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One Man’s Trash: Am I A Believer In Christian?

February 23, 2023 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, One Man's Trash | 14 Comments

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Life is all about utility. But one person’s concept of utility is different from another’s. Someone with tons of disposable income may view having a Ferrari as useful because it makes them feel better. Another who is living paycheck to paycheck may view that as silly. It very well may be, but it doesn’t matter because it serves a purpose for the owner. Religion is a hot bed topic that can spoil the most tastiest of dinners. What ever side of the debate you are on, though, it doesn’t matter because religion is a personal experience that provides utility for that particular person. The same goes for fantasy baseball. We all have different perspectives and values on players and go about roster construction in unique ways. One man’s trash could very well be another’s treasure. Which brings me to Christian Arroyo. Who? Yeah, this is not going to be a sexy piece, although most of these aren’t, but whatever. I leave those for the real writers on the baseball side. Arroyo is being drafted as the 490th overall player in NFBC drafts from February so he won’t be an option for standard leagues, but could he have utility in deeper formats?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Sun 8/3
ARI | ATH | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | ATL | CIN | OAK
Grey

Sandy Alcantara, 2023 Fantasy Schmohawk

February 23, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated, Featured | 78 Comments

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[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1236251″ player=”13959″ title=”2023%20Razzball%20Draft%20Kit%20%20Busts” duration=”237″ description=”Top 5 Busts for 2023 Fantasy Baseball00:16 Michael Harris II00:58 Sandy Alcantara1:31 Josh Hader1:59 Zack Wheeler2:26 Adley Rutschman” uploaddate=”2023-02-06″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/snapshot/1236251_th_1675673583.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/1236251.mp4″ width=”480″ height=”270″]

Usually only bestow on you one pitching schmohawk. Like a genie giving one wish, and you’re like, “Yo, genie, it’s pretty standard to give three,” and the genie’s like, “Sorry, inflation.” As they say at opposite world’s Wetzel’s, don’t get it twisted, I could drop on you numerous schmohawk posts about pitchers, but can I just point you to my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and, specifically, my top 20 starters for 2023 fantasy baseball and say look there for the pitchers I don’t like. Also, I won’t give you a closer schmohawk post either, because they’re mostly just SAGNOF, and I won’t draft a closer in the top 100ish. Not really schmohawk’ing to say Emmanuel Clase is overrated. I mean, he is, but not because he won’t be good. He can be good and still be overrated. On the most basic level: A five-category guy vs. a closer? Is that even close? No, it’s not. In one league, I drafted Oneil Cruz the pick after Ryan Pressly. Oneil Cruz who’s going to go 40/40 vs. Pressly who will give you 32 saves. Mmkay. That brings me to Sandy Alcantara, who can also be good just not good enough to be the fourth best starter off the board or to be drafted before pick 30 overall. Sandy Alcantara is one of those where I told you to draft him last year, and prolly would again this year, if he were going around where he was last year. Going back to my Pulitzer Prize-winning theory that every player has a career ADP, and thinking about how Sandy Alcantara went from pick 85 last year to 29 this year. What is his career ADP? Splitting the difference between 80 and 40 is likely the answer, but it’s definitely not 29 for reasons I will get to on the other side of the “anyway.” Anyway, what can we expect from Sandy Alcantara for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him overrated?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Top 50 Prospects For 2023 Fantasy Baseball: Spring Training Snapshot

February 22, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 26 Comments

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Here’s a link to the Top 25. 

That top 25 blends in pretty well with what you’ll see elsewhere, and so this group, mostly, but from here forward, my lists tend to be tilted toward near-term fantasy functionality, for what it’s Wuertz. 

I value the grind of the climb. Each level brings new separators, so guys like Maikel Garcia and Joey Ortiz have shown more, in my opinion, than a guy like Jackson Merrill. Nothing against Merrill or anyone in the lower minors. They’ll have their day. I just don’t see much value in jumping headlong on to Tom Smykowksi’s Conclusions Mat when we’ve got so many great prospects on the cusp who’ve earned their keep. If I get three seasons of useful stats out of a player before a higher-ranked teeny-bopper even gets started, that matters to me. I suppose you could cut it up differently for a rebuilding project, but I wouldn’t change much.

26. Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee | 24 | AA | 2023

Bibee’s currently my favorite of Cleveland’s pitching prospects for dynasty purposes in terms of cost v. value. That’s probably changing as I type, but for now it’s still cheap enough to at least ask about Bibee in your leagues. He’s coming off 73.2 innings in Double-A with a 0.88 WHIP. He allowed just four home runs there and wound up with a 1.83 ERA. He’s good enough to the naked eye that I think he’ll make waves this spring. His 122.2 innings pitched last year sets him up perfectly to step in whenever the Guardians need help. At 6’2” 205 lb, Bibee can sit comfortably in the mid-90’s deep into games and has that Cleveland specialty skill of commanding his off-speed pitches. In case you can’t tell from the blurb, I want him everywhere I can get him. You could more or less say that for every Cleveland pitcher, which I try to remind myself any time I’m making moves or building lists.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Daulton Varsho, 2023 Fantasy Schmohawk

February 22, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated, Featured | 93 Comments

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This one feels too easy. Usually I don’t tell you a catcher is overrated because, well, they’re catchers. It kinda goes with the territory. I’m giving myself a pass this year to call Daulton Varsho overrated because he has outfield eligibility. That outfield eligibility is actually what’s going to make it super easy to prove how overrated he is. We’re gonna compare him to other outfielders! Taking me out of the equation at first because you know I bring fire, but others have smoke. On our 12-team Player Rater, Daulton Varsho is currently ranked 120th overall, right next to Steven Kwan, who might be as valuable, but is a tough comp, because they’re not at all similar. Another outfielder near Daulton Varsho is Nick Castellanos, and further down the road is Ramon Laureano, who might be the best comp, so let’s try him on for size. Daulton Varsho is a 27/16/.235 hitter. You can debate the projections, but that’s what he just did. Ramons Laureano went 24/13/.288. Wait, that’s much better…Hold on! Sorry, that’s what Laureano did earlier in his career. Yeah, no way he does that again (there is a way, but let’s continue). Ramon Laureano’s projections are 21/20/.233. So, push on average; four more steals and six less homers. Hmm, well, they must be going close to each other in drafts, right? Hold on! They’re not? Geez, these surprises are a lot for my heart. Daulton Varsho is going around 39th overall and Laureano is going around 208th? Oh, wow. Hmm, that seems like a big difference. “Okay, but Daulton Varsho has catcher eligibility!” You scream at yourself in the mirror, as tears roll down your cheeks. Right, gotcha, there, there, buddy. He sure does. Let’s see that Player Rater again. Oh, boy, Varsho is ranked ahead of Will Smith and Alejandro Kirk! Damn, point made. They are respectively ranked 125th and 128th. Wow, big difference there. Kirk aka Bart Harley Jarvis is worth $11.60 and Varsho is worth $12.3. A full seventy cents of difference. They must be really close in ADP, huh? Kirk is sixty spots after Varsho? Hmm, that doesn’t seem very close. So, I guess besides all of that, why is Daulton Varsho overrated for 2023 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Michael Harris II, 2023 Fantasy Schmohawk

February 21, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated, Featured | 96 Comments

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[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1236251″ player=”13959″ title=”2023%20Razzball%20Draft%20Kit%20%20Busts” duration=”237″ description=”Top 5 Busts for 2023 Fantasy Baseball00:16 Michael Harris II00:58 Sandy Alcantara1:31 Josh Hader1:59 Zack Wheeler2:26 Adley Rutschman” uploaddate=”2023-02-06″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/snapshot/1236251_th_1675673583.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/1236251.mp4″ width=”480″ height=”270″]

This sucks. I suck for sucking this sucks so bad. I didn’t want to write about how Michael Harris II is overrated. He’s fun. Capital F. Going to the Capital Grill and ordering “Fun,” that’s Michael Harris II! Instead, I’m taking that F and teaming it with me for the ol’ patented “F me,” and that’s not me abbreviating Fame. RIP Irene Cara. Talk about real life events ruining a song. “Ooh, pump up the volume!” Singing along, “Fame! I want to live forever…Crap.” I now change “want to” to “ain’t gonna” when that song comes on the radio. From a rousing anthem for me to do calisthenics into a sob-fest. Any hoo! It wasn’t just I didn’t want to be a spoil-sport with Michael Harris II. It’s not just because I hadn’t seen the first Michael Harris, so I can’t appreciate this one. It’s all those pesky underlying numbers that scream at me every time I look at him. If he were going around Jake McCarthy’s spot in drafts, I likely would’ve wrote a sleeper post for Michael Harris II. Since he’s going as high as 12th overall in some leagues, I’m writing that he’s overrated. It sucks, and I be sucking. So, what can we expect from Michael Harris II and what makes him overrated?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
everywhereblair

The Book of Wright On: 2023 Preseason Pitcher Updates

February 20, 2023 | Top 100 Starting Pitchers | 9 Comments

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Revealing one’s pitcher rankings is a vulnerable moment, much like walking out to the beach and showing all of your friends what you really look like when you’re not wearing three layers of hoodies over your Pokemon onesie. Last week, I debuted my 2023 draft rankings, and despite my placement of Brady Singer in the Top 15, I had more questions about Kyle Wright. What the audience wants, I deliver! So let’s wander down to the ocean’s edge, get a little campfire going, and see how the fireballers in the MLB are faring so far. I’ve got the rum if you’ve got the tin cup!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
malamoney

Points Leagues: Akil Baddoodie

February 20, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues, Points Leagues | 9 Comments

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Well alright, alright, alright. That’s what I love about these Razzball readers, man. I get older and they stay the same age. Wait, that can’t be true. Either way, you are still here and I appreciate it. Without your support, my pants would fall down. I pretty much just turned you into suspenders. The part […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Bobby Witt Jr., 2023 Fantasy Schmohawk

February 20, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated, Featured | 79 Comments

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This year I’m taking no prisoners with my fantasy baseball overrated posts! No prisoners, baby! I’m a work release program, baby! Wait, that doesn’t sound as intimidating. I’m parole, baby! Meh, that’s not great either. I’m something that takes no prisoners. Sorry, I can’t think of any examples because I was born and bred in […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?