My Kimbrel Town Chicago Is

June 6, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 422 Comments

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Handed down through the generations from Hammurabi to Hammurabi was a code of SAGNOF. It read, “Yo, Hamm-whaaaaaazzzzzup-be?! Don’t pay for saves, dem shizzes are free on waivers.” It read a bit like a text message, tee bee aitch. But that was the code as written. Cut to 14,000 years later, and I received this code in a dream after ingesting a massive amount of peyote. I would’ve discarded it like the iguana I also received, but there was something to this code, and from that day forward I forbade myself from paying a lot for saves. Then March came and Craig Kimbrel was falling and I was like, “Ain’t ever gonna get a price like this again!” and drafted him, and not listening to Hamm-whaaaaaazzzzzup-be really effed me. Thankfully, my long national nightmare is over and Craig Kimbrel signed with the Cubs. Does this negate all the leagues where I have Pedro Strop? *Lisa Simpson grumble* Yes, appizzarently, it does. I’d imagine Kimbrel will need at least two to three weeks of minor league games to get up to snuff, but closers can get stretched quicker than starters, obvi. I wouldn’t drop Strop until I saw a Kimbrel save, but he’s coming back. Finally. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Interest Rate Will Only Get Higher To Buy A Mountcastle

May 10, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 554 Comments

by: Grey

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Since Game of Thrones is out here messing up the last seven years of my life by landing the final season like it’s Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, I figured I’ll drop on you a buy for Ryan of Mountcastle. What if the end of Game of Thrones is that they take a page out of Lost’s book, but take it one step further? That’s right, the end of Game of Thrones is we’re the ones living in purgatory by watching another great show screw up its ending. I might’ve just spoiled two shows in one go. We shall see! Actually, we might not because the scenes will be too dark. As for Ryan Mountcastle, he should be called up any day now to play 3rd for the Orioles, but why do we care? Thanks, awkward leading question! This isn’t because buyin’ Mountcastle sounds like a new HGTV show. “What’s his defense like?” “Like an Italian hill town in Tuscany!” He has solid power, and should make contact while not having great plate discipline. At some point in the very near future, he’s going to be an add in all leagues, so get ahead of the curve, like if you had dragons, and knew how to use them and weren’t going mad in the last ninety minutes of a poorly-paced show. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Rolling In The Deep: Mayday

by: Laura Holt

Happy second week of May, everyone! It’s still early in the baseball season, but not necessarily as early as it might seem… within the next few days, most teams will have played 40 or 41 games, which means we are just about 25% of the way through MLB 2019. Still a relatively small sample size, I suppose, but each day that goes by we can feel more celebratory about the guys we drafted in multiple leagues who are treating us very well so far (Tyler Glasnow, Matthew Boyd, and Caleb Smith, right now I love you all more than you’ll ever know). We can also beat ourselves up a bit more every day over the fellows who are looking like downright mistakes (Tyler Skaggs and Colin McHugh, what can I say?… feels like it’s just not going to happen for us this year). Then again, the players in that first group might crash and burn at any given moment, and those in the latter could turn it around at a moment’s notice, which is why fantasy baseball can be both so exciting and so excruciating. Speaking of excruciating, that’s exactly how looking for help on the deep-league waiver wire can feel this time of year – but let’s take a look at a few guys who might be available in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Fresh Ace

May 9, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 2 Comments

by: Butters

Just called up and already priced like an ace? That’s where we find Mike Soroka, (SP: $9,800) The price scares me a little bit, but I’m a big enough believer to Soroka and he’s been rolling since his promotion. What’s not to love? That pristine ERA? The 27 Ks in 23 innings? The fact that the Braves have a strong offense, giving him solid win potential? Or maybe you’re afraid of the D Backs offense that will be stepping into the box against him. They’re not a terrible offense but I don’t think I would describe them as elite. This isn’t his first taste of the show so he’s not completely green. Lock him in.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

You Couldn’t Hit Michael Fiers If You Were F****** Michael Fiers

May 8, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 595 Comments

by: Grey

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No ham sad-wiches at this Fiers fest! Mike Fiers pitching a no-hitter with 6 Ks, ERA down to 5.48, and he only needed 131 pitches. Previously, he threw a no-hitter in 2015 when he threw 135 pitches. Man, pitchers really threw a whole lot more pitches back then in the mid-twenty-teens. Way back when we still thought Game of Thrones was a good show and not a shill for Starbucks. Way back in 2015 when we all got along outwardly and just simmered under the surface with our political differences. What a time! Of course, Mike Fiers was facing the Reds, and Fiers is red and *insert Spider-man pointing at himself jpg* and Ramon Laureano needed to rob Joey Votto of a home run, but…piece of cake. As we knew all along, there’s nothing to Fiers except Fiers himself. He was a streamer I strongly considered yesterday, because Fiers is the epitome of a Medi-OAKer pitcher, and he was at home facing a terrible team. Sadly, the one thing that puts out Fiers is when you put your stream on him. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2019 Spring Training Position Battles: The NL West

February 21, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Team Previews | 4 Comments

by: Whack Daniels

I don’t pay much attention to Spring Training statistics. You never know who the statistics are coming against. Baseball-Reference did, however, have an amazing tool last year that attempted to quantify the quality of opposing pitchers or batters faced during spring training games on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being MLB talent and 1-3 being high A to low A level. This tool is great, but it averages all the Plate Appearances or batters faced. You would still need a deeper dive to see if your stud prospect smacked a donger off of Chris Sale or off of your kid’s future pony league baseball coach. So what should we watch for in March when we’re starved for the crack of the bat? Ignore “best shape of their life” stories and Spring Training statistical leaderboards. Pay attention to injuries and lineup construction and position battles!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 100 Outfielders for 2019 Fantasy Baseball

January 29, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 150 Comments

by: Grey

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We’ve done it! We’ve reached the end of the fantasy baseball hitter rankings. Give yourself a big round of applause. I’d clap for you, but I have carpal tunnel from actually ranking all the hitters and writing all their blurbs and calculating all of their projections and– What exactly did you do? Oh, yeah, you read them. No wonder why your hands can still clap. Okay, let’s get to it because this post is like 5,000 words long and I wrote it with my toes. C’mon, pinkie toe, push down the shift key! Here’s Steamer’s 2019 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2019 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. All projections listed are mine and I mention where I see tiers starting and stopping. Anyway, here’s the top 100 outfielders for 2019 fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

You Want Sano Something? Miguel’s Now Like His Surname – Single-A

June 15, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 383 Comments

by: Grey

The Twins organization removed one white glove, and smacked it across Miguel Sano‘s chubby cheek. So disrespectful. Not even Triple-A. They demoted him to Single-A. Not completely surprising. Let’s recap Miguel Sano’s last few months. He showed up at camp in shape. Unfortunately, that shape was of a beach ball. Coaches weren’t sure what to make of him, asking, “Are you ready to play?” Sano put it into reverse to face the coach who questioned him, and his reverse lights came on but not his newly installed reversing truck beep, which sent him into a backspin, literally, for most of the spring. Then, he came out of camp, looking ready to eat baseballs for dinner rather than his usual Triple-triple-double-triple-double-triple-single-triple meaty-meatburger, but that was short-lived, and he hit the DL towards the end of April with a hamstring injury. At that point, Sano said, “If I had known I had a hamstring in my leg all this time, I would’ve eaten it.” He then motioned for a tuxedoed waiter to pepper mill his leg, and asked for parmesan. He told the waiter, “I call this hamstring carbonara.” After about three weeks out of commission, he returned, but didn’t look fully recovered, because he’s in terrible shape, then he hit .162 in June and got demoted. Hey, Sano, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t take the clubhouse refrigerator with you either. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Buy Joe, Don’t Be An Ignore-a-Musgrove

June 1, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 391 Comments

by: Grey

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“You want me to list the eczema medication’s ingredients? Can I ask you why?” “JUST LIST THEM.” “Okay, take it easy. Propylene glycol, paraffin wax, pinetaroleum–” “PINETAROLEUM IS NOT ALLOWED. IT INDUCES A HIGHER SPIN RATE.” That is part of a recurring dream Trevor Bauer has where he’s dressed as a TSA agent, while standing on the side of the Astros pitcher’s mound. The dream always ends the same way. Someone asks Trevor Bauer how does he account for Joe Musgrove being better after leaving the Astros and Bauer wakes in a sweat, screaming, “GERRIT COLE STOLE MY COLLEGE GIRLFRIEND!” Joe Musgrove’s velocity is up, he’s throwing a cutter 15% of the time more and abandoned his curve altogether. This has upped his ground balls (not literally) and made him a usable pitcher for all leagues, and around a 3.60 ERA pitcher. Of course, he’s not a sub-1.00 ERA pitcher, as he is right now, but still ownable everywhere. Though, I guess he could be a 1.00-ERA pitcher if his eczema medication has pinetaroleum. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ambulance Chasers, Week 10: La Fin de la Revolution Franchy

May 30, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 2 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

After hitting 6 HRs and stealing three bases with a .254 average in his first 17 games, Franchy Cordero (OF, Forearm Strain) has slowed down considerably hitting only 1 HR and stealing 2 bases with a .222 average over his next 23 games with a 30:9 K/BB ratio. With Hunter Renfroe returning and Wil Myers due back soon — I’m afraid it’s the guillotine for Franchy. Stash or Trash: I’d be thinking of trashing him unless you’re in a deep league with not a lot of options. Fill In: Daniel Palka (2.1%.) Palka has been filling in for an injured Leury Garcia for the Chi-Sox and has been doing pretty well lately. Who is Daniel Palka? He’s a former third round pick who hit 34 HRs in 2016 in the Twins AA and AAA program. He’s also a guy who hit 29 HR and stole 24 bases the year before that. What the hell? Why isn’t this guy being added in all leagues? Well throughout his minor league career he’s had a strikeout rate in the high 20% with a contact rate in the 60’s. So far this season in the majors he has 23 strikeouts to only 3 walks so he’s performing pretty on-brand. After an 0 for 8 start to his major league career, Palka has 26 hits in 85 at bats with 4 HR, 15 RBI and 2 SB. If you need help in deeper leagues take a chance on Al Palka.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Ralph Broke Ronald Acuña Jr.!

May 29, 2018 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 40 Comments

by: Geoff

This week starts out with the tale of how an invite to the old ballpark from Razzball’s own Donkey Teeth, snowballed into drunken madness and a broken Ronald Acuña Jr.. After Grey blames me for Acuña’s mild ACL sprain, we move onto some of the top topics and performers of the last week. From Mike Foltynewicz, to Felipe Vazquez’s numb ring finger, to Russell Martin’s new found Brock Holt-ness, and everything in between. We play a game of Hot Schmotato with Daniel Mengden, Ross Stripling, and the Rays new bullpen starters, and celebrate Grey’s buy call on Jesus Aguilar. It’s a wild week on the show, and guaranteed to be an all-time classic! I say that every week, regardless of the quality of the show. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:

BTW: Get your Prospect Jesus and Grey Albright Tout Wars Champ shirts here!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Buy That Jesus Can Turn Aguilar Into Vino

May 25, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 408 Comments

by: Grey

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In the spring of 2018, the Catholic Church summoned Father Carmen Sandiego to the Vatican to give him the job to investigate miracles, supernatural signs and apparitions. Unfortunately, Father Carmen Sandiego, who wasn’t very good with his GPS, got lost for four days in the Steven Avery car lot in Wisconsin, then ended up in Milwaukee. When he wandered into the parking lot of Miller Park, and Brewers fans tailgating with MGD and cheese curds, everywhere Father Carmen Sandiego turned he heard about the resurrected Jesus Aguilar, so he chose to investigate. He found a player who had lowered his strikeout rate 8% from last year, upped his walk rate, cut his soft contact and could be a sneaky 25-homer, .275 guy. Jesus didn’t appear to him in a vision, he was flesh and blood, like the Lenny & Squiggy cosplayers he also encountered. However, Father Carmen Sandiego didn’t report back to the Vatican, instead he grabbed Jesus for his fantasy team. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?