2017 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 1

April 6, 2017 | Razzball Elite League | 25 Comments

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?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

#	MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 8/11
	ARI \| ATH \| BOS \| CHW \| CIN \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIL \| MIN \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| WSH \| ATL \| BAL \| CHC \| CLE \| MIA \| NYM \| OAK \| SEA \| TOR

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?

Rolling in the Deep, Week 1: You’re Going The Wong Way

April 5, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 20 Comments

by: Laura Holt

Greetings, Razzball Nation! When the offseason began, I expected to be addressing you in April after all kinds of doors had opened for women due to the election of our first female president of the United States. But since we’re all going to have to wait a bit longer for that whole first girl president thing, whereas I am actually writing a fantasy baseball article on the best fantasy website ever, I guess that now makes me the most powerful woman in the country. Okay, my math from November may be slightly off on that calculation, but that’s not going to stop me from giving you guys some waiver wire suggestions for NL/AL-only or other extra-deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ambulance Chasers, Week 1: Burning Through Your Stash

April 5, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 11 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

Now that we’re in the regular season I get to actually discuss injuries that will have immediate impact on fantasy owners. For each player I will discuss whether you should stash the player in your DL spot or if you should trash them back to the waiver wire. This decision is going to be based on the talent of the player and the length of their DL stay. If I recommend that you stash a player in your DL spot, I will offer a few players who I think are good fill in options at that position. I will be determining these fill-ins based on their percentage ownership in ESPN leagues and a similar skill set…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Expert Points League: “The Points League” Draft Recap

April 5, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues, Our Leagues | 24 Comments

by: malamoney

After fourteen drafts/auctions I am finally done selecting players. It was a long (and tiring) stretch of two weeks, but I don’t regret one thing. Although give me a few more days of watching my pitchers get knocked around and I might have a change of heart. The aforementioned drafts consisted of four points league auctions, one points league snake draft, five various mock drafts with the fantasy baseball gurus over at CBS, and four Razzball Commentator Leagues, concluding with the Razzball Experts league. Towards the end, my selections almost began to feel robotic. Something akin to a human auto-drafter. And while we’re discussing auto-drafting, I’d like to announce that I hate auto-drafters. Not the actual person, but the act of auto-drafting. Unless you’ve actually taken the time to legitimately rank your players, your presence (or lack there of) at our draft annoys me. And if you end up with two or more catchers or a handful of middle relievers/closers I’m talking about you.

Of all the drafts/auctions I participated in the one I’d like to discuss is the experts points league auction for the league known as The Points League. I’ve accepted that points leagues are the red-headed step child of fantasy baseball, but the bottom line is that many do play the format. Despite this fact most “experts” refuse to give points leagues much, if any, attention. And if they are in a points leagues, they generally don’t publicize as much. I bet the number of closet points league players is staggering. It’s 2017 people, you can come out of the closet.

A few weeks back I decided I was going to attempt to organize an experts points leagues by inviting some very smart, and mostly respected, fantasy baseball analysts/writers from across the online world of fantasy baseball. When all was said and done, and the league was filled, here are the fierce competitors vying to be the champion of The Points League:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Ride and Die with Turner the Burner

April 5, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 4 Comments

by: Troy: The Collector

[Editor’s Note]: Greetings, Razzers, it’s that guy Sky you all maybe kinda remember from that one post about that one guy from that one time. I’m telling ya, it was memorable! But even if not, I wanted to slide into your interwebs for a minute and let you know we’ve got a new bag this year with DFS as we’re working with FanDuel Wednesday thru Saturday, breaking down the slates on the daily with our usual mix of bad grammar and unbridled enthusiasm that you’ve come to love. I for one welcome our new DFS overlords…please come along with me and welcome them too!

Welcome everyone! The Collector here, breaking down this beautiful Wednesday slate on FanDuel for you! If you don’t play on FanDuel now is the time to sign up and play. I first want to say how happy I am baseball is back, I’ve only been waiting 6 months for this (you can only play so much dfs hockey/pga). I’m first going to break down exactly what I will be doing for you guys this season. I’ll be giving you guys gpp plays, and try to avoid chalk (though that’s not always possible). As a gpp player I think I can help those out who want to play gpps as well. You won’t be seeing me say “Play Colorado in Coors” (BORING) or “Play Kershaw against the Padres” (ok this may happen but I’ll try really hard not to go there).

Today we have a 12 game slate, biggest one to date. At first glance this seems like a solid slate with very little weather issues (besides in Cincinnati). Let me breakdown my chalk plays real quick at each position

SP J Degrom (9800) R hill (9600)

C G Sanchez (3400) B Posey (3300

1B P Goldschmidt (4300) either E Thames (2400) or T Joseph (2000)

2B R Odor (3500)

3B N Arenado (4100) M Machado (3900)

SS T Turner (3700)

OF M Trout (4800) B Harper (4600) M Betts (4500) A Eaton (3500) A Benintendi (3300) J Pederson (3100)

Now onto 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! ‘But I already have a FanDuel account’, you say? Well our FanDuel link ALSO shows you care by leading you to a daily $3 contest, letting them know that we let you know about it and them through us. It’s, like, totes radical!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The McCullers Of McMoneys

April 5, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 523 Comments

by: Grey

Me watching Lance McCullers:

The genius thing in that gif is the moment where Tom doesn’t seem like he knows which way to twirl the pool stick, looks about to mess up, and crack a smile, then spins and starts walking away. Scorsese likely had cleaner takes, but it brilliant that he uses a slightly flubby take because the character Vince is so full of himself even when he shouldn’t be. There were no such flubs in Lance McCullers’ start yesterday (6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks). May your God strike me down if this guy isn’t so butter that I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter sees him and says, “You are more butter than I can ever hope to be,” then I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter bows repeatedly, backing out of the room, saying, “Your butterness, I am not worthy.” As I said repeatedly in the preseason, I was thisclose to putting McCullers in my top 20 starters overall, but his health deterred me. Well, de-turd this, because he looks healthy and I wish I owned McCullers everywhere. If he throws 180+ IP, he could be a top ten starter. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull: Kumite! Kumite!

April 4, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 7 Comments

by: Son

In order to mark the glorious return of baseball, I thought it only appropriate to pay homage to one of the greatest movies of our generation: Bloodsport. If you are one of the people that agrees with the 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes, then I’m going to have to fight you. Disclaimer: I’ve watched the movie hundreds of times, so that pretty much means I have a black belt in all the martial arts disciplines and will no doubt kick your ass. How could you not like a movie with lines like this or or scene with this? C’mon man!!!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RCL Update: Crushing Drafts

April 4, 2017 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 16 Comments

by: MattTruss

Draft season is done and over. Did that seem to drag or what? I’m pretty sure I had a draft every night for about 11 straight days there. I’m ready for real baseball. You can close out of your cheat sheets now. Take a breathe….OK stop….time to get on the RCL grind! Grab your caffeine vessel of choice and start researching tomorrow’s batty calls.

We’ll be looking at all the draft data that all of you contributed from the evening of February 22nd all the way until this past Sunday night. That’s just over a month of draft data to break down, dissect and tear apart. Next week, we’ll be able to dig into all those RCL teams a bit, but this week, it’s all about those drafts. Without further ado, let’s dig into how the RCLers drafted this year.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FantasyDraft: It Really Ties The Team Together, Man-aea!

April 4, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 8 Comments

by: Ignacio

So maybe the first day of a full slate didn’t go your way; the beauty of DFS baseball is that it is a daily grind. Tuesday offers an 8 game slate with some very solid pitching options such as Johnny Cueto, Carlos Carrasco, Lance McCullers Jr. and Matt Shoemaker. One young arm that stands out and could provide options to build around, though, is Sean Manaea. Priced only at $14,800, Sean allows you to pay up for some top bats. Manaea was the top Pitching prospect in the Oakland A’s organization last year before getting called up at the end of April. His season was the tale of two halves as he had a rocky start to his career. Carrying a 5.24 ERA through his first 12 starts, he was able to turn it around in his final 12 starts and recorded a 2.67 ERA, finishing with a 3.86 ERA for the year. The promising prospect looks to improve and become the Ace for the A’s. He is squaring off vs. the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night, an offense that can be neutralized. They ranked towards the middle of the pack in most offensive categories last season. Oakland is a -110 favorite and the run line is set at 7.5, not a lot of offense is expected. With that, lets take a look at the rest of the picks.

New to FantasyDraft? 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?

Podcast: “Little Jimmy Is Gonna Go To Opening Day With Daddy!”

April 4, 2017 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 23 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

The season is here! Finally real games to talk about! Unsurprisingly, Grey and I’s (sic) motors get going with an action-packed Pod breaking down the Sunday games, plus the first half of Opening Day from yesterday. Should be “Opening Days”! So confusing! We catch up on closers being terrible, a big start for A.J. Pollock, and C-Mart pitching more like K-Mart. The show then wraps with a run through of our 2017 Staff Picks, and man did things look great for Grey right after we stopped recording! Literally minutes after we finish recording Rougned Odor hits his first homer, then 30 minutes later his second! Yeesh Kubot. Reboot! Reboot! Here’s the latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:

Download from iTunes

Please, blog, may I have some more?