There’s a fair chance that a bunch of you readers out there are sitting upon a dragon’s horde-sized pile of gold right now after the GameStop madness of the last week. So, in the spirit of taking something that people don’t consider valuable and hyping it to the moon, I’m bringing you my latest Deal or No Deal article on yet ANOTHER Seattle Mariners pitcher. Wait! Don’t unfollow us! Remember the good times when Randy Johnson and F-Her were your Mariners stars? Take that level of excitement and then tamp it down to “medium reggae” while you get ready to draft your star pitcher at pick 150: Marco Gonzales.
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Not usually my style, but we’re taking a break from the 2021 fantasy baseball rankings for a day because of the big trade between the Rockies and Cardinals (and a shizzton of other moves). All the 2021 fantasy baseball rankings, including pitchers, are already up on our Patreon.
So, the Rockies are trying to lose, and they’re a stupid franchise. That is a bad combination. Like burning down your house for insurance money after letting your insurance lapse. The Rockies gave away their marquee player and $50 million. If this is a rebuild, and Austin Gomber is the start of–I’m sorry. I can’t even say Austin Gomber with a straight face. The Cards got Arenado for a Gomber pile of garbage. Bud Black is actually the perfect imbecile to run that team. So, on Arenado’s fantasy value, well…*swallows*…okay, so…*collects thoughts* Yeah, I moved him down in my rankings.
Arenado was traded to the Cards, and I can’t possibly tell you he’s as safe to draft in St. Louis. I don’t think the park change is as dramatic as some are making it out to be. I don’t think he’s suddenly done. I know his road/away splits, but as said many times before, guys are better at home. Even guys who aren’t in Coors. You’re staying at home, you’re surrounded by family and friends, you’re seeing your wife–Wait, are these reasons to enjoy being at home? Right, yes, I kid! Home numbers are always better. Familiarity with the park, just being more comfortable. It’s always like this; there’s stats to back it up, don’t make me pull them out. So, Arenado might not have been great on the road when he played in Coors, but you can’t just say his new home numbers will be his old road numbers. Doesn’t work like that. Trying to see the difference between him and, say, Jose Abreu, though, has become nearly impossible and Abreu isn’t a top 20 overall pick, and neither is Arenado now. I moved Rafael Devers up to the top 20 for 2021 fantasy baseball; Arenado dropped about ten overall spots (but only one spot in the top 20 3rd basemen), and I lowered his projections a bit. His new projections: 88/32/106/.279/1 in 592 ABs.
For what it’s Wuertz, here’s out Steamer projections pre-trade: 103/35/103/.286, 4th best 3B, ~20th overall. Here’s him post-trade: 86/29/85/.256; 8th-10th 3B, ~110TH overall. Um, that’s kinda gross. And, to add fire to the inferno whooshing around the Torenado, look at projections of Austin Riley vs. Nolan Arenado:
Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason for fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Let me set the scene: it’s March 2020. Grey’s mustache is neat and trimmed, and he’s been wearing his sun hat 24/7. “At least take the hat off when you shower,” Cougs says, and Grey looks longingly out at the ocean. “The sea is the only shower I need!” he says, with dreams of visits to sushi restaurants dancing through his head. Justin Verlander is a top 10 pitcher. Steven Strasburg is healthy. Marcus Stroman is ready to pitch for the Mets. Nolan Arenado is playing for the Rockies. Nobody has heard of Randy Arozarena or him kidnapping anybody…just Miguel Sano kidnapping people.
10 months later, and Grey still hasn’t taken that sun hat off. “It’s like a mask for my brain,” he says, holding a can of Lysol at his side. Grey loads up his 2021 rankings and hoses his laptop screen down with Lysol. “GET RID OF THE BAD TAKES!” he shouts, pointing at German Marquez. But as he loads the site, he sees something so wonderful, he puts the Lysol down on his desk next to the Bartolo Colon bobblehead. He takes his sun hat off for the first time in a year, clutching it to his chest, tears streaming down his eyes. “It’s beautiful!” he says. “It’s RazzSlam SZN. There’s hope for 2021!” he shouts, only to be interrupted by his Twitter alarm alerting of another EverywhereBlair hype piece about a Seattle Mariners pitcher.
Please, blog, may I have some more?For a couple nights this week, I drafted prospects with prospectors. Or against prospectors? Both, I suppose. Appreciated the invite from Scott White at CBS, who allowed me to come back and defend my crown from last year’s prospect mocks. That’s a joke. Not a funny one, sorry to say. Nobody wins a mock draft, let alone a prospect mock.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The outfield is a special place on the ballfield. Open grasses, the last line of defense to the long ball and nobody to hear the inevitable self-scolding when something does not go as planned. Not only is it a special place, but over the years it has allowed us the opportunity to witness immensely talented defensive wizards such as Nelson Cruz, Kyle Schwarber, Matt Adams and even Jose Canseco (who had Canseco on the Razzball bingo board?).
Position scarcity is not what it once was, but outfield is still a rather deep position at the draft table. Today I profile 3 players you have specifically requested, and all are coming off strong showings in the unique 2020 season. Let us look and see if we have any diamonds in that rough outfield grass for the 2021 fantasy baseball season.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Whew! What a week. Stocks wise. Baseball wise. NOLAN ARENADO WISE!!!!!!!! (Cards fan here, remember?)
Lots and lots and lots to go over this time around. The 2021 season is almost upon us and teams are scooping up names left and right. Trading names left and right. Whew, indeed!
Here’s what stood out to me lately:
Please, blog, may I have some more?“Jiggy” is a term meaning to be cool and trendy. It’s often associated with a style of dress, and in the context of this song means dancing effectively and also making a name for yourself. It also became a term for sex.
According to the website Songfact, this is the meaning behind Will Smith’s 1997 smash hit “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It.” I hope this isn’t true because that means I’m one of the least “jiggy” people around, as I was never cool and I could never dance effectively. While Songfact’s statement may or may not be accurate, I do know that Will Smith and his album Big Willie Style played a huge role in my life. See, I grew up in a VERY religious household and profanity was absolutely not tolerated. I couldn’t listen to music or watch movies with profanity in them and God f***** forbid a curse word slipped out of my mouth. So anything that could help me fit in with my peers that didn’t also make me feel like I was going to spend an eternity in hell was really welcome in my life. Enter Will Smith. He was hip, popular, and most importantly, he didn’t use profanity in his songs. He was also the star of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which was one of the few TV shows that my Mom approved of. Will Smith was my connection to pop culture in the 90’s but there’s a new fresh prince in LA who fantasy drafters are hoping will connect them with a championship in 2021.
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The top 60 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball are roughly around the top 150th overall to about the 225th overall mark. That’s in your late third outfielder to early fourth outfielder range, or very early fifth outfielder and did you even draft any other position? You might be doing this all wrong. Here’s Steamer’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. All projections included here are mine, and where I see tiers starting and stopping are included. Anyway, here’s the top 60 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Baseball is in good hands. Look no further than Grey’s top 10 for 2021 fantasy baseball, where you can witness the likes of Ronald Acuna Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Mookie Betts ranked ahead of the greatest player of our time, Randy Arozarena. Just kidding, I really do mean Mike Trout. Venture further into the top 20 and you’ll find Christian Yelich (No. 11), Bo Bichette (No. 12), Nolan Arenado (No. 16) and Luis Robert (No. 20). Side note: what a steal Yelich is going to be in 2021, amiright? But the point I’m trying to get to (and I really am trying), is that right now in baseball we have a beautiful mixture of established veterans performing at high levels (dare I say their prime?) at the forefront of the game and a deep group of emerging young players quickly breaking through into the top 20 talents in all of baseball. The sport, as a whole, is in tremendous hands and the picture only improves when one looks to the plethora of talent trickling down the prospect pipeline. Wander Franco, Jarred Kelenic, Adley Rutschman, Julio Rodriguez and Royce Lewis are all pounding on the door, just to mention a few names, and I haven’t even broached the subjecting of pitching talent in baseball today. Long story short: it’s a good time to be a baseball fan, but still a bad time to be short, or tell long stories.
Of the five prospects named above, all could potentially debut in the Majors in 2021. I’m excited about them all. But as I began writing this piece, I realized that despite their varying long-term outlooks, there’s one positional prospect I’m more excited about owning in re-draft leagues this year than any of them — and their name might surprise you.
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The top 40 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball is roughly around 75th overall to around the 150th spot overall to give you an idea of the big picture. There will be outfielders to draft and outfielders to ignore with convoluted reasons, as you’ve come to expect and eventually respect. Here’s Steamer’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. All projections included here are mine, and where I see tiers starting and stopping are included. Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?With dynasty drafts fast approaching or already underway and the 30 system rundowns in the rear view mirror, now is the perfect time to revisit and reshuffle the crew of young athletes entering our game this winter.
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In an incredible turn of events, I’ve done all the infield 2021 fantasy baseball rankings. Less incredible, you’ve read them. It’s like that time your favorite team won because they played better than that other team but you convinced yourself they won because you cheered louder. When I win the Fantasy Baseball Blogger of the Millennial in 2099, and my frozen head is accepting the award, I’m going to thank you, the readers, but I’m secretly going to be thanking myself. Without me, none of this would be possible. You’re a close second though! Okay, enough ranking of you and me, let’s rank some outfielders! Here’s Steamer’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2021 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. All projections included here are mine, and where I see tiers starting and stopping are included. Anyway, here’s the top 20 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?