As history tells us, Vlad the Impaler was quite the refined Wallachian (the more you know) gentlemen, a national hero of Romania, and was also portrayed by Leslie Nielson in the documentary “Dracula, Dead and Loving It!” Okay, so it wasn’t a completely accurate historical piece, except for the many enemas (hmmmm), but who’s to say anything else about good ole Vlad is true or not? And before we go off the deep end (aka Wiki rabbit-hole), I think it’s better to get the obvious title tie-in with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., aka Vlad the II, and Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad the III, and now I’ve realized this is all way too much work. Just know this! Vlad the II, the one playing baseball right now, we need to talk about him. That’s it, that’s my intro. God this season feels so long…
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Top 25 Fantasy Second Basemen for 2021 – Week 21
August 22, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball, Rest of Season Rankings, Second Basemen | 4 Commentsby: Jakkers
In many fantasy baseball leagues, the season is winding down. The difference between making the playoffs and sitting on the sideline is going to be between which players are hot and which players are not.
As I have been doing the past month with the second baseman and shortstop rankings, I am going to highlight the players you may have a chance of adding from the waiver wire. We all know Marcus Semien and Ozzie Albies are awesome. Chris Taylor, Max Muncy, and Jose Altuve are all having great seasons as well. But we all that, and all five of those players aren’t sitting around on the waiver wire.
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We went with a weird strategy last week, and it worked pretty well. There’s obviously going to be some stinkers when you throw out 20 guys, but it’s a strategy that I’m going to continue to use if the situation arises. It was simply a week with too many choices, but we’re back to normal here. What’s crazy is that we have only six weeks remaining in the fantasy season, and it makes streamers as important as ever. That has me motivated to hook you guys up with some gems, so let’s get into it!
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When I first glanced at today’s slate I went straight to the Red Sox to start cherry-picking. Then I checked the weather and with a 22 mph wind blowing in and a good chance of rain, tossed that plan out the window. Now it has been postponed. But before we go any further let’s talk about pitching options. Vladimir Gutierrez, $8700 going against the Marlins is my #1 choice. In his last 5 games, 31.7 innings with 28k’s and 1.99 ERA, 1.17 WHIP. Let’s get into the rest of the day’s plays.
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Graduated from our last list: Jarren Duran, Vidal Bruján, Jarred Kelenic, Jo Adell, Cal Raleigh, Curtis Terry, Jake Meyers, Jose Barrera, Reid Detmers, Kevin Smith, Daulton Jefferies, Hoy Jun Park, Drew Ellis, Bryan De La Cruz, Rodolfo Castro
We’re reaching the now-or-never point for prospects to become rookies that help us (and their organizations) in the standings. We might see a rush of promotions in the final week of August and first few days of September. We also might not. We saw a lot of late promotions last year, but we had an expanded playoff pool and a lot more contenders at the time. With a small set of teams trying to win and a blank CBA for 2022 and beyond, we might see precious few prospect promotions of these waning summer days. I’ve been avoiding the last stash list for exactly that reason, but I recently realized I was being foolish. The future is unknowable, and the value of the stash list stretches beyond the short term. It’s always good future work to be lining up the prospects for right-now impact, even if that “right-now” doesn’t happen until 2022.
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Collin All Angels: The Rebirth of Collin McHugh
August 21, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 9 Commentsby: Coolwhip
Hey sports fans, I’m back this week with my first deep dive in a hot minute. Sometimes life can get a bit overwhelming yeah? You gotta take a deep breath and lean into your support system. Things have stabilized a bit now, and here we are… and here I am. Life, love, and baseball. 3 things that get me stoked. Baseball really is a magical thing.
One thing I always love to see: the archetype of the phoenix rising from the ashes. The reinvention. Somebody comes back with a new wrinkle, new process… maybe just a new perspective that changes the game for them in a positive way. Could be a guy that was formerly on top or someone that never was. Maybe because it says something about the “resilience of the human spirit.” Yes, it’s just baseball, but sport is a microcosm of the human condition (see my connection?). Either way, I love it. And what I love most about writing and talking about baseball, is the players’ stories. I love storytelling and a well-told story.
Enter one Collin McHugh, stage right.
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Points Leagues: Pitcher Projections for the Final Push
August 21, 2021 | Points Leagues | 4 Commentsby: Butters
We’re in the endgame of the fantasy season at this point so it’s time to get your roster dialed and ready. Let’s get down to business and check in on the pitcher projections for the rest of the season in points leagues. Points were calculated based on the criteria below and taken from the Steamer/Razzball Rest of season projections, same as in previous versions of this list.
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Hitter Profiles: Reinforcements Coming
August 21, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Hitters | 8 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
September is fast approaching and with it comes the opportunity to expand rosters. Unlike the days of yesteryear, rosters will be expanding to 28 players from the current 26 player setup. With the increase comes the opportunity to call up some young talent and for us in the fantasy world to catch lightning in a bottle. In today’s hitter profiles, we look at a handful of hitters that may make an impact if called up. With the unpredictability of our game and the management of many major league rosters, will these reinforcements arrive in time to save your season?
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Eduardo? More like, Eduar…dough, amirite? No one? Alright, I understand, Eduardo Rodriguez ($9,800) has been far from money this season but that 3.34 FIP and that 11.3 K/9 just keep drawing me in and suggest we should see a really strong finish for Eddie. That strong finish started three starts ago, since that game it’s been 16.1 IP, 2 ER, and 24 strikeouts. Yum. Tonight, it’s the Texas Rangers coming to town with their league-worst .657 team OPS. Double yum. The only thing that can stop Eddie from a money performance is if Hurricane Henri decides to speed up and land before Sunday. As of right now, this game should play without any issue and I’m looking to cash in.
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Cortes Conquers Twin Cities
August 21, 2021 | August's Daily Notes, Daily Notes | 26 Commentsby: Dan Pants
Victoria sobre las Aztecas! Yup, that was 100% a Hernando reference for all my conquistador aficionados out there. It’s not so much that I like Hernan Cortes as I just really hate Aztecs, but let me tell you about a Cortes I do really like. Nestor Cortes lead the New York Yankees to their eighth straight win Friday night pitching seven strong innings, allowing just six base runners, and striking out seven for his second win in a row. He’s also struck out seven in back-to-back starts. Nasty Nestor has been somewhat of a savior for the depleted Yankees pitching rotation and in five starts since the end of July, he’s allowed just 10 runs in 28.2 IP (3.19 ERA) with a 26/5 K/BB in that stretch. Must I mention the Jankees are 19-5 since Cortes joined the rotation, and they’ve only lost one of his starts? What about his 2.56 ERA that leads all Yankees starters? That 1.07 WHIP and 60/16 K/BB aren’t too shabby either. He doesn’t have Cole’s fastball or Taillon’s repertoire, but he’s managed to find success by switching up the speeds and styles with which he throws and has kept hitters guessing with his quirky delivery. Whether it’s a rando leg kick or a toe tap, a back show or a quick pitch, no two deliveries seem exactly alike, and that has resulted in confusing the heck out of batters. Unfortunately but fortunately, the NYC City Yankees are about to get real healthy, real quick. With Gerrit Cole already back, and Jordan Montgomery and Domingo German also set to return soon it remains to be seen if the 26-year old will stick in the rotation, but there’s no doubt Cortes has been an anchor when this staff needed him most. Imagine they go with Andrew Heaney (5.51 ERA) over this kid? SMH. Let’s hope not, as Nestor’s been so solid and the Yankees haven’t stopped winning. Cortes would line up for a favorable match-up in Oakland next weekend and he’s worth a speculative add in case he sticks. And I’m not just saying that because he takes the subway home after games all while rocking that amazing Mario mustache. Nasty Nestor conquers all!
Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
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Ambulance Chasers: Two Aces Down
August 21, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 16 Commentsby: everywhereblair
So in that great chatroom of life that we call Twotter (maybe you call it something else), we learn from the greats. I mean, Grey’s there. Rudy’s there. I’m there. Sometimes other people say things too, but I have all of them on mute so I don’t really see anything other than videos of anime Grey talking to shirtless dudes all the time. Every once in a while Donkey Teeth shows up and makes us work. I do the research, I do the discoveries, I make the findings. Or, I steal other people’s findings because they’re shocking and really illustrate better than I could ever do with my droning. Don’t believe me? Check out this awesome graph from Derek Rhoads of Baseball Prospectus that tells us the severity of the injured list we’re dealing with right now:
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Miranda Has The Right To Remain Buylent
August 20, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 232 Commentsby: Grey
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Jose Miranda as played by Cynthia Nixon in her most challenging role yet: Minnesota Twins prospect. The sun sets through the West Village window, as clickety-clack from Carrie’s word processor is heard. She reads the words out loud as they make their way onto her 64-bit screen, “Miranda wasn’t going to come, so to speak, up for the Twins until they were good and ready. With Josh out of the picture–Is Josh out of the picture?–Gosh, Miranda really needs to find a new position, so to speak, to play in. Maybe Miranda can get in, so to speak, some time at 2nd base, like Samantha after five minutes knowing a guy.” And that’s me quoting Carrie Bradshaw! Jose Miranda has no speed, but his bat is more than ready, and it is explosive. Possesses the usual Twins’ tendencies — Twindencies? — he doesn’t strike out at all and doesn’t walk a ton. Are the Twins developing prospects or just cloning a Luis Arraez who was dipped in amber? Developing, because Miranda actually has power, unlike most Twins prospects. As Prospect Itch said recently, “Minnesota has demonstrated an appreciation for precisely this sort of profile, and Miranda is a better all-around hitter than some of the other guys they’ve hidden the past few years (Astudillo, Sano, Rooker). And much better than Grey, who sucks.” Okay, that’s hurtful. I’m stashing Miranda now. “I know just the slot for him,” says Samantha as Miranda groans. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
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