Manuel Margot is Automatic Add

April 8, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 74 Comments

I’ve been waiting here at my computer crunching advanced sabremetrics in hyper-suspended cryogenic animation since we last spoke a la Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in Passengers, and yes, that was 100% an effort to shoe horn two of Hollywood’s most famous people into my lede for clicks. I may have had six months off, but I still know how to get those sweet, zesty page views. San Diego Padres outfielder slash hot shot prospect slash fastest man alive, Manuel Margot showed many why he’s so highly touted last night with a 2-for-4 night, including two home runs out of the lead off spot. So what happened while I was gone? The Cubs won what, you say? No way! And who is president? You are messing with me. Another Drake album!? How does he have the time? Well, Manny Margs is now slashing .263/.333/.632 with two homers, three RBI and a stolen base on the young season. Wait, did someone say–stolen base? Yeah, you did, ya joker. Ess Bees are basically the reason you drafted Margot. This doode can fly. The big return for San Diego in the Craig Kimbrel trade, he stole 30 bases in 517 ABs at AAA (.304/.351/.426). His speed and defense should ensure he gets plenty of playing time this year, and leading off for the ‘Dres makes him a player to own. A razzball preseason sleeper, he’s under 50% owned in ESPN leagues right now, but I see that number climbing real quickly after last night’s performance. Like, do your best Manuel Margot impression and go grab him quickly. Grey told you to BUY and if you got a need for speed pick him up before I do!

Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Thu 8/7
	ATH \| ATL \| CHW \| CIN \| MIA \| PIT \| SEA \| WSH \| ARI \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| OAK \| PHI \| SD \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR

FanDuel: Saddle Up Your Phillies — It’s Going to be a Rockie Ride

April 8, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 18 Comments

by: VictoriaB

Greetings, eh! Auntie Victoria — second girl writer and possibly sole British-Canadian Razzballee (hit me up in the comments if you too spell “favorite” with a “u”) — here with your Saturday FanDuel advice at the end of a long, weird week. In a world <movie trailer voice> where so far there have been four rain-outs! a flu epidemic! James Shields! Miggy yet to get a hit!, is it even safe to say “stack all your Dodgers and Rockies bats today”? In case life as we know it really has turned on its head, let’s look at some Beyond-Coors options, shall we?

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Prospect Podcast, Episode 34: Opening Day in the Minors & The Top Teams to Watch

April 8, 2017 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 22 Comments

by: Geoff

After a long winter full of anticipation, baseball is all the way back. With the minor leagues kicking off on Thursday night, the duo know as the awesome two, aka Halph has returned. Michael Halpern and I take you on a magical journey through the minor leagues. As we drop in on the opening night for a ton of the top prospects throughout the league. We talk Moncada, Fisher, Bader, Espinoza and Kaprielian injuries, and more. We discuss the importance of Andrew Benintendi’s core strength, and his underrated power by the elitist mainstream prospectors. Then jump into some of the top teams to watch in the minors this season. It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Prospect Podcast.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Buying Chicken Saladino Out Of MI Chickenshit

April 7, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 491 Comments

by: Grey

Moogly-boogly! It’s been a long winter. The Buy/Sell Column’s back, helping you know when the hell you’re supposed to stop working early on Friday. During the offseason, while you were diddling and thinking about how your middle school nickname was Skidmark, I, The Buy/Sell Column was re-reenacting scenes from Moonlight with puppets in the BBQ Belt of Alabama because I’M HARDCORE! You want some Rip Taylor-wannabe, throwing confetti at your feet or you want a Buy/Sell Column that simulates puppets having hand-sex on a beach to a very anti-puppet sex audience!? Like Jose Altuve trying to get the Cocoa Puffs, you want the latter! Okay, enough of the hubbub on the tomfoolery, I’m in on Tyler Saladino. Last year, Saladino had eight homers and 11 steals in only 298 ABs while hitting .282. One year in the minors, he stole 38 bases, and, one year in the minors, he hit 16 homers. Put that together, and you have Francisco Lindor! Okay, kidding, but he’s hitting leadoff, is eligible at 2B and SS, and can get a few homers while also stealing some bases. And I’m not excited about him simply because I named one of my puppets in Alabama, Tosser Saladino. My love for Saladino did not start when I heard he had a brother named Cucumber Saladino. Wrong, I don’t love Saladino simply because I’m in LA and I picture him topped with wheatgrass. Eff your wheatgrass, Los Angeles! Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Closer Report, Week 1: A’s Get a “D” For Diversity

April 7, 2017 | Closers, Middle Relievers | 21 Comments

by: Smokey

It was right in front of our faces and we ignored it. No one said the obvious. The elephant in the room. We all should have known that we were getting fooled by the A’s because we trusted a Melvin. A Melvin! After years of hoodwinking by Upton, we now get the reflexive of this, and are getting bobbed. Predictably, the A’s manager has made a real hash of the bullpen situation already, and we only sit four games into the season. I get his mentality in some states, because you want your best pitcher pitching to the best players in the opposing lineups and yadda, yadda, yadda. But this is fantasy baseball sir. We don’t have the time or social skills warranted to be able to deal with this type stuff. So for those of you living on a house boat with no wifi, the A’s bullpen usage is a flummoxed up mess with no one to trust. It’s like November 23rd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas type of questioning everything. Madson was the presumed closer and he has been treated as the go to guy for getting the tough outs. Twice against the middle of the order which included a Trout named outfielder. Then the first day went to Santiago Casilla, then the next day to Ryan Dull. But the things that boggles the mind is set orders here. I get that it is early and mixing and matching is cool like millennials do with socks now, but we need some kind of pecking order for rostering-type priorities. I can’t deal with this madness, I am going to alphabetize my canned goods. In the mean time, check out the closer menu, now with a deal on salads.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Hey Batter, Batter, Batter Contest, Week 2

April 7, 2017 | Our Leagues | 179 Comments

by: malamoney

Since this post goes live on Fridays, in order to give participants that right amount of time to make their picks, and the weekly scoring period doesn’t end until Sunday night, we are always going to be about a week and a half behind in reporting the winners. For instance, right now week one’s contest is in full swing. Literally. Pun intended. However, since week 1 doesn’t conclude until this Sunday night, I won’t know who won until then. And even then it will probably be more like Monday when I get around to tabulating the results. Does anyone tabulate anymore? Or is it that they just don’t use the word?

So here’s how I’m going to handle the organization of this contest. On Fridays the contest post for the coming week will be announced right here. At the same time I will announce the winner from the contest two weeks earlier since this will be my first opportunity to do so. I addition I will let you know who is winning the current contest from the previous week. So on Fridays I will tell you what I can about the contest that is still in play. This will include who is winning as well as some other semi useless details.

The exception to this process will be this week’s post since we do not have any winners yet to declare.

For those of you anxious for updates I will be tweeting out random updates throughout the week. However, the winners will only be announced right here in this post on Razzball. When announcing the winner, this post will also highlight the top batter from that week.

Without further ado, let’s talk about Week 1…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Happy Coors Day!

April 7, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: cinthree

Happy Coors Day! Beers flow, hits and runs are plentiful, can it get any better? Coors Day, unfortunately, is on the Early Only Slate and not the Main, which we’ll get to later. Just like almost every Coors Slate, you’re just trying to jam as many Coors bats into your lineup as you can with whatever other value you can find. But what do you do when Fanduel puts the value at Coors? Well, you play them everywhere, obviously. Today, Fanduel has graced us with the mispriced trio of Dodger lefty mashers all under 3k. Franklin Gutierrez (.363 career wOBA vs lefties), Kike Hernandez (.361 wOBA vs lefties) and Scott Van Slyke (.364 wOBA vs lefties) all hit like Adrian Beltre vs. lefties, and now they are at Coors and each priced under 3k? Are you kidding me? If any of these guys are in the lineup, you play them, and then sit back, drink your adult beverage and watch as the money rolls in. If you only want to use one, I’d probably keep it simple and just go with whoever hits highest in the order.

Now, on to the picks.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Yasiel Went To (Town On) Jered

April 7, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 338 Comments

by: Grey

Yaisel Puig‘s home runs are so effortless they’re like Billie Jean King and Billy Dee Williams only needing to say, “40-love?” to hook up with a girl in the 70s.

Somewhere, Ashton Kutcher is struggling to come off as smart. He is exerting more energy than Yasiel Puig on his home runs. When Yasiel Puig is in El Zono Loco, pitchers should be chicken. When Puig is locked in, he looks as good as all the Cuban graphic novels that were written about him in Fidelphia. Of course, just as quickly as Puig gets everyone’s hopes up, he collapses under his own hype. He’s a (ba)con artist? I’d absolutely own Puig right now that he has three homers in two games (2-for-3, 3 runs, 4 RBIs and a double slam (3) and legs (1) yesterday), but I wouldn’t be surprised if by May he’s back to disappointing. (By the way, the pitch speed on that homer is 78 MPH. HAHAHAHAHAHA– Oh my God, I can’t breathe! Member that old timey film of Bob Feller throwing faster than a speeding motorcycle? They should have Weaver go against a speed-walking senior citizen.) Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2017 MLB Draft Prospect Update

April 6, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 30 Comments

by: Geoff

On June 12th of this year, 400 people, myself included, will tune into the MLB Draft to witness where this year’s crop of fresh meat will land. Is it a bit insensitive to refer to these talented ballplayers as fresh meat? Sure, but I’m an inappropriate prospector, and I really enjoy upping the creep ante on my readers. After all, we’re talking about high school and college kids. Wait till I get to my 16 year old internationals! Any da hootie-hoo, over the last few seasons we’ve come to expect a few things from the draft. First at least 2-3 advanced college hitters ready for pro-ball nearly immediately, think Schwarber, Benintendi, Bregman, and Swanson. And secondly, super talented prep players with huge ceilings, but long ETA’s. This is not a ranking, I repeat this is not a ranking. Just in case you missed it I’m going to use all caps, THIS IS NOT A RANKING. I’m simply using this as an opportunity, to write about something besides the same 15 potential rookie of the year candidates, but also to introduce some of the players to follow over the coming college season. On the latest episode of The Prospect Podcast Mr. Michael Halpern Esq. of Imaginarybrickwall.com, and I discuss many of the names covered below. So listen to that while reading this, it syncs up like Darkside of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. Seriously check it out…. Over the next two months, players are bound to rise, and to fall, though let them never be subjected to the trade offers I’ve received from fellow Razzball writers in the Perts and Writer’s RCLs over the last 48 hours. Pssst I don’t want the pitchers you shouldn’t have drafted. Meh, let’s get into some exciting 2017 MLB Draft Prospects.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2017 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 1

April 6, 2017 | Razzball Elite League | 25 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

The REL is back baby! Sure, since I get my Brewers bias-fix it’s a little slanted, but the REL has become my favorite league. 30 teams, roughly 900 players owned, along with a whole farm system of another 400-500… What could be better?!

If you’re new to seeing these posts – here’s a quick rundown of the REL: 15 team AL only and 15 team NL only comprise the 30-team league, and you must own 15 players from the “parent team” you manage. You also manage that team’s farm system, and can trade those prospects amongst your Major and Minor league squads. We play Roto for the first 148 games, until the final 2 weeks. Then the AL pennant and NL pennant winners play a H2H 2-week World Series. Congrats again to our inaugural champion Nationals, beating the The Tribe on a dramatic Sunday afternoon finish on the last day of the season. What a season!

With keepers announced, farm teams replenished, our supplemental draft completed, and baseball finally starting anew, the 2017 REL season is here! We’ll be checking in with the league every Thursday afternoon, and have our owners share their thoughts every week.

Here’s how week 1 has kicked off, along with draft day and keeper thoughts, in the 2017 REL League:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Shield Yourself in Chicago

April 6, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: Big Pappy Chicago

It’s my first post of the year. I’m so excited! Thursdays are short schedule days and there’s a nice choice of players this week but still less games means others will have the same plays as you. Especially if they follow my lead. Ha! By the way, has there been a James Shields citing, er siting yet this year? He should be cited for his performance last year. You don’t need a coat of arms on your shield today. But Big Game James will need to protect his arm…and probably neck. Shields was big time terrible with the White Sox last year after his trade from the Padres. He gave up a 1.70 whip along with 31 home runs in 119+ innings with the Pale Hose. Twenty three of those were in 78 US Cellular Field innings. Shoot, he’s allowed SEVENTY-THREE home runs in his last 384 innings. That’s a lot of WHIPlash from hard hit balls. It’s time to play your Tigers. The Tigers as a team have hit a whopping .299 with 12 home runs in 288 at bats.

I’m all about extra at bats in my daily fantasy games. Number one and two and three hitters are my favorites. And if they hit on a team ready two go off on a bum pitcher, even better.

Here’s a look at my picks for Thursday April 6.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Sale + Jameson’s In Boston Leads To Bad Things

April 6, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 513 Comments

by: Grey

Somewhere, Melissa Leo is acting out today’s title and it’s so spot on you’re not sure if you should applaud, or put your wallet in the front pocket. “I came straight from the packie because I heard you were having a sale on shamrock undergarments. Are you having a shamrock undergarment sale or not?” That’s Melissa Leo acting out the title. Okay, okay, okay, guys and six girl readers and one girl writer. (She debuted yesterday; is there a female verb for that? She debutante’d yesterday? She debbie’d yesterday? She damsel’d yesterday? I’m asking, don’t roll your eyes at me like I’m a moron; I’ve had enough of that!) Chris Sale looked great yesterday (7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks), but you knew he was going to look great. You didn’t draft him in the first three rounds for him to look like hot garbage under Pablo Sandoval’s ass. Or, rather, you didn’t not draft him in the first three rounds because I told you not to. But you know who looked as good in Fenway? Jameson Taillon (7 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks). He doesn’t miss a huge number of bats — will average around 7.7 K/9 — but his control is masterful. He will have around a 1.7 BB/9, if not lower. When a guy has a difference of six between his K/9 and BB/9 great things can happen, and Taillon will be no different. I’m not sure if he’ll get all the way to 190+ IP this year, but he had a 3.38 ERA last year, and I’m ready for around the same this year, if not better. Like Melissa Leo would say, “This guy is fahkin spacktackulure.” Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?