Just like the title says, the table is set, the forks and spoons are in their right place, and hopefully there’s food ready to go. But in terms of the RCL universe (because I’m hungry and I might end up writing 700 words about food and then eating my monitor), the league has taken shape. And when I say league, I mean league, not leagues. Because ef pluralization…I mean, what has it ever done for me? Actually, it’s done a lot, but at this point, I have no idea what I’m talking about. But you have to remember, this is one complete universal league. The Milky Way of Fantasy Baseball if you will, including Mike Trout, Saturn, and of course, Uranus. Don’t roll your eyes, you knew it was coming. I only mention this (not Uranus) because as teams fall out of contention, owners begin to pay less and less attention to their roster, and soon, you’ll have a 12-team league that feels like a 3-team league. This is actually quite common in free-to-play leagues and perfectly normal, so don’t feel scorned. Those owners aren’t there to entertain you, only themselves. I mean, that’s why I write, it’s only to entertain myself. You guys are the crazy ones reading this. And of course, at the dawn of the season, everyone feels excited, bashful hope abound. Puppies and ice cream everywhere! But as the season moves past the All-Star break, you have to remember that you aren’t necessarily playing against your league. No, you are playing against 1,100+ teams in one league. For a hoodie (don’t wear it in Florida) and ultimate bragging rights. So don’t feel alone. Enjoy the journey. Participate as best you can. Be one with the fantasy baseballs (and Uranus). I guess that’s my last bit of advice as the RCL Updates will now be handled by J-FOH. He will be your in-season storyteller, and starting next week, he’ll begin to tell your story. The RCL story. And I can’t wait. (I’m talking about eating…)
Before we start taking a look at the some of the leagues that have already drafted, I’d like to thank VinWins for providing the data that you’ll be looking at.
With more drafts, we have more info to look at, and we’ll lead off first with the fun little table that shows which players are being matched up with Mike Trout, and then the 1st Catcher, the 1st Pitcher, and the 1st reliever being taken off the board and when. Despite the names being mostly obvious, you’ll be able to at least see how the draft plays out generally and reset your strategy based on it. Then again, you’ll have to account on other RCL owners resetting their strategy to counter you resetting your strategy. Or maybe they’ll do it twice to counter you doing it once. Or they just won’t care. Probably that one. Below are the averages, just in case you’re like me and never want to math.
| League | Link | Paired with Trout | 1st C | (Pick) | 1st SP | (Pick) | 1st RP | (Pick) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beddict’s butth*le pleasures | Draft | Sale, Donaldson | Posey | 42 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 51 |
| Upton my grill | Draft | Harper, Desmond | Posey | 42 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 61 |
| Slamming Sammys | Draft | Sale, Bumgarner | Posey | 37 | Kershaw | 11 | Chapman | 58 |
| Skunk Beard | Draft | Posey, Felix H | Posey | 24 | Kershaw | 10 | Chapman | 53 |
| The Lords of Sarcasm | Draft | Arenado, Pujols | Posey | 41 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 50 |
| The Filthy Spawn of Beddict | Draft | Brantley, Desmond | Posey | 23 | Kershaw | 5 | Chapman | 42 |
| The Donkey is a Unicorn | Draft | Hanley, Strasburg | Posey | 43 | Kershaw | 5 | Kimbrel | 48 |
| The Underground | Draft | Freeman, Scherzer | Posey | 26 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 37 |
| Saskatchewan | Draft | J-Upton, Beltre | Posey | 38 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 63 |
| Alberta | Draft | Scherzer, Strasburg | Posey | 48 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 46 |
| Razzball Snipers | Draft | Beltre, Freeman | Posey | 41 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 46 |
| Take on Jay #1 | Draft | Brantley, Arenado | Posey | 41 | Kershaw | 5 | Chapman | 76 |
| Take on Jay #2 | Draft | Altuve, Hanley | Posey | 43 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 46 |
| WET TAIL!! | Draft | Donaldson, Dickerson | Posey | 35 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 38 |
| Smokey’s Den | Draft | Harper, Arenado | Posey | 39 | Kershaw | 4 | Chapman | 41 |
| Euro Razzball | Draft | Strasburg, Desmond | Posey | 36 | Kershaw | 5 | Kimbrel | 56 |
| Razzball DC | Draft | Brantley, Hanley | Posey | 45 | Kershaw | 3 | Chapman | 52 |
| West Coast Razzball | Draft | Cano, Beltre | Posey | 38 | Kershaw | 11 | Chapman | 39 |
| Manitoba | Draft | Donaldson, Hanley | Posey | 44 | Kershaw | 9 | Kimbrel | 36 |
| King Ralph’s Emporium | Draft | Tulo, Beltre | Posey | 52 | Kershaw | 12 | Chapman | 71 |
| Beddict’s Brood of Bros | Draft | Beltre, Dickerson | Posey | 39 | Kershaw | 5 | Chapman | 58 |
| JFOH Hearts Tristan | Draft | Strasburg, Hanley | Posey | 42 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 44 |
| Rotokings | Draft | Sherzer, C. Gonzalez | Posey | 37 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 46 |
| DriHeat | Draft | Kinsler, Frazier | Posey | 32 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 46 |
| Do I Make You Razzy Bab | Draft | Hanley, Dickerson | Posey | 43 | Kershaw | 5 | Chapman | 54 |
| British Columbia | Draft | Puig, Freman | Posey | 30 | Kershaw | 8 | Chapman | 69 |
| Nova Scotia | Draft | Scherzer, Braun | Posey | 42 | Kershaw | 4 | Kimbrel | 41 |
| Grey’s Mustache Wax | Draft | Strasburg, Dickerson | Posey | 40 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 51 |
| Hoodie Dreams | Draft | Scherzer, Hanley | Posey | 30 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 59 |
| Damaged Goods | Draft | Sale, Upton | Posey | 40 | Kershaw | 9 | Chapman | 49 |
| Razzball Soccer Sympathizers | Draft | Dickerson, Pujols | Posey | 42 | Kershaw | 10 | Chapman | 49 |
| They Call Me Au Shizz | Draft | Cano, Beltre | Posey | 26 | Kershaw | 10 | Chapman | 35 |
| Blues Odyssey | Draft | Pujols, Harper | Posey | 46 | Kershaw | 8 | Chapman | 54 |
| Yeast Infection Inspections | Draft | Brantley, Dickerson | Posey | 31 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 52 |
| Dan Carlin’s Hardcore Fistery | Draft | Rendon, Harper | Posey | 32 | Kershaw | 4 | Chapman | 69 |
| In The Danger Zone | Draft | Beltre, Freeman | Posey | 37 | Kershaw | 10 | Chapman | 42 |
| HA! | Draft | Marte, Price | Posey | 33 | Kershaw | 9 | Chapman | 45 |
| F-Her right in the Posey | Draft | Beltre, Strasburg | Posey | 28 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 57 |
| Northern Exposure | Draft | Hanley, Pr ice | Posey | 33 | Kershaw | 5 | Kimbrel | 53 |
| RCL FIPping the Bird | Draft | Hanley, Arenado | Posey | 28 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 59 |
| $12 Salads | Draft | Sale, Hanley | Posey | 33 | Kershaw | 2 | Chapman | 46 |
| The Captains of Outer Space | Draft | Hanley, Harper | Posey | 35 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 53 |
| Don’t even remember last year | Draft | Arenado, Pujols | Posey | 29 | Kershaw | 6 | Chapman | 42 |
| Eff fWAR | Draft | Hanley, Desmond | Posey | 28 | Kershaw | 7 | Chapman | 53 |
| Averages | 36.68 | 6.82 | 50.82 |
Here’s a breakdown of how many starting pitchers are being drafted in each round on average. I can only assume that Clayton Kershaw is the one pitcher going in the first round, while the 0.2 was added because I drafted R.A. Dickey in the same round.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | T |
| 3.1 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 83.2 |
Here are the average spots that these players are going at right now. Plan accordingly!
| Adam Wainwright | Corey Kluber | Matt Harvey | Jose Fernandez | Aaron Sanchez |
| 81.4 | 38.1 | 73.0 | 183.8 | 233.3 |
Same story, but with the hitters.
| Nolan Arenado | Albert Pujols | Kolten Wong | Matt Holliday | Wil Myers | Yasmany Tomas | Mookie Betts |
| 32.2 | 37.5 | 69.2 | 95.2 | 122.6 | 137.2 | 89.7 |
TO JOIN A LEAGUE
Click the LINK in the ‘League Link’ column (see below grid) and enter the PASSWORD at ESPN. Emails are there for some leagues, but you shouldn’t need to email anyone. You can join as many leagues as you like.
TO START A LEAGUE
Please create a league in ESPN based on the league rules reference above. Step by step: Hit Create. Then Create ESPN Custom (middle option), Name League, Change to 12 Teams, Restriction Type: None, Open to All Users, Access: change to Private, create Password, leave as Roto and Snake, Make Draft Date and Time, Create. From Default settings all you have to do is change to TWO DL SLOTS and 180 Starts by pitchers. So, you go to ROSTERS and Click “Edit Roster Settings.” There, change to 2 DL Slots and 180 Starts (the counter will change to 20.0 per slot). Then SUBMIT Roster Settings. Finally, Create Your League! (Important Note: Make sure league is viewable to public but requiring a password to avoid non-Razzballers joining.) When that’s finished, click here. You will be permissioned shortly so you can add your league info to the Google Doc (the below grid cannot be edited from this page). On that Google Doc, you will need to enter your name, league link, password and please UPDATE the number of openings as your league fills up. That’s it. Oh, and don’t use your bank account password. You can start as many leagues as you like.
Want more of the Jay? Don’t we all folks? Don’t. We. All. Well, you, in fact, can have more. AMAZING. I know. You can find Jay enjoying his dig’s over at the Football side of Razz.
