It was a wild offseason for the National League, one highlighted by Trea Turner’s lucrative ($300 million) transition from the Dodgers to Phillies, along with fellow shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ introduction to the NL, via the San Diego Padres and $280 mil of his own. Two of the absolute best shortstops in the game are anchored […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Tyler Stephenson
Please see our player page for Tyler Stephenson to see projections for today, the next 7 days and rest of season as well as stats and gamelogs designed with the fantasy baseball player in mind.
So, weird thing is happening this draft season, I’m loving all of my drafted fantasy baseball teams. I mean, I’m drafting them, so it should come as a complete surprise that I’m liking the teams, but usually I’m more skeptical of how well I’ve drafted. Like a hand model, I’m usually much more down-to-earth, accepting that my best feature is, much like the Niekros, just off the knuckles. Could I have become the worst case scenario? A hand model who thinks people may want to photograph my face? I hope not, but I am worried that my enthusiasm for my fantasy teams might be too rosy for my own good. The only people truly excited about their teams are ones who don’t know better, right? No? I can be happy? Geez, this could be glorious if I’m not being dopey and my team is actual garbage. For those not in the know, this is a weekly, 15-team, two-catcher league that lasts for 50 rounds and there’s no waivers. Anyway, here’s my NFBC draft recap:
Please, blog, may I have some more?If you are starting a team in a new dynasty league, take a look at the position breakdown of the top 200 players, using the main position for utility players except for one, who plays basically any position in the field.
What quickly jumps out is the lack of depth at second base and third base. The second and third base positions alone add up to only one more Top 100 player than the shortstop position. There are some great players at those two positions, but the overall quality lacks compared to shortstop or first base.
When it comes to catchers and relief pitchers, I can tell you right now that there are few of them ranked. There are a lot of good catchers, but many of them will get only 110 or so starts or they are getting up in age, making them less than desired dynasty options.
As for the relivers, I never chase saves (or holds if your league has them). How many players dread chasing Aroldis Chapman last year or a host of other top closers? Meanwhile, five new closer will come out the woodwork this year that you can get in the middle of the season.
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Best 2023 Fantasy Baseball Team
February 16, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Featured | 66 Commentsby: Grey
The best 2023 fantasy baseball team is a misnomer. Thankfully, none of us know what misnomer means. Sounds to me like someone tentatively wants to date the Travelocity Gnome’s daughter, “Miss Gnome, er, you wanna grab some boba and chill?” Miss Gnome brushes back her hair and bats her eyelashes that are almost as long as her two-and-half foot body, “I’d love to,” but her voice is high-pitched, which is a turnoff, so you cancel plans with her repeatedly until she gets the hint. Sorry, Miss Gnome, gotta ghost ya because I like my women’s voices low like their stature. Any hoo! So the title is hyperbole. What was I gonna say, “The Mostly Kinda Good Fantasy Baseball Team?” You’ll get over your scoffing; I have faith in you. This is the best 2023 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting from my top 100 for 2023 fantasy baseball and top 500 for 2023 fantasy baseball. Honestly, I could draft another 25 teams from those lists, and they’d all be different, but equally terrific…Well, one of the twenty-five would only be sorta terrific, but it would be really hard to tell which one that is. If I took Matt Olson in the 3rd round, everything after would change. If I took Trea Turner in the 1st round, everything after would change. I’ve previously gone over my 2023 fantasy baseball draft prep for the first few rounds and pitchers pairings. For this exercise, I’m taking Yordan Alvarez in the first, because, well, people complained previously I always did this post by taking the first pick, so I’m switching it up, like when you combover your hair right instead of left. My “Best Fantasy Baseball Team” from last year is hilariously awful, and I’ll show you that team later in this post. Oh, it’s so so so so so so bad. I mean, it puts everything in question. Like, was I dropped on my head last preseason?
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2023 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings: 175-151
January 21, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 5 Commentsby: Jakkers
Welcome back to another week of the 2023 Dynasty Rankings. After looking at players in Tier 8, this week the focus is on Tier 7 players – numbers 175-151 overall.
As far as advice on how I approach building a team in dynasty leagues, well, nothing has changed since last week. So there is no need to go over that. If you missed last week’s rankings, just go to the bottom of this wonderful list and click on the link. And like magic you will be transported back to the past!
Like Players over 30?
I’ll give you a quick rundown of this week’s rankings. First, you are not going to find very many players who are over 30. In fact, only four players who are 30 or older are ranked in this tier. On the flips side, there isn’t an overabundance of players who are under 25. In fact, there are only four of those players.
These players have great upside but haven’t found their stride or have barely any time in the majors.
So, hope you like the Mid-20s
So what you will find is a strong group of players who are between 25-29, the players who can break out and become stars or simply be solid glue guys who help your team win because they provide solid stats across the board.
Everyone wants the star players, but more often than not, the team that has best depth is the team that wins a league championship.
Now, enough with the lovely banter. Let’s dig in and look at the 2023 Dynasty Rankings: 175-151.
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Ambulance Chasers: 2022 Injury Retrospective
January 21, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 8 Commentsby: keelinbillue
Welcome back to another season of Ambulance Chasers, Razzfolks! It seems like just yesterday it was the end of the season. Some of you struck gold. Some of you (okay, it was me) struck a more of petrified cow patty. I am not actually sure what we struck, but I sent a sample to the […]
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Rolling In The Deep: An Early Look At Catchers And ADP
January 20, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 13 Commentsby: Laura Holt
Happy New Year, Razzball, hope all is well in your world, whether you’re just starting to tune in to offseason happenings, or have been drafting up a storm since the beginning of October (raises hand). Here in the deep end of the pool, we’ll try to warm up one position at a time, with some quick […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 20 Catchers for 2023 Fantasy Baseball
January 18, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Featured | 65 Commentsby: Grey
After we went over the top 10 for 2023 fantasy baseball and the top 20 for 2023 fantasy baseball in our (my) 2023 fantasy baseball rankings, it’s time for the meat and potatoes rankings. Something to stew about! Hop in the pressure cooker, crank it up to “Intense” and let’s rock with the top 20 catchers for 2023 fantasy baseball. […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? NFBC Draft Champions Recap: Never Nervous When You Have Mervis
December 30, 2022 | Our Leagues | 50 Commentsby: Grey
*takes a long inhale* You smell that? No, not your sweatpants you’ve been wearing for the last week. Well, them, but I’m talking about the smell of the 2023 fantasy baseball draft season. So fresh, so clean. So ulcer, so sniped. It’s good to be back to one of the best times of the year. It’s so much better than “Playing your 9th outfielder because everyone is hurt” time of the year. I’ve even begun rolling out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. So, me and a bunch of Razzball commenters got together and took part in an NFBC Draft. Will get another draft started prolly around January/February, if you wanna take part, and, of course, Happy New Year (of drafting fantasy baseball)! Anyway, here’s my NFBC 2023 fantasy baseball draft recap; it’s a 15-team, two-catcher, draft and hold league that goes 50 rounds and has no waivers:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Well, the World Series is over, the citizens of Houston got to have their parade and now here we are – the offseason.
But don’t fret. If you are a regular Razzball reader, then you know we have been looking at the top keepers for 2023. Over the last two weeks we’ve released the 2023 Top Keepers 2023 – Relievers and 2023 Top Keepers – Starting Pitchers. This week – catchers!
Catchers are almost becoming like the place kickers of fantasy football – everyone needs one, but except for a few top players who can actually sway an outcome, they are all the same.
So here are a few simple rules when it comes to catchers:
Catchers, in general, will only play in about 110 to 120 games except for a few outliers. So don’t expect catchers, as a group, to perform like other position players.
If you think two catchers are equal except for age, go with the younger catcher. Few catchers age well.
Be happy if you have a catcher who is a standout in one scoring category. Rare is the catcher who hits for average and homers, even more rare if they add steals.
There are some catchers who make Rule #1, #2 and #3 completely false. If you have one of them, hold onto them for as long as you can.
In backing up rule No. 3, the career leader in home runs by a catcher (as in hitting a homer while playing catcher in that game) is Mike Piazza with 396. There are only three more players who hit more than 300 – Carlton Fisk (351), Johnny Bench (326) and Yogi Berra (305). That is it. This season, the highest batting average by a catcher with more than 200 at-bats was .285 by Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays – .285!
So for the below rankings, if you see a player like Martin Maldonado, you are going to wonder why he is even ranked. Dude slashed only .186/.248/.352. But he did hit 15 homers and drove in 45 runs.
You know how many other catchers hit more than 15 homers? Twelve. Do you know how many other catchers drove in more than 45 runs? Fourteen. When looking at a catcher like Maldanado for just his power and run production, he is actually close to being a starter in deep fantasy leagues.
Moral of the story – catchers are their own breed and should be viewed differently.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Razzle Dazzlers, welcome once again to your weekly fantasy baseball injury report. The “Ambulance Chasers” article series mostly focuses on matters of the living. It is not called “Hearse Chasers” after all (but that could be an interesting spin-off). However, give me a minute to opine about the Harry Caray hologram at the MLB Field […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Greetings, Razzfam! I mostly play a doctor on tv, but occasionally, I stretch a pair of latex gloves down and over my hands, letting them slap with a satisfying pop across my wrists. Open up wide because today is one of those days! When I read that Jhoulys Chacin has a condition formally known as […]
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