With three first-year-player drafts behind me and one underway as I type, fantasy baseball is officially back in the Itch household. I covered my Razz 30 draft in Volume one and will share the results of two 15-team league drafts in this article.
I’ll start with the Ditka Sausage Razznasty League, a daily lineups league that’s been going for about seven years. I’ve made some good moves in this league and just as many bad ones because I feel the race against time most acutely here, meaning the crunch to maximize my daily lineup drives a lot of my decision making. I say all this to explain in part why I didn’t pick until the fourth round in this draft. I did still have my third round pick (3.43), but I moved back a few spots to add a fourth-rounder in 2026 and slide up from 5.67 to 5.61 in the fifth round this year.
4.50 Nationals LHP Jose Ferrer
Ferrer dominated down the stretch (1.42 ERA, 0.83 WHIP over his final 25.1 innings) and elbowed his way into the late-innings picture. Competing for saves is not a new development in the arc of Ferrer’s minor league career, but he’s still a low-strikeout unknown for our game, and he could well stay that way. On the other hand, and Colin Poche could help with this, Ferrer has the tools to become a knockout closer just a tick below the Emmanuel Clase level despite the lack of dominant strikeout numbers because his stuff is so tough to square up even inside the strike zone.
4.58 Nationals RHP Jorge Lopez
During his best stretch of the season, Lopez recorded a 0.76 ERA in 23.2 innings spanning a little more than two months. That’s not a reasonable expectation for a full season, of course, but it stands to reason that Lopez has been learning to be a late-inning reliever since converting to the bullpen full time in 2022. Teams trade for this guy every season, but nobody could top $3 million? Sure, that says something about his perceived value around the game, but it also makes him the highest paid member of this nickel and dime relief corps.
5.61 Free Agent RHP David Robertson
This could be a zero any day now, or it could be the cheapest closer on the board. Robertson turned down his $7 million option, so he’s been waiting for better than that to come along. Trouble is, he’s 40 years old, and most teams are trying to hoard and collect from luxury tax offenders who are floating the league. I made a list of teams I thought he’d close for if signed: Rangers, White Sox, Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals, Brewers, and Rockies. I also listed the Orioles, Reds and Phillies as question marks because health or performance could create a window early. I’m sure I’m missing a team or two, but the point is he’s a fifth-round flier so big whoop. Anticipating closer opportunities over the off-season is a profitable business in dynasty leagues.
5.64 Padres LHP Kyle Hart
Hart signed with San Diego during the fourth round of this draft, which was extended a bit by a team timing out on an eight-hour clock on back-to-back days. Hart comes back to the states after winning the Korean equivalent of the Cy Young Award, and while it feels like a stretch that he’ll just jump right in as a fantasy option at 32 years old, but crazier things have happened, and San Diego is a nice place to pitch.
And now a league in which I do have a first-round pick:
1.5 Angels 2B Christian Moore
Moore should enjoy his fair share of playing time over the next few seasons, but this isn’t just a proximity play. Moore has easy, all-fields power and the speed to steal bases on the strength of his plus baseball acumen. Second basemen like him don’t come along every year.
2.20 Royals LHP Kris Bubic
In the words of John Bender: “Hey Ahab, grab all my Bubic?”
I myself am grabbing as much as I can this draft season to see what Bubic can do as a starter after honing his craft out of the bullpen. He features 83rd percentile extension and a plus changeup that works against both right and left-handed hitters if only he’d throw it a little more than the 16 percent he did in 2024.
If I’m picking a Reynaldo Lopez slash Seth Lugo type relief-to-starter breakout in 2025, Bubic sits comfortably atop that list. I get the Clay Holmes thing and no disrespect intended there, but Bubic pitches for a good team in a pitchers’ park in a weak division.
3.35 Rangers RHP Chris Martin
I saw sparks when Martin was on the board here despite being the only veteran option in Texas, now that Jon Gray is reportedly ticketed for the rotation. Gray said nobody from the organization approached him about closing, so perhaps Martin has been the solution for quite a while. His 1.13 WHIP last season is the highest he’s posted since 2021, but his strikeout-minus-walk rate remained elite at 26.1 percent.
4.50 Free Agent RHP David Robertson
Big money big money no whammies no whammies!
5.65 Diamondbacks OF Pavin Smith
One quirk of this league is it has zero minor league spots. You can roster as many as you’d like, but you don’t have to, so major league depth has more value in this league than most. Without the prospect eligibility crunch that forces dynasty teams to cut big leaguers, teams just hold them, making a strong-side platoon bat like Pavin Smith a decent option in the end game. I have Michael Conforto, Kerry Carpenter, Ryan O’Hearn and Trevor Larnach on this team, so I’m playing a dangerous game in the outfield and would love to consolidate a couple of these guys.
Thanks for reading!
