Under the Greydar: I Believe He Can Fly

March 3, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Comments

We all have “what ifs” in our lives. What if I was a few inches taller? You’d probably be writing about me right now, explaining why Grey has me outside the top 80 starting pitchers for this year. What if any other team drafted Mike Trout in that first round? He may have actually won a playoff game. These “what if” moments don’t come with second chances. They are a moment in time that cannot be changed. Some people are still in their “what if” moment trying to ensure that they come out on the right side of history.

The 2018 season might be Greg Bird’s third chance. First, he came up in August of 2015 and had a promising premier. In 2016, Bird missed the whole season recovering from right labrum surgery. Second, in 2017, he was back; another chance to start his career. After a month of misery the Yankees decided to put him down. Actually, he just bruised his right ankle. That’s nothing to worry about. He’ll take a few weeks off and be right back. Bird missed all of May, June, July and most of August before returning in September. Bird can’t seem to stay on the field due to injuries major and minor. However, in 2018 Bird is ready to take on his dreaded “what if.” A young highly touted prospect succumbing to injury after injury is a classic tale of sports tragedy, but Bird is ready to break out of his cage.

Evaluating Bird is a bit more difficult than the other players I have looked into already, since he has little play experience. He had a short stint as a rookie in 2015, but that was so long ago and before missing an entire season due to injury. The start of 2017 was similar. It was only a few games and the first few after missing a whole season. I would like to dig into just his return in 2017 and into the playoffs as that has been his most recent and consistent play time. It should be the most representative of future impact.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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2018 Fantasy Baseball Team Previews: Chicago Cubs

March 3, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 4 Comments

by: MB

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 Chicago Cubs are coming off of three straight NLCS appearances and one World Series title. The bats didn’t really get going in the first half of the season in 2017 and there was no way that the starting pitching was going to be as effective in 2017 as it was in 2016. Still, the Cubs had too much all star power on the roster not to be in the thick of it throughout October. All of the manager speak and clubhouse talk points to a revamped desire to win and the off season moves points towards the same mood from the front office. The Cubs wanted to spice up the rotation so they added Tyler Chatwood, Brandon Morrow, and a guy named Yu Darvish. To take a little, you also have to give a little. Jake Arrieta and Wade Davis will not be returning next season. I talked to Alex Patt from Cubbies Crib about what to expect from this upcoming Cubs season.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Prospect Podcast: Top Miami Marlins Prospects for 2018 Fantasy Baseball

by: Geoff

It’s the show the entire off-season has been building toward. It’s the Jeter retirement project, complete with young hotties. Not necessarily the young hotties you’re familiar with, because these are… dudes. Remade almost seems like an understatement for this system which has long been the dregs of MLB’s minor leagues. Now they feature a top 25 talent in Lewis Brinson, a top 50 bat with massive upside in Monte Harrison, arms of all types, and some decent depth pieces. It’s a new day in Miami, not necessarily a better day, but a new one. They have South Beach, they’re good. 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?

RCL Update: Come Play With Us

March 2, 2018 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 18 Comments

by: MattTruss

Once again, you spoke and we listened. Razzball really is the fantasy baseball site of the people, for the people. Thanks to commenter “howtathor” who said he would much rather join a league called “Tehol is a Sexual Panther” than one titled, “RCL #27”, or something along those lines. We’ve now added a “Play With” column to the Razzball Commenter Leagues sign-up sheet. Now, when perusing for an RCL to join, you can scan for your favorite writer (Dreamy Lance perhaps?) or your favorite easy target (Tehol perhaps?) or maybe your favorite angry commenter (Cram It). Either way, hopefully it drives you to sign up for another league or two. Go ahead and skip to the end of this post to check it out, pitching strategy will be here when you get back.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Stolen Goods and Where to Find Them

March 2, 2018 | Steals | 13 Comments

by: Smokey

Late steals, or “cheeky swipes” as they call it across the ocean, are sometimes hard to find late in drafts. Well not hard to find just takes some digging and speculation. The stolen base stat is a precipitously dying stat. I mean, why steal a base when you can just hit a homerun? Or that is the growing trend of the baseball thievery… Last year 83 players stole 10 or more bases. That number hasn’t really differed much in the last few years, the high in 2015 and the low being in 2016 of 79. So while overall steals are down, the number in between the leader and the low end is just increasing in smaller increments. So with the SAGNOF theory, saves and steals are the afterthought come draft day. Not completely forgotten about or disregarded. Just valued at a lower premium based on so many players being low category contributors across the board. Sneak steals on draft day and getting the most out of your squeeze per investment into draft picks is the name of the game. Paying a premium for the big hitting steals guys like Billy Hamilton, Dee Gordon and obvious top-5 overall pick in Trea Turner are all well and good, but at what cost in relation to their draft pick? So the helpfulness of this post is to look at value according to ADP and the steals value the will give our team come opening day in the counting stat department. Most of the players with steal appeal are MI eligible and on draft day, if you miss out early, it seems like the best place to look for straight SAGNOF satisfaction.

Here is a table of steals, caught stealing, and total steals across all of the MLB for the last five years so you didn’t think I was lying to you about the accumulation factors with SB’s…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Baseball Podcast Exclusive: Talking 2018 LABR Draft with Rudy Gamble

March 2, 2018 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 28 Comments

by: Geoff

Over the years Razzball’s founding duo of Grey Albright and Rudy Gamble have found immense success in expert leagues. With both Rudy and Grey taking down leagues in the infamous “Tout Wars” last season. In fact, the All-Time rankings for Tout came out recently, and Rudy is only third all time! So who better to interview regarding expert formats than Rudy? I guess the two guys that finished ahead, but they weren’t available. So Rudy and I dive into his recent LABR draft pick by pick, dropping nuggets of strategy gold along the way. This is an episode you’re not going to want to miss. 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?

Josh Donaldson, 2018 Fantasy Schmohawk

March 2, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated | 338 Comments

by: Grey

This is not the only reason I think Josh Donaldson is overrated, but this is a fun one. Surrounding Donaldson in the Jays lineup is–Sorry, I just started giggling uncontrollably. Okay, okay, OKAY! Get it together, Grey! Surrounding–*giggle* Damn, it’s tough for me to get through this. Okay…*talking fast* Curtis Granderson, Justin Smoak, Kendrys Morales, Tulo, Yangervis, Devon Travis, Randal Grichuk and sometimes Y. The Y in this case is spelled why and it’s Steve Pearce. Yo, the Jays getting the Giants’ leftovers? Brian Sabean would even shudder at this hodgepodge of harsh-my-mallows and be like, “Nah, kid, they’re on the wrong side of ugly.” The Jays would be better off promoting every minor leaguer in their system whose last name starts with Guerr– and be done with it. (There’s three of them, by the way. I’m thinking the Jays might draft alphabetically.) Their minor lea-Guerrs, so to speak. Anyway, why is Josh Donaldson overrated for 2018 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2018 Spring Training Positional Battles: NL East

March 1, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 15 Comments

by: Son

Today, we take a look at the positional battles for the National League East, a division that is quite emblematic of the US of A. The power and leadership resides in Washington DC. The New York Mets have the money, 11th highest payroll in baseball, but they are not the Yankees. Atlanta. Sorry, I mean Hotlanta, always gets overlooked, but there’s tons of talent down south. We may be seeing lots of non-Native Americans tomahawk chopping on TV very soon. Philadelphia is usually in the shadow of New York. Well, the Eagles won the Super Bowl, so suck on that New Yorkers. I kid. There’s tons of young talent on the Phillies, especially on the pitching side, but they will continue to play in the shadow of their brethren to the east. Miami. This is where things break down. A city of opulence and culture, yet the Marlins sold off all their assets like a Pookie crackhead would for one last hit. The only way I can tie this into the US of A analogy is that Miami is located in the state of Florida, a state in which the lawmakers said that porn is dangerous but refused to talk about assault rifles. Ladies and gentlemen, the NL East.

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

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Over the Greydar: Cranky Greinke

March 1, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 7 Comments

by: Brent

We all believe in Grey. That is why we are here. It is why we read every recap, every buy/sell, and why we all spend hours, and countless reams of paper, printing Grey’s rankings. We want to dominate our fantasy baseball drafts and our leagues and do everything in our power to humiliate and destroy our friends (which is what true friendship is all about).

Razzball was built on the power of Grey’s Greydar and his ability to spot fantasy baseball studs before anyone else. It works because Grey’s Greydar is a million times better than anyone else’s Greydar since he is Grey and everyone else is not. Keep in mind, however, that ranking players is not black and white. There are many shades of grey, which explains why Grey is the best Grey there is.

Nevertheless, even the best will have a few misses when ranking hundreds of players. This is why I have been tasked with questioning the Greyness of Grey’s great Greydar, specifically the players that Grey may have overrated for this upcoming season. We are calling this analysis: Over the Greydar.

In this first installment of Over the Greydar I focus on an older pitcher who has been dominate (most of the time) over his career and is coming off a season in which he finished 4th in the NL Cy Young race. While this pitcher needs to be ranked somewhere near the top, I think that Grey may be a little too high on him this season:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Getting Ahead: Raising Your DeShields In H2H Leagues

March 1, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 12 Comments

by: Yost

Delino DeShields? More like Delino DeSTEALS. I know, I know. Pretty corny but it really is just so fitting. He not only stole a bunch of bases last year, but he represents a great opportunity for a late-round steal in your upcoming drafts. His amazing speed, combined with his ability to get on base and run the bases well makes him a intriguing player especially in the SB and run department.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Elvis Andrus, 2018 Fantasy Schmohawk

March 1, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Overrated | 303 Comments

by: Grey

Sometimes you write a fantasy baseball overrated post and think, “Grey, you’re like Coolio but instead of Medusa braids, you got brains and such.” Other times, you think, “You’re a Foolio who can’t even think of something to go with brains. ‘And such?’ How about ‘dumb much?'” With this Elvis Andrus overrated post, I legit don’t know if I’m being smart or stupid. It feels smart, but maybe it’s a blindspot and I’m just being dumb. It’s definitely not reassuring that I don’t know if I’m being smart or stupid by calling Elvis Andrus overrated. Jerry Lee Lewis would definitely think it was smart, and might add in Elvis was also bloated. “That Memphis porker grabbed my spotlight with his peanut butter-stained fingers and loosey-goosey hips.” That was Jerry Lee Lewis at the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. By the by, Jerry Lee Lewis is alive, and only 82 years old. That is news to everyone. Never the hoo, I’ve never seen a career year that I couldn’t squash and Andrus’s previous year is no different. Anyway, why is Elvis Andrus overrated for 2018 fantasy baseball?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2018 Fantasy Baseball Keeper Rankings

February 28, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 108 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

I love keeper leagues. Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of ‘em. Redraft leagues are fine and all but with keeper leagues you become more connected to certain players and have an affinity for them over all others. They become the unofficial “face of your franchise” and are synonymous with your team. Hanley Ramirez will always be one of my favorite players because he was one of my keepers from 2007 (back when he was a 50 base stealing FLORIDA Marlins shortstop) until 2012. I grabbed 26 error third basemen Ryan Braun in 2007 and he was my ride or die until he was 61 games-played outfielder Ryan Braun in 2013. I still haven’t forgiven him for embarrassing the Roswell Aliens like that…

Keeper leagues add a new wrinkle to your draft strategy. You’re keeping Gary Sanchez? Great! You don’t have to decide whether you want to draft James McCann or Tucker Barnhart in the 25th round! Keeping one of the big-4 aces? Wonderful! You can now load up on offense early and wait to take Kyle Hendricks as your second starter.

If I were writing this article pre-season 2017 pitchers would be few and far between on this list. Only Clayton Kershaw would’ve been found in the top 25. Now, in this juiced ball era, starting pitchers find themselves a bit more valuable. Although, with this universal humidor situation it’ll be interesting to see what happens to the faces of our teams. For example, the day after the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they would utilize a humidor in their stadium I saw a tweet that said Paul Goldschmidt fell to the 15th overall pick in one draft. If they kept Paul Goldschmidt himself in a humidor for all of 2018 I’d still draft him before pick 15.

Let’s get into my methodology here. I’m going to be mainly focusing on 2018 because the future is hard to predict. However I’m not going to completely ignore that if you’re reading this article you’re probably not in a 1-year keeper league so there will be some projecting for the next few years as well. That means age will be a factor here. Joey Votto can still smash, but is 34 while his younger brother Freddie Freeman hits just as well and is only turning 29 at the end of this season. Position will also be a factor. Needing 1 second basemen in a shallow pool means that they’re more valuable than the 3-5 outfielders you’ll need. The intersectionality of speed/power and age will also be considered. Dee Gordon is turning 30 in April — how long will his legs hold up? Chone Figgins went to Seattle in his 30’s in 2012 and his career was donezo by 2013. Injury history should also be considered. Giancarlo Stanton was an MVP in 2017, but had over 500 ABs just twice in his previous 7 seasons. As a Yankee fan I’m hoping he stays healthy, but as a fantasy baseball owner I’m cautious. Have any of you actually read any of this or did you just jump straight to the chart to find your players?

Oh well, enough jibber-jabber! Let’s get into 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?