OBP Leagues: Risers, Fallers, Targets, And Sleepers In The Outfield

April 2, 2016 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Since the season starts in just a couple days (!!!), I suppose it is time to wrap this OBP series up. I hope you all have enjoyed and I appreciate all the comments that I have received. Forgive me, but I am going to refrain from writing about the catcher position and instead focus on outfielders. (If you are mad about this, I hate you.) In 2015, qualified outfielders had a spread of .064 which puts them just below first basemen for the second best average in baseball. So let’s take a look at which of these outfielders rises and falls in an OBP league and also I will give you players to target in your draft.

Alas, the outfield position!

(Keep in mind, the format is 12-team 5×5 OBP)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Two-Start Pitcher Strategy: First You Need The Primer…

April 2, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 48 Comments

by: M@

This past fall my wife wanted the cabinets painted. Ugh. This left me with one of two choices: pay some stupid amount of money for someone to trash my kitchen, cover everything in little drops of paint splatter and brighten up the house by turning my brown cabinets white, or do it myself. Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor I am not. In fact, I may have married more of a Tim ‘The Toolman’ than I am myself. Wait, haha, don’t take that wrong. My wife’s gorgeous. Maybe I should change the analogy. Ok, what’s the girl’s name who wears the short shorts and works on the show with Tim and Al Borland on ‘Home Improvement’? Heidi? Yeah, that’s what I hitched myself to. I win! And now that I’ve spent 100 words talking about my wife in a fantasy baseball post, let’s get back to the story. Which option did I choose?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

12 Team, Mixed League, Slow Draft Recap — This Thing Has More Rounds Than The Unsanctioned Midget UFC Fight That I Keep Daydreaming About

April 1, 2016 | Our Leagues | 485 Comments

by: Grey

Scout and Razzball teamed up to bring you 12-team mixed league slow drafts, and, when I say slow, I mean that I’ve seen paint dry faster and with more upside. It’s exactly like our 12-team, mixed Razzball Commenter League drafts (there still might be a few spots), but in this league there’s two catchers, no waivers and 44 rounds. So, I guess, it’s really not that similar to the RCLs. No waivers changes everything. I would never draft two top starters in a regular mixed league, let alone one in a 12 team league, but when you can’t pick up a starter off waivers or stream, it changes the dynamic. You can’t worry about upside as much as you need to make sure you have innings when a rash of injuries hits. Same with hitters. Upside is nice, but at-bats are even nicer when you lose five outfielders to injuries in July. This kind of leagues makes John Jaso Jingleheimer Schmidt and Tyler Flowers appealing. Dot dot dot. Okay, nothing makes Tyler Flowers appealing. Anyway, here’s my 12-team, mixed league draft recap:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Rudy’s 2016 Yahoo Friends & Family Draft (12 Team Snake)

April 1, 2016 | Our Leagues | 36 Comments

by: Rudy Gamble

This is the third year I’ve drafted solo in the Yahoo Friends & Family MLB league. Here are links to the draft results and a Q&A with all the owners.

This league allows daily pickups where all adds/drops take effect the next day. The biggest challenge is that this is the news sharkiest expert league ever created so there is NO WAY I’m ever landing a player based on breaking news (there are three from Rotoworld, two from Rotowire, and Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski. If they get by those 6, then there’s Grey. I had some success in 2014 grinding to a 6th place finish with a mediocre draft leveraging the Streamonator and Hittertron (and even out-sharking people on two closers) but that advantage was nixed when a move cap of 125 was added in 2015.

In addition, several members have no problem drafting in an unorthodox way (the hit/pitch splits this year ranged from 48/52 to 80/20!). This has put me in some uncomfortable spots in past drafts.

All that said, I felt good going into the draft for three reasons:

There are only 12 teams for 2016 where historically it has been 14 teams. Grey and I are used to streaming in RCL and – while the 125 transaction + 1,400 IP cap makes it slightly different than RCL – I felt more comfortable waiting on SPs after acquiring two top pitchers.
I had a good feel how the draft would go based on my ADP research and previous drafts. Even if Jeff Erickson, Chris Liss, and Dalton Del Don followed through on their SP-heavy 2015 strategy and Scott Pianowski did some gambit, I felt comfortable enough that I wouldn’t be caught off-guard.
I got the 3rd pick.

Here is my team:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2016 Position Battles To Watch: AL West

April 1, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 9 Comments

by: Max

I cannot wait for the season to start. I am too giddy to see all my predictions come true, prove everyone my word should be law. The dream. I had my RCL draft last night and man was it fun; I was hoping for a little more banter in the draft room but only one of my league mates was in on the fun. Now I’ve got a controversial story for you this week. Doctor Bob is working in his clinic and his long time patient Patty walks in. She’s pregnant! Congrats? Well she is still shy of her 20th birthday and has already had an abortion the year before, so congratulations might not be in order. Doctor Bob continues his appointment with Patty and lo-and-behold, her younger sister is pregnant as well and due within the month. That is quite the adventure for this family at this point. Also, I may be wrong here, but it seems as if these girls do not want to be pregnant teenagers as one of them already had an abortion. This kind of thing makes me wonder how people make certain decisions in life. I’m often baffled. If I were either of these girls friends I would gift them condoms and birth control for their next five birthdays. If they wanted the babies though, congratulations!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Grey’s RCL Team — J-FoH Mind Melded Me And I Feel Dirrrrrrrty With Seven R’s

April 1, 2016 | Our Leagues | 339 Comments

by: Grey

I’ve drafted my Razzball Commenter League team (last call for fantasy baseball — I’m saying that so it rhymes with alcohol), and now I’m ready for the season. All those other drafts — like Tout, Friends & Family, Scout, yadda-whodoodie — are in the past. They were prep for this draft. This draft is the one that matters, because I’m going against, like, a thousand of youse. And youse are the ones that matter. Well, a few of youse matter more than a few of the other youse. Just assume you are part of the favorable youse. In this league was Tim McLeod from RotoRob, Mike Gianella from Baseball Prospectus, Dalton Del Don from Yahoo, and from Razzball: Rudy, JayWrong, Big Magoo, Smokey, J-FoH, Tehol, Prospector Ralph, JB and yours truly. All of these people make me very thankful (that it wasn’t an in-person draft). I was drafting out of the twelve-hole (which is porn-speak for the right nostril), and I knew after all those preliminary drafts that I was finally going to take guys that I really, really wanted from my 2016 fantasy baseball rankings (clickbait, snitches!). Well, until around the 5th round, then shizz went to hell. Okay, enough hubbub on the tomfoolery, let’s get to it! Anyway, here’s my RCL draft (5×5, roto, mixed league, 12 team, 5 OFs, etc.):

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Official 2016 Razzball Picks

March 31, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 125 Comments

by: Jay

Ah yes, so we meet again… wait, did we actually formally meet? I mean, technically, we’re meeting again, this is the third year we’ve done this… but did we really meet? Of course I’m an existential crisis waiting to happen, but that’s only because clinical depression requires so much work. I mean, I’d rather jog than emo, ya know? But back to where we started, this is your (and our I suppose) official 2016 Razzball picks. Or selections. Or whatever nomenclature you prefer. I guess whatever it takes for me not to force you to read word “nomenclature” over and over again. We do this because, frankly, we just can’t write about everyone and everything that we love or hate. I mean, we’re talking about 853 players here (source). And so this is the quick and easy “viewer-friendly” version that allows you to quickly see our likes/dislikes/predictions for all of you to promptly point and giggle at. And for added humor, here are last season’s picks, with the bonus value of us again being able to pick on Rudy for choosing Kris Bryant as his sleeper. I’m assuming he thought Bryant was just sleepy and needed a nap, but you might want to ask him about it. Regardless, here are your (and our!) Official 2016 Razzball Picks!

Ever wanted to have a Razzball Podcast devoted to Game of Thrones? No? Oh. Never mind then. But for those of you with an open mind, we have just that for you. Check out our very first episode here!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull: Randal Grichuk

March 31, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 30 Comments

by: Big Magoo

Fret not, Razzball nation. The wait is almost over. As of today, we’re now just three short days away before the official start of the MLB regular season. Pretty soon, you won’t be refreshing your fantasy team’s live stats page and wondering why DeShields hasn’t stolen a base yet. They’re coming! In the meantime, let’s take a quick look at one of the most surprising rookies from the 2015 season, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the bear/bull series, here’s the deal. Each week, I’ll be highlighting a different fantasy-relevant player and creating a framework of where that player is trending in fantasy terms. After some background analysis, number crunching, and sometimes even a player comp or two, I’ll reveal whether I’m bearish (pessimistic) or bullish (optimistic) on the near future of the player in question. So essentially a one player buy/sell. Dig it? Awesome. Now let’s take a look at this week’s player under the microscope…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Sam Travis, 2016 Fantasy Baseball

March 31, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 21 Comments

by: Geoff

“OMG, seriously Ralph, could you be more of a SAWX homeah? Your first player profile of the season is Sam Travis? What’s next 20,000 words on the benefits of Travis Shaw?” That’s all of you non-nation members upon seeing that I chose to dig deep on the up and coming Red Sox first baseman, but I feel it’s an appropriate time on the heels of his spring training performance that’s drawn rave reviews, and pumped a bit of helium into his prospect status. After all outside of the actual skill set Travis possess three qualities that I find endearing in all ballplayers. 1) He doesn’t wear batting gloves, leaving me to wonder if he urinates on his hands Moses Alou style to make them strong like bull. 2) He has two first names, making his name easy to pronounce and without need for fine-tooth comb spell checking. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Travis, you done well. Third and most important for our purposes (insert Grey dolphin joke here) he’s an up and coming corner infielder with some boom-boom. As I’ve said on many occasions over the off-season the upper minors are devoid of impact corner bats. So it’s important us dynasty leaguers try our best to horde them before someone else swoops in and does the same. So let’s take a look at Sam Travis, for 2016 Fantasy Baseball (SEO sleeper hold)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Nicasio Es Su 5th Starter

March 31, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 342 Comments

by: Grey

“With my last trick, I will make Paul Simon six feet tall, while throwing a 94 MPH fastball with pinpoint control.” Then Ray Searage waved a fancy-style cape in front of the audience. It didn’t block their gaze, but it was such an exotic-looking garment, they were distracted enough to not notice a six-foot-tall Paul Simon walk onto stage, towering over Art Garfunkel. Simon then threw a brushback pitch while singing Home Plate Bound. Prior, of course, Searage made the seemingly all-over-the-map Juan Nicasio into an ace. Or at least an ace in spring training. Do I believe Nicasio is fixed because of some spring training stats? Actually, yeah, he could be, and is worth a flyer. Last year, he averaged 95 MPH on his fastball, and his undoing was always his control, which Searage has helped other pitchers conquer. Bring Searage your stuff, and he’ll make it work. I added Nicasio into the top 80 starters and gave him the projections of 8-10/3.81/1.33/148 in 165 IP. Anyway, here’s what else I saw in spring training for fantasy baseball:

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2016 Disgraces And Delights: Starting Pitchers

March 30, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 51 Comments

by: LT Murray IV

And so it begins… are you ready? I SAID, ARE YOU READY!?!?!? Put on your finest man-thong, blaze up a fatty, blare THIS at max volume, and get hyped for opening day. My red eye is gushing so hard right now that I truly need a supersize man-pon. I fully expect this to be the greatest season in MLB’s wondrous history, with my contributions changing the face of fantasy baseball for our children’s children. Remember me for what I become, not for what I am… Or is the other way around? Either way, the season is on the verge of commencing and I’ve yet to lavish upon you my opinions on who will implode and who shall conquer. Fantasy baseball isn’t a game, for it’s a lifestyle and I chose this LIFE. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I am Tehol Beddict, and this is Disgrace/Delight, Pitcher edition. TAKE HEED!!!

Be sure to check out my Football prowess over at the Razzball Football pod (with the OFFICIAL RAZZBALL Game of Thrones podcast starting tomorrow!)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RCL Update: The Sutherland Loophole

March 30, 2016 | Our Leagues | 27 Comments

by: MattTruss

We are now so close Opening Day that I can taste it. Cold beer, processed meat, and mustard, it doesn’t get much better than that. This time next week we’ll all be in a full on panic over why our first round pick hasn’t hit a HR in the first two games and how we can possibly be in last place with THIS team. We’ll talk you off that ledge when the time comes. However, this week I want to go over a few last tidbits before you dive into you RCL career. I have one last note on the draft as well as a loophole you should know about and take advantage of. These are the last couple of things I couldn’t cram into my other posts but I think are too important to just let go. I’ll also be sharing the newest week’s worth of draft data with you. We’ve had so many drafts the past week and we’re up to a total of 57 drafted leagues and counting. Come check out the latest and greatest numbers as you prepare for the final draft weekend before shizz gets real. We have RCL drafts going off all during the final weekend. You can even create a last minute league like VinWins and I and draft over a cup o’ joe and a bowl of Cap’n Crunch at 7 AM EST Saturday morning. Doesn’t that sound like fun? So go on, go create a league and/or fill one that needs filling. This post will still be here when you get back and then we can talk about your upcoming draft.

Please, blog, may I have some more?