Mike

Prospect Power Rankings: Week 18

August 2, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 195 Comments

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Every other week Razzball ranks the prospects closest to contributing to your fantasy roster. The list is limited to players who still have rookie eligibility (less than 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched) and who are currently in the minor leagues. It’s not a list based on talent alone, but rather it’s a mixture of talent and opportunity. It will change frequently over the course of the season as prospects graduate to the majors, injuries occur, or service time roadblocks are passed. Here are the top 15 prospects on the cusp of the major leagues for 2015 fantasy baseball…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Sun 8/3
ARI | ATH | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | ATL | CIN | OAK
Geoff

Two Start Pitchers, Week 18: R.I.P Rowdy Roddy Piper.

August 1, 2015 | Two Start Fantasy Starters | 39 Comments

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“I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubble gum” – Roddy Piper They Live 1988

Yesterday I was going along my normal Friday routine, flexing my muscles, examining my abdominal muscles in the bathroom mirror between spurts of actual work. Then as I returned home I was met with the worst news I had received since Robert Goddell handed down an absurd decision over an overblown equipment violation which was the worst news I had received since my Aunt Angie was stricken with blindness after a failed attempt to scale the English channel in a paddle-boat. What is this news pray-tell why it’s the sudden death of all-time wrestling heel Rowdy Roddy Piper. Mr. Piper was a king of the good old days of wrestling and took on that brutal racist Hulk Hogan. Just watch this clip and tell me that Roddy wasn’t a beacon of hope and a voice for equality in a wilderness of prejudice and discrimination. In an era when wrestling was wrestling and Saturday mornings were dedicated to you watching it. Roddy was the heel’s heel. Well in the tradition of honoring awesome shizz from my 80’s – early 90’s childhood I dedicate this week’s theme to 80 wrestlers!! Oh crap I did that a few weeks ago…..Ahhhh…Well this is awkward….. Well then how about Scottish Stuff? Works right….. I’m writing this from the past so if the new Dr. Dre album did actually drop today, then let’s celebrate in the comments….. Two Start Pitchers, Week 18.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Dan Pants

John Gets the Axford

August 1, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 49 Comments

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After blowing his fifth save Thursday night, giving up three walks and two runs in the ninth, John Axford has now blown four save chances in his past five appearances. Colorado Rockies Manager Walt Weiss said Friday that John Axford would be removed from the closer role. But from the looks of the quote, it sounds like Axford could potentially gain the job back, especially if the replacement candidates don’t prove to be worthy. Rafael Betancourt, Tommy Kahnle and Justin Miller are the three possibly unworthy candidates, and names you should consider adding if you are searching for saves. Rafael Betancourt would seem like the obvious choice if not for his 4.88 ERA. He does have that much sought after closer-experience, though. Kahnle, on the other hand, is rocking a much nicer 2.96 ERA, and a 1.80 ERA for the month of July and seems like a more suitable candidate. Justin Miller has the best numbers of the bunch (0.90 ERA, 0.60 WHIP in just 10 IP), but also holds the least experience. The situation will certainly be worth monitoring over the next few days, but one thing is for sure, you probably won’t really be happy owning any one of these guys. However, if you need saves I’d add Betancourt, Kahle and Miller in that order until we see how this shakes out.

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

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Bigfoot Paul

DraftKings: The Battle For Los Angeles …and Orange County

August 1, 2015 | DraftKings |

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Today we Southern Californians get to be treated to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. Thanks to the national broadcasts, the rest of the country will be seeing the Angels and Dodgers battle it out under the Hollywood Sign and hitting long balls over the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier. But we know better than to think that the Angels are just a hop, skip, and a jump away. The drive north on Interstate 5 from Angels Stadium to Dodgers Stadium is 41 miles, and anyone who knows Interstate 5 knows that you can’t travel a mile per minute. The Angels will make the long gruesome trip to the next county while passing downtown Los Angeles. There’s a lot of players I like in this game. I wouldn’t even be worried about starting both pitchers in the same entry. The strikeouts will be there for both lefty pitchers. Blog on and check out some of my other DraftKings picks for today, and remember to have a Dodger Dog while at Chavez Ravine.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Big Magoo

Bear or Bull: The Cuban Missile Crisis

August 1, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 15 Comments

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It’s been quite a crazy week in major league baseball. With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline just around the corner (in a few hours, actually), contenders are loading up for the stretch run. Among the more prominent names involved in recent deals include Johnny Cueto, Cole Hamels, David Price, Carlos Gomez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Jonathan Papelbon. One big name player who was involved in a blockbuster deal last July and is likely to be on the move again within the next few hours (if he hasn’t been traded already) is Yoenis Cespedes. If the Tigers decide to trade him prior to this year’s deadline, that would represent the third time that he’s been traded in the last calendar year. What is going on here? How did he go from this guy to this guy in such a short period of time?

Let’s take a look at his statistics since his MLB debut in 2012:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Seager’s Workin’ On My Buy Moves

July 31, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 478 Comments

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Corey Seager should’ve been called up already. Brucely, we’re up against it with the Dodgers. We have the aging vet, Jimmy Rollins, who looks like toast if you were to take doodie and pat it into the shape of toast and, uh, toast it. We have Justin Turner, who is having a career year but isn’t really this good and getting more slap hits than another Turner. We have Dumb Mattingly, who has Joe Torre on speed dial because he thinks Torre is still the manager of the team and Dumb is just acting as interim. We have the playoffs in their grasp. We have a team where money is no object, so if they call up Seager and bench Rollins and his contract, whatevs. We have a city that is obsessed with youth, says Debra Winger. This sounds as convoluted as True Detective. Now that I write it out, I’m surprised Seager didn’t get called up in April. I’ve refrained from tooting the Seager horn to avoid looking like a Bozo when he wasn’t called up, but I’m starting to think it could be soon, or at least within the next month. Why do we care, young prematurely balding men? Cause he looks like a young Tulo. Maybe he doesn’t steal 20 bases in a year, but he could hit 30 HRs with 10 steals and a .300 average. No, not this year, but at some point those numbers seem doable. And I’d like to do ’em! In redraft leagues, I’d now start stashing Seager, and, in keepers and dynasty leagues, he’s likely already gone, but if he’s not, oh, heck’s yeah. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
malamoney

Points Leagues: I Did It All For The Rookie

July 31, 2015 | Points Leagues | 8 Comments

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Let’s play a quick game of Jeopardy. I’ll take “Inappropriate Clues for $1000 Alex”. Ok, here’s your clue. “It’s not wise to upset a wookie.” If your answer is “what did Han Solo say to C-3PO regarding the holographic game between R2-D2 and Chewbacca aboard the Millennium Falcon?” then you’d be wrong. The correct answer is “what did Hisashi Iwakuma say when I asked him what he thought about playing a prank on Carlos Correa“. And before anyone goes and gets offended by that I’d like to point out that the category was “Inappropriate Clues” and before I moved forward with it I got the approval of Yu Darvish, Norichika Aoki, Masahiro Tanaka and Ichiro Suzuki. They all got a good raff out of it. So should you.

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Elliot

OPS Leagues: Parra Parra Pants on Fire

July 31, 2015 | OPS Leagues | 6 Comments

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Gerrardo Parra is one of the least sexy guys to own in baseball. He’s isn’t particularly flashy, with no outstanding one category skill and he doesn’t have a cool name (Saltalamacchia or Gregorius, for instance). These are serious marks against him. But, it looks like Parra is on the move to Baltimore, where he should slot into an improved lineup, with the likes of Adam Jones, the smoldering-hot Chris Davis, and Manny Machado. Parra has been very under the radar this season but has a fantastic .326/.367/.517 triple slash with 9 bombs and 7 legs on the year. Parra is probably owned in your league, as he is available in just over 25% of ESPN leagues. His OBP since the ASG is third-best in baseball at .512, behind only The Earth Shaker (Joey Votto) and Au Shizz (Paul Goldschmidt). So, if he is out there, I’d gobble up Parra right away, as his .365 OBP could be legit. This is a guy that could be breaking out as a player at age 28. He should get into the mid-teens in both power and speed (15/15 is doable).

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Sky

DraftKings: The Rodon Not Taken

July 31, 2015 | DraftKings | 15 Comments

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I’m out here busting my literary chops. Ok, not really. Y’all know the the Robert Frost poem at this point. Anything popular was quoted a million times before the age of the interwebs but now we can actually tally those amounts. Seriously, go search it. I’d wait but you’ll fall into a google rabbit hole and never return so just skim the first page and know it to be true. You back? Hello? DON’T GO INTO THE LIGHT, CAROL ANNE! It takes a special breed of idiot to want to roster Carlos Rodon. Thankfully for you, I am such an idiot. I guess the best way to look at this is, it’s payday for most of you and you weren’t gonna put all that cash into an IRA were you? Exactly. Normally I tell you about numbers when I discuss pitching suggestions. The thing is, I can’t really do that with this call. This is a ‘Yankees can be had by lefties’ call and nothing more. The stats actually say they’re great against lefties. Heck, they’re 5th in wRC+ against them on the season. But those season stats don’t point out Mike Montgomery neutralizing them at Yankees stadium and K’ing 9. On the talent scale, I’d put Rodon *pretends to weigh both sides, falls over in dramatic heap onto Carlos side* well ahead of Mike. It’s definitely a risk so I’d never recommend for a cash game but I would like for you all to take the road less traveled by today. It could make all the difference. But enough about being a sad, sorry English major, let’s get a move on. Here’s my Frost’d takes for this Friday DK slate…

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 15 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Toronto Pays Price Tag In Canadian Dollars

July 31, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 371 Comments

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You know they say, every Blue Jay fan has his Price, and every dog has his day and what does the cat say? Me-ouch. Is that a well-known idiom? Sounds like something Pol Pot would’ve said. “You look like a clown because you’ve applied too much Khmer rouge. Now what does the cat say? ‘Me-ouch!'” That was Pol Pot at his most disarmingly charming. You ever look at pictures of dictators and think to yourself, “He looks like a total tool. What kind of a-holes followed this guy?” Any hoo! David Price was acquired by the Blue Jays for Daniel Norris (who I’ll get to in a moment). The Blue Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t believe he gutted the farm system to deliver Price and/or Tulo. No more than, say, a Greek farmer needs to gut a lamb to make shawarma. As they say on the lamb farm, sacrifices need to be made. I don’t think this changes a thing about Price’s value. Comerica was actually more offense-friendly this year, and the Blue Jays will provide more run support, but Price is essentially the same pitcher whether he’s in Toronto, New York or Boston, in Philly, Miami or Houston; in Detroit or– Is this a Kid Rock song I’m singing? Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Smokey

Closer Report, Week 17: Pap Smears Storen’s Value

July 30, 2015 | Closers | 48 Comments

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All the fantasy world was hoping that Jonathan Papelbon would be traded to a team without a reliable closer.  Instead, he goes to a team and kicks in the door swinging with the “I make more money than you” swagger that only comes with wearing Jordache jeans. And then he takes Drew Storen‘s job.  From a relief pitcher standpoint, Papelbon jumps from the worst save-driven team to top 10 overall.  The Phillies generated only 26 save opportunities to the date of his trade.  The Nationals were a far better team, and their record says so with 43 save opportunities.  The Nationals have also had a lead 32 more times than the Phillies, so Storen isn’t a completely wasted roster spot. If you got skunked by this, you need to keep him rostered.  He will still get the off-day save chances, and should pitch in a ton of high-leverage situations based on the bullpen shape of the Nationals, which isn’t a blue ribbon. Papelbon immediately jumps to elite status for me because of his history, and the whole contending team thing. He will easily double his saves total (in less games) to date, which stands at 17.  On the flip side of this trade, it opens up the gates to wunderkid Ken Giles to close in the land of steaks covered in cheese.  Giles immediate value is that of a closer, but with the Phil’s, he’s going to basically have a worse representation of what Papelbon had, but he still has moderate save appeal.  I can see him getting 10 saves the rest of the way.  This is posting a day before the deadline, so things could be in flux. And make sure to check out Ralph and myself over on Razzball Soccer, as the FPL is in full go.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
waterloo

DraftKings: North Of The Border We Go

July 30, 2015 | DraftKings | 6 Comments

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I put in a long day at work on Monday. I drove four hours from home after a weekend with my family straight to the office. With the fair in town, we were doing some pretty cool digital projects that highlighted the dirty jobs at the fair. Well, technically, we called them dirty deeds… done fair week. Yes, you’ll be singing AC/DC all weekend now. After learning how to be a rodeo clown at night for about four hours, I was just exhausted when I returned home.

My alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday as I stirred in bed to start another day. Right before I hopped in my Prius — yes, I drive a Prius. What of it? — I hopped on Facebook and saw Razzball post an article about Troy Tulowitzki. I immediately clicked it due to my 75 percent shares in fantasy leagues, thinking that he was hurt. Nope, he was just traded to an equally impressive offensive ballpark.

I was shocked, nervous about the turf despite none of his injuries throughout his career being based around his back and couldn’t wait to start him in DraftKings.

Well, the Blue Jays get left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy tonight, which means it’s time to break out the big guns in Toronto, eh?

Straight to the cash, homie.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 15 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.

Please, blog, may I have some more?