Welcome to the 2015 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, Slurpee’s, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Oh, wait, yeah, like half of those things are actually what I have in front of me… But hey, what’s the point of lube and cacti if you can’t share? Truer words have never been written. We also have a very special guest… Patrick Reddington from Federal Baseball, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. So without further ado (and plenty of lube and cacti), let’s check out the 2015 Washington Nationals!
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In 2014, we got up to 84 Razzball Commenter Leagues (1,008 teams). We appreciate all the participation and came up with a way to show it. (Sign up for this year’s leagues here.)
Please, blog, may I have some more?As I sit here sipping my IPA, dreaming of the what ifs in life on a Sunday night before the cold reality of hits on Monday morning, I like to dream. I go back to a time when I was a mere child and I recount some of my favorite things. I used to love dinosaurs. Thought I’d be a Paleontologist when I grew up (and I may still. Fun fact! I haven’t grown up). I also loved Greek mythology. I’d sit and read through encyclopedias, going from character to character, story to story. Yeah, I was a nerd (Fun fact part 2! I’m still a nerd). But the one thing that brings me back to my childhood? The movie Young Guns. Now looking back on scenes like this, I kinda ponder how I was allowed to watch such things at such an age. Hell, I even hold a special place in my heart for Bon Jovi cuz of this damn movie series. This shizz goes deep! But why do I ramble about all this? Cuz I’m gonna refer to Billy Burns as Billy the Kid from here on out. Yeah, 150+ words about my washed up life just to get to that point. Come fight me. But at least wait until you’re done. Here’s my take on why Billy Burns could be a deep league special for the 2015 Fantasy Baseball season…
Please, blog, may I have some more?So the title is a bit of a superlative. What was I gonna say, “The Mostly Kinda Good Fantasy Baseball Team?” You’ll get over your scoffing, I have faith in you. This is the best 2015 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting from my top 100 for 2015 fantasy baseball and top 400 for 2015 fantasy baseball. Honestly, I could draft another 25 teams from those lists, and they’d all be different, but equally terrific… Well, one of the twenty-five would only be almost terrific, but it would be really hard to tell which one that is. If I took Adam Jones in the 1st round, everything after would change. If I took Anthony Rendon in the 1st round, everything after would change. For this exercise, I’m taking Mike Trout first, because, well, I have him first overall. Until pick 100, I’m taking one guy somewhere in every fifteen picks. It would be nice if I was in a league where someone drafted F-Her and Kershaw in the first round and I was able to take Anthony Rizzo in the 2nd round (which is likely), but since Trout and him are in my first 10 picks, according to the rules I’ve set up for myself, I can’t take them both. Then, as we all know, once you get into the 100’s, there’s wide gaps between ADP and where players are actually taken. People tend to look at team need over value. So for this exercise, once I get to pick #101, I’m going to pick two players every twenty picks. Finally, because there is so much latitude in the last 200, I gave myself free reign to fill up my team. Throughout the draft, I also gave myself the ability to reach to a lower draft pick, but not reach forward. Or reach around, if you’re feeling frisky. It should still be my ideal team… Or not. Let’s see, shall we? Bee tee dubya, this team is 5×5, one catcher, 5 OFs, MI, CI, 1 UT, 9 P, 3 bench, just like the Razzball Commenter Leagues (Go sign up or start a league). Anyway, here’s the best 2015 fantasy baseball team:
Please, blog, may I have some more?2015 draft season has begun (at least for me)! The 2015 15-team mixed LABR draft took place on Friday, February 10th – nearly 2 months before the start of the regular season. Almost 60 full days where I can read the player news and play injury bingo (Jonathan Lucroy – woo-hoo, not on my board!).
This was a snake draft with standard 5×5 roto scoring. See here for the draft results and my illustrious leaguemates. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that no more than 2 of these people has ever killed a drifter.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hey girls and boys….Did you miss me? I know I’ve been eeeextra naughty by not posting these past two weeks, but don’t worry, Sky already spanked me for it. It’s that time of year again: Valentines day…And mmmmmmm, is there anything on this earth more aphrodisiaciscal than fantasy baseball? Hard, smooth wood demolishing it’s target, over and over and over and over again. Balls smacking against that tight, sweet smelling, worn in pouch. Jockstraps…..errrr, let’s move on. I adore Valentines day!
I’ve received a bounty of extravagant V-day gifts over the years: a Burberry scarf from Grey, Daffodils from Sky, the Bill James collection from Rudy, Special K from J-FOH, gerbils from Richard Gere, a gasmask from Smokey, a microphone from Capozzi (or was that a butt plug?), a Padres onesie from Jay, some sweet Boston rap tunes from Lipshitz, every Nicolas Cage film ever made on laserdisc from Seth, shoot, even Jennifer gave me something once, but that’s just between her and I.
Each week, I will continue to give you some players at each position, I feel are underrated and some I know in the depths of my massive heart, will let us down more so than Emilio Estevez did with D3: The Mighty Ducks, and that my friends is tragic. I am Tehol Beddict, and this is, Disgrace/Delight! Take Heed!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Here’s a post that’s gonna make you wanna slap ya mama and tell her Don Magic Juan sends his best. The other day I told you how to draft your pitchers for 2015 fantasy baseball. I laid it out to you nice and simple (if you have a degree in “What The Hell Is Grey Talking About?” Not a PhD, mind you. Just a BS.) Today, we forget all that jabberwocky on the who-ha and get down to business old school-style (which means if you don’t comprehend, I will hit you over the head with a baseball bat signed by Joe Clark.) What I’m hoping to lay out to you is who do you draft 2nd if you’ve drafted so and so first. I think it might be helpful to go through pairings for your 5 outfielders, all your middle and corner infielders too. I’m not sure I’ll have the time or patience to do them though. We’ll see! Or not. Your choice. (Actually, my choice.) For easy reference, the royal we will be using the top 10 for 2015 fantasy baseball and the top 20 for 2015 fantasy baseball and the beginning of the top 100 for 2015 fantasy baseball. I’m going to assume you’re in a 12 team, 5×5, MI, CI, 5 OF, 1 Utility, 1 Catcher league, similar to our Razzball Commenter Leagues. (Go join one now. Or join two. Or three.) Anyway, here’s some pairings for the first two rounds of 2015 fantasy baseball drafts:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Welcome to the 2015 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, Slurpee’s, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Oh, wait, yeah, like half of those things are actually what I have in front of me… But hey, what’s the point of lube and cacti if you can’t share? Truer words have never been written. We also have a very special guest… Michael Axisa from Riveraveblues, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. So without further ado (and plenty of lube and cacti), let’s check out the 2015 New York Yankees!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America
2014 (14) | 2013 (19) | 2012 (23) | 2011 (12) | 2010 (21)
2014 Affiliate Records
MLB: [94-68] NL West
AAA: [62-80] Pacific Coast League – Albuquerque (2015: Oklahoma City)
AA: [61-77] Southern League – Chattanooga (2015: Tulsa)
A+: [65-75] California League – Rancho Cucamonga
A: [66-73] Midwest League – Great Lakes
Graduated Prospects
None
The Gist
This system is stacked at the top with arguably three of the best prospects in baseball and it only got stronger in the draft when the Dodgers selected one of the best prep arms available with their first-round pick. Already loaded with young stars like Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers will see their top three prospects reach the majors in the next year or two. I know it sounds like I have my hyperbole machine turned on, but it really is a nice top-heavy system for fantasy prospects. The Dodgers were part of this year’s affiliation shuffle in the upper levels of the minors and now call Oklahoma City and Tulsa their homes in Triple-A and Double-A respectively.
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 four 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. 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-five 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?Here it is, the 2015 Fantasy Baseball War Room. This was original author and innovator Lou Poulas’ introduction, “While Grey and Rudy do a great job of breaking down everything you need to know for 2015 Fantasy Baseball, drafts still trip me up. I’ve been lamenting my inadequacies from the past 3+ years which resulted in an inordinate amount of time number crunching in Excel. My quest – a draft day “war room” that allowed me to keep my finger on the pulse of the league while minimizing my effort. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to keep track of more things as opposed to fewer.”
Presenting the free 2015 Fantasy Baseball War Room.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Alright, let’s just get something under control before it takes this post over. His first name is Rubby. You get the laughs out of the way? Good, now realize it’s pronounced ‘ROO-BEE’ and get over it. This isn’t a sex ed class, you’re not 11 and I’m not saying penis repeatedly while laser-pointing at anatomical drawings in a slideshow. Alright, now let’s…why are you still laughing? Because I said ‘penis’? Or because you now could google ‘Rubby penis’ and find this article? Honestly, I’m officially proud of that. Welcome to Razzball, those of you who like handy vids of an adult nature! If you read through and request in the comments, for the right amount of cash, maybe both parties could come away happy…but since you’re not the core audience, let’s talk to those who are for now. Here’s my take on Rubby De La Rosa and his potential in deeper leagues for the 2015 Fantasy Baseball season…
Please, blog, may I have some more?