Adam Aizer (@Adamaizer) from CBS Sports joins the show to talk about his favorite fantasy options for the 60 game season. Carlos Correa or Corey Seager? We find out about how his career got started and how he ended up working with CBS. We discuss the Twins/Yankees rivalry over the years and the wild card game he attended in 2017.
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Rolling In The Deep: AL Late Risers
July 20, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 19 Commentsby: Laura Holt
Greetings, friends! It’s with both excitement and a bit of trepidation that I welcome you to my final post before actual major league baseball games are scheduled to be played. I don’t want to say I have an overly emotional relationship with fantasy baseball, but when I pulled up a player’s page this morning and saw his line of 2019 stats — that I’ve been staring at for what seems like decades — replaced with “2020” and a bunch of fresh, clean zeroes… well, I had a visceral reaction that is hard to explain but involved momentary shortness of breath and near-tears. If we’ve gotten this close only for things to go awry now, it will be quite the crushing blow… but at least I’ll have had several weeks worth of entertainment in trying to prep for this crazy thing we’re calling the 2020 major league baseball season. As we finish drafting and dot those i’s and cross those t’s on teams we’ve already drafted, let’s take a look at some players who have had a potential bump in value of late: deep-league, AL edition.
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Did you hear this week’s big news? No, not the story about the man who bit the seagull after it tried to steal his Big Mac. Even bigger news: Grey is now releasing his weekly buy/sell articles one day early to all our valued Patreon members! We’re also raffling off two of the final RazzBowl fan spots to Patreon members this week. Shoot me an email at [email protected] if you’re a Patreon member who would like to be entered into that raffle. And if you aren’t in the cool kid’s Patreon club yet, what in the name of Albright are you waiting for?! Join the Razzball Patreon now for just $5/month.
Anyway, on this week’s episode of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Not News with world renowned comedian Billy Hurley, we talk about more offbeat news stories. What you heard about the man who bit a seagull was all true. And no, that man wasn’t previous Patreon Podcast guest, Lenny Dykstra. Well, as far as we know.
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Some Bullpens Still No Closer To A Decision
July 20, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 244 Commentsby: Grey
I remember my final week of Summer Camp. I was in the Weeniechoke Mountains when I had my first experience with a girl. Her name was Michelle Branch. Not the singer, but a branch I named Michelle. This final week of Summer Camp is equally less-than-ideal for some bullpens. “Certain teams with uncertain ninths.” That’s me being poetic. Michelle Branch would’ve appreciated it. So, Keone Kela hit the IL. As I said in Friday’s Buy, “Kyle Crick stands to act as the Pirates’ closer for at least the re-opening. Crick is also one of the few players who will have a cheering section in the fan-less stadiums.” And that’s me quoting me! Since then, Crick gave up four earned in a third of an inning vs. the Indians and I’m checking my watch for Kela’s return. Nick Burdi is lurking there too, but you’re speculating two deep on a pen that might get ten total saves? Next up, Roberto Osuna hasn’t thrown off the mound yet and, when asked when Osuna would, Dusty said, “We don’t have any answers.” Dusty is reassuring as always! I think Osuna will be fine, since he’s with the team, but Ryan Pressly is there, and ain’t no hound dog. (Sorry. Moving on…) Giovanny Gallegos‘s undisclosed reasons for being away have turned into he’s ‘dis close’ to rejoining the Cards’ bullpen. Likely can tear up your Ryan Helsley shares, they’re doing a backwards STONKS. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
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Now that the season is upon us we can start to make more informed decisions. We have a general idea of what rotations may look like and which teams are considering leaning on their bullpens more heavily. It still involves a good pinch of guesswork but with waivers opening, we’ll need to jump to some conclusions. Good luck in your sprint seasons.
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Summer Camp Letters Home: American League West
July 19, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 11 Commentsby: The Itch
Hello Mother. Hello Father.
Here I am at Camp Corona.
Tests are bad here. The system’s failing.
We’re very stressed but fairly uncomplaining.
Now I don’t want this should scare ya,
But my bunkmate thinks we’ll soon lockdown this area.
Sorry for that.
But wow am I excited to be writing a prospect news piece!
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Top 75 Outfielders for 2020: Summer Camp Part 2
July 18, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 75 Outfielders | 16 Commentsby: Coolwhip
What’s up party people. We are now 6 days away from Re-Opening Day and the player landscape is starting to move into focus… and simultaneously move out of focus. This is the continuation of my series on outfielders, the last installment being Top 75 Outfielders for 2020: Summer Camp Edition. Some guys are now arriving back into camp just in time to take a few cuts including Juan Soto, Joey Gallo, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Mallex Smith. Then there are others still not back yet like Yordan Alvarez, Austin Meadows, and Victor Robles. Hahahahaha, nothing to see here. The testing policy is going swimmingly, huh? Leave it to MLB to be the MLB’s worst enemy. So, with so much chaos at play as the season starts you will want to make sure you are ready to fill roster holes and have bench guys ready to go in what could be 4–5 roster spots exclusively for outfielders. That could be a real challenge to keep up with and your boy is here to help.
Here’s what I’ve been seeing around camp:
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At this point I feel a little like a repeating Kevin McCallister, screaming over and over again as I splash the stinging liquid of not stop Covid-19 news against my fantasy baseball face. How are we supposed to keep up? By the time this work is published three more Top 100 players could be struck down, throwing their 60 game season into question. And since all these players are in their home areas for summer camp, when the virus is spiking in that area, particularly Houston, it can throw camp completely out of whack.
As you can probably guess, Yordan Alvarez coming down with the virus and Houston’s cases spiking has slipped Astros batters down. Other individual cases have an effect here and there, and Freddy Freeman is finally having an effect on Braves batters despite coming back. There was also a trade on Thursday that has the smallest effect here. Also, Yasiel Puig doesn’t quite make it. Yup, the virus got him too.
If you are wondering about the particulars of the list a big change was made last week. That includes some park effect fine tuning, and in particular why I have Mike Trout ranked so low. You can find last week’s list here. All that being said, let’s look at some of this week’s movers:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Sprint And Jump To Get Kyle Lewis On Your Team
July 17, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 226 Commentsby: Grey
(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY YESTERDAY ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $5/MONTH.)
Hey, welcome back, Buy/Sell Column! “It’s good to be back. I haven’t been this anxious for something to happen since I was screaming for sixteen straight weeks for people to pick up Ty Wigginton.” Yeah, wasn’t Ty Wigginton already retired, and you were still screaming about it. “I’ve made a lot of other good calls in the past.” Right, right. Like…*The Buy/Sell Column and I think for a good ten minutes about a good call it made* Maybe we should scroll through some of your old posts. “Yeah, good idea.” Hey, in the 1st Buy/Sell last year you told people to pick up Pete Alonso! “I am the best of all-time!” Yeah, then you followed that with a Clint Frazier Buy. “We don’t have to keep recalling past calls.” Fair, fair. So, who’s the number one guy I’m trying to get this week? Kyle Lewis makes me so horny! Last year in 18 games, he hit 6 homers and .268 with the M’s, and has always shown big-time power. I know, I know, I KNOW! His Double-A power numbers (11 HRs in 122 games) are confusing, but that park is one of the worst hitters’ parks in the minors, and his raw power grades out as some of the best you’ll find. I already gave you a Kyle Lewis sleeper during the shutdown, but I’m going to keep pushing the Kyle Lewis narrative until everyone gets him. He has what it takes to be a top 50 overall player in a 60-game season. As good as Pete Alonso? *the Buy/Sell Column and I look at each other* Simultaneously, “Let’s not be crazy.” All I know is Kyle Lewis is more than just what you hear when Forrest Gump says Carl Lewis. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
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We’re getting close to the re-launched opening day, so any serious knocks guys are picking up in camp now are going to start impacting playing time. That also holds true for new, positive, Covid tests that might pop up.
Eduardo Rodriguez is currently on a throwing program away from the team as he awaits clearance from a positive Covid test. From a physical standpoint, this is all good news, but he’s still up in the air until he tests negative.
DJ LeMahieu, Salvador Perez, Kenley Jansen, and Joey Gallo were both back in camp this week after clearing Covid protocol.
One guy not back yet is Freddie Freeman. His case was originally thought to be more serious, and he has not been cleared to participate yet. The Braves think there’s a chance at opening day for him, but at this point, if he’s still feeling symptoms, I’d put that timeframe at doubtful.
Along with Freeman, Yordan Alvarez, Austin Meadows, Aroldis Chapman, Jesus Luzardo, and Howie Kendrick are all also absent from camp.
Alvarez and Chapman have both been put on the IL, signaling their cases may be a bit more severe than others. I’d expect Zack Britton to get the first shot at saves if Chapman can’t get cleared for a bit. On the Astros front, you’d have to imagine Kyle Tucker has an easier path to ABs with Alvarez sidelined.
Please, blog, may I have some more? KC Orders A Royale With Franchy’s
July 17, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 116 Commentsby: Grey
The Padres traded Franchy Cordero to the Royals. Vincent Vega, “Franchy calls them the Royales with cheese.” If Padres keep trading away fun ballplayers, then Fernando Tatis Jr. better watch himself aka FTJ aka Fun The Jewels. First, the easy side of this trade. With Franchy packing up his red, white and blue flag (no stars), the Padres have an opening for Edward Olivares. They wouldn’t dare, would they? If they dared, then I might be interested. In Double-A last year, he went 18/35/.283, but he was a tad old at that level. Still those numbers are eye-poppers. His overall value until then was of a 4th outfielder (IRL, not IFL). Our Prospectonator (it projects every single rookie) has him down for 14/22/.244 over 162-game season. That’s honestly not bad. I don’t know if Olivares sees any actual playing time, or enough to make him worthwhile. I have added him to today’s Buy column that will be up in a few hours. Yes, that’s right! There’s a Buy this afternoon! Exclamation! (It was released yesterday to our Patreons.) My guess is Wil Myers, Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham are the outfield; Josh Naylor is the DH with, I guess, Ty France, and Edward Olivares is the 4th outfielder. With Franchy headed from the ocean to a-near-a-riverderci, he goes to an equally terrible hitters’ park, and likely still in a platoon. Only now his platoon is less about outfielders needing looks. Against righties, Maikel Franco possibly moves to the bench, and Hunter Dozier takes over third. But vs. lefties, Maikel gets in at third, Dozier moves to the outfield and Franchy is out of the lineup again. It’s pretty flat on fantasy value movement. But, as Franchy was told by Ty France, “If we are going to get men to wear berets, we’re gonna have to spread out.” Anyway, here’s what else I saw for fantasy baseball:
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Imagine you’re turning six years old and your birthday is right around the corner. It’s the day before the big celebration, and you’re pretty much wetting your pants just thinking about it. Actually, scratch that, you really are wetting your pants as you envision the festivities, thinking of the big family trip planned for tomorrow. If you were a super weird kid like me, here’s what it looked like: your family travels about an hour away, but it feels like an out-of-state trip to another land because you have a practically non-existent attention span. You’re going to see one of those interactive childhood shows where they grab kids from the audience to play random parts in the play (if I’ve lost you, you made it to the teenage years unscathed, congrats). But the grand finale of your birthday is that you get to go spend a whopping $100 at Toys “R” Us and pick out anything that falls within that budget. Damn. What a day.
The first part of this tale is a true story, as are all the anecdotes I share in my weekly fantasy articles. I remember to this day what I purchased with my $100: the Pokemon Silver Game Boy game and a new skateboard. Clearly, I was the fliest kid in town. But let’s rewind back, revert to the day before the long-awaited birthday when you’re wetting your pants. What if instead of the grand festivities detailed above, your mother or father came to you and said that they’d simply be giving you your Halloween costume instead. Sure, tomorrow will still be your birthday, but we’ve decided to focus on an entirely irrelevant celebration even though the big show is supposed to be tomorrow. Well, that’s kind of what this article is. The MLB season is just over one week away, but as one of Razzball’s prospect writers, I’m writing about something almost one full year in the future. Opening Day is within our grasp (or so we think), but today, I’m going to discuss my “way-too-early” college baseball prospects for the 2021 draft, while attempting to weigh their future fantasy value into the equation.
My top 12 have remained unchanged, although Jaden Hill has been moved from No. 12 to No. 9. There will be an incredible amount of movement on this list as we progress to next June, but for now, this is where I stand with the top 25.
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