Steals

Roto-Wan

SAGNOF: Speed Darts

March 1, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Steals | 12 Comments

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Draft season is getting into full swing. Unless things break right for you early you’re likely to find your team a little light in the steals department. Take a stab at some of these cheaper players to boost your speed.

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Usual Suspects

  • Jarrod Dyson – Dyson probably has the most guaranteed playing time coming into the season. Injuries tend to cut into his ABs but when he’s in the lineup he’s running.
  • Delino DeShields Jr. – We’ve all been there with Delino. He’s cheap and has 50 steal speed if he could only play everyday and avoid the litany of injuries that tend to derail his season.
  • Dee Gordon – I’m actually interested in Gordon as a speed dart. He’s been around a while but is a seemingly young 31. The wheels aren’t what they used to be and will likely degrade as the season goes. Still, there’s plenty of scenarios that see him leading off in Seattle.
    • Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Roto-Wan

SAGNOF: Run Rabbit, Run

March 19, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, SAGNOF, Steals |

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Draft season is suddenly reaching its climax, not unlike the titular Rabbit does in women that aren’t his wife in Rabbit, Run. He’s not the rabbit we’re interested in, however. We’re after some free steals late in drafts because Steals Ain’t Got No Face. Let me type that again in all caps so you’ll know I’m shouting. STEALS AIN’T GOT NO FACE. Don’t overpay for Mallex Smith when you could get Dee Gordon much later. Either could be the leadoff hitter for Seattle. Chasing speed is a dangerous game. I prefer building it into my entire roster little by little but at some point, you need someone to lead the charge in the steals category. Consider these speedsters as speculative plays late in your drafts…

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Roto-Wan

SAGNOF Report: Magneuris P.I.

September 10, 2018 | SAGNOF, Steals | 5 Comments

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Did you know they’re remaking Magnum P.I. with the title character sans mustache? That’s some bunk, right there. Unlike that fake, Magneuris Sierra could be a real deal smooth operator. Steal a couple roto points these last few weeks by employing a heavy speed approach. Base swipers like Sierra are popping up with September call-ups and certain teams throwing in the towel. Keep grinding speed chasers.

 
Roto-Wan

SAGNOF Report: Sound the Allen

August 27, 2018 | Steals | 10 Comments

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It’s the time of year that every counting stat matters down to a single digit. Are you in need of a rabbit or two to help push your stolen base total? Here are some potential sources of speed…

  • Greg Allen: Here’s a rare gem. Allen has the kind of speed that could equate to  40-50 steals over a full season. He’s showing it since getting the call as a regular outfielder, with 6 SBs in the last 14 days. He’ll sit occasionally, but the Indians don’t seem to have many other options in centerfield.
  • Rafael Ortega: There isn’t much firepower left in the Marlins lineup, but Ortega has shown the ability to get on base about 35% of the time. That gives an above average opportunity for him ply his trade as a base stealer. He may not be a leadoff man with a career .350 OBP, but you can ride him while he’s making contact.
  • Amed Rosario: Speed is a large part of the equation for Rosario as a prospect so when he came into the season with a bum wheel it was cause for concern. Rightfully so, as he only managed to steal 6 bases in the first half. He may be over the leg issue, however. He’s swiped 4 bags in the last two weeks to bring his second-half total to 9 SBs.
    • Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Smokey

Stolen Goods and Where to Find Them

March 2, 2018 | Steals | 13 Comments

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Late steals, or “cheeky swipes” as they call it across the ocean, are sometimes hard to find late in drafts. Well not hard to find just takes some digging and speculation.  The stolen base stat is a precipitously dying stat.  I mean, why steal a base when you can just hit a homerun?  Or that is the growing trend of the baseball thievery…  Last year 83 players stole 10 or more bases.  That number hasn’t really differed much in the last few years, the high in 2015 and the low being in 2016 of 79.  So while overall steals are down, the number in between the leader and the low end is just increasing in smaller increments.  So with the SAGNOF theory, saves and steals are the afterthought come draft day.  Not completely forgotten about or disregarded.  Just valued at a lower premium based on so many players being low category contributors across the board.  Sneak steals on draft day and getting the most out of your squeeze per investment into draft picks is the name of the game.  Paying a premium for the big hitting steals guys like Billy Hamilton, Dee Gordon and obvious top-5 overall pick in Trea Turner are all well and good, but at what cost in relation to their draft pick?  So the helpfulness of this post is to look at value according to ADP and the steals value the will give our team come opening day in the counting stat department.  Most of the players with steal appeal are MI eligible and on draft day, if you miss out early, it seems like the best place to look for straight SAGNOF satisfaction.

Here is a table of steals, caught stealing, and total steals across all of the MLB for the last five years so you didn’t think I was lying to you about the accumulation factors with SB’s…

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Smokey

SAGNOF Report: Sore Diorama

September 19, 2017 | Closers, Steals | 1 Comment

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Wanna take a guess at who the title is?  Anagrams are fun, and by fun, I mean about as fun as going to a baseball game and staying sober.  Since that first sentence merely took eight seconds to read, I would assume that your guess of Fernando Valenzuela was wrong.  The real answer is Amed Rosario.  I could have went with endless possibilities, but a “sore diorama” sounds like a science fair experiment gone wrong.  So onto the SAGNOF usefulness for the man that could have been “armoire soda,” but alas the diorama wins.  Over the last 15 games with the Mets on coast mode to losing, the question is: are they in a coasting mode for losing and futility?  Anyways, over his last 15 games, he has a .364 batting average, a .391 OBP, 7 runs, and the all important 3 steals.  He never exuded elite-type speed in the minors, maxing out at 19 across two levels this year and last.  So the speed could be blossoming like the ability to make pumpkin spice anything nowadays and have lonely single people furnish an entire apartment with it. With the season less than two weeks from finish, look high, look low, look Amed Rosario.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Smokey

SAGNOF Report: Preseason Multi-Position Eligibility Love

January 19, 2017 | SAGNOF, Steals | 16 Comments

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To be a follow up on Grey’s post months or weeks ago, Position Eligiblity can be a sexual and quite tantalizing thing, especially when it correlates into what I am going to talk about.  So taking from the list that he concocted and then applying it to mine, and voila! Your needs as it relates to SAGNOF are fulfilled!  The “S” that we’re referring to this time out though is steals.  For those new to the term, get familiar, as it means “Saves (and Steals) Ain’t Got No Face”.  Because in reality it is basically a 2 AM lights come on picking fest, and whomever gathers you the stat is good enough.  Just gotta be fast to the waivers or some other speed miner will scoop them up.  So now back to how speed and multi-eligibility is a fantasy boon to your usability for them come draft time.  Granted, it is way early to start looking at trends and expert advise on the matter because, well, it is way too early.  I just said that, making me say stuff twice.  So I have scoured what information I have gathered and used my own super secret rankings in seeing who falls where on draft day, has multiple positions, and can be an asset in the steals department.  I personally like reserving one to two spots on my roster, taking in mind the multi-positional speed guys.  They fill in the spots of the MI, sometimes CI, and definitely the Util spot.  Steals can get scarce later in drafts, but we here at the “Razz Central speed and Saves Department” don’t care.  It don’t got no face, or an English degree in how to say that in a way that sounds logical without double negatives.  So to keep pace with what’s going down as I awake from my winter’s hibernation, speed and multiple position eligibility and some savings on draft day is what it’s all about to be about!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Smokey

SAGNOF Report: Store Closing At The SAGNOF Store

September 26, 2016 | Closers, Steals | 6 Comments

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On Saturday, we closed down the Holds store, although will still field some inventory questions that some may have.  Today is the last day only for my weekly advisory role in the cheap saves/steals-AGNOF type stuff.  This year was fun doing this post, it incorporated something I already covered here at Razznation and mixed it with some track and field with bats.  This year, I covered everything from the decline of stolen bases as a whole stat, the decline of the elusive fantasy 20/20 players, pitching metrics of stolen bases allowed, and even some catching metrics.  Wrap all that up and after I am done patting myself on my own back with my baby T-rex arms, I think I did an okay job for someone thrown to the fantasy wolves of conveying good info.  Some will disagree, others will hide in the shadows with their slings and arrows, but I am satisfied.  I stole Grey’s journal and he said it on three separate occasions that he thinks my penmanship in regards to SAGNOF is worthy of a cookie or something like that.  I was too teary eyed to actually read it.  So with just over one week to play, it is an “all hands on deck” affair for saves, stolen bases, or hell, even at-bats from non contending teams.  So when searching for moves to make and not make use the first instinct and ignore the other rules like don’t get high on you’re own supply stuff.  You know the Biggie song, so just ignore those and go with common sense.  As always, it has been my pleasure and good luck the last week of the year. Cheers!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Smokey

SAGNOF Report: Stealing For The Future

September 19, 2016 | Steals | 6 Comments

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It’s never too late to start talking about next year, is it?  Well, that is the direction I am heading.  I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but second base, and for that matter middle infield, is going to be an interesting position come draft time or even for some keepers.  This is the first time in a few years that there will be a dearth of players with a value at the position, so I am personally sorta excited, about as excited as getting a onion ring in my french fry order.  The middle rounds for these second base eligible guys is going to be an interesting pecking order of who covets who more, and what we have seen this year steers them.  Now, this is a steals post and most of the guys I am talking about are going to have value there and in some ancillary stat contributions, I am not talking about the over-drafting of Brian Dozier, and to some extent, Robbie Cano.  Steals only guys, they in this case, have faces until at least your draft or keepers are pot committed. So this week, I am looking at some second sackers that will shine for you next year based on the second half stats.  For giggles afterwards, since the season isn’t over, some two-week guys that will help you down the stretch and of course some save stealers…

Please, blog, may I have some more?