Go to a quiet, dark place and light a few candles (preferably scented). Cue up my theme music. Now close your eyes, listen to my intro in it’s entirety and visualize greatness. Then, and only then, may you open your curious eyes and continue on (make sure you go back and watch the video because it’s awesome). If you lack the heart of a champion, I strongly recommend you either 1) refrain from reading further, or in my opinion the better option 2) play my theme music on at full volume,on repeat, until you’ve built up the testicular fortitude to withstand any obstacle on your way to glory.
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Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2013 (10) | 2012 (19) | 2011 (13) | 2010 (6) | 2009 (22)
2013 Affiliate Records
MLB: [66-96] AL Central
AAA: [77-67] International League – Rochester
AA: [66-76] Eastern League — New Britain
A+: [79-56] Florida State League – Fort Myers
A: [88-50] Midwest League – Cedar Rapids
Graduated Prospects
Oswaldo Arcia (OF); Aaron Hicks (OF); Chris Colabello (1B/OF); Chris Herrmann (C/OF); Ryan Pressly (RHP); Andrew Albers (LHP); Pedro Hernandez (LHP); Kyle Gibson (RHP)
The Run Down
With regard to fantasy impact on the farm, the Twins are right there with the Cubs at the top of the league. And, narrowing our scope a bit, no team in baseball can boast a better one-two prospect punch than what Minnesota has with Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. But try not to distract yourself too much with the shiny, hyped-up names at the top of this list, because this org is loaded with talent from top to bottom. The top ten we have here don’t even tell the whole story — we’ll have to let the steady flow of homegrown talent speak for itself over these next few seasons.
There’s different levels of sleepers. Some sleepers are great for 10-team mixed leagues and others are bargains late in, say, a 10-team AL-Only league. Some sleepers never wake up. Todd Frazier, it’s June 11th, c’mon, man, you’re gonna be late for the season! With the Indians fielding more outfielders than fro-yo shops in the Fro-Yo Jungle of So-Cal, Michael Brantley won’t play every day. He’ll come close, but I know in shallower leagues, you’re gonna get sick of moving him in and out of your lineup for when the Indians face lefties. For those in shallower leagues, skip ahead to the comments and compliment me on my manscaping. If you’re here for a deep league special, Brantley just had a career year, hitting 10 homers, .284 and stealing 17 bases. If that were his peak, I wouldn’t be piqued — turn of a phrase point! If that were his apex, I’d be looking for the apexit — can I make it three?! If that were his pinnacle, I wouldn’t be a cyclops with a monocle. Okay, now I’m just rhyming shizz. So, what can we expect from Michael Brantley for 2014 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Looking for a great fantasy baseball draft kit to help you draft your fantasy baseball team in 2014? Good, because otherwise you are the worst web surfer in the world. (Did I search for fantasy baseball rankings? Damn, I meant chicken cordon bleu recipe.)
Just like last year, the 2014 Razzball Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit is free. MAYBE there are better fantasy baseball draft kits out there for $ (I don’t know, I don’t pay for ’em) but I can guarantee none of them are #DIV/0! times better.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Welcome to another season of the Razzball Commentator Leagues! After typing that, I now know why we abbreviate that shiitake mushroom. I’m out of breath and burned 89 calories just from typing that out, and that doesn’t even include trying to figure how I spelled ‘Commentator’ wrong. Apparently I added three m’s too many. So many m’s and no M&M’s! Such is life, amiright? Not really, because that makes no sense whatsoever. Anyhow, let’s get to your first question. No, I’m not VinWins. I’m not even VinLoses. Who, interesting story, is actually the cousin of Vin’s mother’s brother’s second cousin’s friend of a friend. TOO INTERESTING. Regardless, I’m Jay, and I’m here to narrate the most important fantasy story out there this season, and that is the story of YOUR 2014 RCL…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hey, I’m outside of a mall in my home state, New Jersey, and I’m carrying a long microphone that I got from a garage sale. The microphone was supposedly used by Curt Gowdy in the 70’s. I’m out here today, while being filmed like it’s a bad 1980’s commercial, because I want to ask people what they think of Jacoby Ellsbury for this year. “Do you think Jacoby Ellsbury can stay healthy?” “What the f**k did you just say to me?” “Was wondering if you thought Jacoby Ellsbury could hit 25-plus homers again with the short porch?” “How about you get on a short bus, f**k nuts?” “Can Jacoby Ellsbury steal 50-plus bases?” “Go f**k yourself.” There you have it! The people of New Jersey have spoken. Yeah, Jacoby Ellsbury has had seasons of illustrious glory. Capable of 30 homers? He did that. Capable of 70 steals? And you know that. Has dreadful seasons? *looks slowly right, looks slowly left, tiptoes out of the room* Anyway, why is Jacoby Ellsbury overrated for 2014 fantasy baseball?
Please, blog, may I have some more?[Pssst! Keep it down but this isn’t even an editor’s note. I’m interrupting myself. Or at least one of myselves. Wanna play Fantasy Baseball with all these goons you see in the comments? Well Go be a Commissioner. We can’t promise your safety but we can promise you’ll have fun. We all know dangerous = fun. That’s why all the bad boys get the hot chicks. So go commish, you wild animal you.]
Sing it with me! Villar, Villar…the speed of the Astros! Ok, maybe we shouldn’t call it singing. More like gravel-throated barfing on the mic. Thank your deity of choice for delay, compression and a poop-ton of reverb or you’d never get to hear the inner-workings of great minds like Fred Durst who has done it all for the nookie and put cookies in places we never would’ve imagined. Speaking of putting cookies in places that would surprise you…uh…Jonathan Villar is a cookie. Yeah, that’s it! A chocolate chip, macadamia nut infused, tasty morsel that is tucked away because he plays on an Astros team that has more nicknames about how bad it is – AAAstros, LAstros, ‘You can’t say Astros without saying ass’ Astros, etc – than it does different jersey types. And yes, before we move on, I do look familiar. Or maybe unfamiliar depending on who you are. I’m one of those guys on the Fantasy Football side of the Razzball universe. That little link takes you to a world where you get to see my grainy face more than maybe you’d ever want to but it’s there either way, gratis. Heck everything on this site is free, of course…except the awkward hugs that last too long. Wordpress, how many words am I at? Over 200 you say? Right, then lets get on with it. Here’s why I like Villar in deep league settings for the 2014 Fantasy Baseball season…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Grey threw this knuckleball: “I have an idea for someone who wants extra credit on their Razzball exam. Put together, next year, a team of 27-year-olds. My guess is if you don’t research anything else and only draft 27-year-olds, you’ll have a leg up on the competition.”
Fun, yes! A ‘leg up’…on the pool of ALL other ages? Is he serious or just having fun with us? I’ll play along… cull all those ‘lucky-year’ studs.
Please, blog, may I have some more?In the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball post January Grey mentions that there will need to be an overrated post for Matt Carpenter written at some point. Way to pass the buck, bucko! Well, two can play that game, Morris Chestnut, so I’m going to copy some of the shizz January Grey spewed at ya and vomit it right back, “Last year, Carpenter scored 126 runs. That’s the third highest runs total since 2008. To give you an idea of what the guys who beat him did the following season: Granderson scored 136 runs in 2011 and 102 the following year and Trout scored 129 in 2012 and 109 last year. No one scores 120 runs in back-to-back years without a crapton of steroids. Do I smell an overrated post coming for Carpenter? I can’t smell due to a build up of cerumen that’s made its way into my nasal passages, but it sounds about right. (BTW, the Wikipedia picture for cerumen is so nasty. Don’t look, seriously. And now that just made you want to look. Suckers!)” And that’s me quoting January Grey! So, what makes Matt Carpenter overrated for 2014 fantasy baseball?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2013 (11) | 2012 (6) | 2011 (5) | 2010 (22) | 2009 (15)
2013 Affiliate Records
MLB: [85-77] AL East
AAA: [68-76] International League – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
AA: [74-67] Eastern League – Trenton
A+: [58-78] Florida State League – Tampa
A: [75-63] South Atlantic League – Charleston
A(ss): [34-41] New York-Penn League — Staten Island
Graduated Prospects
David Adams (INF); Austsin Romine (C); Adam Warren (RHP); Preston Claiborne (RHP)
The Run Down
With a big league roster that’s seemingly always loaded with big money assets at every position, the Yankees don’t have a lot of room for homegrown prospects to arrive and make impacts, and it’s important to keep that in mind when scouring this farm system for future fantasy pieces. Not to suggest that there isn’t value to be had here — prospects like Gary Sanchez and Eric Jagielo are must-owns in dynasty leagues — but historically, the Yankees are more inclined to address needs through spending on the free agent market, rather than exploring the cost-controlled options from their farm. It’s a baseball ops model that’s worked out well for New York over the past 15 years — there’s no arguing that. In 2014, though, the Yankees look frighteningly old and in desperate need of some youth in their lineup.
We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2014 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2014 Reds Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Wick Terrell from Red Reporter.
Please, blog, may I have some more?“YOGI”
When he was in his late teens, Lawrence Berra, or Lawdie, as he was called by his friends and family, went to the movies, and saw a film with an Indian fakir and a yogi; his friends thought that he was the spitting image of the yogi. The nickname caught on immediately.
Please, blog, may I have some more?