Over the Greydar: Preliminary Thoughts

February 15, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 61 Comments

Readers of Razzball, it is very likely, no it is certain, that all of you see sir Grey’s rankings as law. I know when I was a young Razzballer I looked at Grey the same way he looks at Giancarlo. Are his rankings undeniably the best out there? YES! I’m personally growing a mustache because of him and his writing is absolute. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, “Where is this random dude we’ve never seen on Razzball Baseball going with this?”. Let me introduce myself. A few of you may know me as I wrote weekly articles for Razzball Football this past season under the tutelage of Mr. Tehol Beddict himself. I am the Razzball squire and demand respect! I hail from Montreal, Canada and I love me some maple syrup covered bacon for breakfast while listening to Celine Dion and touching up my igloo. Now, back to where this post started. Why did I bring Grey and his rankings up? Well, I will be performing the unenviable task of nit picking at Grey’s preseason rankings, from top to bottom. I will highlight players I believe are overvalued, overrated, etc., (the opposite goal of our Under the Greydar series.) Bonkers, I know! As Grey’s word is law, many Razzballer’s will be cussing me out and I CANNOT WAIT FOR IT. You are welcome to berate me in the comments below; I accept all challengers. Grey is about to wrap up his rankings, so we’ll start from the top and make our way down. We have just under two months before the season begins and encourage you to give the Anti-Grey a chance. I will make sure to provide relevant data and research, not just gut feel, for all you concerned. Usually I will open up with a fun story that caught my attention that week, but today you were blessed to learn about the Razzball squire and all of his preseasonal offerings. When the season begins, I will shift the focus of my posts, as I will have spent more than enough time blasting and fawning over Mr. Albright. Note: Grey doesn’t know who I am yet but he knows that some new mystery writer is foaming at the mouth to get in on the action. Today I will dissect a couple of his top-20 players…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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2016 Razzball Commenter Leagues

February 15, 2016 | Our Leagues | 278 Comments

by: Grey

Happy Presidents Day, or as it will be known next year, King Trump Day. Since you’ve got the day off from that job you tell your wife you’re going to every day only to sit in the car beneath an underpass where they filmed 97% of last year’s True Detective, why not get your fantasy on? Not your fantasy where it’s you and that girl from high school in a tub of Alphabet Soup! That fantasy baseball fantasy! Because you know what would be really cool? If you could join a fantasy baseball league that was against, like, 1000 other fantasy baseball teams. But not a 1000-person league, where people are trying to figure out who the back-up third baseman is on the Single-A Astros affiliate, the Corpus Christi Amscrayers. No, this is a 12-person league designed so you compete against eleven other people in your league, then 90 other leagues of twelve. That would be cool. Oh, wait, we’ve done that. It’s called the Razzball Commenter Leagues, and they’re back, and you don’t even have to be a commenter to join it! For a limited time only, get your loved one a fantasy baseball league! That’s right, your hearts go pitter-patter or you’re dead on the inside (my condolences). Since back in June when you abandoned your fantasy baseball team because it was totally sucking and you returned to your cubbyhole of leftover Chinese food and Teddy Grahams, you’ve longed for this day. As Bob Marley sang, this is your redemption song, mon. Or womon, for our five girl readers. It’s time again to join some fantasy baseball leagues. Before you close all of your extraneous porn windows and rush to sign up, let’s explain how these fantasy baseball leagues are going to work. We’re going to have a bunch of leagues and crown a winner from each, then we’re going to crown ONE winner from all of the winners. We will be crowning the winner by taking each team’s points and multiplying it against a ‘league competitiveness factor.’ If you want to see how it worked last year, go here. (You’ll see a name up there that you might recognize as the eighth best — ME!) So we’re going to fill up as many fantasy leagues as we can for the next seven weeks. Each fantasy baseball league will be a mixed league, 12 team, snake draft, roto, 5×5, 5 OFs, one Middle Infielder, one Corner Infielder, one Utility, 9 pitchers, 20 game eligibility, 180 Games Started max, 1000 IP minimum. Like last year, we will again be going with TWO DL SLOTS. The only things you need to change from the default settings is the 180 Games Started and the TWO DL SLOTS. Please be vigilant about having the exact same league rules and setup as everyone else. The lineup is also known as: C/1B/2B/SS/3B/CI/MI/5 OF/UTIL/9 P/3 BENCH/2 DL with 180 Games Started and 1000 IP minimum. The fantasy leagues will be played in ESPN and they will be free to join.

We’re going to start with twenty leagues of 12 and see how we do from there. To join a league… Sorry, again for the people in the back of the room:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2016 Minor League Preview: Kansas City Royals

February 14, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 51 Comments

by: Geoff

It’s been a long time coming for the Kansas City Royals, but they finally tasted the sweet fizz of championship champagne last fall, and it was all due to Jonny Gomes. I’m not sure if you know this, but he’s the kind of guy you want to go to war with. Hacksaw Jonny musings aside, the Royals built a winner the old fashioned way. And by old fashioned I mean good drafting, solid player development, and excellent trading. In the process, they’ve graduated quite a few players onto their major league squad, traded some for established vets, and let others take the time needed to fully develop. The aftermath is there isn’t a ton of sexy fantasy prospects anymore, but the farm’s not barren, and there are some really intriguing players in the low minors. Dayton Moore and his constituents stuck to their philosophy, and in the end they’re the poster children for why prospects matter. Just ask Baseball America!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2016 Team Previews: Cleveland Indians

February 13, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 22 Comments

by: M@

tuxes

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…Matt Lyons, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Cleveland Indians!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bullpen Report: Draft Day Holds and Cuffs

February 12, 2016 | Middle Relievers | 37 Comments

by: Smokey

What if I told you that the top-four teams last year in Holds didn’t make the playoffs? I know the obvious answer would be: it’s a made-up stat that does nothing but clog a fantasy roster with fodder and otherwise un-rosterable relievers. Well, if you said that out loud, then I am mad at you and you can not come to the Razzball Winter Dance Carnival. No, but seriously, I get offended when people make such determinations. Listen, you are either in a league that uses Holds or you aren’t. Not all of these guys is basically like having a second doorstop (when one doorstop will do). Many of these guys are usable in most formats as ratio gaps in K/9, looking for cheap wins or for a slow day of waiver wire madness. My theory on any league is to roster any two relievers that are non-closers at all times. At worst, they decimate your rates for one day. At best they give you an inning or two and give you great rates and a few K’s. Now, for Holds leagues, I am a hoarder. I live by this simple motto. Two pairs and a wild, just like five-card poker. It stands for two closers, two stud holds guys, and a streamer. In moves leagues, it’s a little more difficult to do, but in non-move limited league, it’s a fun way to just basically win your Holds category by August, save yourself the innings/starts and then stream the holy hell out of the last seven weeks. So since you have searched around the web and found zero other info on the topic (yeah, I looked, so take that), here are the holds tiers and sleepers for the 2016 year.

“A Hold is credited any time a relief pitcher enters a game in a Save Situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game never having relinquished the lead. Note: a pitcher cannot finish the game and receive credit for a Hold, nor can he earn a hold and a save.” ~ The edited out part of the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 500 for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

February 12, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 311 Comments

by: Grey

A mere year ago this was a top 400 for fantasy baseball. A mere few years ago before those years ago, this was a top 300 for fantasy baseball. Before that, it was 16 AD and I was rolling with Jesus to this deli that had great matzoh ball soup. In a few years from now, this is going to be a top 10,000 and I’m going to be ranking Mike Trout Jr. Jr. Jr. the 15th. Today, in this year, sixteen after twenty, comes the top 500 for 2016 fantasy baseball. Flippin’, right? Or as I like to call it, from Mike Trout A to chimpanzee. Actually, I don’t like to call it that. So, this post isn’t meant to send shockwaves through your system. The pipe cleaner that the doctor uses to get the clogged Cheeto out of your artery is meant for that. This is simply to give you an idea of where guys are ranked in relation to other positions. I.e., you know I like Jean Segura better than Ketel Marte, according to the top 20 shortstops, but do I like Segura better than Lucas Duda? Okay, it’s not that simply. You’ll notice towards the last top hundred there’s a ton of pitchers clumped together and a ton of outfielders. I might be the only fantasy baseball ‘pert to tell you this, but it doesn’t matter where, say, Yangervis Solarte is ranked vs. Rick Porcello. If you need a pitcher, Solarte isn’t going to help you. He can be ranked 75 spots in front of Porcello and it doesn’t matter. That’s why I have the 2016 fantasy baseball rankings broken down by positions. If you need a 2nd baseman, where Scooter Gennett is vs. Kolten Wong matters, but where Scooter vs. Jay Bruce really doesn’t matter. Also, there’s no comments about players, which you really should know prior to drafting. In other words, Mark Trumbo might be in the early 100s overall, but am I drafting him? Well, you’d know if you read the top 20 1st basemen. There’s also a top 100 for 2016 fantasy baseball to help you. Along shortly will be a Fantasy Baseball War Room and a pitchers pairing tool. Anyway, here’s the top 500 for 2016 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Points Per Plates Appearance 2015, Name Your Bryce

February 11, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 39 Comments

by: malamoney

If there’s one stat you will repeatedly find in my posts it’s “points per plate appearance”, commonly noted as PPPA. How many points does a batter get every time he steps into the batters box. I feel this is a very underrated stat in points leagues. To be honest, I’m not sure if many even given it a second thought or are even aware of this valuable stat. I find it a great indicator of a useful player, especially when browsing the waiver wire for potential fill ins or trying to decide between drafting one of two players.

It should come as no surprise to find that Bryce Harper had the highest PPPA (0.8547) of any qualified batter in the Major Leagues. And by “qualified” I mean they had at least 200 plate appearances. There were 353 batters that made the list. The average PPPA among all qualified batters was an abysmal 0.4928, but if we take just the top 100 batters the bar raises to 0.6368. The actual PPPA of the top 100 was 0.6423

Here are the top ten from last season:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 100 for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

February 11, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 328 Comments

by: Grey

One word about this top 100 for 2016 fantasy baseball, before I give you another 5,000 words. I’m going to avoid repeating myself from the position rankings in the 2016 fantasy baseball rankings. If you want to know my in-depth feelings about a player, then you need to go to his positional page, i.e., the top 20 1st basemen for 2016 fantasy baseball, the top 20 2nd basemen for 2016 fantasy baseball, the top 20 Gucci handbags for 2016– Ah, I almost got you. This post is meant to give you an idea where guys from different positions are in relation to each other. Since this post is only the top 100, there’s more players where this came from. 400 or so, to be inexact. Next up, there will be a top 500. Then after that there will be a top 7,500, then a top 25,000, then a top 600,000, until we end up with a top kajillion in April. Or maybe I’ll stop at the top 500. Yeah, that makes sense. Not to get all biblical on you, but this is the gospel. Print it out and take it to Mt. Sinai and it will say, “Win your 2016 fantasy baseball league, young prematurely balding man.” Projections were done by me and a crack team of 100 monkeys fighting amongst themselves because there were only 99 typewriters. Somebody please buy Ling-Ling his own typewriter! Anyway, here’s the top 100 for 2016 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2016 Minor League Preview: Toronto Blue Jays

February 10, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 28 Comments

by: Geoff

The Blue Jays sort of operate their franchise like your buddy that chases strippers and always ends up with a massive credit card bill to show for it. Sure, sometimes it makes for a once in a lifetime experience (Josh Donaldson), but other times it’s for fleeting exploits with a disappointing outcome (David Price). Only the bill in this case isn’t an actual physical one, but a bare cupboard once chock full of valuable prospects. In recent years, the Jays have upgraded the major league roster for sure, but have seen prospects like Franklin Barreto, Daniel Norris, Jeff Hoffman, and Miguel Castro leave their system. So now we’re left to review a mortgaged farm with a prized cow, a lot of young calves, and some goats. Confused? Me too! Then again is it any more confusing than a team that needs pitching trading away all it’s young pitching? Time to review the Blue Jays Prospects! You’re excited, I can tell…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 100 Starters for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

February 10, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 137 Comments

by: Grey

If I told you this post ends our position 2016 fantasy baseball rankings, would you believe me? What if I told you it while holding your mom’s hand while calling you son, would you believe it more or less? Man, you got issues! So, yes, this is the end of our positional rankings, but I’ll be along tomorrow with a top 100 and then a top 500. That’s right, 500! Like a baller! There’s also our Steamer projections for all hitters and pitchers. All of the fantasy baseball auction values are also up for over 1500 players. There’s a ton of different formats located there too, like the 5×5 OBP rankings, 6×6 OBP rankings, 6×6 Holds and a ton more. All of my 2016 fantasy baseball rankings are there. My tiers and projections are noted in this post. Anyway, here’s the top 100 starters for 2016 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2016 NFBC Expert Mock Draft, Recap

February 9, 2016 | 2016 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 83 Comments

by: Big Magoo

Howdy Razzballero! Razzballians? Did we ever come to a consensus on a term to identify the loyal followers of this great site? *checks glossary* Hmmm… don’t see one. I do see the term DLzebub though. That one isn’t used nearly enough. He pays me a visit at least a half a dozen times each season. I hate that guy! But it’s a great term and it probably should be used more often, just hopefully not when analyzing the roster that I recently assembled in an industry mock draft that took place on Wed., Feb. 3rd at Couchmanagers.com (smooth transition, eh?).

The format that was used for this draft was a standard 15 team NFBC format, with no bench spots being the only major difference. The starting positions used were 2 catchers, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 5 outfielders, CI, MI, Util, and 9 pitchers (any combination of starters and relievers). You can check out the results of the entire draft here.

I drew the #11 pick, and my strategy from that position was simple:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 80 Starters for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

February 9, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 209 Comments

by: Grey

With the top 80 starters for 2016 fantasy baseball, we are so close to the end of the rankings I can almost taste it! Wait, that’s not rankings I taste, I bit my lip and it’s blood. I wonder if when Dracula bites his lip it’s like when Cougs goes out with her friends and I’m left at home while Emmanuelle is on Cinemax. You might say to yourself, “Self, everyone is totally fooled by my toupee and do I really need to draft starters this deep in my friendly 12-team mixed league?” You don’t, except you will own guys from this post this year either from the draft or from waivers or your leaguemates will own them and beat you. Last year, in the tier of pitchers I liked in the top 80 starters was Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Heaney. They had an ERA of 3.26 in 467 IP. You put three guys like that together with, say, Kluber and Rodon and you have all the pitching you need. Or team three starters like that with Hamels and Corbin or Ventura and Lester. I’ll go over exactly how to draft starters in a few days, but there are so many ways to skin a cat we should have PETA breathing down our necks. All the 2016 fantasy baseball rankings are there. My tiers and projections are noted. Anyway, here’s the top 80 starters for 2016 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?