My final final final final draft of the year. Believe it was four finals, might’ve been five finals. Finally, the final final, as we extend our arms and coax into the 2021 fantasy baseball season. HalleBerrylujah, we’ve made it. Since this is my fourth or fifth final final draft of the season, I decided to throw everything to do with ADP out the window.
— Razzball (@Razzball) March 30, 2021
I mentioned at one point in the draft, I wonder what a draft would look like if all players were simply listed alphabetically rather than by ADP, or some arbitrary ranking by someone I don’t trust. It would likely mean at least one person would autodraft Andrew Abbott, but besides that I think it would change the entire draft landscape. Whether people want to believe it or not, they are influenced by the in-draft rankings. When it says a player is the next hitter or pitcher off the board, they don’t sit there for very long. Well, except for Sixto Sanchez in our league who went in the last round to Coolwhip. When you ignore ADP, it feels. Dot dot dot. Freeing. The most YOLO of drafts incoming. Anyway, here’s my RCL draft recap, 12-team mixed league:
C: James McCann 24
1B: Freddie Freeman 2
2B: Jake Cronenworth 20
3B: Austin Riley 11
SS: Trevor Story 1, 10
CI: Bobby Dalbec 18
MI: Tim Anderson 4
OF: Michael Conforto 3
OF: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 6
OF: Kyle Lewis 8
OF: Dylan Moore 10
OF: Tyler O’Neill 21
UTIL: Jonathan India 22
P: Lance Lynn 5
P: Dylan Bundy 7
P: Sonny Gray 9
P: Pablo Lopez 14
P: Freddy Peralta 15
P: Dustin May 17
P: Matt Barnes 12
P: Amir Garrett 13
P: Richard Rodriguez 16
Bench: Aaron Bummer, Jake Diekman, Brandon Workman
OKAY, LET’S SEE THE WAR ROOM TOTALS AND GET THIS SHOW COOKING LIKE BAREFOOT CONTESSA FIVE MINUTES BEFORE JEFFREY WALKS IN.
I didn’t use the War Room for this.
YOU…WHAT? AN INNER MONOLOGUE CAN’T SPIT TAKE, BUT YOU ALMOST GOT ONE THERE.
That’s right, no War Room.
NOW, I’M INTRIGUED. DID YOU USE A COMPUTER?
This was my YOLO draft and I didn’t pay attention to ADP or War Room totals. I’ve done enough drafts this year, and RCLs that I know the general gist of what I’m trying to accomplish. Also, General Gist is my high school band name, and our most memorable song was, “I Know Enough (Kinda).” So, this is it, man and five womans! I just shook off my Lil Nas X blood-soaked Nikes, kicked up my well-manicured toes, cracked my eleven Alfonseca fingers and drafted a team I wanted!
AND??? HOW DID IT COME OUT?
Surprisingly familiar. Drafting out of the 10th spot and Trevor Story for what feels like the tenth draft this year sets a certain tone, and, even if I throw out ADP, I’m still a slave to it. Or Slave 4 ADP, if Britney Spears is reading. You’re stacked at shortstop right off the bat, then you need a corner man. Not reaching for Devers that early in the 2nd, so Freeman it is, then you’re going best outfielder in the 3rd, and I wanted OZUNA, but he was taken one pick before by Ralph, so I got Conforto. More on that in a moment. Then from Conforto, you go with best bat available, and that happened to be Tim Anderson, which was good for speed, where I was feeling weak, but did hamstrung me to my 2nd shortstop early. Then you grab a starter in the 5th, and alternate bat and pitcher until the end, unless someone drops. So, I threw out all roadmaps, but still looked up and could see landmarks for East, West, North and South, without the use of Brandon Moss.
LIKE A PITH-HELMETED CEO SETTING UP A CALL CENTER, I SEE YOU’RE GOING ALL IN ON INDIA.
This goes back to Ralph robbing me of my OZUNA. For payback, I might’ve subconsciously drafted all players he liked. He loves Bobby Dalbec, India, and Tyler O’Neill so I swallowed the bitter Conforto pill, but Ralph was going to pay! Though, no one stays on RCL teams, except maybe your first ten picks, and even those guys better produce quick and hard, like horny rabbit, so I might drop Dalbec, India and O’Neill prior to tax day, and he can likely just pick them up off waivers in a week. That’ll teach him, huh?
THIS POST IS LIGHT ON ACTUAL STRATEGY AND LONG ON SIDE-EYED GLANCES. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR TEAM TO ADD?
First share of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and it caused me to do a fist pump into my mirror’s reflection with a sly smile. Lou-Gu-Ju was a guy I loved in my top 40 outfielders in the “Ricola commercial guy with giant lips” tier, but he kept going so early in drafts. Well, ignoring ADP has its benefits and I just grabbed Lou-Gu-Ju on the YOLO firebrand tip. Next up on the “what the heck, let’s do this” strategy, Dylan Bundy hadn’t been drafted by me yet, and I was like, “Try to count to 5 on me grabbing Bundy, you won’t get there.” Also, didn’t mind getting the injury discount on my boy, Sonny Gray. In an RCL, there’s plenty of guys to pick up for an injured player. Gray can’t norm his core and he’s in street clothes for a few weeks? Meh, whatever, will just pick up someone else. Unlike someone like Sixto Sanchez, who you have to stash vs. IL. Samesies with Kyle Lewis and the IL. One guy who I was actually excited about drafting that surprised me a lot was James McCann. A possible top three catcher in the next-to-last round? Yeah, I’ll take that. And likely drop him by Friday, but for a few fleeting seconds I enjoyed drafting a catcher. Oh, and I got Dustin May within an hour of him making the rotation, and upped him in my top 80 starters and top 500.
OKAY, GIVE ME ONE BIG TAKEAWAY SO I CAN PUT THAT CHESTNUT IN MY BRAIN CHEEK FOR THE SEASON.
Saves are a mess. SAGNOF feels more like SAGNOFAGNOF. There’s maybe five closers I trust, and four of them are wildly overdrafted. The fifth is Rafael Montero, and he went in the 13th round of this draft, so that ain’t no bargain either. Jake McGee went in the 12th round! I’m kinda shocked I was able to get three three-quarter-ish closers. Matt Barnes isn’t good, and has Ottavino behind him; Mrs. Muslim Garrett can’t get the manager’s nod of approval, and Dick-Rod has a Crick in his armor. Peter Fairbanks, Clint Frazier, Anthony Santander and Eric Hosmer all went within four picks. There’s no world where Fairbanks should be in with those other three with the uncertainty in that pen. Gonna see how this year goes, but I might shock the world next year and show up saying guys like Josh Hader and Aroldis Chapman are worth their prices. We’ll see how this season plays out, but when Anthony Bass is being drafted in the 14th round of a 12-team mixed league, we might need to reevaluate. Now LFG! Start the season!
Grey!
I waited a bit and will now get your opinions on my 5th year keeper league team that I just drafted.
Keep 6
Yahoo H2H 6X6 12 Team
OPS AVG R HR RBI SB
K ERA WHIP K:9 QS S+H
I had the last pick as I won the league last year because Tarman doesn’t lose or else he eats your BRAINNNNS!! Lol.
Here’s the team:
C – James McCann
1B – Jose Abreu – K
2B – Ozzie Albies – K
3B – Yoan Moncado – K
SS – Gleyber Torres – K
OF – Juan Soto – K
OF – Dylan Moore
OF – Kyle Lewis’s
UTIL – Matt Olson
UTIL – Dansby Swanson
B – Anthony Santander
B – Johnathan Villar
NA – Jared Kelenic
SP – Shane Bieber – K
SP – Kenta Maeda
SP – Dylan Bundy
SP – Pablo Lopez
SP – Trevor Rogers
SP – Marcus Stroman
SP – Tyler Mahle
SP – Nathan Eovaldi
SO – Justus Sheffield
RP – Hake Mcgee
RP – Nick Wittgren
RP – Chad Green
RP- Tyler Duffey
RP – Mike Mayers
Catchers went really late and the large amount of roster spots in our league is why I snagged him in the later rounds as too tier catcher
I have 3 Mariners LOL. Kyle Lewis and Santander went so late because of their injuries I couldn’t resist. They are steals in this particular draft and I see their injuries being minor and I’m so deep I can bench or IL them until they’re better.
I had an open roster spot and I need 1-2 BB in this league especially with roster sizes so large than I NA’d Kelenic and nobody drafted Villar surprisingly. I picked him up. Would you stick with him or the following are available:
JD Davis
Leody Tavares
Jorge Polanco
Victor Reyes
Wily Adames
Jon Berti
There are other great players and I’m surprised to see some of the guys who weren’t drafted in this league. It blows me away.
I mean Villar is one year removed from 111/24/73/40/.274/.792 and he’s on the stacked Mets.
Thanks Grey!!
Hey, no need to eat brains this year… Your team is stacked… Yeah, Mariners hitters whee, what are we doing here? It’s good, right? I’d go Leody over Villar for steals, or JD
Haha!
Thanks for the response. You answered it. Agreed, team is stacked, I need Grey’s opinion it makes me sleep better at night knowing you like my teams. Lol. I will pick up Leody but I may consider Berti, if Miami would just play him.
Ha, No problem
Standard roto keeper auction tonight (Wednesday): I would love to get your final thoughts on Devers, Bregman and JD Martinez. I can keep all of them for a little less than what I think they’ll go for at auction, but by no means a great discount. I’m leaning toward keeping Devers, and releasing AB and JDM. My other keepers are not Germaine. Thanks for the help.
I’d keep them
Grey!!!
Awesome report, man!!
a. My takeaways from your drafts, in general would be
1. Story in the first.
2. Great economy all around.
b. Who cut the odor? TEXAS that’s who!! Opens up room for someone, perhaps Falefa or someone else.
c. MLB quote of the day for March 31, 2021
1. Chien-Ming Wang, born March 31, 1980
‘The hardest part was when I got here (the United States), I couldn’t speak any English. Doing anything was hard. I had an interpreter for a year. Then, in the minor leagues, we had caretakers I would go to. If I got a letter, I asked them to explain it to me. Now I learn English through my teammates and watching movies.’
Chien-Ming Wang in Sports Illustrated (October 9, 2006)
2. Riccardo Ingram, died March 31, 2015
‘Just got some sad news. Nobody would know who Denard Span was if it weren’t for the help of Ricardo Ingram (sic). One of the best men in baseball.’
Denard Span in The Gainesville Times (04/01/2015, Former Georgia Tech baseball, football star Riccardo Ingram dies at 48, Source)
d. Random Reggie Jackson quote of the day for March 31, 2021
‘There are at least three kinds of advantages that the pitcher and batter contest. There’s the physical advantage, the strategic advantage, and also the psychological advantage. I didn’t want two out of three. I wanted them all.’
Cheers,
Ante
I wake up just for the Ante report. Thanks!
everywhereblair
Love your work, one fine day I will post a comment. You are highly appreciated.
Appreciate your kind words, it’s not really the Ante report. It’s a copy + paste job from brainy quotes (for Reggie) and baseball almanac for the quotes of ?the day. Stay tuned! Tomorrow is the start of the Marx brothers quote of the day!!
Cheers,
Ante
Ha, thanks! A. Yeah, this is true, and much more succinct…
B. Rangers cut the cheese, emit Odor
D. Reggie!
Grey! My man! It’s my favorite time of the yr: fantasy baseball season!
Just finished my 12-team, keeper league, mixed roto, draft and need some evaluation + advice on my team:
C- Garver (MIN)
1B- Freeman (ATL)
2B- Hampson (COL)
3B- Devers (BOS)
SS- Bichette (TOR)
OF- Trout (ANA)
OF- Mookie (LAD)
OF- Ozuna (ATL)
Util- JoRam (CLE)
Bench: Baez (CHI), Cron (COL), McMahon (COL)
P- Darvish (SD)
P- Nola (PHI)
P- Woodruff (MIL)
P- Hendricks (CHI)
P-Montgomery (NYY)
C- Rosenthal (OAK)
C- Neris (PHI)
Bench: Cease (CHW), Kim (STL), Soto (DET)
Questions:
– How you liking my squad overall?
– You think I’ve got enough speed (SBs) on this team?
– You think I got enough pitching? I could trade Baez for pitching help [although for some reason his trade value is super low in my league]
Thx man, love your stuff!!
Yeah, I’m liking it! Hitting and pitching are stacked, your keepers must’ve been good…You have Javier Baez on your bench, you think you have enough hitting? Hampson sticks out like sore thumb on this team, your steals look fine…Your pitching looks solid, but a little shallow…How do you have Kim and Soto on a team with Baez on your bench? Trade Baez for a better 2B or an SP
In a h2h. We draft 384 players. I drafted sale and Severino thinking I could IL them and pick up two more players for my bench. It turns out I can’t do that. So to keep them they have to remain on my 6 player bench. Is it worth holding on to one of them or should I dump both players? Thanks!
Correction we drafted 320 players.
Lose Severino
Feel the same about closers this year. Rather than spend evenlyish across 2 or 3 guys who were meh but had secure jobs like years passed, I found myself going hard into Chapman and Edwin Diaz types for my first closer, then played in the muck of all the rest.
FYI this was also the first year in my keeper league anyone kept closers, and this year 4 closers were kept! That seems extreme, but definitely another sign of the closer landscape.
It’s a mess, right?
That does seem extreme on keepers, but maybe they had no one else
At the risk of overvaluing spring training stats, would you consider rostering either of the high pedigree starters Cease or Mize over promising at best late picks Jefferies or Dunning? Or are we just monocal-ing for now? Swap either or both?
For those interested in the circular lens, correct spelling is MONOCLE. An eyeglass for one eye?Underused word & vision improvement option. Good luck to all Razzballers this season!
Can try Cease over Dunning if you like
Morning Grey!
Just finished my 14-team, 4 player keeper league, mixed Yahoo Standard H2H draft. How did I do?
C- Carson Kelly
1B- Eric Hosmer
2B- Andres Gimenez
3B- Rafael Devers
SS- Dansby Swanson
OF- Cody Bellinger
OF- Franmil Reyes
OF- Randy Arozarena
Util- Trey Mancini
Util- Eddie Rosario
Bench: Ryan McMahon, Ramiel Tapia, Austin riley, Jared Kelenic
P- Shane Bieber
P- Dylan Bundy
P- Chris Paddack
P- Jordan Romano
P- Amir Garrett
C- Aron Bummer
C- Jake Mcgee
Bench: Elieser Hernandez, Chris Bassitt
Your pitching is stacked, but it’s hurt your hitting a little, you’re low on AVG which is okay for H2H, but it could cause slumps…
I have an open roster spot, I could pick someone up to help w/ average,
wong, solano, candelario
or i could just go upside and grab trammell
When all of the crappy options are being pushed up right into the back of the few good options than it might be worth paying for the good ones. Or you really back off and wait even longer. With SP, after about Darvish, and maybe really after DeGrom, what’s the real difference between any of those “aces” and McCullers?
In my draft and hold, I planned upon a top five closer but I wound up with Yates. And Bard, because at least his job was declared. When LeClerc, whom I drafted last year in an d&h, was injured, I thought, glad I’m not that guy, an hour later…. Last year, I took Jeffress in the 50th. This year, I threw six or so names at the wall in the last ten rounds. At least, I didn’t pay for closers, who also likely won’t close, in the 20’s. Starters who won’t start? Sure, I have a couple of those. (Gonsolin, Fleming…)
I hear ya, but a top 5 thru 20th SP and McCullers have some difference
Hey master Grey! I’m back & ready for fantasy ‘21! Just drafted , want to see your thoughts on my team it’s H2h pts
Here it goes:
C: Wilson Contreras (c/DH)
1b: Vladimir Guerrero Jr (1b/DH)
2b: Ozzie Albies
3b: Yoan Moncada
SS: Fernando Tatis
IF: Xander Bogaerts
OF: Bryce Harper (OF/DH)
OF: Charlie Blackmon
OF: Austin Meadows
OF: victor Robles
DH: JD Martinez
Utility: Alec bohn
Utility: Alex verdugo
Bench: Ke’bryan hayes, Andrew Vaughn, Justin turner (3b/DH), Andrew benintendi, David Fletcher (SS/2b), Bobby Dalbec, jurikson profar (OF/2b), ohtani (DH/SP)
SP: jack Flaherty
SP: Blake Snell
Sp: Zach Plesac
SP: Ohtani (SP/DH)
SP: Marco Gonzalez
SP: Chris Bassit
RP: Freddy Peralta
RP: ottavino
RP: I just picked him randomly last pick: Scott Barlow
Bench: James Paxton, dustin May, eovaldi, Marcus stroman, John means , wainwright
Available players in comparison to the bench or lower end bats or pitchers:
Bats: buster posey, Adam Frazier (2b/OF), wander Franco, Jonathan India, Tyler O’Neil
SP: Carlos Martinez , Brady singer , kikuchi, Thor as an IL stash?, Kyle Gibson , bumgarner, Mike minor
RP: Peter Fairbanks, Ian Kennedy , Matt bush, AJ puk
Thanks man I’m looking forward to all of your write ups this season like in years past, I may throw in some R Kelly lyrics to you from time to time !
How many teams?
10 teamer family league
Your hitting is awesome, stacked, I love it…It’s a shallow league, so you’re gonna need to work waivers anyway…You have 2 aces and a stacked bench, so yeah, solid team!
Singer over Wainwright, but stash Noah first — Fairbanks over Barlow
Thanks man as always! It’s a weekly lock league how would you gauge ohtani being weekly not daily ? I kinda want to start him at utility now that he has a blister maybe he will miss a start ? Looks like the angels want his bat in the lineup , quite the conundrum for me lol
Also I’m a diehard sox fan so I wanted a few sox players & definitely wanted Dalbec late & old pal benintendi in there too as well as Moncada
Gotcha
He kinda sucks in weekly…I’d just let him hit
Grey,
Love the team! I am simultaneously excited for the start of regular season games and bummed for the end of draft season.
Curious on your opinion about my logjam of pitching in one of my leagues. It’s a 5×5 roto keeper league. If Dolis doesn’t go on the IL to start the year I will have to drop someone to field a legal team. Who’s the drop? Alvarado? Maybe Bassitt?
Darvish
Nola
L. Castillo
Ryu
Elieser Hernandez (drafted for $4, could be kept in 2022 for $9)
Bassitt ($1, $6)
Dustin May ($1, $6)
Freddy Peralta ($5, $10)
Rafael Montero
Diego Castillo ($3, $8)
Pete Fairbanks ($1, $6)
Rafael Dolis ($5, $10)
Jose Alvarado ($1, $6)
Thanks! Alvarado
I’m still trying to shake off the possibility that I let Blair’s taking of Matt Olson right in front me affect the rest of my draft. I proceeded to panic pick, then spent the next 8 rounds trying to figure out who to get for 1B and when to take him. Then I remembered, I probably be dropping him anyway, so let’s get back to drafting Rafael Montero.
I always wanted to be an influencer, but my nature was just never photogenic.
Now I realize, I should have been a fantasy baseball draft influencer.
I’m in your head. Rent. Free.
:)
When I win, I will give you credit for the inadvertent assist!
Oh, hey, Blair
Haha, yeah, I think having Blair was a mistake too!
Always a fun draft, and I agree, everyone after about round 12 is expendable. Which is why closers go bonkers in any RCL where people know what’s up. When it comes to drafting a 5th OF you’ll drop when they leave Coors or a potential closer…we lean closers.
I’m still bitter I mis-clicked and drafted Alonso over Albies….could have been worse if we had alphabetical rankings though. This is what I get for having two RCL drafts at the same time.
I gotta give Truss props for knowing my draft strategy so well that he popped in my messages to be like, “You’re not here, and you’re autodrafting pitchers so it’s clear you don’t have a pre-set ranking…where are you?”
That’s the Commish Nobel Prize right there.
*Takes a bow*
No sweat, I look out for my people.
You were drafting another team at same time? Haha, Truss!
Another RCL draft started an hour before ‘Perts. I’m in so many that organizing drafts is a nightmare, haha
Haha, gotcha…That is tough
Grey,
11 team 6×6 keeper with ops and holds the extra categories. Daily moves.
Hitters: McCann, Alonso, Lux, Tatis, Machado, Lindor, Vlad, Acuna, Bellinger, Roberts, Lewis, Senzel, Baez
Bench: Bohm, Rojas
Pitchers: Bieber, Lynn, Luzardo, Mahle, Means, Civale, Garrett, Pagan, Gallegos, May
Would you trade Baez for Snell? I have Bohm on my bench I could move to my starting utility? Currently I can only play him if one of my SS/3b or Util don’t play. Thanks
Yes, Snell
prospect hunting season – dynasty league
I have the 2nd pick and these are my choices
Bobby Witt Jr
Jarred Kelenic – might be gone
Andrew Vaughn
number 1 question – Kelenic vs Vaughn – their numbers – are they going to be the same
except for steals am I right here –
should I wait for Witt – should I draft Vaug
=rJulio Rodriguez – do you think he comes up and if so do you like him
what to do what to do and thank you as always
Vaughn has Trey Mancini upside, the other guys add steals and have better potential IMO. I’d probably take Witt if you can wait a year for him or Vaughn for this year.
Kelenic, Witt, Vaughn
You must have a typo somewhere, I don’t see Bohm?
Zoinks, I knew I missed something integral to the team!
16 team H2H keeper league (6×6 K/9 QS), salaries increase $5/ yr.
My: Zach Plesac ($13)
His: Jordan Romano ($8), Daulton Jefferies ($1)
My current staff:
Guasman
C. Brunes
Plesac
Antone
Trevor Rodgers
Gregory Soto
Tanner Scott
Austin Gomber
Saves only and can keep 15 players per season with a budget of $300
Meh
Thats the feeling I am getting too, think I will hold Plesac SP seems harder to come by.
Thanks Dude!
No problem
I think I keep Cron on bench for the 4 day week 1? Or do you see anyone I should pull? While he gets Coors benefit, LAD rotation is tough.
1B – Alonso – 3 games @ WAS vs Cron’s 4
IF – Lux (Albies is my 2B) – In Coors for 4 games facing Rockies pitchers.
3B – Moncada – 4 games at Angles
DH – Bohm (Could shift to 3rd and bench Moncada) – 3 games in ATL
Cron in Coors over Moncada
Rank these starters for 5×5 12 team leagues for the start of the season:
Brad Keller
David Peterson
Yusei Kikuchi
Adbert Alzolay
Spencer Howard
Casey Mize
Daulton Jefferies
Kyle Gibson
Thank you!
https://razzball.com/2021-fantasy-baseball-rankings/
Sir Grey – Love the write ups, and I’m so ready for the season to begin. Would appreciate your quick thoughts on this team.
16 team, H2H, 6×6 with OPS and BB allowed as the extra categories. Each team is allowed 3 keepers, that can be kept for 3 years. With so many teams and keepers, top guys go for insane prices. Acuna, Betts, Bellinger, Harper, Freeman, Yelich all were over $70. A few pitchers went for over $50! Nuts.
C Christian Vazquez Bos, $5
1b Jose Abreu ChW, $29 (K)
2b Max Muncy LAD, $28
SS Adalberto Mondesi KC, $19 (K)
3b Ke’Bryan Hayes Pit, $12
OF Luis Robert ChW, $36
OF Charlie Blackmon Col, $32
OF Alex Verdugo Bos, $11
UT J.D. Davis NYM, $4
BN Austin Hays Bal, $5
BN Franchy Cordero Bos, $3
SP Luis Castillo Cin, $12 (K)
SP Sonny Gray Cin, $21
SP Kevin Gausman SF, $11
SP Chris Bassitt Oak, $4
SP Andrew Heaney LAA, $1
RP Alex Colome Min, $7
RP Matt Barnes Bos, $8
RP Rafael Montero Sea, $11
RP Matt Bush Tex, $1
Thanks!
Thanks!
You look solid on pitching, you look like you need another SP tho, and one less RP…Bush prolly should become an SP, but can hold for now…I like the hitting, but you look low on power and high on speed…Hays is totally unnecessary…Forget what I said on Bush, drop Hays for an SP
Being H2H, I’ll probably end up dropping Hays or Bush if I need a SP for the matchup. If Bush isn’t getting saves, he won’t be helpful. I have some hope for a Hays breakout, but that might be pie-in-the-sky preseason thinking.
Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate the great work from you, Rudy, and the full team here at Razzball!
No problem
Grey,
So my cherry was officially popped. I participated in my first roto scoring league, mixed 8 team H2H. Scoring: R, HR, RBI, SB, BA; K, W, SV, WHIP, ERA. Teams are pretty stacked. Daily transaction league – up to 7 per week – which I feel I’ll hate because it will require a lot of work. I feel I’m light on BA, ERA and maybe WHIP. I appreciate your advice.
C-McCann
1B-Olson
2B-Biggio
3B-Moncado
SS-Story
MI-Bichette
CI-Chapman
OF-Soto
OF-Harper
OF-L. Robert
OF-D. Moore
OF-Santander
UTI-T. Anderson
Bench: Y. Alvarez, M. Semien, J. Donaldson, H. Dozier
P-Nola
P-Lynn
P-Lamet
P-Bundy
P-Gausman
P-Means
P-Rodriguez
P-Montero
P-Colome
Notable Pitchers available: P-Keuchel, Stroman, Paxton, Civale, Mahle, E. Hernandez, Bassitt
Notable Hitters available: Santana, Lux, Fletcher, Cronenworth, la Stella,
Your team looks solid, don’t love Lamet, but that’s a small issue — I think your hitting is solid, but low on AVG, which could hurt counting stats…Solid team tho…Stroman over Dozier…
Gonna bother you with a team review. It’s a 14 team Dynasty 6×6 h2h OBP and QS league with SVs and Holds as separate categories. I’ll have a few spots to fill due to injuries going into the season so let me know where you think I’m weak if you can!
C: Realmuto
1B: Alonso
2B: Marte
3B: Biggio
SS: Anderson
OF: Conforto, Lewis, Franmil
UTL: A Gimenez
Bench: Carlson, Tapia, Willi Castro, Nimmo, Rowdy, Andujar
SP: Maeda, Plesac, Glasnow, Lopez, Eflin, Means, Peterson, Logan Allen
RP: Garrett, A Bradley, Tanner Scott, Rainey, V Gonzalez, Graterol
Appreciate the help!
Your pitching looks decent, but falls off a cliff pretty fast, and I don’t trust Glasnow…Hitting is fine, but looks weak on power — Marte, Biggio, Anderson, Andres…Better hope you get big power from Alonso and Franmil…
Small issue, Andujar seems like a waste of bench space…
Thank you! Appreciate the critical analysis.
Worth picking up Naylor or Franchy to maybe help in the power department?
I know I got burned on later pitching…hoping to find a gem on the waiver wire or make a trade if necessary
Andujar is a farm system holdover I just can’t let go of. I can keep him for free for another year. Hoping he starts in the minors or on the IL so he doesn’t take up a roster spot but fair point he’s not worth it.
Gotcha…No problem…I’d go Naylor
SAGNOF is your brand, and it worked great. Managers played along.
But, now is different. Hader or Chapman or chase save stats, man.
Yeah, might be
Love the draft strategy.
Can you elaborate on your thought process when drafting those last 3 relievers on your bench?
And do you value Josh Staumont more than any of them?
Grabbing some guys who might sneak into saves, and if they don’t, they can provide help with Ks and ratios
Remind me again what is SAGNOF?
SAVES ‘AINT GOT NO FACE
(also works for STEALS ‘AINT GOT NO FACE)
The motto for not drafting a top closer, because of the volatility of the position and saves can be found on the FA list frequently throughout the year.
Good morning Grey,
My league is a Standard 12-team H2H 7×7:
R, H, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OPS and W, SV, H, K, ERA, WHIP, QS
I’d appreciate your thoughts on this draft. Should I look to make a trade or FA move?
C McCann
1B B. Lowe
2B Muncy
3B Arenado
SS T. Turner
OF Castellanos
Lewis
Nimmo
Util Olson
Dozier
BN W. Castro
A. Riley
Kelenic
Kirlloff
SP Bieber
Castillo
Ryu
Luzardo
Alcantara
Civale
Trevor Rogers
Dunning
RP Pressley
Fairbanks
Pomeranz
FA Available:
Bats: Grichuck, Dubon, Candelario, W. Franco, Chisholm, India, Josh Rojas, Slater, A. Dickerson
SP: Antone, Kikuchi, Skubal, F. Valdez, Alzolay, D. Cease, Webb
RP: Staumont, Wittgren, Barlow
Thanks for your help and all that you do for us!
How many teams?
Sorry, Vrugg, I see you wrote 12 teams…
Team looks solid! Pitching and hitting look solid, not much to complain about, maybe a tad low on AVG on hitting….Dubon can help there, but not worth grabbing him yet… I’d stash Framber over Castro, then when you IL Framber, you can pick up someone else
Thanks, Grey.
No problem
Quick one, does anyone know why Houston is holding off placing Framber Valdez on the Injured List (IL). I am eying someone on waivers and need the roster spot being filled by Valdez.
No idea
Grey,
Thanks for your sage advice, as always! I was hoping to get your take on my roster for a 12 team, 5×5 with OBP and SV/HLD:
C. Sean Murphy
1B. Andrew Vaughn
2B. Brandon Lowe
SS. Tim Anderson
3B. Matt Chapman
OF. Betts, Bellinger, Harper
UTIL. Kyle Lewis
BENCH. Dylan Moore, Wander Franco (keeper stash)
SP. Snell, Ryu, Paddack, Montas, Taillon, Soroka, Sale (DL)
RP. Romano, Fairbanks, Staumont, Rainey
Someone is interested in Lowe and I’ve asked for Woodruff. Should I add someone else to the deal, or stand pat with my team as-is?
You don’t need Woodruff — You need Lowe to do well… Or you might need a better 1B…Tho, I like the flyer of Vaughn, you look low on AVG, and solid on power and speed…Solid looking pitching too…I like the team, stand pat for now
Thanks Grey… I’ll heed the advice!
No problem
Almighty Grey. Oh captain, my captain. Need that special blend of expert advice on my squad if you got the time.
10-team 7×7 keeper league with OPS and Ks on both sides.
C: McCann
1B: Alonso
2B: Moustakas (barf)
3B: Chapman
SS: Semien (barf)
OF: Yelich
OF: Bellinger
OF: Harper
UTL: Moncada
SP: Giolito
SP: Woodruff
SP: Lynn
SP: Kershaw
SP: Lamet
SP: Civale
RP: Diaz
RP: Pressly
RP: W. Smith
B: Laureano
B: Lewis
B: Buxton
So… trash in a 10-teamer? Anything I should focus on picking up?
Thank you so much kind sir!
You got more barf below your other barf…You have way too much pitching, and it’s hurt your hitting…You don’t need 4 aces, your team is solid on OPS, but might hit .250, which is gonna hurt runs, RBIs and Ks
India, Tellez, Renfroe or Kiner-Falafel to start the season at UTIL?
Depends on matchups…Renfroe prolly
Contracts league, rather have
Huira ( – 2026) & Plesac ( -2026)
or
Meadows (-2024) & K. Hendrick (-2022)
Neither? Keston
Hey Grey,
Just had my 12 team keeper draft and it was a weird one. My league does OBP and AVG as separate categories, and also Saves and Holds. Made a couple picks I didn’t expect but wanted some feedback to see areas to work on and explore via trade. My keepers going into draft was Lindor, Trea, Arenado, Gresham, and Julio Rodriguez.
C – S. Murphy
1b – Olson
2b – Merriefield
3b – Arenado
SS – Trea Turner
OF (3) – Happ, Hicks, Tapia
Utility (2) – Lindor, CJ Cron
Bench/Injured/NA – Trent Grisham, Kelenic, Nimmo, Julio Rod, CJ Abrams
SPs – Bieber, Bundy, Gausman, Heaney, Eleiser Hernandez, Freddy Peralta, Eflin
RP: Romano, Kimberly, Neris, Bummer
I like the team, solid hitting and pitching…I think you might be a little weak on power…Whit and Trea seems too much speed and not enough power — Olson and Arenado could fix it…You’re imbalanced on hitting…Speed here and power there, but not much overlap
Just asked about my roster above but I’m also wondering how you would prioritize these waiver adds since I have NA and injuries which would allow a few adds (we have Saves and Holds as separate categories and average and OBP as separate categories): Treinen, Renfroe, Bryan Reynolds, Dane Dunning, Austin Hays
You should ask on your team, so I can see what you’re adding these guys to
It’s the team right in the comment above but here it is
C – S. Murphy
1b – Olson
2b – Merriefield
3b – Arenado
SS – Trea Turner
OF (3) – Happ, Hicks, Tapia
Utility (2) – Lindor, CJ Cron
Bench/Injured/NA – Trent Grisham, Kelenic, Nimmo, Julio Rod, CJ Abrams
SPs – Bieber, Bundy, Gausman, Heaney, Eleiser Hernandez, Freddy Peralta, Eflin
RP: Romano, Kimberly, Neris, Bummer
Renfroe, Dane Dunning, Austin Hays
As always, great breakdowns and content! Really enjoying the podcast! Keep up the great work! I know closers and saved are a S***show with all the committees. However, if you had to choose two of these three at the start of the season, who would you choose between Jordan Hicks, Will Smith or Jordan Romano? Thanks again!
Thanks! Smith, Romano
16-team, H2H-Points League (SB=3)
Need an injury replacement bat for the first couple of weeks. Who do you like?
Rowdy Tellez
Randel Grichuck
Willy Adames
Evan White
Hunter Renfroe
Josh Naylor
Kevin Newman
THANKS
Naylor
Hey Grey,
I was proposed Machado and Corey Seager for Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson in a 12 team 5×5 redraft league.
What’s the move?
Thanks.
Jo-Ram side
Great work as always, thank you for all that you do.
Who should we roll the dice who might get hot week#1?
Pick 1: Yastremski, Bohm, Pham, Mancini, Cron
Better shot at running with closer roll: Gallegos or Kennedy?
Thanks!!
No problem!
Bohm
Gallegos
Hey Grey – finished up my final draft a 12 team 5×5. 1st time owning Treat (went with him over Story at #6) & Chaz Noir! Also happy to report I own Freddy P in 3/3 leagues this year!
C – Kiner-Falefa
1B – Alonso
2B – Moore
3B – Devers
SS – Treat
OF – Bellinger, Blackmon, Franmil
Util – Olson, Solak
Bn – Taveras, Hampson
SP – Lynn, Luzardo, Urias, Bassitt, Alcantara, Peralta, Pearson
RP – Hader, Castillo, Neris, Rogers
Freddy! It’s going to be glorious, let’s enjoy the ride, whee! (Before it falls off tracks by 2nd week) — Your hitting looks great, I wouldn’t change anything, and same with your pitching…If I had to nitpick, you look low on AVG
Hey Grey,
Riley over Bryant at 3 rd base?
Dobnak or Logan Webb over JA Happ?
Thanks
Yes
Webb
16 team yahoo auction league H2H 6×6 OBP instead of BA, slg %
C- Austin Nola (IL)
1b- Jared Walsh, Austin Slater
2b- Mauricio Dubon, Chris Owings
3b- Hunter Dozier
Ss- Trevor Story, Bo Bichette
OF (3)- Ronald Acuna, Bryce Harper, Austin Hays, Alex Dickerson, Hunter Renfroe
SP (2) Zach Eflin, Tyler Mahle, John Means, Ryan Yarbrough, Elieser Hernandez, Trevor Rogers, Daulton Jefferies, Jordan Montgomery, Kwang Kim (IL)
RP (2) Jordan Romano, Emilio Pagan, Nick Wittgren
P (4)
5 spot bench
General thoughts? Obviously my pitchers have no real ace lots of lottery tickets basically. Really hoping I can trim a few breakouts and cut the fat for general stream spots. RPS usually play well so i end up carrying 4-5 for ratios cause losses are a cat which hurts sps. But I figure those guys out as the season gos. Wasn’t worried about covering C spot while Nola was gone so I can speculate on breakout with that roster spot
Jameson Taillon was cut easily hugest percentage guy on waivers. Any clear add/drops for you?
Jameson Taillon, Adbert Alzolay, Tanner Houck
Luis Arraez (2b 3b of), Christian Pache, Akil Baddoo
Josh Staumont, David Bednar, Lucas Sims
Hugest percentage hahaha how silly sounding
Had hoerner for infield depth… Bote a play?
Think you’re being a little generous with your pitching, it’s not good…I like the guys you have, but they’re risky…Your hitting should be much better with that pitching…Why did you go two big OFs and not a corner man?
Dickerson a starter? If not, lose him for Taillon
Dickerson I just grabbed cause he was the only guy from like the top 100-150 last year not being rostered. Was hoping Hays could cover the 3rd stater spot. Yeah like I said I think in my league I really only need 3 or 4 starters to pop. I missed on getting the Sonny Grey level guy I usually get. I try to have enough rps to fill out all my pitching spots if I don’t have a start as the season goes on and I typically have a light pitching staff but definitely more light then usual this year. I missed out on Olsen and kind of panicked at the corners TBH and played up maybe a hit too high in a bid far for BO. I wanted to split my Harper buy into 2 lesser guys as ge qas the last of my big 4 but he his value was way to good to let go. Elites were in the early 70s top 10ish, next tier 60s, got Harper for $46 but that did lock me up for a long while.
Felt good to get both Bo and Harper though so IDK. Acuna went for less then Trout, Soto, Tatis, Betts, Yelich, and like 3 or 4 more then belly We have daily moves so I’m always on waivers either for Streams or early season breakouts. I don’t find value in rostering floor guys unless they are multi position because churn. Also early season feel like bunch of guys work out of the scene in 2020 and this new season we haven’t seen some guys for 2 years and more guys will come from the depths to be prominent then usual. Long time reader appreciate the thoughts. Renfroe vs Frenchy Cordero low stakes hold who you like
No problem! That all makes sense…Renfroe
That’s a funk azz infield. Looks like you spent all your money on 4 players.
Yeah I mean sure to put it simply. Tried to put emphasis on multi position guys that I can move and looking for returns on $1 bids so very easy to move on. Dozier is 1b/3b/of, Dubon 2b/ss/of, Slater 1b/of, Nola tobal lesser extent but C/1b/2b. Owings no one really believes in but having as part time to stick anywhere last year had some value, maybe more in theory. But Owings 2b/3b/ss/of
I read alot if not all of your comments I know you are a smart guy but the shtick is a little heavy.
Schtick? I didn’t know being acerbic and critical was a schtick. I just thought it was my personality!
So it’s your personality to pop on a random comment thread and not really further a conversation at all. You didn’t actually offer any information of value, or any information at all. Paired with your general condescending tone certainly makes it seems like all you were offering was a schtick, yes. I know you like to troll bad comments so you feel like Grey doesn’t have to be mean to dumb or repetitive questions. That’s cool.
Ah, that escalated quickly….now I’m a d*ck just here for mic drops. You asked for a general opinion. My opinion is that your infield is funky because you have 4 part time players there. I will refrain from responding to your posts if I can’t offer solutions to your problems.
Maybe if I quote xwOBA or something you won’t be a dick and try to just get mic drop one liners off
Grey! I’m getting jealous seeing all of the analysis of teams from the Fantasy Master Lothario. I want to get in on the action.
10 Team H2H Categories, 6 Keepers (can keep twice, one round increase each year)
Hitting: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OPS
Pitching: K, QS, W, L, SV, ERA, WHIP
C – Sean Murphy (25)
C – Omar Narvaez (29)
1B – Vlad Jr (28 Keeper)
2B – Keston (30 Keeper)
3B – Moncada (4)
SS – Story (1)
MI – Mondesi (3)
CI – Ke’Bryan Hayes (7)
IF – Mike Moustakas (10)
LF – Yelich (2)
CF – Leody Taveras (22)
RF – Dylan Moore (15)
OF – Soto (11 Keeper)
OF – Nick Solak (17)
OF – Clint Frazier (23)
UTIL – Ohtani (12 Keeper)
UTIL – Yordan (13 Keeper)
BN – Kelenic (14)
BN – Jorge Polanco (24)
BN – Bobby Witt (27)
BN – Rowdy Tellez (33)
IL – Eloy (21)
SP – Snell (16 Keeper)
SP – Kenta Maeda (5)
SP – Luzardo (6)
SP – Pablo Lopez (9)
SP – Bassitt (18)
RP – Hader (8)
RP – Devin Williams (19)
RP – Alex Reyes (31)
RP – Yimi Garcia (32)
P – Tyler Mahle (20)
P – Skubal (26)
Ohtani is eligible to pitch
I have one bench spot dedicated to streaming as well.
Thoughts?
Thanks for all that you do for us fantasy baseballers (<— your mom's term)!
Haha, my mom’s!
Pitching looks solid, doesn’t hurt you have two aces and a top RP…Hittign look decent, no real complaints, but this is a shallow league so you’re gonna need to work waivers
Hey Grey
12 Team Roto
Would you rather take Snell in the 4th round as your first starter or take another bat in the 4th and then take Ryu as your first starter in the 5th?
Ryu is fine
Stassi or Alfaro at C? Forgive me I didn’t look at the rankings, not high on Alfaro
Stassi
Twins @ Milwaukee, you benching Cruz? Though my mind still registers the Brewers as an AL club they aren’t and have no DH.
Deep league, only options on my bench are J Iglesias 4 at home vs CHISOX
or G Cooper 3 at Home vs TB
thanks
Iglesias
Also have Grisham but hes officially DL right?
He is
Need to drop one (league that counts saves)
Wittgren
Pomeranz
Ottavino
Gallegos
Pom, Gallegos, Ottavino — tho, maybe that changes with Wiitgren, I haven’t heard anything on him
Tito says a 3 way committee between he and Clase and Karinchak. I think I saw that last night.
I think that Gallegos is the drop here… more high upside guys in that Cards pen than on Red Sox.
For transparency, have a lot of Ottavino, Jordan Hicks shares. A couple Wittren and Pom. And zero Gallegos shares. So many I’m just rooting for myself to be correct.
Haha, so terrible to not give Karinchak the job
Random other bullpen thoughts from Team NUX.
I like Soto for the Tigers Saves. But Derek Holland should be on your watch list. I don’t think its crazy to see him possibly thrive in April and get the role so they can trade him a few months later.
I’m on Crick for the first Pirates saves, over RichRod.
Neris loses that job and Archie/Alvarado get a chance. But I’m hopeful (for dynasty reasons) that Brodgon is getting Saves by the end of the year.
Barnes gets first shot, then Ottavino, but by ASG its Sawamura
It will take both Hand and Daniel Hudson blowing saves, but eventually Rainey gets the job late this year and he is finally given the chance to be long term closer this time next year. If true, he could be Top 10 guy when we are drafting next year. I don’t think this is all that bold.
Its Bukauskas, within a month or two for the Snakes Saves. Get him now in deep/dynasty if you can.
Crick would suck, man…Not cool
Neris just sucks
Barnes is the closer, and that ends poorly
Bukkake you say?
Yes.
To all of that, lol
Barnes call is just the vibe I’m getting, not official by any means
I couldn’t find news on the Indians’ pen either
just best player available …. 2nd/ss.. leaning towards AVG. , then steals
Jorge Polanco, La Stella, Andres Gimenez, Jake Cronenworth, Cesar Hernandez
Thank you!
Gimenez should be owned
10-tm H2H Cats league with 3 keepers & OPS added cat. See any glaring weaknesses?
We start 3 OF and 5 SP with 2RP each week:
C- Vazquez
1B- Freeman (K)
2B- Moustakis
3B- Devers
SS- Tatis (K)
OF- Betts (K), Blackmon, Rosario, Pham, Winker
DH- Franmil
SP- Flaherty, Berrios, Ryu, S Gray, Eflin, Bassitt, Heaney, Stroman
RP- Pressly, Garrett, McGee
Would you recommend dropping any of the above RP for Pagan or Barnes or Bard?
Thanks for the great content!
Not especially, I think you’re weak on power potentially and Pham’s kinda whatever, but it’s a solid team, I’m being harsh…Pitching is stacked — Bard over McGee
Thanks for being real!
No problem
OK man I did it! The draft is done time to whip it out and slap it down on the razz forums…
MMMMMM!
Strategy time!!!!! This league is a weekly 5×5 h2h with OBP and net svs/holds. They added 4 IL slots (extra for covid) and a 6 player bench! I used Rudy’s OBP rankings for hitters and ur pitching guide for this draft. My strategy was get my hitting done ASAP and punt SB most likely. I also tried to draft as many top upside arms as possible to take advantage of the extra IL and bench slots and save drafting RP till the end. OK time to flex!!!
C – NOOOOBODY! uhhh ya so I don’t have one right now woops! Have to wait for waivers to grab LOL
1st – Cody Bellinger (2) – I DID IT GRAY… the Dream yelich + belly hazaa!
2nd – Max Muncy (7)
SS- Corey Meager (3) – sorry bro last stop in top lvl SS land gonna ride the hype train!!
3rd – Rafael Devers (4)- named after a great ninja turtle I could have gone woodruff here but nah
OF – Christian Yelich (1)
OF – Yordan Alvarez (5)
OF – Joey Gallo (9)
UT – Franmil Reyes (10)
UT – Josh Donaldson (12)
BN – Schwarber (18)
SP – Hyun Jin Ryu (6) Good call on not waiting till 7th wouldn’t have been there!
SP – Sonny Gray (8) maybe I could have waited another round but I like Grays ;)
RP – Amir Garret (15)
RP – Trevor May (21)
P – Jesus Luzardo (11)
P- Sandy Alcantara (13)
P – Sixto Sanchez (14) – can just stash on bench until rdy being a weekly league
P – Freddy Paralta (17)
BN/IL – Chris Sale (16), Noah Syndergaard (19), Nathan Eovaldi (20), Chad Green (22), Tyler Duffey (23), Nate Pearson #24.
With my other slots after I IR I’m just gonna grab more Tejay Antone (mmm sagnof) / Montgomery… gotta stock those high strikeout RP!
Thank you guys for the help :)
How many teams?
12 sir woops!
12 sir woops!
Looks great, Rudy did you right…I think you’re a bit low on speed tho, right? Do you have any speed? Pitching looks solid…Not much to complain about, Shitwolf
I ended up just punting SB. The SB guys all got drafter early and no real deals to be had on any of them. I figured if I just stack sluggers + OBP I could take 4/5 cats every week (this is the plan anyway haha). I asked Rudy about that strategy after his Tout wars draft and he was very helpful.
Not caring about ADP was also super helpful in reaching for Muncy/Gallo who in past years I lost out on who shine in this format.
Speaking of that you bring up a good point that it is really odd that our brains get so caught up on rankings when every year players from early ranks get injured/bust and guys ranked higher up break out and become studs. Then you fantasy perts get ranked on your rankings! It is a RANKSTRAVAGANZA!!
Is there a razz word for being too obsessed about rankings?
Haha — You’re a rankoeur
Feels a bit silly asking advice for a 10-team mixed league where every roster is fairly loaded, but how does this look at the moment, and would you consider adding Garrett, Pagan, or R Rodriguez instead of Hicks or Neris?
C – J McCann
1B – Bell
2B – Moore
3B – Ramirez
SS – Bichette
CI – Bohm
MI – Swanson
OF – Bellinger
OF – Conforto
OF – Arozarena
OF – O’Neill
UTIL – Edman
UTIL – France
Bench – Cronenworth, Grisham (IL)
SP – Flaherty
SP – Bundy
P – Gausman
P – Bassitt
P – Taillon
P – Hicks
RP – Iglesias
RP – Neris
Bench – Gallen (until IL), Ray, Jefferies, German
Thanks!
Yeah, it’s hard to tell with a ten teamer…It doesn’t jump out as a mess, I think you’re low on pitching, but Gallen injury would do that…I think you need another SP, maybe once your guys are IL’d…Your hitting looks solid
My thoughts as well, thanks! I’ll just have to monitor the first few weeks and see which low-ownership SP are standing out, since it feels like a crapshoot between German, Jefferies, Ray, and the available names (Davies, Montgomery, Allen, Skubal, Cease, Bumgarner, Wainwright, Antone….)
Yup!
For additional context: 10t mixed, h2h categories (each), standard 5×5
Hey Gray! Any thoughts on my team? 10 team league. Appreciate any feedback!
Hitters:
C – Christian Vazquez
1B- Cody Bellinger
2B- Max Muncy
3B- Yoan Moncada
SS- Trevor Story
2B/SS- Jorge Polanco
1B/3B – Matt Olson
OF – Luis Robert
OF – Dylan Moore
OF – Ryan Mountcastle
DH – Yordan Alvarez
BENCH
OF – Kyle Lewis
SP
Kevin Gausman
Chris Bassitt
Blake Snell
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Sonny Gray
Dinelson Lamet
James Paxton
RP
James Karinchak
Devin Williams
Alex Reyes
Trevor May
Hey Grey. You like Carrasco or Luzardo more this year in 5×5 roto? Thanks.
Luzardo
Hey Grey
can you pick 2 SP from the list and 1 RP
Carlos Rodon
Carlos Martinez
Ryan Yarbrough
Dylan Cease
Madison Bumgarner
RP
Hector Neris
Lucas Sims
Stefan Crichton
Mychal Givens
Thanks
Neris, Yarbrough
Agree on Yarb. And for 2nd SP, I’d prob try CarMart. But bench and see… and be ready to pull the plug in April.
Could see Cease instead. People have been really excited about his Spring and the possibility of him to “pull a low-key Giolito” this year
Cease, yeah
is there another SP from the list you would add
Thanks
Sorry I missed your comments
thanks guys
No problem
Do you have a link to the ‘Perts league draft results? I’m curious to see it in all its glory.
Maybe Truss does, ask him in his post from yesterday
Maybe. Of course he does. He’s just too busy working to destroy me in the leagues we’re together to share it. Ok.ok, it doesn’t take that much work.
Haha
Thanks Grey! Have a guy asking about acquiring my Kelenic in shallow OBP keeper league. He gave me a choice of T Anderson, Gleyber, or Baez. Hold? Ask for more pieces with one of them?
Anderson
Happy Opening Day Eve! I like that team a lot, looks a lot like the last one I just drafted after I was borderline unhappy with a couple.
This is a 12 team redraft H2H 5×5.
4 roster moves allowed per week.
C McCann
1 Bohm (missed Olson by one pick dang it)
2 Dylan Moore
3 Jose Ramirez
SS Story
IF Tim Anderson
Of Conforto
Of Laureano
Of Gurriel JR.
U Arenado
BN Mountcastle
BN Clint Frazier
BN Josh Bell
BN Vaughn
SP Pomeranz
SP TJ Antone
RP Hader
RP Liam Hendricks
P Romano
P Bass
P Richard Rodriguez
BN Archie Bradley
BN Wittgren
BN Tanner Scott
What are your thoughts on this strategy in this type of league. I’ll get rid of a couple of these bench bats once I see how things are going and swap a reliever or two out for some starters and stream some with my 4 weekly transactions against some opponents that don’t have strong pitching.
Thanks for all the hard work this winter, I really enjoy your writings and podcasts.
Thanks! Hitting looks stacked, the bench bats are really good, but you need starters, this isn’t great…You can’t compete without starters, you’re gonna get killed
I understand where you’re coming from, I used to draft starters in these H2H formats and it was great winning 8, 9, or sometimes 10 categories every week because the team was balanced but every year as soon as the H2H playoffs would start (the last 2 weeks of the real season) over half my starters would be skipped, shut down etc. and they were useless when I needed them the most. This year I believe it will be even worse.
I believe most weeks with the way this lineup is constructed I will win 7 or 8 categories and not have any of my high draft picks wasted for the playoffs. I think we will all be streaming heavy August and September.
Could crash and burn but we will see!
Wish you good luck! You have no room for error
Need to add a piece to a trade, buddy wants Santander or Verdugo who would you hold? Or should I flip a coin? Got a pretty balanced team with no gaping statistical holes just hoping to keep the better player
Thanks! Love the content
Verdugo
Any thoughts to any “I have kids and every streaming service but I also want to support your patreon” deals where you get like 3 months for 20$ type promotkons?
You guys deserve money, help be rationalize it in my putrid budget lol
Haha, you don’t have give $ if you’re hurting…It is only the price of one large grande Starbucks coffee per month, but….I kid… My Buy/Sell will be out on Friday, no sweat
Hey Grey! Any thoughts on my team? 10 team league. Appreciate any feedback!
Hitters:
C – Christian Vazquez
1B- Cody Bellinger
2B- Max Muncy
3B- Yoan Moncada
SS- Trevor Story
2B/SS- Jorge Polanco
1B/3B – Matt Olson
OF – Luis Robert
OF – Dylan Moore
OF – Ryan Mountcastle
DH – Yordan Alvarez
BENCH
OF – Kyle Lewis
SP
Kevin Gausman
Chris Bassitt
Blake Snell
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Sonny Gray
Dinelson Lamet
James Paxton
RP
James Karinchak
Devin Williams
Alex Reyes
Trevor May
Hitting looks stacked, love what you have there…Your pitching looks solid too, but I don’t love Lamet…Small issue, looks good tho, David!
Appreciate it!
btw, Andres Gimenez is out there… would you take out Polanco out for him?
thanks!
Yes
10 Team h2h OBP keeper league, so I do have guys you don’t like, but I got them when you did like most of them lol. Will try to move a lot of them in season. How does the roster look?
C: Perez
1B: hosmer
2B: Altuve
3b: Devers
SS: Machado
CI: Bohm
MI: Baez
OF; Arozarena, Gurriel Jr, Reyes, Frazier
Util: Cron
Bn: Riley
SP: Gray, Burnes, Lamet, Means, Bassitt, Marquez, McKenzie, Dunning, Taillon, EdRod, Trevor Rogers, Mize and Howard
Thanks!
You don’t seem to have many power studs for a 10-teamer. Machado, Devers…?
Yeahi feel ya. It’s a keeper league and one team has Trout, Acuna, Soto, Olson, joram and Suarez and he’s not open to trading any of them. Working on a trade for Abreu at the moment so that should help. We started the league 13 years ago and there’s never been a ton of turnover so makes it difficult to rebuild without stashing a ton of prospects.
True, depending on how many guys you keep, there may not be much to choose from in the draft.
It’s more a dynasty league. Average team keeps 20 out of 30 spots, plus we can keep 10 prospects for free as long as they have no reg season service time. So it’s been rough. Hopefully some of my prospects pan out (franco, rutschman are my top 2)
Mondesi on IL with oblique. Are you kidding me? Now?
I don’t understand how this could happen today
OMG NO NOT MONDESI. oblique strain day before opening day when he’s on all my teams lol
How does that happen?
And of course he’s already on the IL while guys who have had surgery this week aren’t.
Ha, I know
Did he sneeze in his sleep? Maybe he got a massage from Carlos Correa’s masseuse?
HA!
Sad face
Mondesi, Lewis, Voit, Sonny, Ray all on one NFBC OC team
Yeouch
F!
Ugh, it’s starting already
I took josh rojas in the last round of a 10 team mixed league since I was looking for sb and knew he’d play initially. He qualifies at 2b,of in yahoo. I have reserve OF and can play another guy at mi if needed as a backup. Would you rather hold rojas and see if there is something here or cut him and go with a boring segura who no longer runs like he used to for that reserve spot. Daily lineup. Thx
Meh, I’d try Rojas for now
So have we truly reached the Apocalypse post-2020? Scott White over at CBS Spurts is crowing about how he won Tout Wars last year with a SAGNOF approach (for saves, not SBs), and how he utilized it again for his draft this year with full confidence it will play to his advantage, and the Patron Saint of SAGNOF, one Grey Albright, is now backing away from SAGNOF and saying that maybe high bids for Chapman and Hader are worth it? What is the world coming to? Oh right, that Apocalypse thing.
To my mind, this is the year to double down on SAGNOF (again, for saves only–I think SBs are in such short supply, and are produced in high quantities by such a limited number of players, that it makes sense to pay for SBs). With so many bullpens in flux, doesn’t it make sense to avoid paying big for the big names, and instead spread a bunch of one dollar or late-round picks on guys who are in closers-by-committee and may win out, or who are setup guys for a shaky closer, in the hunt for a closer role? (Saving those dollars that could be spent on top closers for top hitters, maybe even SPs.) In my auction league, I took five guys like that with $1 bids or in the reserve draft, and if a couple of them pan out I’m golden (along with my high-risk pick of Jansen at $17) and either way I can keep playing the waiver wire all season–along with every other owner, yes, but all you need is one or maybe two guys to pan out on the waiver wire.
The reason why SAGNOF works so well for saves is that saves are more or less a set commodity: every team accrues saves, some player has to be credited with them on each team but who that player is will likely change substantially as the season goes on, so you can play the game of watching and predicting who will be that player will be and end up fine at the end of the season for the category of saves. In contrast, stolen bases are not a set commodity–if a team doesn’t have any speedsters and/or they have a manager who doesn’t like to run, there are no SBs to be had on that team. SBs actually _do_ have a face, while saves have a _team_, but no face.
So Grey, I don’t see why you would give up on SAGNOF for saves in this year, when to my mind SAGNOF holds such promise. Please, don’t let Scott White get the upper hand on this issue. That simply cannot be.
I said I need to watch this year and reevaluate, maybe, Rabbit, maybe…Not definitely…Thanks for your comment tho, I do agree…still…But I’m having my faith tested
I look at a major stipulation of the SAGNOF philosophy as being able to draft cheap closers who actually have a gig. Just like not paying a premium for an ace, you could compile 2 or 3 shitty closers later in the draft, but they’re actually closers going into the season. This year, there’s an extreme dearth of concrete closers. So all those grab bag relief pitchers you’re compiling, you don’t know if any of them are going to hit. And you’re weighing down your roster hoping that one does. But sure, if you already have one of those closers (Jansen), then you’re not fullblown SANOFing anyway.
Would you hold David Price in a 14 team league. I had my draft a few weeks ago; he was penciled in as a starter for me. I know he is starting in the pen, but there isn’t much available in FA. I still can’t believe he is in relief with that salary. I know may is in now, but do you think it will be fluid all year?
Yes, fluid
Grey,
Looks like ESPN weekly leagues are counting week 1 as Apr1st – Apr11th. Need your advice on which two of these guys I should start for this week.
Luzardo – Hou, LA
Urias – @Col, Was
May – @Oak, Was
Which two guys should I start?
Luzardo, May
Oh Great Grey,
need a hitter to fill last utility spot. Who ya got?
Yordy Alvarez
Eric Hosmer
Matt Olson
Olson
Would you still draft Mondesi in the 3rd round without knowing anything more about the severity of the injury than what we do now?
I reranked him for late drafts https://razzball.com/top-500-for-2021-fantasy-baseball/
Nerris or bass for saves
bass
Jonathon India officially the starting second baseman for the reds. Got him for $1 in my NL only league. I’m excited
Nice!
Grey, need a trade opinion in a points league. I’ve got Lindor and Tatis, and the Mondesi owner is asking for Lindor. Would you do Lindor/Sano for either Luis Robert/Matt Olson/Moustskas or Robert/LeMahieu, and if so which one would you prefer?
No
I’m going to go silver lining here on the Mondesi news as I have a couple of shares to replace. I’m going to find me a Chris Shelton (9 home runs in 13 games April 2006). Somebody who will end this season looking scrubby, but will look like Frankie Frisch all April and outproduce what Mondesi would have given me. I’m going to find that guy. It’s 12 team mixers in April. There are still MIs on the wire. I’m eyeballing Adam Frazier right now. Red hot spring, hitting at the top of the line up. I WILL NOT GO GENTLY!
Haha, that’s the attitude!
Team looks nice, couple SP pan out, you are money G!
Daily 5×5 redraft, could you love with making Luzardo and Sonny G your 1-2?I am picking #1 and want 4 hitters with my first 4 picks….
Thanks! I could love with making them my 1/2 if the league is shallow enough and you follow with strong SPs afterwards, but that is a weaker 1/2 combo than I’d prefer
Thanks! Gonna grab 1 SP at the 48/49 pick then, your the best man thanks!!
No problem
@Grey: weekly roto redraft. you ok dropping tejay for singer? tomato tomahto?
also, for sagnof, who do you like between bush, kennedy, wittgren, fairbanks and dolis?
thank you!
Yes
Bush
Bench bat – Hampson or India?
Hampson
Would you rather have France or India (the 2nd basemen, not the countries? 6×6 league with HR, SB, Runs, RBIs, Total Bases, and OBP.
Haha, France is likely much better…India has upside
Glad I have no Mondesi’s, but I am stuck with Springer. 10 day IL for now. Choices for OF bat are
Canha, Reyes, B. Anderson, or Hampson. Which stands out? No real needs, 12-team H2H categories.
Canha, unless that’s Franmil
No it’s Victor, thx Grey!
No problem
Oy Mondesi…
looking for a replacement for my Util spot: R H HR RBI K SB OBP SLG
choices: Tavares, J Polanco, Y Gurriel, J Rojas, Tapia, Straw
thinking Tapia….what do you think FML?
Tapia
Grey
Would you drop Pineda for either Cease, Yarbrough or Carlos Martinez
Thanks
Yarbrough
Nats just announced 5 positives, will impact Opening Day roster. So the fun begins…
Great
Will stink if they don’t tell us the names, have to wait for lineup to be posted
Yeah, totally
1 is a staff guy,so only 4 players.
True, but if those players are Scherzer, Brad Hand, Trea Turner and Juan Soto it makes a huge difference.
So Eloy is back at 5-6 months now? I held of dropping him outright when it was 4-5. Just wish the stupid Sox would IL him. My roster is basically frozen until they do.
Saw him getting dropped in a lot of my leagues, but you’re a keeper league right?
Nah, redraft. You suggested I dump him last week, but that shorter timeframe made me hang on to him.
Ah
I have this irrational fear that, if I drop him, someone else will scoop him up, and use him to beat me in the playoffs!
I hear ya, I’d wait a day and IL
Grey,
I am in a 12 team keeper and trying to decide realistically how competitive my team will be this year or if I should sell to some early aggressive buyers. Apart from not having anyone on my team would would be a first round pick, what do you think?
S Murphy
P Goldschmidt
M Muncy
M Moustakas
J Turner
T Anderson
M Semien
D Moore
S Marte
N Solak
G Springer
M Straw
T O’Neill
A Baddoo
L Castillo
M Fried
E Hernandez
D Dunning
D Jefferies
L Hendriks
J McGee
A Bass
J Soria
C Heuer
T Matzek
J Staumont
I also have Verlander on the IR, I could try to sell him to a rebuilder for some starter help.
Thanks!
Your pitching seems okay, if a little light, then it tails off into…I’m not sure…You’re missing arms….The hitting looks fine, if a bit reliant on old, janky vets…You look low on AVG and maybe power
Thanks Grey, yeah, I definitely need to add a starter or two. I will see what I can do this year, it’s less fun to rebuild from Day 1.
No problem
Sticking with John means over any of these?
Cease
Rodon
Rogers
I mean would you take any over means?
Yeah, for now
Points league question for you. I was offered Woodruff, Tim Anderson and Devin Williams for Lindor, Sonny Gray and Domingo German. We do get 3 points per hold, so Williams does have some value. Not sure what to expect from German, but looked pretty good this spring. Would you deal or hold?
Woodruff side seems solid
Would you trade Chris Sale for Jordan Romano in a keeper? Also, Anthony Bass or Hector Neris?
No and Bass
Hey Grey!
A. Who would you go with between Naylor and Straw in a points league?
B. Taillon or Trevor Rogers? Who’s got more upside and who’s got more downside?
C. Which side do you like better in this trade: L. Castillo for LeMahieu?
Naylor
Taillon
DJ
Grey is my pitching strong enough to move my Maeda for Ozuna
15 team keep 11 obp slg k/9 qs
1 Olson
2 Albies
3 K Seager
Ss tatis
Lf Canha
Cf S Marte
Rf Merrifield
U Tapia
Bn India
IR Mondesi
Sp Buehler Maeda Hendricks Gausman Eovaldi Yarbrough Rogers Dunnig
Rp Iglesias Fairbanks Chrichton
Yes
I have worked in a high traffic, public arena for 13 months now. I have also been responsible for keeping 75 or so employees safe plus thousands of possible contacts a week. Here are two of the things I’ve learned.
1. No matter how much you beg/educate/remind, not all employees will follow COVID rules.
2. In every instance, employees who ended up with COVID were the ones I knew weren’t following the rules.
COVID still a thing in baseball this year.
Yeah, not out of woods yet
It’s being reported that Kyle Lewis is out for a “couple of weeks” with a deep bone bruise.
To cover him for the next couple of weeks who would you choose:
Bryan Reynolds
Myles Straw
Josh Naylor
Taylor Trammell
What you need?
Naylor for Power, I love him
Straw for Speed
Reynolds for meh counting stats
Trammel for upside
Grey said I was light on speed the other day so I was leaning to Straw and Trammell but still trying to keep some of Lewis’s power numbers in Roto.
Going by Grey’s ranking Reynolds is the choice however
Trammell
Ugh, Naylor
Grey, Lewis on DL
Whos the pick up
ONeil or Naylor?
Coin flip, Naylor
How would you rank (top 3) of these starters: L Webb, Mize, Jefferes, Smyly, Cease, Rodon and Cmart?
Thanks!
https://razzball.com/top-500-for-2021-fantasy-baseball/
Grey,
I have another question but instead of adding onto my previous post, because it is a different team, I’ll ask here:
Nobody drafted Sale and Syndeeguaard.
Should I pick either up and IL them as I have 2 open spots?
I have the 3rd claim, should I use it or wait hoping nobody picks them up? I mean during a season a claim can come in handy but based off of past experiences I tend to sit on high claims which is not no use.
Thank you.
Use it, and stash them
Thanks!! Will do.
I am doing P1 Noah P2 Sale via your rankings recommendation and common sense via recovery timeframe.
No problem
So today I lost Mondesi and I think Sonny Gray is going to the IL also? So I have a couple of empty spots in my team at the moment and I think I will play Andres Gimenez instead of Mondesi for now. So, I will try to bring a couple of pitchers. Using your rankings, you have:
Jordan Montgomery
Brady Singer
Dane Dunning
Triston McKenzie
* Which ones would be your 2 picks as of today?
* Out of the 4, who has the highest upside? McKenzie?
Thanks
That order works for me — Triston has highest upside, yeah
14T OBP
I’ve punted C and curious if you’d rather Jansen or Astudillo?
Sorry for the C question before the season even starts.
Would you rather O’Neill, India or Dahl for fill-in UTIL?
Happy opening day tomorrow.
Thanks Grey
Jansen
O’Neill
Thanks, Steve! You too!
How is Vaughn not starting on Opening Day??? Smh damn La Russa
Haha, welcome to Tony Ball
Happy Opening Day Eve!
Start tomm
Madbum @ Slam Diego
Cueto @ Seattle
I wouldn’t own either — Happy Opening Day!
Not owning, streaming
Grey, just finished my other 12 team roto draft
Please critique for me and tell me how u think i did?
C-Kelly
1B-Olsen
2B-Solak
SS-Bichette
3B-Devers
MI-Swanson
CI-Croneworth
OF-Acuna
OF-Castellanos
OF-Lewis
OF-Santander
OF-Taveras
Util-Alvarez
Bn-Wong(can move guys around while Lewis is out)
SP-Castillo
SP-Ryu
SP-Gray
SP-Gausman
CL-McGee
CL-Montero
CL-Bass
CL-Bush
CL-Kennedy
CL-Gallagos
Waivers question for tonight is there a big difference between Bryan Reynolds Corey Dickerson Alex Dickerson Tyler O’Neil Victor Reyes ? I have Bryan Reynolds thinking of cutting to stash syndergaard and then reclaiming my fifth outfielder on Sunday.. Would you recommend cutting Reynolds and risk losing him to another team to stash syndergaard? We have 3 il spots
I would and add O neil
Which two sit on opening day? Flaherty, Gausman, Ryu, Bundy or Means?
Welcome back, Razzballers!! Cheers to a fun season ahead, Grey
Grey, need a trade opinion in a points league. I’ve got 2 stud SS but am short in the OF. Would you trade Lindor for Roberts and Yordan? A bit of a drop in points per game from Lindor to Roberts potentially, but hopeful that Yordan could make up the difference even though he’s utility only
I would
C’mon Mondi!! Stay healthy!
With Mondesi on the DL, I can move either Jorge Polanco, Paul DeJong, or Andres Gimenez to my MI spot. (12-team 5×5 roto – HR, RBI, SB, R, and OBP) and have 6 OF for 5 spots (F.Reyes clogs up my U) so who is the odd man out? Acuna, Edman, A.Hays, D.Moore, Solak, and Pache.
I’m thinking start Polanco at MI and Pache rides the bench Week 1.