ESPN’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Are So Bloody Stupid

Grey, I need help with my final two keepers…14 teams, 15 keepers. I made some trades but for the most part you and I have similar taste!

C- Contreras
1B – Olson
IF – Arenado
IF – Swanson
OF – Acuna
OF – Grisham
OF – Jimenez
OF – Lewis

P – Cole
P – Lynn
P – Bundy
P – L.Hendricks
P – Yates

Options…
Benintendi, Kieboom, B.Anderson, R.McMahon
Urquidy, Keller, Manaea, Stroman, Houck, Whitley, A.Reyes

Julio at 248?! C’mon ESPN your better than that!! Actually…nah maybe not

Hey grey hope all is well and love the rankings! Couple quick questions for a start up 12 team, 10 keepers plus 5 prospects lg. Scoring is 7×7 avg, ops, hr, r, sb, tb, rbi and qs, w, era, whip, ks, L, svhd. Ended up with the 12 pick, so was hoping you could give me about 5 or 6 names you would be targeting with the 12 and 13 ovr picks. Also was hoping you could give me your ideal rounds to snag my first and second sps.

Our league is shallow and only has six teams this year.

C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UTIL, UTIL
SP, SP, P, P, P, RP, RP (Qs, K, era/whip, sv)
3 bench

I’m concerned teams can stock up on the top arms and dominate pitching stats making it hard to compete in those categories. Especially if inning eaters with solid ratios and high K/9 will be more valuable this year. Would you reach earlier for SP in this league than waiting as you would a larger league with more positions?

Can you do one of these for Yahoo also, or are they to difficult to make fun of? I think Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa are 2 guys that could do much better than projections but I’m gonna take your Lewis ranking and run with it. No way someone will scroll down that far before I do.

Grey , 5*5 obp 5*5 qs keeper league

Tried to get Luis roberts and Valdez didn’t work. Moose is on my bench would you offer him straight up for framber? He needs 2b. That teams owns gurriel JR as well. I feel Rosario and gurriel jr are the same.

Smith
Freeman
Biggio
Arenado
Story
Bellinger
Rosario
K Lewis
Mondesi

Bench
Vaughn
Moose
Chapman
Stanton

Bieber
Nola
Glasnow
Maeda
Urias

Bench
Gore
Tailon
Civale
Skubul

You’re the best

Is the best ball full?

Grey,
I’d like to grab his Laureano (23rd round this year and next) for my Benintendi (18th). I’ll have to add a pick to make it fair, obviously. What pick(s) should I offer up in a 29 round draft? I have no 16th, 18th, or 22nd to give, but an extra 19th.
Great read, btw.

Another separation point is the Thank You list are studs and the No Thank list are fades. (for the most part) Not sure who those guys are but they’re entertaining!

Hey Grey,
Whats your view on Montas now that he has been diagnosed with COVID? How far would you drop a guy on your rankings for that?

Sup Grey. Fantasy baseball back baby

Question about the patreon sub. Its a monthly sub? yearly sub? Wheres the link to sign up

Keeper league Avg HR RBI SB Runs

Which 5 are you keeping?

Story freeman tucker arozereana Suarez Chapman Swanson

ESPN rankings for comedy never disappoints, bunch o bleepin bozos.

One of my favorite articles every single year

Which side of this trade do you like in a deep dynasty roto league? Bryce Harper & Eflin for Andrew Vaughn & Austin Riley

ESPN has always been and always be way out of touch with their rankings. Thanks for the comparison!

One question i’ve been wanting to ask for awhile and fits with this article is what do you see in Kyle Lewis? He had a great start to the season last year, but in September he totally tanked. Had a 38% K-rate. His early season success was helped by a .407 babip.

I’m not trying to be argumentative, but I have an opening to acquire him in a dynasty league and just curious to know what you see that had you rank him so high and trying to talk myself into doing it.

Thanks!

Grey,

Good to have your commentary back for another season. H2H, 16 teams + 6 Keep Forevers

R, HR, SB, RBI, AVG, OPS
W, SV, KS, HLDS ERA WHIP

Def Keeps: Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Realmuto, Goldschmidt.

Bubble: Gleyber Torres, Trent Grisham, Zach Gallen, Gallo.

Would you stay pat and roll with Torres and Grisham? I have a straight up offer of Gleyber for Walker Buehler that I want to take as Gleyber has 2nd eligibility in Yahoo but will lose it next year.

It does give the other team Gleyber to go along Acuna, Luis Robert, Eloy, Judge but I guess that shouldn’t be a consideration. Thanks !

@grey: Where are you puling the ESPN rankings from?

Right now if you go to https://www.espn.com/fantasy/baseball/ and click “Top 300” rankings, they don’t jive with what you listed in this article. A couple examples:

Woodruff is currently 32
Mondesi is currently 41

I like making fun of ESPN as much as the next person but something isn’t adding up.

I’m leaning towards taking Tatis first overall instead of Acuna in a snake draft. I’m in a shallow six team league. Knowing how the other owners tend to draft, taking Tatis may set me up a little better for subsequent rounds.

You have Acuna and Tatis ranked 1 and 2 with similar projections. ATC projections show them similar too. I don’t want to screw up the number one. Is it splitting hairs between these two or is there a little more risk with Tatis being that the most he’s played was 84 games in a season – though his talent is undeniable.

Grey, you up for another $10 Bestball? We’re 8/12 filled already, so lots of same drafters as we had in that last one I believe. Would guess it will fill up and start in a few hours. No worries if you wanted to take a break on these at any point either.

Here is the link: https://bestball10s.shgn.com/signup/baseball?for=0;728,82,6787,7200&private_code=de0c7w

And PW, as usual: Bobby

For anyone who might want to join us and hasn’t played in one of these cheap bestballs. This draft has a 2 Hour Clock. And Top 3 are paid out ( $75 / 20 / 10). Also, keep in mind that there are only 2 OF and 4 Pitcher slots in these. All the rest of the rules and whatnot can be seen by clicking the link. Draft will start shortly after it fills.

Hey grey, can’t believe you didn’t have a huge going away party for Ian Desmond…. does this change the hampson projection? Trying to decide between him and Wong…. everywhere I look Wong has the better projections

I remember seeing an ESPN h2h ranking preseason 2018 that had Kenley Jansen as the #5 player OVERALL before he finished tied for 4th in total saves. Can’t take them serious but thank you for making it easy on us

So …i have a question. A couple, actually. Is Jackie Bradley planning on playing Major League baseball this year ? What about Jake Odorizzi ?

Always thought deriding another time make yourself superior is poor taste

Whats up man? Love this and Yahoo comparison articles every year. Do you think the rumor about MLB deadening the ball is true?

Hey. Is the online war room working? Thanks.. sign in that I have used for years is not working. Thanks

Poor Mitch, he seems as though he can’t get away from that testy humor!

Thanks. Love these posts every year. A great heads up on how my team might look in my ESPN league.
It’s funny- even with knowledgeable leaguemates you can usually see the impact that the native rankings have. I’m sure Dom Smith will go earlier than anyone would want in a lot of good leagues because of this.

Hey Grey,

Just curious, why are you so low on Mitch Haniger?

Do you think all the time off has rusted away his ability? Or do you think the injury will will leave him with a limp bat among other things (ba-dump-bump)? I mean, I can see where such an injury might wipe out his power. Core muscles are kinda important for that I would assume, so if there’s any lingering issue or simply a slight decrease in core strength, he might never be the same.

Whatcha think?

Your rankings from 2020 are the same as 2021. No biggie I just wonder if that’s an error or if you’ve decided your 2020 rankings are irrelevant to post in 2021.

I’m gonna carry this over and start fresh with the question.

Hope all is well Grey!!

5th year keeper H2H 6X6 Yahoo
R HE RBI SB AVG OPS
QS S+H K:9 ERA WHIP

It’s keep 6. I have the Last pick, 1st pick second round etc. for being a champion, the best my friend. You know about that my friend, lol.

I made a slight mistake and dropped Jack Flahtery thinking I was going to let him go but I kind of want to keep 4 Bats and 2 SP, but that is not happening now and it IS NOT A BIG DEAL because I am ok keeping 5 bats and 1 pitcher as pitching is deep and I could essentially draft a couple SP early.

Anyhow here are the 4 sures I am keeping, see what I did there, 4 sures? Haha. These 4 guys.

Juan Soto – OF
Ozzie Albies – 2B
Jose Abreu – 1B
Shane Bieber – SP

Here are the group of guys under consideration:

Yoan Moncado (I’m 99% on him he’s a stud who was affected by COVID, he is healthy and young and I still believe he on a stacked CHI Sox team is one of the best young players in the game)
Gleyber Torres – SS/2B(I just don’t love him)
Jared Kelenic – OF (should be up a couple weeks into the season, no?)
Dansby Swanson – SS
Matt Olson – 1B
Trent Grisham – OF
Toescar Hernandez – OF

I am also working a potential trade with someone in my league who I know I can persuade to trade with me where it’ll largely benefit me with the following type of offer

I get: Bo Bichette & a 2nd or 3rd rounder
He gets: Yoan Moncado, Gleyber Torres, & a 12th rounder

Who all do you think I should keep for sure and would you do that trade? I’d have Soto, Bichette, Albies, Bieber, Abreu, and ?

Thanks as always Grey!

Grey!!!

Awesome report!

a. MLB quote of the day for the weekend February 20-21, 2021

1. Tom Henrich, born February 20, 1913

‘Tom Henrich. He never over-swung. He made a ball be a strike and he would swing at a low overhand curve now and then. Tom would go for the single and cut down on his swing with two strikes. He was a good clutch hitter and tough to strike out–it seemed he was always looking for the pitch I was delivering.’

Bob Feller in Baseball Digest (Associate Director of the Baseball Hall of Fame William J. Guilfoile, August 1992, ‘Hall of Famers Name Their Toughest Diamond Foes’)

2. Bill Gullickson, born February 20, 1959

‘His fastball hits 84 mph on a good day – nothing more than a batting-practice pitch unless he cuts it or sinks it. Keeping hitters off balance is the key for (Bill) Gullickson, who throws two kinds of curves and a slider, and hides the ball extremely well.’

Bill Mazeroski in Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball (1993 Edition)

3. Livan Hernandez, born February 20, 1975

“‘Man, he (Livan Hernandez) works slow. I swear a gentleman sitting behind me read half of ‘War and Peace’ while he was out there. I looked back at one point, and he said ‘400 pages.'”

Columnist Jayson Stark on ESPN.com (Rumblings and Grumblings, 05/27/2010)

4. Justin Verlander, born February 20, 1983

‘Starter Justin Verlander rode a dominant fastball to the Rookie of the Year award, and the only way Zumaya could have been scarier was by lugging a chain saw to the mound.’

ESPN Columnist Jerry Crasnick on ESPN.com (High-speed pursuit, 03/26/2007)

5. Alan Trammell, born February 21, 1958

‘In the early 1980s, things started to change, as the American League produced a trio of talented two-way shortstops who could field their position and pose a substantial threat to pitchers. The Brewers’ Robin Yount, who debuted in the majors in 1974 at the tender age of 18, evolved into a top-notch hitter and earned MVP honors in 1982 as Milwaukee won the pennant. The Orioles’ Cal Ripken kicked off a stretch of 10 straight seasons with at least 20 homers in his official rookie season of 1982—as well as a record-setting consecutive games streak—and the next year, he too claimed an MVP award as Baltimore won the World Series. Debuting between those two, in late 1977, was the Tigers’ Alan Trammell. He didn’t win the MVP award in 1984—that honor went to reliever Willie Hernandez, a teammate—but he hit .314/.382/.468 while helping Detroit to a world championship. Trammell would spend 20 years with the Tigers, and while he didn’t reach 3,000 hits like Yount (who eventually moved to centerfield and won another MVP award) or Ripken (who also won a second MVP before moving to third base for his final few years), he did make six All-Star teams and win four Gold Gloves in his career, even while competing for attention with the other two.’

Jay Jaffe in Sports Illustrated (12/11/2013, ‘JAWS and the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot: Alan Trammell’, Source)

6. Joel Skinner, born February21,2021

‘When you see him (Joel Skinner) throw, you say, ‘Wow.’ It’s hard to believe that he can throw so hard and be so accurate.’

Cleveland Indians Manager Mike Hargrove in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 6-12, 1991)

b. MLB quote of the day for February 22, 2021

1. Sparky Anderson, born February 22, 1934

‘He (Sparky Anderson) really believes he made a winning team out of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, George Foster and Davey Concepcion by teaching them the virtues of shiny shoes and clean upper lips.’

Bill James in Sport Magazine (1982) [Sparky Anderson Quotes]

8. Kazuhiro Sasaki, born February 22, 1968

‘At 36 (when he left MLB and a $8.5 million dollar salary) Sasaki was not that old for a major league pitcher, perhaps, but ancient by the standards of the NPB. (Sasaki missed much of the 1999 season with Yokohama because of arm surgery.) His lifestyle didn’t help. The 6’4″, 220-pound reliever, nicknamed Daimajin after a giant stone samurai that comes to life on celluloid to rescue imperiled villagers, had lived alone in a Mercer Island condominium while with the Mariners. He bought a silver Porsche, frequented Seattle watering holes and was spotted hanging out at the University of Washington student union. On the road he was often wined and dined at expensive Japanese-only nightclubs by wealthy businessmen residing in the U.S.’

Robert Whiting in Sports Illustrated (03/22/2004, Volume 100, Issue 12, ‘Lost in Translation’, Source)

c. Random Reggie Jackson quote of the day for February 22, 2021

‘This team it all flows from me. I’ve got to keep it going. I’m the straw that stirs the drink.’

Cheers,
Ante

I have set up a couple of Razz leagues (Bad stats are good!) drafting next Thursday, February 25.
Thought I would try and get these drafts done before your important drafts start. The object is to find players who play a lot, but do poorly.

10 teams/Weekly lineups/14 active and 8 bench players/Limit 50 moves.

SCORING

HITTING

At Bats (AB)2
Hits (H)-3
Home Runs (HR)-6
Runs Batted In (RBI)-4
Runs Scored (R)-4
Strikeouts (SO)2

PITCHING

Earned Runs Allowed (ER)1.5
Hits Allowed (H)1
Home Runs Allowed (HR)4
Innings Pitched (IP)-1
Losses (L)8
Strikeouts Pitched (K)-1
Walks Allowed (BB)1

7 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/j … isSubmit=y

10 PM ET: https://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/j … isSubmit=y

I checked it out. Found lots of shirts with robots on them, but no shirt-wearing robot.