A bullpen battle is like watching a boxing match with a blind man in one corner, and a one-legged man in the other.  The ole’ mantra of never paying for saves is the cattle call of many Razzballians, but in leagues that we all pay, in terms of saves there has to be some semblance of order, and ADP plays a huge part in that.  No one ever admits to paying up for saves, but when push comes to shove in your draft, more times than not, you are most likely jumping at the chance to own an elite closer.  I love being the fifth guy to draft a closer.  It allows me the extra round to grab another essential roster piece, and since I am awesome at my craft, I tend to get my pick of the litter of who I really want.  Listen, not everyone pays for saves, but it isn’t an awful thing to do.  They do only really count for one category, with parts of another, but in reality, so does a hitter drafted in the eighth round.  That eighth round product isn’t going to give you, at best, a five share in a points league (minus Billy Hamilton).  He is the same product that we are saying don’t pay for and falls firmly into the SAGNOF sandbox.  So I am here to tell you that paying for saves is okay, but within reason of course.  Don’t be a lemming and get sucked into a bidding war or a run scenario where it leaves you completely short after the draft without any saves to speak of.  So here are some strategies and basic ideas I like to use for approaching saves based on formats and for giggles, we’ll be looking at some ADP stuff after my advice.  Cheers!

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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

Detroit-Tigers-Tiger-Logo-Design_9662f8d9-183f-462b-8e45-81432b69a110_1024x1024

Welcome to the 2016 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything, folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpees, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Well, that’s a lie. That’s what Jay had last year sitting in front of him. This year? Um…a little less lube? Take that as you will. But hey, we’ve got teams to preview and questions to ask, so let’s hop to it. We a very special guest for this post… Rob Rogacki, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Detroit Tigers!

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Grey and the crew are back from the desert, and ready to give us the lowdown on Spring Training performances! Unfortunately, it sounds like Grey didn’t see anyone too good, except we do get a nice under-the-radar sleeper at OF. We then talk the Brett Anderson injury and the impact on the Dodgers rotation, Aroldis Chapman‘s suspension, and some sneaky speed that was just signed in ChiTown. We did too much agreeing on this podcast, I need to get Grey fired up again next show! Commenters – let me know if Grey ever got irked at any of your comments to him, and I’m going to fuel the fire! Here’s our latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:

Download from iTunes

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Here, friend, are some catchers that I will be targeting at my 2016 fantasy drafts after the top options are gone.  I’m not going to get into the strategy of punting catchers.  Been there, half-drunkenly wrote that years ago.  Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2016 projections.  This is a (legal-in-most-countries) supplement to the top 20 catchers of 2016 fantasy baseball.  Now, guys and four girl readers, I am not saying avoid catchers like Matt Wieters if they fall, but to get on this list, you need to be drafted later than 200 overall.  And, to preemptively answer at least seven comments, yes, I will go around the entire infield, outfield and pitchers to target very late.  Anyway, here’s some catchers to target for 2016 fantasy baseball:

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For years, Grey and I have been thinking about what would be the perfect low-stakes paid league complement to our free Razzball Commenter Leagues (sign up now).

In 2014 and 2015, we co-sponsored 15-team $150 NFBC leagues (50 round slow drafts) and got a positive response from many of you. I cannot say enough good things about NFBC – great service, great people, great site. Unfortunately, we did not get anywhere near the turnout we get for RCL leagues (100 leagues vs 3?!) which puts us in a Field of Dreams-esque position when it comes to lobbying/negotiating a format more attractive to Razzball readers. No offense to people who love that movie but ‘build it and they will come’ does not work very well in the business world.

I mentioned this dilemma to my buddy Dr. Roto when he told me that Scout.com – which has hosted the Fantasy Football World Championships for years – was contemplating Fantasy Baseball paid leagues for 2016. A partnership was born….

Here are the rules for the $88 Scout MLB Razzball Pennant Leagues that are available NOW and will feature Razzball writers + Scout.com Fantasy experts.

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How many of you have played the old school game Guess Who? For those that haven’t, the premise is simple. It’s a two player game where each player has a board with 24 different people displayed. Both players pick a card from a pile of cards containing the same 24 people. They then take turns asking “yes or no” questions about their opponent’s selected person. Based on the answers they eliminate options until they are left with one. The first player to guess the identity of their opponent’s person wins. I played this game as a kid, and 30 years later I still own it today. It’s a simple, yet entertaining game.

I thought it might be interesting to attempt to incorporate the concept of Guess Who? in a blog about fantasy baseball. Here’s how! In this series, I will post articles in which I compare two players. In the post they will be referred to as “player foo” and “player bar”. Their actual names will never be mentioned. It is your job to try and figure out their true identities. To do this, you are encouraged to ask me as many yes/no questions as you like in the comments section. The first commenter to guess each person will score one point. At the end of the season the person with the most points will win a Razzball t-shirt (special thanks to Jay!).

Here are the rules in brief detail…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Dodger-hat_logo-woolennium-Flickr

Welcome to the 2016 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything, folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpees, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Well, that’s a lie. That’s what Jay had last year sitting in front of him. This year? Um…a little less lube? Take that as you will. But hey, we’ve got teams to preview and questions to ask, so let’s hop to it. We a very special guest for this post…Daniel Brim, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Los Angeles Dodgers!

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Austin Jackson signed with the White Sox to rid the world of any hope for Avisail Garcia.  “We will trade you Avisail for Jered Weaver wearing a Trout jersey.”  That’s Avisail pretending to be the White Sox GM and attempting to trade himself to the Angels.  Jackson should see action (BAM!) every day in the outfield in south Chicago and steal some bases.  On a related note, in the last two weeks, the White Sox have signed Austin Jackson and Jimmy Rollins, knocking out Avisail and any chance for Tim Anderson.  In other words, Brian Sabean is now GM’ing the White Sox.  “Guys, can we get a check on Mark Buehrle’s availability?”  That’s Sabean sneaking in to be the White Sox GM.  For 2016, I’ll give Austin Jackson the projections of 58/7/52/.258/15, and added him to the top 80 outfielders for 2016 fantasy baseball, updated my top 500 and Fantasy Baseball War Room while deleting Avisail, who looks like he’s not shaking the Avifail label unless he’s traded.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw in spring training for fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Welcome to the 2016 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything, folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpees, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Well, that’s a lie. That’s what Jay had last year sitting in front of him. This year? Um…a little less lube? Take that as you will. But hey, we’ve got teams to preview and questions to ask, so let’s hop to it. We a very special guest for this post…Wick Terrell, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Cincinnati Reds!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Over the past few seasons it’s become increasingly important to pay attention to the first year player draft and international signing periods. Stars are born and your dynasty leagues championships can be decided based on how well researched you are in this particular area. I’m not going to sit here and say you need to pick over recent draftees or international signings to win your league, but the research now can pay dividends later. With this in mind I’m starting a new feature throughout the season where we’ll discuss a handful of players each post to be aware of. At this point in the year it could be players that recently signed (Yasiel Sierra) or those than recently defected (Lazarito or Gourriel brothers). We’ll also discuss a couple of college players and a prep or two. The ultimate goal is educate the Razznation of the potential future stars at the beginning of the pipeline.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Baltimore_Orioles4

Welcome to the 2016 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything, folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpees, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Well, that’s a lie. That’s what Jay had last year sitting in front of him. This year? Um…a little less lube? Take that as you will. But hey, we’ve got teams to preview and questions to ask, so let’s hop to it. We a very special guest for this post…Tony Pente, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Baltimore Orioles!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

projections

If they made fantasy baseball’s version of Monopoly Money they’d have to put Paul Goldschmidt‘s face on one of the higher denomination bills. Who is he? He’s the guy that put the “go” in Goldschmidt. He’s also that guy that has finally taken the top spot in projections from perennial favorite, Mike Trout. Even though he has never finished the regular season with the most fantasy points, everyone’s favorite Angel Fish has been projected to do so since 2013. And until this season, after Clayton Kershaw, he would have been my first pick had I the opportunity. In 2016 my previous statement is no longer true. Truth be told, when you factor in position-based value above replacement, I would probably select five or six players before I opted for Mike Trout. As for who those players would be, after Kershaw and Goldschmidt, I’ll save the rest for an upcoming post in which I use position adjusted replacement to collectively rank all hitters and pitchers in one long list.

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