DraftKings: Load Up The Cargo, We’re Going For A Ride

August 2, 2016 | DraftKings | 1 Comment

Pinpointing hitters is much harder than giving a strong recommendation for a pitcher. With pitcher’s you only have 30 choices, 18 of which are usually not realistic options. Hitters on the other hand are part of a much larger pool. On Tuesday night, there is one bat I like more than the others and that same bat is one that I will pay in both cash games and GPPs. The Rockies welcome the Dodgers and Brandon McCarthy to Coors Field on Tuesday night in what will likely be a high scoring affair. My favorite play? You guessed it–Carlos Gonzalez. Cargo has made a career of massacring right-handed pitching in the thin air and Tuesday night will be no exception. He is batting .359 with 15 homers at home and should see several run producing opportunities. Find a way to get him in your lineup–you’ll be glad you did.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run next Monday, August 8th, to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

#	MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 8/4
	ARI \| ATL \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR \| ATH \| CHW \| OAK \| SEA \| WSH

Podcast: Special Guest B-Real From Cypress Hill! And The Trade Deadline!

August 2, 2016 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 23 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Special Edition Podcast Alert! On today’s show we cover all of the big trades in this week’s trade deadline: Jonathan Lucroy, Matt Moore, Andrew Miller… But let’s be real… We’re all here for B-Real! Grey sits down with the Cypress Hill legend to talk, well, lots of ganja. Grey was super lucid for the interview, that’s for sure! Hey at least Grey didn’t ask him about Madonna… Grey’s becoming a master podcaster by the day! Here’s the latest edition of the Razzball Pod:

Download from iTunes

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Rangers Grab Some Brews, Fail To Catch Any Rays

August 2, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 705 Comments

by: Grey

When Jonathan Lucroy vetoed the trade to the Indians this past weekend, I thought we were going to find out Lucroy was Joey Lauren Adams in Chasing Amy. Other teams were going to try and convert him into one of their players, but he was always going to continue to play for the other team. Then, at some point, he was going to describe oral sex in insane, graphic detail, using balls, bats, and a gear shift, and other teams were just going to give up trying to get him to play for their team. Then it turned out the Brewers were not going to be “Holden” him forever, you can “Banky” on it. Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress were Chinese finger-cuffed to each other and sent to the Rangers for Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz. By the way, Luis/Lewis is the Spanish version of tomato-tomahto. I wonder what the Brewers finally said to Lucroy. “We love you, but, dude, if you really love this organization, you’ll get the eff out of here. Go!” Then cried in the rain all super-weepy like Ben Affleck. So, Lucroy gets a small boost in value from the lineup, but the stadium change is nearly a push. As for Jeremy Jeffress, who is Jason Lee in this scenario, will work set up for Sam Dyson, who will keep the job. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ohhhhhhh, What’s That Snell?! …And The Top 100 Starting Pitchers, Week 18

August 1, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 76 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

I was all about some of that young prospect snell early in the season, ranking Blake Snell within my top-75 preseason ranks. He destroyed the Minors in 2015, then was a little iffy when he hit the Majors for the first time. HE’S AWFUL FOREVER! As we see 95% of the time, initial failure means a prospect is forgotten, even if they start putting up solid numbers a month or two later.

And such was the case for Snell, who had a 3.86 ERA over his first 5 starts (passable), but a horrific 20:15 K:BB and a WHIP close to 2.00. He’s no Trevor Rosenthal! That aforementioned success in the Minors came with some control issues as well, so it stood to reason he might need a little more refinement. On top of that, I watched a few of his starts and his stuff looked a little too “loopy” for me. I have no idea if that makes sense… But it looked like a lot of huge rolling movement, with nothing crisp, ala a Corey Kluber or Jake Arrieta cutter. Just very bendy.

Things have gotten a lot better lately though, with a 24:11 K:BB heading into yesterday’s start against the Yanks in 24 innings. As such a highly regarded prospect and with good pure stuff that I think just needed that little extra “umpf” of crispness, I bought in heavily across my leagues and in last week’s ranks. But I figured it would be a good idea to see for myself if his breaking stuff looks a tad better than when I saw it in his 2nd and 3rd starts. Here’s how he looked:

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Seager Lite… And The Top 100 Hitters, Week 18

August 1, 2016 | Creeper of the Week, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 35 Comments

by: M@

It’s all about the value. In the preseason, it’s about the risk vs. the reward in finding value. You know, good ol’ ROI. For instance, this year if you wanted to take a gamble on a massively hyped rookie destined for great things, it may have cost you a fifth round selection. Which rookie? Corey Seager (and maybe even earlier in some drafts, especially those around the LA area). Seager exploded onto the scene late last summer after dominating the minors for the Dodgers. Has he failed to bring a net positive ROI from that fifth-round valuation? Of course not. Check out his line to date: .307/66/17/47/1. He’s topping his projections, universally owned and helping fantasy teams climb atop the leaderboard. But who am I kidding…it’s just a waste of space to talk more about Corey Seager. You’re not picking him up. And you’re overpaying to trade for him. So, instead, why not go for the guy that’s Corey Seager Lite (spelling intended…you’ll see…)? On pace for a .260/70/22/60/8 mark, this week’s Creeper of the Week is just waiting to boost your MI, SS in a bind, or OF due to injuries.

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SAGNOF Report: Hernan A Roster Spot

August 1, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 46 Comments

by: Smokey

The Brewers should be in sell mode, or is that should have been in sell mode? Well, I guess it’s not either here nor there. The unheraldness (totally a word) of the infielders as of late is becoming a fantasy monsoon. The play of and the eligibility of Hernan Perez of late is becoming quite the fantasy add. He qualifies at both the third sack, which isn’t something you pay an extra 50 cents for at the county fair to see, and as an outfielder in most formats. Over his last 15 games, he has more HR, RBIs, and runs than the top-3 corners in baseball. Now you add the SAGNOF goodness and it makes me shake my head at the minuscule 23% ownership in ESPN leagues. Someone is paying attention on the ownership tip, but he deserves a ton more accolades from the millions and millions of fantasy ballers who play this game. His at-bats aren’t going to slow down as Will Middlebrooks isn’t going to walk in and go all hot schmotato. The added bonus for him are players in dynasty league formats, as he is only 25, should be taking even further notice on him as he is almost qualifying for SS, and has a few starts at 2B. So I am grabbing my lucky dice and saying that he can’t continue to put be a top-10 fantasy player (like he has just done over the past 15) over the next 30 days, but if he can possibly do top-10 fantasy 3B over that time, he is a waiver wire darling that can carry you to where flags fly forever. Let’s see what else is going down with steals and saves for the week…

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DraftKings: Eight Skate and Donate

August 1, 2016 | DraftKings |

by: Teddy Heater

With only eight games on the scheduled today we’re going to have to dig a little deeper and grind a little harder in order to get that DK cash. At first glance, Stephen Strasburg $12,900 at Arizona, Danny Duffy, $10,900 at Tampa Bay and the resurgent Chris Archer, $10,100 are seemingly attractive rosters, but to be successful in DK sometimes you have to zig while others zag. That’s why I’m rolling with Jimmy Nelson, $7,800 at San Diego today. Yeah, I’m picking on San Diego again, that’s obvious, so where’s the zig? The zig is that I think he’ll be under owned due to his 8 run loss last time out…oh but wait, only 2 of those were earned. In fact, over his last 7 games Jimmy crack corn is sporting a nice 2.35 ERA. His strikeouts have been lagging a bit with only 26 over his last 38.2 innings, but he has picked it up over the last three games with 17 K’s over the last 16.2 innings. San Diego lost Melvin Upton last week and Alex Dickerson one of the hottest schmotatos in the land is out of the line up with a hip issue. The Padres are still leading the league in Ks vs RHP with a whopping 735 or 1 per 3.65 AB. With the comfy confines of Petco to go along with the extremely depleted line up I expect Jimmy Boy to get at least 8 Ks and hopefully he can creep into double digits if he can get into the 7th and 8th innings. Now that we zigged while others zagged, who else is going to contribute?

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run today to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.

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Indians Smoke The ‘Missing Piece’ Pipe And Trade Prospects For Miller

August 1, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 626 Comments

by: Grey

The Indians traded Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen for Andrew Miller. A regular Thanksgiving bounty to the Yankees as the Indians received SAGNOF and smallpox. Hopefully, the Indians don’t have reservations later about those prospects they sent for Miller and want them back like, um, a regretful trade partner. For a second this weekend, it appeared that the Indians traded for Miller and Jonathan Lucroy, but Lucroy vetoed the trade. Looks like Milwaukee is a bunch of Brewer-givers. Will say this, it was a bold trade by Cleveland vs. sitting around Indian-style as they did all offseason. So, Miller becomes the de facto closer in Cleveland, and remains a top five closer in fantasy. Cody Allen gets his value boinked on the head and it’s now seeing stars. Mean’s while, in New York, Dellin Betances becomes the 9th inning man for the Yankees and, taking over setup, is their newly acquired, Tyler Clippard. That’s right, the Yankee Clippard! Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Points Leagues: Funky Cole Medina

July 31, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 15 Comments

by: malamoney

Gerrit Cole was the first round pick in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft. Here are just a few players he was chosen ahead of that season. Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, George Springer, Jackie Bradley, Trevor Story and Jose Fernandez. As much as I love Cole, I’m sure the Pirates wish they had drafted Fernandez. And that’s not taking anything away from Gerrit, Fernandez is just awesome. Cole is pitching well this season. If I had to complain about something it would have to be the fact that his strikeout rate is down. In 2014 his K/9 was 9.0 and in 2015 it was 8.7. This year he has 73 in 87.3, which is just 7.5 per nine. Cole is only 25 and is knocking on the elite pitching door. Some might say he is banging, but he’s not quite there. He’s only averaging 13 points per start, but he’s only going to improve. I think this might be an excellent opportunity to buy low on him in keeper leagues.

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Draftkings: Pineda or Pinata?

July 31, 2016 | DraftKings, Fantasy Baseball DFS | 2 Comments

by: Mike Honcho

Happy Sunday people of Razz! What better way to celebrate this fine day than to wager a few bucks of your hard earned pay on a little daily fantasy action? Yes, I agree….That sounds like an excellent idea. The good news is…..Well, I’m here and I want to help you. So kick back, put on your favorite sleeveless t-shirt, open your wallets (or your man purse) and let your new, favorite buddy Honcho lead you to the land of fame and riches.

After perusing the list of starting pitchers for today’s action I’ve decided to feature one of the most frustrating starters of the 2016 season. The potential is too delicious to ignore and his ceiling is “All the way up!” At least that what the young kids tell me. Anyway, allow me to present Michael Pineda for your daily fantasy pleasure. That’s right, I’m serious….and don’t call me Shirley. Pineda has recorded eight or more strikeouts in 6 of his last 8 starts and the Rays own a 24.1% strikeout rate. Tampa Bay has struggled to reach base with any regularity this year as their OBP stands at .307 — which ranks just 25th in all of baseball. Pineda has always been above average when it comes to control — registering a 4.35 K/BB ratio and allowing just 2.46 walks per nine innings. So there you have it. I’m rolling with Pineda and I’m not looking back. Won’t you join me? Here’s a look at some of my other favorite plays for today’s action:

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday August 1st to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Minor League Update: Naylor? I Hardly Know Her!

July 31, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 115 Comments

by: Geoff

Deadline day baby, one of the most exciting and nerve wrecking times for fantasy owners across the land. I’m not going to talk extensively about it the way I did on Wednesday. Mostly because I’m not allowed to write the same post twice. At least as far as I know. Only Tehol’s allowed to do that stuff, but he’s handsome. We call that bubble syndrome, handsome, and really all attractive people in general, live in a bubble. You know who doesn’t live in a bubble, but is built exactly like one? Josh Naylor!!! That’s right A.J. Pro-Preller continues to trade-rape the MLB and horde A-1 prospects the same way your Grandma hordes Precious Moments figurines. This time they traded Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea for Josh Naylor, Luis Castillo, Carter Capps, and Jarred Cosart. We have no need to get into Cosart or Capps, but Naylor is interesting, Castillo less so. The Marlins selected Naylor in the first round, 12th overall, in last year’s draft. So far the returns have been promising, but let’s be clear Naylor is an “unathletic” DH/1B type. He was drafted as a 1B/OF coming out of the prep circuit, but his future lies as a first sacker. He’s been billed as a power first guy, but his power at this point has only been middling. He’s surprisingly swiped 10 bags though. The hope is the young Naylor develops the power stroke and eventually matures into a 25-30 homer corner guy. I’m not as hopeful as some about that happening.

~~Oh don’t worry I’ll get into my take on top catching prospect Francisco Mejia, and three others moving from the Indians system to the Brewers for Jonathan Lucroy.~~ Feel free to post rumors, deals, hopes, and dreams, etc in the comments. Let’s talk specs and trades y’all!

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Two-Start Pitchers, Week 18: Cashing in on Cashner Breaks Miami’s Bank

July 30, 2016 | Two Start Fantasy Starters | 26 Comments

by: M@

Yes, this is a two-start article, but we’re going let this edition serve as a reminder of a few things for the rest of the fantasy season as Andrew Casner was recently the star of a trade between the Marlins and Padres. As a result, let us remember:

Andrew Cashner’s not good.
Leaving Petco Park to pitch is not good. (Even with improvements to the Park Factor, it’s still a net positive for pitchers)
A horrendous pitcher that throws twice in a week isn’t a better option; they’re an exponentially worse option.
Andrew Cashner’s not good.

Did the Marlins actually break their bank in this trade? No, and they’ve done that before (see: post WS win seasons). However, I may rather have all four players on the Padres side of this deal rather than the post-hype non-sleeper Andrew Cashner and, wait for it, Colin Rea. Now pitching in Miami, Cashner has a few things in his favor, like facing the Philies and Braves more often, but with only eight weeks left in the season the opportunities are minimal.

Let’s also set a record straight: Matt Shoemaker (the other SP I considered highlighting) Andrew Cashner is not. For a long stretch this season Matt Shoemaker has mirrored the norm of Clayton Kershaw. Cashner’s upped his K’s in his past 3+ starts, but let me close this little segment about why points 1 and 4 above are stout: he’s having the worst season of his career without an inflated stat, like BABIP, to blame for the numbers. 4.76 ERA, 4.94 FIP, and worse in every major category from 2015.

It may be worth it in real life for the Marlins as they push for the playoffs, but for your fantasy squad Andrew Cashner’s still not good. Which, this week, makes him doubly bad. Don’t break your bank to go get him.

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