Last week, Grayson Rodriguez threw 89 MPH the other day, and people were like, “That’s cool, he’s working on a knuckleball. Right? Right….?” Only those dots after the 2nd “Right” lasted for 48 hours, until someone poked the speaker to see if they were still alive, they weren’t. Thankfully, they were resuscitated! Whew! Checking in with the Grayson Rodriguez Fan Club, which is in the backroom of a Maryland-area Kiwanis Club where they’ve printed Grayson Rodriguez Fan Club on the back of a Matt Wieters Fan Club sign — not a great omen! — and they said Grayson was just working on something and his velocity is nothing to be concerned about. It’s only eight to nine miles per hour off his uze. Nothing to see here! So, I docked him 40 IP, but I imagine the next step is taking him out of the rankings completely as he goes for surgery or is shut down. He was updated in the top 60 starters and pitchers pairing tool. You’re crazy if you still draft him. At any ranking. Cade Povich would be an interesting addition to the O’s rotation, and I would’ve likely ranked him in the top 500 if he were in the rotation back in January, but Rudy has him ranked around 1050 in his auction values, and I can’t see him as anymore than a flyer at the end of drafts. In more unfortunate news, George Kirby is out with shoulder inflammation, and will start the year on the IL. I could see drafting him now if you have those sweet, sweet marbles in your head. The marbles that you think are Gobstoppers but you bite on them and they crack all your teeth. That’s what you have in your head. Marbles disguised as Gobstoppers. Just jingo-jangling up in your cranium, bouncing into each other and making the sound, “Dur.” His ranking and projections updated in the top 20 starters. Also, goes without saying (which I say before saying) but Rudy updates all preseason auction values with every bit of news. Everything gets updated a dozen times per day. For Rudy, Kirby falls to the 150 range for 12 team leagues. Anyway, here’s what else I saw in Spring Training for 2025 fantasy baseball:
Gunnar Henderson – Orioles finally announced that Gunnar has an intercostal strain. Hate the intercostal. In ten years, there will be no more intercostal, due to climate change, and I welcome it. So, I did research as one does, and the average time for an intercostal strain is 27 days. Okay, I didn’t do the research, a guy by name of Derek Rhoads did the research, but I did the research to find Derek, so same diff.
Mitch Garver is on the IL with an intercostal strain. Unclear on severity but looks like in the past players on the IL with that designation have missed from 13-61 days with a median of 27. pic.twitter.com/5X0CTOFhDa
— Derek Rhoads (@drhoa3) August 20, 2020
That’s an old tweet (are they still called that?), but it’s not like intercostals have changed since then (after changing from the 90’s to exist at all). This is very tricky. Players have missed anywhere from two weeks to two months with an intercostal strain. Taking the Orioles and Gunnar’s word for it that it is not severe, and he should be ready for Opening Day. This is based on trickery and voodoo that is unreliable (unless you’re about to bite the head off a chicken, then, well, let’s see…) Can’t possibly tell you to draft him 5th anymore though, so he was dropped in the rankings. This reminds me of when everyone dropped Ohtani in the rankings last March because he was returning from elbow surgery and we were unsure how that would affect his swing. Spoiler Alert: Not a lot! So, I dropped Gunnar a couple of spots in the top 10, and shaved two weeks off his projections.
Felix Bautista – Unclear if he starts the year with the O’s or spends a few weeks getting up to speed. Wasn’t drafting him before this news, not interested now. His handcuff seemed to be Andrew Kittredge, star of BBC’s Kittredge, but he was removed from the rankings (knee surgery) and now my next highest ranked Orioles reliever is Keegan Akin, which is akin to a nightmare, but not nearly as much as the people I see grabbing Seranthony Dominguez.
Prelander Berroa – Removed Prelander Berroa (needs Tommy John surgery) from rankings, gave his saves to Gus Varland in the top 500, but not sure it matters in the White Sox pen. If a closer falls in a pen of a team that never wins a game, does it make a sound?
Austin Slater – Out 2-3 weeks with an oblique strain. White Sox aren’t going to take any risks with their big free-agent addition.
Gerrit Cole – Had tests done on his elbow and they recommended him for Tommy John surgery. Listen, I have sympathy for people who drafted Kirby or Grayson, prior to the injury news, I have zero for Cole drafters. I told you not to draft him — Gerrit Cole overrated — and it was pretty clear from all his pitching last year he was not right. I go over the reasons in that post that some chose to ignore; I’m sure they’ll ignore it again, so moving on! I removed him from the starter rankings, and I imagine soon the news will hit that he’s having the surgery that he should’ve had almost exactly 12 months ago.
Giancarlo Stanton – With news that he’ll either have elbow surgery or just be out a long time, he was removed from the top 500. [turns on adult contemporary station] I did my best, but I guess my best wasn’t good enough…cause here we are back to where we were before…[screaming] SEEMS NOTHIN’ EVER CHANGES!!![sobbing and snorting]WE’RE BACK TO BEING STRANGERS!!!
DJ LeMahieu – Likely out at least a few weeks with a strained calf. What Evil Cow wrought.
Aaron Ashby – Strained oblique. That’ll knock him out for two weeks or two years. Likely somewhere in-between. “Where in-between” is a question posed during a sidequest that is unanswerable. He wasn’t updated in the top 100 starters, because he never had a full season of innings anyway.
Adolis Garcia – Dealing with a very minor oblique strain, which sounds like it won’t affect his ability to be ready for Opening Day. Wyatt Langford is also dealing with an oblique injury — most be going around the clubhouse — and Wyatt’s is more serious, but also minor enough that it seems like it won’t sideline him into the season. We shall see. Or not!
Christian Walker – Dealing with oblique soreness. Hey, whoever invented the oblique should eff all the way off.
Jose Iglesias – Signed with the Padres. Interesting, they must be thinking about the future, they only have Bogaerts signed through the year 2077.
Francisco Alvarez – Hand fracture and will miss six to eight weeks. I never ever never ever draft a catcher high, but in draft I’m currently in I was like, “I wanna feel something, let me try Francisco Al–” and I didn’t even finish his name. That was how excited I was to draft him. Then, I felt gross, and a day later he was out for two months. Only other time this preseason when I felt that catcher urge, I drafted Sean Murphy. Things that are not going well for $400! Speaking of Murphy, he had a decent replacement and was added to the catcher rankings. Alvarez has Torrens, which sounds like an app to download a Soundcloud. Catchers rankings were updated for Alvarez, and, because he was the 12th best catcher, someone had to be moved up, that was O’Hoppe.
Scott Kingery – In contention to win shortstop job. Guess the team he plays for. I’ll give you two guesses. It’s all you should need. It’s either the Angels or Rockies. This time it’s the Angels. Oh, and Tim Anderson could be their starting centerfielder, and…[he continued to mumble as he pulled his Angels cap low over his eyes and walked into the ocean].
Luis Rengifo – May not be ready for Opening Day, due to a hammy. Was this guy made in Venice, Italy because he’s made of glass. The worst part isn’t that I’ve already drafted him; the worst part is I have to hear about it from BDon.
Jurickson Profar – Undergoing a CT scan on his wrist, and results will be known today. Wouldn’t have drafted him in any league, but if you did for a “safe guy with counting stats,” then you should be a cat burgular because you’re safe cracking.
Matt Mervis – Seems to be in the lead for the strong side of the Marlins’ 1B job, and I almost wrote “Merkins,” and that’s the most fun we’re getting out of Mervis.
Jordan Walker – Jammed his knee when he tripped over a sprinkler head. A water-related injury feels like my fault:
— Razzball (@Razzball) February 19, 2025
Chase DeLauter – Sidelined roughly three months with core surgery. Who knew he was an apple? I did not. Top 100 outfielders updated.
Wilyer Abreu – Could miss Opening Day after eating bad fish. Was he doing a staged adaptation of Airplane?
Oops on earlier post it is Joey Ortiz
Please Rank; Luis Ortiz, Joey Bart, Maneaa
10 team earn roto league keep 6. I’ve got Vlad J Ram DeLa Cruz and Judge so far need two from these guys Burnes Snell Glasnow Scherzer and Flaherty. Thanks and glad to back
Burnes, Snell
Thanks Grey. I’m getting old and not as much time to study. Your the best
You may have been hitting the sauce there, Al. I’m not sure why you would even list Scherzer in that set of options.
Cole confirming on social media that he’s having TJ.
Oh well
Is Stanton donating his UCL?
they’re gonna be going into elbow surgery holding hands like Thelma & Louise
Have Kirby on 3 teams. Was just offered Webb for Kirby in one them. Have Ragans on that team as well. Seems like an easy yes to mitigate my over exposure to Kirby. Right?
Take Webb and run
Hi Grey,
Could really use your help picking five keepers for a 10 team Yahoo League that scores the following:
Batters – Runs, HR, RBI, SB, K, OBP, SLG
Pitching – HR, HLD, NSV, ERA, WHIP, K9, QS
I don’t have a strong pool of players to choose from, but I have to work with what I have.
C L O’Hoppe
1B L Arraez
2B M Semien
3B R Devers
SS N Hoerner
OF M Harris
OF A Santander
OF S Kwan
UTIL I Happ
UTIL T O’Neill
UTIL T Ward
UTIL C Norby
UTIL A Bohm
SP Logan Webb
SP Tanner Bibbe
SP Bryce Miller
RP Tanner Scott
RP Jason Adam
RP Blake Treinan
P Seth Lugo
P Shohai Ohtani (IL)
P Nathan Eovaldi
P Kyle Finnegan
P Bowden Francis
P Chris Martin
P Mitch Keller
P Trevor Megil
P Camilo Doval
P Paul Sewald
Thanks!
Webb, Devers, Harris, Bibee, Ohtani…not great
in a league where you keep 2 from last year – i have 2nd pick coming up to start – my choices are…Tucker, J Rod, Yordan Alvarez, Vlad Guerrero, Durran and Chourio wondered if you can tell me your 2 picks from these, as i pick 2nd and confused from the young ones durran and chourio to the others do appreciate…. thank you much
Tucker, JRod
Are you moving anyone in or out of your top 10 in an obp format? 6×6 roto: r, hr, rbi, tb, obp, sb?
I looked at the obp rankings, but they aren’t the Grey obp rankings. Thanks
I follow Rudy’s OBP ranks
We are in the middle of a slow draft in a Dynasty 10 Team 6×6 OBP/QS/IP/K-BB. We have a $260 Salary Cap and 40 players (15 bench spots). I won last year but had to trade away a lot of good players to get under the cap. I had the 1st, 2nd, and 4th overall picks. I used the first to pick Ohtani back up – I dropped him to get under the cap and get him back at a cheaper price. I took Trout with the 2nd pick, which I know you do not like but I have never had him and sometimes you pick players you like – part of the fun. I traded my 4th overall pick and a couple late draft picks (7th/10th) for Schwellenbach and the 8th overall pick which I used to get Contreras (STL) who I wanted anyway since I needed a catcher. I grabbed a couple of relief pitchers, Bryce Eldridge and Encarnacion-Strand with picks in the 3rd-5th rounds. I have two picks left – I am trying to decide if I want a backup catcher (guys I like that might be there when I pick again are Rushing, Goodman, Herrera, Ballesteros) or another starter (someone like Dustin May or Edward Cabrera – upside guys that I could drop if I need the roster spot) or go with a prospect who has a chance to play this year like Mauricio or Cam Smith or Durbin – I feel like I need another 2B although I can hopefully shift Jazz there after he gets 20 games?
What would you do with my last two picks – would you consider another relief pitcher with Bautista not a guarantee in the first month?
Here is my team for context:
C – Willson Contreras
C – Joey Bart
1B – Tristan Casas
2B – Matt McLain
SS – Bobby Witt Jr
3B – Manny Machado
MI – Gunnar Henderson
CI – Jazz Chisholm
OF – Kyle Tucker
OF – Jackson Chourio
OF – Julio Rodriguez
OF – Michael Harris II
OF – Luis Robert Jr
U – Shohei Ohtani
U – James Wood
B – Royce Lewis
B – Dylan Crews
B – Mike Trout
B – Josh Lowe
B – Xavier Edwards
B – Christian Encarnacion-Strand
B – Bryce Eldridge
SP – Tarik Skubal
SP – Garrett Crochet
SP – Logan Gilbert
SP – Chris Sale
SP – Michael King
SP – Bailey Ober
SP – Joe Ryan
SP – Spencer Schwellenbaugh
RP – Andres Munoz
RP – Ryan Walker
B – Roki Sasaki
B – Brandon Pfaadt
B – Kodei Senga
B – Yusei Kikuchi
B – Andrew Painter
B – Felix Bautista
Good day,
I may be overthinking but I have a gut feeling of taking Schwellenbach over Shota as my final keeper. 14 team standard roto league. Did I eat gas station sushi?
Sounds fine
We could possibly see a Carter Kieboom/Scott Kingery left side of the infield for the Angels and I don’t know why it’s making me laugh so hard.
Hahaha, ouch
Grey is this SP squad good enough in a 12 team roto?
King
Roki
Woo
J.Jones
Rodon
Looks solid
Keeper H2H points league. Would you rather go into a draft with a lot of big-named guys getting tossed back spending 34 on Vlad, 32 on Logan Gilbert, or 12 on Bryce Miller and having more money in the draft?
High priced guys
That intercostal timeline info is good, but it doesn’t show the impact to performance after injury. I can see it taking a while to get back to normal. You also just wonder how tricky that injury is. I mean any time you swing or reach for a ball, dive, etc. It could aggravate it or cause it to linger.
GH may fall to me in a draft i have coming up. Really on the fence here about buying damaged goods. Am I going to get what I thought even if on a pro-rated basis? Maybe it is better to play it safe.
Meh a minor injury in March is hopefully just that, if you wanna go safe with someone else , I can understand it
There is also that lets be uber careful with our best player during spring training. Im not too worried.
Hope it’s nothing
We are in the middle of a slow draft in a Dynasty 10 Team 6×6 OBP/QS/IP/K-BB. We have a $260 Salary Cap and 40 players (15 bench spots). I won last year but had to trade away a lot of good players to get under the cap. I had the 1st, 2nd, and 4th overall picks. I used the first to pick Ohtani back up – I dropped him to get under the cap and get him back at a cheaper price. I took Trout with the 2nd pick, which I know you do not like but I have never had him and sometimes you pick players you like – part of the fun. I traded my 4th overall pick and a couple late draft picks (7th/10th) for Schwellenbach and the 8th overall pick which I used to get Contreras (STL) who I wanted anyway since I needed a catcher. I grabbed a couple of relief pitchers, Bryce Eldridge and Encarnacion-Strand with picks in the 3rd-5th rounds. I have two picks left – I am trying to decide if I want a backup catcher (guys I like that might be there when I pick again are Rushing, Goodman, Herrera, Ballesteros) or another starter (someone like Dustin May or Edward Cabrera – upside guys that I could drop if I need the roster spot) or go with a prospect who has a chance to play this year like Mauricio or Cam Smith or Durbin – I feel like I need another 2B although I can hopefully shift Jazz there after he gets 20 games?
What would you do with my last two picks – would you consider another relief pitcher with Bautista not a guarantee in the first month?
Here is my team for context:
C – Willson Contreras
C – Joey Bart
1B – Tristan Casas
2B – Matt McLain
SS – Bobby Witt Jr
3B – Manny Machado
MI – Gunnar Henderson
CI – Jazz Chisholm
OF – Kyle Tucker
OF – Jackson Chourio
OF – Julio Rodriguez
OF – Michael Harris II
OF – Luis Robert Jr
U – Shohei Ohtani
U – James Wood
B – Royce Lewis
B – Dylan Crews
B – Mike Trout
B – Josh Lowe
B – Xavier Edwards
B – Christian Encarnacion-Strand
B – Bryce Eldridge
SP – Tarik Skubal
SP – Garrett Crochet
SP – Logan Gilbert
SP – Chris Sale
SP – Michael King
SP – Bailey Ober
SP – Joe Ryan
SP – Spencer Schwellenbaugh
RP – Andres Munoz
RP – Ryan Walker
B – Roki Sasaki
B – Brandon Pfaadt
B – Kodei Senga
B – Yusei Kikuchi
B – Andrew Painter
B – Felix Bautista
Durbin, Smith, May, EdCab, that order
Thank you – you think I am okay to grab a catcher off the waiver wire in the case I need one rather than rostering a third one?
Appreciate your help!
Yes
Hey Grey,
12 tm mixed keeper std cats but we use OBP/SVHD.
My core keepers: Gunnar/ARiley/Albies/Naylor/Ryan/Strider/Pablo
In a vacuum who would you keep as last keeper: Nimmo/JaredJones/Stott?
2) same keeper, I offered Jobe and Painter (both in my minors) for Arozerena ($12)
I was thinking Aroz would be an upgrade for last keeper but that is a lot of pitching talent to trade.
Thanks.
Jones….2. Meh
I hear ya dawg. One of my buds said that the other owner probably did me a favor by rejecting. Lol.
Haha
(Commenting on Grey’s post for visibility)
Hey Razzballers! We need just ONE more person to fill up RCL #17, which drafts this Saturday, March 15, at 5pm Pacific. Come join the fun, so we can all see what our draft positions will be!
NYY need to make 3 moves …..a DH…a 3rd baseman & a SPer
JD…Arenado..Castillo or Montgomery
Ha yeah
Vlad at 1B
Grey need a trade opinion in a points keeper league. Our 5 keeps have been announced, and now guys are offering up picks for players who were kept. You can usually trade high value keeps for 2-3 really good players at our trade deadline if you are in the playoff contention. I was offered James Wood (15th round keep value) and pick 2.4 for my 1st and 5th round picks. My 1st is projected to be like Lindor or Bryce most likely. What are your thoughts?
I’d take Wood
Please explain how we went from playoff Stanton to someone who sounds like he is about to lose both of his arms. I mean that’s about 4 months. What the hell happened this off-season?
Ha, it’s so sad
Hey Grey! First post this year – much appreciation to you and the team as always for helping me get prepped for my draft.
Here’s how it all shook out. Where do you think I need to improve? 12 team points league, svhd, batter strikeouts are -1.
Jeffers
Bellinger
Maikel Garcia
J-Ram
EDLC
Yordan
Oneil Cruz
Law Butler
J Wood
Nootbar
Doyle (bench)
Skubal
Gallen
Schwellenback
Woo
Brown
Lugo
Bassitt
Duran
Megill
Adam
Abreu
Hodge
For the RPs, who’s the odd one out given I have 4 slots?
I think you need to start getting fitted for a championship belt…I love the team, not entirely sure how you have JRam, Elly, Yordan and…well, you have like 15 top 5 round picks….Hodge
Auction draft, so paid through the nose for JRam ($59) and Yordan ($47) (started with $215-ish)! Elly I kept for $13, Skubs for $13, too. I’ve been trying/learning to bite the bullet and bid high for the top end talent and then finding those juicy targets mid to late auction using the education Razzball has provided!
On Hodge, what do you feel are the chances he can eat into Pressly’s saves or take over?
Pressly was brought in to close, so I don’t know maybe July if he’s traded
Hey Grey! I had my first-ever RCL draft yesterday. Curious if you have any thoughts or advice. I definitely reached on a few picks, but going 1 overall is brutal if you want specific guys or positions since it’s such a big swing between picks.
I definitely realized late in the draft that I didn’t prioritize RP enough. I usually like to just have one closer that I like a lot in Roto, but I didn’t consider daily Roto vs Weekly (my main league that I’ve been in for 7 years is weekly lineup). Also didn’t consider the no-QS factor.
As a flow-of-draft thing, I ended up waiting a loooong time on 2B + MI. I got snaked hard on X-Ed at MI, who got taken tragically early when i was already going to reach on him.
Anyway, be kind…
C – Langeliers (17)
1B – Walker (7)
2B – Stott (12)
3B – Riley (2)
SS – Witt (1)
CI – Vinnie PasquanTinoMartinez (11)
MI – Thairo (19)
OF – Butler (4)
OF – Greene (6)
OF – Crews (9)
OF – JH Lee (18)
OF – Garrett Mitchell (21)
Util – Rooker (3 – I know 25 overall is a reach, but I love him and he wouldn’t be there at my next pick 48)
SP
Ragans (5)
Greene (10)
Gavin Williams (13 – total reach)
Arrighetti (14)
Alcantara (15)
Robbie Ray (16)
Weathers (20)
Tobias Myers (23)
RP
Munoz (8)
Bench (realizing now these should all have been RP and will drop for late-inning guys who emerge as they always do)
Cam Smith (23) (droppable but really wanna see what he’s got)
Austin Wells (24) (i like having 2 catchers in daily)
Josh Bell (25) – Washington Resurrection 3 (last year was Winker, Pham before that)
It’s fine to draft a few bench bats for the time being, once more injuries happen, you’ll have room and maybe Smith will get the job…Bell is pretty terrible bench bat tho…And a 2nd catcher isn’t good either…I guess just Cam Smith there…I love the pitching, and think you have some nice upside…bit risky with Sandy and Ray and Gavin and Greene…Hitting is excellent, I love the speed…Might be low on power
I was absolutely not planning on Hunter Greene, but at the 10th-round price, I really couldn’t say no. Maybe in the 7th, I should have taken Bryce Miller over Walker. but like you said, I need power and there were so many pitchers that I liked available that I went with bats on that 6/7 swing. I am not mega-worried about Walker since the MRI came back clean but I do hate back injuries, a lot.
Butler at the 4th/5th swing was another reach, but outfielders went off the board like crazy in the first 4 rounds. So I went with him for the upside and felt like I had enough good AVG guys to make up for his potential AVG issues – and then added Greene later to help stabilize that.
Hey Stan….This is This
Haha
Keeping 5th round Langford or 11th round McLain? (6×6 w/ops)
Thanks!
Wyatt
I drafted Bautista and most of the closers are gone so should I pick up Akin or Sir Anthony?
Hi Grey,
Over the years, your crystal ball on pitchers has a pretty good batting average. After the first weekend of the draft and moves on the wire, this is my staff. I took your advice and picked up Clarke Schmidt.
1. Would you stay the course for now?
2. Any ideas for bundling two pitchers to upgrade my staff.
I would appreciate any ideas where I need to make improvements or possible pitchers to target.
SP: Framber Valdez
SP: Max Fried
SP: Seth Lugo
SP: Bowden Francis
SP: Shane McClanahan
SP: Carlos Rodon
SP: Clarke Schmidt
SP: Ryan Weathers
SP: Will Warren
RP: Peter Fairbanks
RP; Jordan Romano
Thanks!!!!!
Martin
You a Yankees fan? You have a lot of them…Rodon and Francis bundled to get someone better on a different team?
Great response! Thanks!
The funny thing is that I am a Yankee fan. What is amazing: this is the first year in my fantasy career that I have every had a Yankee Player.
Thoughts on taking Tobias Myers of the Brewers or Dustin May off the wire. If yes, Who would you cut from my pitchers to take one of these?
Thanks!!!
Haha, Myers over Warren
Thanks!!!!
No problem
I just saw the greatest Razzslam team so far and it was drafted by me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2B9jyZTp4w
HAHA
Hi Grey,
I just wanted you know how helpful was your staff was over the weekend in answering my fantasy questions. The LineupBuilder, Jeremy, Maks and Mamosdad were truly amazing. Their detailed nuanced responses made my weekend.
Please thank them for all their time and kindness!
Martin
Will do, thanks, Martin!
Is there still a way to link your ratings
to FantasyPros ?
I don’t know
Have room for 1 SP. Who would you go with? Keeper QS league.
Sproat stash
Max Meyer
Soriano
Will Warren
Festa
Zebby
Or stash a bat like Veen, Deyvision, or Victor Scott
Warren
So many china dolls, ugh. Give me the grinders, the guys that show up close to 162. Lindor looking better and better! Still recovering from missing on Crews (best pick of the DC draft), and will adjust him higher. Targeting Jasson and Dylan, hope to grab’em both! Thanks for the updates
I like them! No problem
Tirso Ornelas…. Hearing good buzz.
What’s your take?
I drafted him the other day
he’s also in the rankings
Just finished my 14 team roto redraft auction, usual categories. 10 pitchers, 15 hitters and 5 reserves. Any comments and suggestions appreciated. C Wells 1B Alonso 2B Semien SS Stott 3B Westburg MI Gimenez CI C.Walker OF Duran OF Doyle OF Hel. Ramos OF Cowser UT Ward UT W.Castro UT Springer UT Arander P Bryce Miller P Schwellenbach P Bibee P R.Lopez P Efflin P Wacha P Pivetta P Arrighetti P Lodolo P B.Francis Res Estrada Res Herrera Res Manaea Res Holmes Res Buehler
Will pick up saves on the waver wire.
Thank you for the great job you do.
Team looks solid, I love the pitching except I see zero RPs…the hitting looks fine, little lot on power…I don’t know what an Arander is either
Sorry, Aranda. Will possibly pick up some RP’s off the weekly waiver wire. Finished 2nd of 14 teams last year with no RP’s.
After a bit of agonizing over it, I ended up taking Tildaddy over Duran at pick 25 (!) of a 50-round draft and hold to pair with my first round Soto. Even with the news about Acuna “taking it easy on the basepaths” I’m feeling pretty good about the top two guys. Coming around the turn in the third I had to reach for Corange Juice after getting caught in a SS run (no way I was going to sweat out 20 picks to see if CJ made it back to me at 55 and risk getting caught with Adames/McLain/Volpe/Tovar at the 6), which actually makes me feel better? I considered Duran because of the health and the speed upside, but with Abrams on the roster, I think I’m in a good spot for bags.
Doubters abound for Ronald. Here’s hoping the buy-low pays off!
Hope so!
If you subtract 100% of acuna’s steals in 2023 he was a $47 player!
LFG!
One guy I like a little more than you I think is Bryson Stott. Played through injury all year last year. Was a $16 player in 23 going for $9. Love the contact. BB’s went up a tick last year. Sprint speed 90th percentile. Yeah there’s a lot of blue on the statcast page but he’s a bat to ball guy first. If he can put a little exit velo back with improved health should see the babip come up. just give him ’23 stats again. seems like the player he’ll be. Age 27 season pretty prime year gives a non-zero hope he has more in the tank.
I like him, he’s a team build guy tho
totes. need some speed from the 2b/mi. like his bat potential a touch more than oakland’s own nico hoerner.
Who is that? Gelof?
no stott. you have A’s on the brain
Haha, oh….I love the A’s now!
you were always an old school a’s guy
This is true
I went A’s Crazy in my first ever RCL draft yesterday. I took Rooker, Butler and Shea. I would have also taken Bleday but just couldn’t have so many from one team in a daily league with small bench. I took JH Lee instead as my OF4
Hey Grey, maybe I’m a dope but I just don’t get it regarding Cole. How do you (either) not know that you need TJ a year ago or decide to wait until now? Did he/they think rubbing Ben Gay on his elbow for a year would magically fix it?
Not only Cole but seems like every year some pitcher gets TJ during current spring training that they should have gotten a year ago.
Tanaka was the ruination for all pitchers who tried to rehab their elbows
Cole gets his medical advice from double arm amputee Giancarlo “Nubs” Stanton.
I heart Nubs 4 life
that’s right, I had the lasagna….
Oh crap
Thanks Grey……which side of the trade would you prefer: Mookie/ M. Harris or A.Riley/ K. Marte? Thanks
Riley
NL only 5×5 280 caps; 10 teams. Can keep up to 10. Would appreciate input, especially those with comments in parenthesis
Keeping:
Luis Garcia 5B
Edwards 5B
Suzuki 8F (extend? If so $13B. Leaning no extension)
Arraez 18F
Edman 13B
Wheeler 33B
T. Scott 5F
C. Sanchez 3F
The rest — pick up to two. Also comfortable going into auction with less than10.
Maneaa 5B (leaning to keep despite injury)
Bart 5B (intriguing, but competition for ABs)
Goodman 5B
Tinoco 3B (will keep if closer)
$13 seems fine for Seiya
Keep Manaea and Bart
Hey Grey
12 team H2H draft last night. Your opinion?
C Smith
1B Harper
2B Semien
3B Riley
SS Cruz
OF Soto
OF Suzuki
OF Doyle
UT Casas
UT Volpe
Bn Toglia
Bn Norby
SP Cease, Bryce Miller, Ranger, Eovaldi, Flaherty, Taj
RP Bautista, Estevez, Yates, Faucher, Holton
I love the pitching, it is excellent…I think your hitting is super strong too, can’t find much to argue with, I guess low on SBs but that doesn’t matter as much in H2H
Always a fun read sir. Question for everyone, Keeper League – Suzuki (rd3) and Strider (rd4) for Chourio (rd1)? Thx!
Why Suzuki such high rnd? I’d take Chourio if it’s my team.
Depleted pool of players due to keepers.
Thanks! Jackson
12 team, 5×5 roto.
Hey Grey! We had our draft last night. How did I do?
C- Wong
1B- Bellinger
2B- Hoerner
3B- Vientos
SS- Gunnar
OF- Carroll
OF- Rooker
OF- Oneil Cruz
UTIL- Doyle
BN- Burleson
BN- CES
SP- King, Gallen, Woo, Ranger, Taj
RP- Hoffman, Fairbanks, Justin Martinez, Uceta, Kinley
I like this team, I would go to battle with it…If I had to quibble, you likely didn’t need Hoerner after having Corbin and Doyle, so maybe too many SBs and low on power
Last week we were doing the happy dance. We had traded Adolis for Kirby in our 12 team 10 player keeper league.
We have the 8th pick
Not kept
Sale, Ryan, Steele, Hunter Brown and Sonny. Should we take one in the first round (really round 11) or go for the hitters that we need (guys like Rutchman, Burger, Vinnie P, and Nimmo are free)
By the way, we kept no other pitchers and have guys like Jazz, Caminero, Olson, Duran and Doyle
Thanks as usual
Ouch…Not like you want Adolis anyway tho…Take an SP in the 1st round, yes…I’m fine with any of them
12 Team 5×5 Keeper League with OBP
I have 2 keepers Mark Vientos & Jordan Westburg. I can keep one in the 18th round & one in the 12th round, my choice which goes where. I’ll lose 3 rounds every year I keep them. Should I maximize Vientos and put him at 18 (costing me a 15th the next year)?
Westburg in 18th
I took Aaron Judge in 1st rd of 15 team Roto. Who would you take with the 2nd pick out of Matt Olson, Manny Machado, Wyatt Langford, or Michael Harris with the idea of grabbing some speed with CJ Abrams or Cruz in the 3rd?
Olson or Machado then CJ works for me
If your auction budget drops from 300 in total to 260, does that significantly affect your draft strategy?
All auction prices on site are based on 260
True. Thanks!
No problem
Hey Grey, it’s me, Todd (Mike.).
I’m late to the action this year, so not as prepped as usual. I can keep three- here’s my order. Am I off?
Naylor, Crews, Ober…no idea who R. Suarez is, likely doesn’t matter tho
R. Suarez of Padre (for now) fame
i’m gonna live forever!
In unrelated news, I am going to learn how to fly
High?
it’s the only way to fly… all the way to footloose town and drop some moves on those suckas
Haha
I told Wilyer not to order the fugu!
He didn’t listen
Always eat the good fish. That’s just common sense.
He was eating fish from the Gulf Of Jordan Walker.
Lol
Haha
Thanks for the update! 12 team dynasty 5×5 was offered Joe Ryan for Jarren Duran…with out Duran I would roll with Chourio Heliot Ramos Garrett Mitchell…Jake McCarthy and Victor Scott also rostered thank you!
Hold. Not close.
Idk why you would even consider that…
Hold
Our next contestant on the Surgery’s Right is (drum roll please) Max Fried. His elbow is fried!
I don’t see any news on this, what’s the source?
I’m with Fungazi 2.0. He used all his pitches in the last ST appearance against what looks like Pirates OD lineup. Threw all his pitches for strikes, FB was sitting 96+. I think the Yankees knew more than your average bear when they signed him up.
Cheers,
Ante
pretty sure he’s being facetious
He’s their rock, don’t ya know
Hey Grey, wanted some quick thoughts on team I just drafted for my 12 team H2H league which uses OBP (no AVG), and K/9, QS, saves/holds as one category, and no losses. My own impressions is I can be slightly light on power.
C Moreno
1B Bellinger
2b Luis Garcia
3b Norby
SS Elly DLC
OF JuRod
OF Acuna
OF Langford
Utility Seiya
Utility Riley Greene
Bench: JJ Bleday, Garrett Mitchell
NA: Matt Shaw, Kristian Campbell
SPs: Ragans, Sasaki, Bibbee, Pfaadt, Bradford, Jobe, Bowden Francis
RPs: Jax, Puk, Cade Smith, Uceta, Jer Estrada
I will have two extra bench spots – should I use on extra RPs or backup 3b or 1b? Best available FA hitters seem to be Carlos Santana, Parker Meadows
Looks excellent! Not sure how you drafted such a good team tbh…Maybe a little light on power, but not bad…I’d grab RPs for now
Thanks, I had the 6th draft spot and this is a tough league. Some were critical of my Acuna pick of course and I considered someone like Rooker for power but figured it was not much of a risk if Acuna winds up stealing less with having Elly and Jurod in rounds before. Compared to past years in this league, I think I tried to take advantage of the SV/holds in one category and ignored the top closers who were taken early while I was adding offense and SPs. Thanks Grey
Gotcha…No problem
Drafted Kirby (7.2) in RazzSlam a few minutes before the news. This bodes ill for my free t-shirt collection!
I have yet to draft a pitcher through 12 rounds….pitcher is extremely deep even up to pick 300. Hitters are much harder to find….investing early picks in pitchers is playing Russian roulette
We have a guy in our Razzslam going into the 17th round without a SP or RP!
I got Booed when I took a pitcher in the 14th….
Ha, ouch
In a 8 team league with 9 offensive categories and 4 pitching the commissioner decided not to have a bench. Only D.L. Does this change draft strategy on picking SP.? since you won’t be steaming as much. What range should I grab my first Ace? I have pick #2. Most likely Witt. Thinking my 3rd pick should be an S.P. Or should I wait. Thanks in advance
If there are 9 hitting categories and only 4 pitching categories, that should outweigh the bench issue by a mile. I can’t imagine picking a pitcher until my lineup was mostly full. In an 8-teamer you will always have pitchers to stream
Why won’t you be streaming? There’s gonna be so many guys available if there’s no bench…I’d draft a starter around Ragans in value, so maybe 3rd to 4th pick
With only 40 starters drafted everyone staff should be loaded. Would have to cut my #4 or #5 pitcher. Making my staff weaker for E.RA. And whip. Not sure if having 5 studs or maybe stream 3-5 pitchers a week. Thanks as always.
No problem
FML, I drafted this team in a 12 team pts league. Could you please let me know your overall thoughts? I know with Bautista, there is a possibility he misses some time so I did snag some extra rp’s on the bench. Thank you sir!
Langliers
M. Olson
Ozzie
Jazz
B.Witt jr.
R. Hoskins (CI)
M.Winn (MI)
J.Adell
J.Dominguez
B.Doyle
J.McCarthy
J.Soler
J.Pena
M.King
F. Peralta
T.Glasnow
Z.Gallen
Eovaldi
Pfaadt
J.Irvin
F.Bautista
A.Munoz
Hitting looks decent, maybe a little low on AVG…Pitching seems risky and like it’s a much deeper league…how’s Jake Irvin get drafted?
Thank you for taking a look, its the first time I have drafted a team on Fantrax, prepping for RCL league. I grabbed Irvin with my last pick, lol. Thanks again, really appreciate the insight. I will work on my pitching.
No problem
Hey Grey! “JUST ONCE”… lol. You and Giancarlo will always have 2017 to remember.
I believe that is already referred to as the year of Rougned Odor.
He was something special too
Remember how he hit 2 HRs on Opening Day? We felt so smart.
What a day!
Jesus, I drafted RO in the second and Story in the 3rd and somehow still managed to finish second!
Drafted Cole in the 8th – he was pretty useless IIRC. Of course he was.
HAHAHA, wow is right
I miss 2017 Giancarlo
I miss Mike Stanton. So young and with two injury free muscle arms
He was the greatest, ugh
Great article Grey. Starting my 40th fantasy baseball season. Injuries get worse and worse. It’s like a minefield, and we didn’t even start yet! MLB is the new NBA. Have a great season.
Ha, yup…you too!
Are you like me, up in the wee hours past your bedtime and it’s even later now that the clock has sprung/sprang/Springed ahead an hour? I’m thinking about the book Blockade Billy by Stephen King. Spring training injuries and calamities opened up the door for young William “Billy” Blakely to get called up from the minors to become the starting catcher for the now-defunct New Jersey Titans. It’s a “feel good” story until it isn’t but the point is that where there is opportunity, there is hope. Maybe Luis Torrens fills in admirably for Francisco, maybe it’s Drake Baldwin’s time to shine? Ya never know. That’s why we love baseball. Go find those diamonds in the rough.
Haha, yes, exactly like that…Maybe Baldwin…Torrens is not good
Grey!!!!
Fantastic!!
a) Drafted Saturday (RCL#9). What do you think? War room doesn’t like it.
D. Baldwin (22, 257)
Casas (8, 89)
Matt Shaw (12, 137)
Suarez (11, 128)
Seager (3, 32)
Edwards (13, 152)
Mayo (23, 272)
Carroll (1, 8)
Jul-Rod (2, 17)
Dominguez (9, 104)
McCarthy (15, 176)
Frelick (19, 224)
Rooker (4, 41)
Bench Kristian Campbell (24, 281)
Sasaki (7, 80)
Snell (5, 56)
Miller (6, 65)
Bradford (21, 248)
Jobe (17, 200)
Francis (18, 209)
Uceta (20, 233)
Adam (14, 161)
Trevor Megill (16, 185)
Helsley (10, 113)
Warren (FA added)
IL Hall (25, 296), Garrett
NB Moved Hall to the IL, added Will Warren.
b) Rodney Dangerfield quote of the day for March 10, 2025
No respect, I saw my psychiatrist last week. I told I was having suicidal tendencies. He told me as of now I have to pay in advance.
Cheers, Ante
Hey Ante, looks like we’re in competition again this year. Hope life’s treating you well.
Is that Mason Miller or Bryce Miller in the 6th? With RCL setups I avoid drafting guys like Shaw and Campbell; I like the upside, but that isn’t really a league you can stash guys on your bench if they start out in the minors (I personally am constantly streaming guys from my bench spots almost every day)
Donslaightonslaught!
It’s Bryce.
Cheers,
Ante
Looks low on power and high on speed…JRod at 17th? Wow…That’s great…I don’t know about Frelick here, but I guess it’s a flyer until someone else better emerges…I love the pitching, wish you had better RPs, unless that Miller is Mason and not Bryce
Grey!!
Thanks a lot. Yeah, I don’t know power well in general. I love speed so there’s that. One fine day.
On Frelick, I’m hoping for something better than last year.
On Miller, sorry to disappoint you it’s Bryce. I plan on redeploying Uceta, Adam, Megill and Helsley FT and then pitching as it comes. Miller at home always, Snell after June 1 but maybe he’s good the whole year etc.
Cheers,
Ante
You’ll be competitive, lots of turnover in RCL, as you know