Lance

Scott Kingery and Phillies Devil Magic

March 12, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Rookies | 10 Comments

by:

Drafting players who won’t break camp with a team inside 200 overall signals we are ready for the 2018 season. If you have confidence in the draftee, however, then is it safe to say that aggression is warranted?

Over the last three days of NFBC drafts, Scott Kingery’s draft stock has ranged between 178 and 362, with his average owner pulling the trigger in the 24th around. This represents substantial inflation from his January and February draft stock, which sat him outside of the 30th round on average.

In scenarios where spring training confirms the talent and readiness of a prospect, it’s natural, with the lack of major league statistics to form a consensus on a projection, for assets like Kingery to be appealing given the unknown. Sometimes this works out. Remember Kris Bryant and Cody Bellinger?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Learn more about our 2025 Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions!

The best daily/weekly player rankings/projections (hitters, starters, and relievers) for each of the next 7-10 days + next calendar week starting Friday. Kick-ass DFS lineup optimizer and projections for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo!.

I don’t have enough spam, give me the Razzball email newsletter!

Weekly Razzball news delivered straight to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Sat 8/2
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | OAK
Grey

Jake Has A Job, Thankphilly

March 12, 2018 | Uncategorized | 265 Comments

by:

This weekend I went to Palm Springs to see the in-laws, and I was saying to Father Cougs that I wished I bet on the Phillies to win the World Series back in November when we were in Vegas.  He replied, “With all that blog money you have?”  Then I went to the bathroom and told my reflection, “One day they’re not gonna laugh at you!  I promise you that Reflection Grey!”  Then, while sitting in a stall, I listened on my iPhone to the theme from Rocky, Gonna Fly Now, and stabilized my ego.  Trying hard now!  Gettin’ strong now!  Gonna fly now!  Any hoo!  The newest favorite son of Philadelphia, Jake Arrieta, joined an already underrated starting rotation.  I’d contend (for the welterweight championship) that Arrieta isn’t even their ace, that label goes to the guy draped in Mardi Gras beads, Nola.  For a while, it appeared Arrieta was headed to Philly.  I hear the hold up was due to Arrieta unable to find a special type of umbrella.  “Do you have an umbrella that blocks thrown batteries?”  In the top 40 starters, I said, “At this stage in Arrieta’s career, I don’t see his value changing much no matter where he signs.  If he goes to Miller Park, Chase or Coors, then I’ll lower him a little, but I see no way I raise him up outside of a move to Petco, which doesn’t seem likely, because the Padres are playing for 2020, then, in 2020, they’ll be playing for 2023.”  And that’s me quoting me!  See, so nothing really changes, and I’m not looking to draft Arrieta suddenly, but a solid real world move for the Phils.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw in spring training for 2018 fantasy baseball:

Psyche!  Before we get into the roundup, there’s a $10 league signup today that needs some people.  When we did the polling of what youse wanted in your fantasy leagues, a large majority of you wanted paid leagues, but I’m getting the feeling we may not be doing them next year, and go back to all free leagues.  You don’t want to bet $10 to win $100 that you’re better than eleven others?  C’mon, put that Jimmy John’s sub money where your mouth is!  Hey, I could write ad copy.  Anyway, the roundup:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
malamoney

Points Leagues: Not The Spreadsheet. Just Kidding, It’s The Spreadsheet. One Size Does Not Fit All!

March 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 128 Comments

by:

One size fits all is bullshit. I’m 5 foot 7, one hundred forty pounds. You mean to tell me the same shirt that’s supposed to fit a dude 6 foot 4, two-sixty is going to fit me comfortably. What in the world does any of this have to do with fantasy baseball? That’s simple. There is no “one size fits all” set of rankings. Think about a league that penalizes you one point when a hitter strikeouts versus a league that does not. This would greatly affect the value of players such as Joey Gallo and Aaron Judge. How does that single set of rankings you’re using from [insert favorite website] account for this difference? Unfortunately it does not. Every, well nearly every, league is different in the points league universe. The number of different combinations of points per stat category is staggering. But at the end of the day there’s only one that matters to you.

This spreadsheet is an attempt to provide you with the most accurate rankings based on your league specific settings. More about that in a moment. Please note these are not projections. They are estimations.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Dokken

2018 Fantasy Baseball Team Previews: Detroit Tigers

March 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 5 Comments

by:

Welcome to Razzball’s 2018 team previews. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be previewing all of the teams and talking to writers who represent those teams around the web. We want to provide the best and most in-depth fantasy projections to go along with the asking the most useful questions to those who know their teams best. We want to talk about the players in the first half of your draft and also the deep sleepers that make you log into google and start watching Midwest Single-A ball for hours. Just kidding, don’t do that, hopefully we don’t go that far…

The Tigers finally embraced their need to rebuild in 2017, trading off superstar pitcher Justin Verlander for prospects Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers. Miguel Cabrera had the worst year of his career, Victor Martinez is just about over the hill, and there isn’t much else going for the roster either. Kate Upton won’t even be in the bleachers anymore. Times are tough. The projection systems all have the Tigers fighting for the worst record in baseball. However, there is still fantasy gold to be mined on crappy teams, so let’s get to diggin’. I asked Emily Waldon of The Athletic Detroit to help us polish this Tigers coal into diamonds. Wait, crap, I was going with the gold metaphor, not diamonds. Umm…let’s just get Emily’s take and try to milk some fantasy value from the teat of this ugly roster.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Geoff

2018 Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Preview

March 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 36 Comments

by:

Welp, Philly finally got their Super Bowl didn’t they? Now they get their Hoskins, Titles, Cheesesteaks, roast porks, and more Hoskins!?! I’m moving to Philly y’all. I’ll even listen to Meek Mill if it means I get to watch Rhys Hoskins and the rest of the young up and coming Phillies core everyday. That’s serious too, I’m not listening to Meek Mill ever. Come on now dude, Drake bodied you. Whack commercial rap battles aside, there’s still a ton of talent in the Phillies system. The organization has done a good job identifying talent both domestically, as well as internationally. Though a rough early return from their 2016 draft class, has the ominous feeling it might have been an opportunity squandered. Fortunately, this potential disaster coincided with the emergence of Sixto Sanchez, Adonis Garcia, and the ascension to the majors of a talented trio of position players in Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams, and J.P. Crawford. The latter of which qualifies for this list for the 20th time. It’s another action packed system coming up, it’s the Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospects for 2018.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Rudy Gamble

Rudy’s 2018 Yahoo! Friends & Family Mixed Draft

March 10, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Our Leagues | 47 Comments

by:

On March 1st, Grey and I took part in the Yahoo Friends & Family Draft – a now 15-team snake draft that is unique amongst expert leagues in that it is a daily transaction league instead of weekly transactions. While it is not quite as wild west as RCLs (125 player add limit + today’s pickups go on your roster starting tomorrow), it requires a different draft mentality.

Rather than belabor my picks, I’m going to just display my roster and just riff on a couple of draft strategies/philosophies and how they applied to this draft. (I only have one of these behemoth draft reviews in me this year – see 15-team LABR Mixed draft).

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Al Shines

Don’t Call It A Comeback: 16 Post Hype Sleepers In 2018

March 10, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 16 Comments

by:

How long should we wait for prospects that hit the majors to become fantasy relevant? At what point do we give up and move on? Every season we get so hyped up about guys we’ve never seen throw or hit a ball in the MLB and yet for some reason we get so excited about these names that are rumored to hit rosters in mid-May. Sometimes these players become superstars and are even better than we could have imagined and sometimes they keep dropping in the batting order until there back in minors a few weeks later. Its not the players fault that we expect way too much out of them so quickly, as fantasy players we are not a patient bunch! We give them three at-bats before we start dropping them in our ranks and they haven’t even had time to learn their team’s celebrations yet. Sometimes we just give up on these guys too soon, but every player is different and some need years to adjust in the majors to actually become fantasy relevant.

The list below is basically all post-hype sleepers going into the 2018 season, which are really just players that were sleepers the past few years and failed to hit expectations. Some are top prospects that seem to have been forgotten about and all of these guys are dropping a little farther in drafts than their actual potential. Also, a lot of injuries have severely effected some of these players right when they were starting to get going and comfortable in their situations. These players were all top prospects at some point early in their careers, so they all have something that stands out from the rest. We need to stop giving up so early on these guys and its tough with so many young ball players coming into the league in what seems like every other week. Here are 16 guys I think are better than their ADP and have a chance for some big breakout’s this season. Just remember to be a little patient…

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Geoff

Prospect Podcast: Minnesota Twins Top Prospects for 2018

March 10, 2018 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 19 Comments

by:

If the Twins aren’t a top ten system in terms of talent, they’re certainly top ten in terms of names. Just think about it, you have Yunior, Wander, Akil, Brusdar, and I didn’t even mention Kohl! That’s right, it’s Twins week on the prospect podcast, and Broshitz tackles another system filled with goodies. We go through all the top names in typical fashion, dispersing knowledge here and there. This episode was the best one ever. I’m going to say that every week until it’s true. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Smokey

Bullpen Report: Use ADP To Keep Saves In Check

March 9, 2018 | Closers, Middle Relievers | 29 Comments

by:

Besides pooping, every fantasy baseballian needs to do prep work.  Whether that be reading a publication of your choosing or doing a ton of mock drafts. Well, I am going to do you one better than using a mock draft to help steer your hand.  I am using actual drafts that people do for money to lend you an ADP hand in the terms of closers.  What else would I be doing?  After all, I am Smokey, where only you can prevent fantasy bullpen fires.  That public service announcement was brought to you by my own personal sponsor of Fischer pillows.  Not everyone uses or believes in ADP as a source because some people in mock drafts are crazy, like legitimately Tehol-type crazy.  That mock draft data is basically useless, but what if you had a list of drafts that were for actual dinero, and possibly some American money also?  The NFBC is a great contest that we here at Razzball take part in and several of our writers have challenged readers, just like you, in these contests.  They draw everyday Joe’s and experts from around the deep spaces of fantasy and all compete for money on varying levels of dramatics.  Sounds fun?  Cool, let me borrow 150 bucks so I can do one too.  So I took that data from the past 35 days for a 12-team based ADP and broke it down into two fun categories.  Drafts between February 1st and February 20th, and February 21 to March 6th.  Just so they sound more legit, the first group had 88 drafts of ADP values to use and the second had 106.  The number of ADP resources to draw from will increase by the time we get closer to actual game times, but for now 194 total drafts with data is at your discretion below.  Only the closers side of it.

The 2018 Razzball Commenter Leagues are now open! Free to join with prizes! All the exclamation points!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Yost

Getting Ahead: H2H Middle Infield Value Picks

March 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 6 Comments

by:

Middle infielders have continually been regarded as one of the weaker spots for fantasy production over the years. This has lead to many owners reaching on a SS or 2B a few rounds earlier than normal in order to make sure they don’t wind up with a dud at these positions. However, often times this backfires as the player fails to return on their draft day price. Meanwhile there are guys that went much later in drafts, or even come across waivers, that go on to outperform the player the owner reached on. Thanks to the influx of young superstars such as Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Rameriez, the middle infield position has been progressively been getting deeper than before. And while the owners who wind up with a stud like those mentioned will surely be happy, there are only so many to go around. This leads to owners reaching on the next tier of middle infielders. This is something I try to avoid, and focus on who provides value at the MI spot later on. The increased positional depth means that there are guys that have been flying under the radar that I’d like to offer as value picks in the middle to late rounds.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

KC Helps Out Royally Screwed Moose

March 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 248 Comments

by:

Scott Boras is pushing this “MLB owners are in collusion” narrative, and what better way to push that agenda than have Mike Moustakas turn down a $17.4 million dollar qualifying offer from the Royals to re-sign with them for $6.5 million.  Boras is playing a long con here, and no one’s seeing it!  But I see it!  *takes index and middle finger and points at eyes, then points at picture of Boras*  You know who Mike Moustakas needed as his agent?  Regina King.  She is doggedly persistent.  Have you ever seen Regina King quit?  Oh hell no.  There’s no quit in that woman in every role she’s in.  If Scott Boras were married to Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire, Cuba would’ve signed for chump change, and never waited for his quan moment.  Moustakas needs to hire Regina King, stat!  So, I haven’t changed anything in my projection and ranking for Moustakas in my top 20 3rd basemen for 2018 fantasy baseball with this re-signing, because that was the baseline I was projecting off of anyway.  Now to see if I can get Regina King to do my auction bidding for me.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw in spring training for 2018 fantasy baseball:

Psyche!  Before we get into the post, there are a few RCL drafts this weekend that need you!  You as in you you.  Why are you looking over your shoulder?  I’m talking to you!  Sign up for a league, and if we don’t fill them, you’ll get your money back, but let’s assume they will be filled because you like to win some cash-money.  Yes, you you still!  Also, in those leagues are JayWrong and MattTruss, so you know the leagues will be talked about on the site.  Anyway, the roundup:

Please, blog, may I have some more?