry, Miss Gnome, I like my women’s voices low like their stature. Any hoo! So the title is a bit of a superlative. What was I gonna say, “The Mostly Kinda Good Fantasy Baseball Team?” You’ll get over your scoffing; I have faith in you. This is the best 2021 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting from my top 100 for 2021 fantasy baseball and top 500 for 2021 fantasy baseball. Honestly, I could draft another 25 teams from those lists, and they’d all be different, but equally terrific… Well, one of the twenty-five would only be sorta terrific, but it would be really hard to tell which one that is. If I took Adalberto Mondesi in the 2nd round, everything after would change. If I took Trea Turner in the 1st round, everything after would change. I’ve previously gone over my 2021 fantasy baseball draft prep for the first few rounds and pitchers pairings. For this exercise, I’m taking Cody Bellinger in the first, because, well, people complained previously I always did this post by taking the first pick, so I’m switching it up, like when you combover your hair right instead of left. Last year in my “Best Fantasy Baseball Team” post, I took Tatis with my 1st pick, when ESPN was telling you to draft him 43rd overall. Cust kayin’. Until pick 100, I’m taking one guy somewhere in every fifteen picks. It would be nice if I was in a league where someone drafted Gerrit Cole and deGrom in the first round and I was able to take Trevor Story in the 2nd round (which is likely in some leagues), but since Bellinger and him are in my first 12 picks, according to the rules I’ve set up for myself, I can’t take them both. Then, as we all know, once you get into the 100s, there’s wide gaps between ADP and where players are actually taken. People tend to look at team need over value. So for this exercise, once I get to pick #101, I’m going to pick two players every twenty picks. Finally, because there is so much latitude in the latter rounds, I gave myself free rein to fill up my team after pick 200. Throughout the draft, I also gave myself the ability to reach to a lower draft pick, but not reach forward. Or reach around, if you’re feeling frisky. It should still be my ideal team…or not. Let’s see, shall we? Bee tee dubya, this team is a 12-team, 5×5, one catcher, 5 OFs, MI, CI, 1 UT, 9 P, 3 bench, just like the Razzball Commenter Leagues (go sign up, you Big Chungus). Anyway, here’s the best 2021 fantasy baseball team:
C: Austin Nola (22)
1B: Cody Bellinger (1)
2B: Ketel Marte (4)
SS: Adalberto Mondesi (2)
3B: Austin Riley (12)
MI: Scott Kingery (20)
CI: Jared Walsh (11)
OF: Marcell Ozuna (3)
OF: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (6)
OF: Wil Myers (8)
OF: J.D. Davis (13)
OF: Garrett Hampson (17)
UTIL: Jarred Kelenic (21)
P: Blake Snell (5)
P: Framber Valdez (7)
P: Kevin Gausman (9)
P: Nick Anderson (10)
P: Rafael Montero (14)
P: Zach Eflin (15)
P: Marcus Stroman (16)
P: Amir Garrett (18)
P: Nate Pearson (19)
Bench: Anthony Bass (23), Taylor Rogers (24), Diego Castillo (25)
I DID A HORNY WITH MY COMPUTER SCREEN WHILE HAVING THAT DRAFTED TEAM OPEN IN FRONT OF ME. PLEASE TELL ME IT’S A POSSIBILITY!
No.
COME AGAIN?
*grimaces*
SORRY, LET ME REPHRASE. I’M SAYING…WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! YOU TOLD ME THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE BEST 2021 FANTASY BASEBALL TEAM THEN TELL ME THERE’S NO WAY I CAN DRAFT THIS TEAM?
As I said in the opening, this is an exercise to give you an idea of a team I wouldn’t kick out of bed. With this exercise, I don’t look at ADP, so it’s nice that I think I can draft all of these guys where I have them ranked, but invariably some buster enters the draft room, takes, say, Snell before I can and this team is impossible to replicate. Out of 1,000 drafts, maybe you could draft this team once, and, if you’re drafting 1,000 times, make sure to take some Vitamin D, because you’re severely lacking in exposure to the sun. For every pick that might not be there for me to take, there’s other guys like Kevin Gausman, who you could wait on a little longer than the 9th pick. So, Grey’s rankings Gwyneth and they taketh away her acting career after the age of 40. Because I just have to share with you this little tidbit — a tiddiebittie? — my “best” team post last year was insane. Here’s my team I wrote up in this post last year:
C: Mitch Garver (20)
1B: Christian Walker (10)
2B: Scott Kingery (11)
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (1)
3B: Rafael Devers (2)
MI: Paul DeJong (16)
CI: Michael Chavis (15)
OF: George Springer (3)
OF: Ramon Laureano (5)
OF: Oscar Mercado (6)
OF: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (13)
OF: Bryan Reynolds (17)
UTIL: Austin Hays (21)
P: Lucas Giolito (4)
P: Lance Lynn (7)
P: Brandon Woodruff (8)
P: Craig Kimbrel (9)
P: Kenta Maeda (12)
P: Edwin Diaz (14)
P: Ryan Yarbrough (18)
P: Mitch Keller (19)
P: Seth Lugo (22)
Bench: Freddy Peralta (23), Yoshihisa Hirano (24), Brandon Kintzler (25)
Giggle if you like at some of those picks, but that pitching staff would’ve been more than enough in an 8-team league, forget a 12-team league! Giolito, Lynn, Woodruff, Maeda? Yo, those are four aces! Also, fine, the hitting would’ve had some struggles, but in a 12-teamer you can make up for misses, and who told you their “best fantasy baseball team” was one where they draft Tatis in the 1st round? His name rhymes with Schrey Schalbright. Finally, tell me you need to draft a top starter every year, then every year I tell you exactly how to draft a starting staff without a so-called ace. Finally finally FINALLY, because I can’t get over how people out there are still thinking they need to draft a starter in the top 15 overall (Trevor Bauer?! HAHAHAHA), my pitching is better than my hitting in that “best fantasy baseball team,” and I drafted hitters early and often. Not sure what I have to do for people to stop overrating aces, but I’m over trying. Shizz is so obvious.
MAKE IT MORE OBVIOUS FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM AND THOSE WHO CAP AND BOLD EVERYTHING
Blake Snell! Blake Snell! Blake Snell! What are people doing? He’s so obvious this year as huge value. I know I mentioned him above as a guy who might be drafted earlier than I can take him, but he’s also been available to me in multiple early drafts. He has top five stuff in the game, has already won a Cy Young, is young and is headed to Petco. You really want Trevor Bauer two to three rounds before him? Is this a joke? Have you all lost your minds?
GREY, YOUR MUSTACHE IS YOGA PANTS ON THAT HOT MOM PICKING UP MY FRIEND FROM DETENTION, BUT WHAT GIVES WITH THE BENCH? NO BENCH BATS?
First off, welcome to the site. Get comfortable. That doesn’t mean put your feet on the furniture. What’s wrong with you? I’m saying welcome because I’ve been saying for years I don’t draft bench bats. If you didn’t know that, you’re new. It’s okay. We were all new once. Shoot, I love that new person smell. Don’t draft bench bats in 12 team and shallower leagues. They’re useless. You’re not going to hold them for longer than a few days after your draft. Now, if you draft a few middle relievers with your last few picks, maybe — just maybe — you’ll luck into a closer getting injured during the preseason, and, if that doesn’t work out, then you can drop the middle relievers without any hesitance. It’s more of a hindrance to have someone like, say, Andres Gimenez on your bench because, then this happens, “It looks like Edwin Diaz might be hurt, who should I grab in the Mets’ bullpen for saves? Hmm…Actually, who should I drop? Should I drop Gimenez? He seems like he could breakout– Forget it, it’s too late, someone else grabbed Trevor May and Betances and Familia and, damn, the Mets have a lot of bullpen depth.” And then Trevor May goes on to save 40 games and win the Rollie Rolaids award, and you end up dropping the bench bat a week into the season anyway. Oh, and in deeper leagues, bench bats are okay (within reason). This does not mean I wouldn’t own a bench bat all year, just no reason to draft one.
I SEE YOU DRAFTED JARRED KELENIC. ARE YOU NOT CONCERNED THE MARINERS WILL PRETEND HE NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS DEFENSE FOR FIVE MONTHS OF THE SEASON UNTIL HE SIGNS A CLUB-FRIENDLY DEAL FOR UNDER TWENTY GRAND?
I slipped a mickey to the conductor and I’m now driving the Jarred Kelenic train to Hype Town, population: Grey Albright, Fantasy Master Lothario. Yes, I’m driving the train to a town where I’m also a resident. I’m headed home! In a rare move, without any major news, I’ve moved Kelenic up in my rankings — find his new ranking and projections in the top 60 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball. I’ll be damned if I’m ranking a sexy prospect lower than ESPN. Oh, hecks no. I also drafted my first share of Kelenic the other day. *motions to hostess* “Table for two, please,” looks at Kelenic, fans self, “Why hello there, Jarred…It’s not pronounced like what I do with my apricot preserves? …I see…Are you sure?” Also, from a strategic POV, in a 12-team mixed league, it’s fine to draft a rookie who might not break camp, because waivers are so filled with guys. Here’s what you do: Mariners hint that they’ll promote Kelenic mid-April, so for two weeks you drop one of your middle relievers, pick up a UTIL bat off waivers, and stash Kelenic. Easy and/or peasy.
CAN I TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR TEAM AND SEND IT TO MYSELF OVER ELECTRONIC MAIL AND PUT A RED FLAG ON THE EMAIL INDICATING IMPORTANT?
Yes, be my guest. The only thing is you don’t want to get too caught up in trying to replicate my draft because if someone else takes a guy you want, you’re gonna start scrambling and then sweating and then sharting your sweatpants. Just build the best team you can and use my example as a guide. For s’s and g’s, go to my top 500 and put your best fantasy baseball team into the comments below.
Hey Grey!
This is very helpful, excellent work, I appreciate your break down! I am so indecisive…
Im having a hard time deciding who to pick at 7 in an OPS 10 team re-draft.. Im a huge Yelich fan, if I don’t take him at 7 I won’t get him at 14, the same could be said with Bellinger I think. Do you feel that pick 7 is a tad too early for Yelich, especially assuming Bellinger is available at 7? Conventional wisdom would lean me toward Belli in an OPS format and multi-position eligibility. It doesn’t hurt that he is in a better offense…however, Im a brewer fan, and Yeli is in a hitter friendly park.
Thoughts?
Thanks again,
-Gary
Going into round 23 of a 50 round draft & keep NFBC style draft. Pick 337
My team so far:
1B- Rizzo, Sano Dalbec
2B- Marte, Gimenez, Kingery,
3B -Machado, Kiner-Falefa, (Sano -maybe)
SS -DeJong, (Gimenez), (Kiner-Falefa)
OF -Trout, Robert, Laureano, Saltander, (Kingery)
Util- most times hopefully either Dalbec or Kiner-Falefa if everyone is healthy
SP -Ryu, Gray, Bundy, Pearson, Yarbrough
RP- Jansen, Leclerc, Neris
How does it look so far? Needs? Where do I need more depth??
My pick is coming up …Gonsolin is still on the board & seems valuable in spot starts & ratios NFBC ADP 262.
Other SP are Howard, Kopech, Odorizzi, Alzolay, Weaver, Quantrill
RP Peralta (looking to get him later for sure) Puk Rainey, Britton, Garcia ,Moronta, E Pagan,
Hitters Hilliard (per MLB not a starter? but should get plenty of ABs), Cooper, Schoop, Naylor, Pillar, Corero Urias, Refroe, Duvall, Lowe, Calhoun, Flores.
Still out of my element with these draft & keep leagues … balancing having depth with upside & being competitive.
Thanks for your take on this team.
Looks like it’s time for you to take an SP — Odorizzi, Gonsolin, Weaver or Alzolay, up to you — FYI, I’m coming close to dropping Odorizzi in my rankings if he doesn’t sign soon…
Odorizzi just picked so that eliminate any choice there. Feeling like Gonsolin really discounted due to no starter job but should be valuable with reatios & K’s & still get starts in LA.
Thanks for giving up your weekend time …hope you are enjoying yours
Thanks!
UGH I totally missed Bassitt in the mix …I assume that might change things
I have him ranked higher
I meant i have him on my team already & did not include him. Sorry for my miscommunication …so maybe I don’t take a pitcher?? or is Gonsolin still a good grab here?
Sorry for not being clear to begin with & listing Bassitt as already on my team . I think your highest ranked is Calhoun …taking him & looking at probably highest ranked pitcher 16 picks later.
Grey,
I am trying to figure out a way to acquire Anthony Rendon ($26), (I already have Bregman and J-Ram), Elijah (Fernando’s younger brother) Tatis (who I hear according to Sr. he has more pop than Fernando does), and Josiah Gray
I did get a list of players he is interested in:
Voit ($18)
Altuve ($17)
Madrigal ($7)
Bregman ($21)
Minor League prospects:
Ryan Vilade
CJ Abrams
Masyn Winn
Heliot Ramos
Drew Waters
Landon Knack
I need help with a package to get the three
Altuve
Heliot Ramos
Drew Waters
just so you are aware, if i trade Altuve it will leave me with just Madrigal at 2nd. at 1st I have: Bellinger, Bohm, Freeman, Vlad, and Voit. Nola and JT my 2 C also play 1st
So who do you want to trade?
Im thinking one of the 1B possibly voit
Semien at 2nd and Biggio at 3rd in the first game. Well, that settles that.
Works for me — And Rowdy DH…Yes, please!
Grey, interesting draft circumstance and wondering if you would draft differently in my scenario. I’m fortunate enough to be able to keep Fernando Tatis as my one keeper AND have the first pick where I’m taking Acuna. With those two as your first two players would you A. Take Darvish and Nola at the 2/3 turn, B. Take next two best bats available or C. Take something like Darvish, and next best bat.
Depends on the bat you’re taking and how deep the league is, but A or C
Dynasty Lg
G Stanton was offered to me for Laureano and Marquez.
I thinking that’s a no… Stanton is always hurts.
What’s your opinion? Thanks
Laureano side
Would you flip Grisham and Vlad for Yelich? 12 team keep forever 5×5 roto league with no costs associated. We keep 8 guys.
Keepers : trea, freeman, Bregman, Alvarez, vlad, bieber, giolito, woodruff (Grisham would be getting tossed back)
I’m hesitant since I gave up Tatis a few years ago (netted a first round pick that helped me win but I let a big fish get away). Thoughts? Thanks!
I’d take Yelich
How likely is Puig to sign & play this year (in %). Still likely to be a nut case I assume.
Debating taking him as my 5th OF in NFBC …the rest of my OF is pretty solid with Trout, Roberts, Laureano & Saltander Moving into round 19 with just the 4 OFs. Other possibilities would be Kingery(with position flexibility & on your “perfect team” this year) Adell, Dubon, JBJ, Calhoun, Mercado, Hilliard,or A Garcia. I guess several have bounce back potential & most have a job.
yikes round 21 … time flies when you are having fun
25% — I’d go Kingery or Hilliard
I don’t get it. I guess you’re too much into your friends.
What is he saying Robin?
Someone’s learning the internet
Oh ok you’re filtering people out too. Nice
picture of your dad.
You contradict yourself self so much. You’re full of crap.
No shit
A spot has opened in the early Original Razz league (where you try for the worst players who actually have playing time.)
Wednesday, March 3 – 7 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=6a32lbzqklankpvq&isSubmit=y
Still 7 spots in the later draft.
Wednesday, March 3 – 10 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=r8hgtol2klaolgoo&isSubmit=y
It is important to set your rankings for the draft in case you can’t be there; otherwise you will end up with all the top-rated players, which is not good in these leagues.
Thanks!
Victor reyes or yandy diaz. 16 man dynasty. (6×6) walks are counting stat.
Reyes
In nfbc is it suicide waiting until rd 6 to take a starter?
Of course you’ll remember I have 1st pick ha!
Yeah, kinda
Who would have to be there at 2/3 turn for you to take a starter?
Snell should who I’m liking more and more
So you’re saying you’d rather take snell vs the wait for what’s left at 4/5 turn for starter?
I’m fine with any starter before Gray as my #1, but you absolutely have to get one to make sure you have a #1, bc there are no waivers to fix things…Their ADP says Gray is at 63, so in theory you can wait until the 4/5 turn…But if you miss out, there’s no parachute
Risky for sure. We’ll see how draft goes lol Thanks.
Did you ever watch the show Turn? I’m 3 episodes in…
The show with the guy in my fantasy league? Nah never watched it, it’s been on my watchlist for like 5 years
Is it good?
Decent start so far… I’ll let you know.
Wait he is in your league ? Ha.
George Washington is a fantasy guy
Did a 12-team 50-round Draft & Hold this morning. 45 seconds to pick. 8 attendees; 4 autodrafters. Done in just under 100 minutes. I had the 3rd pick. Very happy with Soto – Machado. But somehow Trea and Yelich went 12 & 13. That’s a pretty good start.
Damn, I’d love to get Trea/Yelich 12/13
Gay
In an NL keeper, do you prefer $40 Bryce Harper or $17 Josh Hader?
Neither are great options… just keep Hader and redraft Harper if you want him
I think my pitching sucks
1b Belinger
2b Edman
3b King era
Ss Tatis
Of Trout
Of Mountcastle
Of Robert
Ut Story
Ut Kyle Lewis
Bunch
Gallo
Laureano
Hampson
Sp Nola
Sp Dustin May
P Montero
P Barnes
P Mahle
P Rich Rodriguez
P Garrett
P Paxton
P Domingo German
P Gore
I??? Yeah the pitching sucks….
People get off my ass it was an auction draft. I couldn’t pass on hitters. Now I guess I’ll have to find some pitching.
I tried lol. I got Nola but then I couldn’t pass. Next thing I know the pitching is gone. I can find something anywhere I guess. Just hope Nola is good. Hahaha lol. Yeah right… Damnit.
It might sound stupid but this year you might be better off with Kershaw and Sherzer. Work horses other than little things. Their elbows aren’t going to fall off. Should have got them here.
Ha
Yeah, your pitching is a mess
Is Hot Rod releasing the old-school War Room excel sheet this year?
Haven’t heard from him
So excited to draft LouGu in every league. I have LouGu fever. If he has a down year I will photoshop him with an evil mustache and a purple plumber’s hat and call him Walougu.
In a keeper league with no penalties forever, would you keep Rendon or Arozarena?
Why is LouGu so underrated and Teoscar overrated? Tough call on keepers…I think I’d go Randy for the sexy upside, but if it were a deep league and you had other high upside keepers, I’d go Rendon
Good question. I don’t know but I’ll be laughing at the Teoscar Takers while I go LouGu.
I used a random number generator to decide and it told me Randy over Rendon.
Hey Grey,
Took a sabbatical during the shortened season last year, and carried over rosters from 2019 for keeper selection. As it turns out this made my 2021 keepers much more challenging (in a good way). 5×5 Roto OBP/QS (instead of Avg/Wins). $266 in budget (+$6 from previous trades)
Pick 5:
Manny Machado – $33
Anthony Rendon – $25
Ronald Acuna Jr – $24
Eloy Jimenez – $21
Max Muncy – $15
Pete Alonso – $6
Tyler Glasnow – $14
Brandon Woodruff – $10
Zac Gallen – $10
Nice keepers!
Ronald Acuna Jr – $24
Eloy Jimenez – $21
Pete Alonso – $6
Brandon Woodruff – $10
Zac Gallen – $10
Thanks!
I got an offer to trade Gallen away and get back:
$10 & Xander Bogaerts ($25 to keep)
I’m tempted but what that means is Xander will be available in the draft (guy has another top SS), and pitching is a difficult commodity to acquire in this league.
You know your league better than me but that’s a good deal for Xander
Rusty!
Rusty Nux works for me
12 team, H2H, Auction, Keeper, re-draft.
Keeper salary cap is $180, so far my keepers total $150..I can keep another $30.
Keepers so far: Betts, Lindor, JoRam, Harper, Rendon, Biggio, Bauer, Darvish, Castillo, Berrios, Bundy, L. Hendriks.
Who would you keep?-Up to $30-available are: Scherzer-30, M.Olson-30, Sal Perez-19, Eddie Rosario-9, Kyle Lewis-10, Sixto-10, Dylan Moore-10…Can only keep one of the $10 (FA) guys.
Lewis, Perez
Great –
12 TM AL only Dynasty – 15 keepers
I get
Adalberto Mondesi $17 (last year)
Dylan Cease $5 (3yrs left)
I give:
Cavan Biggio $17 (2yrs left)
Dylan Bundy $3 (4yrs left)
Take it?
To give an idea on my current SB situation, top guys are: Biggio, Tucker, Laureano, Hicks, Polanco
You could get screwed there, not a huge fan
So I got an email for a Razzslam invite. I joined because it’s free. It’s free right?
It’s free and Best Ball, so draft and snooze
Tho, I believe Razzslam has two waiver wire periods during year, like around end of April and July…I’m sure you’ll hear on site when they are approaching
Right on. I did read something about waivers. Cool, that it’s only 2 waiver periods, even better that its draft and snooze.
Yup!
Another guy I looked at was Taijuan Walker. I don’t know if you saw him last year, but man he looked like a totally different guy. I remember him as bit pudgy, kind of had a disinterested mound presence. But he appears to have gotten into much better shape. He was really focused on the mound. Showed a lot of intensity.
He’s changed his delivery too. He kind of spins out of his follow through a la deGrom and it’s a much higher effort than I remember from him. The fastball still looks pretty good. The numbers don’t really think super highly of his splitter, but it does look like something he could learn to use, maybe mix it differently with his other pitches. It’s a super low spin pitch (1600 rpm). It almost has a bit of knuckle ball like movement to it, little late unpredictable movement.
While I was watching Walker I texted magoo, basically saying, “without looking, I bet you he has terrible L/R splits.” Watching him try to attack a couple of weaker bats at the bottom of the Phillies line up you could just see that he struggled to find an approach. Sure enough, lefties killed him…slugged .518. The cutter in particular looked like it just fit the eye for lefties. They were right on it. Saw Didi just slaughter one.
I like him going to the Mets and he looks like he’s maybe built himself up now to go a little deeper into a season and eat some innings. The fastball/cutter combo looked good against right handers. But unless he can find a way to get lefties out, I see him kind of where Steamer sees him at around a 4.30ish ERA with some decent Ks. In this year’s environment should still be able to find favorable match ups for him and get some value out of him, but still don’t see him ready to break out.
Nice, good stuff! Yeah, I’ve looked at him…I don’t see too far off from 4.30/1.30/8.8 K/9…Which is fine for backend, matchups guy in 15+ team leagues, and great for matchups in 12 team, but is a streamer there…I bet he could luck into a great season in Metco tho, but that’s anecdotal, just needs to avoid tougher matchups, or get lucky vs. them…Could see him being a 3.40/1.22 guy vs. weak teams
Yep. Same page.
Would you trade B. Lowe for C. Burnes in a standard keeper? I have Cole, Bauer, Scherzer and Sixto as keeper arms and would be using Lowe as an OF since I have Trea, Lindor, and Hiura already.
He offered Woodruff for Hiura too, but not sure what’s better
Sounds fair…I’d want Lowe
Now I’ve seen everything STEALS GOT A FACE at Razzball!
according to your Player Rater he is worth $24.2 … $25.3 coming from Steals
that’s right that means he is giving you negative value in…
Runs
HRs
RBI
AVG
with the only value coming from Steals
So go ahead and throw out the OBP comment if it was too complicated for you…
If we are just talking Risk…early Risk at that…the two you chose are two of the riskiest.
I’m not even saying don’t draft them…but you can’t argue the huge risk.
Gotcha
Hey Grey. 10th pick in 12 teamer. Team so far.
Story (1)
Yelich (2)
Devers (3)
Eloy (4)
Lynn (5)
Carrasco (6)
Do you think targeting Olson or Yordan in the 7th is ok? Or am i too low on sb?
Sure! You do need SBs tho, so you better find some at some point in the MI or OF
TY
No problem
Here a NFBC 12 teamer from the 2 hole that I am pretty Happy with
Azuna 1
bogarts 2
Lemahiue 3
Alons o 5
Conforto 7
Chapman 9
Verdugo 12
Vazquez 13
Dom Smith 14
Chris taylor 16
Margot 19
Brian Anderson 20 \
maeda 4
Burnes 6
Bundy 8
Pablo Lopez 10
Montero 11
Mahle 15
Eflin 17
Stroman 18
Neris 21
I’d be happy with that too! Love that pitching….Hitting looks solid too, tho I don’t like Taylor or Smith, and you look weak on SBs, even with Margot
Thanks! Of course, I was able to go back and change picks when it wasn’t working out. We’ll see how things go on Monday in the first RCL draft.
Nice!
Hiya Albright. I’ve been catching up on last year watching a lot of pitchers. I saw you mention yesterday that you though Allen would win the 5th starter job, but I’ve been reading from the local news guys covering the team that Quantrill has the inside track. I watched some tape on Quantrill and was actually pretty impressed.
He’s not a super big guy. Reminds me a little bit of Tim Lincecum the way he come pretty straight over the top and gives his fastball some downward plane despite his height. There’s some late darting run to the on the arm side. The innings I watched, he looked like he could locate it really well. He moved it around and seemed like he had an ability to avoid the center of the zone. It’s a two seamer and the average velo was 95. He dumped a 4 seamer that seemed to get hit hard in ’19. The two seam definitely generates GB and he was at almost 45% GB overall.
His secondary is not of the same quality as the fastball. He’s got a slider that is a bit of a roller and change that does have decent velocity separation from the two seam, but when I watched him he left it up in the zone and it got hit hard.
The Indians are pretty good with getting the most out of their pitchers and the fact that the fastball is really good makes me think that with just a little bit of improvement in the secondaries, he could be pretty good. Gets good swing and miss and I think he looks like an 8k/9 guy going forward.
Interesting! Thanks! I’m about to draft a Best Ball, I’ll take a share of Quantrill…Have nothing to lose, it’s around pick 350 — I would draft whoever is the Indians’ 5th starter…I have no real preference for Allen, I just assumed he was their 5th starter
Tried again with Pick 9.
C -225- Austin Nola SD (228)
1B – 88 – Paul Goldschmidt STL (93)
2B – 33 – DJ LeMahieu NYY (36)
3B – 64 – Eugenio Suarez CIN (73)
SS – 16 – Adalberto Mondesi KC (18)
OF – 9 – Cody Bellinger LAD (10)
OF – 40 – Kyle Lewis SEA ( 40 )
OF – 81 – Dylan Moore SEA ( 82 )
OF – 129 – Jeff McNeil NYM (130)
OF – 177 – Dylan Carlson STL (179)
CI – 136 – Gio Urshela NYY (139)
MI – 184 – David Fletcher LAA (187)
UT – 249 – Brandon Nimmo NYM (249)
SP – 57 – Hyun-Jin Ryu TOR (58)
SP – 105 – Julio Urias LAD (105)
SP – 153 – John Means BAL (153)
SP – 160 – Chris Bassitt OAK (160)
SP – 201 – Ryan Yarbrough TB (203)
SP – 232 – Sean Manaea OAK (234)
RP – 112 – Brad Hand WSH (115)
RP – 208 – Amir Garrett CIN (212)
RP – 256 – Diego Castillo TB (261)
– – – – Bench
RP – 273 – Nick Wittgren CLE (274)
RP – 280 – Trevor May NYM (284)
RP – 297 – Joe Jimenez DET (298)
Much better! You see what I Means? Your pitching is much better and your hitting is still solid…
That’s a nice team Vin!
That’s a sexy team.
Assuming that Kelenic and Vaughn get the call at the same time, who do you personally like more for 2021.
Kelenic for right now, but that might change if Vaughn breaks camp
Thoughts on this trade
I trade
Soler – OF
JP Crawford – MI
Rowdy – bench bat
for
Hiura – MI
Gio – bench bat
K. Lewis – goes from my bench in to Soler’s spot
No brainer
I’m thrilled, especially getting another Yankee. Do you really think Wander will live up to his #1 or could he be another Byron Buston..Looking at tryin to get Gleyber and or Judge. thoughts
Wander hasn’t even promoted yet, no reason to think he’d bust
Wander might be Tatis 2020 ranking next year
I know, but last two top guys that I have had Profar and Buxton, didn’t actually go off..I guess I should just stay pat. Too many guys from the same team, even Yankees, is never a good idea
Those guys weren’t Wander
Wander – Tatis, oh man I love that!!
****NFBC CODES****
BTW: Got promo codes week ago and forgot:
$5 off for NFBC 50 contest only: RAZZFIVE
$15 off on any of these: Main Event, Draft Champions, Cutline, RotoWire OC, Online Auction Championship: RAZZPOD15
My leagues are full, but if you want to take on someone who’s not me, enjoy — if you signed up for Razzball NFBC leagues, these codes were likely applied already
Can you Venmo me $15 to make up for forgetting? Hah
Yours was likely included, no?
Just busting balls. Not sure really just happy to be picking higher than 11 for once.
Pretty sure you were discounted — all Razzball league people were
Why is arenados adp 38?
He was traded
Seems to low to me
*looks at my ranking* Yeah, seems low to me
Haha
Love seeing these lists every year. I am thankful I only play in auction leagues, so I have a chance to draft many of these (some are kept).
Yup, in auction leagues you can do much better than this team
My best team that I’ve drafted so far this year (six teams, probably going to get more because I have no life)
ESPN 10 team H2H Points
C- Salvador Perez
1B- Pete Alonzo
2B- Ozzie Albies
3B- Jose Ramirez
SS- Trevor Story
2B/SS – Dylan Moore
1B/3B- Jared Walsh
OF- Nick Castellanos
OF- Austin Meadows
OF- Anthony Santander
OF- Kyle Lewis
OF- Alex Verdugo
Util- JD Davis
P- Jack Flaherty
P- Kenta Maeda
P- Hyun-Jin Ryu
P- Kevin Gausman
P- Chris Bassitt
P- Zach Eflin
P- Nate Pearson
P- Raisel Iglesias
P- Drew Pomeranz
Bench
Sean Murphy
Victor Reyes
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Nathan Eovaldi
Love this team, your pitching is so rock solid…I think you’re balanced on hitting too, might be low on AVG
Nice! Chasing perfection can be especially humbling. But can always count on a plan B! Looking forward to a “regular” season, it feels good!
Thanks, Smitty!
RCL #12 has 6 openings — D-Day, I mean Armageddon, I mean Draft Day is Wednesday 10 March @ 9:00 pm CST …
https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=ibwwwhkykkxm75p4&isSubmit=y
“There once was a man from Nantucket … “
Haha, nice, thanks for pointing these out!
Story
Machado
Robert
Eloy jimenez
Alonso
Conforto
Olsen
Gurriel jr
Berrios
Luzardo
Hand
Kyle lewis
Dylan moore
Santander
Devon williams
Matt barnes
Nick solak
Raffy montero
Dejong
Richard Rodriguez
Ed escobar
Falefa king
Hunter dozier
Neris
Diego Castillo
Austin hays
Hunter harvey
Kingery
Rowdy tellez
Alex reyes
12 team 5×5 roto. Streaming to a title baby
Looks great! I’d take that team…Honestly, might be better than mine
Thanks for the love grey
No problem
Grey, thanks for the write-up. Good reference material seeing your thoughts in action. Bellinger seems to have a giant discount this year. It’s mind blowing.
Biggest issue I have in most leagues is saves. Can I get your thoughts/strategy on closers for 2 types of leagues. Where saves are a counting stat and the 2 scenarios are:
1. It’s a set team from draft – the league doesn’t have any waivers/trades/pickups.
2. It’s a league with waivers/trades/pickups.
My problem is that the other managers seem to draft closers at early points where it makes no sense to me. But I don’t want to draft a closer in the top 100 (even top 200 pains me).
If I missed an article where you cover over this, please just share the link so you don’t need to repeat yourself.
Thanks Grey,
Jolt
Thanks!
Saves are gonna be an issue for everyone, half of the teams don’t have closers — try to get Montero/Kenley/scrub like Leclerc
Very much appreciated,
Jolt
No problem
Hey Grey!
Quick question:
6×6 league – Runs, HRs, RBI, SB, Avg, OBP
Wins, Saves, ERA, WHIP, K/9 and QS
I have a choice between #7 draft slot or #12 – Snake Draft.
Would you go with 7 or 12 and what positions would you target with the first two picks?
Thanks!
I prefer the turn, I have found that over the years, my strategy is best when I can grab 2 guys at once. So I say 12 slot. But that doesn’t at all mean that the 7 slot won’t work best for you. Some people love the middle.
I’m very interested to hear Grey’s take. And you should listen to Eno and DVR talk about KDS at the beginning of this most recent Rates and Barrels pod. Great convo that could help you decide what strategy will work best for you with the targets you are looking to draft.
7 https://razzball.com/2021-fantasy-baseball-draft-prep-pairings/
Hey Grey! In a keeper league, would you rather have a $12 Bobba Bichette or a $10 Eloy? Not sure if the $2 are enough to move Eloy ahead of Bo . . . thanks!
You can’t keep both? I love both of these guys. Unless you can only have one keeper, or your other keepers are Juan Soto and Lou Bob, perhaps you can consider flipping to keep both Bo and Eloy.
I wish! It’s a trade offer situation. I’ve got Eloy, he has Bo.
Who will play at SS for you if this happens? Or are you headed towards a draft, to figure that out? What’s the budget, must be $100?
$260 budget. Bo would share SS and MI with Xander (also a cheap $12)
Bichette
Love pairing NAnderson with Diego Castillo late. But you know Fairbanks or 3 other Rays relievers will def pull an Aaron Loup on us.
Also, I was saying this to the group in our current draft. I’m gonna have to press the pause button after this Bestball draft we are in right meow. Baby is coming any day now. I might be able to pick it back up in a few weeks before the season starts, but I assume everyone will probs be drafting their redraft squads and what not by then.
Also also, where is Kyle Lewis! Jk, great post. This looks like a handful of teams I was able to slow draft using the rankings on Patreon a month or three ago. Especially the Bellinger/Mondessi pairing
For sure, in an RCL, I’m not that worried about it, tbh…I’d prolly love Castillo within a week of the season, as he went on to save 35 games — No worries, congrats on incoming baby — if someone’s reading this you should pick up for Nux
Thanks for the well wishes. I just posted in the draft chat that I’m naming baby after my last pick in this draft.
So if he is still there for me to grab in Rd 32… thoughts on Flexen NUX? Got a nice ring to it I think
On the reals though, setting up these drafts is super easy. Its just a matter of clicking around a little bit in the Lobby and looking for the “Private” checkbox. I’m sure someone we been drafting with will pick up the ball and keep things rollin’.
You have yourself a lovely Friday afternoon, Grey!
Flexen Nux is a HOF name…Like Rusty Kuntz, but without the need for asterisks… Hopefully someone figures out how to setup the leagues and invites me… You too, man!
Rusty!
Rusty Nux works for me
There’s still one slot open in RCL #2 — draft is scheduled for Tuesday 2 March, 9:00 pm CST …
https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=7umgss80kkxlpefu&isSubmit=y
I, for one, have a big mouth and don’t care about looking foolish — so if anyone wants to shut me up, then get after it!
(I’m just an old man who does 100 pushups every morning — someone, please sign up)
It is full again.
Haha, it’s full
Grey, my friend!
I can only keep 3 of the 5, who’s going?
Biggio, Conforto, Suarez, Muncy, Dom Smith
Biggio, Conforto, Eugenio
Hey sorry, hate to nit pick but you have Kingery and Pearson both at 19. I assume Pearson is pick 19 and Kingery is 20?
Oops, typo
Yo Grey!
Longtime fan. I’m the guy that originally put you onto Christian Walker and you’re the guy that helped me win 3 league H2H titles in a row.
Last year due to the shortened season my league changed to Roto and I bombed. We are back to H2H and my keeper shituation isn’t great and need your help once again.
6 keepers total and and am keeping:
Lindor
Arenado
Need 4 more out of the following:
W. Smith -C
Judge
Meadows
Dylan Moore
Buxton
Cruz
Lamet
Aroldis
Thinking of going with judge, Meadows, Moore, Aroldis as Cruz (age) and Lamet (injury) scare me.
Kindly help.
Judge
Meadows
Dylan Moore
Aroldis
You actually drafted Wil Myers? Myers is really part of the best fantasy team????
Wait. Is this Grey? Or that Hamlet imposter guy in the video? Am I living in the Twilight Zone?
You’re gonna have to come up with a new guy to love that I don’t, because I like Myers this year
I started with pick 3. RCL settings, so Bellinger not 1B-eligible. Bracketed is your Top 500). In 6 mocks I’ve done, Castillo never went later than 27th, so that’s a dream.
C – 214 – Austin Nola SD (227)
1B – 22 – Jose Abreu CHW (26)
2B – 27 – Ozzie Albies ATL (28)
3B – 70 – Eugenio Suarez CIN (73)
SS – 51 – Dansby Swanson ATL (51)
MI – 190 – Garrett Hampson COL (190)
CI – 195 – Trey Mancini BAL (196)
OF – 3 – Juan Soto WSH (3)
OF – 75 – Lourdes Gurriel Jr. TOR (80)
OF – 99 – Anthony Santander BAL (101)
OF – 142 – Mike Yastrzemski SF (143)
OF – 243 – Brandon Nimmo NYM (249)
UT – 94 – Nelson Cruz MIN (94)
SP – 46 – Luis Castillo CIN (47)
SP – 147 – Kyle Hendricks CHC (148)
SP – 166 – Sandy Alcantara MIA (166)
SP – 219 – Sean Manaea OAK (234)
SP – 238 – Dane Dunning TEX (245)
SP – 262 – Nate Pearson TOR (266)
RP – 118 – Nick Anderson TB (121)
RP – 123 – Kenley Jansen LAD (123)
RP – 171 – Rafael Montero SEA (171)
– – Bench
RP – 267 – Chris Martin ATL (268)
RP – 286 – Zack Britton NYY (287)
RP – 291 – Archie Bradley PHI (294)
Love the hitting, but you don’t have a solid #2 SP, think it’s about you take Cruz when you did…I wouldn’t fill up my UTIL so fast
Yeah, There were 5 OFs to choose from at 94, and then I could have had Urias/Burnes/Gausman at 99 instead of Santander. I imagine that comment will be relevant for most of my teams.
Yeah, you go #2 SP there instead of another bat
Grey!!!
Amazing 2021 baseball team report. Love the comp to last year’s draft to compare.
a. Good luck with your team, I think Montero is going to be solid this year.
b. You can interchange Kellenic with Vaughn, right? Though I guess the White Sox look like they are in ‘WIN NOW’ mode so if Vaughn slumps, he’ll go to the training team. He might very easily kick ass this year!
c. Stoked that RCL#6 is locked and cocked for the draft in 8 days!!! RCL#8 is only at 4/12, hoping it gets better. I should advertise for RCL#8, who wants to beat up Ante. That should attract them, right?
d. Have a nice weekend.
e. MLB quote of the day for February 26, 2021
1. Grover Alexander, born February 26, 1887
‘He (Grover Alexander) could pitch into a tin can. His control was always remarkable – the finest I have ever seen.’
Sportswriter Grantland Rice in Winningest Pitchers: Baseball’s 300-Game Winners (Rich Westcott, Temple Univ Publishers, 07/2002, Page 89) [Grover Alexander Quotes]
2. Preacher Roe, born February 26, 1916
‘My three pitches are my change, my change off my change, and my change off my change off my change.’
Preacher Roe
3. Kelly Gruber, born February 16, 1962
‘Every team thinks their America’s team, you hear it from the New York Yankees, the L.A. Dodgers, Atlanta Braves. They’re the ones who speak the loudest of it, ‘we’re America’s team.’ We’re the only team of any of those people that actually know truly the meaning of that. We played for a whole country and that’s very, very special. That’s like no other team that’s out there. Montreal, they were doing it for a while but it was a very special time. To be able to do that is truly a blessing and I was very fortunate to have played for the Blue Jays, just in that sense of the meaning of playing the game of baseball.’
Kelly Gruber in Prince Albert Now (Jeff D’Andrea. A Q&A with Blue Jay legend Kelly Gruber. 09/24/2014)
4. J.T. Snow, born February 26, 1968
‘I’ve known J.T. for a long time,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He’s about as good defensively as you’re ever going to see in the game. That’s how good he is.’
by Staff Writer David Heuschkel in the Hartford Courant (02/23/2006, ‘On A New Coast, Snow, Loretta Getting Adjusted’, Source)
5. Mark DeRosa, February 26, 1975
‘Known for his versatility, (Mark) DeRosa played six different positions and batted .268 with 100 home runs and 494 RBIs in his career. DeRosa batted .358 with 10 RBIs in 22 career Postseason games and was a member of the 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants. DeRosa spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves (1998-2004) before joining the Texas Rangers (2005-06), Chicago Cubs (2007-08), Cleveland Indians (2009), St. Louis Cardinals (2009), San Francisco Giants (2010-11), Washington Nationals (2012) and Toronto Blue Jays (2013). DeRosa received the John Cerutti Award after the 2013 season, presented annually by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to the player who best represents the spirit of the late Blue Jays pitcher.’
MLB Network Analyst Profile (MLB Network, MARK DEROSA, Source)
6. Dustin Ackley, born February 26, 1988
‘Dusty’s quiet, unassuming. He doesn’t like to talk a lot; he doesn’t like people to talk about him. But when the game starts, he plays every day, he plays as hard as he can.’
UNC Head Coach Mike Fox in The Daily Press (Larry Stone, 06/14/2009, Lefty Ackley is Great New Mariner Hope: Seattle’s No. 2 overall pick comes with lofty comparisons, expectations, Page C8)
f. Random Reggie Jackson quote of the day for February 26, 2021
‘He’d (Reggie Jackson) give you the shirt off his back. Of course he’d call a press conference to announce it.’
Catfish Hunter
Cheers,
Ante
That’s probably my favorite Reggie quote.
VinWins!!
Thanks a million. Appreciate you more!
Cheers,
Ante
A. Me too!
B. Yeah, Vaughn/Kelenic — tomato tomahto — I was honestly saying Kelenic so I could point out I moved him up in my rankings — though I do like him
C. Haha, yes!
D. You too!
Damn, that is a good Reggie quote…
Failed to fill the Original Razz leagues (wnere you try for the worst players who actually have playing time), so rescheduled for next Wednesday.
7 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=6a32lbzqklankpvq&isSubmit=y
10 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/joinLeague.go?leagueId=r8hgtol2klaolgoo&isSubmit=y
It is important to set your rankings for the draft in case you can’t be there; otherwise you will end up with all the top-rated players, which is not good in these leagues.
I could put that team together if I had two 19 rounders, as well.
7 PM league is full again. Hope it stays full this time.
10 PM still has 8 openings.
Draft Lewis Brinson and finally feel good about it!