The REL is back baby! Sure, since I get my Brewers bias-fix it's a little slanted, but the REL has become my favorite league. 30 teams, roughly 900 players owned, along with a whole farm system of another 400-500... What could be better?!
If you're new to seeing these posts - here's a quick rundown of the REL: 15 team AL only and 15 team NL only comprise the 30-team league, and you must own 15 players from the "parent team" you manage. You also manage that team's farm system, and can trade those prospects amongst your Major and Minor league squads. We play Roto for the first 148 games, until the final 2 weeks. Then the AL pennant and NL pennant winners play a H2H 2-week World Series. Congrats again to our inaugural champion Nationals, beating the The Tribe
on a dramatic Sunday afternoon finish on the last day of the season. What a season!
With keepers announced, farm teams replenished, our supplemental draft completed, and baseball finally starting anew, the 2017 REL season is here! We'll be checking in with the league every Thursday afternoon, and have our owners share their thoughts every week.
Here’s how week 1 has kicked off, along with draft day and keeper thoughts, in the 2017 REL League:
Welcome to the 2017 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 do mean everything, everybody. We’ve got line-ups, charts, numbers, projections, questionable questions, smarter answer, potent potables and well, that’s a lie. No potables here, but plenty of potent fantasy names brimming with potential. Now's the time to be an eternal optimist. For a few more days, at least. So, we’ve got a team to preview and questions to ask. Let’s get after it!
A quick note on the format. Each preview will feature six questions to a team’s blog writer. Are there only six great fantasy questions for each team? Of course not, but THAT’S WHAT THE COMMENTS ARE FOR! So, enjoy the thoughts of another writer, the dialogue on each team, and then continue the conversation in the comments!
We have a very special guest for this post...wait for it...our very own JB GILPIN! He'll be our expert to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2017 holds for the Milwaukee Brewers!
It's time for the Dodgers' mailbag with your host, Grey Albright and I'm here with Dave Roberts. First question up, Billy from Toluca Lake asks, "Why didn't we sign Johnny Cueto?" Dave Roberts runs full-speed towards 2nd and slides head-first...safe! Well, that doesn't exactly answer the question, but he is still quick. Okay, next question, "Was there ever a chance of re-signing Greinke?" Dave Roberts brushes dirt from his uniform and motions for the ump to call him safe, and he likely would've been safe if we were in a game and not just taking questions from Dodger fans. Okay, next, "What exactly is Brandon Beachy doing as a Dodger?" Dave Roberts takes off for third, what a speed demon, though we're not sure what that has to do with the Dodgers losing pitchers one per hour. Early yesterday, the Dodgers announced Hyun-Jin Ryu hit the DL with elbow tendinitis. There's no clear timetable for his return, but I'd guess sometime in the future. Him returning in the past seems to be a long shot, at best. Ryu didn't look good after he returned from injury and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't return until next season. If you have no DL room, you should look on Redfin. Might be time to get in a bigger place. For now, I'd drop Ryu. Next up for the Dodgers was Clayton Kershaw would be shut down indefinitely. Ouch. I hate to see the top guys in the game get shut down. It hurts the game that we all love. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't own him, and am pumped about the teams that do have him, losing him. Schadenfreude! If he's shut down now, I'd say the earliest he could possibly return is mid-August. Filling in will be Julio Urias and his special brand of 5 IP, 3 ERA, blink-and-you-miss-it starts, which makes me wonder if he's seen himself pitch. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
If you paid attention to Major League Baseball on Monday night, you know that the Tigers beat the Twins 1-0. BORING. The over/under for Monday's game was set at 10 1/2. I hope at least one reader put a couple of bucks on the under. Tonight will be different. I will put my guarantee down that more than one run will be scored by the Twins and Tigers on Tuesday night. In fact, it will be a completely different game. So, who is going to set the table for a high-scoring affair? Easy.
Ian Kinsler! He will set the table for Detroit's offense, which works out well considering he's 5-for-10 lifetime against Tommy Milone. Monday night may not have worked out as planned, but I am doubling down and putting all of my money on Kinsler and the Tigers. You should do the same!
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run next Monday, July 25th, to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.
I love a good deal. If I'm going to a Pirates game and pay $20 under face value for tickets, I'm happy. How about a $2,000 TV from Best Buy for $1,200 on sale? That would make me ecstatic. Hell, I just bought Lay's Potato Chips (best chips ever, by the way) for $1.77 a bag. That's the family size bag! Talk about a great holiday bargain. On Tuesday night, there is one clear bargain that stands out and it must be exploited. Over his last four starts, Madison Bumgarner's DraftKings pricing has ranged from $12,800-$14,000. He faces the Rockies--at home--and is priced at $11,700. We all know how this game is played. If the game is at Coors Field, there is extreme risk involved. But, this game is being played in the friendly confines of AT&T Park. MadBum is both a cash and GPP option. Exploit this bargain--hopefully you can use the savings to buy some potato chips.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run next Monday, July 11th, to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.
Dear Jesus,
First, I'd like to apologize for anything I've done wrong in my sports fandom and life. It's been a difficult two decades. And I'm sorry if I have anything to do with this. Second, I'd like to apologize for the title of this article and for dubbing a specific city 'Titletown'. Third, I'd like to apologize for the disdain I have towards said 'Titletown'. I know it's unhealthy, and primarily driven from envy. I'm going to make comparisons, I'm going to give some praise, and I'm going to encourage people to fully get behind a team that no one in the everest of evers has ever gotten behind. But like your belief in me that goes beyond reason sometimes, so does this belief in a certain team this week. You're the greatest. Please allow my city to experience a similar run.
M@
Haha, is this all in jest? Absolutely. Am I serious about asking for forgiveness? Absolutely. Because I'm officially dubbing Cleveland 'Titletown' of the sports world of the century of the week (to steal from SVP's bit - Thanks 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'). For realsies...Cleveland now owns the NBA Championship belt (Kevin Love
literally holds the belt), and the way the Indians are steamrolling the majors they're a favorite to compete for the World Series crown, as well. And as an Atlanta fan I have nothing but envy, jealousy and anger. If only my Hawks could do what the Cavs did (where's our Atlanta-born hoops messiah?!? And if you say Dwight because he's coming home I'll come through your screen and sprain your ankle). If only my Braves could become what the Indians are currently (they're actually on the perfect track for either them or the Cubs). If only my Falcons could become like the Bro....NOPE! Stay the Falcons. Please. Good heavens. Don't become the
Johnny Manziels Robert Griffins.
And after getting obliterated by my Aaron Nola hype
two weeks ago (another thing I'm sorry about), I'm going with the studs; and Cleveland has two of them this week. Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar have been Aces Up the whole year, so I'm going to double down on 'Titletown' due to these guys. They're as strong a shot at a
W as anyone with the Indians winning over a dozen straight. While the Tigers have hit better recently, the Yankees at home is a glorious opportunity to see double digit Ks. Wish I had Salazar on even a single team this year; thankful I have two with Carrasco. They're gonna be dope this week, and here's how the rest of the Two-Weeks Pitchers rank for Week 14.
After seemingly 12 weeks of status quo, we finally have a new leader in one of our REL divisions! The Toronto Blue Jays hot off a streaking week 11 took the AL lead by 1.5 Pts following a 5-point surge last night. Right in time for the weekly update! The Blue Jays offense has been red hot, so this massive streak the past few weeks makes sense.
Over on the NL side, the Nats continue to dominate with the Cubs starting to sag a bit behind. Got a few teams still in this race! Here's how week 12 went down in the 2016 REL League:
Jose Altuve is on pace for 60 homers. He can't even reach the cereal in the morning! If an opposing manager were to ask to see Altuve's bat, they would crack it open to reveal gumballs because he's the leader of the lollipop guild. If the major leagues were to institute a Daffy Duck 'You Have To Be This Tall' sign before getting to the batter's box, Altuve would need his mother to escort him into the batter's box every time. That's assuming she's tall enough! If she's not, who does he get? His uncle? Erik Kratz? If might were height, Jose Altuve would be a giant. That much is true. I love that lil' bugger! I want a Teddy Ruxpin in the shape of Altuve to cuddle at night. Last night, he went 4-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs with his 9th homer, hitting .330. So, the question is, can he keep it up? Up is not a word I associate with Altuve, and, no, he can't keep it up. No one could keep up this pace. Of course, he's still a .315 hitter with an easy 110 runs, 35 steals and 70 RBIs, i.e., a top ten bat. So, keep it up? No, not without four phonebooks under him. Do enough to make you glad you didn't sell high? As a French dwarf would say, "Wee!" Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Daniel Murphy is the hottest homophobe since Kirk Cameron got three offers in one week for three different Christian movies, "A Behind...Left Behind," "Groundhog's Day Is For Satanists, God Makes The Seasons," and "Make Me Dinner Woman, And No Leftovers." Daniel Murphy's hotter than Kim Davis looks to lesbians looking for a challenge. Daniel Murphy is hotter than Ted Nugent's nougat, which he has to heat to 214 degrees to get the sugar to melt. Yesterday, Murphy went 4-for-5, 4 runs, 3 RBIs and his 4th homer while hitting .398 on the year. I'm not saying we need to throw Ted Williams's head in the microwave to defrost, but we may want to leave it on the counter to slowly bring it to room temperature. Okay, Murphy's BABIP is absurdly high (.427), which means he's hitting about a hundred points too high, so his average will come down. He's also not hitting for a ton of power, so it's a good story right now for the MLB that their hottest hitter is a bigot -- The Ghost of Ty Cobb, "That sounds rad." -- but it'll end eventually. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Yesterday, Buster Olney tweeted, "Kevin Gausman is pitching tonight probably exactly the way the Orioles hoped on the day they drafted him. Dominant stuff." Putting aside the unnecessary "probably" -- you'll never win a Twitter Pulitzer with needless hooha! -- is this what the Orioles hoped for? Because it's felt at times like the Orioles were waiting for Gausman to say some sort of secret oath to let him into the rotation and, without Podrick to prompt him, he didn't know said oath. By the by, I can't look at Brienne of Tarth and not see Conan O'Brien. Perhaps, it's me (it's not). If the Orioles wanted Gausman to pitch probably exactly like this, wouldn't they have put him in the rotation and left him alone for the last *covers mouth* years? Not to answer, but to knowingly nod while you undress your computer with your eyes. Since I have shares in that facacta noodle-hanger Archer, I watched the better part of Gausman's start, and he looked better than what the boxscore says, and the boxscore says, "Yum, choco-latte." It also says 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks in his first start back. Gausman has the stuff to be a number one, but at worse a number two. Not saying he will be this year; that's just his stuff. He probably exactly should be already, but probably exactly hasn't been. Still, I would grab him in any leagues where I needed upside. A 8+ K/9, 2.7+ BB/9, 3.75 ERA starter is probably exactly what you'll get. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
I mean, were you expecting a different answer? Why in the balls would that question even be posed? It's DFP (figure it out). However, in case he's not on one of your teams, Price carries a 7.06 ERA into next week, which could sound the alarms of some novice fantasy owners. And just in case that's you, woo-sah kemosabe. Let's look at why David Price is quite alright...
This will be the first Two-Start Pitcher post to utilize 2016 stats in determining the rank of these double dragons. Almost one month in, and at least three starts down for most starters, there's enough evidence to gather a solid idea of how pitchers are performing. So, like we talked about in the Two-Start Pitcher Primer, we're going to look at opponents, ERA, FIP, K/9 and BB/9. And each of them will show the evidence of why certain starters are better than others, in particular, a SP with a 7.00+ ERA.
You want to find SP with high K/9 and low BB/9. That goes without saying. So why did I say it? I don't know. Moving on. ERA is the standard stat the world uses to determine a pitcher's value. It's simple. It's easy to understand. How to actually calculate it? Not so easy, but not tricky. I'm just an English major that hasn't taken a math class in 13 years. (Suck it, Georgia Tech nerds!) While ERA matters immensely, especially in fantasy formats, it's not necessarily the greatest indicator of true performance or future trajectory. Enter Fielding Independent Pitching. Or, FIP. From the Fangraphs vault, here's the math for FIP:
The night slate is...hrm, how best to put this? Not good for pitching. Like uglier than the dude in the pic above this sentence ugly. If you're in the eleven game grouping tonight, you're gonna wonder where the safe arms are. Well, from what I see you ain't got none and for that reasoning, I'm out here looking for something that feels safe. Plushy, soft, and supple. Something that makes me feel like I could curl up and fall asleep on it's giant Buddha belly. Admittedly, I don't like the idea of going to the well over and over against the Phillies because you know it's eventually got to have a regression to the positive which would be negative for us, but here I am looking at
Bartolo Colon for the night. Fluffy, stay puft marshmallow man that he is, Colon is 42 years young and rarely walks hitters. And why would you when your fastball sits at 89.8? All jokes aside, the reality is Colon throws strikes and spots his pitches well...except when he doesn't. Then he looks like he's pitching BP. Obvi I'm hoping for the good Bartolo and not the bad one tonight but with a slate full of nasty, his 5.5K price tag makes him appealing as a cash relief so you can pay up for big bats. You get peak Bartolo, you're getting about 22 points which more than offsets
the memory you rostered this. So on this night, realize you only live once and roster a guy who looks like he should've keeled over and died ten times at this point. But enough about that, let's talk about this. Here's my triple coronary bypass hot taeks for this Wednesday DK slate...
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
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The REL is back baby! Sure, since I get my Brewers bias-fix it's a little slanted, but the REL has become my favorite league. 30 teams, roughly 900 players owned, along with a whole farm system of another 400-500... What could be better?!
If you're new to seeing these posts - here's a quick rundown of the REL: 15 team AL only and 15 team NL only comprise the 30-team league, and you must own 15 players from the "parent team" you manage. You also manage that team's farm system, and can trade those prospects amongst your Major and Minor league squads. We play Roto for the first 148 games, until the final 2 weeks. Then the AL pennant and NL pennant winners play a H2H 2-week World Series. Congrats again to our inaugural champion Nationals, beating the The Tribe on a dramatic Sunday afternoon finish on the last day of the season. What a season!
With keepers announced, farm teams replenished, our supplemental draft completed, and baseball finally starting anew, the 2017 REL season is here! We'll be checking in with the league every Thursday afternoon, and have our owners share their thoughts every week.
Here’s how week 1 has kicked off, along with draft day and keeper thoughts, in the 2017 REL League: 
